But their jurisdiction in this respect is not exclusive; it is concurrent with that of the state courts. Generally speaking, the courts will not overrule the decisions of the governor, in extradition cases, unless they are clearly satisfied that an error has been committed.50 Thus, on habeas corpus, the sufficiency of the indictment as a matter of technical pleading will not be inquired into.51 Nor, in reviewing the action of the executive in these proceedings, will the courts inquire into the motives and purpose of the proceeding (as, whether it is really to punish a crime or only to collect a debt), nor interfere with any matter connected therewith which lies within the discretion of the governor.52 It is generally provided by the extradition treaties made by this country with foreign nations that a surrendered criminal can be tried only for the specific offense for which he was extradited. And if he is tried and acquitted on that charge, or if he is not tried for that offense at all, he has then the right to be set at liberty, and must be allowed a reasonable time to return to the country from which he was taken, before being proceeded against on any other accusation. 53 And it has sometimes been thought that the same principle should apply to extradition as between the several states of the Union. But it is now settled that, in the case of extradition from one state to another, the prisoner has no right or claim to be afforded an opportunity of returning to the state to which he first fled before being tried for another and distinct offense from that designated in the requisition papers. In other words, when the state regains possession of the fugitive, it may proceed at once to try him for any and all charges which it may have against him.54 A fugitive from justice charged with crime will not be released 50 Robb v. Connolly, 111 U. S. 624, 4 Sup. Ct. 544; Ex parte Reggel, 114 U. S. 642, 5 Sup. Ct. 1148; Ex parte Brown, 28 Fed. 653; Hibler v. State, 43 Tex. 197; In re Robb, 64 Cal. 431, 1 Pac. 881; Ex parte State, 73 Ala. 503. 51 Pearce v. Texas, 155 U. S. 311, 15 Sup. Ct. 116. 52 In re Sultan, 115 N. C. 57, 20 S. E. 375. 53 U. S. v. Rauscher, 119 U. S. 407, 7 Sup. Ct. 234. 54 Lascelles v. Georgia, 148 U. S. 537, 13 Sup. Ct. 687; People v. Cross, 64 Hun, 348, 19 N. Y. Supp. 271; Id., 135 N. Y. 536, 32 N. E. 246; State v. Stewart, 60 Wis. 587, 19 N. W. 429; Carr v. State, 104 Ala. 4, 16 South. 150; In re Petry (Neb.) 66 N. W. 308; State v. Kealy, 89 Iowa, 94, 56 N. W. 283. Compare Ex parte McKnight, 48 Ohio St. 588, 28 N. E. 1034. on habeas corpus because he was induced by a stratagem or trick to come within territory where he could properly be arrested, provided the stratagem used was not itself an infraction of law.55 And even if a person is kidnapped and forcibly brought back to the state where his crime was committed, without any extradition or other regular proceedings, this will give him a right to proceed against his abductor, but it is no reason why he should not be tried by the courts of that state for his offense against its laws. 56 Nor, in such a case, is there any mode in which the state from which he was abducted, or the prisoner himself, can demand and secure his restoration to that state, under the constitution and laws of the Union." 55 Ex parte Brown, 28 Fed. 653. 56 Kerr v. Illinois, 119 U. S. 436, 7 Sup. Ct. 225; Cook v. Hart, 146 U. S. 183, 13 Sup. Ct. 40; In re Mahon, 34 Fed. 525. 67 Mahon v. Justice, 127 U. S. 700, 8 Sup. Ct. 1204. CHAPTER X. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. 116-118. Republican Government Guarantied. 119. Reconstruction. REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT GUARANTIED. 116. The federal constitution provides that "the United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a republican form of government." 117. A republican government is one in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated. 118. This clause of the federal constitution implies(a) A power in the federal authorities to preserve, though not to create, republican governments in the several states. (b) A limitation upon the power of the people of each state in forming or amending their state constitutions. Meaning of the Term. No particular government is designated as "republican," neither is the exact form to be guarantied in any manner especially described. Here, as in other parts of the constitution, we are compelled to resort elsewhere to ascertain what was intended. The guaranty necessarily implies a duty on the part of the states themselves to provide such a government. All the states had governments when the constitution was adopted. In all, the people par ticipated, to some extent, through representatives elected in the manner specially provided. These governments the constitution did not change. They were accepted precisely as they were, and it is therefore to be presumed that they were such as it was the Thus we have unmistakable evi duty of the states to provide. dence of what was "republican" in form within the meaning of the term as employed in the constitution.1 A republican form of government, as distinguished from an autocracy, monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, or other form of government, is one which is based on the political equality of men. It is a government "of the people, for the people, and by the people." Its laws are made either by the whole people in a body (in which case the form of government is properly called a "democracy") or by representatives chosen for that purpose by the people. Its executive power is lodged in the hands of a chief magistrate, elected by the people, directly or indirectly. It excludes the idea of an hereditary ruler or class of rulers. But the idea of a republic by no means involves the prin ciple of universal suffrage. It is not inconsistent with a republican government that the right to vote should be restricted to adults, males, property owners, or those possessing the elements of education. It is only necessary that the suffrage should be generally extended to those deemed competent to exercise it, or at least that it should not be so restricted as to exclude all but a favored class from participation in political rights and privileges. "By the constitution a republican form of government is guarantied to every state in the Union, and the distinguishing feature of that form is the right of the people to choose their own officers for governmental administration, and pass their own laws in virtue of the legislative power reposed in representative bodies, whose legitimate acts may be said to be those of the people themselves." 2 "In a republic all the citizens, as such, are equal, and no one can rightfully exercise authority over another but by virtue of power constitutionally given by the whole community, which authority, when exercised, is in effect the act of the community. Sovereignty resides in the people in their political capacity." Importance of the Guaranty. "Without a guaranty, the assistance to be derived from the national government in repelling domestic dangers which might threaten the existence of the state constitutions, could not be de1 Minor v. Happersett, 21 Wall. 175. In re Duncan, 139 U. S. 449, 11 Sup. Ct. 573. manded as a right from the national government. Usurpation might raise its standard and trample upon the liberties of the people, while the national government could legally do nothing more than behold the encroachments with indignation and regret. A successful faction might erect a tyranny on the ruins of order and law, while no succor could be constitutionally afforded by the Union to the friends and supporters of the government." Extent of Federal Power. The power and duty of the United States to guaranty a republican form of government extends not only to the protection of the particular state whose government is threatened, for any cause, with change, but also to the protection of all the other states in the Union. Such is the relation between the several members of the American Union that each has the strongest interest in the maintenance in all the others of republican government. The prosperity, and in some sense the safety, of each and of the whole depends upon the continuance in each of those forms and institutions which have come to be accepted as the American exposition of the system of republican government. Hence there might possibly be cases in which it would be the right and duty of the federal government to interfere, even although the particular state, or all its people, had no disposition to invoke the protection of the guaranty. In effect, the guaranty does not only contain a promise to each state that it shall continue to enjoy a republican form of government as long as the Union endures, but also it imports a command to each state to maintain and preserve that form of government, under penalty of the intervention of the federal Union for the benefit of all its members. But "the authority extends no fur ther than to a guaranty of a republican form of government, which supposes a pre-existing government of the form which is to be guarantied. As long, therefore, as the existing republican forms are continued by the states, they are guarantied by the federal constitution. Whenever the states may choose to substitute other republican forms, they have a right to do so, and to claim the federal guaranty for the latter. The only restriction imposed on them is that they shall not exchange republican for anti-republican con 42 Story, Const. § 1814. |