New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-07-30

L y y y
commanding him 10 produce the body Of liza pri:oner,
an safe when he took him. and by thst authority.
aud for what caufe he detains him in tusojy--and
then yield himself to Judgment "to DO, 81 nit TO- ana
receive whatsoever the Judge or QUIT, awarding the
/ writ, shall con ! Ter In chat behalf
III il be true, IS have assumed, that the President
\ and judiciary coordinate Departments Of GONerh-
men, aEd the one not ect 20 The other 20 n0t I'M
dersand bOw il can be legally 20 sble for Judge 10
issue command to The President TO come before I'm
al sHbjicicAL Prthat is, 10 snbnt Implicitly 10 lis
j1dgmcIt-and, in Gaze OF dsO6edence, treat LIN ne
criminal, in contempt of superior anthony ana pun
/ ish him as FOR q mi-1emeanor, by fire and lmplson
meH. II j. no answer 10 ray, as has sometimes been
said, that although the writ OF habcas corpus cannot
be issued and enforced agaiBst the President himself
yet that II can be against any OF bis suboronaes o
that ablndons the principle assuned, OF giving renel
in al cases of imprisonment, by color " authority
OF the United States, and attempts TO take an utena,
bic distinction between the ersOn OF the fretdet nd
| his Office ard legal power. Tie law takes Do fuch ol:
inetiOu for 1t is reEpecOr Of persons The Presl-
dent in tie arrest and imprisonment of men, must al
mort always, act by subordinate agents; ana YET the
Il ing done is less lis act than If done by bi. own
hand Int 1t ID possible for the President TO be IN the
acnsl custody prisoner taken In civil war; or ar
rested sus icon Of being secret agent and hoegr
of reb lliOn and in that case the wit mutt be nnaNa-
ng unless il run against the PIetitent Himself Be
sides the whole sub ect matter IS p0lia aud 10Y Ja-
dioal The instruction is purely political Its OBJECT
is TO destroy the political government OF this nation,
and to esIalh another political government unon us
rails And the President, as the chief civil magic
rae Of tie nation, and he most actye DEPART en- Oh
the Government, is emiuently and exclabVely po,,
ltca in all his principal functions. AS the 0llLIcal
chef of the alton, tie Constitution charges bm WIN
It's preservation, protection and defense, ana requires
him 10 take care that the laws be faithfully executed
And in that character and by the aid of the ae.s OF
Congres of 1885 and 1877, be wages open war agMnst
armed reJt llon and arrests and holds IN fae CUSTODY
those whom in the exercise Of his political discreioh,
he believe to be friends OF, ana sceomphces ~, u1
] IA Iru aHf.n s.
duty 10 suppress. lie has 10 Judicial powers Ana
the judiciary Department has 10 political powers, ana
claims none and therefore as well as tor other reasos
assigned no court Judge can take cognzanee OF the
polite acs Of the President, or undertake to revise
AID reverse biz political decision.
Tie Jurisdiction exercised undcr tho wit Of habeas
corpus i in tie matter OF appeal 4 Cr, 'J Tor SO
far M concerns the right Of the prisoner, the whole
object OF the process Is 10 rc-eXamBe and reverse OF
aft M tie acs OF the person VINO Impilsohed ma
And think il viii hardly be seriously nihnned ihAt
Judge Al Chamber, can entertain an appeal, IN any
form from a decision Of the President Of the United
Staos and especially IN case pnrely POLITICAL
There is but fentence m all the Constitution
which mentions the writ # hgbeas corpus-art. scc
Q, clause (which is in these words:
TLe myege Of the wit Of habsls cOrPn' 'hal no; be sus
pended e When Ia Of Ieb Aon OF INVASION tho pu2n;
ia.efy T. 3 require t."
Very learned persons have differed widely about tie
meaning Of this short sentence aud am by no means
col fdeut that fully uudcutand IL mysef. The sem
teutous language Of he Constitution, ia THE particular,
mnsi suppose be interpreted with rcieTen,e 10 tue
oign Of people, their historical relations 70 tie
mother c0utF' and their i1cloie political condition
pt the moment when Our Constitution WIS formed. AZ
thai time tho United States, AZ a nation, had COM
mon law Of is OVID, AID 10 statutory provision Tor lie
wit ~ habeas corpus. Still, the people. English BY
decent, even while in open rebellion a2ninsi me
EucEsh crown, claimed slTt Of historical night 10
the fofms Of Iugli-b law aud the guarantees OF Eng
li,h freedom. They knew that the English Govern
ment had, than once, assumed tho power 20 ~
prison whom il would, ard hold them, for an indefinite
lime beyond tie reach OF judicial eXaminIioni ana
they dc-rad no doubt 20 ilie pose guard az us tie
Ike abuscr DO tlis country. And hence tie clause 81
tie Cons iufi1u now u4dcr consccB'ion. But We
must fy TO con.true The words vague ard udeelnin-
h'e ~ they IRE, we mud them. " Tie priNhrke Of
Tic wit II habces corpus shall not be SUSPENDED
&c. Does that mean tgat the wit t-ct Hhlu no. be
Issued or that being issued the party shall derive no
benefit from Il Su-pendld-loe- that mean delayed,
hung rp Tor q time, cr altogether denied The WIT
If d. ca- coTrus-whirh writ Ia England there
were any wnt called by that name, AID u',d ~ Tie
COurs for the convenient exercise Il thir warn
on. powers; and Courts now, by acts OF Con-
gr,s-tfc judiciary act Of I5ss H. and the act 4
hnrch 2, lSJ, sec. 1-hayc, 1 believe, equivalent
II has beon decided by the supreme Court and
doubt net couocly--sse Bollman Swur.wouts case "a
CT !3,-tnat fOf tl. meaning Of Tie term habrts
corpu resort must De lad 10 the common law, bu The
power 10 award the wit by any Of the Courts of the
iuired States n.ust be given by written law Aud
the same hiph COurt-udgng, no doubt, by the biz
tory Of our people and the Circumstance Of the times
has .l-o decided that the wit OF haheas corpus men,
toned in tie Constitution is the great Wit I'D SUBJ
jfcaFdtm
Tna, writ in IL nature action, AMI occs, Is tersely
aud accurately deIrriJed by SIR William Blackstone.
] adopt lis Language, as found in his Commentaries,
Book 3, p. 1871:
Eui lie crest and efcscious wit, N on manner Of
nega c5urn', il that Of Lahsss corpus Gd bceHdafs,
directed to ihe per'9n de'aiaing ohef aud eSHIsnaas
nd sSq. Of Ls cspi.on and de-, tipn ad tac l,a
m'rs az" ~ ' I'eHe.'' 70 90, suomi 20 al 81 M
consider in that behalf This I, high protective VIII eni
bench ouy in term te bat ALEC during b VACATION ~
Mn. parts az ho k!rg doui0ns; ios the King il al all
is.,fgsd wherever tbat ies.Iaut fnay be indicted
Such Is The wit Of hGbeas corpus, Of which the Con-
f'ituiOn declares that tho privilege thereof shall not
be suspended, except when In o. rebellion or In
yason the public sasiy may require l.. But tie Con
stituon is client 10 WHO may suspend IL when the
contingency happens. an aware that it has been de-
clared by tie supreme Court that If, at any time,
the public ssfoty should require tie suspension OF the
powers vosed by this act meauing he judiciary at Of
l7sg section ~ III the courts OF the United States 70
Is for Legislature 20 say 80. That question depends
upon political Considerations on which the Legislature
Is 20 DECIDE Upon this, remark ouly that the Con-
situtiOa Is older than tire Judiciary act, and yet II
fpcfk Ks Of the privilege 81 tie wit Of bsbeas corpus rs
"A thing IN existence; II Is Ia general term, and does
not speak with particular reierrnce to powers which
might or might not be- granted by future act Of Con-
gre.s Besides take for certain that in the com-
non course Of legisntion Congress has power, at any
time 20 repeal tie Judiciary act Of 1850 and the net of
1888 (which grants to the courts and 10 the judges the
power 20 issue the writs) without waiting for retel-
lion or INVASION aud consequent public necessity, to
Justify under the Constitution the Suspension OF the
wit II habeas corpus. The court does speak of
suspepding the privilege OF the writ, but Of suspend
ing the powers vested in the court by the net. Tie
power TO issue writ can hardly be called privilege;
vet tie III ht Of an individual 10 invoke the protection
Of Bis government in that form may well be desigua.