New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-08-22
L DOCKET IN DETAls..

! Rochester, on Wednesday last, must ne Oh
very sterling stamp of craftsmanship; for they
deal with great public questions exactly aiter
the fashion of r. -, Clerk oi this Par h
The would grapplc with q prodigious treason
precisely H. Justice of the Peace grappies
with a case Of strctt-walking, and settle the
destiny If States Just rs the Ass2cs settle the
destiny Of a horse-Alef. Such prodigiouo
over ana Tcrm.ncr ~ they would hold has no
precedent in the past, ana no possibility, until
Tie Day of judgment, in the future. They de-
maud that all Rebels, from Jefferson DAVIS
down to Jefferson Dayiss drummer, before re-
cciving the punishment due to their crimes
shall be convicted according To the mode ana
form Of trial prescribed by the Constitution
| Until this has been done, the conLscatlon oil
single slave will be utterly Illegal ana an act oi
monstrou, injustice, against winch The coh'u-
Itu,ioualists Of Rochester viii not cease yche-
mcntiy TO protest.
| We do not propose here to open the question
OF the coastitutionality of coniiscaiion. We
/ think tina; the act was amply within the legal
power o. Congress, that it was wise measure,
and that it should be rigidly enforced. We
Iuiak. moreover, that il was demanded by that
NECESSITY which knows 10 law. But we DO wish
To remind our readers of the utter iatuiiy oi at
tempting to deal with this Rebellion as magis-
tratcs deal with "A not. The General Govern
ment Is engaged in a contest, not with tbs indi-
vilual or the other, but with bodies polite, act
ing, OF protesting 10 act, in corporate capacity
condition of things which the trainers OF the
Constitution never contemplated, and Tor when
| ;hey certainly did not make specific provision
The quarrel of the Government is, indeed, to
a certain extent, with Mr.. Benjamin; but
it has a grcster quarrel first to DO adj
jusied with a corporate body calling itself the
state Of Louisiana. b the necessity OF the
case. il can only deal in generals; and when
whole populations are in revolt, il is utterly
warrant. The mSGY doinG 81 'hs constable yia a
innocence, usually 50 healthy in it, operation,
must. hy the necessity of the case, be reversed.
If such cOuue be unprecedented, 80 Is the
emergency which compols IL. Congress must
prcsumc that the majority of the people of the
reyolted States have participated IN The crime,
althourh t,a' may be very "a from being true.
in ccran cases. After ample provision has
been made for the protection Of tie innocent,
legislation may properly be directed against The
mass Of the population. There is positively no
other course TO pursue. Either this or a con-
test with one arm tied behind Us, and while oar
adycrary pound Us with both untrammslcd
fists
! Such being, -uccinctly, the condition oithing,
the gentlemen iu Rochester, cramored only Of
law when ue are to observe it, and of order
when re are TO preserve it, sigh pathou-
caly for wriis and indictments and jutg-
mcnts and appeals, for arguments and
pleading ard M the long-drawn processes Of
the court We can imagine nothing more
utterly iatuous. Major Jones Of South Carolina,
who bat.lcd at Bull Run, as all the Sorld knows,
at the head ola Rebel regiment, Is prcsumcdtQbe
innocent, puts himself upon a country which he
has formally disowned, il declared Not Guilty
by twelve Of his slaycholding ncghbors, marches
tIumphantly from the courtroom, and comes
out Of the affair without losing bis title to an
individual "niggerl" That is the style Of pro-
ccedure which tic Rochester gentlemen recon-
mend
And then just think Of the enormity Of the
docket! whole army to be indicted, and
every man of it 10 be indicted noni natini! and
every man demanding to be tried separately
and every man, after being found guilty, filing
a bill Of exceptions! and every man, after his
exceptions are difaliowcd, taking an appeal
and every man resolutely bent upon going to
tribunal Of final resort, until FIVE hundred thou
sand respondents march into the Supreme Court
in Washington, which, in utter despair, bids
them go about their business. This may be Il
contamination very desirable in the opinion of
the Rochester gentlemen, but We very much
question ii il would not make our maliyrcd and
murdered patriot soldery turn in their nameess
graves.
We hope that the Twenty Wise Men Of Roch-
ester viii pardon our reductio nd aJsurdnm, but
if politicians viii talk folly, to how much seri-
Gus reiUtaion are they entitled Not to so
much a We have already allowed them. Since
the three taiiors of Tooley street issued their
proclamation, beginning, 1--WE, the People of
England" there has not been Il more august
piece Of lilteness than this Rochester concayc.
II proposes to elect President. We predict
that it will never elect Constable.
u~s..~-.@@~S~~~
JssE VOTE OF KENTUCKY.
The Coppcghcad howl over the Kentucky