She Cmtrc Sltwowal.
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DELLEFONTE, PA.
r The Lnrgtit, Cheapest and Best Paper
I'UUMSHXII IN CKXTKK COUNT*.
SPEECH OF
HON. ALLKN <i. Til I'll MAN.
Delivered at Columbus, Obio, en Saturday
Kvening, September i>, LS7'J.
T Mr. Prxsidkxt ami Fku.ow Citizens :
The persistent efforts of the Radical
leaders to destroy the plainest rights of
the States and of the people, and there
by to overthrow local self government
in the United States, will justify me in
asking your attention to-night to some
observations that have been repeated a
thousand tunes, and have therefore no
charm of novelty to recommend them,
but which can not be repeated too fre
quently if we would preserve our system
of government and the liberties ol the
people.
STATE RIfIBTS.
In the first Constitution of this State
it was declared : "That a frequent re
currence to the fundamental principles
of civil government is absolutely neces
sary- to preserve the blessings of liber
ty." And with equal truth it may be
declared, tbat a frequent reccurrence to
* the fundamental principles of our sys
tem of government is necessary to its
preservation and the preservation of lib
erty. The purpose of the Radical lead
ers to overthrow the rights of States and
the people, and to vest in the General
Government all the substantial powers
of government, is proved by act after
net of Congress, by numerous party
platforms, by a multitude of speeches
almost daily delivered, and by their de
nunciation of the plainest doctrines
upon which our system is founded, and
which in the better days ol the Repub
lic were seldom if ever questioned by
any public man. Let a Democrat use
the term "Sovereign State." and he is
forthwith denounced by the Radical
leaders and the Radical press as a nulli
lier or a secessionist. Let him speak of
the reserved rights of the people under
the Federal Constitution, and he is
forthwith denounced as assailing the
just powers of the Federal Government.
Let Congress pass laws in plain violation
of the Constitution, and the man who
questions their authority is assailed as
an enemy of the National Government
ami of the perpetuity of the I'nion. In
a word, in every torm in which it can be
manifested, those who govern the Radi
cal party have shown their intention to
, reduce the States to the mere category
of counties or townships, leaving them
no sovereign power* whatever, that may
not be overthrown at the will of a ma
jority of Congress; thus effectually de
stroying what the founders of our Gov
ernment considered its greatest merit,
the right of local self-government. Of
course, these enemies of our system do
not openly avow their purpose. Rut
whoever shall carefully scrutinize the
laws they have enacted, the doctrines
they have made, the denunciations they
have uttered, can not fail to discover
that purpose, and to tind that it aims at
nothing less than a practical destruction
of the Government of the States.
Now, my friends, let us consider for a
moment what is our sytem of Govern
ment, and then further consider what
would lie the result of overthrowing
local self government ami consolidating
all |>owers in the hands of the General
Government. We have in this country
two Government* —the Federal or Na
tional Government, whichever term you
prefer, deriving all its powers from the
Constitution ot the United States ; and
the Slate Government*, deriving all
their power from the State Constitutions.
The nature of this system was expressed
with admirable brevity by Chief Justice
Marshall delivering the unanimous opin
ion of the Supreme Court of the United
States , in McColloch vs. the State of
Maryland, 4 Wheaton, 420. Ife said:
"In America the powers of sovereignty
are divided between the Government*
of the Union, and those of the State*.
They are each sovereign with respect to
the object* committed to it, but neither
sovereign with respect to the objects
committed to the other." In the same
opinion, page 405, sjieaking of the Gen
eral Government, he *aid :
"This Government is acknowledged
l>y all to lie one of enumerated jiower*.
The principle that it can exercise only
the powers granted to it would seem too
apparent to have required to be enforced
by all those argument* which it* en
lightened friends, while it wa* depend
ing before the people, found it necessa
ry to urge. The principle is now uni
versally admitted. Rut the question
, respecting the extent of the powers
actually granted, is |erpetually arising,
and will probably continue to arise, as
long as our system shall exist."
In Texas v. White, 7 Wallace, 725,
Chief Justice ('base, in delivering the
opinion of the Supreme Court said :
"Rut the perpetuity and indissolubility
of the Union by no means implies the
loss of distinct and individual existence,
or of tho right of self govenment by
the States. Under the articles of Con
federation each State retained its sov
ereignty, freedom and independence,
and every power, jurisdiction and right
not expressly delegated to the United
States. Under the Constitution, though
the powers of the States were much re
stricted. still, all powers not delegated
to the United States, nor prohibited to
' the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the poople. And we
have already had occasion to remark at
this term, that 'the neople of each
Htate compose a Htate, having its own
Government, and endowed with all the
functions essential to separate and in
dependent existence,' and that 'without
the States in union, there could be no
such political body as the United States.'
Not only, therefore, can there lie no
loss of separate and independent auto
nomy to the States, through their union
t under the Constitution, but it may be
not unreasonably aaid that the preser
vation of the States, and the msinte
ance of their Governments, are as much
within the design and care of the Con
stitution as the preservation of the
Union and the maintenance of the Na
tional Government. The Constitution
in all its provisions, looks to an indo
structible Union, composed of indo
atructible States."
You thus see, my friends, that accord
ing to the highest authority, tho rights
of the States arc a* indestructible, it out
system of Government he preserved, iu*
are tho rights ot the Federal Govern
ment : that the one is just as sacred as
the other ; ami that he who assails the
plain rights of the States is just as much
an enemy of our s.Vßtem of free institu
tions as lie who assails the just powers
of tho Federal Government, Indeed,
so sensitive upon this subject were our
forefathers that within less than two
years after the organisation of the Fed
eral Government ten articles of amend
ment to the Constitution were adopted,
every one of which was intended to
limit tho powers of the possible preten
sions of that Government, and the ninth
and tenth articles of which expressly
declare:
'•Article IX. The enumeration in the
Constitution of certain rights shall not
be construed to deny or disparugo oth
ers retained by the people."
"Article X. The powers not delegat
ed to the United States by the Constitu
tion, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively,
or to tho peoplo."
Now why were our forefathers so jeal
ous upon this subject, and so careful to
preserve the rights of the States and of
the people? It was, among other
things, because of all the countries in
the world, America, for the preservation
of tlie liberties and prosperity of the
people, needs local self-government.
Should Congress continue successfully
its career ot usurpation until, practical
ly speaking all the powers of Govern
ment should be absorbed by it, what
would bo the necessary result? Then
the laws that would govern the people
of Ohio in regard to their domestic con
cerns would be made, not by their own
chosen representatives ill their own
midst, but by a Congress in which tho
State of llliode Island has as much
weight in the Senate as the State of
Ohio; by a Congress in which the six
New Fngland States would have six
times as much power, in the Senate, in
framing a law relating to the domestic
affairs of our State as • >hio herself would
have. Let no one, my friends, imagine
that such a state of things can never
come to pass. I myself do not believe
that it will come to pass ; but the rea
son of my belief is my faith in the |>ow
er of the principles of I'emocracy to
prevent it. Were it not for Democratic
opposition, it might couie to pass. The
forms of State Governments might re
main. Your legislatures might sit from
year to year, passing law* and levying
taxes, but their legislation would be
met slid controlled at almost every step
by the legislation of the Congress of the
United States.
Tho forms of the Roman Republic
continued to exist for centuries alter
every particle of Roman liberty bad
been destroyed. And so the forms of
our State Governments might continue
to exist after every substantial exercise
of local self-govi runient hud been over
thrown. Now. mark it, my friends, the
doctrine of State rights or, in other
words, local self government, for which
the Democracy contend, is wholly dif
ferent from the doctrines of nullification
or secession. The Democracy of the
North never believed in either of those
doctrines; they never believed in the
right of nullification or secession. And
until the breaking out of the civil wat I
believe it may be truly affirmed that a
large majority of the people of the
Southern States were also opposed to
those doctrines. It is true that when
the war broke out almost every South
ern man took side* with his section.
That was the natural consequence of
such a strife, which overwhelmed for the
time almost every dictate of sober rea
son. Rut, whatever may have been the
opinions of the Southern people before
the war, no candid man can deny, no
honest man will deny, that the South
ern people have abandoned the doctrines
of nullification and secession now And
forever. They have accepted the result
of the war as determining that no State
has a right to nullify the valid laws of
Congress and no State has a right to
secede from the I'nion. It is therefore
the baldest hypocrisy or the most de
plorable ignorance to pretend that
there is any danger of the revival of the
doctrine of secession. One great cause
that endangered the Union—slavery—
has ceased to exist. To re establish it is
a manifest impossibility. No man,
North or South, imagines that it could
be re-established. The Southern people
would be among the first and the most
earnest to op[>o*e such a measure. Their
political power is largely increased by
the emancipation of the negro, and they
are fast coming to the conclusion that
their material prosperity is likewise im
proved by the emancipation. It is not,
therefore, a fear of secession or of the
le-establishment of slavery that prompts
the Radical leaders to degrade and flit
base the States. The cause lies far
deeper than that. It grows out of the
long and never-ending effort of consoli
dated capital, sticking special privileges
by means of legislation; privileges that
the mass of |>eople do not enjoy. The
holder of Government bonds desires a
strong National Government in the tie
lief that such a Government would give
greater security And value to his bond*.
The mammoth railroad oorjioration,
running through many States, feels
restive under what it considers the
annoyances of State legislation. It
would greatly prefer to State charts*
or State licenses a National charter
rendering it independent of the States.
The National Rank interest with its two
thousand and odd twnks, destined, if
the system continue, to be tripled or
quadrupled in number in no long period
of time, looks with complacency on the
legislation of Uongress that has destroy
eu the banking institutions of the
Slates and given to the National system
a monopoly of the issue and profits of
bank paper money. The high tariff
protectionists and the seekers of subsi
dies alike desire a Government of almost
unlimited power to gratify their wishes
and foster their schemes. In a word,
almost or quite every form of concen
trated wealth, except real estate, de
tires, by construction or otherwise, to
add new new powers to the already tre
mendous powers possessed by the Nat
ional Government. Do not understand
me as saying that every roan of wealth
desires the annihilation of the Htate
Governments or their practical over
throw. There are thousands upon thou
sands of such men who are intelligent
enough to see that the preservation of
the right* of the States i* n**ential to
the maintenance of freedom and pros
perity anil i* one of the greatest safe
guards that can be conceived of the
Union it*elf. But on the oilier hand i
fear that there tire thousand* und tens
of thousand* of men in thi* country
wiio would prefer even a limited mon
archy to the form of (lovernment under
which we live. They do not believe in
the rule of the people j they do not be
lieve in universal suffrage; they do not
believe in the right* of the States ; but
tliey do believe in a strong centralized
Government, bucked by a standing
army and presided over or ruled by a
Chief Magistrate chosen for a long term
or even for lifu. They are too sagacious
to expect their hope* to be speedily
realized. They know that a govern
ment like our* can not bo subverted in
a day, but they also know that, even if
it* form be left untouched, it* essential
principle* may be day by day weakened
or destroyed until in the end it shall be
in *ub*tance and in practice the consoli
dated Government tliey desire. Hence
they favor and applaud every usurpa
lion of Congress and the President, and
regard with satisfaction every tiling
that tend* to weaken or destroy the re
served rigid* of the States.
TIIE ARMY AT TIIE l-OI.IJI.
My friends, I have *aid that the pur
pose ol the liadieal leader* to overthrow
local self-government i* shown, among 1
other things, by numerous act* of Con- j
gross. To speak of these arts in detail '
would require not one speech, but many.
I can riot, therefore, undertake that
task to-night. But there are some law* to ;
which 1 must a*-k your attention, not
only because of their deep reaching ef i
feels, but al*o la-cause they are promi- j
nently brought under consideration at -
the last two session* of Congress, and
are among the most prominent issue* I
now before the ]>eopfe. And first let
tne say a few words about the law en
acted in Febuary, 1*7., authorizing the
use of the army of the United State* to
keep the peace at the |>oll*. When
that law was enacted, the Government
of the United State* had been in exit- ,
ence for inoro than three quarters of a
century. We had passed through two
war* with foreign countries, and
through a civil war of four year*' dura
tion, and almost unequaleu in magni
tude in the annal* of mankind ; and
jet, during all thi* period, nearly
seventy six year*, neither in peace n-r
in war had it been deemed proj-er, or
even admissible, by our law-makers, to
use the standing army of the United
States to interfere in any manner in the
elections of the people. But when, in
l s n.'i, the Radical leader* resolved to
overthrow civil government in the
South, and to divide that jorlion of the
Republic into military departments, to
be ruled by five Generals of the army,
and to permit no elections, unless *an<-
tioned by those General* and supers i
ed by them, then thi* law authorizing
the u*e of the army at the poll* wa*
first enacted. How it was executed is
row a matter of history. It* profe*e<|
object wa* to preserve the peace ; ita
practical operation was to disturb the
peace. It i* said to l#e in the interest
of free and fair election* ; it was ued a*
an instrument of terror to destroy free
elections. And tin* commencement
being made in the art of bayonet rule
we soon saw a wider *coj>e given to the
employment of military fotce : we saw
lawful legislature* overthrown bv the
bayonetwe saw lawful State officers
kept out of the possession of their offices
by the same mean*; we saw usurping
legislature* and usuping Governor* in
stalled into office by the same instru- j
men I; we saw thousand* of our soldier*,
needed on the Western frontier* to pro
tect the people-from their savage foes,
kept in the Southern Slate* in order to
carry election* for the Republican par- 1
ty and maintain Republican* in the r
usurpation* of the State Government* ; 1
and all this, year* and year* after the
oiose of the civil war ; all this, at a time
when not one hostile hand wa* raised
against the Federal Government from
one end of the Union to the other. If
there were any justification for tin* law
while the Radical proces* of reconstruc
tion wa* going on ; while Congre** w*s
dictating State < (institution* and State
Government* ; while elections were held
under the supervision of Generals of the
army ; if at a time like that the law
could tie justified, what justification Ji*
there now, nine years after reconstruc
tion wa* completed, and when all the
State* are represented in the Congress
of the Union ? My friend*, there i* no
ju*tification for this law at all. It is
vain td say that it is a mere instrumen
tality to preserve the peace. No such
instrumentality i* needed. The people
of the United State* have been able to
preserve the jwace at election* ever
Rince the Government wa* formed a*
well, nay better, than it baa ever lieen
preserved in any other country of pop i
ular institution*. The only elTect of
the law i* to enable the President to
overawe the people who are opposed to
hi* Admini*tration. It make* the army
an instrument of party instead of being
what it ought to be, and what, consti
tutionally, it can only lie, the army of
the whole United States. It is a law
not only repugnant to liberty, but
greatly injurious to the army itself. 1
have never heard an officer of the army
speak of it except to deplore it* exist
ence. Why, my friend*, such military
interference a* our statute contemplate*
would not be tolerated even in mon
archical F.ngland for a single day. (if
thi* assertion the |>roof is ample and
conclusive. The Knglish people have
never assented to the u*e gf troop* at
the poll*. A* early as the reign of
Kdward I, a statute wa* pasted to pre
vent it.
Now, my friends, the Democracy at
the last session of Congress, did all that
was in their power to repeal the statu
tory provision authorizing the use of
the army at the |oll. For that purpose
we passed bill after bill, but they were
successively vetoed by the President
and thereby defeated. The General
Appropriation Bill for the support of the
army waatbus vetoed, the President, by
defeating it, declaring in effect that he
would let the army go without support
rather than lose the right to use it at
the times and placea of elections. Thus
thwarted by an unparalleled exercise of
the one man power, we had nothing
' f 'B for it* to do but to withhold appro
priations from the army when used at
tlie poll*. But tlii* remedy is, in it*
nature, but temporary, and may be too
eusily evaded by a hostile Kxecutive to
be securely relied upon. Nothing slio-t
of a repeal ol the obnoxious provision
will sutllce, and the queation whether
it ahull be repealed is one ol the great
<|Uc*lioi)H to be decided by tbe people.
This issue is made and Khurply defined.
'I he Republicans irt Congress, as well
as the 1 Resident, are opposed to the
repeal, a* their speeches and recorded
votes amply show. The Democrats and
Nationals are to a man in favor of the
repeal. What say you T If you are
tired of freedom and wish the ballot
box to be interfered with by the bayo
net, vote to keep tbo law upon the
stututo tiook. But if you still cherish
your liberties and wish to cast a Irel
and nutlumcn-led vote, inlawed by mili
tary force, vote to repeal it. And do
not imagine, my friends, tliat because
yon liave never Keen the jrfiJJs in-Colum
bus surrounded by troops, therefore
there is no danger tola- apprehend utl.
To say nothing of what lias occurred in
the .Southern .States, it is but a few
years since large bodies of Federal
troop* were massed in New York City,
upon election day, for tbe avowed pur
pose of executing the law we seek to
repeal. And if the people once become
accustomed to such an employment of
military force, and tamely acquiesce in
it, it will not l-e long before the inter
ference of the military will become far
more direct and i-lfoctive and far more
extended. The liart step* of despotism
are always stealthy, but each successive
step becomes more and more audacious,
until at length liberty find* itself in a
death struggle for exi*U-iire. The only
safe rule i* to re*it despotic power from
the very outset. The trite old maxim
that "Kternal vigilance is the prioe of
liberty," i* a true maxim —then; never
was a truer one. Therefore it is that I
appeal to you to speak out now, before
it is too late. Lot the voire thai come*
from your ballot boxes while they are
yet free, declare, in unmistakable tones,
that they always shall be free.
VAT! RAl.t/.ATION AMi XLE' TloS I.AM'.
I now turn to some other statute to
which your attention should be called.
But before doing *n it would be well to
refer to the hostility so long manifested
by our political opponent* toward tbe
peopb- of thi- country who are of for
eign birth. For it i* in part owing to
their Utility that these law* were enact
ed nnd are found upon your statute
book.
You have all heard of the famous Al
ien and Sedition I-a w enacted by the
federal Congrc-* eighty one year* ago
which gave to the President of the
1 nilod State* the power to bnnu-h at
hi* mere pleasure any alien whom he
saw fit to banish. The Uemocratic jar
ty of that day opposed tbe enactment
of thi* law with all it* vigor, and milh-"-
qiiently. by a mighty effort, succeeded
in repealing it. And the triumph of
Democracy in the election of Mr. Jeffer
son seemed for a time at least to have
put an end to any attempt to renew
such persecution. And, o long a* the
Democratic party retained power no
such sttempt wa* to )c seriously appre
hended. But the spirit of hrwtility to
the foreign born boi not died out ; and
hence within the life of the present
generation we ■>* the Know Nothing
party spring into existence as it were
in a single night and threaten to obtain
|Kmes*ton of all our Government*, State
and Federal. The Uemocracy, how
ever, proved themselves equal to the oc
casion, and thi* new attempt to revive
and put in practice the spirit of the old
Alien and Sedition I.aw, was signally
overthrown. When, however, the Re
publican party, after the first election
of President Grant, had the most abso
lute control of the Government that any
{-arty ever possessed—the President
•eing a Republican, nearly all the
Judge* of the Supreme Court and the
other Federal Court* being Republicans,
more than six sevenths of the Senators
being Republicans and over two-thirds
of the House of Represents!ives being
of the same party—tho Radical leader*
conceived it |>o*sible to once more a*ail
the rights of the naturalized citizen.
Thi* time the attack wa* made under
the guise of preserving the purity of
election*. The object was to bring all
election* under the control of < ongree
•ional law and Federal officers, and to
use the whole j-owcr of the Federal
Government and Iho Treasury, too, to
maintain the ascendency of the Repub
lican party. They began by the intro
duction of a bill professedly fo enforce
the provision of the fifteenth article of
amendment to the Constitution, and
that bill, originally introduced in tbe
House, after being greatly amended and
enlarged, was passed by both House#
and unproved by the President on May
.11, Ifflo, It is entitled "An act to en
force the right of citizens of the United
State* to vote in the several States of
this Union, and for other purpose*;"
and it contnins not less than twenty
three sections. 1 hsvn no time to night
to speak of this law in detail. 1 can
only say in a general way that it as
sume* to control the action of the elec
tion officer* of the Slates when perform
ing their duties under -State laws, and
to punish them by indictment in the
Federal < ourts and by numerous other
penalties for any violation of the net,
notwithstanding the existence of State
law* to punish tnem for the same thing;
thus inflicting ii|>on them a double pun
ishment—one under the laws of the
State and the other under thi* Congres
sional act. It creates a host of Federal
officers and employe* to be paid out of
the public Treasury for interfering in
tbe elections of the State*, and it seeks
to confer upon the Circuit or District
Courts of the United State* a right to
try contested election* in the case of
every office whatsoever, except that of
Klector of President or Vice President,
Representative of Delegate in Congress
or Member of the State legislature.
If thi* provision be constitutional, the
right of your Governor to hi* seat, of all
votir Judges from the highest to the
lowest, to their offices, of every county
and municipal officer, might be drawn
into litigation before onetof the Federal
District Judge* at Cincinnati or Cleve
land. But I need not dwell upon this
statute further. Some of its most ma
terial precision# have been declared by
the Supreme Court of the United States
to be unconstitutional, and the validity
of others has been seriously brought In
to question and will no doubt bo in like
manner tested. My principal object in
referring to tin* statute at all i* to show
the purpose of the Radical leader* to
interfere by Congressional law* and
Federal officer* in tho election* of the
State*. Having |>ui>*ed tlii* act, the
Radical leader* next turned their at
tention to the Nuhject of naturalisation.
They panned through the House of Rep
re*entative*, at the mime *e**ion, a hill,
No. 2,21)1, to amend the naturalization
law* and to punish crime* against the
name. In the Senate the hill wa* re
ferred to the Committee on the Judi
ciary, who reported u substitute for it.
To *ome of the proration* of this
substitute, which WOK earnostly pressed
for adoption, I want to call your atten
tion, for of all meaKure* ever introduced
[ into the American Congress hostile to
: the foreign-born citizen or denizen,
1 this Niihstitute wa* the worst. Had it
become a law it* plain effect would
! have been to greatly deminidi if not
put an end to emigration to this coun
; try. It would have made naturalization
altnoNl an irnf>os*ibility. It would have
, made the certificate of naturalization,
I oven when obtained, almost worthies*.
| Hy jit very first section it took from
every State Court the right to grant
certificate* of naturalization, and vest
<'d tiiat jower in the Circuit and Dis
trict Court* ol the Cnitcd State* and
liegit-r* in Bankruptcy, a* Commis
sioners, alone, 'the con sequence of this
provision, had it become a law. would
have heen to compel the person seek
j ing naturalization to travel possibly
hundred* of miles and incur a great
| lo** of tline and money m order .to
make hi* first declaration, and after
ward hi* tinal application. The hill
next provided "that any alien intend
ing to apply lor naturalization shall at
least one month before such application
file or cause toi>e filed with the f'lerk of
| Maid respective Courts or with the said
' < ommiwsioner ( Register in Bankruptcy j,
j to whom such application is to b<- made,
1 a notice that he intend* to apply, which
j notice shall be verified by the oatli of
- such alien, and shall state the time at
which such application i* to lie made,
the name of the town or place within
the State or Territory, or within the
District of Columbia, in which said ap
plication i* intended to be made; also,
where the applicant ha* resided lor the
year previous to such application, hi*
residence at the time, with the street
and number (in case he res dc* in a
place having street* named and house*
numbered i, and name and keeper of
the house in which he lives, the name,
age, occupation and nationality of the
applicant, together with a description
jot the applicant, age, height, complex
ion, color of the hair, color of the eyes
and any other distinguishing fact." The
object of this provision, with all its par
i ticularity, wa* to interpose another nb
slacie to naturalization by the trouble
and expense that the giving of notice
might impose, put principally by i-nx
I bling any fer*on whomsoever to inter-
I !<-re and oppose the granting of the
naturalization. For the bill went on to
provide "that the application must be
j tieard at the time if-coificd in the no
tiro, and that any |--r*on might con
test the application; that no affidavit*
should be admitted, and that any at
: torney-at-law should J-c permitted to
i cross-examine py applicant or bis wit
nesses, and to offer counter evidence
| conformably to the rule* of law; that
lor taking and filing a declaration of
(intention to become a citizen, the fee
• should be fifty cents ; for determining
whether the alien should or should not
{ be naturalized, # I.'MJ ; and for each
: day's services by any Commissioner in
j taking testimony, #<>: and for autlien
i Heated copies of proceedings in natu
ralization, the same fees a* in other
j cases, that of twenty five cent* j>er hun
dred words. And it further provided
that the fact of residence for four year*
and six months in this country should,
■ in addition to the oath of the applicant,
; l-e proved hy a citizen of the I'nited
States. And then, after all, if the ap
: plicant obtained his certificate, it wa*
declared that it should not 1-e effective
until six months hail elapsed after it
j wa* granted. Now, my friends, think for
j one moment what a man. seeking to
i liecome naturalized, would have had to
do, had that hill become a law. In the
first place, he would have hail In declare
his intention to become a citizen, not
in the State Court within a few miles of
his residence, but in the Federal Court,
pet hap* hundred* ol miles from hi* resi
dence. That is the first loss of time
and money to which he would have
! been subjected.
Next, at least one month before
making his application to !>c natural
ized, he must have filed the notice of
which I have s|>oken either in Court or
liefore one of the Commissioners of the
Court. That might subject him to a
second journey and further loss of time
and money. Then, when his applica
tion came on to ho heard, he would
have been required to prove that he
had resided in this country four years
and six month* by the testimony of a
citizen. He might produce men of the
highest character who were not citizens
to prove the fact; their testimony
would be rejected. Men upon whose
testimony a man might lose a life, upon
whose testimony the most important
projwrtv rights could lie decided.would
have heen utterly disqualified by this
bill, hail it become a law, to prove the
simple fact of how long a foreign born
man had resided in the United Stale*.
The hill was an insult to every man of
foreign birth, for it assumed that in a
case of naturalization the oath of an
alien could not be trusted. Ilia testi
mony might he taken in a case of mur
der, it might be taken in the greatest
property trial in the Courts, hut in a
cae of naturalization it should not he
taken. Such was the predion of this
hill. Its inevitable effect would have
been to make it impossible in many
cases far an applicant to prove the fact
of his residence. He could prove it by
the men who came to this country with
him easily enough, hut how could he
be exjiectod to prove it by a citizen of
the United States when he was a total
stranger to all our citiaens at the time
he landed on our shores! But there
was a still more deadly blow at natural
ization contained in the bill, which pro
vided that affidavits should toot be
received. Now, there is no statute in
the United States providing for taking
depositions in oaaes of naturalisation,
but it baa always been the practice of
thn Court* to receive properly authen
ticated affidavit* to prove any rniitemd
fart, such a* the b-ngih of mldrncr in
tli't*. country, or Ilia 1 ik*>. There is
nothing novel in thin, for it is the com*
toon practice of Courts to receive affi
davit* on the hearing of mere motion",
and an application lor naturalisation i*
I a motion to he adrnitW <1 to citizenship.
But hy forbidding the uw< of affidavit*
the hill wouhl, in a vast rmiltilu'le of
cnaes, have made it practically impossi
aible for an applicant to prove the
length of hia residence. The only per
aona hy whom he could prove when ho
came to the I'nited State* might live in
another and a do taut Slate. If he
could not uae hia aflidavita he could not
procure hia naturalisation, unleaa, in*
| deed, he could procure their personal
■ attendance at a coat of hundreds of
j niilea of travel and of their reasonable
| compensation. But this w.-i* not all.
j'l he applicant might be ready and
' have hia witnesses in attendance when
; any one might interpose and contest
j the application. Any pettifogging law
' yeremployed bv a Know Nothing Lodge
|or moved hy hia own vindictive feel
| ings, might go to work to examine and
I cross-examine the applicant, and for
! the purpose of continuing such ex*
| animation and the taking ol teatimonv
the Commissioner might adjourn the
hearing Irorn day to day, receiving six
dollars for every day he sat. It waa es
timated hy some of the Senators in the
: debate upon the bill that the averago
coat of naturalisation, should the hilt
become a law, would not Ire lea* than
one hundred dollars a case. But let us
suppose the applicant succcslul and
the certificate granted and the six
months which were to elapse before it
should he effective, expired. Then you
would think all hi* troubles were at an
end. But not at all; for the bill pro
vides that at any time thereafter a Dis
trict Attorney of the I'nited States
might drag that uiau into the Federal
< -ourls to show- cause why hia ccrtifi
| cate should not be revoked.
Now, it may be asked, why do I dwell
so much uj>on this hill, or rather the
substitute of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, since the substitute failed
to liecome a law ? I do so for two
reasons : first, to show what kind of a
measure a large number of the most
distinguished Republican leaders were
I anxious to adopt; and in the next
place, to show that the election laws of
which we complain and this Know-
Xotbing anti naturalization 'bill were
twin brothers ; for then you will bo
better able to coroj rehend how it is
that, in the execution of the election
laws, they have been turned principally
against the naturalized citizen.
Having failed to destroy naturaliza
tion by the bill to which 1 have re
ferred, they now seek, by a corrupt and
tyrannical execution of the election
laws, to throw every jsossible obstacle
in the way of the naturalized citizen's
right to vote. The j impose to thus use
| election laws disclosed itself the mo
ment the substitute billot which 1 have
spoken was defeated. That, a* I have
said, was prono ed as an amendment to
the House bill. As soon as it was voted
down, the Senator who had the bill in
charge moved two additional sections
to it : one providing for Suj>erviors of
Flections, and the other providing as
follows: "And be it further enacted,
that in any city having upward of
twenty thousand inhabitants, it shall
| be lawful for the Marshal of the I'nited
I State* for the district where such city
| sball be. to ap(>oint as many special
deputies a* may be necessary to pre-
I serve order at any election at which
Representatives to Congress are to le
! chosen ; and said deputies are hereby
authorised to preserve order at such
; elections, and to arrest for any nflcnsn
or breach of the peace committed in
I their view.''
The bill thus amended passed both
Houses, and WBS approved by the Presi
dent July 11th, ISO. This bill was the
entering wedge for the enactment of
the voluminous Congressional laws that
| have since l>een passed. It introduced
j the I'nited States Deputy Marshals
upon the scene, under the pretense of
preserving order at the elections, but it
i stojijied far short of the power* con
j frrred U|on tbem by the subsequent
| acts, to which I will shortly refer.
At the next session of <V>ngre the
Radical loaders returned to thechsrpe,
and by the act approved February *2l,
1871, containing twenty sections, set up
( the vast machinery of Federal interfer
ence in the elections of the people that
, now exist. This act provides for a
I Chief Supervisor of Flection*, for two
! other Supervisor* in each district or
j voting precinct in any city or town
! having upward of twenty thousand in
habitant*, ail to be ap|>ointed by a Fed
eral Judge; and it then confer* upon
the I'nued State* Marshal, on the aje
plication of any two citizens of any
such city or town, power to aiqioint aa
many Special Deputy Marshals as he
shall see fit to aid and assist the Super
visor of Flections k> keep the |>eace, to
*up|>orl and protect the Supervisors in
the discbarge of their duties, to pre
vent fraudulent registration and fraud
ulent voting, or fraudulent conduct up
on the part of any officer of election,
and with iower to arrest and take, into
custody, with or without process, any
person who should commit, or attempt
to offer to commit, any of the acta or
offenses prohibited by the act, or any
offense against the laws of the I'nited
States; provide! that no person should
b* arrested without process for any
offense not committed in the presence
ol the Marshal or hi* general or s|>ecial
deputies, or either of them, or of tbo
Supervisor* of Flections, or of either of
tbem. And for the purpose* of arrest
or the preservation of the peace the
Supervisors of Flection, and each of
tbem. should, in the absence of the
Marshal's deputies, or if required to as
sist such deputiea, have the same duties
and powers ss Deputy Marshals. And
it is further provided that the compen
sation of Deputy Marshals shall be at
the rate of five dellars per da/ for not
exceeding ten days. Tm> tremendous *
powers conferred by this law u|wm
these officers Supervisors, Marsh sis.
and special deputies —cen not l>e under
stood without a reference to the entire
statute and the multitude of offense*
that it create*. It interfere* with the
registration of voters and with the
election, and undertakes to punish Hi#
[(bnHnunf on M