The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-10-18

,ba eaventb section of the act Of Congress OF
Oh of March, 1883, CHI 81. which. so far as Is
material to our present inquiry, Is as follows:
aAnd be Il further enacted, That either of the
Justices of the Supreme Court, or Judge of any
issrict Court of the United States in addition to
the authority already conferred by law SHALL have
power to grant writs OF habeas corpus in all eases
If a prisoner or prisoners ia jail or confinement
where he or they shall be committed or confined
o. or By any dathorityo lar, for any act done o,
omitted to be done IN parsaaace Of iap Of on,
United States, or any order, process or decree o
any Judge or Court thereof anything in any act 81
Congress to the contrary notwithstanding"
For the purpose of the discussion and ar
gument of this point, it was necessary to as
sumo that the facts set forth in the prisoner
petition were true leaving the proof OF them
to be made out afterwards The petition
states distinctly that the prisoners have peen
committed for an act done in executing piU
cess issued in pursuance of Jaw Oh 'i,e -
States. Judge Grier decides, that II 'he'e'
fore comes within the provisions OF TINS ACT
1.-THE writ of habeas corpus is a hisn PIe.o
! writ know, IN the common law-the great opy'cI
| of which is the liberation oil those "no ',ey ~, 10
prisuned without sufficient cause. ~ = i ~ f
ture of writ of error 70 .sa hoav NJ he nrso
a. ~, tn,other with the causeo of his confinement
H., " 1p, 49, nndoubtedlv enquire into the sutii
| c;ancx nf that cause"-See ex parte watkins, .
Peters, gel.
.rudge Grier then proceeds TO remark that
n warrant of arrest issued by a justice of the
nance has none of the characteristics of a
Indictment OF n court of record, and is there
fore not conclusive evidence that the pri-
soner is rightly deprived of his liberty
I ! nt,a IN mt re
regularity, and the suffciency of the grounds
on which it has been issued, to justify the
arrest and Imprisonment. Warrants of ar
rest, issued on the application of private in
formers, may show on their face prima facie
charge sufficient TO give jurisdiction to the
Justice; bat it may be founded on mistake,
ignorance malice, or perjury. Judge Grier
puts case very similar to the present; A tells
Is that he has seen G kill d. b runs off to a
| Justice, swears to the murder boldly, without
any knowledge of the fact, and takes out
warrant for {, who is arrested and imprison-
| ed in consequence thereof. c prays ha-
beas corpus and shows that he was the She
riff of the county, and hanged ID in pursu-
ance OF a legal warrant Il a court could
not discharge prisoner in such case, be-
cause the warrant was regular on its face, the
writ of habeas corpus is of little use.
The authority conferred on the Judges OF
the United States, quoted by Judge Grier,
gives them, says the Judge, all the power that
any other court could exercise under the writ
of habeas corpus, or gives them none at all.
If under such writ they may not discharge
their officer when imprisoned "by any au-
Rortty for an act done in pursuance of a law
OF the United States, it would be impossible
to discover for what useful purpose the act
was passed. Is the prisoner to be brought
before them, only that they may acknowledge
their utter impotenceto protect him!
The officers are very properly discharged.
The negro, however, has escaped after VIC
lent resistance. Judge Grier gives history
of the whole transaction, and says he sees
nothing worthy of blame in the conduct of
the officers, except perhaps want of sufi
cient courage and perseverance in the at
tempt to execute the writ.
In order to show our readers the way in
which informatons are gotten up, and the of
ficers of the United States harassed in the
discharge Of their duty, we give below a
statement from the opinion of the Judge, by
which it appears that the deposition of VIM.
G. Guildersleeve, the person OR whose oath
the warrant against the u S. officers was
founded, was rank and shameless piece O
perjury from beginning to end. 1t is by such
Infamous crimes as these that the South is
every day despoiled, and the ends of justice |
defeated:
I'm order to obtain this warrant for the prisoners
he had signed deposition stating positively that the
prisoners had committed assault and battery on
Bill or William Thomas with pistols Nc, with intent
to kill him. He says oath that he not pre-
sent and knows nothing of the transaction whatever
that he did not William Thomas that day at all
that certain seph Easterne had told him ''tfiat
shot at the river bank and was dying" and |
that it was colored man that shot; p that he |
Immediately consulted Mr.. Collins, and after finding |
out the name of one of the prisoners that he then
went to justice ofthe peace and told him that there
had been shot at the river bank, and he want
ed warrant; that the justice wrote out an information
and read it to him. and he swore to ito the best of
his knosledge and belief; that he swore out
warrant agaisnt any body before, and it bi-
slness to him. but he did by the counsel of Collins
that he did Il know the persons who attempted to
arrest Bill officers that time That he cannot
tell what he to before Esquire Cot in order to
obtain the warrant That he did not see the prison
ers fre plsolssot all his nformatin from Easterne
and Seaman that his 'interview with them was ye-
~ brlet-done in minnie" That he had no belief
OF what the officers for, his "1nind being
wholly intent the single subject of obtaining a
warrant at that time" That he thought q man had
been killed by Shots and made no further inaCiry-
Ihat he got the warrant and delivered it to the sheriff
and told him he wanted him to execute it. Nothing
was done on this warrant Some two weeks latter |
ths after the witness had learned that the fugitive
was not shot, and that the prisoners were officers
ana mao made an unsuccessful attempt to arrest the
iusitlVe an affidavit was brought to him. ready writ
ten cut by Squire Burroughs, ION which this warrant
was lssued') burroughs had made out the affidavit
at request OF Messrs. Brown and jackson That il |
wss intended when the information was drawn out.
that one kutz should to it but as it was neon
venient to find Kutz, the Squire told him it did not
make particle of difference whether he or Kntz |
swore TO IT, and ne signed and swore to H. after
nearing 1t read. That he cannot tell who en-
Ployed Messrs. Jackson and Brown but sup-
posed II was some person in philadelphia That
ne knew nothing of them until they introduced them
seSes 20 him in his store, That it never came into
70 state to the magistrate that the persons
fails 70 De marshaps officers making arrest and
that ne knew nothing about any pistol or fire
LILLE OF any knives and forks or any thing under
AN EDITORIAL FIeHr-We perceive by
the Staunton Messenger that the editor of that
paper MI Gilner, and the editor of the Vim
I 10