The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-06-19
NAL.
NUMBER PIG.


Constitution and law from arresting their
progress. Their sympathizers pervaded
all departments of the government and
nearly all communities of the people.
from this material, under cover of J" lib
erty of speech" liberty of the press.
and ha6eds corpus they hoped to
keep on foot amongst us most efficient
corps OF spies, informers, suppliers, and
aiders and abettors or their cause in a
thousand ways They knew that in
times such as they were inaugurating,
by the Constitution itself, the a habeas
corpus might be suspended; but thev
also knew they had friends who would
make question as to. schO was to sus-
pend it; meanwhile their spies and 9TH
ers might remain at large to help on their
cause. Or if, as has happened, the Ex-
ecutive should suspend the writ, without
ruinous waste of time, instances of ar
resting innocent persons might occur, as
are always likely to occur in such cases;
and then a clamor could be raised in re-
gard to this, which might be. at least. of
some service to the insnrgent cause. 1t
needed no very keen perception to dis
cover this part ofthe enemy's programme
so soon as by open hostilities their ma
chinery was fairly pHt in motion. Yet.
thoroughly imbued with reverence for
the guaranteed rights of individuals, [
was slow to adopt the strong measures
which by degrees / have been forced to
regard as being within the exceptions of
the Constitution, and as indispensable to
the public safety. Nothing is better
known to history than that courts of JUS
tice are utterly incompetent in such
rs cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly
Tor trials OF individuals, or, at most, q
few Individuals acting in concert; and
tins IN quiet times, and on charges well
defined In the law Even in times of
peace bands of horse thieves and robbers
frequently grow too numerous and DOW
erful for the ordinary courts of Justice.
But what comparison, in numbers. have
such bands ever .borIe 10 the insurgent
sympathiZers even in many of the loval
States? Again,a jury too frequently has
at least one member more ready to hang
the panel than hang the traitor. And
vet, again, he who dissuades one man
from golunte'r ng, or induces one soldier
TO desert, weakenS the Union cause as
much as he who kills Union soldier in
battle. ct this dissuasion or induce
lnent may be SO conducted as to be no
defined crime of which any civil court
would take cognizanee.
Ours Is case of rebellion-so called
by the resolutions before me-in fact, a
clear, fragrant, and gigantic case of re-
bellion; and the provision of the Consti-
tuition that the privilege of the writ of
habedS corpus shall not be suspended.
unless when, in cases of rebellion or in
vasion, the public safety may require it."
is the provision which specially applies
to our present case This provision
cases Of rebellion '1,attes}}Sa tneffrs 1ptife
pose that, in such cases, men may be
held in custody whom the courts, acting
HabeaS corpus does not discharge men
who are proved to be guilty of defined
crime; and its suspension is allowed by
the Constitution on purpose that men
may be arrested and held who cannot be
proved to be guilty of defined crime,
when, in cases of rebellion or invasion,
the public safety may require it Thisi is
precisely our present case-a case of re-
hhellion, wherein the public safety does
by process oO.-----:-Aaa Tndaad or-o,.,
of rebellion, do not protee4df tee4dfsaa' a,s agrests
.upon the same basis. The former is di-
rected at the small percentage of ordin-
ary and continuous perpetration of crime,
while the latter is directed at sudden and
extensive uprisings against the Govern
ment. which, at most, will succeed or
fail in no great length of time. In the
latter case, arrests are made, not so
much for what has been done, as for
what probably would be done. The latter
is more for the preventive and less for
the vindictive than the former. In such
cases the purposes of men are much
more easily understood than in cases OF
ordinary crime. The man who stands
bv and says nothing when the peril OF
his Government is discussed, cannot be
misunderstood. If not hindered, he il
sure to help the enemy; much more, i
he talks ambiguousl ly--talks for his
country with "buts" and ifs aud
lands" OF how little value the consti
tutional provisions have quoted viii b.
renQereu, II ssr4~..--I..lI never he mad,
until defined crimes shall have beei
committed, NAV be illustrated by few
nOtaDIe eAdHIltS OchSidi Oohh v
Breckenridge, General Robert Z. Lee
General Joseph L. Johnston, Genera
John B. Magruder, General William B
Preston, General Simon B Buckner
now occupying the very hhigbsaefs bsaefsHa9eee pfaeee
, in the rebel war service, were all within
the power Of the Government since th
!, rebellion began, and we're nearly as We
: known to the traitors then as now. U
ouestionably if we had seized and bel
! them, the insurgent cause would be muc
: weaker But no one of them had the
! committed any crime defined IN laV
= Every one of them. if arrested, woul
= have been discharged on ha6eas corpu.
. were the writ allowed to operate.
! view of these and similar cases, thin
: the time not unlikely to come when
3 shall be blamed for having made TOO fe
y arrests rather than too many.
=, By the third resolution the meetir
= Indicate their opinion that military
y ! rests may be constitutional in localti
=, where rebellion actually exists, but tn
- such arrests are unconstitutional
- - localities where rebellion or insurrecti,
- does not actually exist. They lnsl
- - that such arrests shall not be made " OF