The Arbitrary Arrests Of The War Department

The following letter on the subject of arbitrary arresta is addressed to the President by Judge Gould, of New York State, a republican aud a Judge of the Court of Appeal.s : New York, Nor. 14, 1862. To His Excellent?, Abiabam Linco.n, President of the üniied States: Sir- On my arrival in this city, from my residence in Troy, N Y., l fin'd'thut a cousin of mine, G. Colden Tracy, a broker of this city, has been, first, arrested and sent to Fort Lafuyette, and, seeondly, to day taken as a prisoner to Washington. The newspapers say - and so fiir as I can lenrn by 1I infjuiries of authoiities I eau hear nothing different - that the cause of the arrest is some dealings he has had in contractors' drafts on governtnent officer for moneys ; and, i is said soine frauda were committed In or by tlie drafts, and he is chaiged with eomplicity therewitli. If this be so, it isa crime cognizable by tho coürts, and only by the courts, and I am amazed at the fatuify of publio officurs who can t;ike no waming from the distmctly uttered voica of a free peoplo I am, arrd alwas have been, an unwavering enpiny of this rebellion (cursed in its origin, most accursed its progress.) and a supporter of the idministration. I am a Judge of the highest court of this State Aud if no lionest voice has yet reached the ears of our goerninent, I wish to say, and to be heard in sayirig, tjiat Star Cbfliuber processes and Secretury'a warrants are dangerous instruinents to play with, aud that, among us, the true, staunch supporters of the government, who 'wegld crush treason with the iron heel. but who know the law, tire compelled to hang their heads in silence at the mention of cases which have oocurred ii our midst. Spies are hardly cautiuned when fhsy are where they can do infinite harm ; but a powerful hand, and an oppressive one, is laid on a person here, who is not in a position for.doing mischief, f he would, and who is suppnsed t(j huve no friendq. In this respeot, I thank God, thére has been a mistake. It is true that he is a 5'oung man, of not much meams or iniuence; it is also true that ho has a young wife (mnrricd not long since), and for no assigned cause that those in power iare to give breafh to, he is taken awáy rrom home, without givirig to h3 wife an instant s interview or a chance to seo him. Is this country the France of a ocntury ago ? The young man is a erandson of that Uriah Tracy, who lived and died a Senator of the United States from Connecticut, who was the first man buried in the Congressional burying ground at Washington, and vyhpse aslies are insultcd by thia atrouious invasión of the liberties of the people in the pergou of bis despendant. I arn not merely speaking n;y own opinión of suoh arresta. I know the opinión and the feelings of many of my brethren of the beneh. And if the governnuüit is reallv desrrcms of so proeeeding as to inake it our duty to make pub lic our opinions, they will bt hnard, not merely ia the writ af haheas corpus but in open declaration to tlie worldi Had I been a few hours earlier made aware of thia case, I should not have troubled you with a wnrd ; but I would have seen that the pmcess of the Supreme Court of the State was so executed as to protect its citizens accuwed of such offenses from i-ny arrest, other than one under the apprcpriate procesa sf the courts. I bepr again to assure you, in nll sincerity, that this kind of proceeding has gone too far already, and that, while fo the last of our irten :md pur. ineans we are ready and detennined to sustain the law, and iho government in enforcing the iaw over thia whole land as ono country, we are also determined to be judged by the law, and not by any Secretary or any one who is not corumissioiied for that purpose. We know and acknowledge the rules of war, wliere the neeessity of the case requires the eisence of ij)artial law. But we know, also, the common law of liborty, and the broad, great character of the constitution. I write warmly, zealously, because I cannot bear to .think ef our cherished gnvernment's tiking ar.y eoursa to injure itself; at a time, loo, when our only hope "f escaping the eternal disgrace and humiliation of letting the cause of Human liberty perish in our han(1s is to sustain the governmf-'nt of this Union, and to have it a government worth sustaining. With great reapect, yours, eto.,