The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1880-03-13
glnatea ssafes sur,1,eme Co..r,a.

bcEt KoieDoiu w all, eieCLtUif juuneh C1h
of Baltimore, who were convicted j
THE United States circuit court for tn
a district of Maryland, upon a charge 0
interfering with supervisors of election
and United States deputy marshals
and who now petition this court for
writ of habeas corpus and cnrtiorari
on the ground that the statutes mnde
which they were indicted and tried
generally known as the federal election
laws, are unconstitutional and void
This court, in along opinion by justice
bradley, holds: First--That the fed
cral election laws are constitutional ant
valid. Sccond-That circuit court.
have jurisdiction Of indictments undei
these laws. Third--Tllat under the
constitution congress has supervisory
power over the regulations made BY
1.-THE state forithe management of con
gressional elections, and may either al
ter, modify or add to them, or make
entirely new regulations. Fourth
That in the exercise Of such supervisory
powers congress may impose new dn-
ties on officers of election, or:additional
penalties for breach of dnty, or pro
wide f0fthe attendance of officers to
prevent fraud and see that elections arc
legally and fairly conducted. Fifth
That the exercise of such power can
properly canse no cessation of regula-
lions or jurisdiction, because the au-
thority of congress over the subject is
paramount and snpersedes all ineon-
sistent regnlations,of state. Sixth
That there is nothing in the relation Of
state and national sovereignties to pre-
clude cooperation of both in the mat
ter of elections of representatives.
Seyenth-That congress has power I'M
der the constitution to vest in the cir
cult courts appointment of supervisors
of election. Eighth--That the pro-
vision Which authorizes deputy mar
shals to keep the peace at elections, is
not unconstitutional, and that the ma
tional government has the right to nse
physical force in any part of the United
States to compel obedience to its laws.
Ninth-Ihat the supervising power of
congress includes powerto compel state
officers of election to observe such state
laws with regard to elections of repre-
sentatiyes as congress may have loft
unchanged. The petitions for habeas
corpus and ccrtiorari are denied.
A similar decision was rendered in
case Of Augustus #. Clarke, an election
judge of the city of Cincinnati, in which
the question of the constitutionality of
the federal election laws was also raised.
Jnstice Field dissented from the
opinion of the court in both of the
federal election law cases, and read a
long opinion, in which he maintained
that it is not competent for congress
to punish a state officer for the manner
in which he discharged the duties i'm
posed upon him by state laws, as in the
case OF election Judge Clarke. The
ndicial power Of the government, he
,rgnes, is limited by the constitution
% cases in law and equity arising nm
Ter the constitution and laws Of the
United States, and to certain other
,ases Which the constitution enumer-
ties. 1T cannot be enlarged by CON
sross so rs to embrace cases not emu
nerated byt demonstration. Further
moro, the federal law to punish state
'iicerifor the manner in which he per-
ormsthe dutyiimposed upon,him bythe
tate, asserts o power inconsistent with
nd destructive of the independence of
he states in matters over which their
uthority has never been surrendered.
! the federal government can punish 1
collation. of the laws of the state, it
nay also punish obedience to them, and +
rade punishment according to its own
'dglnent OF their propriety and wis
ON. ltmaysthus exercise supervision T
yer legislation of the states siibyersive
I all their reserved powers. If the
sderal government can do this, the +,
NTH amendment lisa iclusion, and
nc states may lat anytime be degraded
the level Of municipal corporations,
visiting atthe llof congress- After
,me further remarks snpontthe charae-
y OF the federal legislation since the \,
~ and itslbcafing on reserved rights
states, jnstics Field says: that until
cent decisions intthc Virginia cases,
. could not have believed that the
'rlner carefully consitlered and re-
Gated judgments of this court luponlaa
ropositions Of constitution and ilponIll
e general character and purposes of ] !,
at instrument wonldlbe 'disregar,led !
% eoyerruled, but these decisions inI J,
e Virginia cases do in his Judgment !
institute q new departure, and with !
ltiintenllng amy tdisrespect to Ills as
ciates, Justice Field lis of the opinion
at the rules laid downin these and tl
the present cases, tend toward the 2
aversion Of sour federal system into it
consolidated and centralized govern 4
snt. Justice Clifford coneurs ii ms 2
e Fields opinion. q
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