People's party paper. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1891-1898, 1892-08-12

ana Cner0 is no question ABOUT JnaU. |
Why do we not demand that the law
shall be enforced against the individ-
ual who employed those troops? What
ever Offense citizens of the United
States may have committed as an or
ganized body of w0rkmen associated
for certain purposes, whether they
were right or wrong, does not concern
the question that no citizen or private
individual or foreign subject or power
of any kind in this country, under our
form of government, has authority to
levy, maintain, support, or use trained
and disciplined body of armed men.
The Constitution itself defines the diff
ference between a combination to re-
sist the execution Of the law and COM
binatiOn or riot or assembly of disOr-
derby persons, and the maintenance of
a troop, an organized force, or ship
of war, because these are the instru-
ments of an assertion by force of will
and purpose of some other than the
lawful authority. What palmer usur-
patton can there be than that a man
employs an armed force, whether it be
organized by an individual or by
State? The Constitution says treason
against the United States shall cnnsist
in levying war against them, or in ad-
herring to their enemies, proven
by two witnesses to the same overt
act" An individual shall be the sub
ject of the crime of treason if he shall
usurp the authority and power Of the
United States to organize a troop, to
provide navy or ship of war-it need
not be commissioned ship of war for
hostile purpOses-that that is assum-
ing jurisdiction and power, and the
exclusive function of the United States,
Chlef-Justice Marshall decided, leav-
ing us no excuse upon that subject, in
an exhaustive examination, the reason
ing of which can not be disputed. In
the case of Aaron Burr he decided that
thirty men, levied here and there and
| assembled upon Blennerhasset Island,
within the jurisdiction of q State, as
here, was treason, because it was pro
posed by Aaron Burr to usurp the au
thOrity and power of the United States
and fOrcibly execute his own will and
purpose in another and a different
State. Where, then, is the difference?
1t can not be found by the most acnte
reason. The full protection of the
p ace and order Of society and Of prop
erty rests in the execution Of this
scheme Of Government, that he who
proposes, by standing army, or a
troop, or a ship of war to carry out his
own purposes, be they right Or wrong,
shall be held amenable to the sovereign
power of the Government.
Senator Morgan of Alabama:
The plan by which this new force has
been brought into effective operation
! frequently in the United States is vio-
lative of all the theory of our Govern
ment. It is that the private citizen has
the right to enforce the law in his own
way and by his own agents, employed
where he pleases, and introduced into
State or into a community at his own
expense and armed according to his
own wishes. The theory of the Govern
ment of the United States in all of it's
parts, in the District of Columbia, in
the Territories, and in every State of
the Union, is that the people govern
| themselves, and when the laws Of the
| United States or of any State are brOk-
en- or are threatened to be violated,
| there is in the first instance nece5sa-
ry and logical appeal to the people of
the community for the maintenance of
those laws. Whenever we commence
by employing the police organization,
| the pinkert62 organization, and the
militia forces, and wind up by employ
ing the United States forces, to enforce
the laws of State or of the United
States, having omitted entirely an ap-
peal to the body of the people, we COM
mence upon wrong principles and at
the wrong end, and disaster is certain
| to result. This is not only Govern
ment of laws, Mr.. President, but is a
1 (Hnroru ov7f hoe L. 70 hoS ~
execution ultimately and primarily
upon the posse cOmitatus, the body Of
the people. Whatever the difficulties
may have been at Homestead, what
ever may have been the reasons which
originated the very serious troubles at
! Homestead, there is one thing obvious
chat exacefbation of the trouble, its
climax, arose from the fact that foreign
men, men from other States, who came
as was alleged, from the slums Of the
different large cities of the Union
toughs and vagabonds, were hired at
IS day to go there, and supplied with
ammunition, to take possession OF
works where the Homestead people
contended that they had right to be-
Whether their contention was right or
wrong makes no difference; the trou-
bic came from the fact Of the imp0rta-
! ton into that community Of strangers
and foreigners armed for the purpose
of enforcing the law. If the people OF
Homestead under the laws of Pennsyl-
vania had been as completely and
thoroughly organized as a posse conf
tatus, as it would have been entirely
possible and practicable to do, that diff
| ficulty at Homestead would never have
occurred. It would have been pre-
vented by the weight and influence of
law within the body of that cOmmuni-
ty. The men at Homestead are good
set of men. They are intelligent above
the ordinary people of the country
compared with the number who
are assembled there. They have
been faithful and diligent in bust
ness, economical and frugal. They
have been maintaining all of the
civil institutions of the country,
including the churches, Sunday
schools, libraries, and all manner of
benevolent institutions. In fact it was
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