Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-11-01
THE MILITARY POWER OF TRE
PRESIDENTS.
lO0ncluded.1

The time has certainly come when the peopl,
OF the United States must understand and mus
apply those great rules Of civil liberty which
have been arrived at By the self devoted effort
OF thought and action OF their ancestors, durinl
seven hundred years Of struggle against arbi
tfary power II they fall to understand ant
apply them, If they fall to hold every branch o
their Government steadily TO them, who Col
imagine what ia 10 come out Of this great Rn(
desperate atruggle7 The military power Of
eleven of these States being des!royed-wha
then? What is TO be their condition. What Il
to be our conditlon2
Are the great principles Of free Government
to be used and consumed as means OF war7 Are
we not wise enough and strong enough to carry
on this war to successful military end, with.
out submitting to the loss Of any one grea.
principle of liberty2 We are strong enough
We are uise enough, IL the people and their
servants will but understand and observe the
just limits Of military power.
What, then, are those limits2 They are
these There ia military law; there is martial
Law Military law is that system of lava en-.
acted by the legislative power TOR the govern
ment OF the army and navy of the United States
and of the militia when called into the actual
service of the United States IL hasn control
whatever over any person or any property oi
any citizen. IL could not even apply to the
tesmsters of an army, save by force OF express
provisions Of the laws Of Congress making such
persons amensblo thereto. The persona aud
the property of private citizens Of the United
States are as absolutely exempted from the
control of military law as they are exempted
| from the control Of the laws of Great Britain
But there is also martial ld,r What is ii
IL is the will OF a military commander, operat
ing without any restraint save his judgment
upon the lives, upon the property, upon the en-.
tire social and Individual condition of all oveI
whom this law extends. But under the Consti.
tuition of the United States, ootT iohom does
such La,D eztend1
Will any one be bold enough to say, in view
of the history of our ancestors and ourselves
that the President of the United States can ex
tend such law as that over the entire country,
or over any defined geographical part thereof,
save in connection with some particular military
operations which he is carrying on there2-
Since Charles / lost his head, there has been
no king In England who could make such law
In that realm. And where is there to be found,
in our history or our constitutions, either State
or national, any warrant for saying that Pres
ident of the United States has been empowered
by the Constitution TO extend martial law over
the whole country, and to subject thereby TO his
military power every right Of every citizen2 He
has no such authority.
In the time Of war, military comman der,
whether he be the C0mmander-in Chief, or one
Of his subordinates, must possess and exercise
powers both over the pereOns and the property
Of citizens which do not exist in time Of peace.
But he possesses and exercises such powers noto
In spite Of The COnsttutoR and la,us Of the United
States or IN deTooation from their authority but in
piYtue thereof, and in strict sabordination thereto.
The general who movea his army over private
property in the course of his operations in the
field, or who impresses into the public service
means Of transportation, or subsistence, to ena-
BILE him to act against the enemy, or who seizes
persons within hiH lines as spies, or destroys
supplies in immediate danger Of falling into the
hands OF the enemy, uses authority unknown 10
the Constitution and laws of the United States
in time Of peace; but not unknown TO that Con.
stitution and those laws in time of pay. The
power 10 declare war Includes the power to use
the customary and necessary means effectually
to carry it on. As Congress may institute
state Of war, 1t may legislate into existence
and place under executive control the means
for its prosecution. And, in time of war, with
out any special Legislation, not the Commander
in-Chief only, but every commander of an ex.
pedition, or Of a.military post, is lawfully en-
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