The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-24
DAVID DAVIS AND THE SOUTH.
Why That Section VIII Not Accept Him as q
Presidential Candidate.

White Sulphur Letter in New York Herald.
ExJudge and ex-senator David Davis, of Hi
nos, is here. He is said to be- standing candi-
date for the Democratic nomination for the
presidency If the South has any voice in the
matter, Mr.. Davis will never get the nomination.
There is a story here which is now being quite
freely repeated. and which will forever shut Mr..
Davis out as Democratic presidential possibili-
ty. 1t comes from authentic source, and, In
effect, is that Judge Davis is directly
responsible for all the horrors inflicted
upon the South by the reconstruction
acts of Congress. These acts, it will be
remembered, divided the South into five mill
tary districts. each commanded by major
general of the army. They superseded all the
laws of the States, and made the will of the
major general absolute IN each State The sole
restriction on his authority was that he should
not infiict the death penalty without the APP
prevail of the President. These laws were the
authority for the carpetbag governments that
the Southern States had to endure and they
inflicted upon them a deeper wound than did the
civil war itself
one, reported in the 9TH or 9Th Walace-fell
under the ban of these laws. He applied TO the
Circuit Court of the United States for that dis
tr1ct for a writ of habeas corpus to discharge
MN, on the ground that the reconstruction laws
under which he was held were contrary to the
Constitution Of the United States The Judge of
the United States Circuit Court held the laws
constitutional, and refused to discharge him.
hIcArQle Lneu Appeared TO the supreme Court or
the United States, and his case was argued
before that court upon the question whether
the reconstruction laws were constitutional
After due consideration the Supreme Court
held by five justices against four that the re-
construction laws were unconstitutional and
void Judge David Davis voting with the ma
jority. The justice appointed to write the
opinion Of the court did So 1t was read on
conference day Saturday, to be delivered as
the judgment OF the court on the following
Monday This was in 1868, when the Republican
party had a large majorlty in both houses of
Congress. Before the following Monday, how
ever it curously leaked out that the Supreme
Court was going to declare the reconstruction
acts unconstitutional.
Monday morning came but before theiustices
vent into court there was a change-a very great
change indeed. A motion was made in their
conference room that the delivery of the judg-
ment should be postponed to the following
Monday. Four of the justices who concurred in
the opinion voted against this motion, while the
four who had voted for the constitutionality Of
the laws voted to postpone. Judge David Davis
left the five with whom he had voted and voted
with the other four to postpone. So the delivery
of the judgment was postponed till the following
Monday.
In the meantime bill was introduced into
Congress repeating the authority of the Supreme
Court to hear appeals in habeaS corpus cases. 1t
was rushed through both houses and passed IL
was vetoed by President johnson and passed
over his veto before the following Monday. On
that day the Supreme Court was compelled to
dismiss the appeal in McArdle's case, Jus tees
Grier and Field dissenting and protesting
against the outrage on justice and law. The
Southern States by this means became the
victims of all the terrible phases of RECONSTRUCT
ton, with all its carpet-bag horrors. And yet
David Davis is said to be standing candidate
for the South's nomination for the presidency.