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Show I THE BROKEX BULWARKS. jPr9htonor (lir Constitution That I Hare Been Violated. ' Corrpo!"ceof the DrEnr.r Ntws b greateramounl or legal learning learn-ing than any American ciUaen cf ordenary Intelllcann tiiay easl-ly easl-ly acquire Seeded in orJer to enarro&Jiersou to. comprehend the elementary principles" of the ConiU-I ConiU-I tutlon of the United State. The philosophy of constitutional Uw U a branch of politics fccicncc which n.utrr-VSdy on the iart of him frfiio would becomii a proficient ex-pounder ex-pounder of it; but the simple guar-antees guar-antees of llbcrtr coatalnul in Uie basic law of this country can be understood aud appreciated by Uie common people as well as by the learned and profound lawyer, or the able statesman. 1 am ap Anei!in citizen of Uie class to believe with Uie late Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, that In the maintenance of strict consUtuUona' morality lies Uie safety of a republic By consUtuUoaal morality is meant conformity to the rirlfc5pteVnd if ":,bc)'ex;elt.as''aD5crQUs.from political standpoJot, for a free people to trcepaaa ujion the charter oftnelr liberties, as it l, Jroma religious re-ligious standp.int, for a man to violate Uie decalogue. I Uiere-tore Uiere-tore lew wlUi forbodlngs of a gjoomy character, the apaiheUc ln-,;0i"lt!!-?i B uUer Uck of ltriot-tou, ltriot-tou, WIUi which the American peo-tesuOer peo-tesuOer Uielr national chsrttr to be tornJnto ohredsv. TbshAwthat this expresvlon K not tso strong to appropriately describe de-scribe the process which the American Amer-ican Constitution has b-en for ome years asslnr through, I will uake a few notations from it, and Met W Uie action of the government govern-ment In reference to Uie principles :IteI. I will make my quotations n Uie order in which they appear nUie instrument, rather than in iccordancewith the chronological 'rderin which Uie events to be poken of occurred. .. . . Mra 1, cecuou II, Article Ar-ticle I: "The Ilousc or Representatives shall be composed ot members chosen everv second year by the people of the exeralStaes," This provision i Ific cne which makes the Hoose or Iteprcscntatlve a b6dy literally and direcUy repre-scnUUve repre-scnUUve or the ma-ies orthe iieople. It Involves the vital and lopular right of Uie fe jple to elect, every two years, to the national legislature, such law makers as w III best rellei t their views and mot faitbfu'Jy carry out their wlsbi- la debates and votes that have occurred In Uie liottjc, boUi liefore and after the war, on questions of expulsion, the propoalUon has been maintained that a congressional di'trict had a right whU-li could not lie questioned nor abridged, to select as Its npresenta-tlve npresenta-tlve upon the Hoor or tlio nitloual Hou'e, nny man in w hbm It might see fit to rt povi Uiat pon er and honor; hon-or; and Uiat immorality! x rime even, committed lJr tbu man so cho-sen.wolIdaotjUvUrydtniiigtob' cho-sen.wolIdaotjUvUrydtniiigtob' hU seat, provided his ; xeialn curred before hlieIcrtron. U ,, neenrurthvranj aoundaiilly estab-" estab-" jjed that Immorality or the commission com-mission of any crime not art-unled Infamous, occurring subeiittent to hi? election, Will not Ju.tiiy the denial de-nial of A seat to a r-pn.-ufalive elect, not h'.sexrnU6e being seated. Whether fcr not Uie com mfrslon cf an infiimous crime after his elecUou, by a member ilect, would be suffltientjusuncation for refusing to scat liim.or furext.lllug him, is a question not fully settled In Uie American Congri-; but the weight of authority and lojric "eems to incline to the nvirntlrt, main!,) for the reason ! rt Ts the province or the ctfirts, and not of eilhir $" ofX'ongres.i to jniL-h for crime, exfrpt in cases of iruiieaih-ment iruiieaih-ment providetl forlivthe Constitution. This vital principle of our governmental govern-mental fabric was violated when the House of Itepreseutativcs denied a seat to the man w bom the people ol Utah, by a vote of more Uian ten to one, had choen to repre-ent them in that lody. The case of Hon. lieorge Q. Cannvii i here referred to. Subdivision 3, Section 1, Article ' So bill ol attainder, or exjH-tfacCo law, shall lie passed." A bill of attainder is one which declares an act committed prior to its passage, an offense punishable under Its provWous. The laws enacted en-acted by Congress for the suppression suppres-sion of polyamy, as Uiey have been interpreted and administered bv the courts, have operated - bllN of at-tainder. at-tainder. Under tttcm men liave been ixinlsbed for maliitaliiing n- "" which iuuit! time uiey were establihed, were not iu violation of any law. This inishment has involved in-volved the loss of the privileges of citizenship. An ez post ado law isotninact-ed.rbrtheiiurpoeor isotninact-ed.rbrtheiiurpoeor being applied to a state or racts which exMed prior pri-or to its passage, affecting rights which could not have been affected In the manner desired by any law existing at Uie timii they accrued. The prorision of the Kdmunds-Tuckerlaw Kdmunds-Tuckerlaw uuder which real estate, acquired by the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints before any limit on Uie amount of such property it might own. was fixed by Congress, is now being escheated, is a flagrant Instance of an expott facto law, provided i'ldi-cial i'ldi-cial IntcrpretiUons of it, heretofore given, shall finally be susUim-J. Subdivisions, Section II, Article "The trial of all crimes, except m cavss of impeachment, shall be bv jury." The word "jury" is here used with its Lnglish common law meaning, and signifies twelve impartial im-partial men, chosen by lot, from the vicinage within which the defendant defend-ant resides, or the crime was committed. com-mitted. By a process which It is not necessary to describe here at length, Uie sacred Institution of trial by jury, guarded forages with jealous care by the. Anglo Saron race, has been practically abolished In portions of this country. Subdivision I, Section III, Ar-UclelH: Ar-UclelH: "Treason against tho Unite, I Mates shall consist only In levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, givingthem aid and comfort. Jo person shall bo con kted of treason trea-son unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same avert act, or on uonfe&'ion in open court." Upon the theory that a certain body of citlaeus of this Retaibllc are guilty of treason, pains and penal-Ues penal-Ues have been Inflicted Un thm by Congress and the courts, and legislation enacted agiinst them. In violaUon of the ConsUtuUon, has been judicially held Justifiable on the ground of Uielr alleged disloyalty. disloyal-ty. But no attempt has ever been made to convict a single person among them of treason, as defined In the nation's supreme law; and it is a matter of notoriety fliat no such an attempt could possibly succetl were a fair trial of Uie issue had. Subdivision 1, Section II, Ar-UclelV: Ar-UclelV: r The ciUzens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and ltnrau-mUes ltnrau-mUes oi citizens in tho several States." Under existing laws, If a citizen of a given State shall pass from that State into an adjoining or neighboring neigh-boring subdivision of Uie domain of the United States, he may find a complete revolution to have been made, in consequence of his removal, re-moval, in his "privileges and immunities" im-munities" as an American ciUzen. Thus in Oregon a man may belong lo any religious organization he may prefer, and suffer no political lisad vantage thereby; but should he :rosg Uie line into Idaho, he may 5nd himself in Uie position oi an illen so far as the lights and privi-eges privi-eges of citizenship aje concerned. Subdivision" B, Kwtion III.'Ar-Jcle III.'Ar-Jcle IV: The Oongreu tlull hire power to llnposepf antnikel npfdful rules I and regulations respecting the Tcrri-tory Tcrri-tory or other property of the United states." This provision has been so stretch-edaud stretch-edaud distorted as to providefor the present territorial system, which, obviously, was not cmtattf;!aVed bv it at all. Lately It has been strained strain-ed to mean that Congress may eX-r-cle unllmlt-a poirer over the teiri-torhs, teiri-torhs, regardless or constitutional llmitaUons. Under such n construction con-struction only catl a number or statutory provisions, fcuacted by Coigressj bejustmed. The ccnimon sense view Js that the Constitution is a charter of liberty for all cltiiens of the United States, whether they reside re-side in a State or Territory. Only a portion of the express provisions pro-visions of the Constitution that have been departed from have len here cited. Tlie suljcct might bocon-tinued bocon-tinued with profit, which I may, perhaps, undertake to do at some future time. Very nesrtctfnlP CosOTirrrrio.vAi.Krr. |