The dollar weekly bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1862-1864, 1863-01-01

Mr.. President, regret that l have taken
30 much of the time of the Senate. dld
not expect to speak more than I'VE mlnutes'
tut interrogatories have prolonged my re-
marks'somewh Twill now ask the oen-
ate what possible harm can result to the
public veal If we pass this resolutlonh Il ne
Senator from Delaware asks that the oecre-
tary of War be directed TO state to this body
by what authority two citizens of that State
are held in Fort Delaware, the cause of their
arrest &c. What harm can possible result
to the country from that? The fact is made
known to the American Senate by two hon.
orable Senators representing a sovereign
State. They have declared that two of
their worthy constituents are locked up, as
they believed, without cause or process OF
law, and they demand TO know the author
ity by which they are confined, and why 1t
, has been done. If the Senate should refuse
it, think the whole world would suppose
we were regardless of civil liberty aud the
constitutional rights Of our people. l hope
: such voice will never go out from walls
i say here, that if any Senator on this Boor
viii get up and state that he believes any
one of his constituents care not how de-
graded man he is-held without cause in
any prison, and desires to inquire of the head
of any Department, or of the President, 10
know tn e cause, l will most cheerfully vote
IT, L VIII 10 ID IL III IdhOl VI ANihS''
right and human liberty, and l will do 1t
because wish to defend the constitutional
liberty of the citizen.
Sir, / feel deep interest in this matter,
because have been for the last twelve
months almost daily in the receipt of letters
2 from their wives, from the children, and
from the fathers and mothers of persons who
have been confined in these prisons, and fire.
qnently from those persons themselves
They write to me that they are there with
out cause that they are loyal citizensi that
they have been arrested, they know not for
what; that they have been kept in prison
for months upon months in violation Of thier
constitutional rights, and have asked me to
procure for them relief. Since l have been
here at this session, I have gone and de-
Tnanded of the proper authorities why GER
tain of my constituents were held on john
sons Island, and can get no accurate in
formation as to the causes of their arrest.
have had a resolution passed calling upon
the President to give the Senate this inform
alton. He refused to give it at the last SEES
sion. I will tell you why 1 want it.
want to know the cause of these arrests, and
. wait to know the names of the persons
= who made the charges upon which the ar
rests were founded, with view of investi-
eating the facts, and ascertaining whether
the parties are innocent or guilty. If they
are guilty, want them punished. IF they
are innocent, l want the prison doors opened
and that they be allowed to 90 free. l
have never yet been able to ascertain the
cause of the arrest of one of my constituents.
and have demanded it in more cases than
one. have never yet been able to get the
name Of an Individual who preferred charges
against them = ..--7. -. -.-..t
wish to stop the proceedings of the in
famous set of yermin who are going through
this country in the shape of inform ers, and
crawling about in the midst of society, some
of them hired, perhaps, by the Government
as spies. Others are going around venting
their private spleen and their malice upon
their neigh bors. They have not got the
manhood to come out openly and say, this
man is traitor; this man is disloyal; this
man has committed an offepse;' but they 90
about in the dark, and they whisper info
the ear of those in authority charges against
men better than themselves. The charge is
believed. No opportunity is given to the
persons accused of rebutting it OF of meeting
1t, but they are imprisoned for months upon
q months to crafty the malice, perhaps, of a
personal enemy. The prisons are full of
men put in in that way. do not think
any Government ought to encourage such a
miserable set of vermiD; for can tell you,
sir, if a man has not the honest manhood
and boldness when he wishes to arrest one
of his fellow citizens, to come out openly
q and say, Il, sir, arrest you; charge you wit h
high crimes and / stand ready before the
tribunals to make the charges good.' he is
wholly unworthy of confidence, and he is a
poor. miserable. trucking coward; and no
3 Government should deprive any citizen of
z his liberty on the testimony or the assertion
Of any man who is not willing to meet the
accused face to face and make good his
charge. 5s-ss--
The gentleman from Illinois said we
could base nothing on this resolution, if the
informatio asked should be given. Why,
sir, if we get detail of the facts, we will be
enabled to legislate in such manner as to
protect the rights the citizen, and pass
laws Furnishing more severely your civil au-
.thorities and your military authorities for
deprivingthe citizens of their liberty. None
of them are above the law. Whenever the
magistracy get above the law, then you have
despotish. want the facts. l want them
with the view that if these men are inno-
cent they may be discharged. want them
with another view, that if they are guilty..
they may be handed over to the courts and
be punished. Does a magistrate, who ar
rests man he knows TO be guilty, discharge
his duty by locking m up for months, and
then discharging him without trial? No,
-slri II ne Knows the man to be guilty, he
ought to- hand him over to the courts and
have him punished for the offense. That is
his duty; and if he lets him go when he is
guilty, or i'm prisons him when he is iuno-
cent, he should receive the condemnation of
all honest men, of all lovers of civil liberty.
Talk to me, sir about the kindness of the
Administration locking up men in this way!
Sir, if man is guilty, it is their duty to hand
him over to the courts and have him punish
ed for the infractien of the law. If he is
innocent, it is greater duty to see that his
liberty is not encroached upon.
hope the resolution will pass, and thu in