Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-07-11

proper cases, according to his discretion. TO
suspend the privilege of the writ of babeas
corpus, or in other words to arrest and de-
tain, without resort to the ordinary process
and forms of law, such individuals as he
might deem dangerous to the public safety.
Ihls authority has purposely been exercised,
but very sparingly; nevertheless, the legality
and propriety OF what has been done under
It, are questions the attention of the country
has been called to the proposition that one
who is sworn to take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, should not himself vio-
late them. OF course, some consideration
was given to the questions of power and
propriety, before this matter was acted upon
The whole of the laws which were required
to be faithfully executed were being resisted,
and failing ofexecution in nearly one-third
OF the States, must they be allowed to finally
fail Of execution? Even had it been clear
that by the use of the means necessary to
their execution, some single law made in
such extreme tenderness OF the citizens lib
erty, that practically it relieves more of the
guilty than Of the innocent, should, to a very
limited extent, be violated. To state the
question more directly, are all the laws, but
one, to go unexecuted, and the Government
itself to 60 to pieces lest that one be VIC.
lated? Even in such case, would not the
official oath be broken, if the Government
should be overthrown, when it was believed
that disregarding the single law would tend
to preserve 1t 7? But it was not believed that
the question was presented. 1t was not be-
lieved any law was violated. The provision
Of the Constitution is that the privilege of
the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus-
pended unless when in case of rebellion or in
vasion the public safety may require it. 1t
is equivalent to provision that such privil-
ege may be suspended when in case Of re-
bellion or invasion the public safety does re-
quire it. 1t was decided that we have a
case of rebellion, and that the public safety
does require the qualified suspension of the
privilege Of the writ, which was authorized
to be made. Now il is insisted that Congress
and not the Executive is vested with this
power, but the Constitution itself is silen,
as to which or who is to exercise the power
and as the provision was plainly made for 0
dangerous emergency, it cannot be believed
that the trainers of the instrument intend
that in every case the danger should
run its course until Congress should be called
together, the very assembling Of which
might be prevented, as was intended in this
case, by the rebels. No extended ar
gument is now offered. as an opinion, al
some length, will probably be presented b,
the Attorney General Whether there shal
be any legislation upon the subject-and, if
any, WHAT'S submitted entirely to tn,
better judgment of Congress.
The forbearance of this Government ha:
been so extraordinary and so long continued
as to lead some foreign nations to shape
their action, as it they supposed the early
destruction of our national Union was pro
bable. While this, on discovery, gave tn,
Executive some concern, he is now happ,
to say that the sovereignty and rights of tn,
United States are now everywhere practical
ly respected by foreign powers, and the gen
eral sympathy with the country is manifest
ed throughout the world. The reports o
the Secretaries Of the Treasury, War anc
Navy, will give the information in detail
deemed necessary and convenient for youl
deliberation and action, while the Executive
and all the Departments will stand ready t,
supply omissions, or to communicate new
facts considered important for you to know
II is now recommended that you give tn,
legal means for making this contest a shor
and decisive one; that you may place at tn
control Of the Government for the work q
least four hundred thousand men and fou
hundred millions of dollars, that uumbe
OF men being about one-tenth of those o
proper ages within the regions where appar
emily all are willing to engage, and the sun
is less than twenty third part Of the none
value owned by the men who seem ready Il
devote the whole. A debt of six hundre,
millions ofdollars now is less sum per hea,
than was the debt of our Revolution whel
we came out of that struggle, and the none
value in the country now bears even great
er proportion to what it was then than doe
the population. Surely each man has a
strong motive now to preserve our liber
ties as each had then to establish them.
right result at this time will be worth NOR,
to the world than ten times the men an,
ten times tho money. The evidence reach
ing us from the country, leaves no doub
that the material for the work is abundant
and that it needs only the hand of legisla
ton to give it legal sanction, and the ham
of the Executive to give it practical shap
) and efficiency. One of the greatest per
plexities of the Government, is to avoid re
ceiving troops faster than provided for. Ii
word, the people will save their Govern
ment, if the Government itself will do it
part only indifferently. While it might seem
at first thought, Of but little differenc
whether the present movement at the Soutl
!! be called secession or rebellion, the NOV
= ers, however, well understood the differ
: ence. At the beginning, they could neve
raise their treason to any respectable magni
l tude by any name which implies violation
of law. They knew their people possesse,
as much of moral sense, as much of devo
' ton to law and order, and as much pride an,
reverence for the history and Governmen
. of their common country as any other civil
ized and patriotic people, they knew the,
could make advancement directly in the teetl
, Of these strong and noble sentiments. Ac
cordingly they commenced an insidious de
bauching of the, public mind; they invented
an ingenious sophism which, IL conceded
would be followed by perfectly logical step
through all the incidents to the complet
destruction of the Union. The sophisn
itself is that any State of the Union may
consistently with the national Constitution
and therefore lawfully and peacefully, with
, draw from the Union without the consent O
the Union or any other State. They littl
disguise the supposed right is to be exerciset
only for just cause, because they them
. selves are to be the sole judges of its justice
This is too thin to merit any notice. Will
/. rebellion thus sugar coated, they have beer
drugging the public mind of their section
for more than thirty years, and until at lengtl
they have brought many good men to will
ingness to take up arms against the Govern
ment, the day after some assemblage of mel