The weekly clarion., 1879-10-01

is that the law originated in the UnioI
League Club of the City of New York, an,
was made especially for that city. On thi.
subject | beg leave to read a few extract
from speech delivered by me at the las
session Speaking of these laws, said:
Here is the way these laws originated
not at all in the interest of the freedmen o
the South, as has been 50 often contended
but solely for the purpose, or mainly for TIA,
purpose, of con trolling the elections of the
city of New York, and by that means of the
great State of New York.
Now, how have they been executed
Their execution proves just what | say
Let me give you some figures upon thai
subject taken from the official reports of the
Attorney General and from the reports o.
/ Investigating Committees In 1876. under
these laws, there were 4, S62 Supervisors oi
Election appointed, and of these I,779 were
appointed in the State of New York, nearly
one-half of them in that single State
Again, there were Ii ,6I0 Marshals appoint
ed and more than one-fourth of them were
appointed in the State of New York But
now look where the money was spent for
that is the main point There was expend-
ed under those acts IN that year the sum OF
$2S5, ,92l.27. How much of it was expended
TO protect the poor Freedmen at the South ?
| In the Southern States, to-wit: Alabama,
| Georgia. Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,
| North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
/ Texas and Virginia, SIS, ,719 So were spent,
while in the other States, $237, POP 81. That
| is to say, one-sixth of the money was spent
/ in the North. That is the way they pro-
/ tected the poor Freedman. They had given
| him the right to vote, they had compelled
| the South, in self defense, to give him the
right to vote. They guaranteed him against
any discrimination on account of race, col
or, or previous condition of servitude; but
/ ir 70 fha 81,
| United States, for 81 that they gave to pro-
| tect him, to guarantee him, they spent s.
| to corrupt elections 1t the North and to de-
prive them of their right to vote at the
North
How much of this money was paid in
| order to fix up the elections in New York
City I have shown you that the total ex-
penditure was $2S5, ,92I. OF that $l56, 900,
being more than half the whole amount
was spent in the State of New York That
is the way the right of the freedmen to vote
without objection on account of race color
or previous condition was enforced.
g But let us pass on and | must pass on
or | shall never get through. Let us come to
1873, and we shall find another specimen of
the same thing. The Supervisors appointed
in 1878 were forty-eight hundred and eighty
one. OF these, nineteen hundred and fifty
three, nearly one-half, were appointed in
Pennsylvania. That made thirty-six hun
dred and thirty-five in those two States
alone, leaving only twelve hundred and
forty-six for all the other States in the
Union. That is the way they took care of
the poor freedmen at the South. OF
the Deputy Marshalls forty-seven hun
dred and twenty-five were appointed,
and of these about one-half, twenty-three
hundred and eight, were appointed in New
York and in all the other States of the
Union only twenty-four hundred and sew
enteen were appointed That made of
Supervisors and Marshals ninety-six hun
dred and six. The expenditures were
1922, 2,7I3 %, for / want to be precise and
in the Southern States from which returns
were made, tO-wit: Alabama, Georgia,
Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and
Virginia, what portion do you suppose was
expended of the 1922, 900? OF course, you
would suppose that as the Ku-Klux ragged |
down there, as the White Leaguers |
ragged down there, as there was no such |
thing free elections down there, as the |
poor negroes were massacred in order that |
the whites might carry the elections, you
would suppose, as all that took place ac4
cording to Radical authority that that was4
the place where the most of the Deputy |
Marshals of the United States were appoint |
ed and where most of the money was spent. |
But, singularly enough, of this S222, ia % |
expended in 1873 the amount used in the |
oOutn was just S1o,Z4I 70 LhaC Is TO say, |
about One-twelfth of the whole expenditure |
while eleven-twelfths of it was expended in
the North. Why was it expended in the |
North? Let the gains of the Republican |
party in New York, in New Jersey and in |
Pennsylvania answer the question why it |
was expended there. The gains in the |
House of Representatives will answer it |
better than anything else can answer it. At |
one single election there was gain of more |
n Of ha ofI
Representatives, and, singularly enough, |
the greater the expenditure of money, the |
greater was the gain of Republican members
of Congress"
But it is not alone for the persecution,
fraud and corruption to which these laws
give rise that they should be condemned.
There is fatal objection to them that can
not be overcome and that is that they are
in violation of the Constitution The
right to pass them is claimed under Article
L, Section 4, of the Constitution, which
provides that ''the times, places and manner
of holding elections for Senators and Rep
resentatives shall be provided in each State
by the Legislature thereof; but the Con-
gress may at any time by law make or alter
such regulations except as to the places of
choosing Senators" On this subject | said
in the speech to which | have referred
''In the first place, it is to be observed
that the provision in the Constitution relates
simply to the election of Senators and
in Congress. In the second
place, the power given to Congress is the
power to make regulations in respect to the
times, places and manner of holding cleo
tions, or to alter the regulations when made
by State, with the Limitation that they
shall not change the places fixed by the
State authorities for choosing Senators. 1t
is obvious that the laws now under consider
alton and which We propose to repeal are
not exertions of the power to prescribe the
time or place of holding elections, because
they do no such thing. If, therefore, they
are authorized by this section of the Con
stitution it must be in virtue of the word |
manner That is the only word that is
left.
'I go to another proposition which I hold
is capable of demonstration, and that is,
that whether the right of Congress to regu-
late the manner of Congressional elections
when there is no default on the part of the
State, exists or does not exist, the laws
which this bill proposes to repeal are not a
constitutional exercise of the power, for it
is fundamental that Congress cannot, under
Article l. Section 4, interfere in any manner
with the election of State officers. 1t can
no more do it, under pretense of regulating
Congressional elections, than it can when
no Congressman are to be elected. 1t |
fellows that any regulation of Congressional
elections enacted by Congress must be so
framed as not to interfere with the election
of State officers. If it does so interfere it
is unconstitutional. Upon that l stand |
with consciousness of being in the right |
that l hope is not presumptuous. To me |
no legal proposition ever appeared clearer.
There are two classes of elections in this /
country. There is. an election for Federal /
officers, Representatives and Senators in
Congress, and Electors of President and |
Vice-President; if the latter can properly /
be called Federal officers. There is another /
class of elections for the officers of State /
and her subdivisions With the election of /
this latter class Congress, under this clause /
of the Constitution, has no more right to /
interfere than it has to interfere with the /