National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-01-03
The Nations Power.


Tho magnificent Grafton of Rev. G. s
Smith, delivered in Chicago on New Year,
day, should be widely circulated. 1t tells tho
awful truth of tho tyranny and oppression t.
which the negro race is subjected in this nnt
Of boosted freedom, and IL is enough to brint
tho blush of shame to the checks even Of
those halfway republicans who assent to state
supremacy as against the nations promise Of
equal rights. The present condition of the
nogro--yea, and of his white friends--in the
south is as clearly unconstitutional rs chatto
slavery itself would be. The constitution o.
tho United States is the supreme law of tn,
land, and it declares negroes to DO citizens
But 1t Is trAmpled undor foot by the co called
best people Of the south, and the state author
tiles BY their silence gre ASSENT and SUPPORT
TO his rholesdlc denial Of the equal protection %
the loig. Our laws are obstructcd derded
and made Of no avail. The states where
these things exist are ms much in rebellion
against the government of tho United States
as they were in 1861. To fire gun at fort
is no more rebellion than to shoot down citi
zens OF the United States by state permits.
sion-and this is done at and before every
election. There has never been q day
since George Washington's administration
when such n state Of affairs
need to be submitted to by the
government OF the United States. The SUI
prcmc court has no more to do with IL than il
had about calling out the militia by Abra-
ham Lincoln of blessed memory to retake the
forts and other property of the United States.
The shooting of men for opinions sake by
bodies of men, under the auspices Of q politi-
cal party. and without let or hindrance from
state authorities controlled by the samo po-
litical party is not private murder, IT rs PUB
Lie WAR! The statute of the United States,
enacted in 1906, signed by George Washing
ton, never modified nor repealed, and now con
stituting section 529s of the revised statutes
Whenever by reason of unlawful obstruction,
cOHDlnulloHs OF usheuDlages VI pCTsOHs, TeOci-
ton ngains; the authority of the government OF
the United States, 1t shall! become mpracticable
in the judgment Of the president to enforce by the
ordinary course Of judicial proceedings the laws
of the United Stltes within any state territory,
It shall be lawful for the president to call forth the
militia OF any or all the states, and 10 employ
such parts of the land aud naval forces OF the
United states as he may deem noccssaryt TO enforce
the faithful execution of the laws OF the United
States, or to suppress such rebellion In whatever
state or territory thereof the laws of the United
States may be forcibly opposed, or tho execution
thereof forcibly obstructed.
Unless the walls of Fort Sumter were worth
more than the citizenship of over million of
voters, and unless the mutilation of flag
was more insulting to the nation than the dc.
fance and subverslon of its constitution, then
there was less reason for the use of fed
eral force in 1861 than there is during the
mock elections which are annually held in
portions of the south. If the nation makes
no resistance it will soon DO sukjugated.