The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-03-12


for the reason that there are now
four Northern Democratic Legislatures,
which, added to the sixteen States, lately
slaveholding, and solidly Democratic,
would return forty Senators, which would
constitute majority Of the whole. And
further, that as he was dealing in sup
positive argument, he might have re
membered that if the doctrine of in
struction had been enforced in 1875, the
Senate would have been decidedly Dem
ocratic four years earlier, and this
would have given the Democratic
party control Of both branches of
Congress in 1877. Then there would
have been no Electoral Commission, by
which the people were cheated out of
their choice for President; all the depart
ments of the Government would now be
in the hands Of the Democratic party.
The measures for the persecution Of the
South would have been repealed; and the
Republican party no longer cemented by
the cohesive power Of public plumber,
would have been broken into fragments.
When we said that " it is better to lose
party advantage temporarily, than
that the great principle, which lies at
the foundation of free government, y
every intelligent person understood our
meaning to be that it were better to
to lose a party advantage temporarily
than that CHASTITY despotism should be
erected upon the overthrow ofthe liberties
Of the people, result inevitably conse-
quent from the doctrine advocated by
our correspondent.
Strange enough, we are asked to . re-
member that we are not discussing the
accountability of Senators to the people,
nor their duty of obeying the clearly de
fined and well ascertained wishes of their
constituents, no matter how it has been
communicated. What, then, is all
this discussion about2 That is the pith
and marrow of the question in dispute,
viz, the accountability of Senators
to the people, and their duty to obey.
In yielding that point, our correspond
ent surrenders his Gibralter; and the
controversy is therefore reduced to the
consideration of the mere form of inn
parting instructions. Would our cor
respondent have us believe that the Leg
stature is not the medium through
oh 10 nil n tho ,ooCnIa 70 no
spoken? Then, how can it be expressed?
What is the legitimate channel of &" com
munication" between the people and
their servants m the United States SEN
so far as Senators are concerned, it is g the
people" They are the power that
elects, and the channel by which the
States communicate the will to which
she requires obedience. Otherwise, how
is their voice tofnd expression? Must it
be through a Convention rejecting the
sovereignty of the people? Are all this
expense, formality and dilatory proceed
ing essential whenever the people desire
to "instruct" their servants? If so, the
right which d" A B. c." admits they pos
sess, is a barren right-a right Dracti-
cally without a remedy; and the most
astonishing feature of the whole case is
that the people themselves have new
err ascertained their uncomfortable
dilemma, for from the very beginning of
the government when the actors in the
scenes were moved by tho inspiration of
its trainers, down to FMS hour, they
have acted under the innocent belief
that they had the right to q instruct
their Senators through their Legislatures;
and never, We presume, has a regular
session in any State been held in which
it has not been exercised And what is
more: disobedient Senators themselves
have never discovered that the rock so
deity cleft by our correspondent, has
stood ready to shelter them.
" The sovereigns of Mississippi,
says the writer, " are the people of
Mississippi. Most assuredly they are,
and these sovereigns have constituted
the Legislature their agents for the cleo
ton of Senators and for communicating
their will to these Senators.
All the interrogatories our correspon-
dent INDUCES about the responsibility of
the appointees of the Governor to va
cancies in county offices extending over
- -
that officer, or of the response |
bility of Judges to the same authority, |
we submit with Difference, is irrelevant
bagatelle, and trifling with a subject of
momentous public concern. 1t might |
be question whether the Executive |
could recall an unsuitable appointment, |
but the accountability of the officer |
would be to the people primarily, who |
could enforce their authority by the |
election through the ballot-box. As for |
Judges, our correspondent well knows
that they belong to a coordinate depart
meat which under our form of govern
ment is independent of the Executive |
and is reached by impeachment. So is |
the Governor, so is the President and |
so can every public servant be reached
in some method except the Senator, who
according TO the theory of our cores
pondent, stands upon an eminenee from
which he can look with contemptuous
scorn upon the People-treat their de-
liberate g instructions issued through
the chosen channel, their Legislature,
as the surging Of popular passion which