Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-09-19

SAPvcc W HlauguIate party because the
President of the United States is not con.
Quoting this war according to the Constitu.
tional chart, upon which they ask him to
travel, turning his toes to the true constitu.
tional angle, and taking every step accord
ing to the Constitution. l expect those ad-
hinisterlng the government TO go according
to the Constitution, but have my own views
OF what is the Constitution, and what the
rebellion, and what the duty of the Admin.
lstration in putting down the rebellion, and
| have an idea what would do in putting
it down, if / had charge of it.
The Constitution is a great Landmark. and
not a bill OF particulars. Cheers. Every
power given by the Constitution directing a
thing to be done, always implies the power
to do it. If the Constitution erects a gov
ernment, 1t presupposes the maintenance of
that government by all the usual and o,di.
nary means within the reach of that gov
ernment, and in times of war, and in times
Of rebellion, there is power arising from
the very necessity of the case that controls
the whole question, and when you hear the
small-beer politician prating on the idea of
unconstltutionality, ask him, in the first
place, whctherhe thinks it exactly constitu-
tional for men to go into the United States
Senate, and in the House of Representatives,
and in the army and navy, and one day
swear, II do swear, in the presence of All.
mighty God, that will observe the Consti-
tuition Of the United States, and will dis
charge the Office or duty Of Senator accord
ing to the best Of my ability" ask him if
after having taken that oath, and while it
is yet warm on his lips, ifit is unconstitution-
al for him to try to raise rebellion and
when he has answered that, tell him that if
there is perjury in hell, it is that kind of
perjury. Loud and continued cheering. J
l say that the Administration--any Admin
stration, l don't care whether it is one of
my choice or one of my oppostion--has the
right to do everything by Implication, ac-
cording to the laws of war, for the mainte-
nance OF our Government, and if they do not
do it, will be one for dealing with them
and calling them traitors themselves.
Now, it is supposed that there is no war
power except that which arises out of and
is prescribed by written constitution.
There is power upon which the Constitu.
ton stands, that lies beneath the Constitu-
ton, and rises above the Constitution and
is on and under the Constitutional is tie
great law of selfpreservation, for commu-
mites, nations and States, as well as individ-
uals. 1t is as old as civilization. 1t had no
rise in the Constitution. 1t arises in the
very necessity Of the existence of civil gov
ernment.
THE WRIT OF HABEAs CORPUS.
Away with all your stuff about the neces-
slty OF having written guaranty for every
thing the President may do to preserve the
Government. say it is part Of his oath
to stand by and save the country, and EN-
ploy such means as he believes will do it,
and if he does not do it, he deserves to be
impeached. This is the law of ali nations.
and always has been. But there is the law of
and the President has violated it and has
has suspended the writ. He has done ex-
actly right; and did say while ago that in
some cases, if could not have arrested the
treachery, | would have suspended the in
dividual with it, and have not changed nv
opinion much since. What an idea it would
be! Here is a rebellion in Baltimore or in
Missouri, and a traitor in league with the
enemy, and by his conduct he is about to
cause our armies to be sacrifced-our very
Government in danger, its existence is i'm
perilled-the lives of "a large number of per-
sons sacrificed. He is known to be a traitor
morally known. He has been tracked out
and ascertained and yet he must be brought
up before a judge and examined, and if
there is not legal, technical evidence against
him, he must be discharged: and if Govern
ment don't like it, they must appeal and get
it up before Court at some future time,
that may sit and may not, and enter upon a
litigation as protracted as the chancery suit
in Bleak House!
LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
The law of war acts right up TO the neces-
sites of the occasion-it brings men right up
to time, and treats them practically and ac-
cording to the emergencies of the occasion.
But to suspend the Liberty of the Press. +"
Oh! how bad that is-to have the Press sus
pended! Laughter. The Liberty of the
Press! You say anything to them on the
subject of the Government--'Li Liberty of the
Press is the first thing you hear. The
Press has liberty enough; and here let us
shake the wrinkles out of this befogged and
pettifogged question little. The Liberty
ofthe Press is great and sacred right and
blessing. But the liberty of the press is no
greater a right than individual liberty, and
than thousand other rights. The liberty
Of the press is to be enjoyed so long as it
does not aid in the destruction of the Gov
CiuluCuut 81 iuiS ~ is uu cugtflo lot SOOu
and not for evil; so long as it is an element
for preservation and not for destruction. l.
The Idea is the most idle, foolish and mis-
chievous that ever existed, to allow an in
fernal machine of treason to exist and work
its errand of mischief because it is a
''Press. The liberty of fire is great right.
We could not do without it. 1t is necessary
for warmth, for preparation of food, for pro-
pelling machinery, and for thousand pur.
poses, and every one has right to enjoy it.
But one comes at the dark and fearful hour
of midnight, and, with torch, passes from
dwelling to dwelling, and lights up the
darkness Of midnight with the flames Of hap.
py homes He is arrested, and says, ''You
deprived me of the liberty of fire.! What q
tyrannous and abominable Government
Fire is free, and am merely using this
right guaranteed to me by the Constitution,
and now am deprived Of i'll What tyran.
nous Government to deprive citizen Of the
liberty of fire!'
The right Of implements of husbandry,
too, is great right. In our wooden coun-
try the right Of welding the axe, is
a great right. But suppose an indi-
yidual should use the axe instead of
for cutting wood or splitting rails, for
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