Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1861-08-09


manner in which hs shall use them IS not pre-
scribed, and could not be prescribed, without
a forekHowledge of all the future changes
and contingencies of the insurrection.
He is therefore, necessarily, thrown upon his
discretion, as TO the manner in which he will use
his means to meet the varying exigencies as they
arise If the insurgents aSSai the nation With an
army, be msy find 1t best to meet them with an
army, and suppress tie insurrecton in the field of
battle. IF they seek To iroHng the rebellion and
gather strength by Intercourse with foreign nations,
be may choose to guard the coast and close the
ports with navy, as Que of the most efficient
means to sepuress the insurrection. And ii they
employ spies and emissares to gather orInaton;
to forward secret supplies, and to excite new in
surrectons in aid of the original rebellion, he may
f1d 1t both prudent and humane TO arrest and iuI-
prison them. And this may be done, either for the
purpose of bringing Them to trial and condign pun
ishment for their crimes, they may be held in
custody for the milder end of rendering them pow
erless for mischief, until the exigency is past.
In such state of things the President must, of
necessity, be the sole judge, both of the exigency
which requires him to act and of the manner in
which If is most prHieut for him 20 employ the
powers i1trusted TO him, to enable him to discharge
his constitutional and legal duty that is to sup
press the nSurrectior and execute the laws. And
this discretionary power of the President is fully
admitted By the Supreme Court, in the case of
Martin rs. Mott. II Wheason's Reports page 10;
Curtis, l0.)
This is great power in the hands of the Chief
Magistrate; and beciuse il is great and is capable
of being perverted to evil ends, its existence has
been doubted or denied Ii is said to be dangerous
in the hands of ambitious aud wicked President,
because Ee may it for the purpose of oppression
and tyranny. Yes, certainly it is dangerous--all
power is dangerons-and for the all -pervading
reason that all power is liable to abuse; all the
cpients OF human power are men, not absolutely
yirtuous and wise. Still it is power necess fry to
the peace and safety Of the country, and undeniabIy
belongs to the Government, and therefore must be
! exercised by some department or officer thereof
Why should this power be denied to the
President, on the ground of its liability to
abuse, and not denied to the other departments
on the same ground? Are they more exempt
| than lie is from the frailties aud vices of hu-
manity2 Or are they more trusted by the law
/ than be is trusted, in their several spheres of
action? If it be SAID that President may be
ambitions aud interruptions, it mag be said
with equal truth that Legislature may be fac
| tious and unprincipled, aud Court may be
venal and corrupt But these are crimes
never TO be presumed, even against private
man, aud much less agausta0y high and high
! " trusted public funet.en ry- They are crimes
However. recognized as such, and made pua-
ish BILE by the Constitution; and whoever is
guilty of them, whether President, a Senator,
OF a Judge, is liable 10 impeachment and con.
demnatIon.
1 As to The second question, that the Presi-
dent has the legal discretionary power to arrest
aud imprison persons who are guilty of hold
lng criminal intercourse with men engaged in
a great aud dangerous iusurrectiou, or persons
suspected with sfprobable cause" of such
criminal completely, it might seem unnecessary
to 90 iRto any prolonged argument to prove
tGst, iI such case the President is fully JUS
( tilted in refusing to obey writ of habeas cor
pus issued by a court or judge, commanding
/ him to produce the body of his prisoner, and
state when be took him, and by what authority,
aud for what cause be detaIHs him IN custody
and then yield himself 10 Judgment, ''so do,
submit to, and receive whatsoever the judge or
ecu t, awarding the writ, snall consider in that
behalf"
If it be true, us have assumed, that tht
President and jUdiciary are coordinate Depart
meuts of Government, and the one not subject
to the other, l do uos understand bow il can
bo legally possible for Judge to issue eom-
mapd to tbe President to come before him ad
suJiicienaum- that is, to submit implicitly to
his judgement--and, in case of disobedianee,
treat him as criminal, in contempt of SUI
by4
demeanor, by fue and imprisonment. II is
no answer to say, asshas sometimes been sald,
that although tho writ of habeas corpus can
not be issued and enforced against any of his
subordinates; for that abandons the principle
assumed, of giving relief in sail cases" of
Imprisonment, ty color of authority of the
United States, and attempts to take an untenaN
BILE distinction between The person of the
| n \ 4. 4 he
law takes no such distinction, for it is no red
spector of persons. The President, IN the ar
rest and Imprisonment Of men, must, almost
always act by subordinate agents; and yet the
thing done is no less his act than if done by
his own hand But it is possible for the Presi-
dent to be in the actual custody or prisoner,
taken in civil war, or arrested on suspicion OF
being secret agent and abetter OF rebellion,
and in that case the writ must be unavailiDg,
unless it run against the President himself.
Besides, the whole subject matter is political,
and not judicial The insurrection is purely
political. Its object Is to destroy the political
governmeEt of this nation, and establish an
other political government, upon Its ruins
And the President as the chief civil magiss
trate of the nation, and the most active depart
ment of the Government, is eminently an6
exclusively political IN all his prlnclPal tunc-
tions As the political chief Of the nation, the
Constitution charges him with itsi preserves
ton, protection and defense, and requires him
to take care that the laws be faithfully execu-
ted. And in that character, and by the aid
OF tho acts Of Congress of 1895 and 1907, he
wages open war against armed rebellion, and
arrests ard holds 10 safe custody those whom,
in the exercise Of his political discretion, he
believes to be friends of, and accomplices iu,
the armed insurreetion, which it is his especial
political duty TO suppress. He has no judicial
powers. And the judiciary Department has