The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1862-05-21
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

ported beyond the seas for trial; shall we now look
with complacency upon similar violations of right and
Of law We have looked with pain upon these exhi-
billions Of violence, now becoming numerous; il law
cannot have its regular course we have security fol
our liberties.
MARIsG TToUBLE. In the Convention on
Wednesday last. Mr.. Badger offered resolu-
tion requesting Gov. Clark to demand the re-
turn or nir. Respass ~ tire autnoffrtes OF this
State, he having been arrested and confined in
Richmond. 1t will be remembered that this
man Respass was Mayor ofWashington, Nc.
at the time the Yankees visited that place, and
he is accused Of having welcomed the Yankees
to the town and then escorted them about.
He was very properly arrested and sent to
Richmond. Mr.. Badgers resolution is only
calculated TO do harm and bring the State
authorities into conflict with the Confede-
rate authorities, and it is to be hoped il will
not pass. The arrest Of Respass was right,
and il is time that every suspicious charac-
ter in the South was arrested aud examined.
Our cause has already suffered enough by al.
lowing enemies to lurk about and 60 at large.
The distraction of Railroad trains and Rail-
road bridges, and the conduct of certain
persons al points where the enemy have Ia
ken possession, shows that the Government
have not been prompt enough in making ar
rests. The people will sustain the Govern
ment in making these arrests and the mem
bers OF the North Carolina Convention had
better disperse and go home instead Of adj
ding to the troubles Of the times.
Charlotte Democrat.
The times are truly out Of joint when such
sentiments are advanced by one so generally
sensible and patriotic as the Editor of the
Charlotte Democrat ltappears to be enough
that man + " accused" Of crime. That
would indeed justify his arrest, but at least
let him be arrested according TO Lar, let
him be tried al home, that is, in his own
State, by his own fellow. citizens and his own
State JalRs sad Jury. -L-t him not be sub
iected to military arrest, military confne-
ment, and, we were about TO say, military
trial, but The man has been imprisoned for a
month or more without any sort Of trial. lie
has not even been examined" as the Demo
crat says. We know nothing Of Respass-
never heard Of him TIL his arrest-but We
like things 10 be done legally. We should
be very sorry TO think that the Editor OF the
Democrat, or ourselves, or any OF our neigh.
bors, could be liable TO transportation be-
yond the limits OF the State, and imprison-
mtnt without trial-which is punishment
without trial - simply because somebody
might think proper 10 accuse him, or
them, or US, Of a crime. " For Transporting
US beyond seas TO be tried for pretended Of
+ lenses" was one OF the heinous sins against
1 Liberty and Law which our foreIaihers as.
signed in their Declaration Of Independence
as one Of the leading causes Of the Reyolu-
ton OF l775. Let not our government be
guilty Of similar SIN by transporting per-
sons from one State TO another for trial for
either pretended or real offences. Nobody
objects to the arrest Of Respass. Il is the
military instead Of the civil feature Of The
case, the transportation 10 another State, and
the punishment without trial, which are com
planned Of by some Of the best citizens in the
State, OF all parties, who, for 50 doing, are
insulted by the advice TO "disperse and 90
i home"
The Wilmington Journal too complains Of
this movement in the Convention about Res.
pass. and SAYS,
There is no more doubt in the mind OF
any human being Of the treason OF Mr.. Res
pass, The late mayor Of Washington, N e.,
than il he had been taken in Ragranfe deliciu,
LIN the very ac.."
Perhaps 50. But We will wait. The
Journals statement is so sweeping, aud so
positive, on a point as TO which Of course it
cannot know anything. that We at once con.
clude the Journal knows nothing about the
matter. II has habit Of talking that way.
/ Il we are not mistaken, the Journal was quite
as well satisfied few days ago that Gen.
Lowell was traitor for surrendering New
/ Orleans.
The question is not whether Rcspass is
guilty or innocent ;--nobody but the Jour
nal has said anything about that ;-but, was
i il proper TO set aside the civil tribunals, and
| TO subject him 10 transportation and militia.
~ punishment That is the question; and
! il is one that lies at the foundation Of Civil
Liberty and Of individual safety.
P.S. So far had We written when satur.
days Standard brought US the following
astounding article, showing that for want oi
1 the Journals testimony Respass has been