The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-05-22

to secure the arms in question. The ultimate con-
sequences of such struggle, at this time, it is
easy to foresee, and therefore glad that the
authorities seem determined that no act of theirs
shall be the direct or indirect cause of an out
break.
When the commanding officer at Fort McHenry,
a fortnight ago, undertook to decide for the Dis
trct Court, the propriety or improperly OF issuing
or obeying the writ of ha5eaS corpus, we took it
for granted that he must be acting upon his own
responsibility Indeed he said as much in his
extraordinary letter 10 Judge GILES, which was
given to the public through the sympathizing
columns of the Baltimore american. The fact
however, that he has not been removed and pun
ished by the Executive for so insolent and public a
violation Of the first principles of free government
is equivalent TO an official endorsement of his
misconduc Indeed the proclamation recently
issued by Mr.. LINCOLN himself, in which lie pre-
tends to confer upon the military officers in Flori-
da, the authority to dispense with the haJeaS
corpus, at their pleasure, has placed the usurpng
purposes of the Administration beyond the reach
of doubt, and leaves us no alternative but to
realize as best we may, the fundamental and fatal
nature Of the change which has been already
wrought in our system of government. To our
selves in Maryland the arbitrary and illegal arrest
and Imprisonment of our fellow-citizen, Mr..
WINANs, and the equally illegal and arbitrary
condition annexed to bis discharge, will suffice for
practical indication of the tenure by which we
hold life, liberty and property In what way the
rights thus trodden under foot may be vindicated
hereafter, it is Improbable now to discuss. 1t is
important however to define them and to record
the grossness of their violation.
1t cannot be necessary to say, to any well-in-
formed citizen of the United States, that the right
to proclaim what is called "martial law' is a
thing wholly unknown to our institutions. 1t is
not conferred by the Constitution, and under the
Constitution it cannot be conferred by law upon
any officer of this government, civil or military.
1t is a right which does not exist in Great Britain,
where its repeal was written, forever, in the blood
of CHARLES l. 1t belongs only to the despotisms of
the continent, where the immuniJies of the sub
ject tributary altogether to the will and power
of the throne. Nor is it a matter which the Con-
stituton of the United States has left to inference
or argument, or even to the instincts of Anglo
Saxon liberty. The fourth amendment to the
pIoFlutSj tlal Tue lBut vi
'the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
''papers and effects against unreasonable searches
Gland seizures shall not he violated; and no
"vr"rr"t shall ISSUE, nut upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation
The fifth amendment declares with equal posi-
tveness, that no person "shal be deprived of life,
"liberty or property, without due process of law"
and the Supreme Court of the United States, in
terpreting the solemn guaranty which this article
embodes has distinctly determined that it cannot
be invaded by any legislative indirection, much
less by the exercise of arbitrary will. Mr.. JUS
tice CURTIS, delivering the opinion of the Court
upon the point, in 18th Towards Reports 276
makes use of language which admits of no dis
pue. &C 1t was not eft,' he says, ''to the legis-
lative power to enact any process which might
"be devised. Theartcle is a restraint on the leg
isative as well as on the executive and judicial
"powers of the government, and cannot be so |
"construed as to leave Congress free to make any |
"process due process of law, by its own WILL |
In conformity with the spirit of this decision, and
the obvious principles Of public freedom and Sc
curity on which it rests, the "artices of war -
themselves, as enacted by Congress, recognize the
supremacy of the civil tribunals aud the subordi-
nation and responsibility of every officer and SOL
der to the laws and processes of the land. The
33d article makes it the duty Of every command
ing officer to ''deiver over TO the civil mapis-
trate " any "officer or soldier accused of CAPT.
" tai crime, Or of having used violence or COM
" mitted any offence against the person or
property of any citizen of the United States,
such as is punishable by the known laws of the
land" 1t is needless to add that the articles
OF war, and the regulations and penalties which
they prescribe, are applicable in no case and
under no circumstances, of war or peace, to the
citizens at large being expressly restricted by the
terms of the 9Th amendment of the Constitution
quoted above, to Ceases arising in the land or naval
- forces or In the militia when in actual service
In time OF war or public danger" Indeed the
act OF Congress by which the articles were
adopted, has limited their application, in terms,
to % the armies Of the United States.''
There is therefore, we repeat, no "martial law"
to which the free people of this land can be consti-
tutonally or lawfully made subject, by the Presi
dent or by Congress, by any officer or authority
created by or acting under either. Any establish
ment or proclamation of such law, is q sheer and
downright usurpaton, and any person whatso-
ever, acting or pretending to act hereunder is an
outlaw, be he who he may Any violence COM
mited under such pretence is an Illegal violence.
which may be resisted and punished as such.
Any Imprisonment under such color. is a false
and illegal Imprisonment exposing the offender
to civil suit and criminal prosecution. Anv
taking of life upon such pretext is felonious
murder, under the laws of the State where
it may be perpetrated, and from its consequences
no interposition of the federal authority
can ultimately rescle the offender, be he President
General, OF Corporal, no matter how slow may
be the march of retrbuton And it is to be borne
in mind, too, that no authority or order of any
military or other SUPERIOR interpose bar to
The punishment of the criminal The Supreme
Court settled the identical question, in contro-
versy between private citizen and an officer of
DoNTPHAN's command, in Mexico 'Upon prin-
'ciple, said the Chief Justice, independent of
the weight of judicial decision, it can never be
maintained that a military officer can Justify !
himself for doing an unlawful act by producing /
the order of his SUPERIOR Mitchell Us. Har- {
nony, 10 Howard, 1919 Upon the head, there '
ore, of every individual instrument of usurped t
nd unconstitutional power, must fall the ultimate t
nd unmltlgateQ vengeance OF tue violated laws. i
Nor is the attempted suspension of the writ of S
a6eas corpus a less abominable and desperate t
utrage, than the assertion os military jurisd lotion {
yer private citizens. The inestimable privilege q
u discharge from illegal Imprisonment which the /
aoeds corpus secures, has made it the cherished '
,uu sacred bulwark of popular right, wherever a
'ri''sn freedom dwells or has descended The p
queen OF England has no prerogative to suspend v
i0r single hour. The attempt would overturn "
Ter throne like an earthquake. Only Parliament v
an exercise the power of suspension in Tho most
mperious and perilous of public exigencios Tho
Constitution of the United States even moro :,
us of personal liberty, does not confer snch :
over, directly, upon any department of our Co.. "
nent. The only authority of the sort which er- y
sts is derived, by inference, from prohibition i
The ninth article of the Constitution, among its !,
estrictions upon the power of Congress, declares,
nat The privilege of the writ of hd5eas corpus t,
shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of a
rebellion or invasion the public safety may re- b