The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1861-07-11

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! priyateering.
! Other calls were made for volunteers to
serve three years, unless sooner discharged,
and also for large additions to the regular ar
| my and navy. These measures, whether
strictly legal or not, were yentured upon un-
der what appeared to be q popular demand
and public necessity, trusting, then, rs now,
! that Congress would readily ratify them.
/ 1t is believed that nothing has been done
| beyond the constitutional competency of Con-
gress. Soon after the first call for militia, it
was considered duty to authorize the Com
manding General, in proper cases, according
! to his discretion, TO suspend the privilege Of
! the writ Of habeus corpus. or, IN other words,
/ to arrest and detain, without resort TO the or
binary processes and forms OF law, such iudi-
yiduals as he might deem dangerous to the
public safety. This authority has purposely
1 been exercised but very sparingly. Neverthe-
/ less, the legality and propriety of what has
been done undCr it are questioned, and the
lattontion of the country has been called to the
/ proposition that one who has sworn to take
/ care that the laws be faithfully executed
/ should not himself violate them.
! OF course some consideration was given to
! the question of power ald propriety before
! this matter was acted upon. The whole Of
/
executed. were being resisted and falling Of
/ execution in nearly one-third Of the States.
/ Must they be allowed to finally fail Of execu-
! ton, even had it been perfectly clear that by
| the use OF the means necessary to their execu-
! ton, some single law, made in such extreme
tenderness OF the citizens liberty that practi-
cally it relieves more of the guilty than the
| innocent, should to a very limited extent be
violated To state the question more di-
rectly, are all tie laws but one to go uneye-
cuted AID the Government itself to 60 to
pieces lest that one be violated? Even in
/ such q case, would not the official oath be
! broken if the Government should be over
/ thrown, when it was believed that disregard
/ ing the single law would tend to preserve it 3?
/ But it was not believed that this question was
presented. 1t was not believed that any law
was violated. The provision Of the Constitu-
| ton that the privilege of the writ Of hGteGs
coypus shall not be suspended unless when in
cases Of rebellion or invasion the public safe
/ ty may require it, is equivalent TO provision
that such privilege may be suspended when
in cases of rebellion or invasion the public
safery does require it. 1t was decided that
Te have q case Of rebellion and that the pub
lie safety does require the qualified suspen-
sion of the privilege Of the writ which was
authorized TO be made Now it is insisted
that Congress, and not the Executive, is vest
ed with this power.
But the Constitution itself is silent as to
which, or who is to exercise the power, and
as the provision was plainly made for dam
gcr0us emergency, it cannot be believed that
/ the trainers Of the instrument intended that
/ in every case the danger should run its course
until Congress could be called together, the
e ;r1, he
as was intended in this case by the rebellion.
No more extended argument is now afforded,
as an opinion at some length will probably
/ be presented by the Attorney General
( Whether there shall be any legislation upon
the subject; and if so, what, is submitted en-
/ trely TO the better judgement Of Congress.
The forbearance Of this Government had been
so extraordinarily and so long continued, as
/ TO lead some foreign nations to shape their
action as if they supposed the early destruc-
/ ton of our National Union vas probable.
While this on discovery, gave the EXecg-
! tive some concern, he is now happy to say
/ that the sovereignty and rights Of the United
States are now everywhere practically re
/ spected by foreign Powers, and a general
! sympathy with the country is manifested
| throughout the world.
The reports of the Secretaries Of the Treas
urv, War and the Navy will give the inlor-
nation in detail deemed necessary and con-
yenient for your deibcration and action,
while the Executive and all the Departments
Will stand ready to supply omissions or to
communicate new facts considered important
for you to know.
It is now recommended that you give the
/ legal means for making this contest n short
and decisive one that you place at the con-
troll of the Government for the war at least
400, 600 men and $780, 200, ,000 that number
of men is about one-t9nth Of those Of proper
ages within the reg ons where apparently all
are willing to engage, and the sum is less
than a twenty third part OF the money value
owned by the men who seem ready TO devote
the whole A debt Of six hundred millions
Of dollars now is less sum per head than
was the debt Of our Revolution when we came
out Of that struggle, and the money value in
the country bears even a greater proportion
to what it was then than does the population.
Surely each man has rs strong a motive now
| to preserve cur liberties as each had then to
establish them.
right result at this time will be worth
more to the world than ten times the men and
ten times the money. The evidence reaching
US from the country leaves no doubt that the
material for the work is abundant, and that
it needs only the hand of legislation to giveit
legal sanction and the hand Of the Executive
to give it practical shape and efficiency.
One of the greatest perplexities of the Gov
crnment is to avoid receiving troops faster
than it can provide for them; in a word, the
people will save their Government, if the
Government itself will do its part only lndif-
ferently well. 1t might seem at first thought
to be Of little difference whether the present
movement at the South be called secession or
rebellion. The movers. however, well under
stand the difference. 1T the beginning they
knew that they gould never raise their treason
to any respectable magnitude by any name
which implies violation Of law they knew
their people possessed as much of moral
sense, as much Of devotion to law and order,
and as much pride in its reverence for the
history and government of their common