Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-05-31
Two Habeas Corpus Cases

The telegraph his Of late made frequent
mention Of two cases which have occurred in
two principal cities, in each case the United
States military officers being upon the one
side, and the civil courts upon the other, a
writ of habeas corpus being the instrument
upon which the cases turned. For the benefit
of our readers we give brief summary Of
each Of these cases.
The first is the case of Merriman of Balti-
more. he was shown to be traitor and in
league with the Southern rebels. During the
excitement in Baltimore and Maryland, be
was active in waging war upon the Federal
troops. Gen. Cadwallsder having taken COM
mand of the military district which includes
Baltimore, caused the arrest of Merriman for
examination Tor treason. The disloyal citi-
zsns Of Baltimore were furious at the arrest,
and applied to the courts for a writ of hGBeas
corpus, by which to obtain possession of the
prisoner. This writ Gen. Cadwallader refuses
to obey, under the provision of the Uonslitu-
ton of the United States which says that
"the privilege Of the writ Of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended unless aOken in cases Of
REBELLION OF inpasiOn the public safety may re-
qlRrs 1t" The commanding officer naturally
holds that this is one of those very cases, and
therefore denies the power Of the writ, and
like Loyal soldier as be is, he tells Chiei
Justice Tsney, who interfered in behalf Of
the execution Of the writ that "those who
should cooperate in the present trying and
painful position in which our country is
placed, should not by reason of any unneces-
sary want Of confidence in each other, in
crease our embarrassments"
Butt spite Of this rebuke, the Chief Jus
tice sides with the rebels, and does all in his
power to assist them, even writing letter tC
the President, informing him of {" his duty
in the premises 70 deliver up the prisoner
For the bsue6t Of those zwho would st al
times placs the ha5eas corpus above every
other authority, we quote from Judge Story
where he says:
at is obvious that cases of a peculiar
emergency nay arise, which may j1stify-
nay, even require-the temporary suspension
ofanE right to the writ ua-
In commenting upon this case, the New
York Tribune cites this historical precedent
In the war of lsI2-l5, when Gen. Jack
son was the military commander of New Or
leans, an insurrection against bis authority
was gaining headWsy. He like CadWallader
refused, in aparallel case, to obey The wri
of kabeds corpus issued by one Judge Hall
Thereupon Hall, like Taney, issued his war
rsnt to arrest Jackson for contempt of Court
WhereuPon jackson put Hail in prison; an,
having thus disposed Of him, went out snc
won the victory Of New Orleans.
It is said, in proof of the charge that Jus
tice Taney is rebel, that on Saturday last
EheRit was supposed the rebels were attack
ing the United States forces at Arlington
Judge Taney expressed the wish that " tn
Yirginians would wade to their waists il
Northern blood We hope, then, that tn
Government viii sustain Gen. OadsalIade
in his course. 1E a. 5als
The other case, OF which the telegraph ha
spoken, is that Of Mcdonald, Of st. Louis
Mcdonald was one Of thes State officers unde
Gen. Frost, who was captured by Gen. I.yol
two weeks ago. He refused to take the oatl
Of allegisncs % the Government and was
tasrsfols, placed under arrest and removed
teGase57 Illinois, and placed in charg'
Of the troops under Col. Macarthur. Soor
allef, s1dge Treat issued the writ Of Aabea
spPH4 directed to Gen. aarney, as com
mander Of the United States forces in tha
division. The writ was resisted on tht
ground that Judge Treat had no authority t.
issue such writ in case like this, where
in time Of war, Government oiEcers had ar
rested man found IN arms again t them
but the Court considered ths answer INSULT
sclent, ana directed the case to be proceedet
with. Should Mcdonald be fenanded to thl
United States authorities, It threstehed t.
{ release him By force; and, it is said, on Il,
other hand, that if be is released By thr
0e1Es NE deetes VII 7noEBe- respected b
the army officers So, IN either case diff
Guilty is to be aPPrehended.
. Comfort for RebelHous Posttaasteru. =
A Dist Of seeded Posthasters has beer
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