M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1863-05-14

|
TERsoN was President, he requested
Congress to suspend the writ for tn,
period Of three months, in view o
the alarming operations Of BURR il
the Western States. This isa c!ea
indication u what EFFERsoN's Opin
ion was, as to where the constitution
al power Of the suspension is vested
1t is not only the highest evidence o
his opinion, but Of Mr.. MADISON
also, who was at the time a member
of the cabinet, and who has been ftl,
denominated the Father OF the Con
stitution. On the 23d day Of Janua-
Try, 1907, Mr.. JEFFERSON sent u mes
sage to Congress, asking for q sus-
pension oil the writ. A bill was in
troduced into and passed the Senate
declaring its suspension for the fixel
period Of three months, in cases where
parties should be CHARGED, on oath
with the crime Of treason. The bill
was pasod in secret session, and sen
down to the House Of Representative
for their concurrence. Mr.. EPPEs
of Virginia., the op.in.iaw OF ta,
President. with a view Of stamping
the bill with special disIavor, moved
i.s rejection, which motion, aiter tul
debate, was carried by a vote of III
to 10. The opinions expressed il
this debate, by men of distinguished
ability, may rightfully be appreciated
rs eontemporaneous expOsitions Of the
Constitution upon this great question
as to where, and in what department
Uf tho government, this overShadow-
! ing power is lodged. shall quote
but two Of them. Mr.. EPPRs said
"By this bill we are called upon tc
exercise one of the most important
powers vested IN Congress. =
1t is, in a free country, the most
Tremendous power which can bG
placed in the hands Of IL legislative
body. 1t suspgnds AT once, the cher
ishod ri ghts OF the community, and
places even those who pass the act
under military despoti6m. The con-
stitutiOn, however, having vested thii
power in Congress, and a branch OF
tho Legislature having thought its
exercise necessary, it remains for us
to inquire whether the present situa-
tion VI our country authorizes, on our
part, q resort to this extraordinary
measure" JoHN RANDOLPH, oI
Roanoke, said The writ Of Habeas
Corpus is the only writ sanctioned by
the Constitution. 1t is guarded froul
every approach except by the two
Houses OF Congress; and yet this writ
thus acknowledged, thus specially
designated, this second Magma Char.
Ia, as it has been called, lie tO be on the
footing of common trespass." There
were in the Senate at that time such
men as John Qaincy Adams, Timo-
thy Pickering, John GIlard, William
B. Giles, and James A. Bayard; and
in the House, Josiah Quincy, Nathan
iel Macon au0 Theodore Dwight and
yet We hear not even a doubt inter
posed by any CT those great men, up
on tho question that it was a legisla-
tive power. SO much Tor legislative
and historical authority upon this
question. We now come to consider
the.opiuions Of eminent judges and
law-wrilers, whose views are entitled
to much grave consideration. Judge
STORY, whose opinions carry with
them almost the authority Of judicial
determination, thus spsaks of this
power Of suspension ut is obvious
that cases of peculiar emergency may
arise, which may justify, nay even
require, the temporary suspension Of
any right to the writ. But as it has
frequently happened in foreign coun-
tries, and even in England, that the
writ has, upon various pretexts and
occasions, been suspended, whereby
persons apprehended upon suspicion
have suffered long imprisonment,
sometimes from design, aud sometimes
because they were forgotten, the right
to suspend 1t is eXpreSsl y confined to
cases of rebellion and invasion, whore
the public safety may require it, A
very just and wholesome restraint,
which cuts down at q blow a fruitful
means oil oppression, capable Of being
used in bad times to tue worst Of
purposes. Hitherto no suspension
of the writ has ever been authorized
by Congress, since the establishment
OF the constitution. 1t would seem,
as the power is given to Congress to
suspend tho writ olHabeas Corpus in
cases of rebellion or invasion, thar
the right to Judge, whether the exi-
gsncy had arisen, must exclusively
belong to that body."-3 Com. on
Constitution, 20S, 209. But there is
a very strong judicial intimation, up
on this question, by tue Supreme
Court ol the United States. Chief