Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-04-01
FEDERAL INTERFERENCE,
From the Baltimore American.

From the Baltimore American.
The recent decisions of the Supreme
Court affirming the validity of the Fed.
eral election laws are of far.reaching
significance and Importance. As Judge
Field, in his dissenting opinion, express.
ed it, their effect is to confirm the AS.
sertion by Congress of power which IL
obstructive of the independence OF the
States in matters over which their au.
thority has never been surrendered"
According to the law as interpreted. il is
now competent for the Federal authority
to degrade the States ito the level OF
municipal corporations existing at the
will OF Congress-" This is the doctrine
of Capitalization as advanced by the
radical wing of the Republican party
in its most ultra form. That it should
have received the Endorsement Of the
highest judicial tribunal in the land
must be "A matter of profound regret
for every man who appreciates at it's
full value the fundamental principle OF
correlation between the State and Fede.
raj Governments, upon which our whole
political system is based. Hereafter,
unless the election laws are repealed, il
will be within the power of the General
Government TO interfere in the most
arbitrary manner In all the elections for
members Of Congress and TO punish VIC.
lations by the election officers not only
of Federal but of State laws. The effect
of the decision does not stop even here,
for, as Judge Field remarks, "If the
Federal Government may punish VIC.
lation Of the laws OF a State it may also
punish obedience to them and exer.
else n supervision over the legislation OF
the States, subversive of their reserved
powers"
Judge Field, supported by Judge Cliff.
ford, made a strong protest against the
decision Of the majority; and his dis.
senting opinion is clear and able pre-
sentation Of the theory which has been
maintained by the Democratic party
from the beginning, that the enforce.
ment legislation is unconstitutional and
void. 10 is not encouraging to reflect
that the Republican members OF the
court indorsed unanimously the stai.
wart view Of the case and that tribun.
al which should be above all political
considerations has again divided on a
partisan issue according 10 the party
predictions OF its members. The de.
cision of the court, however, does not
end the matter. An appeal may still
be taken to the people, and among the
questions TO be submitted ut the Presi.
dental election next Fall will be the
paramount issue whether the centrali.
zatiop, which is proceeding 30 rapidly
under the lead of the Republican party
backed up by partisan Supreme Court,
shall be checked or not. For more
than ninety years the United States
have grown and prospered without the
laws which are now TO be enforced and
which the Republicans claim to be ne.
cessary to the purity of our elections
The Federated States have survived
three wars they have grown from thir.
teen feeble colonies TO thirty eight
States. covering larger cultivated ter.
rltory than any other power in the
world they are today more prosper.
Gus, happier, stronger than any other
people. Yet at this day-at the begin.
ming OF the last decade of the first cen.
tury of their existence-theiFs sovereign.
ty is denied and it is sought in time
of profound peace to bind upon them
the shackles of Federal authority, the
exercise Of which, even under the in.
depreciation of the doctrine Of States
rights enforced by the war, can only be
justified by armed revolt. If this de.
cision OF the Supreme Court be not
nullified by the repeal of the enforceu lt
laws, the autonomy of the different
States is destroyed and the title aunt
ed States" applied to this country be-
comes an absurd misnomer. Under the
ruling Of the Court We are, in fact, no
longer a federation of States, but strong.
ly centralized Republic divided for con.
venience into Thirty eight dependent
provinces.