The daily gazette., 1879-05-17
FIRST EDITION..
Troops at the Polls.
senator Thurman Shakes the Stall
warts Arguments 10 Pieces.
HIS SPEECH IN THE U. s. SENATE ON
THURSDAY.

HIS SPEECH IN THE U. 8. SENATE ON
THURSDAY.
Mr.. Thurman, (Dem.) of Ohio, then
took the floor, and before beginning TO
speak on the pending bill said he was
surprised that the Senator from Ken
ticky (Mr. Becky had taken the trouble
to treat seriously the proposition of the
Senator from New York (Mr. Conkling),
that the people residing in the districts
where taxes are collected are the people
upon whom the tax falls. Such staoe-
mcnt refuted itself, and was an absurdi-
ty not to he tolerated by any honest in
tellect. lie then proceeded to discuss
the Appropriation bill. After deprecat-
ing the sectional agitation which Sena-
tors OH the other side had started for the
purpose of "firing the Northern heart"
he referred to the Election laws, which
were pretended when passed to be for
the protection of freedmen in the South
against the Ku Kluv; but their real OBJ
jcct was to Cypress voters In the North,
and especially to disfranchise, imprison
and prosecute naturalized citizens of the
North. The Almighty Father, said Mr..
Thurman, had given him capacity to
feel, for which he was truly grateful, al
though he was sometimes Inconvenience
ed by It. His Indignation sometimes
made him forget that he was weak and
ought not give way TO his feelings too
much. In speaking Of the election laws
there came to him picture Of their ope-
ration in New York city, of cage full
of men sweltering and suffering under
the arbitrary and dictatOrial mandate OF
a corrupt and contemplate Commission
er of Elections, and he could not SUI
press the thought that transaction had
taken place in this country that could
not have occurred in any other civilized
country without blood being shed. But
he proposed to speak d. yly to lay, hop
ing thus to make better le,y gal a-gu-
mcnt than ii he exhibited feeling. lie
proposed to speak upon the constitution
if that instrument might be mention
ed without offence.
THE TEST OATH.
lie would first discuss the jr'y pro
visions. The English speaking people
have always CLING with tenac'ty to the
right Of imrai .ial trial by ju' !. This
fact was well Known. But perhaps some
here did not comprehend why that right
was held so dear. 1t was not because
men are best fitted to decide in all cases
of dispute between man and man, fol
they are not, and the laws make prov IS
| ion for more satisfactory methods o.
trial than by jury ia many cases, es2eo
| tally in those involving properly. Tria
| by jrry has been so dear to our ancestors
| and to us because English bisto.. show!
| it to have been the great shield Of thu
people ainst oppression by the govern
men 1t has been great iustrumen
tality for libel,y, and it may possibly, IL
this county, become one Of the creates
shields of tue citizens against govern
mental oppression. Bl . if the jr'y il
| partial ana dishonest or can be subornet
| by the government, what was inSenf II
for mears of protection to the citzeI
became bis worst enemy. Mr.. Thur
man said history war. .anted this asser
ton, and quoted Hallam's description o
the subsei ,iency of jp"ies to the dictate
of governme 1t in the title of the iptp
nous Star Chamber. Are we coming tt
that pass? asked Mr.. Thu man. III
would attem,t to show that our peopl
are EXPOSED to these very dangers If w
leave these glaringly defective jp' ! law
on our statue books, to become mere in
sti ,lments of party violence and feel'n
or personal dislike or interest. TIA
principal jury laws are contained Il
sections S9) and S21 of the Revise
Statutes, the former section of whic
pro, ides that jiiries in fede"a' court
shall be selected as far as practicable az
cordng to the moLe of selecting jrrie
in the State cou =. That was an oil
statute, and operated well for man
wears, but he would show bow it ha
been carried into effect. He detaile
the methods of State elections in Ohi'
and said the United States governmei
could not compel local officers to propos
names for federal juries. So the orl
way to carry;the law out was to provid
a box for the names to be put III an
drawn out of. But who was to do this
I'm the days when nobody thought {
packing j,ries for political purposes I'll
Judges thought it safe to repose tn;
power in the marshal and the clerk
The court and this was done, so til;
those officers had absolute power to sa
whose name should go into the box, an
il is so to this day. He had in his po
session letter from prominent lawy'
in a Northern State, saying that in II
district no mans name ever goes into
I iury box unless that man is a republican
This thing does not affect Southern me
alone. lie could give incidents tn
would perhaps shock the moral sense
every Senator, but he did not wish to {
q into particular cases. The root of Il
evil is not reached even by repealir
these sections, because there still I
mains this power of the marshal al
clerk to fill the july box with PARISH
of one political faith alone. That is d
! law, and that is done, and shame it
that il is done. Section $40 had bee
repealed once. Its temperance in q
n statutes was one of those mysterio
u transactions such as this striking out
the word "white" from the naturaliz
tion laws after Congress had refused
strike it out, and the demonetizon of $
yer. when Congress had not demonetiz
, it-one of the MAJ vellous things abo
- the revision CT 1874, which lay on t
desk and was passed by title, witho
g even the wrapper around 1t being c'
=, In this way section $40 stole back III
the laws. That section makes 1t
principal cause for challenge to ha
aided or comforted any one in rebellio
= OPERATION OF THE LAW.
= The suit might be between two bo
ten wears old, each born since the WI
The guardians of both and the lawyer