The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1863-07-02

tie. Yet this dissuasion or inducemen,
may be SO conducted as to be no de.
fined crime of which any civil court
would take cognizance.
| Ours is case of frebellion-so called
Thy the resolutions before me-in fact,
a clear, fragrant, and gigantic case Of
rebellion and the provision of the Con
stitution that "the privilege of the wri,
of ha5eas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when, in case of rebellion or in.
vasion, the public safety may require
it," is the provision which specially ap-
plies to our present case. This proyis-
ion plainly attests the understanding
of these who made the Constitution,
that ordinary courts ofjustlce are mad.
equate to "cases of rebellion, ,"-attests
their purpose that, in such eases, men
nay be held in custody whom the
courts, acting on ordinary rules, would
discharge. Ha0sas corpus does not
discharge men who are proved to be
guilty of defined crime and its suspen-
sion 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 case of re-
bellion or invasion, the public safety
may require it." This is precisely our
present case-a case ofrebellion, where
in the public safety does require the
suspension. Indeed, arrests by process
of courts, and arrests in cases of rebel
lion, can not proceed altogether upon
the same basis. The former is direct
ed at the small per centage of ordinary
and continuous perpetration Of crime,
while the latter is directed at sudden
and extensive uprisings against the
Government, which, at most, will sue
ceed or fail in no great length of time.
In the latter case, arrests are not made,
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 ofmen are much
more easily understood than in cases of
ordinary crime. The man who stands
by and says nothing when the peril of
the Government is discussed, cannot be
misunderstood. IF not hindered, he is
sure to help the enemy; much more, if
he talks ambiguously-talks for his
country, with "buts" and s'ifs" and
sands" Of how little value the con-
stitutional provisions have quoted will
be rendered, if arrests shall never be
made until defined crimes shall have
been committed, may be illustrated by
. few notable examples. Gen. John c.
Breckinbridge, Gen. Robert E. Lee,
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Gen. John
b. Magruder, Gen. William b. Preston,
Gen. Simon @. Buckner, and Commo-
dore Franklin Buchanan, now occu-
pying thevery highest places in the reb-
ell war service, were ali within the pow
er of the Government since the rebellion
began, and were nearly as well known
to be traitors then as now. Unques-
tionablyif we had seized and held them,
the insurgent cause would be much
weaker. But no one of them had then
committed any crime defined in the
law. Every one of them, if arrested,
would have been discharged on ha6eas
corpus, were the writ allowed to ope-
rate. In view of these and similar cas-
es, think the time not unlikely to come
when 1 shall be blamed for having
made too few arrests rather than too
many.
BY the third resolution the meeting
indicate their opinion that military ar
ItS6S Iudy D0 COUstltutiOiidl III lOCdiitlSS
where rebellion actually exists, but
that such arrests are unconstitutional
in localities whore rebellion Of insurrec-
tion does not actually exist. They in.
sist that such arrests shall not be made
"eutside of the lines Unnecessary mill
tary occupation and the scenes of in
surrection." Inasmuch, however, as
the Constitution itself makes no such
distinction, / am unable to believe that
there is any such constitutional distinc-
ton. l concede that the case of arrests
complained of can be constitutional
only when, in cases of rebellion or in
vasion, the public safety may require
them: and l insist that in such cases
they,are constitutionalaohere0er the pula
lie safety does require them as well in
places to which they may prevent the
rebellion extending as i'll those where
it may be already prevailing; as we'll
where they may restrain mischievous
interference with the raising and sup
oe Al |