400 



ILLINOIS. 



aid was of a like nature with that given in any 

 emergency requiring immediate action. No 

 reflections were contemplated or thought of, 

 affecting the integrity or ability of any State 

 officer or city official, within the limits of the 

 State of Illinois, to perform his whole duty." 

 Governor Palmer wrote to the President, 

 giving his views at considerable length, on the 

 20th of November. The following extracts 

 comprise the material portions of his letter : 



It seems to me to be very well settled as a princi- 

 ple of American public law, that the duty of protect- 

 ing person and property, and the preservation of 

 public order and peace against the efforts of disor- 

 derly persons, or from local internal disturbance, is 

 the peculiar and exclusive duty of the States, with 

 which the Government of the United States has no 

 concern, and in which it cannot interfere except 

 upon the application of the Legislature or the Ex- 

 ecutive of the States, as contemplated by the fourth 

 section of the fourth article of the Constitution, and 

 that any attempt by the officers of the United States 

 Army to employ any part of the military forces, as 

 proposed by the gentlemen who made the application 

 for four companies of infantry to be stationed at or 

 near Chicago for an indefinite period, and approved 

 by Lieutenant-General Philip H. Sheridan, in his 

 letter to the Adjutant- Gen era! of the 29th of October, 

 and by General W. T. Sherman, by his telegraphic 

 communication to Lieutenant-General Sheridan, of 

 October 31, 1871, must be improper, because viola- 

 tive of the Constitution and the laws. I am not at 

 all forgetful that your Excellency says, that "what 

 was done in respect to ordering the troops to Chicago 

 was upon the ground of emergency, to aid a people 

 who had suffered greatly ; " but, in this view it seems 

 to me that the general commanding the army over- 

 looked the fact that the disastrous fire at Chicago did 

 not relieve the State of Illinois from any of its duties, 

 nor transfer any of them to the Government of the 

 United States. * * * 



I do not, of course, propose to discuss with your 

 Excellency the question of the relative rights and 

 powers of the United States, and of the States, under 

 the Constitution, for 1 will not anticipate the possi- 

 bility of a difference of opinion upon the point that 

 the duties of the executive officers of the two sys- 

 tems are defined so accurately and are kept so dis- 

 tinct by written constitutions and laws, that there is 

 no possibility of a conflict between them. The duty 

 of the President is to see that the laws of the United 

 States are enforced, and that of the Governor of Illi- 

 nois is confined to the enforcement of the laws of the 

 State. Neither obstructs the other, nor aids nor in- 

 terferes with his duties. The Governor of a State 

 derives none of his powers from the United States, 

 nor are his duties subject, in any respect, to the con- 

 sent or discretion of the President, who can in no 

 wise enlarge, abridge, or interrupt them, either by 

 Assuming them himself, or by intrusting them to 

 others. 



As these opinions seem to me to be incontrovert- 

 ible, I cannot doubt that the orders to United States 

 troops to act as police, or to otherwise interfere in 

 the affairs or duties of the State^ or any of its of- 

 ficers, were made without reflection, and that the 

 troops will be at once withdrawn from this State ; or, 

 that the orders for their government will be so modi- 

 fied as to prohibit their employment as police, or in 

 any other way to interfere with any of the duties and 

 functions of any of the officers created under the 

 laws of this State. 



The State of Illinois cannot accept their aid, or 

 permit their interference in its affairs, without a sac- 

 rifice of the confidence of its citizens, nor without 

 giving countenance to a dangerous example. 



President Grant replied simply, that he had 



referred this letter to the Secretary of "War, 

 " with directions to inform General Sheridan 

 that, if the troops under his command have 

 received any orders which in any way conflict 

 with the provisions of the constitution or the 

 laws of the State of Illinois, he is instructed 

 to rescind them." 



The Governor submitted the whole matter 

 to the Legislature, in a special message, on the 

 9th of December, reiterating and enforcing, at 

 some length, his views, which have been al- 

 ready indicated with sufficient clearness. This 

 message, as well as that of the 15th of Novem- 

 ber, was referred to a special committee. Two 

 reports were submitted by this committee, on 

 the 6th of January, 1872. The majority ap- 

 proved of the course of the Governor, con- 

 demned the shooting of Colonel Grosvenor, 

 and characterized the occupation of Chicago 

 by troops as an unwarrantable invasion. The 

 report concluded with the following resolu- 

 tions : 



1. Resolved, That the late fire at Chicago created 

 no emergency for which the constitution and the 

 laws and the agencies and resources of the State 

 of Illinois were not equal ; and that the act of the 

 Mayor of Chicago in transferring the government of 

 that city to Lieutenant-General Sheridan, an officer 

 of the United States Army, and the military forces at 

 his command, was illegal and a dangerous example. 



2. That Lieutenant-General Sheridan, in accepting 

 from the mayor the illegal authority to control the 

 municipal affairs of the people of Chicago by military 

 force, or the authority to introduce regular troops 

 into the city, or to raise volunteers, or call any por- 

 tion of the militia of the State into service, acted ille- 

 gally, and such action was dangerous in example. 



3. That the officers of the Army of the United 

 States, stationed in this State, have no power, right, 

 or authority, to interfere with the internal affairs 

 thereof; and that the act of Lieutenant-General Sheri- 

 dan, in ordering regular troops into this State, for 

 reasons assigned in his communication to the Adju- 

 tant-General of the United States Army, of the 29th 

 of October, 1871, has no justification or sanction 

 either in the Constitution and laws of the United 

 States or of this State. 



4. That the order and direction given by the 

 General of the Army, at Washington, to four com- 

 panies of infantry to act as police in this State, are 

 illegal and of dangerous example. 



5. That the President of the United States be re- 

 quested to modify the orders of the troops now at 

 Chicago so as to prohibit them from interfering in 

 the internal affairs of this State, or that he withdraw 

 them from the State. 



6. That the action of the Governor in protesting 

 to the President against sending United States troops 

 to Chicago, and against their presence in said city 

 for the purpose of police duty, and his course in en- 

 deavoring to enforce civil authority in said city for 

 the protection of human life, are hereby cordially ap- 

 proved. 



One member of the committee, made a mi- 

 nority report, commending the action of Mayor 

 Mason and General Sheridan, and making no 

 reference to the course of the Governor. The 

 reports were ordered to be printed, and a 

 very spirited debate occurred some days later, 

 terminating with the adoption of the follow- 

 ing substitute : 



Resolved, That the military should be in strict sub- 

 ordination to the civil power, and we regard any in- 



