Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1862-01-22

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the Constellation, Ehe aolation of tie prob.
lem Of the compatibility ef social ordas
with Indisfdaal seeurity, demand that tbs
that she eonstitational guarantees of per-
sonal nbessy should be Is faithfully Kept,
Is yigidly enforced, - perfectly admin
issered, il ths case Of ths meansss erini-
nal as Of the purest patriot. EtS
The President OF the United States, III
his message nj the eemmecement Of the
extra session. announces his action and
his raason FOR il In the following langu-
age: In ...aH
ssyoon after the hrsa call for militia, Ii
Iva considered duty TO authorize the
commanding general in proper cases, ac-
sording s9 his discretion, 20 suspend the
privilege Df the writ Of habeas corpus, or,
IN other words, 10 arrest and deEain With
out resors 10 ordinary processes and forms
Of Law, such individuals a. be might deem
dangerous 10 the public safety. This an
thority hss been parposely exercised but
very sparihgiT Nevertheless, the legal.
| iiy and psoprialy Of what has baen dane
under it are questioned, and the attsntioa
Of the country has been called to the
proposition, that on who is sworn F1o take
care that the laws be faithfully executed
should cot himself violate Them. OF
course seine consideration was given to
the question Of power and proprissy, her
| fore this matter was acted upon. The
whole Of the laws which were required to
be faithfully executed, were being resist-
| ed annd failing of execution in nearly
one third Of the States, Must they be al
lowed to finally fail of execution, even
had 1t been perfectly clear that By the use
of means necessary % their execution,
some singfs law, made in sQen extreme
tenderness of the citizens liberty, thaE
practically it relieves more Of the guilty
than of the innoeeuts should, to very
limited extent, be Violated2 Tostate the
question more directly, are all abe laws
btG one 10 20 unexecated, aud the Cow
ernment ktseif 60 to pieces less that ont
be violatbdp Even in such case, would
not the Official oath be broken IL the Goyt
ernment should be overthrown, when ii
was believed that disregarding the single
l~s~v -r~-a , s~s.,A 1fsess~. - ass xsuSlt
was not believed that this question vas
presented. 1t was not believed thai any
law was violated. .
ssThe provision OF the Constitution,
that the privilege Of the writ Of hGbeas
corpus shall not be suspended unless
| when, ia case Of rebellion Or invasion,
the public safety may require it, is equiv
alent 10 provisions proEision--that
| such privilege may be suspended when,
| In case OF rebellion or invasion, the pab-
| lie safety does require it. 1t was decid-
| ed that We had a case of rebellion, and
that the public safety does require the
queli6ed suspension Of the privilege Of
the writ, which was authorized 10 be
made. Fow it is insisted that Congress,
and not the Executive, is vested with that
power. But the Constitution itself ID
silent as to which or who is 70 exercise
the power and as the provision was
plainly made for dangerous emergency,
| II cannot be believed the trainers Of the
| instrument intended that IN every cssu
the danger should run it's course until
Congress should be called together; the
very assembling of which might be pre-
vented, a. vas intended in this case, By
the rebellion"
| In res pouse to call from this House,
on the lhsh day of July, 1861, the Presi-
dent seat copies Of three different orders,
giving authority TO suspend the writ Of
habsds 4orp4s. One is, ia form, proc
! iamation, and relates to the suspension
within the islands Of Key West, the Tor
tugas, and Santa Rosa
Two 4thers, dated, respectively, April
2T, 1861, are simply "orders" addressed
to the Commanding General Of the
Army Of the United State, in these
words
"f at any point on or in the vicinity Of
any military line, which is nov or which
shall be used, between the city OF New
York and the city of Washington, you
fnd resistance, which renders it necessary
to suspend the writ of hGbsGs corpus foi
the public safety, you personally, oI
through the ofhcer In command at the
point where resistance occurs, are au-
thorized to suspend that writ"
They seem to have been secret orders
and meter to have been made public be-
fore.
| Itls . popular error that the Reoes
sary effects Of hearing on a wit oil
| ha6eds corpus is TO iterfere With lega
imprisonment. II is not so. The onl,
effects Is to ascertain whether the impris
onmens is legal; to ascertain whether ]
is By competent authority on charge Q
crime. II it is, the prisoner is returDes
to the custody Of the ofheer who hels
him; If it Is not, be is discharged. Th
law, We are told By the Pressdeot, va
made in too "extreme tenderness Of I'd
| citizens liberty" and was therefore sus
/ pended. The effect Of the suspension
, 10 prevent that inquiry into the legalis
of the Imprisonment. The object OF th
3 suspension is to enable those who happe
. to hava power, to imprison the citiEe
E who has been guilty Of no offence, and
: subjeck him to just such rigor of conhns
: ment Is their discretion, not the law g
: the Land, may prescribe.
/ The President claims distinctly the au
thoritg to arrest and detain, withoat ri
y sort ID the ordinary forms and process
. Of Law all persons, not in the land 40
: naval forces. not prisoners of var. nj
q engaged in military enterprises, whom
: or BIZ commanding general 'sdeem dal
y gerous to fhe bubble safety ]" and
e claims this authority, first, ander u
L Constitution, and, secondly, notwitl
!; standing she Constitution, "when 1t
70 believed that disregarding the single 10
Ie woula tend to preserve the Government
II Fiksl. UxpER THE CoSsrrrTTiuS-Tl ID
ct Presi tent odmiss the authority il not 9;
1s pressay granted him BY the Constitute
Is and, it granted him II all, it Is only
10 Inference, and this derived chiefly fro
ii the 81 suspended ineonsenienee Of lodgil
ct the authority of Congress.
IL The only clause in the Constitution
3 latink TO this subject il found in I
be seeoSd clause Of the nineth section
e. the first article. II Is id tqese words !;
be ss'The privilege of the writ Of hdbs
e. corpus shall not be suspended, unl'
ii when in eases of rebellion or inEasit
". The public safety may require it.
L f. -. q ~ Il