Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-10-27

Tba Inv
INNS, ALWAYS govern naval courts martial, are Tue laws
c,be IIn;ted Staes and 1t is scarcely necessary 10 re-
IND the intelligent reader that, as universally auu
uniformity Indispensable attributes oil the Jaw,
rule which would on the state OF facts convict
man at New York; and acqult HIM al fensacoia "ouiu
no, deserve the name of law.
s.That the law which makes the negro as oomPe.eh'
a witness the white man, IS nnwse anu ''iPvi'e'
we will not stop TO prove or even 10 assei'' =, nv"
ever the law is to be altered, there Is D"l one p"e
known 10 the Constitution by which it can be altered
md that mower is not the President. 10 nm IS gwen
the power to the laws; but u Is 70 DC
the day is far distant when that ocei WIZ ieei
at liberty to say, 'ths law IS iupo,as, With Roman
senate at his heels had dared to hold such
The sernest despots and the boodes tnat
scourped the earth have done IT under the hane u ne
law. ,,... 900 d;.,nnrove Mr.
y.n Rn,en,s administration, and especially we dIsaP-
nrove nearly all Of those acts OF whch rea!e 70
d, I'm, in the matter spoken of above he rs clearly
r;rbt and enlightened public opinion Will sustain hm
rye cordially unite with the Pensacola editor in the
following tribute to Lieut.. Hooe our countyman:J
GAS for Mr. Hooe himself we know HIM TO De as gal
liant and noble fellow ever trod the Geek OF snip
Born at the South and reared with SoulneTh ieehgs,
Inc was naturally indignant at having the assertions OF
negroes though made under the soemnty OF an oath,
weighed against his character as gentleman ana ms
honor as an officer. But whatever may have been ms
feelings on the subject is sufficient Jnstlcatoh Tor
Inc
alt is fact not unworthy OF remark, that there
within the last years, been more naval courts
martial in this harbor than in all the other ports OF the
II s: and although in many Of these courts, colored
witnesses have been called TO testify, no question mas
ever been made to their competency
So here our readers will see, the spontaneous test'-
mony of Mr.. Van Burens political enemies, that he
could not have interered in the Hooe CASE without an
usurpaton of the powers of Congress- and VIVA! IS
they demonstrate it by cogent reasoning This is hgh
authority and should shut the mouth of every sanderer
and mischief maker about the Hooe case.
But suppose Mr.. Van Buren, had sanctioned the m
PRODUCTION Of negro testimony against White men, t'nh
you gentle reader precedent could be found Tor II IN
The South. Read the following, from tine New Orleans
Great Western and what Wing Judge ana
Wing Acknowledgement can do as far South us n or-
leans in regard to such testimony:
"Ntero testimony an .lt,o Orleans
uAn extraordinary came up before the Criminal
Court in this city, ON the 18th ins which sRegrotcs-
t,nonv was admitted and carried TO its greatest extent
and upon which testimony the criminal was found sn,y
and condemned The persons giving testimony IN TINS
case were, Bazile Croker, free man Of color, and WI
dow Louis Dupre, free coman Of color. The Judge
of the court and the attorney general OF the State are
both leading Wings. Here is plain case and we ask
the Federal party, which has been railing out so much
about the of Lit Hooe and tasltyng the facts OF
that case to give us light on this. Can they re-
lieye themselves of the dilemma in which their indis
cretion has placed them' They cannot on the plea
of the tac because in the case OF Lieut. Hooe, they
kicked the law aside and would not permit 1t TO be
justified on that ground. Why did they not protest
ara;nst this NEGRO testimony under their noses
where free ,ekie citizen of the u S. was to be tried
almost for his life, the Nervousness OF whose crime
could in no way contribute to the necessity OF such EVIL
dence-for the law always presumes u man innocent
until he is proved be guilty The san very properly
asks the question, "wheter DR.. Hines will be pardoned
bv the Executive of Louisiana, because he has been
conricted on the testimony Of teo negroes? We give
the following report of the evidence OF these two
negroes, from the Ptrcyune.
0TmE STATE rersas JAMES WALKER, ALIAS DR.
HlyEs-Wel, the doctor has at length been brought
up to the "scratch." "Dodgng and "shyng would no
longer avail him. A jury impanelled Yesterday
and the trial proceeded We noticed Mr. Cohen asso-
ISOLATED with the doctors other counsel
The Attorney General opened the case By reading
the Indictment Ii charged the prisoner Jas. Walker
with having the 18th Of May last, aided and allotted
the slave Nelson, depart from his master, living IN
the first municipality and within the jurisdiction OF TINS
court deprivine him thereby of his and services
"Boz;le Croker, {. NJ. sworn. Witness is owner OF
slave named Nelson. tie pointed the boy out to the
court Nelson departed from his service on the 10Th Of
Nav last-heard about the 30th that he was IN tie jan
nj Natchez and that he had been carried TO mat city ny
two white men who offered him for sale and were also
in prison there He went to Natchez, got HIM without
any difficulty, ard brought him home. lie does noi OF
his own knowledge know the men who carried the BOY
10 Natchez-heard their Names put GOES ho' now re-
member them. ~
sWidow Louis Dupre, f. N. C., sworn, Witness
lives in Craps street She knows the prisoner at the
bar he had occupied par; of her house he slave Mel.
son here brought before herr Witness, recognized
him as the boy she had with the prisoner he had
lived in that part of the house occupied by the prisoner
for three DAYS in May last The prisoner had told hiln
that Nelson was his save-said he had brought hun
from his plantation, but the boy was worthless, ne
had two white men who would take bitn BACK 10 MS
plantation again. In answer TO questions OF cross
examination witness said the prisoner lived IN her
house two months less five days-saw two other white
men there with hm.-The intimacy which existed be-
tween them was this-se cooked for him. and at times
he to her part OF the house anu oscouFseo Will
her
But negro testimony is sometimes admitted IN our
own courts At late court in the county OF Hanover
this city, negro was examined tor an alleged
white woman, perpetrated IN the absence Oh ne'
husband We understand, that four out OF the hve
who constituted the court Wings, we'll as the
Commonwealth Attorney and the prisoner counsel
The woman positively that the rape had been
committed upon her by the prisoner; whereupon Mr
Lyons moved the introduction OF four negroes 10 prove
an alibi or in other words, that the woman had LIED
The Commonwealth S Attorney opposed its introduc-
ion but the court admitted it, This matter, from the ex
ctement il produced got in the papers; aud we cut from
the Wing of Sept IL, 1910, the following extract IRON
communication to wallpaper by ii. Davis, ESQ., who
IS Commonwealth Attorney, as before stated 1t Will
be that he all the facts necessary to show
that such testimony introduced, and that IL was
illegally done--yet the very individuals mus aaihi.
ing s!le esunloiy Oh negroes against "oii"" =,
violated woman, can escape with mpuny, whilst MIR
Van Buren, is to be inundated because he could not, if
lie would, have set aside the decision OF the CouI'
Martial in Eooes case, eren i the testimony o. ht
negroes had established any Ming-But establishing
noihing, he was bound he did, to say he saw no
ground to justify his interference in the case But
here is the extract from Mr.. Davlss communication
TO the Wing:
81 am as represented the Commonwealth Attor
ney in the Court in which the criminal was tried On
the part the prosecution the woman proved that the
attempt was indeed a successful one; identihed The
man, whom she knew we'll and who lived within iew
hundred Yards of her house The fact being thus proved
and her good character well sustained, four negroes
were introduced and offered as evidence felt 1t my
duty 10 enquire of the Counsel for the prisoner whe
,her r-aroes were at all cognzant of the fact,
whether they were nruush. there for the purpose o
proving an ab Learning in substance ,hat their
t;mony was intended to prove abb, objected t
being received for any such purpose, II Is;".
in effect or in fact to array the testimony OF negroe
against that of white person. and BY numbers II
- ppff lny IN,