Railroad Aid In The U. S. Courts

At tu:-' last 'Violier tena 01 the Circuit Court of tTic L'nüi-'l St:iiii. Eastera District of Wisoon8in, a decisión was made that tuay interest Bome of onr Michigan fricmls wlio propose to have the deoiaion of our Supremo Court against Baili'oad Bid by numieipalitie.-; rovorsod by the l'nitc.'l States Court. The oase was Olcott vs. Tlie Board of Fon du Lac Connty. Under a la-w enacted by tho Legislatura of Wisconsin in 1807, tho County of Fon du Lac wus a'uthorized to impose a tax and make :i donation to cnable a railroad company to proseonte the construction of n railroad. Undcr this la.v the board was ibout to issuo county ordors, when an injunction was issnod by the Circuit Court for tho county, whicli which was subsequuntly dissolvéd, when the orders were issucd, December 15th, t809. An appeal was taken to the Supremo Court of the State, tho law held unconstituilortal, arwl the injunction made pcrpetiuil. The orders were tliun sued on in the United States Court, just as the holders of Michigan municipal bonds are now suing, in the hope of gotting juilgment on paper dcclared by our Supremo Court illegally issuod and vo-id. Judge DurMMiixn, said : "Thconly question in this case is as to tho effect of a decisión of tho Supremo Court of tho State of Wi8consin is a rulo of construction for tlns court in tho present controversy. In other words, shall this court t'ollow tho ruling of the State Court on tho statute ? " Then referring to the Iowa (ase, wherc tho State Court fint deoided certain legislation good, and afterwards rovorsed its decisión, Jndge D. held that the decisión of the United States Supremo Court protected holders of paper issued nudez tho laws held valid by the fim& State decisión, and that if such a case existed hero it would bo followod. Kut the Wisconsin court had made but one decisión, and that against the validity of the law under which the orders were issued, holding it" in conflict with the fundamental law of the State." He then ccfntinucd : " The rule establishcd by the jadlolary act of 17S9, is that tlie Federal Courts ore to admiiiistcr the laws of the States n cases trhere they apply, and the uniform practica has been to consider a, judicial Interpreta. tion the same as incorporated witliiu tlic language of the statute iiself. And it is obvióos tbat no otiier rule can be safuly observed in our mixed dystem conslstently with tli rtgbts of all partles. This Court, althntrgh a Oourt of ttee United States, is Bittlng here to administer tlie laws of Wiscousin, in cuses where tliey apply, precisely as a Court of tlie State would a.lniinister thein. It is only In tliis way that harmony can 1)3 preserved betweeu tlie courts, State aud National. Where a Otate Court lias adoptad more thiui one coustructiuu of a State law it ímiy be competent for the Federal Court to receive or accept onc in preference to the other ; but where tliere is only oue construction giren by the State Court to a law of the State, then it would seem to be dUregardlng well settled principies for tlie Federal Court to decile contrary to thc adjudications of tiic State jou re. J.NOW, 111 mis case, mu pnuimu claims a right uñder a law of the Leglslaturc of thc State of YYisconsin. lie lias do otlier standing In court. It is a recent statute. It has beconic the subject of delibérate examination and adJQdlcatlon by thc Supreme Court of VVIsconsin, aml it scems to me, ander thc clrcDinstances of this case, that thls court mustfollow that decisión. It It were a hasty or ill-consid cred judgracnt tlicn tiiere mlghtposslbly be some reason for dlsregardíng it. J?;it thls opinión vras íi'en Hfter a Aill and ablc argument, and after an argument upon a motion for a rehearing; an addltlonal opinión was glven by thc Chlef Justlce, and in tlicsc opinions thi court considered and determined the ett'ect of tlie previous decísions of thc Supreme Court of the State, .vliich it is claimed were not entircly consistent wlth thls, so that it is thc delibérate and well considered judgmeot of tlie Supreme Court of the State not only tliat tliis statute was unconstitutional, but that there was iiotliinji In any previous decisions oí that court to prevent its so decld]ng. If there is to be any diflerent rule astabltahed by the Supreme Court of the United State? than tlie oue which wetblnk appllcable here, that court must takc tlie reeponslblllty. It has certainly never gone so far as the counsel for the plaintiff des! re that this conrt should go in this caso. The instruction of the court, tlierefore, to the jury will be that nasmuch as tlie Supreme Conrt of this State has deciiled the act under which thes county orden were ssuod to be invalid, that thls rourt must also decide them to be Iuvalid, aud that the plalntlffcannot recover. Mili.eb, J., vvho sat wlth Dkummosd, C. J., concurred." Will Juclgo Svayxe or Judgo B.%ttos decido any differcntly in this circuit? or will thcy allow the laws of Michigan to bc interpreted by the SuprenX6 Court of Michigan ? That is the only question. Gov. Ai.coitx, ( f Mississippi, has put a "flca in tho car" of' the foraons Ku-Klux nippressois at Washington. Ho h;is officially advised all concemcd that the State authoriticK are competent to deal ivith any and all disorders, and that no help is wantod from Congrcss in tho way of legislation, or from the Exeeutive in the way of troops. Tho samo may bc said of overy Southern State, unless it c. South Carolina, and thcro tho troublc is gencriited and kopt up by the tion, arróganos, and outragoóus tyranny of tho ignorant negro rulen and their carpet-bag allies. The principal object of this mnual cry of Ku-Klux at Washington is to tone up the weakeni&g systcm of the Repufrlioan party in the Noi'th. Tho negro having been enfranctÓBod is no longer all-powerful as the rallying cry, so he must needs-bo usod in another way, and suffers, on paper, f rom the Ku-Klux - Bah: A NEW poliHcal organization lias been formed at Cincinnati, known as "The Central liepublican Association of Hamilton County," tho leaders in tho movement boíng activo and prominent Republioank Tho creed propoundcd oomprises : General Amnesty, or " tho removal of all political disabilities imposed for participation in tho robellion ; Freo Trado, or a striotly revenue tariff, with no protootive dnties or taxation for private individuáis and corporations ; Civil Bervioo Reform, ivith appointments to office for fitness only, and " party nominations only whcn party principios aro at stakc ; with a return to specie paymonts or " gold and silvor as the only tme basis of currency." The org.inization is pronounced a formidable one. Tuk Nortli Carolina Sena te, sitting as a ïigh court of impenchmont, convictecl 3rov. IIoi-DEN", on Wednesday, on six of lic oight arfioles prtferred against him y tlio House, and poseed an order dis[ualifying Iim from bolding any of konor or profit in tho State. - The NebMtaifca Sonate has noi 5'et conluded the ti-iiiï of Oov. BüTLEE.