The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1861-07-12

without n eWNgglc OF knHlr own ~ rec
og Mics no fidelity 10 the Constitution, no
obligation 10 maintain the Union, while
the very men VIII favored q are doubtless
loyal citizens, Il Is nevertheless very in
furious in effect.
Recurring to the actlpu Of the Gov.
crnmcnt, it may be stated that at lrst a
call was made for 75 900 militia, aud rap
IDLY following this a proclamation was
issuod Tor closing the ports Of the insur-
r0ctonnry districts, by proceedings in
the nature Of blockade. So far all was
believed b be strictly legal. Al this
point the iRsurrectionists announced their
purpose Of entering upon the practice Of
Other calls were made for
volunteers TO servo three years unless
sooner discharged, and also large addi-
tons 70 tho regular army and navy
These measures, whether strictly legal
or not, were venurcd upon what appear
cd to be a popular demand or a public
necessity, trusting then Os now that
Congress would readily ratity them.
IL is believed / at nothing has been
dono beyond the constitutional oompe.
tenoy Of Congress, Soon after the first
call Tor militia, il was considered q duty
te authorize the commanding General, In
proper cases, according to his discretion,
10 suspend the privilege Of the habeas
corpus, or In other words 10 arrest and
detain without resort to ordinary process
90 and lorma Of law, such individuals ss
he might deem dangerous TO the public
safety. This authority has been urposc-
ly exercised, but very sparingly. Never
thclcss the legality aud propriety Of what
! has been done undor IL are questions, aud
the attention Of the country has been
called to the proposition that one who Ia
sworn TO take care that the laws be iaith-
fully executed, should not himsolf violate
them. Ofcoursc some consideration was
niyen to tho question Of tho power and
propricty, before this matter was acted
upon.
Tho whole Of the laws, which were
required to be faithfully executed, were
being resisted, and failing Of execution
in nearly one-third of the Slater, must
they be allowed 70 finally fail oC exeou-
ton, even had il been perfectly clear
that by the use Of the means necessary
to their exccut On some single law, made
in such extreme tenderness Of the citi-
zons' liberty, that practically itrelieves
more Of the guilty than the innocent,
should, to avery limited extent, be viola
tcdl
To state the question moro directly
arc all tho laws but one TO 20 unoXecuted
and the Government itself to go to pic
ccs, lost that one be violated. Even in
such a case would not the official oath be
| broken, II tho Government should bc
overthrown when il was believed that
disrsgdrding tho single law would tenC
TO preserve IT, But il was not believed
that this question was presented. II wal
not believed that any law was violated
Tho provision Of the Constitution is tha
the privilege of the writ OF habcas corpu,
shall not b. suspended except in cascs IRE
Ibellion or invasion, where the public safe
Itvreuuiros il. TWAS decided that we hay,
a case of rebellion and the public salotl
does require the qualified suspension o
the writ which was authorized to be madt
Now il is insisted that Congress and no
the Executive is vested with this power
But the Constitution itself, is silent as I,
which or who is 10 exercise the power
ard as the provision was plainly made
for a dangerous emergency, il cannot bC
believed that tho trainers Of the instru
ment intended that in every case the dan
ger should run lis course until Congress
shall DO called together, the very Assem-
| bling Of which might bo prevented, al
was Intended in this casc, by the rebel
| lion.
No more extended argument is now af
forded as an opinion at some length vii
probably be presented by the Attorney
! General. Whether there shall be any
legislation on the subject, and if so, what
is submitted TO tho entire better Judge.
ment Of Congress.
The forbearance Of this Government
has been so extraordinary and 30 long
continued as TO lead some foreign nations
to shape their actions as if they supposed
the carly destruction Of our Nationa
Union was pre- bable. While this on dis
covery gave the Executive some concern
he is now happy TO say that the sever
eighty and right ofthe United States arr
now practically respected by foreign pow
ers and general sympathy with the Gov
ernment is manifested throughout III
world,
Tic reports Of the Secretary Of III
Treasury, War and Navy will give the IN
formation in detail deemed nescessar
and convenient for your action, while th
Executive and Departments will stan
ready TO supply omissions or to commu
niclte new facts considered importan
for you 20 know,
II lis now recommended thatyou give th,
legal mean, for making this contest
short and decisive one; that you place a
the control Of the Government, for tht
work, at least 400 900 men and S4OO 900
600. That number Of men is about one
tenth Of those Of proper ages, where ap
parently all are willing TO engage, ant
the sum ia less than twenty-third par
of the money value owned by the mel
who seem ready 10 devote the WHOLE
A debt of $500, 900, 900 now Is less sun
per head than was the debt Of our Reyo
luton when we came out Of that strug
gle, and the money value In the country
bears even a greater pTportion. SurelJ
each man has rs s rong motive now {,
preserve our liberty as each had then {,
establish them. A right result at thi
time will be worth more TO the world thar
ten times the men and ten times th'
money.
The evidence reaching Us from N,
country leaves no doubt that the materia
| for the work is abundant, and itneeds on.
| ly the hand Of legislation to give ii sane
ton, and the hand Of the Executive "a
give /, practical shape and efficiency
One % the greatest perplexities Of the
government is to nvo'd receiving troops
1 faster than il can provide for them. In
word the people viii save their govern
ment, IL the government will do is part
only indifcrently we'll. Il might seem
at first tRoaght, to be Of little difference