The Morgantown monitor. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1863-1864, 1863-05-30

tionS and also the date OF each arrest; lne Se'ie
iarv Of State to furnish 4 list OF Such persons as
are imprisoned by the order or arthori1! OF Tue
President actin. through the State Department
and the Secretary OF War Il list OF such "s IL I
imprisoned by the order or authority OF .1e M tFes-
iient. acting through the Department OF war
And in all cases where Il grand jury, having al
tended anv Of said courts having jurisdiction IN
the premises, after the passage OF this act, and
after the furnishing Of said list as aforesaid, mas
terminated its session without finding IN lnoict-
mcnt, or preSentment, or other proceeding against
any such person, 1t shall be the duty OF the ludge
of said court forthwith to make AL order tnat
anv such prisoner desiring discharge from sald
Imprisonment he brought before him 10 oe as
charged: and cvary officer of the United States
having custody of such prisoner Is hereby oirecc
ted immediately 10 obey and execute said Judge
order: and in case he shall delay or refuse SO 70
do, he shall be subject 10 indictment for ~
dcmcanor and be punished by fine OF not less
than $780, and Imprisonment in the common
Jail for period Of no, less than sIN months, III
the discretion Of the court: Prori0cd. h''c'rsr
That no person shall! lie discharged b. virtue q"
the provisions of this act until after ne or she
sha! have taken All oath OF allegiance to the Go
yernmcnl of the L. s.. and TO support the Con-
stitution thereof; and that he or she Will not
harcaItcr in any way, encourage or give ala ana
comfort TO the present rebellion. or the support
crs thereof Ind prorided. also, That the Judge
Or court before whom such person may be bro [,
before diSchargng him or her from lmprlSon-
mcnt. shall have power, on examination or 1le
case and. if the public safety shall require It,
shall be required to cause him or her 10 enter in
to rccognizance, with or without surety, in sum
to hc fixed by said judge or court to keep inc
peace and he Of good behaviour toward the Y.
S. and lis citizens, and from time to time, and nj
such times as such judge or court may direct, ap-
pear before said Judge or court to he fur'her
dealt with according to law, rs the circumstances
may require. And it shall be the duty OF the
district attorney of the L. S. to attend such eX-
animation before the judge.
Sec. 3. -4nd he il further enacted, That in case
any Of such prisoners shall be under Indictment
or prescntmenn for any olfenSe against the laws
of the United States, and by existing laws bail or
recogniZanCc may be taken for the appearance for
trial of such person, it shall be the duty OF Said
Judge at once to discharge such person upon bail
or recognizance for trial aforesaid. And in case
the said Secretaries of State and War shal! for
any reason refuse or omit to furnish the ,dla hSf
Of persons held as prisoners aforesaid at the time O
the passaqe of this act, within t,centy days MerTG-
ter and Of such persons as hereafter may De drre'-
cd, wuhin ureny duy5 Of the time Of the arrest, any
citizen may, after grand jury shall have terml-
mated its session without finding an Indictment
or prcsentmcnt, us provided in the second section
of this act by petition alleging the facts atorc.
said touching any Of the persons so rs aforesaid
imprisoned, supported by the oath OF such petl-
oncr or any other credible person, Obtain ana be
entitled to the said judges order to discharge
such prisoner on the same teams and conditions
prescribed in the second section ofthis act: Pror,-
ded, homcrer, That the said Judge shall be satisfied
such allegations are true.
The reader can easily educc from these proris-
ions the law Of the question raised by the arrest
of General Burnside. They will perceive that
proceedings under the writ OF habeGS corpus are
10 be suspended by the courts whenever and
wherever the privilege Of this writ has been sus-
pended hv the President, which is not the case IN
the State Of Ohio. Judge Lcavitt, in refusing TO
gran, the writ sued out in behalf of Mr. Na!Ian-
dielam. stated that he had not seen this law,
which was cited in court by Mr.. Puph, the attor-
ney Of Mr. Nallandigham. We infer from thiS
fact that Judge Lcavti does not deem 1t necessary
10 have Il knowledge of the laws which ii Is MS
sworn du,y TO administer. or that his means OF
procuring information under this head arc more
limited than those possessed by laymcn who read
the journals which are authorized to publish the
laws Ut lC I liItcu '-AbItS w '' -
sess Il sufficient interest in such matters TO pur-
chase the volume printed I,y the eminent publish
crs Mcssrs. Little 4 Brown, Of Boston, under the
authority Of Congress. His ignorance Of the laws
NAV hc his lest excuse for not doing his duty
under them.
And when Judge Of the United States is ig-
noran, OF the legislation Of Congress on this head
surely General Burnside may lie excused for not
knowing that Congress, by the act Of July H.
1852, had expressly provided for the trial by the
courts Of the oifcnsc he alleges against Mr.. Val
landigham Nor is il any answer TO say. ms
General Burnside urges in his statement made TO
the Judge that 'iwc are in state of civil war;
and an emergency is upon us which requires the
operation Of some power that moves more quick
lv than the civil > for it was precisely in view OF
such an ''cmcrgency that Congress passed the
act Of last July II already cited, and it was to
exclude the arbitrary detention OF persons held
'as prisoners of the United States by order or
authority Of the President Of the United States as
state or political prisoners: or otherwise than
as prisoners Of war, that Congress passed the
act approved on the Sd Of March last and the
sections of which, so far as they rclltc TO this
case, we have rccitcd above. The Intervention
of cour, martial, illegally charged with the tri-
al Of citizen, does not alter the nature of the
Imprisonment Of Mr.. Vallandigham who, while
deprived of his liberty, must be regarded IN lar
as one imprisonment by the order or authority
of the President, acting through the Department
of War.
Ifit be true, as is said, that Mr.. Valandgham
has been imprisoned in Fort Warren by order OF
Gen. Burnside. confirming the sentence OF the
court-martia illegally charged with the trial OF q
citizen for an otfense made cognizable by the
courts, 1t follows that Mr.. Vallandigham is now
held as ;tstate or political prisoner" within the
terms of the act of March Sd, 1868, and it Will
therefore be the duty, rs we doubt not it will be
the pleasure, Of Mr.. Secretary Staunton to report
the name of Mr.. Valandigham to the Judge OF
the Uniled States Circuit or District Churt which
has local rnd legal jurisdiction Of the offense for
which Mr.. Valandigham is now irregulatIy de-
tanned that he may be put on trial according to
the statutesnadc and provided for precise, such
offenscs as he is alleged to have committed. his
conviction. under such circumstances, would car
rv with it the sanction Of lar, and as such "ouio
receive the assent of law-abiding citizens and be
a terror to evil-doers.
We have said that We believe it will give MI
Staunton pleasure TO pursue q legal course III
procuring a regular trial for Mr.. Vailandigham
under the Constitution and laws Of the land, tnat
he may receive justice OF suffer punishment ac-
cordine to his deserts: for Mr. Stnunton signaii-
zed his accession 70 office by an order IN "n!ch
he DESIGNATED the circumstances that seemed 10
Justify, ONLY fora time, departure from The
normal course of administration, at the outbreak
of the rebellion when the Government was calied
suddenly to meet en- emergency which Congress
had not anticipated and for which it had not pro-
yided.' To this effect he declared ss follows:
under his order of February IA, 1852:
The breaking out OF a formidable insurrectlon,
based on a conflict of political ideas. being an
event without precedent il the United States;
was necessarily attended by great confusion and
perplexitv of the public mind. Disloya!ty, be-
fore unsuspActed suddenly became bold, and trea-
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