Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-08

crime OF treason; and yet IL Is evident thatil
actually contemplates but the FIRST clause Of
the constitutional ssction-Trsason against
the United States shall consist in levying
war against them"-and takes no notice Of
the other equally important clsuse-'or sd-
herring to their enemies giving them aid and
comfort
The reason for this was, undoubtedly
that in the opinion of the Court, the first
clause was intended TO cover cases Of insur.
rechon; the latter to refer to cases of inca
sion. And in this the Court was, under the
circumstances, right; and yet rigidly to ap.
ply the rule to all cases and states Of circum.
stances, would be a mistake. The Court had
nothing before il but a case Of 'levying war
against the United States" and therefore
did not look beyond the provisions Of the
Constitution by which that ofense was
defined. To take it for granted, therefore,
that its opinion covers also the provision
touching the 'adhering to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort" is almost alb
surd.
But it may be asked: If the latter clause
c~ontemplates only cases of invasion, what
applicability has it to the present state of
things, and why inquire into its meaning
We will endeavor TO answer.
The United States, at this time, presents
to the world the phenomena both of insur-
Tection and i~aVaSiOn. The people Of a part of
the national territory have split off from the
rest; have constituted themselves, 50 far as
is in their power, a nation foreign to it; have
created a government, raised an army, and
have advanced upon and are endeavoring to
invade and subdue that part which remains
loyal to the Government. We are therefore
to look upon them as enemies of the United
States, and upon all among us, who adhere
to them, giving them aid and comfort, as trait
OTIS" When the National Government has an
hundred thousand menin the field, engagedin
the active operations of war, to repel armies
ofnearly or quite equal numbers raised to
contend against them, is there any impro.
priety in assuming that the latter are public
enemies sufficiently compact and formidable
to lay the basis of the crime of treason in
those who adhere to them and their cause2
To the States North of the Ohio and to
their National Government de facto, the
Confederacy is a foreign enemy, with which
they are at war. If this is true, any act by
one Of our fellow. citizens, which can ra-
tionally come under the descriptive words:
"Adhering to the enemies of the United
States, giving them aid and comfort" is the
crime of TREASON; the legal penalty for
which is death.
In cases such as ours has been-with an in
termediate debatable space between peace and
war, and in which some latitude of opinion
and action might be excused, upon the
ground of the different constructions which
different persons might put upon the same
circumstances-it would not have been
advisable, perhaps, to be too critical; but
the time for looseness upon this point is past.
The United States has e perfectly we'll defined
public enemy. 1t is easy to see what acts of
persons among us ONE under the description
of adhering to such enemies, and giving them
aid and comfort. A traitor is, therefore,
just as easily to be identified as a bed bug.
There is NO reason why the process of identt-
fcation should not begin. o
Governments, through the ~perfunctory
ennduet of those upon whom duty in rA-
spect to its civil ap~--sbOns, in time OF war,
devOlve, usually begin at the wrong end, and
commit absurdities. The whole civil force
Of our Government in this vicinity is ex.
pended upon Ogilyie Byron Young, a seedy
half lunatic fellow, who came, probably upon
his own suggestion, to curry favor with the
chiefs of the Confeaeracy, by means of the
reports, true or false, that he should trans
NIT. He is not a traitor. having never levied
war against the United States, or, except in
the most infnitessimal sense, given aid or
comfort to its enemies; but a spy, whose
punishment, as a glance at the laws of Con-
gress will show, belongs to a Court Martial.
In the mean time, there has probably not
been a day within the last two months,
wherein some one or more of our fellow
citizens has not made himself liable to a
prosecution for the crime of treason, by
doing that which is, to every intent and pur-
pose, adhering and giving aid and comfortto
the public enemy.
We say this not for the purpose of exciting
a sensation, or TO promote prosecutions, but
as a warning. Money-large profits in con-
sideration Of some risks a great tempta.
ton; and men who need it are liable to
reason themselves into the belief that what
they propose to do, for the purpose of gain,
is not very wrong; and, if they have a few
political theories to help them along, can
easily justify themselves to themselves in
doing that by which the enemy is in the
event aided and comforted. 1t is a business
full of danger.
The North is just now, to all external ap.
pearances, in q state of great tranquility.
Confident in its own power, and, in its own
opinion, in q fair way to be successful in its
armed enterprises, there is no show of popu.
lar excitement, no demonstrations of an
angry or vindictive spirit. We sincerely
hope that this desirable state of things
will continue but we can not forbear to
believe that there is nc guaranty for its con-
t~inuance. Some temporary reverses may,
and in all probability VIII, occur. Numbers
of our patriotic fellow. citizens will be
slaughtered in battle, or will fall victims to
those diseases which follow in the tracks of
armies, or captured, win be subjected to
those torturss and i~ndignities which the
enemy seems 80 prone to inAiet. The news
reaching their friends at hons-perhaps
greatly exaggerated-wn create excitement,
and thoughts of revenge will be the most
natural Of consequences. Then, it is not
improbable, an inquest will be made for the
traitors at homs-for such as have adhered 10
the enemy, giving them aid and comfort
secretly conveying them information, clan
destinely proyidinQ them with means IN