, 1921-05-29
MUST PERFORM OWN POLICE DUTY.

Under our form of government the state fully con-
trolls its domestic affairs, maintains peace and good
order, manages all of its affairs in its own way, con-
forming in all things to the constitution and general
laws Of the federal government which as a compo-
nent part it upholds. The relations between state and
federal governments are cooperative, and of mutual
support. The general government does not invade
nor interfere with the local affairs of the state, and
it is only in the case Of crises, when the state is I'M
able to cope with the situation that the aid Of the
federal government is invoked. Even in these in
stances it il ,low to act. The state ia Jealous OF its
rights and powers and its dignity.
The -aost bitter debates in the congress have been
upon questions growing out of the respective rights
IF state and federal governments and their infringe
ment.
The matter is brought to mind in the refusal of the
federal government to send regular troops to quel the
disturbances in the coal regions of West Virginia and
Kentucky, on appeal of the governors. The federal
government calling attention of the state governments
to the fact that they must provide police or militia
protection of people and property and maintain or
der within their borders, and only in the event that
disturbance became SO grave that the state, having
exhausted its own means, was no longer able to cope
with the disorder, would the federal power feel justi-
fled in interfering.
Our history is full of instances where individual
states have Indignantly resented an attempt of the
general government to invade their local rights. The
very constitution itself would have failed of ratifica-
ton had not assurances been given that the First Com
gress would propose amendments certifying to those
rights That was done on September 90, 1888, when
the first ten amendments were submitted to the
States and subsequently ratified. In 1909 the state
of Pennsylvania went so far as to oppose by its mi
litia the enforcement of an order of a Federal court.
Just before the War Of 1912 the New England States
opposed the so-called restrictive system" In 1925
Georgia defied the supreme court in the famous
Cherokee cases. A few years later certain northern
states passed Personal Liberty Laws and obstructed
the operation of the Fugitive Slave Act. In 1882
South Carolina snullified" a Federal tariff law, thus
contributing materially to the situation that culmin-
ated in the Civil war. In more recent times the state
of Illinois resisted President Cleveland when he sent
Federal troops ento Chicago during the Pullman strike,
although he based his action solely on the fact that
the strike was interfering with the transportation of
United States mails.
Sometimes it has been the legislation, sometimes the
judicial and sometimes the executive branch of the
federal government that has provoked the states to re-
sistence to the authority at Washington. Always such
interference has tended to the destruction of our form
of government, and once it almost accomplished the
dissolution of the union.
It is very easy for a state executive, when there is
a disturbance of the peace, to call for aid from the
national government, which may have federal troops
encamped nearby. But that aid should never be
granted until the police power of the state has ex-
hausted its resources Not only is there danger of a
clash of authority in the one instance, but there is
the establishment of n precedent that is bound to re-
turn and plague us in the future.
In the case of West Virginia, there was no evil
dence that the state had exerted its authority to re-
store peace and order in its coal mining districts.
Rather would it appear that the governor became
panic-stricken at the renewal of the trouble and in
stead of using the power in his own hands he sought
the greater rower of the government, and with it the
cost and responsibility of putting down the riot. How
ever, by the levelheaded judgment of the federal gov
eminent its power was preserved within its own proper
sphere and the governor was forced to shoulder his
own troubles and perform his sworn duty.