The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-29
rhe President,s Florida Order.

The order OF the President, through the
Attorney General. to the marshal of Flor
ida, printed in the MORNING NEWS on Sun
day, is an outrageous one. The President
knows very wei that the people OF Florida
are law abiding, and that they will will
ingly respond to the processes Of any court
that is disposed to deal out even-handed
justice. If any Of them have resisted arrest
it is because they have been afraid to ap-
pear before a partisan court-a court which
they had good reason to believe would not
give them fair trial, bnt would use every
means to convict them. whatever the evil
dence might be. They knew that an order
had been sent ont for partisan jurors, and
they knew also that partisan grand jury
had found indictments against them. The
impression was widespread, aud it was
based upon such facts as the foregoing,
that if the indicted persons appeared for
trial their cases would be heard by juries
packed to convict, and that they would b.
railroaded, as it were, 70 the penitentiary.
Under these circumstances is it to be
wondered at if those against whom in
dictments had been found kept out Of the
wondered at If their friends sympathized
with them, and looked upon the court and
its officers as their enemiesa
If the President had been disposed to be
fair and just, and to do what was right, he
would have given the people of Florida
court i'll which they could repose the utmost
confidence, before he began talking about
using force in arresting the victims of a
partisan jury. He would have appointed
a judge, clerks and marshals who would
follow the law strictly, and who
would not countenance partisan per
secution of any kind in the slightest degree.
Instead of doing that, however, knowing
as he did that pending indictments were
found by grand jury composed of twenty
three republicans out of twenty-four men,
bers, and that the judge, jury commission
ers and clerks were regarded as bitter par
tisans, he ordered that the indicted persons
should be arrested and tried, and that force
should be used if necessary to accomplish
that object.
Does cot this look as if the President also
had a political object in view, viz, the
making of political capital for the use of
his party IN the north9 Every one of the
indictments found by the partisan grand
| jury ought to be not. pressed or quashed,
grand jury constituted as the law requires
ought to be summoned, and the cases of the
persons charged with violating the laws
brought before it. In the event of the
finding of new indictments judge in whom
the people have confidence should be ordered
| to the district court for the Northern dis
trict of Florida to try them. Had the
President taken this course ne would have
had no occasion to issue an order threaten
ing the use of force.
| He is responsible for the condition of
affairs in Florida, because his partisan Off
cials brought it about. Influenced by par
tisan feeling, they thought perhaps to make
unoffending citizens of Florida feel their
power. They were not so successful as they
probably expected to be.
Even now it is not too late for the Presi-
dent to adopt the wise and proper course.
Let him recall his order, recognizing it as a
mistake, and let him say frankly that he
intends that the people of Florida shall be
dealt with justly. If he should take that
course, he would find himself respected. and
all difficulties in the way of the enforce
ment of the laws removed.