Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1863-04-08

magnificent resources of the country, in
men aud money, were put at the disposal
Oft the Administration, for the prosecution
of the war in accordance Herewith and it
has bad command of those resources uns
opposed and almost unquestioned down to
this hour.
But the time came when this ground
of a contest for the supremacy of the Com
stitution and the preservation of the u,
nion- became, in the policy of the Ad,
ministratiou, connected WITH if not subs
ordinated to, another and different object.
The tinsel rhetoric of Sumner, the dicta.
torial utterance Of Greedy, and the rabid
violence OF Phillips and Garrison, became
of more consequence at Washington than
the views Of the great majority Of the peo,
pie, and the pledged faith Of the nation.
A policy of emancipation was announced,
OInyolVlng enormous expense, doubling the
difficulties OF the contest, and in fiat con
tfadiction Of the solemn declaration upon
the object of the war just rected And
! this was douo by Presidential decree-the
/ fiat of a single man-without authority,
and at the instance of men who would be
among the very last selected by the Amer.
ican people TO advise their rulers.
10 this and to all like departures from
the Constitution, and from good faith and
sound policy, we are, and must remain
unalterably opposed say like departures,
for the pretence of military necessity, up,
on which emancipation has been announ.
cod, has been extended 10 other subjects
beside the status oc the negro, as the &c.
bates of the day abundantly testify. The
seizure of citizens in States untouched by
revolt, and their incarceration in distant
prisons, remote from citizens who might
testify in their favor, and from friends
who might intercede for them, is one OF
the most prominent of these and deserves
all the condemnation it is receiving from
the people.
The Father of his Country, the anni-
versary OF whose birth you celebrate, had
no conccl ton OF doctrine of military
necessity as a substitute for the Constitu>
ton and laws of the Ind; nor of those
underlined, unlimited powers, now asset.
ed to exist in the President, as Commands
rim Chief of the nrmy and navy Of the
United States, and of the militia Of the
states when called into actual service, nor
can we recognize them except as baseless
prelensions, to be put down with strong
public disapprobation, at the earliest pos.
! sille moment. Washington's views OF
military jurisdiction and conduct in d
time Of nsurrection were given to the ar.
my sent 10y him to quell the revolt IN Wes>
tern Pennsylvania in 1874, when he ad
moni,hed them, "that every officer and
soldier will constantly bear in mind that
he comes to support the laws, and that it
would be peculiarly unbecoming IN him
10 be in any way the iniractor of them /;
that the essential principles of free gov
eminent confne the province of the mill.
tary when called forth on such occasions,
to these two objects: first, to combat and
suLdue all who may be found in arms in
opposition to the national will and au-
thouty secondly, TO aid and support the
civil magistrates in bringing offenders to
justice. TIE dispensation Of this justice
belongs to the civil magistrates, and let it
ever be our pride and our glory to leave
the sacred deposit their inviolate."
In the spirit of this admonition, of the
constitutional doctrine that "the military
shall, in all cases. and at all times, be IN
strict subordination to the civil power"
we must stand opposed to the abuse of
the military power in applying it to other
pdrposes than those appointed and reguS
lated by law as the seizure of private
property Of non>combatants not legally
liable to contiscation; the seizure OF
hordes Of negroes, and their support, in
struction, transportation, drill and pays
ment, as allies; the suppression of news,
papers, or the closing Of the mails against
them, and the encroachment upon State
jurisdiction by the appointment of sundry
police officials to exercise powers unde
/ fined by, and unknown TO the laws. What
is asked is, that the military power shall
be applied and confined to its appro0
pirate uses that there shall be no inva,
sion upon liberty by it; in short, that it
shall be subjected to the domination of
established laws. And we are perfectly
persuaded that government will be all the
stronger, all the more successful by fol>
lowing this policy and sternly refusing to
yield to the temptations which assail those
entrusted with authority in revolutionary
times. Let our rulers carefully initiate
the example of Washington, who exerei,