Washington telegraph. [volume] (Washington, Ark.) 1839-1871, 1863-06-17

n
Orleans, Mobile, Savannah. CLar,lS.. i. ,,r:,,
inlhgton n me Secretary Of the T-pasnrv NAV
hlfect; Pror d'd. hotrerer. Thai tha hopac
hereby authorized, shall not erooad o,,a I.,,,
bred millions Of dollars, and iii ~ ,,.,r;aJ
only 70 the absorption Of trra.nrr ro,a. III
prescribed in this act
SEC 3 That i shall he the duty If ,,c Sec |
retary Of the Treasury i,nmediateIv ,rtcr M |
passage 81 tbs act, to make publication Of !. |
COPY thereoi I'D each Stat". in az leas. two |
"ewsnapcrs. published III the ST. ,,1 - |
lave said publication continued mil .l,o 60
day of August. eighteen hundred and sixtv- |
three.
Approved March %, 1868. 1-s9
IMPORTANT DEcIsIoSs.-our courts are click
ing into shape and giving definite form and
meaning to the various acts of Congress. passed
FOR raising and maintaining the army Of tho
CDnfcleracy. This il gratifying. a. the citi-
zen IL thereby made acquainted precisely with
III duty 70 the country. and Is not harr,sscd
by the varying constructions placed uno, III
different acts by tie war department. n y
also 2 healthy sigr NJ the unnnimty az the
different branches of our government. that the
the military department to the fullest extent
permissible under the constitution and laws.
Dvfg Of Domiciied ForeigHers-In the case
Of Bclshaw, an lFisLman, brought by writ Of
habeas corpus before the c. s. District Court
Of Mobile, the proof showed that lie came TO
this cou TRY from dublin in 1852. and has re.
sided here since; that he engaged in business
of several kinds. acted ~ administrator. made
deeds XII: rrnI estate. 60. But it was also
proven that hc hai never heen naturaIized,
and had never voted; that le frequently ami
consistently declared Ill British nationality
witA pride anil that be never intended ID BE-
come an American citizen
Upon those facts. Judge Jones decided that
notwithstanding The petitioner was a foreigner
and lad sincerely made these declarations Of
attachment To Ms country. he had never:he-
less. changed his dou,icl of origin or nativity,
and acquired "a new one in the Confederate
states. He read authority 10 show that though
the petitioner might dayc had - floating and
indefinite Intention To- return. at some future
period. to his native country. this wa not
sufficient o. cOuntervaii tile clear pro Of afforded
hy the history Of the case Of the change of
dunicl.
The petitioner. whose case was heard on
habeas corpus. was, therefore, remandel 70
tiiv ra-IUGy rr Eir ruH>vrttinE uriuer, auri Ill
conscripiion VI linn sustained
Legislature Quorum entirely new Con-
.titutional question has ben decided BY the
Supreme Court n Louisiana Ii i of the
gravest practical Importance to most of the
States of tie Confeieracy. a. the very exis-
tence of their State governments i involved.
Norton. held to service under the militia act
of the State passed at the last session. sued
cut the writ to be set at liberty. 1t was con-
tended that the militia act was unconstitu-
tional and VOID. for want Of proper quorum
in the house of representatives when tue act
was passed. The constitutional clause involved
reads rs follows:
Not less tlan majority Of fhe rr-iJs-. Of
each house M the General Assembly shall FORM
J. quorum ~ nu business; nna Il smaller number
may adjourn from lay N iny, ani bal IN
authorized hy iaw 70 compel THE attendance M
absent members"
TIN number NJ members H. not fixed BY the
constitution. Int j. limiteL NJ not less than
seventy more than hundred. The Legis-
laturc, in apportioning the districts. had fixed
the number al ninety eight. Of whom ity were
required to constitute a majority OF all the
Representative whict the parishes ha. right
20 send. At tie time the militia act was
passed, owing TO the occupation Of portion
OF the State by the enemy. less than fly were
present. Hence it was contended that the act
was void
The court, after close argument, arrived at
\ the conclusion. which we think satisfactory
CalthougI not thc obvious one at fritz that the
term members" i'll this connectifn does not
mean mere 'rights of representation existing
ID the parishes, but Prrsons actuly elected
competent TO Sit, and within the jurisdiction
81 the majority in order that ther attendance
may lie compelled.
! If. therefore, says one of tie justices, "A
member is dead, has resigned. removed from
or left the State; if he is WITHIN the enemy
I lines whether of his own volitin or by COM
| pulsion; if he has become an allen enemy or
traitor by taking the oath of allegiance TO
! foreign government nj war witt this State as a
member of the Confederate Safes, ne IS no
! longer one Of the members Of WON the quorum
is to be formed in the sense ofarncie ~ o. ,ne
constitution. and need not b. counted III de-
termining the question Of quo'um.
| whether 4 member Is entitled n hls seat ~
the general assembly, il different rom the
question whether he il to b. counted Oy tne
minority in determining the matter q quorum;
| in the former case the members right 70 ms
seat depends on the legalityof M electloh ana
Of his qualifications; in the i''er case, "ne'ner
he is to be counted depends on 'ne enisoence
of n fact, and that is, Whether ne = within 'ne
jurisdiction Of the minority ana subject 70 .neir
writ This is the only construction OF the
10Th article that can save the integrity Vi 'ne
government through the accidents and perils
of war, and carry out the great leading intent
of the trainers of the constitution"
rive remark, in passing, that 1t IS TO be re-
cretted tina, the Southern members Of the Mis-
souri, legislature dill not act upon the same
view, and pass laws to provide for the contin-
uation Of their body, after the time Of the ex-
istinr members should have expired.
The act was decided constitutional, and
Norton remanded to the control Of the proper
officer.