The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer. (Bel Air, Md.) 1862-1864, 1863-11-06
ed fTom the A1qti0nH Intslligenesr4
The Last Proclamation. 3lG hn

! 5n4'd ed From the National tInttslligenesr4 Z
7 H@ui The Last Proclamation. oIG hDy
In PUBLISHING, on 'Wednesday" last the
proclamation o., the President Of the Uni.
! ted States, ordering q suspension of the
4, privilege, Of the writ of ,habeas corpus
/ throughout the whole land in certain
/ classes Of cases, we accompanied it with
the words If the statute of Congress in
! pursuance Of which i, purports to be is
sued. We did So that, our readers might
have the opportunity Of collating the two
instruments, and we purposely abstained
from any note or comment in the prem is
es that they might have the advantage
of forming their own first impressions as
to the degree of correspondence that exists
between the terms of the proclamation
and the provisions Of the statute in ques-
ton, A. 80,
! But now that the law of Congress
and the edict Of, the President avowedly
issued under it have been, distinctly sub
mittea t9 the Judgment of our readers, it
becomes our duty, to give expression to
our own opinniiHHn. as candidly entertained
VIII regard to the scope Of the last iproqla-
We propose very briefly to state how far
/, 1t is authorized and how far it is unauthor.
lied by the terms of the statute, under the
authority ,ofwhioh the President assumes to
issue it We shall do this with great bre
witty and at the same time with great plain
ness of speech, for there is no com lexity
or obscurity in the matter Truth in this
instance lies on the surface and is not hid
den at the bottom of we'll
The words of the law to which the Pres.
ident makes appeal in the preamble of his
proclamation are as follows:
"Be 1t enacted by the Senate and House
Of Repres emtatives Of the United States of
America IN Congress assembled, That
during the present rebellion, the Presi-
dent of the United States, whenever, Ia
his Judgment, the public safety may re-
quire it, is authorized to suspend the pri-
vilege of the writ of habeas corpus in
any case throughout the United States,
or any part thereof And whenever and,
wherever the said privilege. shall be suspen-
ded as aforesaid no military or other Off
Ger shall be compelled, in answer to any
writ Of habeas corpus, to return the body Of
any person or persons detained by him BY
authority Of tire President; but upon the
cer9i66caaNle, agpder oath, Of the officer hav-
ing charge Of any one SO detained that
such person q. detained by him as a prs.
oner u'fqer authority Of The President, fur.
Their proceedings under the. writ of Aabeas
corpus shall be suspended BY the Judge or
court having, issued the said, writ, SO long
as said, suspension By the President, shall.
remain r in force and said rebellion coptip,
ue.'" .,. ' "'' 81
Twill thus BE- seen that statute ex 4.
pEessly. contemplates the cases, only Of
those Who,are detained as, prisoners under.
the authority Of The PFresiasnnt that is,
as the context Of the ,actsin its subsequent
sections clearly shows, Of persons. arrested
and held in charge By some officer Of the
Government on suspicion 81, allegation .of
disloJyal {d4as sig Ss pr practices o. reading
/, fS "gntV;iy SlRtu ec ~ 10 otScVfeTGu lnat the
authorization to suspend tie privilege of
THE VIII Of hibbeais corpus, gin aby ease"
relates ~ that class, Of cases In which
Yhe Io9fG6ceeT having charge Of, any one so
di!eeitssinsG' Is able to make return. 10 the
shape OF p certificate under oath,''' that
| tbe, person by him detained is detained
as prlsoasr pupYd9ssI apthoritY Of The Pres;
ldeeppt. IEis Obvious that, this provision
Of The lay, coyers alr that class df persons sons
who may At fhy spsa be arrested and lheld
in = custody either, asl prisoners Of war,
spies, or aalders or abettors Of tile enemy;
and ths, Precedent ia enpmerattRgg" this
class Of deteaus as being persons with ,l re-
gaTd t9 ynfa.m The privilege IF the writ 81
hapeas Corpus as suspended, MAY updoubtF
eddy claim tobei within the, Limits, pres
fiE l,}a BY tb aw BIZ e
pjalplg exceeds these limits when .in add;
ten tlt.H ,tof this denomination Of persons,
he proceeds IN like manner % DECLARE a
suspension pa IF Che privilege Of the wit ~
regards- 7Ti' Z, Quote from his proclamation
= or soldiers, or seamen enrolled oil
drafted or mustered or enlisted .in gor be-
longing 70 The land or naval forces ''of fhe
United States, Or as deserters theerefrom or
otherwise amenable to military law Or the
rules and articles Of war, OF the rules or
regulations prescribed for the military or