Daily globe., 1879-06-21
TROOPS AT THE POLLS.

Review of the Presidents Veto Message by
the Minority of the House judiciary
Committee.
WASHINGTON. June 20.-The minority of the.
COMMITTEES of the Judiciary having had undeH
confederation the messages of the President
disappearing of House bill No. 1882. entitled
IAN act to prevent military interference with
elections" submit the following statement of
the reasons why they cannot concur with the
views of the majority Of said committee:
The repeated efforts in said report to make
It appear that the right or authority to inter-
or lawful conduct of any electors is claimed
or asserted in any quarter is hardly deserving of
serious notice. The minority in Congress have
made no such claim. The right of federal
supervisors contended for applies to Congress
sional electors only. This is entirely ignored
in the report of the majority. Their report
proceeds upon the false assumption that the
President advocated the use of federal au-
thority to supervise State elections. No such
claim is made in the message under considers
tion, or in any other message or utteranco of
the President.
Neither does the message advocate or Justify
military interference with the freedom Of any
following language: Holding, as I do, the
opinion that any military interference what
ever at the polls is contrary to the spirit of our
constitution and would tend to destroy the
freedom of elections and, sincerely desir ng to
concur with Congress in all its measures, it is
with very great regret am forced to the con-
clnsion the bill before me ia not only unneces-
sary to prevent such interference, but it is q
dangerous departure from long-settled and i'm
pOrtant constitutional principles"
The true rule as to the employment of the
military force ut the elections is not doubtful.
No intimidation or coercion should be allowed
to control or influence citizens in the exercise
Of their right to vote, whether it appears in
the shape of combination of evil disposed
persons, or of armed bodies of militia of the
State or of the military force of the United
States. Elections should be free from all for
chile interference, and as far as practical from
all apprehensions Of such interferences. No
soldiers, either of the Union or of the State
militia, should be present at the polls to take
the place or to perform the duties of ordinary
civil police force. There has been and will be
no violation of this rule under orders from this
administration. rs
It is historically true that during the rebel
lion there was such interference in cases when
factions, or q dominant element of disloyalty
existed. These were necessities growing out
of the nature of the conflict and the anomalous
condition of the seceeding and border States.
They were in no sense acts of partisanship p
Military orders were issued for the purpose by
officers of the army, irrespective of their polit
ical affiliations. Among the earliest and most
notable of such orders was that by General
Mcclellan;
Headquarters of the army of the Potomac
Washington, October 9, 1861. --deneral: There
is apprehension among citizens in many parts
Of Maryland of an attempt at interference,
with their rights of suffrage by disunion citi
zens on occasion of the election to take place
the 9th of November next. In order to pre-
rects you to send detachments of a sutf
cient number of men to the diff
ferent points in your vicinity, where
elections are to be held to protect Union voters
and to see that no disuni0nists are allowed tC
intimidate them, Or in any way interfere with
| their rights. He also desires you to arrest ant
hold in confinement until after election, all
| from Virginia recently, and who show them
selves at the polls, and to guard efectually
against any invasion of the peace and order Of
| the election. For the purpose of carrying ou
| these instructions you are authorized to sus'
pend the habeas corpus. Gen. Leone has re
ceived similar instructions to these. You viii
please confer with him as to the particula
points each shall take control of. am, sir
very respectfully, your obedient servant.
r. B. MARCY, Chief of Staff.
Major General N. p. Banks. commanding
division Muddy Branch Maryland.
Before the close of the rebellion, and Will
denouncing the war to suppress it as failure
the party now demanding this legislation Sc
lected tho euthnr of the order above quoted a
it's candidate for the Presidency. 1t sought t.
| make him commander -in-chief of the arm,
and navy. IT'LL becomes a party with such t
record to indulge in such imputations and crit
icisms upon President whose administration
has been marked by 80 great forbearance to
| ward people of the States lately in rebellion
! and who has in no manner sanctioned militar
interference with elections for having dared t
maintain his constitutional prerogative and t
| preserve the right to use the military and th
naval power whenever and wherever sanctioned
by the constitution and laws.
These and similar orders undoubtedly exel
cised influence in securing the enactment o
the law Of 1865, which prohibits use of the arm
or navy at a time or place at any general o
special election in any State except it beneces
sary to srepel armed enemies of the Unite'
States, or to keep peace at the polls, and ais
prohibits any military or naval officer frou
prescribing the qualifications of voters in an
manner interfering with the exercise of tn
free right of suffrage in any State. This Law
with appropriate penalties for its violation, wa
approved by President Lincoln, and since it
enactment we do not believe there has bee
any well grounded cause of complaint of mill
tarY interference with elections. No such in
stance is cited in the report of the majority
It refers, it is true, to military interferenc
i during the rebellion, and especially in 1865
| All else is mere assertion without instances o
truth.
The monstrous frauds perpetrated in th
State of New York in 1868 became the subjee
of Congressional investigation ut the ensuin
session of Congress-. and were followed by
report suggesting national legislation to guar
against the recurrence of such frauds in futur
sentatives. The act of 1870 entitled IAN az
to enforce the right Of citizens of the Unite
States to vote in the several States of th
Union, and for other purposes: was to a col
siderable extent the outgrowth of such invest
cations. The enforcement of the provisions {
this act as amended in 1871 has had . mo,
wholesome tendency to secure free and homes
elections.
In the Presidential and Congressional conte.
of 1876, as intensely exciting as any in on
history, its enforcement purged the canvass q
all successful attempts at fraud in the sam
city where outrages upon the ballot box and i
the counting of votes ran riot In the canvass {
1868 committee of the forty fourth Congref
was charged with the investigation of Il
election of 1879 in that city. In the report
the Democratic majority we find the followin
language: ''This happy result, free, fa
and honest election, was in consequence of ct
), operation between the official advisers of Il
city and the United States officers. The part
organization by their regulations and orde
made the city police one in action along wit
the United States marshals. Whether tn
work which lis unexemplifed should be q
counted a Republican work through their fe.
IT, IL e