THE DAILY tiVxSNINc TELEGRAPH PHILADELPHIA, SATURDAY, MAY 27, 187i.
SriRIT OF TUB mRS3.
KSXTOBIAL OPINIONS Or THE LEADING JOTOHA.L8
WOK O0BBKNT TOPICS COMPILED ETEBT
DAT FOB THS KVENINO TELEOB1PH.
DEMOCRATIC BABES IN THE WOOD.
From tht K. Y. Time.
Senator Schurz will doubtless feel muoh
? ratified by the fact that the Democrats of
enosylvania have taken him np and "in
dorsed" him. The longest of all the resolu
tions which they passed at their convention
on Wednesday is devoted to him. Indeed,
most articles in Democratic papers, or resolu
tions at Democratic conventions, begin with
these words: "As Senator Scharz says, we,"
etc., etc The glory of a true Republican
must be to furnish Democratic politicians
with ideas, seeinp that they have none of their
own. They are sheep without a shepherd,
and bleat loudly for a leader. At present the
Democratic party is living upon the crumbs
which fall from the table of Senator Schurz,
or which are thrown to them by a few "ad
vanced" Republicans of the same school.
The New York Expres which is, after all,
a more satisfactory Democratic journal than
many others of greater pretensions says to
the Republicans, "The Democrats are not
such fools as to play into your hands, by per
mitting you to make principles or platforms
for them." Nevertheless, that is precisely
what the Democrats are doing at this mo
ment. Mr. Vallandigham's propositions
amount to this "Let ns go and dress our
selves np in the Republicans' clothes, and see
if we cannot pass ourselves off for the real
Simon Pure." Vallandigham has tried fight
ing against the irresistible long enough, and
he now says, "It is all of no use. Let us
pretend that we are on the same side as the
enemy." Some of our contemporaries the
Springfield liepublican among them
are frequently urging us to enoourage
this spirit in the Democrats. They
think that Democrats ought to be invited on
to Republican ground. So they ought but
it is all dream-land which these happy
family Republicans see before them. They
might as well say, let us sjt down together
and order in the millennium. The Democrats
only want to float into power on the Repub
lican corks, and then they would cut loose
soon enough. The great and insuperable dif
ficulty before them is that the policy which
might win them the North would certainly lose
them the South. They cannot furbish up a
programme which would be equally satis
factory to both sections of their party. This
is what will ruin them in the Presidential
contest. The terms which alone would be
acceptable to the North would be rejected
with bitter indignation by the South. The
leaders foresee the danger, and all their
skill is now applied to the preparation of a
soothing mixture, which can be offered alike
to the man who fought for the Union and
the man who fought for secession. Count
Cagliostro himself would have been puzzled
to concoct Buch a draught, and the Demo
cratic quacks have thus far had all their
doses thrown in their faces.
Failing the discovery of a satisfactory nos
trum, the Democrats naturally fall back upon
the old line abuse of the President. Even
this horse has lately broke down under
their weight. Somehow or other, reckless
calumnies of General Grant do not seem to
"take" quite so much as they did. The
President has gone on very quietly with his
work, doing his duty with absolute delity
disappointing a Fenton here and there, and
making enemies because he will not be
"bullied" into the disposal of offices but
doing all that he can to encourage necessary
reforms, to settle old standing disputes with
foreign powers, and generally to leave a good
record behind him. The Fenton organs do
not like him, but the people do. The
Fentons vow implacable hostility, but the
people inwardly despise this sort of
warfare, and will estimate the President
by his acts rather than by the abuse of
his enemies. Even the ultra Demooratio
journals perceive that the President
' is rather benefited than injured by the
incessant slanders heaped upon him. The
Cincinnati Commoner, that tine specimen of
the surviving Copperhead, remonstrates thus
with its Democratic friends: "Why ignore
the fact that Grant, whenever measured by
any true standard, is a much safer man than
Sumner? All the impulses of the latter are
false. Grant's are right in many things. Why
attempt to create the impression that Grant
has no ability at all, when events prove the
reverse? Do you suppose all our people to be
purblind?" Here we have very wise talk from
an apparently unpromising quarter. The
course of the Administration has been of a
good, sound, common-sense, and prosperous
character, and the squeals of the Fentons, no
matter from what State they hail, cannot
blind the people to that fact. The publio will
judge General Grant by results, and not
weigh him in the scales of angry and disap
pointed politicians. Meanwhile, the babes
in the wood will go on trying to find their
way out, and making a sorry mess of the
attempt.
CURSE YE, MEROZ!
From the K. Y. Tribuite.
The descendants ef John Knox and his
brethren in Philadelphia have assuredly not
forgotten their ancient battle-cry, "Meroz,"
being still, as of old, the Scarlet Woman on
her seven hills, whom they by no means agree
with Carlyle in writing down an extinct Satan.
This sect our readers will romember as the
one who lately brought themselves before
the public in their dispute with Mr. Gerge
H. Stuart anent the diabolical proclivities of
hymn-Binging. The synod is now in conven
tion in the City of Brotherly Love, and occu
pied, as a synod of any religious body should
be, in discovering for the world evidences of
God's watchful care of His children, and
subjects of thanksgiving for His infinite
mercy. An ordinary spectator would suppose
that out of the national history of the past
few years, with its chartered judgments and
vast results of moral power, a history in
which each man there present had his share
of thought or feeling, 0iUe for gratitu1e
might have been found; that indeed they
need have gone n further thau the soft
spring sunshine and the bud oa the green
waving branches outside of the church win.
dows to know that God still held the world
secure in the hollow of His hand, as in the
day when He first smiled upon it and pro
nounced it good; that out of thee simple
daily miracles, if they went no farther, they
might have carried home lessons to' their
people of the love of our Elder Brother to
ns all, the evil as well as the good, and the
infinite charity taught thereby.
But onr reverend friends were in no mood
for suDbhine or spring buds aad blossoms,
any more than for universal brotherly love.
After a short glanoe over the world's history.
they appeared to find nothing had occurred
worthy of commemoration before or since,
the days of Knox, and consequently formed
themselves Into a committee of the whole,
and resolved, that this Churoh, represented
in General Synod, return their devout thanks
to God this day for the life and labors of the
great Scottish reformer.
J) 6 gustibiu, etc even in the matter of
saints. This saint was an honest Christian,
nd eealous, if narrow and crude; and we
would suggest - that a republication just now
of his famous philippic "Against the ungodly
regimen of women over the country," might
be seasonable and wholesome. The synod,
however, fell back from John Knox on to
the consideration of the "Massacre of St.
Bartholomew," which was, as everybody
knows, a brutal and terrible tragedy enough.
Why, however, it should remain, in the eyes
of certain otherwise healthy and sensible
people, a perpetual blood-spot to
make them color-blind to all
other phases of history, passes ordinary
comprehension. The synod proceeded to
resolve that they rejoiced in that the tri-cen-tennial
anniversary of this feast of horrors
would occur in 1872, and finally, in solemn
conclave, pronounced that the blood of the
paints massacred on that day was at last
avenged, while, by request of the synod, a
solemn prayer of thanksgiving was offered
that Paris had met her deserts. However
consolatory it may be to human nature to
curse Meroz, it appears to be a still more
grateful task to rejoice that the curse has
fallen.
It requires an eye as keen as Knox's own,
perhaps, to trace the connection between
starving and murdered wives and babies of
Parisian workmen to-day, and the bloody
cruelties committed centuries ago by the De
Medicis and the Guises; but our reverend
friends speak with oracular authority of the
ways of Providence, and it becomes us to be
silent. But are their own skirts quite clean
of the blood of the innooents ? If due-bills
for murder can thus be brought in against a
Church after three hundred years have passed,
and blood for blood be required with interest,
ought they not to be looking into the doings
of their progenitors when they, like Cathe
rine, were drunk with power ? There is that
massacre at Tredah, nnder Cromwell, yet un
paid for, as bloody as St. Bartholomew, and
only shorter in duration because the supply
of victims gave out sooner. That of the
Pequqd fort in Connecticut, burned when
filled with sleeping men and helpless women
and children to the music of resounding
Covenanting hymns? Can it be that our
friends of the Philadelphia Synod have yet to
pay with their respectable lives for these
grisly dances of death in long-ago ages ? Or
are they in this, after all, the most trust
worthy interpreters of His doings who sees
not as man teeth, and whose ways are not as
our ways?
THE REAL CENTRALIZATION.
From Every Saturday.
It is a statement frequently made that a
fearful centralization is going on in our
Government which threatens to paralyze
the States and destroy individual liberty.
Like most alarming; outcries, it seems to
us to have but a semblance of justification.
Hamilton remarked in the Federalist: "The
operations of the Federal Government will
be most extensive and important in times
of war and danger; those of the State
governments in times of peace and seourity."
If he bud foreseen a war, not of the ordinary
character, not such as the Union actually
encountered before the present generation.
but one waged by btates themselves against
the Federal Government, how muoh stronger
would he have made his statement ! Con
curring with Madison in the saying that the
Union was not a monster whose members
controlled its head, he would have vindi
cated the general exercise of powers by the
Federal Government which was assumed
during the war of the Rebellion. That Gov
ernment, in a sudden and chaotic crisis, was
called to save the life of - the nation. The
machinery provided in the Constitution for
ordinary exigencies was inapplicable, or was
thrown out of gear by the secession of eleven
States. ' The nation fell back on its inherent
powers, nsing the forms of law, following
precedent wherever it could, but confronting
the peril at all events; and it succeeded. In
so doing it showed itself strong where even
the most acute and disinterested critics, like
De Tocqueville, had pronounced it weak.
Undoubtedly that was a centralizing process;
but its results were of two kinds: those which
were temporary or which will reour only with
the return of a similar crisis, and those which
have entered into the working character of
the Government.
What, then, is the permanent centraliza
tion which is supposed to have originated
with the present era? In a word, it is tha
increasing predominance of the legislative
branch of the Government. When the war
of the Rebellion came on it was found, as
has been well said, that Congress was the
driving-wheel of the Government engine,
while the will of the people was the motive
power. The Judiciary was powerless, the
Executive could do but little more than
await legislative action. And so it continued
throughout the war; and the lesson that was
then learned, which England was centuries
in acquiring, will never be forgotten, and
the result will be to make Congress the
predominant force in our Government, as
Parliament is in the British Government.
We know there are those who imagine that
the Executive has been gaining on the other
departments, and that the real centralization
is there. No greater mistake is possible.
The President of the United States is not
near so powerful in our political system as he
was even a dozen or fifteen years ago. Bu
chanan, who was much weaker personally
than Grant, carried through the Leoompton
iniquity, which was much more obnoxious
than the San Domingo projeot, which Grant
was obliged to drop. Perhaps it will ba said
that the removal of Mr. Sumner from the
chairmanship of the Senate Committee of
Foreign Relations is a proof of the power
and interference of the Executive with the
legislative department; but the failure of
the main Bcheme, of which Mr. Sumner's
removel was but an incident, shows thtt
the latter - event was chiefly owing
to other and probably personal causes,
existing in the Senate itself. How the Presi
dent fares in a direct issue with Congress,
even where he is strongest, as in tha control
of patronage, may bo seea in the Tenure-of-Office
law, with which President Johnson was
lassoed. In whiohever direction we turn, in
fact, we see this same process of legislative
ascendancy going on. Does the Supreme
Conrt render a decision adverse to the action
and views of Congress ? The court can be
reconstituted and enlarged by Congress, till
the decision is reversed. We do not say that
such was the history developed by the reseat
legal-tender decisions; but we do say that
the example shows what em be done ia such
exigencies, and the mere faot of ability oft in
answers every purpose of its eier
Jioa. In Mr. Fisher's thougbt
fnl work on "The Trial of the Coasti
tntion," Rreat stress ia Jaid upon the prac
tical Inefficiency of the fifth article that pro
viding for amendments f the Constitution.
B'noa tha book was written the author has
doubtless had occasion to see ia this very
weakest part of the Government, at he had
considered it, one of the strongest proofs of
the controlling power of Congress, which
consummated the three last constitutional
amendments and recast the Government, by
requiring the rebellious States to ratify the
amendments as among the conditions of res
toration to the Union. In short, Congress is
the section of the Government which is
clothed with practical ability which does
things and consequently it draws to itself
the forces of sovereignty and must go on in
creasing while the other branches are de
creasing. In pursuing this investigation it might be
shown, we think, that not only is Congress
gaining on the co-ordinate branches of the
Government, but the House of Representa
tives is gaining on the Senate; but it is not
necessary to be thus minute. It is more to
the point to glance at the necessity and the
safety of this general process. Without its
inauguration it is perfectly char that the na
tion could not have been rescued from its
recent peril. The Government, as previously
operated, was like an old-fashioned man-of-war,
powerful on its broadsides, but exposed
to raking fires and to boarding, especially if
disabled at the helm; while now it resembles
a tnrreted iron-clad, with its guns nnder
ready control and equally effective in any
direction. This adaptability gives an
impression of greater accession
of power than has actually happened, and we
think it will be found on examination that
the States and the other branches of the
Federal Government have not been divested
of any attributes really essential to the wel
fare of the people, and that Congress has
assumed none that are dangerous. It has
certainly attempted no such pretensions as
the Supreme Court judges quietly put forth
n the Dred Scott decision, which affirmed
hat this Government had been adminis
tered on wrong principles for seventy years
and that no barriers could bs erected
spainst the national spread of slavery.
There were no outcries then about centrali
zation! And yet that decree was made
without aay impulse from the people, by
men who held life offices, and it was claimed
to be irreversible in its nature. Congress,
on the other hand, comes directly from the
people, and goes back to them again at short
intervals, and is never free from the popular
presMire. If any branch of the Government,
therefore, can be safely intrusted with in
creased power, it is the legislative. Further
securities against abuse are found in the vast
and increasing extent of our country, which
will render any deleterious kind of centraliza
tion, like that of the French political system,
utterly out of the question; and also in the
character of our people, whose impnlses,
training, and experience make them more
and more the haters of everything in the
nature of absolutism. But they do see that a
government, like all other instrumentalities,
to be worth anything must be efficient, and
they are taking care that ours shall be.
CANADA.
From Harper's Wet kly (edited by G. W. Curtu).
The present political situation and pros
pects of Canada make the opinion of that
country upon the treaty of Washington a sub
ject of peculiar interest. The Canadian
member of the commission, Sir John A. Mao
donald, is a man of unquestionable ability,
and he would not be likely to assent to any
terms which would be injurious to his
country or to the government party of whieh
he is the leader. For the very reason, how
ever, that Sir John is a leader of that party,
and has assented to that treaty, it is op
posed by the opposition. But that tae
advantages of the arrangements pro
posed are not all upon one side is evident
from a careful study of the document, and it
is to be hoped that no serious opposition will
be finally shown in Canada, for the sake of
good feeling hereafter. If the concession of
the mutual freedom of the fisheries, and of
the free trade in fish and fish-oil, should ap
pear to be onerous upon Canada, the United
States will pay a difference, to be deter
mined, and the money so paid will, of course,
be left with Canada by the British Govern
mekt. Bat there are general reasons why
Canada should view the treaty as kindly as
possible.
The policy of the British Government is
colonial freedom. The troops have been
wholly withdrawn from Canada, and the
country is recommended to form an army
for itself. The feeling of the British Cabinet
is unmistakable, and it has probably the sym
pathy of the country. The Marquis of
Normandy, indeed, lately made a speech
upon his departure for Queensland as
Governor, in which he said that he hoped
the links between the colony and the mother
country would be more closely drawn than
ever. The spectator says that Lord Kimberly,
the Secretary for the Colonies, who was present,
must have been rather astonished, because, it
adds, this has not lately been the wish of the
Foreign Office. The Spectator, however,
thinks that it is the sentiment of Great Bri
tain, but it differs from authorities quite as
competent to measure that sentiment. What
the Tories might do, should they come into
power, is not certain, but it is very evident
that separation is the policy of Mr. Glad
stone's Government. 'The solitary link that
now binds ns to the mother-land," says the
Hamilton Timet, "is the appointment by
England of our Governor-General." And it
is rumored that Lord Lisgar, the present
Governor-General, will be succeeded by a
Canadian appointed by the home Govern
ment; if, indeed, the Canadians should not
be authorized to elect a Governor. '
The independence of Canada, therefore,
must be considered imminent; and perhaps
the only serious perplexity in conceding it at
once prises from doubts as to its subsequent
relations with the United States. There is no
general desire in the country for annexation
tons. The Canadian is an extreme English
man in feeling. The traditions of the mother
land and race are very powerful with him.
Besides, every thoughtful Canadian sees with
apprehension the ferocity of our politics,
and the corruption which threatens ns.
He may also very naturally imagine
that as an independent and virtually republi
can country, Canada may avoid some of the
defects which experience has disclosed in oar
system. Becoming independent, therefore,
with no wish for annexation, the important
question with Canada is the tone of publio
sentiment in this country. Is it hostile or
friendly ? Would Canada have anything to
fear from aggression npon our side ? Would
any party, for instance, to secure the Irish
vote, advocate a policy of forcible annexa
tion? That there has been ill feeling npon our
Bide towards Canada is true. It arose fraui
the peouliaily bitter tone of the Canadian
press during the war, and from the use of
Canada as a base for Rebel raids. But this
feeling baa very much passed away, and every
sensiLle citizen of this country knows that
the Fenian incursions from our side have
balanced the account of forays. The Fenian
fury, however, was not directed against Ca
nada Itself, but against Canada as an exposed
flank of England. If Canada were separated
from England, and quietly pursued her
course as an independent neighboring nation,
although the question of ultimate union
would undoubtedly be entertained upon both
sides, the result would be left wholly to time.
Any threat, any hint of coercion, would not
only properly alienate the nnited sentiment
of Canada, but it would encounter the reso
lute opposition of the intelligence and honor
of this country. If, therefore, apprehension
of danger from the United States delays the
accomplishment of Canadian independence,
it may be peremptorily dismissed as chime
rical. But if this be the present situation, it
would be unfortunate that the treaty should
be endangered by Canadian opposition. Here
is an opportunity which is seldom offered to
great nations, and still more seldom improved,
of restoring harmony to the English-speaking
countries, and thereby securing the more
satisfactory development of free institutions.
Here is a treaty which is evidently the work
of men honestly seeking a fair agreement. It
Is not the result of a contest of jealousy nor
of any unworthy emotion. It is not the set
tlement of a war in whioh a victor treats with
the vanquished, and it is therefore not liable
to be disregarded at the first favorable mo
ment. It is a treaty in which civilization it
self is interested in whioh all sides have
made concessions, in which, consequently, no
one has gaired unfair advantages, and which,
for that reason, each party should try to
ratify, not so mindful of possible obiections
which each might urge as of the benefits
which all secure.
RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.
From the I . Y. Ration.
An esteemed correspondent asks us to an
swer the following questions: "Has a citizen
of the United States, as such, any rights
within the several States, and if any. what
rights? What would be 'appropriate legisla
tion to enforce sucn rights: We will reply
as briefly as possible, but shall not go over
ground with which we have already made our
readers laminar, ine uonstitution, as origi
Daily adopted, assumed that the status of citi
zenship existed independently of that instru
ment, but it nowhere defined this condition,
nor described the rights and immunities
which flow from it; it rather took them for
granted as beiDg involved in the very notion
of citizens and citizenship. Undoubtedly
citizenship implies a duty of protec
tion on the one side correlative to the duty
of allegiance on the other. It seemed best to
confer upon the several States the function of
actively administering this high duty in re
spect to personal liberty, seourity, and the
enjoyment of property. To the State govern
ments was therefore allotted the primary.
and, with the exception immediately to be
stated, the exclusive control of all matters
pertaining to the domestic and civil affairs of
the citizen, aJl matters relating to the proteo
tion of life, person, liberty, and property.
But while the grants to the States were thus
so large, and were unrestrained by any ex
press limitations, except by the provision that
"the citizens of each State shall be entitled
to all privileges and immunities of citizens
in the several btates, and by the pro
visions respecting bills of attainder, ex-post
facto laws, and laws impairing the obli
gation of contracts, they were nevertheless
held and were to be exercised nnder a most
important implied limitation, growing out of
the fundamental facts of an essential nation
ality and of citizenship independent of the
Constitution, and out of the residuum of duty
left in the General Government to afford final
protection to citizens. This implied limita
tion was as follows: All citizens being free
and equal, they must remain so before the
laws of a State; they must be left by those
laws in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and
property; they must not be subjected to any
discriminating or elass legislation. In other
words, while the field of active legislation in
reference to all private and civil matters was
left open to the States, and was primarily to
be occupied by them alone, they were impli
citly forbidden to make or enforce any
law wnicn snouid abridge the privi
leges or immunities of citizens of the
United States, or to deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property without
due process of law, or to deny to any citizen
the equal protection of the laws. In our
opinion, a State statute whioh violated these
implied prohibitions was null and void to
exactly the same extent and for exactly the
same reason that a bill of attainder or law
impairing the obligation of contracts was nul
and void. The first section of the fourteenth
amendment was therefore declaratory of the
meaniBg 01 tne Uonstitntion, and introduced
no new principle or rule. We conoede that
this position would not have been aoquiesced
in prior to the war, which kindled the slum
bering sentiment of nationality into a clear and
steady flame, but it is now accepted as oorreot
by all who, like ourselves, regard the United
oiaies as essentially a nation, and its organic
law as framed by the one people thereof. In
it we find the authority to enact the Civil
nights bill, which was so grand an idea m
tne development of the national idea. What
ever doubts may have existed prior to the war
in respect to the rights of citizens and the
limitations npon the legislative power of the
Mates, they have all been removed by the
first section of the fourteenth amendment,
which has simply put into a positive and
express form what was before inferential and
subject to the varying interpretation of Con
gresses and courts.
The result is that, citizens beinar free and
equal, each one has, as against the State in
wnicn he may be that is, as against the State
acting in its organio capacity the right to
remain free and equal to his fellows. The
State is organically represented by its leerisla
ture, which alone wields the portion of sove
reignty entrusted to it; the State acts organi
cally by its legislature, and through its laws,
and in no other manner; the implied restric
tions of the Constitution which we have men
tioned, and the express restrictions of the
fourteenth amendment, are in terms ad
dressed to a State exercising its function of
law-making. The oitizen has, therefore,
nnder the fourteenth amendment the right,
s against a State, that no laws shall be
passed by its Legislature, or enforced by its
officers, which abridge his privileges or im
munities as a citizen, which deprive him of
life, liberty, or property without due prooess
of law, or which deny to him the equal pro
tection of the laws, ne has thus a right, as
against the State, that his life, liberty, or
property shall not be taken from him by
virtue of State authority, in any other man
ner than by a regular course of judicial pro
ceeding, and that all laws which affeot him in
his private and eivil capacity shall affeot htm
and all other citizens alike, without discrimi
nation or class distinction. Under other pro
visions of the Constitution, he kas a
right, as against a State, that its legisla
ture shall pass no bill of attainder,
ex-pott-facto law, or raw impairing the obli
gation of contracts, which may operate npon
his life, person, liberty, property, or agree
ments. Tha effect of tha eeoond Motion of
Article IV is simply to make these several
rights effective as against all the States of the
Union, instead of confining their operation to
the single commonwealth in which the person
may reside. While the citizen is clothed with
th ese rights directed against a State and re
ferring to its legislative action, to its high
function of law-maKing; while he has a right
that the State laws shall protect him in the
enjoyment of all the immunities which are
based upon the fundamental facts of his free
dom and equality, be has no Jural right that
is, no tight which can be made the
subject . of legislation, . or which
can be taken cognizance of by the
courts egainst a State in reference to
the due administration of its proper and valid
laws by its executive and judicial offioers.
e wisn to dwell npon this proposition with
emphasis. A confusion in the minds of legis
lators and of the publio in reference to this
very suoject lies at the foundation of tne
Force bill. The proposition we have thus
stated must be maintained by all those who
wish to preserve the nationality of the Union
and the supremacy of its Government, and,
at the Bame time, the principle and practice
of local self-government in respect to all
things local and private. We repeat, there
fore, that when a State has passed laws in
agreement with the fundamental facts of
freedom and equality, its organio legal duty
to the Constitution and to the citizen is dis
charged ; the Constitution can no
longer be invoked to compel
its action, and the citizen has no iural
right as against it that these proper laws
shall be duly administered by the exeoutive
and judicial officers. That this must be true
is seen at once, when we consider that if such
a right exists at all it can have no limit; if the '
citizen has such a right in respect to the due
administration of proper laws, it cannot stop
short of requiring absolute perfection ia the
course of administration, which would be
simply impossible. When, therefore, the laws
of a State are proper, the citizen has no jural
right, as against the State, that prosecuting
and police officers shall be vigilant in acts of
prevention, of inquisition, and of apprehen
sion, that grand juries shall be ready to find
indictments and petit juries to convict, that
judges shall be quick and stern to punish.
All this is beyond the reach of the United
States constitutional sanctions and, we
may add, of State constitutional sanc
tions. We desire, npon this point,
to be exactly understood. By jural right
is meant a right which can be the subject-matter
of statutory enactment and of
judicial cognizance. The citizen, beyond all
question, has rights or we should prefer to
say privileges in respect to the due admin
istration of the laws, but they are political,
merely, and not jural; they are held by him
in connection with all other persons, and are
to be maintained and enforced by him
through the ballot-box, and by means of a
public opinion which he helps to create.
This is a necessary incident of all govern
ments, and especially of those which are re
publican and representative. If the good and
valid laws which legislatures have enacted
are not duly administered, there is no legal
remedy to be obtained either from Congress
or from the State governments; redress must
be found alone in a change of officers through
the ordinary processes of election and ap
pointment. So much of the responsibility of
government does the organio law leave with
the people themselves as the final depositaries
of power. It is hardly necessary to state that
we do not here refer to the exceptional cases
of positive corruption or maladministration
in office, where the offenders become liable
to the ordinary punishments for crime or
to impeachment. The first question is
thus, as we believe, plainly and accu
rately, though briefly, answered. We
have not referred to rights whioh may flow
from the fifteenth amendment, because none
of our readers need be told that the electoral
capacity does .not belong to any person
merely by virtue of his being a citizen of
the United States. What has already been
6ii id suggests the ready answer to the seoond
question. The language used by our corres
pondent shows that he has the fourteenth
amendment in mind. The phrase "appro
priate legislation" is used in the last three
amendments, and nowhere else in the Consti
tution. In the present connection, such
"appropriate legislation" must relate to the
rights which, though originally implied in
the organio law, were first expressed in the
first section of the fourteenth amendment.
The nature of these rights, as alreaiy de
scribed, tells what legislation is appropriate.
In the first place, no legislation at all is neces
sary. All the various constitutional pro
hibitions directed against particular aots or
classes of legislation, either by Congress or
by the States, exeoute themselves. Being
negative and mandatory in their form and
effect, any statute passed in contravention of
their requirements is simply pull and void.
The remedy for their violation is judicial
rather than legislative. It has never been
thought necessary for Congress to pass
statutes in aid of the three important pro
hibitions which are found in the tenth section
of Article I, and whioh protect life, liberty,
and property by forbidding the States
to pass any bill of attainder, ex.
post-facto law, or law impairing the obli
gation of contracts. The new prohibitions
of the fourteenth amendment stand upon
the same basis as the old ones, are similar in
form and nature, and, like them, are to re
ceive their force and sanction from the
courts. Congress may clothe tha national
tribunals with ample jurisdiction over all
cases arising nnder such invalid local laws,
and the citizen will thus be fully protected
from their unjust and injurious effect. Se
condly. If the Legislature of a State should
place npon its statute-book any law whioh
violated the provisions of the fourteenth
amendment, and which thus infringed the
rights of citizens as above described, Con
gress might, beyond a doubt, declare all acts
of State exeoutive and judicial officers,
and others, in enforcing such laws,
to be offenses against the United
States, and make them cognizable in
tha national courts. We express no opinion
npon the question whether the State legisla
tors themselves, who enaoted tha invalid
laws, can, in like manner, be made amenable
to judicial sanctions. In aooordanoa with
this doctrine, the Civil Rights bill, in its main
features, was a proper exercise of the autho
rity conferred upon Congress. Thirdly. In
no case can the United States interfere with
violations of State laws by individual
offenders. In no case can Congress oonfer
upon tha national courts jurisdiction over
criminal acts of violence done by one or more
pereons acting singly or in concert against the
private .civil rights of life, liberty, person,
and property, which belong to all citizens
alike. A fmtiori, in no case can Congress
make the defaults, deficiencies, and laxities of
State executive and judicial officers, in duly
administering those State laws which are valid
and proper, offenses cognizable by the
Courts of the United States. In tha fore
going wa do not, of course, include the very
exceptional instanoe of domestio violenoe
within a State, whioh is specially provided for
by the fourth section of article IV. We have
thus answered tha questions fully, though
briefly, and, as wa trust, with precision and
accuracy. The subject is a broad one, and a
complete treatment ef it requires that tha
naked propositions which wa have stated
sometimes without the connecting links of
thought should be carefully illustrated and
amplified. "T"-
OAS FIXTURES.
NO STORE ON
CBESNUT STREET.
C0RI1ELIUS & SOUS'
RETAIL
SALESROOMS,
821 CHERRY St.
CAS FIXTURES.
MEDIOALi
This wonderful medicine enres all Diseases and
Pain, InclndiDg
KHKUMAT1BM, NEURALGIA,
8T. VITUS' DANCE.
OHILLK AND FEVER,
by electrifying and strengthening the entire Ner
vous fcjstem, restoring the lnspnslble perspiration,
and at once giving new life and vigor to tne whole
frame. ONK TRASPOONFUI. WILL CUHB TUB
WOtST HKA.DACUE IN A FEW MINUTES.
New Tout, March 1, 1ST0.
Having seen the wonderful cura'ive etfects of
Watts' Nervous Antibotb in cases of approaching
FaralyslH, severe Neuralgia, Debility, and other
nervous diseases, I most heartily recommend Its use
as a most valuable medicine. Yours truly,
t. M. MALLORY, M. D.,
No. 481 Fourth avenae,
4 19 wsmtf Sp Corner Thirty-second street.
NATURE'S REMEDY.
Jhe Great Blood Purifier
a valuable Indian compound, for restoring
health, and for the permanent cure of all diseases
arising from Impurities of the blood, such as
Scrofula, Scrofulous Humor, Cancer, Cau.
crrous Humor, Erysipelas, Cancer, Salt
Rheum, Pimples and Humors ou the
Face, fleers, Coughs, Catarrh,
Bronchitis, Neuralgia, Rheu
matism, Pains In the Side,
Dyspepsia, Const I pat ion,
Costlveness, Piles,
Headache, Dizziness, Nervousness, Faint
ness at the Stomach, Pains In the Back,
Kidney Complaints, Female Weak
ness, and General Debility.
This preparation Is scientifically and chemically
combined, and so strongly concentrated from roots,
herbs, and barks that its good elfecu are realized
Immedlutely after commencing to take It. There la
no disease of tne human system for which the Vkuk
tinb cannot be used with 1'Bbkkcts afbty, as It does
not contain ary metallic compound. For eradicat
ing the B stem of all impurities of the blood, it has
no equal. It has never failed to effect a cure, giving
tone and strength to the Bjstem debilitated by dis
ease. Its wonderful etfects npon these complaints
are surprising to all. Many have been cared by the
Veobtinb that have tried many other remedies. It
can well be called
THE GREAT
BLOOD PURIFIER.
FRBPARED RV
II. R. STEVENS,
BOSTON, MA88.
Price 8125. Bold by all Drngglats., 4 89 gw9t
WHISKY. WINE. ETCU
"yiNES, LHtlJORS, ENGLISH AND
SCOTCH ALES, ETC.
The subscriber begs to call the attention of
dealers, connoisseurs, and consumers generally to
his splendid stock of foreign goods now on hand, of
bis own Importation, as well, also, to his extensive
assortment of Domestio Wines, Ales, etc., among
which may be enumerated:. '
600 cases of Clarets, high and low grades, care
fully selected from best foreign stocks.
luu casks of bherry Wine, extia quality of finest
grade.
loo cases of Sherry Wine, extra quality of finest
grade.
sc casks of Sherry Wine, best quality of medium
grade.
8 barrels Senppernong Wine of best quality.
60 casss Catawba Wine "
10 barrels " " medium grade.
Together with a full supply ol Brandies, Whiskies,
Scotch and English Ales, Drawn Stoat, etc, etc.,
which he Is prepared to f urnlsti to the trade and coa
Burners generally la quautltlm that may be re
quired, and on the most liberal terms.
P.J.JORDAN.
BCtf No. S20 P Alt Street,
Below Third and Walnut aid above Dock street.
carITtairs McCALL,
Ko. 126 Walnut and 21 Granlto Sts.,
IMPORTERS OP
Erasdiee, Wines, an, Olive Oil, Eta,
WEOLESALB 3JIALEK3 IS
PURE RYE WHISKIES,
IN BOND AK TAX jArP. Mi
ESfABLISUED 1844.
VM. M. CHRISTY,
Blan) Book Manufacturer, Sta-
tloner and Printer,
Xo. 187 S. TflsUO Street,
Opposite Olrard Bank.
tweod?
T AIJ1KS' HLM.Ji IIAIU EMPORIUM
No. 7 I TENTH Street.
Uaviug opened anew and splendid store for the
accommodation of .be ladies who desire Cne UAIH
WOKK, the best Uent that can be procured Is em
ployed in tht) hue busUiess, who have had twelve
ears' experience B Prance and Germany, nuking
up sll the rarious designs of UAi P1COM COMU
j NO 8, wUcli Born have the presuulptioa to claim aa
their uieiitiona.
The ability of 1IS8 WEIKS in HAIR DRESSING
la acknowledged ty ar lists la the business to stand
nnrlysUed. 4 lawitftj a. p. W&K.
fISIflllll
s