Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-11-15
Political Schemes.

One Of the schemes which is just now de.
yeloping itself, is the attempt to cripple the
Executive department of the Government,
both in its civil and military functions, by
getting it so tied up in the meshes OF legal
subtlety and chicane as to place it under
the control OF pragmatical local Judges,
working by means Of the sacred writ of ha.
beus corpus. The number of cases that are
spTiUgiDg up in widely separated localities,
and the persistency with which they are
pushed, with the simultaneous clamor of
party politicians and newspapers of doubt.
ful loyalty to our institutions, warrant the
assumption of permanent unity of purpose
in the ctfjrt 10 hamper and dishonor the
Executive.
We have before US newspaper reports
concerning five different cases Of habeas cor.
puS, in as many different states. The fi~St
is the decision of Judge Smalley of the U.
S. District Court in Vermont, on the case
which We noticed some weeks ago, where
the U. S. Marshal, by order of the Pres.
dent of the United States had arrested one
Field, on the charge of discournging enlist
meuis and on the issueing of the writ, had
obtained specific instructions from the Sec,
retary Of War 10 pay no attention to the
writ, and retain his prisoner at oil hazards,
aud report the names Of all who might at
tempt to liberate the prisoner. The Judge
denied the authority of the order from the
War Department, mainly on the ground
that neither Congress nor the President
had declared that tho public safety re-
quired that martial law should bo declared
nor that the writ of habens corpus should
be suspended in loyal states. And claim
ing that the Marshal wos peculiarly tho
officer Of the Court, and therefore who'll
obligated to execute its process, obey it,
orders, and do its bidding. the Court ad
: judged the Marshal guilty of contempt o
Court, and sentenced him 10 pay fine o
500, with the addition that, until be pur
ges himself of said contempt by complying
with this order, he be not permitted within
3 the Court TO act as one of its officers"
I This last penalty was remitted in tive
days, on the payment of the fiue. Th'
, Court further valves the demaud for thu
actual surrender of Field, because the Pres
idents Proclamation Of Sept. "a, lssnet
>, during the trial, had now suspended th
u habeus corpus, and the Judge was Q
t opinion that The President has the power
in The present military exegencies of th
country, to proclaim martial law, aud as
necessary consequence thereof. the suspen
: sion OF the writ Of habens corpus Ia th
! case of military arrests" Here is disliDC
lion OF Judicial subtlety, which is worthy G
the cause. He admits that the Presiden
had the power TO suspend the habe1s col
+ bus by proclamation, but insists that b
J. has no power to suspend it by an order I
b the marshal; the Constitution itself sayinI
e nothing about-either order or proclamation
d We should like tO know by what reasonin
z Il 10 proved that the President, by issueln
!. a proclamation, can confer on himself lh
' power which he had not before, OF lssuen
!. an order TO the marshal which shall be b
!. warsnt for disobeying the orders Of sb
l. court. ff s4s
. The Fr@MaW's Journal of this city,
IS Reman Catholic paper. edited by james a
J. MacMasteF, Esq, comments on this decil
!. : ion at considerable length and eontroFerl
|. The doctrine IN regard 70 the prerogatlye
the PreSident, with some severity Of n
mark bn'this immature and uneonsidere
opiaiOn, claiming that in this country .