Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-12-16
stralning the Constitution.


---- -----------------------
StrnIning the Constitution.
1t seems to be very difficult to make
the esteemed Tribune understand quite
simple propositions. We have endeav-
ored to show that the Blair Educational
bill. and bills suggested by President
Harrison for investing Federal Courts,
Marshals, Deputy Marshals, jurors and
witnesses with an inviolability not pos
sessed by other citizens of the United
States, and taking the election ma
chinery of the States into the hands of
the general government, are centralizing
in their tendency; and take US back to the
days of old John Adams and his rancid
old Federal party, which was spewed
out of it's mouth by the people of the
United States. Thereupon the esteemed
Tribune reproaches US for going away
back into past ages. Jess 30! The
Republican party having gone back to
the days of Hamilton We are obliged to
follow it and lash it for its bour-
bonism. We clearly pointed out the
difference between the general govern
msnt donating lands within the limits of
State to that State for purposes of
education-an act which is deferential
recognition of the sovereignty OF State
and which really extends its jurisdiction
-snd the unwarrantable taxing of the
people Of Oalifornis, for instance, to
educate the illiterates of Maine and
Louisiana. If our contemporary cannot
see the difference between two such radi-
cally different propositions it is probably
its misfortune rather than its fault.
It recalls the incident related by Bos.
we'll Of DR.. Johnson, on a certain inter-
esting occasion. Having given q very
clear exposition Of the grounds for o
thesis he had advanced, and finding that
he had made no progress with his in
terlocutor, the Doctor at last lost all
patience, and exclaimed, "I have given
you reason, cir, I'm not obliged to fur
nish you with an understanding"
It is very bard for some Republicans
to understand the true democratic sim.
plicity of our institutions as most hap
PLY formulated by Thomas Jefferson.
That great statesman's theory OF the
constitution was that the general govern
ment should do nothing that the States
could do, the State nothing that the
county could do, and the county nothing
that the township could do. There was
the true exemplar of the American sys.
tenn. The Republican party during the
war was 90 used to wrestling
the constitution to it's partisan
purposes by unwarrantable Interpretation
of general provisions that it is hard to
bring it back,to the line of sound, demo.
cratic precedent. No man at one time
stood higher in the councils Of that
party than Chief Justice Chase. Him
self the author of the MEASURE creating
greenbacks, when he went on the su-
preme Bench he wrote the opinion,
in Bronson VS.. Rodes, that pro-
nounced the issuance OF greenbacks
Unconstitutional. The Republican party,
with Grant at it's head, we're equal to the
emergency. They Immediately passed
bill adding two judges to that tribunal,
the Messrs. Bradley and Strong, and the
opinion of Chief Justice Chase and q
majority of the court, as it was then con-
stituted, was reversed, and Col. Tom
Scott, who engineered the matter, was
enabled to pay the obligations of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company to its
foreign creditors in greenbacks, which
were then at big discount. Bradley came
in handy afterwards as, when sitting as
a member OF the Presidential Commits.
sion in 1867, he was enabled to de-
clare the fraudulent Hayes President.
Mr.. Harrison belongs to the unscru-
pulous and centralizing wing OF his
party. His message is redolent with the
reactionary absolutism from which his
party was on the fair road to recovery.
The people see this very clearly, how
ever purblind our esteemed contempo-
rary may be.