The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-07-13

and, rapidly following this, proclamation
was issued for closing the ports of the
Iinsurrectionary districts, by proceedings in
| the nature of blockade. So far, all was
believed to be strictly legal. At this point
the insurrectionists announced their purposz
to enter upon the practice Of privateering
Other calls were made for volunteers, to
serve three years, unless sooner discharged,
and also for large addition TO the regular
army and navy. These measures. whether
strictly legal or not. were entered upon I'M
der what appeared TO be popular demand
aud public necessity, trusting then, as now,
that Congress would readily ratify them.
| 1t is believed thai nothing has been done
| beyond the constitutional competency OF
| Congress Soon after the hrst call for mi
litia it was considered duty to authorize
the commanding general in proper cases,
according 10 his discretion, to suspend the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or in
other words to arrest and detain without
resort to the ordinary forms of law, such
individuals as he might deem dangerous to
the public safety. This authority has been
purposely exercised but very sparisglv :,
nevertheless, the legality and pr"priety of
what has been done under il are questioned
and the attention of the country has been
called to the proposition, that one who is
sworn to take care that the laws be faith
| fully executed, should not himself violate
them. OF course some consideration was
given 10 the questions of power and propri
ETY.. Before this matter was acted upon,
the whole of the laws which were required
to be faithfully executed were being resist
ed and, failing of execution in nearly one
third of the States. must they be allowed to
finally fail of execution ?-even had it been
perfectly clear that, by the use of the means
necessary to their execution, some single
law, made in such extreme tenderness of the
citizens liberty that practically it relieves
more of the guilty than of the innocent
should, to very limited extent. be violated.
ITO state the question more directly: Are all
the laws but one TO 60 unexecuted, and
| Government itself go TO pieces lest that one
| be violated ? Even liz such case, would
not the official oath be broken if the Gov
eminent should be overthrown, when it was
! believed that disregarding the single law
would tend to preserve ? But it was not
| believed that this question was presented
| it was not believed that any law was vio-
/ lated
The provision of the Constitution, that
the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended unless when, in cases
of rebellion or invasion, the public safety
may require it, is equivalent 10 a provision
that such privilege may be suspended when
in cases of rebellion or invasion the public
| safety does require it. Ii was decided thai
we have a case of rebellion, and that tie
public safety does require the qualified sus-
pension Of the privilege of the writ, which
was authorized TO be made.
Now it is insisted that Congress, and not
| the Executive, was vested with this power
and AS the provision was plainly made for 4
dangerous emergency, it cannot be believed
| that the trainers of the instrument intended
that in every case the danger should run
| It's course until Congress should be called
together. the very assembling of which
might be prevented, as was intended in this
( as by The rebellion.
| No more ex ended argument is now offer
ed, as an opinion at some length will prob
ably be presented by the Attorney General
whether there shall be any legislation upon
the subject, and if any, what, is submitted
entirely To the better judgment of Congress
The forbearance OF this Government haC
been SO extraordinary and SO long conlin
ued, to lead some foreign nations t,
| shape their action as if they supposed the
early dissolution of our National Union wa.
probable. While this, on discovery, gave
The Executive some concern, he is now
| happy TO say hat the sovereignty and rights
of the United States are now every W here
practically respected by foreign powers, and
Il general sympathy with the country il
manifested throughout the world.
TIE Secretaries of the Treasury. War and
the Navy, will give the information in de-
tail deemed necessary and convenient foI
your deliberation and action while the
Executive and all the Departments will
stand ready to supply omissions or to com
municate new facts considered important
for you 10 know. 1t is now recommended
| that you give the legal means for making
this contest short and decisive one thai
You may place at the control of the Govern
ment for the work, at least four hundred
thousand men and four hundred millions o.
fdoilars. That number of men is about one
tenth OF those of proper ages within the
regions where apparently all are willing to
engage, and the sum is less than twenty
third part of the money value owned by the
men who feel ready to devote the whole
amount. Six hundred millions of dollars,
now, is a less sum per head than was the
debt of our Revolution, VIXEN We came out
OF lbaL struggle, ana Inc money VaIue III
the country now bears even a greater pro-
portion to what it was then, than does the
p'pulation. Surely each man has as strong
motive now to preserve our liberties. a
each had then to establish them-a right
result at this time will be worth more to The
world than ten times the men and ten times
the money. The evidence reaching us from
the Country leaves no doubt that the mate
rial for the work is abundant, and that il
needs only the hand of legislation 10 give il
legal sanction, and the hand of the Execu-
tive to give it practical SHAPE and efficiency
One OF & e greatest perpiexiiies of the Gov
eminent is 50 avoid receiv wing troops faster
than provision can be made for them in 4
word, he people will save their Government
if the Government itself will do its part only
; indifTerently we'll.
1t might seem, at first thought. of but
little difference whether the present move
ment at the S,uth be called secession or re-
bellion; the movers, however. well under
stood the difference at the beginning. They
knew they couli never raise their treason
to any respectable magnitude by any name
which implies violation of law. They knew
their people possessed as much moral sense.