Council Bluffs bugle. [volume] (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1860-1868, 1862-01-22
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY q, 1859

pAsSlons eTery fesIlGt0n put upon pre-
frogatise, arose from their affurss 10 com
/ pei its observance by the sovereign. They
Issesseded In 1888 and EhsswslliRg tones
from the dome Of 80. Panl's, which an
Roaneed the election of William and Mary
announced also that arbitrary imprison-
I mens hsd forsvee ceased In the land. The
anbroken practice Of eaasary was thence
forth ingraffed Ga tAa principle 30 deeply
grounded in the Engliah sysftan SO that
In l7S7-rthe gear of the formation Of our
Consfitutfon-no prnpositioD was more
inconareversable st,ar that aParIiaEner,s
only can authorize the Grown to suspend
the habeas corpus Ha a
The American Revolution wAs . protest
against prerogative; Il was not an assault
upon the constitution il did NOT arise
from dissatisfacsien with it's principles :;
il Was resistance to its yiolationa--souae-
times By Parliament, much more often by
the king. That Revolution had been sue
eassfai, aud its leaders, civil and military
were come together 10 form new ggvagsa~
| meat. Gan 1t DO believed that they, pro-
| tessaats against kingly pExogative--Fev-
olvhonist because Of ontEageS on personal
rights by their sovereign-just emerged
| from seven YEARS. war III defense of
these nights and OF indignant defiance of
| the royal tyranny --would elothe executive
OF their new Government with power
over the citizen which even theirsformer,
| master had never dared 20 psesend tssas he
possessed z Can 1t be believed that they,
proud Of theiF English lineage, proud Of
their English liberty-aye, proud of their
loyalty to the principles of the English
| Constitution, aad fortifying themselves
81 eFery sssp of the Revolution by appeals
| to English exanpIsand EugIlsh law-wo7d
| sacrifice that right which their English
ancestors accounted their chiefest glory ?
Those ancestors had, for six centuries,
hattled hrasely for popular rights, fhey
had placed the crown upon the brow Of
the people they had decked il with many
u jewel twas radi&Et with the glories OF
popular liberty; and can it be believed
| that our fathers woald tear away this
lefftlesft Sfghag s6;fonsf, ;fo d and With il adorn
the ceptre Of executive power7 In no
other psihG in Constitution did they limit
| the rights Of the people as admitted at that
| day; can it be believed that they would,
in Ebis one vital point alone, restrict the
bounds Of liberty and enlarge those Of
power? '..-.'- - -a' '--
They speak Of Ehe habeGs eorpGs as a
thing existing, privilege, whose eharac-
ter and extent are 80 ingrafted upon the
structure Of their society and Government
a right so familiar to the minds of meu;
so interviewer with the theory of popular
rights and executive power SO thorough
| II understood 80 accurately defined that
| il needs neither 10 be established n9r de-
scribed-a right SO dearly priced that
| they viii guard more carefully than it has
ever been guarded before that they viii
establish as the very cornerstone of the
new Republic, that whereas it might be
| heretofore suspended at the viii of the
Legislature. il shall hereafter bs suspend
ed by the same power only "when in CO
ses Ell TeaellisR sE iaFssiea the Pahas
safety may reqaire it." -
!. The uniform construction of this
clause of the Constitution BY every de-
partment of the Government, is, that the
power of suspension resides in Congress
alone.
10 1907, when Mr.. Jefferson submitted
to Congress certain documents relating TO
the alleged conspiracy for a dismamber-
ment Of the Union, the Senate took the
alarm, and, with entire unauimity, pass
ed bill suSpending the privilege for three
months it Was defeated in the House of
RepreseatatiEes-rejected on its first read
ing by an overwhelming majority.
In the same year, in discussing the ques-
tion arising ca an applicStion BY BolIman
Z e. .E
corpus, to inquire into the circumstances
of their confinement after commitment By
the district court, TO which they had been
surrendered By AE. Jefferson, Chief jus.
tioe Marshall says
''H at any time the public safety should
require the suspension of the powers
granted by this act in the courts of the
United States, it would be for the Legis-
sature to say se."
/ pause 10 notice g curious criticism
upon this passage by the Attorney Gener-
al in his labored argument Ia favor Of
the President. He says:
s'The court does not speak of suspend
| ing the privilege Of the writ, bat of sas-
pending the powers vested ia the courts
| by the act.'' 'sf,
BY the phrase suspension Of the privilege
Of the writ of hdbeGs corpus we must un-
derstand repeal of all the power to is
sue the writ, then freely admit that none
I but Congress can do it."
The Attorney General thinks that the
powers of court are more carefnllg
, guarded than the personal liberty of the
eiEizen that the FIRST can only be sas-
/ pended by the joint action Of the whoie
. legislative body bat that the laEtex ID
. committed TO the discretion Of the Presi-
. dent alone. He thinks saat q suspension
of the privilege of the writ does not in
terfere with the powers vested In tAe
D courts. What are those powers I'd
t compel the production Of the body of tbs
{ prisoner by bis custodian, that he may bt
/. lremanded, discharged, or bailed, and, fol
9 this purpose, to use the powers Of th'
!. marshal and his passe. ii the Prsaiden
a directs his subordinate to refuse TO pro,
). duce the body Of the prisonw, to defy shp
q authority Of the marshal, TO use the Ar
e mory Of the United States to resist hi
d posse, does be not interfere With the pow
r er vested in the courts nf-s-. -
i The privilege Of the writ involves th
= right of party to invoke and proft By il
. and the power and duty Of the court /
k issue and hear and 70 adjudge and to %
y force It's judgement. The suspension Q
p asthe priyelegea saspends the right TO in
10 woke the authority to issne and 10 hear
.. the powef to enforce ii ard IL this be .
10 the Attorney General admits that the sus
r. pension can only be efecsed by act .
ae Congress. s
ae But TO return 10 the construction {
this clause Of the Constitution. Mr., ia.
Z. siee Story, IA his commentaries sscsie
= = 1885, says;
- sslt would seem, as she poweE Ia giss
to Congress 70 suspsnd the writ OF Aa5e,