Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-04-10


debased it,. Only few weeks ago
it decided that Federal Court may
punish a State electoral officer for
alleged violation Of a State law;
thus Offering itself an willing aid
to the conspiracy by which the Fed
eraI Executive proclaims itself ar
bitter i'm State elections.
The party in power, then, bent on
extending the power of the Federal
Executive has already secured those
tremendous engines, the army and
the Supreme Court, as its active
cO-operators. But that il not all.
The Federal district courts are grad
ually and insidiously absorbing
within their jurisdiction case after
case in civil and criminal jurisdic-
ton which has till now been the
exclusive prerogative of the State
Judiciary, while the courts of the
States look ON helplessly.
Strengthened by these Judiciary
innovations, the Office-holding cor
poration undertakes to control cleo
tions by the unlimited appoint
ments of Supervisors and Deputy
Marsnals, whose functions have by
the Bradley decision altogether SUI
perseded those of any State officers !;
who have the power of arbitrary
Imprisonment withoutprocess who
can seize any mans papers ofquali-
fication and keep them till the cleo
ton is over, and so neutralize
obnoxious votes, ard SO, controlling
the military and Judiciary of the
nation, they hope virtually to NOM
mate and appoint the President and
House of Representatives.
They also WELD an enormous
money power. They already mus
ter an Ofiiee-holding force of I20, 900.
the numbers of which must be in
definitely increased by the absorb
ton of State affairs into Federal
hands, and especially by their I'M
limited power of appointing Super
visions and Deputy Marshals. All
these office-holders (whOse numbers
must be multiplied by five at least
to include those who depend upon
them for subsistence) are required
- f,rr,;sh 1,OAoo o,,I ,,a0r,axy IL, tho
interest of the party in power, and
the effort is constantly kept up to
increase their numbers and the rate
of their remuneration, thus giving
half a million votes and incalculable
sums of money to swamp the suf-
frage of the people at elections.
These are not their only resources.
The great corporations, the railway
companies and the national banks
and the manufacturing monopolists,
finding them the willing agents for
their aggrandizements, are always
ready to swell the resources above
mentioned by money contributions
and their employees and dependents.
Can anyone compute what this
amounts to?
Away, then, with the talk of
Grant and the empire! as if the
danger consisted simply in the cleo
tion of Gen. Grant, and was some
thing threatening in the future.
The empire is here ROlO. 1t is more
than half established among us, and
that with strength which nothing
but the united efforts of the people
can resist. Our issue is the C0RSti-
tuition against the Empire. That
will be the motto at the head of our
columns till November, paramount
over any names that may be found
there, over financial questions, over
everything; for unless this battle
can be fought and won, all else will
be a matter in which we shall have
no voice; all else will be decided for
us by authorities altogether indie
pendent of our suffrage.