Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1863-03-11
l.v1i These questions suggest all that it was

although l do not wish to intimate that no wo9io
exercise It'll declare martial lsw and suspend the
writ on the top Of the Pilot mountain, and ten mies
around; in Raleigh, and ten miles around ana IN
every place in like Manner until the whole State "a
covered with martial. law, and the writ OF haoeas
corpus suspended throughout its entire Jurisdiction
Did they propose that the whole State should be
covered with Bastiles |? Or on the other hand, did
they intend that one Bastile should cover the whole
State! Did they intend that the suspension OF the,
writ in one locality. should operate its suspension
throughout our bordersi Yet this is its effect
Citizens are arrested in distant places by the mill
tary authorizes without warrant, without notice OF
the cause of their arrest and hurried within this
circle, where law and right and Justice are denied
them, and the sovereignty of the State has as YET
been powerless to protect or rescue them. u mat
tiers not who these men are-whether they are the
poor men who buy bushel of salt from the enemy
for their starving families while the hundreds VINO
do larger business with the enemy are permittea
to 60 free, rejoicing in their gains; they are emil
tied to the writ to examination, to release, Or
speedy trial by jury, before the proper tribunal
The question of the jurisdiction Of the State courts
in cases of unlawful Imprisonment of its citizens,
by whatever authority, was settled long ago; and
it is the duty of the State to see that tho jursdc-
ton is preserved and the writ obeyed 1t is no an
swer to say that perhaps the President is n2t
aware of these abuses 1t is the part Of wisdom to
hold the superior responsible for the acts Of the in
ferior. Nor is it any answer to say, that these
things will be remedied without our interference
that the Confederate government will attend to it
know not that hope it may. But know that
the evil and the wrong exist, and in my opinion
they call for decided action. Are we sovereign
State, or not? , "
But, Sir, it is contended TIT admitting that this
is violation of law, and hardship, We must sub
NIT to it as a military necessity. There are evils
incident to war, to which We must psr force SUBJ
pit deny there is any necessity here. l am
one of those who believe that there is, and can
be necessity for sacrificing any of the great prin-
ciples of liberty, more especially this most sacred
one, while are fighting for them all If so, i: is
a sad commentary on this revolution. But when q
suggestion of this sort is made we become nervous,
sensitive, and weak in the knees" Notso, our Eng
lish ancestors notso our own fathers. Chancellor
Kent did not hesitate, during the war Of 1912, to
direct an attachment against General Morgan Lewis,
in command of division of the United States army
sued in behalf of citizen in his custody, under
charge of treason. On that occasion Judge Kent
used this language:
"The only question that be made, is whether the
motion for attachment shall be granted whether
there shall be only rule upon the party offending to
ment should not ISSUE 1t the Indispensable duty Of the
Court and to which inferior ns ieration must
be sacrificed to act as faithful guard the personal
liberty the citizen and give ready and stcctual aid to
the means provided by law for its security One Of the
mast valuable of those is this writ Of habeas corpus,
which has justly been deemed the giay Of the English law
That was spoken like man. 1t is an utterance
which the Legislature of North Carolina ought to
make to the Confederate Government and the world.
Judge Kent compelled obedience to the writ by
General Of Division OF the United States army. We
hesitate to compel obedience to it by q Captain in
the Confederate army, and remain still listess, un-
aroused while he sets the writ II defiance with i'm
punity.
Sir, this plea of military necessity, or State neces-
sity, which, in time of war are nearly Synonymous,
is no new thing in the history Of mankind 1t has
been urged everywhere and at all times to justify
meditated usurpation 1t the avourite pies under
which constitutions are subverted. was the plea
upon which unlawful imprisonments were made,
general warrants issued, arbitrary impressments
made and the best blood Of England sacrificed prior
to 1859. Upon 1.-THE privilege of the writ Of habeas
corpus was either suspended by the Grown, or de-
prved of its efficacy by ssrpiLe Judges though it was
the right OF Engllshmen secured by the great Char
ter In later times in France, it was held to Justify
the destruction Of the roya, family, of Malesherbes
Madame Roland, and all the atrocities of the guillo-
tine Under it Robesperre sent the noble spirits
Of the Gironde to the block The rivers of France
were filled with victims, and over million of her
w.
Was there any necessity? Sir all history has pro-
nounced the plea to be bad and has declared it to
be the plea of tyrants the world over
But it is said Mr.. Speaker, that w have disloyal
men snd traitors among US, and that if set at lber
ty they pay betray our armies and endanger the
cause Of independence: Granted that we have such
men; let them be tried, and if guilty, punished.
am not their advocate, and have no clients among
those who are now imprisoned upon the suggestion
Of disloyalty or treason. But who arc they? Some
fifty men in all, We are told who are citizens of
North Carolina. arrested in different parts of the
State ;-most of them poor Ignorant without concert
without influence or strength. Nor does it follow
that becausethey have been arrested they are gull
ty. Is 1t for this that you allow the privilege of
the writ Of habeas corpus to be suspended all over
the State, and make the civil subordinate to the mill
tary powerl Is it for this you allow to bedone that
which in England, At any time since 1859, would
have shaken the kingdom profoundly as did the i'm
prisonment ofJohn Hampden? Is it for this that
chains are forged and prisons erected impenetrable
to the highest most remedial, and most pervadinp
writ known tothe landG-and this too when men pro.
fess to the cheering indications of speedy peace,
Will they endanger our causei Was there ever a
people more united than ours Sir, during the war
OF the Revolution there were thousands Of d,soyal
men in North-Garoina, not isolated, and dotsine
the surface Of the country here and there but band
ed together, and in arms against the State, vet
North Carolina to her credit be it said, never sus.
pended the privilege of the writ Nor was this
state of affairs confined to North Carolina. Have
we any greater Of dependency than our fathers
had in that Seven Years War; Have we seen anv
darker hour than Washington saw at Valley Forge
Yet Washington was always obedient to civil law,
and there was no suspension Of the writ And /
believe, Sir that the privilege of the writ has never
been suspended in this country except IN Massachu
sets at the time Of Shays rebellion 1t is not too
much to say that this pretext for subordinating the
civil to the military power, is too shallow for argu
ment
Let me be not misunderstood. make, and have
made no attack on the army. Ihave as much admirs.
ton for it. and high appreciation for its gallant
deeds and sacrifices, and have expressed t here.
if not often, as earnestly as any other Senator.
Boil believe Sir that the army while fighting for our
independence in the field, expects US to do what We
And if We yield up our citizens to usurped mill
tary jurisdiction; if we fail through any remisspess