The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1862-11-12

ples The President is the conmander-ins
chief of VIC army and navy, not only 10y
force Of the Constitution, but under ani
subject to the Constitution, and to every
restriction therein combined, and to every
law enacted by it's authority, as completely
and clearly as the private in his ranks.
He is commandcr-in. chief; but can a gen.
eral. in. chief diso1ey any lao Of has 04cn,
country! When he can, he superadds T..
his rights as commander the poness Of h
usurper and that is military despotis,n.--
In the noise Of arms have we become des
to the warning voices Of our fathers, IL
take care that the military shall always b.
subServient to the civil powers Instead OF
listening to these voices, some persons now
seem to think that it is enough to silence
objection, to say, true enough, there is no
civil right to do this or that, but it il o
military act They seem to have forgotten.
that every military act is to be tested by
the Constitution and laws Of the country
under whose authority it is done. Antl.
that under the Constitution and laws Of
the Z. s., no more than under the govern
ment Of Great Britain, or under any frcu
or any settled government. the mere au,
thority to command an army, is not az
authority to disobey the laws vi The coun.-
try.
The trainers Of the Constitution thought
| it wise that the powers Of the commander.
in chief Of the militia Of the L. S. should
be placed in the hands Of the chief civil
magistrate. But the powers Of command.
or ln.chief are in no degree enhanced or
varied OH being conferred upon the same
officer who has important civil functions.
Ii the Constitution had provided that
commander-in, chief should be appointed
ny Congress, his powers would have been
the same as the military powers Of tho
President now are. And what would hc
thought BY the American people Of al at
tempt by the gcneral-in. chief, to lrgisfat.
by his DEGREES, for the people and thu
States?
Besides, all the powers Of the President
are executive merely. lie cannot make
law. He cannot repeal one. He can only
execute the laws. lie can neither make,
nor suspend, nor alter them. He cannot
even make an article of war. He mag
govern the army, either by general or spc-
cial orders, but only in subordination to
the Constitution and laws Of the U. S., and
the articles Of war enacted by the lcgisla-
tive power
The time has certainly come when tho
people of the L. S. must understand, and
must rpply those great rules Of civil liberty.
which have BEN arrived at by the self de-
voted efforts Of thought and action Of their
ancestors, during seven hundred years Of:
struggle against arbitrary power. If they
fail to understand and apply them, if they
fail to hold every branch Of their govern
ment steadily to them, who can magins
what is to come out of this g:e,i and des-
peratc struggle? The military power of
eleven Of these States being destroyed
what then What is to be their condition
What is to be our condition?
Are the great principles Of free govern
ment TO be used and consumed as means VI
war? Are we not wise enough and strong
enough to carry on this war ts successful!
military end, without submitting to the
loss Of any one great principle Of liberty
We arc strong enough. We are sciss
enough, if the people and their servants
will but understand and observe the just
limits Of military power.
What, then, are these limits? They arc
these. There is military law there is
martial law. Military law is that system,
of laws enacted for the. government of the
army and navy Of the U. S and Of the mi
litia when called into the actual service O;
the q. S. 1t has no control whatever over
any person or any property of any citizen.
1t could not even apply to the teamsters Of
an army, save by force Of express provisions
Of the laws of Congress, making such p,r-
sons amenable thereto. The persons and
the property of private citizens of the U. S.,
are as absolutely exempted from the con-.
troll Of military law as they are exempted
from the control Of the laws Of Great Britain.
But there is also Martial Lac. What il
this? 1t is the will of a military comman-
der, operating without any restraint, saws
his judgment, upon the lives, upon tho
property, upon the entire social and indi-
vdual condition Of all over whom this law
extends. But under the Constitution o!
the U. s., orer nhom does such lao ertenlI.
Will any one b. bold enough to say, in
view Of the history of our ancestors and
ourselves, that the President Of the Z. S.
can extend such laws as that over the entire
country, or over any defined geographical
part thereof, save in connection. with Soulo
particular military operations which he il
carrying on there? Since Charles l. lost
his head, there has been no king in Eng.
land who could make such law, in thaa
realm. And where is there to be found in
our history, or our constitutions, either
State or national, any warrant for saying,
that President Of the U. S. has been en-
powered by the Constitution to extend mar
tial law over the whole country, and to sub
ject thereby to his military power, every
right Of every citizen? lie has no such
authority.
ln time Of war, military commander,
whether he be tho commander in -cl4;ei OF
one OF his subordinates, must possess alsu,
exercise powers both over the persons and
the property Of citizens which do not exist
in times Of peace. But he possesses and
exercises such powers, not IN spite Of tia
Constitution and la,cs Of tie U. s., or in
derorgation. from their authority, butt cir
tue thereof, ard in strict su6srdination
thereto.
The general who moves his army over
private property in the course of his opera
tons in the field, or who impresscs into the
public service means of transportation or
subsistence, to enable him to act against
the enemy, or who seizcs persons within.
his lines as spies, or destroys supplies isa
immediate danger of ia ling into the hands
Of the enemy, uses authority unknown to,
the Constitution and laws Of the U. S. i,,,
time Of peace; but not unknown to the.
Constitution and those laws in time of rar.
The power to declare war, includes the
power to use the customary and necessary
means ctfectually to carry it on. AS Con-
greSs may institute state Of war, it may
legislate into existence and place under cx
ecutivc control the means for its prosecu-
ton. And. in time Of war, without any
special legislation, not the commander in-
chief only, but every commander of All
expedition, or Of militay post, is lawfully
empowered by the Constitution ard laws