The mountain Democrat., 1863-01-24
NUMBER

the COnstitp,lop, aud to every FsstEisots8'
therein coptajned, and TO every law
acted by its authority, ss completely SnA
clearly as the private in his raake. .---------.
lie is general.in.chief; but can gen.
eral-in chief disobey the laws Of his own
countryf When be can, he supesaAda.
to his rights as commander the PoweBs0f-
a usurper; and tbat is military daapO-
! <,AM. 1NA<NN N%Ssre; 1s SsSpyx UAyesSv0e.
come deaf to the warning voices Of our
fathers, TO take care that the military shall
always be Subservient to the civil power
| Instead Of GStsning to those voices. some
I fe34c~Ns 6e,tV seem 10 think that il ts
enough 20 silence objection to say, true
| enough, there is no civil right to do this or
that, but it is 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 apth0Ti;
ty it is DONE And that under the Con.
stitution and laws OF the United States,
no more than under the government Of
Great Britain, or under any free or any
settled government, the mere authority TO
command an army, is not an authority TO
diSobey the laws Of the country.
The trainers Of the Constitution thought
it wise that the powers Of the Command
er in.Chief Of the military forces Of the
United States shQuld be placed in the
hands Of the chief civil magistrate. Bot
the powers Of Commander in Chief are 10
no de.ree enhanced or varied by being
conferred upon the same officer who has
important civil functions. If the Consti.
tntion had provided that q Comfnandet.
in.Chief should be appointed By Congress,
his powers would have been the saGSe hS
the military powers Of the President now
are. And what would be Thought by tho
American people Of an attempt by . gem.
eral-in chief, to legislate, by his decreee,
for the people and the StateS2
Besides. all the powers Of the President
are executive merely. He cannot make
law. He cannot repeal one. He can
only execute the laws. He can neither
make, nor suspend, nor alter them. He
cannot even make ~ article pf war. He
may govern the army, either By general
qr special orders, but only in s66ordinS:
! tion to the Constitution and laws Of the
United States, and the articles of war en-:
acted Ly the legislative power.
The time has certainly come when the
people Of the United States must under
stand, and must apply those great rules
Of civil liberty, which have been arrived
at by the self.devoted efforts Of thought
and action of their ancestors, during sew
en- hundred years OF struggle against ar
bitrary power. Ifthey fail to understand
and apply them, if they fail to hold every
branch of their Government steadily to
them, who can imagine what is to CONG
out Of this great and desperate struggle }
States " being dest4oyed-~bss Rs%% what the";~ t. "s.e
What Is to be their cqnaitianl What b
to be our condition. ---iis
Are the great principles Of f ee govern
men to be used and consumed as q means
Of war? Are we not wise enough and
strong enough to carry on this war TO .
successful military end, without submit
ting to the loss Of any one great prinei-
pie Of liberty? We are strong enough
We are wise enough, if the people and
their servants will but understand and
observe the just limits of military power.
What, ther, are those limits2 TheY
are these: There is military law; there
is martial law. Military law is t6at sys.
tenn of laws enacted by the legislative
power for the government of the army
and navy Of the United States, and Of the
militia, when called jntp the actual ser.
vice Of the United States. Ithas no con.
troll whatever over any person or any
property Of any citizen. Il would not
even apply to the teamsters of an army,
save by force Of the express provisions
of the laws Of Congress, making such
persons amenabe thereto. The persons
and the property Of private citizens Of
the United States, are as absolutely ex-
ernpted from the control Of military lAw
as they are exempted frOE9 the cpHtrGl Of
the laws of Great Britain.
But there is also Martial law. What q
this It 1t is the will of military COM
mander, operating, without any restraint,
save his judgment, upon the lives, gEog
the property, upon the entire social and
individual condition Of oil oyer yholp the
law extends. Bpt, under the Constitution
Of the United States, oyer Wh9@ does
such law extend3
VIII apy one be bold enough to say, in
| view of the history Of our ancestors and
ourselves, that the President Of the Uni
ted States can extend such law as that
owe: the entire country, or over any de-
fined geographical part thereof save in
connection with some particular military
operations which he is carrying on there2
Since Charles |. lost his head, there has
been no king in Eagland who could make
such law. in that 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
| United States has been empowered by the
Constitution to extend martial Law over
the whole country, and to subject thereby
to his military power every right Of every
citizen? He has no such authority. =
In time Of war, military commander,
whether he be the commander in-chief oi
one of his subordinates, must possess and
exercise poxers both over the persons and
the property Of citizens which do not ex
ist in time of peace. But he possesSet
and exercises such powers not in spite o
the Constitution AND laws of the pnitec
States, Of in derogatiop from their author
ity, but in virtue thereof and In strjcI
subordinaton thereto. The General vhS
moves his army oyer private properly q
the course of his operations in the deld
or who impress into the Rgbiic servie'
meaps at transportation or spbsistence, q
enable him to act against the enemy. 81
who seizes persons within his lines h
spies, or destroys spppliss In ianaealsi1
danger Of falling into the hahds Of t. el;
emy, uses authority unkuowuvtg ~ p6
stitutiOn and laws Of the Unite1 aeats n
time Of peace, butsnOE Hnkno1R y yh|
Constitution and those laws IN 30 9