Year: 1867




in ravipg article headed The Supreme
Court Checkmated," says:


"The peoples will is the omnipoteut Jaw.
Before it must bow Presidents and Courts.
Whatever the temporary distractions TO its
execution, oil will yield in due time. Eng
land demonstrated this truth when Charles
the First's head was brought to the block,
and James the First abdicated to save his
upon his shoulders France demonstrated II
when Louis the Sixteenth yielded his life at
the demand Of q baffled populace. II may
be reserved for America to add to the list Of
notable precedents through the obstinacy Of
executives and the prostitution Of the judi
ciary."


The implied threat Of the block at whole
sale in the above Is only calculated to excite
derision, but there Is in the paragraph an
echo Of the sentiment that Is deluding some
Of the so-called statesmen OF this day 10 an
extent that may prove dangerous to the ma
tion. The late Republican Convention Of
Connecticut reiterated the axiom that in a
republic the only sound basis Of the Govern.
ment is the consent Of the governed. Have
the people Of the United States ever elected
Congress with view to its overriding the
executive department and the Judiciary Of
the nationH On the contrary, does not every
intelligent voter in casting his ballot for q
member Of Congress say, mentally, 1--WE send
these men to the national Legislature as our
best choice under the circumstances, but II
they should prove recreant, or weak and in
competent, the charter Of our Government
provides that any action Of theirs dangerous
to the body polite and inimical to the Con-
stituton may be restrained by the Executive
and the Supreme Court" The Congressman
who has gotten his seat by fair voting, or by
shook or crook" must not imagine the peo-
pie have invested him with powers that are
not to be amensble to any check from the
Supreme Court. At any rate, no election
has ever yet been held on such an issue, and
until such revolution takes place we had
better preserve the Supreme Court.


The omnipoten. will Of the people may be
all right for Mr.. Alderman SLACK, Of the
Commonwealth, in Boston, but in New York
the people have elected, in one Of the dis,
tricts, a prize-fghter, (who, by the way
J would doubtless make a safer member ol
Congress than the writer Of the paragraph
quoted above) But suppose the people
should, through some influence or other,
elect 4 Congress, the majority Of whom
should be bad men, would not even Mr.
SLACK, in such an event, want q power at
hand to restrain the Congress The people
who elected JOHN MoRRIssEY and the people
who elected CHARLES SUMNER were aware
that whatever they might attempt to do, or dc
undo, or to misdo in Congress, certain safe
guards are provided which limit their action
to certain bounds The will Of the people
is the omnipotent law, and the people have
never yet willed that Congress should alter the
machinery Of our Government, and the editor
Of the Commonwealth has much more labor
to perform before he can bring about rev.
olution Of that kind. When the people want
| to revolutionize and reconstruct the form Of
government under which we have prospered
beyond parallel, under which we have con.
tended successfully with foreign nations in
the field, under which we put down gigan-
tic rebellion-when the people desire to make
essential alterations in the plan Of this Gov
ernment, they will take the matter into theil
own hands, and not depend upon er pos
fdcto laws, manufactured by Congressional
caucuses and committees, and forced through
the halls Of legislation before the country
has had an opportunity to consider them.