The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-10
GOES ONT
A STARTLING INVASION
OF Rights Guaranteed to the PeQ4
pie by the Constitution.


!" All the tracks lead in the same direc-
tiOn."
The supreme court of the United
States recently made a decision, of
which that staunch republican organ,
The Dispatch, of ST. Paul, says:
''It was rendered by the latest ap-
pOintee to that court, who is an ex-
rebel, but it OverthrOWS the theOry.
advanced on behalf of the criminal.
that the state is an independent
commonwealth having all the powers
and prerOgatives of an independent
nation, except such as were conveyed
through the federal constitution to
the general government.
And this is something to rejoice
over! That the sovereignty Of the
states is overthrown, and they are
reduced to the condition of mere sub
ject provinces of the national govern
ment! And therefore if the enemies
of liberty can get possession of the
general government there will be mo-
bulwark left, behind which the
people can retreat for self-defense.
The true doctrine is for the voter to
keep government as near his hearth
stone as possible; ;-every remove in
creases the danger. The township
government is an absolute democracy:
the people meet and act direct upon
all questions submitted to them.
County government is one remove
further-say twenty miles. State
government is another remOve-say
three hundred miles. Corruption,
which hardly shows itself in the
county government, here rides ram
pant. But when you get to the
national government it is thousand
miles from the firesides Of the voters;
the voters are ploughing with plough
handles a thousand miles long, and
every mile adds to the responsibility
of the agents and the wrongs of the
government. Hence everything
should be turned over to the town
ship government that can be, and so
with the others; and the state should
be strengthened and defended from
the entertainments of the nation,
provided the process is not carried
to the extent of endangering the
nation in the exercise of it's constitu-
tional and conceded rights. The
doctrine of secession cast contempt
upon all state rights,-the pendulum
swung too far the other way-the
sober second thought of the people
must maintain the rights Of the
states.
Article X of the constitution of the
United States says:
'The powers not delegated to the
United States by the constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states,
are reserved to the states, respect
lively, or to the people"
And article TX says:
''The enumeration in the cOnStitu<
tiOn of certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people,
Hence the nation is formed by
1--WE, the people, inhabiting the
country; certain powers are vested
in or ''granted" to the general
government, taken out of the great.
reservoir of natural rights of the
multitude; and every encrOachment
of the creature (the nation) on the
rights of the creator (the pcople(
should be sternly resisted at every
point. To do less is to yield up self
government.
Since writing the above the SUI
premc Court has made another and
more startling invasion of the rights,
of the states and the people of the
states. 1t holds that the laws of the
states have no fOrce-are wiped out,
as to matters transpiring in those
states whenever an appeal is taken
to the United States courts. Even
the democratic organ, the st. Paul
Globe, denounces it with great head
lines: and declares that it is worse
than the old Dred-Scott decision, for
it is aimed at the right of the whole
people while that was blow at the
rights of black men alone. 1t looks
as if the corporations were ready to
cast down the scaffolding which con-
ceals the structure of despotism they
have been quietly erecting for years,
and reveal it in all Its horrors to a.
helpless people. No-not altogether
helpless as long as the peoples party
lives.
We shall discuss these matters fur
ther in our next issue. I. D,
Evidences of Promised PrOsperity.
The Midway News contains nine
solid columns. Of mortgage fOreclos-
ures and paper in Minneapolis, the
Saturday Evening Spectator con-
tains two full pages of the same sort.
of prosperity literature.
4 Money is the great engine Of force
that moves the car Of civilization. 1