The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1861-07-19

aboard. or Of any Of the priyy council, be shall
.snpon demand Of his counsel, have writ Of
eba6e7q c0rpus 10 BRING his body before the
"CouFt OF Kings Bench Of Common Pleas who
sssball determine whether The cause Of BIS COM
! ssaitment be Just, and herenpon to do as to Jus
'lice shall appertain.
uTo bereave a man of life, or bv violence 10
fconfscate bis estate without accusation or trI-
oaI would be so gross and notorious an act OF
'sdespotism as must at once convey the alarm OF
"tyranny throughout the whole kingdom, bat
confinement OF the person by secretly hurry
s'ing him to jail where bis suiferings are an-
finown or forgotten IS a less public, a less stri-
'sking and Therefore more dangerous engine
aof arbitrary goUernment. And yet sometimes,
'.when the State is in real danger, even fms
( s'may De a necessary measure. But the hapP'-
'saesS O our ooon Constitution IS tint 10 IS moi
siet5 10 the ErecatiUe power 10 deteymine Dhen
.fde daager Of the Statet as so great as 10 render
! S'ib5g aeQS1 erpedjeat ; 5or 1t IS the Payiia-
'.ment only, or Legislature P21cel, that WaeHee-
Ger IT secs proper can authorize lhe CroWn, 5y
asuspcadlng the Ha5sas Corpus .fct for short
sond limited tine, to inPrisoa suspected per-
"sou8 uifhout giUing my reason for SO doing" !"
! - C C0mmenfarias on the Lars Of England, IoE.
( /. PIP. l35-l36.
/ Chiet Instice MaIshaIl, in the case Of BolI-
man 3 Craach, l00 says If at any time
"a the public safety should require tue susPen-
/ ssion Of The power vested by this acl lthe pow
ser 10 grant writs Of habeas corpus jim the Courts
"oi the United States, II IS for The Legislature
s''9 sag SO, That question depends on political
considerations on which the Legislature IS to
:decide. Until The Legislative VIII be express
I "ad, This Court can only see lis duty and n2st
( f05sg fbe laps," Tins was IN a case Of Trca-
son.
/ Judge Story IN his Commentaries an The Con-
/ stifation, sec. i336, says '' It would seem as
+ :lhe power is granted to Congress to suspend
''the writ Of habsns corgus in case Of rebellion
cor invasion, that the right 10 judge whether
/ 'the exigency had arisen must exclusively be-
'iong 70 that body"
In 1907, when great alarm existed as 10 Burr's
/ conspiracy, bill was brought before The Sen
ate IN secre. session to suspend tie writ Of ha-
beas corpus. When brought in the House oi
. Representatives, that body refused 10 consider
7 il in secret session, and by vote Of is 10 l9
rejected the bill on lts first reading. On
that occasion MIR. Dana of Connecticut used the
following language '' This bill authorizes tat
earnest. OF persons not merely By the President
cor other high officers, but by any person act
ssing under hIm. imagine this 70 be uhoLy
",pithoaf prece3enf. IF treason wqs narcbiag
s'to force as from our seats, I lg0uid not agfec
'sthuS TO destroy the fundamentqI principles oj
s'fhe Constitution, or COMMIT such an act aiftsy
''of despotism or Pusiianimity."
Again we might refer to the seizure Of PR
vate dispatches in Northern telegraph Offices
BY The direction OF the Secretary of War, which
the President does not even attempt 10 excuse
and as a suitable sequel to which, The right ot
petition has been denied in the very metropolis
OF the North. But we will conGne ourselves
TO the Message, for the present, and ask the at
tehion Of the patriotic, UnioD-oyng reader
far mnunenf fn-o
Lincoln, IN his roundabout, observation-disclosures
discussion OF the right Of Secession, tells Us that
'the Union is older than any of the States, and
IN fact, that it created them as States" Every
school-boy knows hat this Is not true. Histo,
ry tells US that the States formed The Union
that as soon as the Colonies became indepead-
ent of Great Britain, they became sovereign and
independent Siaies-that as States they formed
Confederation, as States they repeated The Ar
ucles Of Confederation, and as the people Of The
several States. they adopted the present Consti-
tuition, the several States raljlyingH separately.
Mr.. Lincoln also asserts that s,t the S+s,es bai.
neither more 0or less power than that reserved
TO them 10 The Union by the Constitution. -
/ The Constitution does not define, or describe
The powers Of the States. It does, however.