The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-11-27
Military Quarters.


stitution, says:
" No soldier shall, in time Of peace, b.
. quartered in any house without the con
sent of the owner, nor an time of aoar, bt
IN a manner 10 be prescribed BY ta,o"
Art v. "No one shall be de.
prived oflife, liberty, or property, with,
out due process of law; nor shall privat
property Je tqNen far public use ioitIom jus
compensation"
We are not of that class of legal quib-
blers, and sticklers for the letter of the
law, who would rather see this nation
perish utterly than have one act done
to preserve it not strictly in accor-
dance with the forms of its Constitution.
such patriotism savours too much of that
religious pharisaism, which would not
save life on the Sabbath day for fear
OF violating the fourth commandments
We repudiate all such narrow minded
ness. But we do not see how the disre-
gard of the above clauses of the Federal
Constitution can in any way be of adj
vantage to the Union cause, or tend. to
preserve the life of the nation. 1t seems
clear to US that the Third Article quoted
was intended to apply to case where
war, whether with a foreign or domestic
foe, should be carried on within our own
borders. The fact that citizen had
entered the service of the country as a
soldier, to protect his other fellow-c iti-
zEns, did not, in the minds of the trainers
OF the Constitution, entitle him to vio-
late any of their rights, among the
most sacred of which was the right
OF every man to occupy his home un-
molested, unless deprived of it by
process of law. The sages who made
the Constitution intended that the mill
tary power should be the servant and
not the master of the civil power In the
hands OF monarch, who seeks conquest
the army is the controlling power of the
nation: but in the hands of a republic
whose people follow the arts of peace,
Ihe army is only an agent to be used to
restore peace Atthe close of the war
The army of republic resolves itself into I
citizens, and certainly for the army to !
iestroy the security of citizens, is to !
ommit kind of suicide. The soldiers p
Iestroy their own rights. The Revised o
regulations for the army, published by u
De war Department. since the breaking
ut OF this rebellion, wisely provided n
hat no occasion should be given for the Ii
collation. of the articles of the Constitu- is
on quoted above, and to remove the ne h
'sslty for officers to obtain quarters bV CT
Irning private families out of their nj
ONES, enacted that quarters should be pr
Finished by the Government, and where n
quarters were furnished, that liberal vi
mmutation of from S288 to 1888 ri
'arly, should he allowed each officer. ne
cording to his rank, to enable him to -,
mt quarters. Officers din the field" re-
we not right to hire quarters. Itmay pc
necessary in extreme cases-excep- tn
ms which confirm the rule laid down /.
take private buildings for mill ca,
y offices, but these buildings ste
lst be taken by authority of the
under control of the ",
officer" and "just compen- tou
ion be paid as rent. We have good do
son to believe that fragrant outrages ,
re been committed by Federal officers du'
this city, in the lawless seizure of rigI
Uses. There is class of plumber the
who have attached themselves TO our l
~, for the purpose of theft, robbery, ,IE'
swindling. OF course these harpies the
wholly indifferent whether they rob maj
Government loyal people, or rebels; \
hey do not find victims in one party VIM
Y will try another. They do not care rab,
straw whether the Union lives or j
J, so they live at theireas and amass the
unes. One of these officers, would as
colonel, short time since impressed a onI
pie of horses from widow, in this Il
1ty, and sold them few days after fer
DIS and pocketed the proceeds. He IS 81 81
arrested, compelled to disgorge his n nal,
,otten gains, and cleft the country tbe,
The country's good" We have heard unh
e'eral instances where private fami- na .li
have On ordered to leave their w.
es by some military upstart, who no even
Ot acted without shadow of author be.
This is insuiIerable insolence and
my No doubt many of these Off. had
will attempt to draw their commu- over
N for quarters from the War Depart- lost