The northern galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1844-1848, 1844-03-13
GEN JACKsON,s FINE.
WASHINGTON. Feb. 26. 1914

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26. 1874
Mr.. STAcY,-l notice in the Ture Dem.
ocrut of the 2Isi Inst. on article in relation
TO the recen, action of The Senate upon the
Bill refunding 10 Gen. jackson the fine
imposed upon him by Judge Hall in 1915,
in which il is asserted thai both the Sena>
tors from Vermont voted against dong
Justice TO tide hero of New ORLEANS. The
editor gives the vote upon the amend ment
proposed by the Committee on the Judici-
airy. providing ''thai nothing in the bill
should be considered an imputaiioD upon
the conduct ofJudse Hall in imposing The
fue." This amendment Was resisted by
the friends Of Gen. jackson and &c the
bill. Rot upon the ground that their design
was to reflect upon the conduct OF The de-
ceased Judge, but upon the ground thai tho
bill Implied no sucI. imputation, and that
the amendment was unnecessary. If such
was their construction of the bill, saw no
harm in expressing what they considered
implied. nor did | see any injslice to
Gen. Jackson 10 rendering the more OK.
plicit in expressing their views.
1t is true however, thai | voted against
the bill upon its final passage, and for reas-
ons which mos, cheerfuIy submit 10 the
good sence and deliberate judgement Of the
people of Vermont. A more gross decep-
lion was never praclised upon the American
people, than has been imposed upon them
IN rcaiian TO this mater. 1t has been
represented, that the Transaction fer which
the fine was imposed occurred in tho pres
ence Of the army, and while the city Of
New Orleans was in imminent danger.
Iniecd lhaye recently seen it asserted TINT
Judge Hall was conspiring with class Of
men, who were engaged in secret cores
pondence with the enemy. This assertion
is an invention Of very recent origin. No
man here pre,ends thsi such was the fsCt.
But under The impression that the conduct
of Gen Jackson was demanded by the ex>
treme exigency of the case,-that the SAL
vaiion Of the country required that he
should put himself above all law, and tram
pie upon the judicial authorities, a clam
NOR for the remission OF the fno has been
raised, and even State Legislatures have
sent on their Resolutions to this effect.
which show upon their face Tint the men
who adopted them were utterly ignorant
ofike real facts Of The cn-c.
What arc these facrs1 On tho 9Th of
January, 1915 the decisive battle of New
Orleans was fought. The enemy wore
discomfted--nearly annihilaied. Their
army, already crippled by the tremendous
slaughter Of that day, was daily wasting
without the means of recruiting. Under
these circumstances, a renewal Of The ai
tack would have been madness. There
was no danger of it. Yet Gen jackson,
having in the first place illegally and with.
out authority. declared martial law, prcsis-
ted in maintaining it. A citiz' Ii by the
name Of Louallier having at some fine
previous to the Sd Of March. published in
the papers of the city an article offensive
10 Gen Jackson, he caused LouaIlier TO be
arrested and placed in confinement with a
view to his trial by court martial, Lou
allier, conceiving himself answerable TO a
civil tribunal, If at all, and not 10 a mill
tary court, applied to Judge Hall for
Hd5eaS corpus which the Judge, as he was
bound TO do. granted. This lcGS ISSUED
on the Sd Of March. 1915, nearly eight
,reekS after the battle. and after The nStes
of peace had arrived in The city. The
General instead of obeying the writ, cansod
the Judge 10 be arrested by military
guard and taken out of TIE city. 1t was
for this act Of arres;ing and lmprisoning
the Judge, in order 10 prevent the exer.
else Of his judicial functions, that the fine
was imposed,
1t will be seen that ;his proceeding was
not only a high handed abuse of military
power, trampling upon the civil authority.
but an act which had not the plea of nec-
essity to excuse it, the danger being over
and the war at an end. | did not deem it
my duty, under those circumstances, to
give to the act the sanction of my appro-
baton.
L shall enter into no argument upon
point so clear fol my own yindicatioD, nor
should | have noticed the paragraph in the
True Democrat, at all, were il not for the
purpose of removing a Misrepresentation,
so generally prevailing, as to the period
when the transaction took place, and the
supposed necessity foT such a high handed
measure. SAMUEL S PHELPS.
DOINGs ON THE 22D.