The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-02-21
A Judicious Restriction,

A Republican organ laments that if a
civil war should rage in a state, the
United States is powerless to interfere,
though hundreds of lives might be lost.
1t is to be hoped that readers of such
opinions will not be led to suppose that
they are genuine Republican ideas. They
simply amount to fault finding with the
Constitution. If that instrument needs
repairing there is d proper way to amend
it. We have not heard of any prominent
Republican who advocates putting such
dangerous power IN the hands of the
President as to march an army into a
sovereign state of the Union, under the
preteXt Of settling a domestic difficulty.
No one seems DESTROYS of Offering an
amendment to the Constitution for that
purpose for the action OF Congress and the
country. No such proposition was made
when the Republican party was in control
of all branches of the government.
The necessity of Federal aid in a do
mestic difficulty in state is to be deter
mined by the legislature of the state, OF
by the governorif the legislature is not in
session. That is wise provision in the
Constitution. It is necessary to preserve
the autonomy of the several states. To
permit the national executive with the
national army to go into a state and reg
ulate its internal affairs. would be to open
the way for the destruction of our present
system of government. Each state, like
each family, should be allowed to settle
its own difficulties, unless it finds itself
unable to do so and calls for assistance
from superior power.
Persons who seem to desire the invest
ment OF the national government with
monarchial powers seem to forget that
the President of the United States might
be as strong a partisan as any Governor
may be, and that the Congress might
be as biased as any state legislature may
be. sThe peace and dignity of the ma
tion'' are not injured when the national
government keeps out of local troubles,
but they might be seriously involved if
the nation was to interfere in the domes-
tic broils of state.
How would a Republican state like to
have Democratic administration, when
some local difficulty occurred with Demo-
Gratis, to have the national power exer-
cised, without any call for aid from the
legislature or the governor, for the benefit
OF the minority who of course would be
the party in danger? We can say, con-
fidently, that Democrats do not want
Federal interference in state under any
circumstances except according to the
provisions defined in the Constitution of
United States.
In Kansas, whether the Populists were
right or wrong, there was no occasion for
Federal interposition. If there had been
actual civil war and the state authorities
had found themselves unable to cope with
the emergency, either the governor or
legislature would no doubt have called
on the national government for aid and
then it could be legitimately rendered.
But no one who fully understands the
genius Of this government and the price
less value of liberty, would desire to see
such power placed in the hands of the
President as would make him virtually
an emperor, and place at his mercy the
integrity OF the several states that make
up this glorious Union. The constitution
in this particular is right as it is and
there need be no lamentation over its re-
strictions.