The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-09-22

Tf0nS dS Ene AegirldIuIS N1O1dttu eAe
the instructions Of the people as set
forth in their supreme law, his acts are
void This Is the doctrine laid down
by Judge Story Il hold it to be most
clear" said that eminent jurist, THAT
the acts of public officer beyond the
scope of his instructions, and in viola
ton of his public duties, are IN such cases
UTTERLY VOID.
1t is no argument to ask the question,
but it is frequently asked for want of
an argument, why, when this wrong
was done the people did not speak ?"
They did speak. There was no more
complete answer to the question than
was made by a former Attorney General
of the State, the late Hon. ID. c. Glenn.
He said
The people speak They did speak.
They have spoken to these parties (who
purchased the Bonds); to all men to the
world. Their tongue is the Constitution !;
their words the law Of the land. These con-
sttute their letter of attorney to their
agents, legislative, civil and ministerial.
E The whole world stands charged with notice
of it. Within its scope the people are
! bound without it, they are not. such is
I the meaning Of a government of written
/ laws and Constitution. Unless this be 50,
4 the people are at the mercy Of their agents.
Hence it Is, says, Mr.. Madison, The Leg
! islature, no less than the Executive, and So
with all officers, are under limitation OF pow
er" The rule if good in one instance, is
good in all. Test it by illustration The
Legislature are agents of the people. They
are agents charger with discretion in the
passage of laws. Suppose our next Legis-
latuTe should provide an emission of a mil
lion of bonds which was accordingly done
and the same are sold, the State is sued and
denies her liabilities The law creating the
debt was not passed as required by the
I Constitution. Admitted, says the bond
holder, but the Legislature is your agent for
making laws. They have exercised the
discretion you have given them, and you
are bound by their acts, what would be the
result? The case would be laughed to scorn
/ to bring it would be an absurdity. Yet
/ such is the extent of the rule here contend
ed for. 1t is absolutely necessary to apply
the redHctio abswdam' to some positions
Their very nature renders them proof
against ordinary assault"
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN sO-CALLED
MISSISSIPPI REPUTATION AND THAT
OF OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES,
/ We have said that there was a marked
difference between what is mis-called
Z" Mississippi reputation" and the real
Reputation" of numerous other States
Of the Union, as well as Of sovereign
powers that have made loud professions
of respect for their plighted faith, in
this, Hd Mississippi nerer recejred a cent
/ Of the money for ,chieh it IS pretended Ter
I faih tcas piedged. Not so with some
other States and nationalities which are
in default of their obligations. The
/ Richmond paper, in its violent TRADE,
quotes 5. $. Prentiss as saying that the
anti-bond paying people Of Mississippi
/ based their decision upon the principle
+. that one generation has no right to bind
another. This Is Ole Virginia doctrine
enunciated by Thomas Jefferson, the
apostle Of political freedom. Whether
it is abstractly true OF false, it is not
our purpose now to discuss. 1t is sufii-
Client for Us to say that it is not the
ground on which the people Of Aiissis-
sippi refused to pay the claim of the
holders of the Union Bank Bonds
this we have established conclusively.
I But let US cite the instances Of repu
diation by other States of the Union
and Nations They will serve at least
to show that if there be censorious Peo-
pie who are disposed to point the finger
fscorn at Mississippi, it will be the rep
! itition Of the old stoly Of the self-right-
eous hypocrite who refused to see the
mote in his own eye in his anxiety to
discover the beam in his neighbours. In
England, under Henry VIII, Par
f., liau.e4t freely, literally and absolutely
granted unto the hlngs HishEess all
sums of money which were due by him
on any and every promise, bond, or
obligation, - (Hallam's Constitutional
History) This was wholesale repudia-
ton. In little more than Il generation
afterwards, Parliament passed another
reputation Act of similar kind.
/ Charles H. defrauded the creditors of
the nation out of Il, 800 ,QQG. France
has repudiated repeatedly Coming
nearer home: after the Revolution, Nir-
ginia (some of whose newspapers Of the
present day are bandying the name of
Mississippi with opprobrious epithets),
settled her debt by funding 1T the rate
of one dollar for one thousand That's
what ancient Virginia did. The mod
ern Virginia is now agitated over the
question of how luuch Qf her present
debt she will "scale" or repudiate. The
Legislature of Tennessee has persisted
in postponing the settlement of the
debt of that State, Notwithstanding the
creditors have proposed to make large
deduction from the face of it. We
have the authority of Judge Wright,
/ the Democratic nominee for Governor
of the State, for saying that large
part Of the bonds, the payment Of which
has been thus far deferred, were
State bonds, not railroad bonds. Judge
/ Wright drew forth one the bonds and
read its provisions, showing that it was
debt of the State and not of the rail
roads. These bonds were issued by the
/ State to aid in the construction of in
ternal improvements. - Extracts from
Judge WIS late speech at Memphis
In Louisiana neither party seems to
dream of paying the debts Of that State
at more than sixty cents on the dollar,
and we infer that the creditors would
be rejoiced to obtain fifty cents on the
dollar for their claim. But the most