Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1828-05-14

IN hut
by virtue of law duly administered. and i :.
surely incumbent upon those Who claim tho
right to take the life of citizen. or who NJ
tempt to justify the process By which that
lie has been taken, to show, beyond rea-
sonabic doubt, that there was ,aw tn ,s,ii;,
The procedure. In such case. viii, not do
TO deal IN far fetched implications. The case
must be made clear. The lives of orr cit-
zcns are OF too much Importance to ,yarran,
'leir beng cut Oil by cunning construction
OF law. Situated as these men were saw
most unhesitatingly, there was no authority
to detain them IN service for looper term
than three months: and ic,la,!enge the pro
ducton of title Of testimony showing law
TO the contrary.
Having submitted these observations. 7
VIII now proceed to examine the reasoDinr
OF the committee upon this point. Their at.
tempt to derive the power. to authorize Go
vernon Biount, on the Goth May, 1914. to or
Ger out militia DRIFT for the term of six
months, from tile letter OF the Secretary of
war, OF the | l.ll OF January preceding, is
such an oyclstraned construction, that if
seems 10 Inc It must ever be viewed as one Of
the greatest curlositics n Congressional pro-
cecolngs. 1t exposes fact that no enc un-
acquomted with what political excitement
is capable of producing, could for q moment
behave To Gc possible There l., Certainty
nothing in the letter Of the Secretary TO
warrant such construction; even had he
been authorized by law 10 grant the power
contan>iet, toy The plTas3olcgy and tenor
oi thai letter lead 10 il direct contrary CON
c'uaio1, as .illn.l shall De able c.earl! to
demonstrate. Gerc the terms used in this
ietter such as 10 i;ivur the construction out
upon /. 10y the cCmin'tter, the whole of Heir
reasoning IS destroyed 10y The fact, tilat il was
"f.-i2E n!oFct.i2n three n3il;i!s before the pas
sage ot Tie act granting t. the President the
power ii ispretended that letter transferred to
the Governor of Tennessee, to be exercised
by ANN as the Deputy OF the President. A
power confded to the President, TO be exerci-
sod Or ROT, as his opioion OF its tendency to
promote the public interest might dictate.
transferred to proxy, Is rather TOO extraya-
giant an Idea 10 .!..>c-. win general Fncourao e-
lhent III community as enlightened It's this
| Is.
Although feel satisfied that the circum.
stance oi tils letter being written more than
TIRES months before it could De known .,,.:,;
the ia;T OH which the report OF tile Commit
tee fnakes II operate, is sufficient TO DESTROY
their whole theory; will, Notwithstanding
endeasor 10 follow them through their whole
argument. In doing this, it shall be my pur-
pose to show, that evcn had this letter been
written alter the passage of the law of the
18Th CT April, 1914. no grant Of the power
contended for.cou!d fairly be inferred from
any thing which, II contains.
In order TO full and fair UNDERSTANDING
ofthe case, it will be necessary to be a little
more particular than it seems to have suited
the views OF the committee to be- 1t will be
proper to take up the subject from the be-
ginning. During the year 1913, the Creek
Indians commenced hostlitic5 on our south
western frontier. 70 -cpci ih;s aggression.
q portion OF militia of Tennessee was called
into tie service Of the United States. The
! operations OF this force was conducted BY
7 General Andrew Jackson, who was at that
time MAYOR General of Militia. Difference
OF opinion existing as to the length Of time
the troops thus called ont were required to
serve, the Governor Of Tennessee, on the
10Th OIL December, 1913, wrote to the Sec
rotary ct War, debating u wish that they
might be considered as bound to perform no
more than three months tour Of duty. In
answer to this letter, the Secretary of War.
on tho third Of January, 1914, wrote thus:
"Jhe militia may be considered as HAVING
been called out under the law of 1875.
which limits the service to three months.
The President is the more disposed to make
this decision, as the State law provides that
a period of three months shall be deemed :
tour OF duty; and as the spirit and patriotism
OF Tennessee leaves no doubt bit that a sue
ceSS7om 2j corps, competent TO the object O.
the Government, will be regularly provided
Here is laid down in language os clear a.
| possibly could be employed, the intentions o.
the President in regard to the period it wa.
expected that the Tennessee militia would
: thereafter serve. The Secretary 8ays-"The
militia may be considered as having been
( called out under the law Of 1875, which linn
( its the service to three months" The rca.
sons assigned for the President having made
this decision, had an important bearing on
the question. They arc of Il two-fold kind
list, THAT the State law provided that three
months should be deemed tour of duty
Cd, THAT the spirit and patriotism of Ter
nessee leaves no doubt but that succession
iof 70 hc oI,, ,