The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-03-20
Extra Session of Congress The Revolu-
tionary Programme.

Extra Session Of Congress Revolt
>. tionary Programme.
10 giveour readers clear understandin
i OF the causes which have made an extra Sc
sion OF Congress Indispensable, and to local
!. the responsibility for not only that harmfl
necessity, but the threatening agitation tbs
is certain to follow, we publish below
=, Washington letter to the New York Tribun
. connecting all the facts and circumstance
associated Herewith
The extra session OF Congress was not broueh
about by an accident, 1t did not grow out OF
Z dispute between the two political parties whic
3 arose in the course OF the legitimate business
/. nor was 1t made necessary by the Importance
from Democratic point of view, of the legisla
ton which the House of Representatives under
' took to force through Congress againstthe opro
sition OF the Senate and the President. That lee
islation the Democrats are now determinedSt,
enact; built was not SO urgent, even in the es
timation Of the party OF revolution, as to maksi
necessary for the House to take the extreme me as
ures which 1t did
The exn.a ression was definitely determined ut
on by the reactionary faction In the joint cauch.
OF the Democrats weeks ago; and the only ques-
ton after that which had any weight with the
Bourbon leaders was how much political legisla-
ton it would be necessary to put upon the appro-
priation bills in order to force the Republicans
intoa determined and uncompromising resis-
lance. The men who controlled that caucus new
e. intended that an arrangement of differences
| should be made; and if at any stage OF the pro-
ceedings one had seemed probable or possible
other measures even more obnoxious to the Re-
pu blicans than those proposed would have been
| insisted upon or there would have been flibus-
tering to prevent the conference reports from be-
| ing adopted.
| The repeal OF the election laws and test oaths
for jurors, and prohibition of the use of United
States troops to quell election RIOTS are all dis
| tlnct1vely Democratic measures They propose
to remove some OF the guards to the purity of the
-ballot-box, and to make more difficult the pun
ishment of the Democrats guilty OF election frauds
in the South. The measure which among them
all the Democrats con slider of more immediate
Importance than any other, is the repeal of Sec
tions 800 and 8sl OF the Revised Statutes relating
| to jurors. The first of these makes participation
| IN rebellion one OF the causes Of disqualification
and grounds of challenge of grand and petit iu-
rors IN the courts OF the United States ; and the
second authorizes the District-Attorn ey in his
discretion to require every juror to take an oath
that he has never participated in rebellion. The
first OF these sections repealed by the XLIIId
Congress, when both houses were controlled by
the Republicans but by mistake was incorpora-
ted into the Revised Statutes, the Democrats be-
ing as much responsible for that blunder as the
Republicans. An act was passed by the Repub-
lican Senate, early in the ate session. repeating
itagain, but it was never acted upon by the Dem
ocratic House. The assertion that the Democrats
OF the House were unable to pass it is not true
They had majority Of that body, and as Speaker
Randall has often remarked from the chair, the
majority can do anything
The reason this bill was not passed by the House
Qor IL would not have been resisted by the Re-
publicans as party was that it was to be us I'd
as one of the means for forcing an extra session
The Democratic party in the Southern States was
guilty OF the most gigantic frauds in the election
OF last November and many of those frauds were
committed i'll such bungling way thot the legal
evidence OF them is ample and conclusive. A
score or more of these ballot-box suffers and
false counters have already been convicted in
Baltimore and sentenced by Judge Bond, in the
United States Court. Some OF the Florida Dem
ocrats are already in the penitentiary and others
will probably follow them before many weeks,
while nothing except packed juries can prevent
the conviction OF scores of men in South Carolina
and Louisiana. These results in Baltimore and
Florida have been accomplished without the ap-
plication Ct the test oath to Jurors but in South
Carolina and Louisiana pu bile opinion is so strong
or at least the pressure which the Democrats are
able to bring to bear upon people of every kind is
so great that in the plauest cases. the juries If
not composed of loyal men, would be almost GER
tain to disagree. The personal danger that many
OF the Democratic leaders in. makes the Ie-
peal of these sections, therefore, matter of some
Importance.
The repeal of the election laws is not of apy |
such urgent importance In fact the experience
Of last Fall proves that the presence of United
States Supervisors at the polls in the Southern
States does not by any means prevent fraud. 1t
only makes the detection Of fraud little more
easy. In some of the large cities its operation is
directly to prevent repeating and false registra
ton. There was no present occasion whatever
to press the provision forbiddng the OF troops
toquel election riots because there has been ~
dlsl osition shown on the part of the present Ad
mnistration to make any such use of the soldiers
of the United States.
The real purpose of the Bourbon Democrats in
forcing the President to call extra session was
two-fold. First they were impatient to obtain
control Of the offices of the Senate and secondly,
the revolutionary faction believed that they
would be stronger this Spring. before the ex-
citement and partnership of the late session has
December before they made their contest for the
control of their party in the next Congress. Al
though Mr. Randall is a strong enough partizan,
it is true that the greatest opposition which he
will have to meet in his contest for the Speaker
ship will be that of the ultra Bourbons, led by
Mr.. Blackburn. Mr.. Randall always makes qui-
ct camp align, and would be sure to gain strength
if he had the whole Summer and Autumn in
which to perfect his plans. Mr.. Blackburn, on
the other hand, is full of dash, and is agrees
sive fighter but probable would not hold out as
we'll as Mr.. Randall. His friends were confident
that his chances OF election would be much bet
ter this Spring than nine months from now F; and
his friends controlled the Democratic party in the
House durirg the last session.
OF course the Democrats will be forced to make
fight in the extra session on the political meas
they have put forward, for to meet, organize,
pass the appropriation bills and adjourn, leaving
those measures still incomplete, would be to con
fess that they had attempted to deceive the coun-
try as to their purpose in making an extra session
nece ssary. They have talked very defantly dur
ing the past two days, and many of them declare
they never will grant the necessary supplies for
the Government until they force the President
to consent to their political schemes. In other
words they propose to deprive the President OF
the power lodged in him by the Constitution OF
|
best judgment and the oath of office he took, or,
what is the same thing, to coerce him to exercise
that power in accordance with the wishes of the
party which is opposed to every principle which
he is bound to defend. This is contest in which
the Democrats might as we'll make up their minds
to be defeated for if the Republican party that
part of it which is in Washington, was ever uni
ted on any question, it is so now in the determ-
nation to defeat the revolutionists 1t is con-
test which the Republicans did not invite, but
they will not shrink from it and having the
Constitution and the President on their they
have no doubt of its outl of what its effect
will be upon the future fortunes of their party.
What Need of Greenbackss
The New York Times of the 9th has the
following plain statement to show that there
is no need of greenbacks as currency for
the transactions of business:
In previous articles we have shown the