The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1913-06-19
PAGE TWELVE THE y EFF
Militarism in West Virginia

virginia court reIorS TO aCLual Wdfs
to districts occupied by hostile
armies, to regions battle-stricken in
which the courts were no longer
open, to territories invaded or con-
quered by armed hosts. The one ex-
ception is that of the State of Colo
RADIO against the Western Federation
of Miners, and the record even here
has been distorted in its presenta-
ton. What Colorado did ii that
emergency was to sustain the civil
authorities by force Of arms. What
West Virginia has done is to sup
press and supplant the civil au-
thorities by force Of arms.
In the labored opinions by which
this court assumes to set aside hui
man rights and restore absOlutlsm
there is an amazing array OF quota
lions from the tyranny and bigotry
of the ages. We have citations from
many Tories, from the days Of Eliza
beth down. We have criticism OF
the United States Supreme Court
for it's 'fallacies" We have long ex-
tracts from the deliverances of
Advocates-General sitting in
drumhead courts in time of actual
war. We have attempts to stretch
even the vicious authorities that are
approvingly set forth. we have not
a word to show one of the most i'm
pressive facts in the history of Eng
disappearing peoples, which is that
there is not now and never has been
legally such thing as martial law
in regions where the courts were
open and the civil powers active.
The Constitution Of West Virginia
says that it applies Gin war and in
peace" and that amy departure
therefrom under the plea of neces-
sity tends to anarchy and despot-
ISM" that the writ Of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended; that trial by
jury is inViolable; that the military
must be subordinate to the civil
power; that the courts Of the State
must be open to all, and that "just-
ice shall be administered without
sale, denial Or delay" Falsifying
the facts as to the situation i'll
Kanawha county, the Supreme Court
of West Virginia, by it's DEGREES, has
violated every one of thes funda-
mentals Of liberty and civilization.
In comparison with such en- Offense
the disorders and assaults of the
striking miners, deplorable as they
may be, sink into mere braWls and
batteries.
Extensive powers have been con-
ferred upon the committee of the
United States Senate appointed to
inquire whether West Virginia has
a republican form of government,
but it should concentrate it's ener-
gies upon the strange aggregation
of reactionaries constituting the ma
jority of that States highest court.
Where have they received their in
struction? What absolutism is it
that they serve? What wretched
province in Russia or Persia or
Asiatic Turkey have they in mind
as a pattern? To what unco1scion-
able rescripts of Alexander, Caesar
or Bonaparte do they adhere?
The issue raised 0y this tribunal
does not bear alone upon the people
of KanaWha county or the people Of
West Virginia. 1t concerns every
inhabitant of the United States. If
republican form Of government
may be wrecked in one State it may
be wrecked in fOrty-eight States.
We do not hold our liberties subject
to the caprice of Governor or a
court. The rights that we possess
are not limited by considerations of
safety" which involve despOtism or
by pleas of necessity which are
Cloaks only for the dragonade. In
moving to assert the sovereignty OF
the National Constitution against
h. 90 l1I