The daily Wabash express. (Terre-Haute, Ind.) 1857-1867, 1861-06-04


canoe and importance 20 the conflict of urls
diction between Chief Justice Taaey and
Gen. Cadwallader Because of the refusal Of
the latter TO surrender Merryman a military
prisoner arrested for treason upon writ OF
habt as corpus. issued by the Chief Justice.
they charge Mr. Lincoln Nth design to
trample upon the constitution and the laws.
This il grave charge. and If true, eutltles
the President 20 the severest eensure. But.
i il trusg
The constitution saws The privilege Of
the writ Of habeas corpus shall not be sus
pended. snless uhen IN cases Of rebellion and
iauasioH The public SAFETY may require Il"
BY this provision the suspension Of tho
writ IS made constitutional in case Of rebel
lion. where the public safety requires it,
Hence. under such circumstances, II neither
tramples upon the constitution nor the laws.
So FAR from il. he design il 20 give special
protection to both. Rebellion Is an attempt
to overthrow the Government by force. and
Is, therefore. treason. The secession move
ment Is rebellion. and all who participate IN
il are. necessarily. traitors. To defend
gainst the civil war they have inaugurated,
the President has called out an army which.
both for its own and The protection OF the
government. must be conducted according to
tho laws of war. Besides what IL shall do In
actual conflict, one of its chief duties Is 20 ar
rest all rebels and put IL out Of their power 10
AID the rebellion. OF course, all such arrests
are made BY the military authority--ior nc
body would expect a commander OF an army
to resort 10 eira process for that purpose
But when one who l. engaged in n rebellion
j. thus arrested. shall he be permitted 10 APP
ply 10 the eiriI authorities for the writ of hd
beas corpus and thereby effect his discharge,
f 4 4. - r. Il. - =.
70 see that the power of the military to de-
fend the government must. necessarily. be
weakened 1t would involve the necessity
of shooting down every traitor as soon as
caught. in order to put il out of his power
10 do mischef:-for whenever discharged.
he would 20 back 10 his treason again
Hence. the constitution provides that the writ
OF habeas corpus may be suspended IN all
such cases-because the public safety requires
IL. The same rule prevails in England, and
is embodied in our State constitution. The
manifest object is 10 prevent the Judiciary
from interfering with the progress oil the war.
and 10 leave il 10 the military TO prosecute IL
to the end This extraordinary power ofsus-
pension il given so that the writ itself may
be preserved as protection TO the citizen In
time of peace. Ii is not conferred upon any
particular officer. but goes with the army
: II IL is ordered by the President he does not
act as a GIRL officer merely, but as n CON-
mander in chief of the army: in other words.
il is n war power. When tho writ Is suspend
ed by him. or any other authorized officer. it
Is worthy of inquiry whether. inasmuch as il
is constitutional act. it is not violation of
the constitution for Judge 10 persist in the
enforcement of the writ when lac has knowl-
edge of the suspension. At all events. the
suspension must be made effective, against
even the judiciary. or IL amounts to nothing
These, unquestionably are the reasons Why
Gen. Cadwallader declined to obey the writ
issued by Judge Taney The prisoner. Mer.
ryman, was arrested by the military as a trail
tor. giving aid and comfort 20 the enemies OF
the Government, who were in open rebellion
against its authority Ii held in custody he
would have no power 10 aid the rebels, but
ifdiscbarged he would have such power. That
being the whole question. nobody can doubt
thatsfhc public safety required him TO be he.d.
and that Gen. Cadwallader was right IN re-
fusng his surrender. in as much the Pres
ldent, being the commander in chief OF the
army, had suspended the writ Of habeas corpus
in all such cases, In manifest obedience TO
duty. Suppose IL were JEFF Davis instead oil
Merrymsn, should he be discharged, or should
the writ in his case. be- suspended Its ap-
pretended that the suspension would be jus
tiled by all who are on the side of the Gov
eminent. The principle is the same in both
cases
II 80 happens that Mr.. Lincoln and Gen
Cadwallader have illustrious precedent 10 fol.
low. in THE case When On Jackson va.
engaged in defending New Orleans during
our last war with Great Britain. he war be
set b. great number of traitors and spies
who assaulted him and the Government in the
newspapers Of tho cty-generally in anony
nous publications. Like a soldier. ne walk
81 into the Office where the papers we're pub
li.hed and demanded the authors of these
articles Finding them 20 have been written
by member OF the Louisiana Legislature
he resolved. ~ once. upon his arrest But ne
did not apply 10 the courts for writ, 20 thai
he might be regularly tried for treason BY :
jury. Very FAR from IL. 10 had been ar
rested by iile of soldiers and brought 10 hi.
camp. and Immediately. ordered him 10 bs
held ia custody traitor. The prisoner
applied 20 Jud9e Hall for writ of habea.
corpus and il was issued-iust az in Merry
mans case But Gen. jackson did not an
swer the writ ~ Gen. Cadssllader did. lie
took much more summary tourie. by scnd
another Gle OF soldiers and a. - ting and IN
pr,soHing fhs Judge for daring TO interiors
with him IN the proper discharge Of his mill
tary duty. by his civil writ. he kept him In
custody until peace was proclaimed and then
discharged him. After this. the Judge had
Gen. Jackson brought before him 10 answer
for contem2t in not obcying the writ. but
The General, with the stefnness Of on old
Roman. refuses % offer word of explana-
ton or apology. and was fined a thousand
dollars. In lo;3--'S5 the Demecresie part,
in Congress refunded this thousand dollar,
with interest 70 him-snd expressly approx
Ell Of AL that he had done
Neither Mr. Lincoln nor Gen Cadwalla
der have gone near - far. On the contrary
Chief Justice Taney has been treated with
the greatest respect and the writ issued by
him h's been properly and fully answered =
Hence. the whole matter may be summed uI
fhus,--,hat Msrryman is properly IN the Gus
totv 81 the military authority and must be
held by Il just 50 long ~ the safety Of the
Coy eminent shall require it--that. IN all suci
case. the Constitution not enly suthsrires bu
makes IL IRE duty Of the President. as Com
mander IN Chief Of the army. % suspend the
writ Of Aabess corpus. and that 10 i not CON
pe;snt FOR the Judiciary - interfere
UNION