rate meaning of these words,
but comprehends demands for an exercise by the government of its powers
in furtherance of the interests and prosperity of the petitioners, and
of their views on politically contentious matters.

RESTRAINTS ON THE RIGHT OF PETITION

The right of petition recognized by Amendment I first came into
prominence in the early 1830's, when petitions against slavery in the
District of Columbia began flowing into Congress in a constantly
increasing stream, which reached its climax in the winter of 1835.
Finally on January 28, 1840, the House adopted as a standing rule: "That
no petition, memorial, resolution, or other paper praying the abolition
of slavery in the District of Columbia, or any State or Territories of
the United States in which it now exists, shall be received by this
House, or entertained in any way whatever." Thanks to the efforts of
John Quincy Adams this rule was repealed five years later, after Adams'
death.[247] For many years now the rules of the House of Representatives
have provided that members having petitions to present may deliver them
to the Clerk and the petitions, except such as, in the judgment of the
Speaker, are of an obscene or insulting character, shall be entered on
the Journal and the Clerk shall furnish a transcript of such record to
the official reporters of debates for publication in the Record.[248]
Even so petitions for the repeal of the espionage and sedition laws and
against military measures for recruiting resulted, in World War I, in
imprisonment.[249] Processions for the presentation of petitions in the
United States have not been particularly successful. In 1894 General
Coxey of Ohio organized armies of unemployed to march on Washington and
present petitions, only to see their leaders arrested for unlawfully
walking on the grass of the capitol. The march of the veterans on
Washington in 1932 demanding bonus legislation was defended as an
exercise of the right of petition. The administration, however, regarded
it as a threat against the constitution and called out the army to expel
the bonus marchers and burn their camps. For legal regulation of
lobbying activities, _see_ below.

THE CRUIKSHANK CASE

The right of assembly was first passed upon by the Supreme Court in 1876
in the famous case of United States _v._ Cruikshank et al.[250] The case
arose on indictments under section 6 of the so-called Enforcement Act of
May 30, 1870,[251] which read as