Press enter after choosing selection

The Last Proclamation

The Last Proclamation image
Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
October
Year
1863
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

From the Xational Inteliigenctr. In publishiug on Wednesday last the proclamation of the President of the United S'ates, orderiug a suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus througlmut the whole land in certaiu classes of cases, we accompanied it with the words of the statute of Congress in pursuance of wtiieh it purporfs tti issued We did so tliat our readevs might have the opportunity of collating the two instrumenta, and we purposely abstaiued from any note or comiueut iti tlie premises that hey niight have the advantage of formii'g tlieir ora first impressions as to the degree of correspoudence that exists between the te;-ins of the proclamation and the provisions of the statute in uestion. Bilt now that the law of Congress and the edict of the President avowedly issued under it have been distitict 1 j sub initted to he judgrnent of our readers, it beeomes. our duty to give expression to our own opinión, as candidly etiturtuiued with regard to the scope of the last proclamation We propose very briefly to state how far it is anthorized and how far it is unauthorized by the terms of the statute ui. der the authority of which the President assumes to issue it. We shall do this with great brevity and at the same time with great. plainness of speech, for there is no coiuplexity or obscurity in the matter. Truth in tliis instance hes on tbe surfaee, and is not hiddeu at the bottom of a well. ïhö words of the law to which the President niakes appeal in the preamble of bis proclamation are as follows : "Be it enac.ted by the Señale and House of Representativas of the United States of America in Congress asemlkd, That, du ring the present rebellion, the President of the United States, whenever, in his judgment, the public safety niay require it, is authorized t suspend the privilege of the writ of h niets corpus in any cate thioughout the United States, or any part thereof. And wheneveror wherever the said privilege shall be suspended as aforesaid, no militry or other officer shall be cornpelled, iu answer to any writ ot haheas corpus, to return the body of any person or persons detiiined by hira by authority of the President ; but upou the certifícate, under oath, of the oijioer Inving charge of auy oue so detained that such person ü detained by him as a prisoner under authority of the f resident, further proceedings under the writ of habeas corpus shail be suspended by the Judge or court havit'g issued the aid writ so long as said suspension by the President shall remaiu iu forse and said rebellion continue." It will thus be seen that this statute expressly conteinplates the cases only of thoso who are " detained, as pritoners under ttie authority of the President" - that is, as tlie context of the act in its subsequent seotions olearly shows, of persons arrested and held in charge by sonie officer of the Government on sus picion or alleeation of disloyal designs or practices. On reading ihe whole statute it is disci vercd that the authorization to suspend the privilege of the writ of ha leas corpus, " in any case," relates to that elass of cases in which ' the ofiïcer baving charge of any onu so detained" is able to make return, in the shape of a ''certifica te under oath," that the person by hun detained is "detained as a prisouer under authority of the President." It is obvious that tlr's provisión of the law covers all that class of persons who may at any time be arrestud and held in custody either as pfisoïiers of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the eneuiy ; and the President, in enumerating this class of aetenus as being persons witli regard to whom the privilege of tbc writ of habeas corpus is suspended, raay undoubtedly claim to be within the limits prescribed by the law of Congress. But he pi ai n ly exceeds these limits when, in addition to this denomiuation of persons, he proceeds in like mauner to declare a suspension of the privilege of the writ as regards - we quote from his proclamation - "offieers, soldicrs, or seamen enrolled or drafted or mustered or enlisted in or bulongini; to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserlers therefroiu, or otherwise amenabk fo military law or the rules and articles of war, or the rules or regulations prescri bed for the military or naval services by authority of the President of the United States, or resisting a draft. or for any other offence against the military or naval service." This sweepingdeclaration fitids no basis on which to rest in the law of Cong-ess, and, in some of its deuomitiations, involves, inudvei'teiitly we doubt not, an express violation of another act of the last Congress. With what propriety can it be said that " offieers, soldiers or seamen enrolled, or drafted or mustered, or en listed in the land or naval forces of the United States are prisoners, detained under the authurity of the President ;" and yet it is ouly as regards persons who can be thus styled in a sicorn certificóle fhat the iaw of Congress of March 3d. 1863, authorizes the suspension of the privilege of the writ of huleas corpus. Suppose the case of a youth, ui.der the prescribed age, who has been improperio drafted or curolled in thf army. May he not loyally perform his duty as a soldier w'hile making ipplication to the courts of the i countiy for redress? And in what just seuM could the officer under whose cummai:d he was placed make return to the Judge that such a person was held as '■ prisoncr under the autliority of the President?" How the proclaination will act in increasing the hardships of the draft, as respects persons who ure erroneously enrolled and drawn, and who have actually entered the service, may be read in sueh cases as the following. We copy from the Gincinnati Gazette of Mouday last; " Three boys, named Isaac M. Owens, Isaae Traphagans and M. B. Miller, who had enlisted in the Fourth Tndependeut Battallion, O.V.C. Major Jue Wheeler commanding, were brought before Judge Lcavitt, of the United States District Court, on a writ of haleas corpus, on Saturday morning, and discharged it being shown that they were minors hen they were swnrn in." AU such proceedings, even before n Judge as " loyal " as Judge Lcavitt proved himself to be in the case of Mr. Vallaudighain, will now be stayed or dis missed. It is plain that when tle Congress authorized a suspension of the privilege of the writ of hateas co-pus wrth regai d to certain " prisoners.' it did not mean to place " offieers, soldiers, or seamen " in that category, unless they had made then;selves so by snme positive act. The President'8 classiQcation is too compre heiisive. But we have said that the proclamation, so f:i r as it orders a suspension of the privilege of the writ of haleas corpus with regard toa certain class of cases, is violative of an act of the last Oong-ess We alW.e to the act of March 3, 1863, entitled an aet for " eurolling and calling out the national forces." The twen t y fifth section of that act is iu the following words : "And Ie it further enacted, That if' any person shall resist auy draft of men enrolled under this act into the service of the United States, or shall counsel or aid any person to resist any such draft, or in the performance of any service in relation thereto; or shall counsel any person to assault or bstruct any such officcr, or shall counsel any drafled men not to appear at the place of rendczvou&, or willfully difsuade them from the performance of military duty as required by law, such person shuttle suhject to summary arrest by the J'rovos llarskal, and he shall be lorthwitb delivered to the civil authoritics, and, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exoeeding five hundred dollars, or by impriso-nment not exceeding two years, or by both of said pupigh inent-" Now, the proclnmation. of the President suspends the privilege of the writ of hateas, corpus with regard to persons arrestad " for resisting a draft." Suppose. then, the case of a person arrested in New York by the Provo&t Marshal for "resisting the draft " in that State. The law says that he " shall be forth with delivered fo the civil authoritics" for trial and conviction if proved guilty. The proelamation sajs that the Provust Marshal may detain all suoh persons according to his will and pleasure. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus being suspended as to such cases, the courts are lefl powerless to enforce their owu mandates or to administer the law of the ' land in this matter. Now, whioh sliall stand ? The law of Congress or the proelamation of the President ? It is plain that the President has acted without due deliberation iu issuing this last proelamation, whieh brings him, or his agenta in acting under it, iu direct conflict with the letter of a law signed by him on the same day with the law under cover of which he assumes to have igsued it. We know that there are those who will be swift to tax him with having attempted an "usurpation" in this matter. We shall not deal in any sueh insinuationa, or bring any such allegatiotis against the Chiof Magiatrate of the country, made such by the constitution and the laws, the foriner of which he has sworn to " preserve, protect and dcfend," and to tak e care that the latter be ';f;.ithfully executed." If in any ros peet he seems to fail in the performance of this high trust, espec ally iu a matter so open to public observation as that under consideration, it is much easier for us to assume, in explauation of it, an error of judgment, or a rüisapprehensiön of the true relations of the question, than a delibérate purpose on his part to disregard his constitutional obligations or to trample on the chartered rights of the American people. But this candid consideratioD of the President's motives and purity of intention cannot make us vary a hair's breadth in stating the law, or give us a momcut's pause in demanding that its sanctions be observed equally by rulers and ruled. We have full faith that the President will revise his procla mation in this regard so as to bring it within the limits and put it under the shield of the law. He cannot. expect to put a stop to all judicial proceodings in matters so vitally Dteresting to the peopie. Niiy, he has publicly engaged to abido by the decisión of the Supreme Court on the question that has been raised as to the cons'. itutionality of tl'e enrollment law. To this effect he wrote to Governor Seymour, of New York, under date of August 7th, as follow9 : " I do not object to abide a decisión of the United States Supreme Court, or of the Judges thereof, on the constitutionality of the draft law. In faet, I shall be willing to facilítate the obtaiuing of it, but I cannot consent to lose the time while it is beiug obtuined." Now, how can any such question ever be brought before the Supreme Court if the writ of huleas corpus is to be suspended in the case of all persons " enrolled, or drafted, or mustered, or cnlisted in or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States?" Is a single test case to be al-owed by way of grace for the purpose of trying the question ? Then the question ceases to be one of common right, open to the enjoynient of all, and lapses into a matter of privilege, dependent for its origin and its solution on the will and pleasure of the Executive. The American people have uot so learned their own riglits or their rulers' duties. It gives us no pleasure to take these exceptions to any declaration of the President. But what else can we do? The law is so plain that he may run who readeth, and we are set for its statement and its defence within the humble sphere of oar vocation. We oanriót do otherwise than speak in the worSs which Congress has put into our mouth, for the law infringed by the procla. nation will stand to issert its just prerogatives, whether men will hear or whether they will refuse to hear. We sincerely believe that the cause of the Republic is to day more dnmaged by disregard of law on the part of men in office, and especially on the purt of men in subordinóte military comiuand, than by all other causes combined, seareely excepting the enemy in the field or the enemy sowing the seeds of discord in the loyal States. For whatever of alicnation there exists in the hearts of the people against the government takes its origin and derives its nutriment in a large degree from the domi neering demeanor and exacting spirit of military officers, in high grades and in low grades, contemptuously overriding the civil authority iu matters and within limits where there is neither neeessity nor excuse for their intrusión. And it ia in this aspect mere than any otlier that we deplore the practical resul ts of the President's prorlü mation, which, though uot so intended by its author, seems to promise immuuity from judicial scrutuiy or legal control to everj7 petty Provost Marshal or subaltero officer, whatever may be his invasions or private rights or his violations of municipal and uational law. iïp" Tien young la dies of Philadelphia were liitely sper.dingr tho summer in Northwestern New York During their visit they took severa] long rides with the daughter ol the r host about the country. On one of these occasions - as they had been traveling Rome distance, and the day was warm, and as a irpugh of running water stood invitingly by the roadside - they concluded to give their pony a drink. - One cf the city ladips ngreed to getout nnd arrange matters for this purpose. The others, retnaining in the carringe, and deeply engaged in oonversation, lor some time puid no attention to the proceedingsi of their companion. - Wlien, at last, surprised at the lony delay they turned to asc.ertmn the cause, they discovered her trying to unbucklo tho crupper (this being the name, I helieve, of the etrap which pushes around the borses caudlo appendage). In amazeinent they in()iiired : " What in the world are you doing that tor?" She naively replied: "Why I'm unbuckling this strap to let the horse's head down so he can drink!" E1 " Samuel, can you teil of what parentage was NtipoleoD the Greal?" " Of Oors-I-oan ! "

Article

Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus