The Weekly sun. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1870-1872, July 12, 1871, Image 2

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THE DAILY SUN FftEDAV MORNING JuLY 7 ' [instead of being a mushroom place, Ue are the distributing point for a vast section of country. This great era has. revolutionized thoorder of commerce. Tl»e Mefcting Last NigHt—The People Heard From. : not it only remains for *the citoteo Atlanta and the people along th' the road to come up fait a r ' °2 their duty. I can pick - -o line of .a square to rat in five min- uglit to take §10,000 misrep- yoa to take stock in ciistnuuung puxkxu. ;* -— ~ 0 entlemen, Ido not wioli to side of yonder park runs into the j m ^esent the facts in the case or to amldSTohanged the old rules of trade! j utes GEORGIA WKSTKHN no AD. are jt'aiS^road,- distributing point The water on that con. GEO. W. ADAIR. PRESIDENT * WALLACE. L. J. GLENN, A COL. COWART, COL. CAPERS, AND ALDER- MAX CA8SIN. SPEAK. of Mexico, and the water upon the other side, runs into the Atlantic ocean, are at a topographical and geo^ \Ye CAMPBELL point, that renders this cb«*' 0 raphical *** spoken of almost inevi^' -age’I have . w. MITCHELL, P^ of ft(i .able. The great .a ATJT> alder- K. 5 -^st came here, and fuio ic the natu r ’ . ' S3h 0111116 here, and '. l. .,' ; d point from which they I aS •’ ; ° utcd - That is the reason Why A -Ati 3 has, up'lo {his time, enjoyed her unprecedented prosperity, for I re member well, though but a boy, when thjtfe was nothing here, not a According to previous announcement; »considerable crowed assembled in front ^uore was naming nere, not a of the Kimball House last night, to listen h^hse in the place. I, was here when the to the speeches of various gentlemen in behalf of the Georgia Western Road.—- The assemblage was composed mostly of the solid thinking men of Atlanta, who came there, not for mere idle curi osity, but from a sense of doty, and the deep interest felt in the inauguration of the greatest enterprise Atlanta has ever set on foot. Jndge Ezzard took the stand, and in a few explanatory remarks as to the object of the meeting, announced COL. O. W. ADAIB. [f*' Amidst considerable applanse, this gentleman mounted the stand and said i Gentlemen: This is rather a small, af fair in the way of a platform, but T am inclined to call it the first platform on the first depot of the great Georgia Wes tern Railroad that wo propose to build. We will call it that for the time being at any rate. I am accustomed to appear before au- dicnocs in Atlanta very frequently; but almost always when I am stimulated by five per cent, behind, in my public ca pacity, Bnt to-night l am' actuated by a higher motive—something that rises above the five per cent., and anything bnt that modesty that you know charac terizes me will prevent mo from giving yon a pretty good talking, modestly speaking. This, gentlemen, is an age of invention,, an age of improvement. I don’t propose to detain you long, nor to bore you, and if I do, our meeting is so organized that yon ore not obliged to stand and take it -Wiot being seated. This age is an age of steam, an ago of invention. The in- ventivo genius of man, for the better ad vancement of his own interest, Iiob brought into play almost every imple ment that saves labor, and every labor- saving mnohinc that -could bo conceived, has been brought before us, and is now in practical use. This is a practical age, an age of steam, an age of railroads and steamships, growing out of the active, quickening, inventive genius that has been brought to play under our peculiar institutions. Ono of the greatest bless ings of the ago that has arisen from that peculiarity of our institutions, bos been the impetus that has been given to commerce, and to transportation through the appli cation of steam to all of these usefu^ur- poses. Not more than 60 years ago, the far-seeing men of New York, conceived the idea of opening up the great West that was teeming with its fertile soil, its fine water courses and its fine climate, adapted to bringing the forth of products for tho use of man. - They conceived the plan of reaching this great country. They inaugurated the first canal itlnyt reached out in that direction, and soon after that, they inaugurated the great Erie Railroad. Then Philadelphia start ed the idea of tho great Pennsylvania Control, and these roads have gone out into the West. They have increased the vnluo of the land; they have prepared homes for tho teeming millions that have sought our shores for cheap soil and republican institutions. They have gone into that country from the fact that they had a way to get there, and a cheap mode of getting their products to market from . tho land where they settled. When events took this course, the whole great West was peopled by an industrious, ac tive, energetic people. These people came from the Old World, and moved out in thatdirection, and then the active, energetic men of New England went out iu this western country, and they cleared up the land and settled and cultivated it. Alter that they conceived tho idea of manufacturing, and they commenced manufacturing there. About the time this western country was thus opened and developed, some energetic gentle men in this country, and, by the way, Jndge Ezzard was one of the Commis sioners appointed to investigate and report upon the matter—conceived the idea of opening up a di- reot line of communication between this wealthy ond populous part of the United States and the great West. The result of that idea was the building of the State Road, or tho Western & Atlantic Road from this point to Chattanooga.— Up to that time not a single thing that was in use in this country coming out of a store,-came from any other course than from the East. Now all that has been entirely changed, and we go West for the supplies of the things we most need. I am often asked in my business capa city, why it is that Atlanta prospers, and why it is that her merchants are doing well, why it is that real estate is so valu able, and why it is that men lay out their money hero in property. I have heard that question asked a thousand times, aud I have heard it answered a thousand different ways I suppose, but the great secret of the prosperity of Atlanta and of its people, arises from the fact that a large portion of the goods that are used in this section of the country, and around in Middle Georgia, and Southwestern Geor gia, and in Western Alabama, and in Western South Carolina, nro manufac * tured in an entirely different section of the country from what they were former ly. Heretofore they have been manu factured in New England, aud now they are manufactured in the West—such goods as leather, ironware, furniture, woodware, etc., and all those great nec essaries. such as bacon, hay, etc.’ All these things we bring down in great quantities over the State Road, and they oil become articles of merchandise.— They come down over that Road to At lanta; and she has heretofore been a dis tributing point for all.these manufactur ed goods. A largo proportion of manu factured goods, besides these great pro ducts that are necessary for the suste nance of the cotton belt, have been dis tributed from this point. Therefore, first tree was blazed on the land that the city now stands upon. We have grown marvellously since that day, and we are now iff a position similar to many rich men’s sons. A great many boys whp have rich fathers set down flat and look at their boots and*smoke their cigars and read'their yellow backed lite rature, and lot the old man provide for them. We have been occupying that kind of a position for some years past. Atlanta has been called a city of railro.-.d s, but wc have never built any of them our selves—somebodyelse has built them for ns. We have set down and done nothing ourselves. Oqr prosperity has been thrust upon us, and if we have grown prosperous, it is the result of things over which we have had no special control.— But: how like the rich boy when the old man dies, apd: other heirs come.in aud turn him out, or the old man dies in solvent, and he is obliged to go to work and do something for himself or beg, so now we propose to do some thing for ourselves, and that is why tin’s meeting is called here to-night We are threatened by other heirs. There are other interests arising not in harmo ny with with ours. We are environed by difficulties that are formidable to my mind. I will examine these difficulties briefly, and then I will apply the reme dy, and then I will quit. I do not rise for the purpose of making an eloquent speech, for I have not the vanity to sup pose that X could do so, were I to make the attempt. Rut I want to talk sense to sensible men. I want you to see the difficulties that surround us, and to point out. the remedy if I can. That is my ob ject in coming here to talk to the citi zens of Atlanta, upon this important question. They are now preparing in the eastern part of Georgia, to build a railroad that will take from us, if we are not active and energetic, a large portion of the trade in these manufactured goods, that I have spoken of. Already they have projec ted a railroad from Augusta up the Sa vannah river to Clinton, called the Blue Ridge Rroad, which will open a route for eastern Georgia to the great West. That is difficulty No. 1. Another railroad has been projected from Macon to Covington and thence to Knoxyille, which will open still another route' to the West and be another draw back to our commerce here. That is dif- ficnUy : No. 2. « Then there is a road projected from Athens west. Then there is a road pro jected from Madison to Griffin, and from Covington to'Griffin—all of which will injure ns and draw away from us a large proportion of our trade. Now, in the face of all these difficulties that environ us, the question" comes up", how shall we take care of ourselves ? That is the se rious question before us to-day fer con sideration. All these roads that are be ing built are direct blows struck at Atlanta. Now, in’ order to meet these threatent difficulties, we must devise some other source of pros perity than that- derived from our coml munication with the West and from dis tributing supplies and manufactured goods throughout this State and the Western portion of Alabama. In short, Atlsnta must become, a Manufacturing place, for I tell you gentlemen that if we depend upon onr trade for our prosperity as we have in the past, we might as well emigrate. We must do something else. have told you all these difficulties gentlemen and now the practical question comes up, what remedy have we for these difficulties? I have but one answer to make, aud that is to put our minds and our hearts, our energy and our money to gether and build a Road from this point to Ely ton, Alabama, and beyond, cross ing the Mississippi at Gaines’ Landing just below the mouth of the Arkansas rive, aud .then beyond connecting with the Great Southern Pacific Railroad.— That is or project on a grand scale. But our more immediate object is to build this road through to Alabama; and the object of our meeting to-night is to see how far we can get the people of At lanta interested in the work. Already our company has been organized, and a President and Directors were elected. It does not matter particularly abont who were elected Directors, we have a chief, able, experienced, active, earnest and possessed of the confidence of the peo ple; and under his guidance and his man agement we will go on and build this road from here to our first point, and that is Elyton, Alabama. The city of Atlanta lias already §300,000, not in bonds but in greenbacks. The Georgia Railroad has subscribed §250,000. This road will run into Shelby and St. Clair counties, where are found vast and al most inexhaustible deposits of iron and coal. I have been in the mines and seen what they are capable of producing. Here then is a cheap and direct route from this city to the ooal and iron beds of that section. It may hurt the lessees of the State Road, and, by the way, I am glad that they have got the road. §25,000 a month, is a great deal better than noth ing, and I want them to keep it and ran it; but if I build my road and it hurts them, I want them to bear it. I want this road, to these cheap coal and iron beds,-completed without delay, and when that is done, we can manufacture most of the articles that we have heretofore been in the habit' of purchasing from the North, right here at home. There is no reason why Atlanta should not be a man ufacturing city, and if this straight, di rect line is built to the coalbeds of Shel by and St. Clair counties, Alabama, she certainly will be. We have already candy factory and a cracker factory, and a soap factory here, and with this road completed, we could manufacture all kinds of iron-ware, hard-ware, wood ware, etc. Now, gentlemen, I have pointed ont to you tho benefits that will be derived from the construction of this road, and .oiead yon. I do not say to you that the stock will pay at the outset,but I will tell you during my experience of many years renting up estates, I have always.found that when a man died who owned rail road stock, he always had" greenbacks to leave to his children, every one of them. I do not say that this stock will pay an extravagant dividend at first but I do say that if the road is built it will pay in time. As I was going on to remark, there are ton men who ought to take §10,000 each, there are one hun dred men in Atlanta'who can with perfect safety and perfect impunity take §500 of stock, and there are certainly five hun dred men who can with perfect safety' take §100 in stock. What is §50 or §100 to some of you young men who spend rnncli more than that in ways that are of no benefit whatever to you, by putting a few hundred dollars that you would probably spend in some foolish way into the stock of this Road. You may save yourself or some one dear to you from trouble and distress in the future. Let every mechanic economize and put a part of his little surplus earnings into this stock. There is a good deal of talk abont a collision between labor and capital. There is no necessity for any such thing. The way for a poor man to do is to work for tho rich man and get his money and grow rich himself. There is no necessity for any collision between them. All that is necessary to insure success to this enterprise is to work together, and contribute our combined energy and muscle and money and skill to the work. The Yankees understand this business of uniting much better than we do.— There, if two men have got only §5,000 each they put it together. They don’t unite in an enterprise there and put in some inefficient, worthless man,* with no qualification for the position; but they rat in the best man they can find, and lave him to manage the business, and then they go to work and make buckets or brooms or something of that sort, and make more money. Let us profit by the lessons the Yan kees teach us iu this respect, and don’t stop working just because you have got a little stock in a rail oad company. Here, as soon as a company is formed, aud a little stock subscribed, every stockholder wants to be an officer and draw a salary. That is not the principle upon which suc cess in this or any other enterprise, is based. We must combine our money, and our energy for the accomplishment of the object that we all conceive to be important to our interests. Let us lay aside bickerings and strife, and go to work as earnest, sensible men. Thanking you gentlemen, for your kind attention, I will close. [Applause.] After Colouel Adair had finished, gether for the success of the Great Atlan ta and Southern Pacific Railroad. Books of subscription will be opened to-day at the Banking House of J. H. James, where all are invited to go and subscribe towards the completion of this Atlanta enterprise. >■ •-* The Supreme Court and the Amendments. PRESIDENT WALLACE was loudly called for, and after taking the stand, he remarked that he had been building railroads for a number of years —with what success the people all knew; bnt during the whole course of his rail road career, this was the first time he had ever attempted to make a speech. It is evident that the President was no speak er, bnt he, in a very modest and appro priate way, extolled the enterprise whuse projectors had called him to take clnu-ge of it, and demonstrated to thq^jnost skeptical mind present the‘ necessity of the road to the future welfare of Atlanta. The Major retired after thanking the Stockholders for the great confidence imposed in his ability, and to the citizens generally, for the cordiality his election to the Presidency seemed to be received by them, and assuring them that his whole time, talents, energy and inflnenoe should be. given to its early completion. Loud calls were then made for COL. A. W. MITCHELL, one of the solid men -of the city, and also a Director. In a few words he as sured the assembly that all that was needed to make the enterprise a success was work on the part of Atlanta, and for one he was willing to use his best endea vors in furtherance of the road. COL. L. J. GLENN made a powerful appeal to the masses to come to the support of the enterprise. It was of vital necessity, not only to At lanta, but to every city in Georgia. What was Atlanta’s interest was that of Macon, Augusta, Columbus and Savannah. -He showed how Atlanta and her sister cities were being hedged in, out off, and would be made to play “second fiddle” to other places which had heretofore been of no considerable importance, bnt which were fast taking from Georgia cities and Geor gia merchants that trade which they have heretofore enjoyed. He predicted for Atlanta a ten fold prosperity if the West ern Road was built. I COL, H. D. CAPERS, OF SAVANNAH, was present, and amid repeated calls, took the stand. This gentleman is a staunch advocate of the Atlanta and Sa vannah Railroad, and is in the city on business connected with that project.— He said, the people o£ Middle Georgia and of Atlanta must not understand the actiou, as reported, of the people of Sa vannah (in reference to the Savannah & Atlanta Railroad). The fact is the peo ple of Savannah have never been allowed to express their opinion on the subject of the construction of the Atlanta and Savannah Railroad. The Mayor of the city,fas the President of a corporation whose- interests might be effected, was the controlling power in this matter.— But the time would come when the busi ness man, the people, the bone and sin ew of Savannah, would be heard, and when the people of this section heard from them, it would be above and be yond corporate interests, it would be the voice of an energetic people, who were ready and wishing to meet the people of Georgia on a common plain of fraterni zation in the development of the interest of the State. The Atlanta and Savannah Railroad was the continuation of the Georgia Western, and “the two were the eastern termini of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The people of Atlanta could not fail in the accomplishment of this great enter prise. They had never failed iu any thing they had ever undertaken and give a lesson to the whole people of the State in their enterprise and activity, Messrs. Cowart and Cassin both niade sensible and good speeches. All differ ences and former bickerings were laid aside, and a calm, cool determination From the Louisville Ledger. ' We do not think any legal mind, after having carefnliy considered the question, can doubt that the Supreme Court may take jurisdiction, and, if the recent amendments to the Constitution, or either of them, were not proposed and ratified in accordance with the requirements of the fifth article of the original document, may adjudge them, or either of them, in valid. On the subject of the judicial power under the Government, Chief Justice Marshall, of the Supreme Court, used the following language: “While weighing arguments drawn from the na ture of the Government, and from the general spirit of an instrument, and urged for the purpose of narrowing tho construction, which the words of the in struments seem to require, it is proper to place in the opposite scale those princi ples, drawn from the same sources, which go to sustain the words in their full op eration and natural import. One of these which has been pressed with great force by the counsel of the plaintiffe in error, is/ that the judicial power of every well constituted Government must be co-ex- tensive with the legislative, and must be capable of deciding every judicial ques tion which grows out of the constitution and laws. If-any proposition may be considered as political axiom, this, we think, may be considered.” (Cohensvs. Virginia, 6 Wheaton, 284 to 390.) If the judicial is co-extensive with the legislative power of the Government, it follows that whatever acts the legislative department may promulgate must be sub ject to revision by the judiciary, at least so far as to test the conformity to the fundamental law, which prescribes and circumscribes the functions and powers of all the departments. And can any one contend that an amendment to the Con stitution is an exception to this rale ? It as certainly grows out of the Constitution as any act of Congress, and is no less ex empt from revision. Whence the differ ence? However, the question is not an open one; it has long since been de cided, and we need not argue it further. That the Supreme Court may take cog nizance of the regularity’of the adoption of amendments to the Constitution was clearly assumed by that tribunal as early as 1798, when a case was heard (Hollings worth et. al. vs. Virginia, 3 Dallas, 378 to 382) involving the validity of the eleventh article to the amendment to the Constitu tion. The proposition mainly relied on by plaintiffs was, that “the amendment has not been proposed in form prescribed by the Constitution, and, therefore, it is void.” At this proposition the court was not startled in the slightest degree; did not think of the supremacy of the “po litical department” of the government, but heard the arguments, considered the questions raised, and adjudged that the amendment was “constitutionally adopt ed,” and consequently overruled the plea —necessarily implying that if it had not been “constitutionally adopted” judg ment would have been so pronounced. In that case the ground of objection was that the resolution of Congress, propos ing the amendment to the States, was not signed by the President. This the court decided is not necessary; but, the infer ence is unquestionable, that if the learned judges had been of opinion that the sig nature of the President is necessary to the proper submission they would have held the amendment invalid—in other words, that the court entertained juris diction over the question. Now this is all we contend for in rela tion to the fourteenth and fifteenth amend ments. We claim that they were not constitutionally adopted,” and upon this we desire the judgment of the Su preme Court. We contend that neither of these amendments was constitutionally proposed to the States for ratification, to say nothing of the many circumstances of force and fraud which vitiate the pre tended ratification. It will be borne in mind that the fifth article of the Constitution provides that “ the Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments. Article 1, sect.on 1, makes Congress consist of the “ Senate and House of Representatives.” Sections2 and 3 provide: “The House of Rapresentatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States.” * * * “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each of the States, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years.” As was well and ably argued by Gov. Bramblette, in his message to the ad journed session of the Legislature, de livered January 3, 1867, accompanying which was the resolution of Congress pro posing the Fourteenth Amendment: “The Congress as defined by the Consti tution, consists of a House of Represen tatives, composed of members chosen every two years by the people of the sev eral States, and a Senate, composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature, two-thirds of whom (L e. the members chosen to each House most concur in submitting amendments. An amendment, therefore, is not proposed to the States for ratification, unless it has been passed by a vote of two-thirds of the members chosen to the Senate and House of Representatives. By another provision of the Constitution, a majority of each House shall constitute a quorum to do business; but it requires two-thirds of both Houses of Congress to propose amendments. A quorum is not the Senate or House, bnt only a majority of either, and only authorized to do such business as a majority of either House could pass, if all the members chosen were present and voting: All the members chosen to either House in the prescribed form must be considered as members composing * the Congress’ until, for defect iu ‘ the election, returns, or qualifications,’ their seats be declared vacant by the respective Houses. That they are not permitted by the majority to take the oath of office does not destroy their membership ; it only prevents their individual action as members. They, by the Constitution, when chosen, became members, are entitled to vote, and be counted as com ponent members of Congress rmti] their disqualification and exclusion from seats have been determined by their respective houses, and their seats declared vacant. For it must be borne in mind that it is not the oath of office that constitutes ner prescribed, and they take the oath of office because they are ‘members. The power to amend the organic law was more fully guarded by the framers of the article, thah the power of impeachment. It only requires two-thirds of a quorum, or of those ‘present’ constituting a quo rum, to impeach an officer, but to pro pose amendments to the Constitution, two-thirds of both Houses of the Con gress’—not two-thirds of a quorum, or of those present, but of both Houses—iunst concur. The resolution submitting the Fourteenth Amendment came not witLi the sanction of two-thirds of the members ohosen by the several States to the Con gress ; twenty-two ‘Senators’ chosen by eleven States, and fifiy-five members of of the House of Representatives chosen by the people of eleven States, not being admitted to seats nor counted in the pas sage of the resolution; it was not, there fore, constitutionally submitted.” This is the view entertained not only by Gov. Bramblette, bnt by very many of the ablest lawyers in the land, and we have no question as to its correctness. If it be correct, andyet if there be no reme dy, as the Commercial and the Radicals contend, outside of the dictum of the “political department” of the Govern ment, then the idea of our judiciary is farcical Onr judges simply amount to a set of arbitrators, to settle personal quar rels; for the “political department” may seal their lips at pleasure as to any ques tion of interpretation of. a higher grade, by proclaiming an amendment to the Constitution, which they must obey im plicitly without question, except to ascer tain that the said “political department has pronounced it to be an amendment— a proposition, the statement of which is sufficient refutation. Baltimore Correspondence. HOJY. LINTON STEPHENS BALTIMORE. IN An Important Trial—His Great Power as a Lawyer and Ad vocate-—Triumpliant Success. was expressed by the speakers to unike 1 ibem members, but they so become by a strong pull, a long pull and a pull ultu- virtue of haying been chosen in the man* Baltimore, July 1. Ed. Sun : The appearance of the Hon. Linton Stephens in the Courts of this city was an interesting event. He had come on to defend Madison J. Marcus, of Augusta, who had been indicted for purchasing goods here last September on false pretenses.— Although Mr. Stephens was so un well upon his arrival (having just arisen'from a bilious attack at home) that the trial had to he postponed sev eral days, and although continuing quite feeble during the more than a week occupied in the trial, he yet ex hibited his wonderful abilities as a lawyer to a degree that delighted the bar and the public. Mr. Marcus had been a friend and a comrade of the war times, and Mr. Stephens, assured of his perfect innocence, came to stand for him in his hour of trial. His speech, of twqhours’ length, was a master-piece of forensic eloquence. Many were the tears that were shed as he pleaded in the defense of his friend. The acquittal was full and triumphant, and when it was render ed it would be difficult to say which was the more rejoiced,-the defendant or his eminent counsel. Mr. Stephens made a very deep im pression here. His eloquence and great legal talents caused to be made to him the suggestion that he could obtain a large and lucrative practice at his profession were he to remove to Baltimore. Bnt he smiled, and shak ing his head, answered, “I can never have any other home than Georgia.” That great old State may well he proud of such a son and the faithful love which he feels for her honor and prosperity. J. M. R. Jere. Black. The Savannah (Ga.) News, the West chester (Pa.) Jeffersonian, and a few other journals calling themselves Democratic, but in reality being anachronisms merely, axe comforting their seventeenth century souls with the statement that “all such true and Tried Democrats as Hon. Jere miah S. Black oppose” the World's policy as “a false departure.” The World's policy has nowhere been better stated than in the Pennsylvania address by the incomparable pen of Mr. Black. When will these Bonrbon ghosts stop their squeaks and gibbers, pluck up their pet ticoats, and vanish? Gentlemen, the day is breaking.—N. Y. World, July 3. Avery lame attempt to claim as an advance movement a very judicious and timely change of base to the rear ward, with a view of regaining that ‘•road xohicli alone leads to peace,liberty and safety .” This the World could not do ex cept by “retracing >> some of its previous steps, which may have been “taken in moments of error or alarm.” If it is any salvo to its pride to “holdout” to its followers that it is but going forward to its original objective point, when in fact it is retreating, though awkwardly, let it enjoy this morsel of gratification to its heart’s content. “Gentlemen, the day is breaking.*’ Stick to Jere. Black’s Platform; and, with him, arraign all usurpations and abuses of Power “before the bar of public reason”—giving sanction to none—and these Bonrbon ghosts will no longer disturb your repose. A. H. S. »-♦ •< ■ From the Milledgeville Recorder, 4th. On Saturday afternoon a fine male, the property of Mr. Daniel Caraker, was shot by some unknown person, on the city common, and shortly after, coming up to the stable, died. THE VALIDITY OF THE XIVth AND XVtli AMENDMENTS. And the Great Wrong as well as Impolicy of the Democratic Party Approving it in Ad vance of its Proper Adjudication. Whether the Fourteenth and Fif teenth Amendments be valid parts of the Constitution or not, is not the question we. now propose to discuss. That they were carried by “fraud, perfidy and violence” all admit. How, whether validity can, in this way, he imparted to any private, ju dicial or legislative act, might very well seem to be a superfluous ques tion. But what we have to say, at this time; is, that no people, who are true to their rights, will ever,, volun tarily, give their sanction, in advance, to the validity of such outrages upon the rights of the people and of the States as those by which these Amend ments were openly and avowedly com mitted. Have they, then, ever yet been held to he valid, or proclaimed to he valid parts of the organic law by any “au thority constitutionally appointed?” We say emphatically that they have not! The President has no authority, whatever, to declare, by proclamat ion, what are, and what are not, valid parts of the Constitution. Has the Su preme Court of the United States ever yet decided upon their validity? It has not! Why, therefore, should the De mocracy, North or South, he asked, at this time, in advance of the decision of the question, to assert their belief that these Amendments are valid, and have been passed or incorporated in the fundamental law “in. the mode and by the manner Constitutionally appointed?” It is against this that we enter onr earnest protest The'Hew York World, the leader on this line of policy, in a late article, admits that the question touching the validity of these Amendments has not yet been decided by the properly constituted authority. That paper, in the same article, goes further, and says that, in its opinion, they “ought not to be held invalid” when they shall be properly acted Upon. Why, then, in advance of the de cision of the question, should the De mocracy he committed to the mon strous doctrine that “fraud, perfidy,, violence and open usurpation” can give permanent validity to such a revolu tion in the Federal Government and' such deprivation of the rights of the* States and people as these so-called Amendments were aimed to effect? Is it sound policy, or wise statesmanship? We give our readers, in another column, to-day,- an able article on this general subject, taken from the* Louisville, Kentucky, Ledger, which we commend to their careful readings It is headed “The Supreme Court and! the Amendments.” A. H. S. "When the Radical party cannot use the workingmen they insult them. This is the case at the present time in this State. The Radical State Convention bated their hook with some stale platitudes about protection to American interests, and expected the workingmen, as a body, to rise for the prize. But they were mis taken, and now the Press reproduces a manufactured statement from the Scran ton Republican, that “negotiations have been, or will at once be, opened between the Democratic State Central Committee and the W. B. A. leaders, for the sale and transfer of the) entire vote of the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association to the Democratic party, at the next elec tion.” To be sure, the Press talks about the “virtue and intelligence” Of the work ingmen, bnt the insult to the large body of operatives named, is none the less pointed and offensive. Workingmen are Dot the material which can be sold and transferred, and the Press has made a mistake, as well as committed a crime, in wantonly assailing them at thin time.— Philadelphia Age, June 28. This insult to the most deserving masses of the people everywhere, by the Philadelphia Press, one of the organs of the Imperialists of this day, is in perfect keeping with all their policy. They aim at ruling by bayo nets and not by votes, and hence this slur at those who earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as a class that can be bought and transferred— sold, indeed, as horses, sheep and cat tle in the market. The working men throughout the United States in the hour of trial, we apprehend, will show all who thus speak of them in trivial terms, that they know their* lights, aud dare maintain them in the free exercise of unbought suffrage, influenced by neither gold nor bayo nets. A. Cojpy of the Weekly Sun WanM. If any subscriber to our Weekly, hi a copy of the 'Weekly Sun of the 14t June, which-he does not wish to keep, favor will be conferred by sending it 1 us, for which we will be thankful