Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1863-11-04

from its protection, and be prevented
from doing it injury" | wish to be un-
derstood that | am stating these facts on
the authority of the Hfstory Of he Con-
Stttution Of tie United States, most able
and excellent work, written by George
Ticknor Curtis, who is now Il member of
a Z" Society for the diffusion Of political
knowledge in New York and Mr. Curtis
himself speaks Of these persons as men
"who from a sense Of duty or from Gu
pidity, or from some motive good or bad,
made their election to adhere to the pub
lie enemy; and they were, therefore, =
says Mr.. Curtis, "rightfully classed among
the enemies of the country by those whose
business it Waa to conduct its affairs and
to fight its battles" And the Provincial
Congress also passed an act providing that
these men should be put out OF the pro-
lection Of the United Colonies, and that
any attorney or lawyer who should prose
cute or defend any suit at law for any of
them should be treated as a public enc
my.
SO you see arbitrary arrests are not,
quite new in this country. When Burr's
Conspiracy broke out in 1869, although
there was no public danger, as it turned
out, the Senate of the United States. on
the recommendation Of Thomas Jefferson,
passed an act suspending the writ Of Aa-
deas corpus for three months; and moth
ing bnt the disappearance Of all practical
necessity for the measure led the House
Of Representatives to reject the bill. But
whenever, in cases of great emergency,
the public safety required it, this nation,
like every other nation, has laid aside all
those safeguards provided for the time of
peace, and has used all its powers to pro-
tect its own life and prolong its own exis-
tence.
Now, they are very fond of talking
about England. and they ss5~that England
never suspends the writ of Jobeos corpus.
England has suspended the haJeos corpus
five times, where in this couatry it has
been suspended once. Go back to the
Pretender in 1715, and '45 again, and so
down through all the rebeIlions England
has experienced in almost every instance,
in direct terms or by equivalent legislation,
the writ Of hdbcGs corpus has been sus-
pended by the British Parliament
Take the case of the Irish rebellion in
1913. One would suppose that half a
dozen regiments would have put down
1fuch rebellion as chat prc1@d to be; Yet
.he u,,,it Of l.az.e,.s .qa.4 II s,sa,,susnendod
the House Of Go}nlnons dne
day and the House of Lords the ne kt.
and in both by unanimous vote-on }he
ground of It's absolute necessity. Let me
read you what some of the great men of
Parliament said on that occasion The
Earl of, Derby, who is fond nowadays Of
reproaching us with disregsrding personal
rights, then said he declared himself in
favor Of the bill. ''The persons" said
he, "wbom l wish to see punished are
those who have sufficient skill, and intel
ligence, to keep themselves free from
such legal guilt as would bring them un-
der the operation Of the law, but who are
morally guilty Of the crime of melting to
treason, murder, rebellion and civil war"
Sir Robert Peel said he believed the
measure to be necessary, and therefore he
should votesfpr it. And Lord Brougham
used language just as appropriate to-day
as then, and more appropriate In our case
than it was in his. "A friend of Liber-
-ty," SAID. he, Il have lived, and so shall [
die-nor do [ care how soon that may be
if cannot be the .triepd Of liberty ueith-
ont bei'g the friend Of traitors aitte same
tiaee." Would to God that Horatio Sey-
mour and scores Of men equally promi-
nent in our country had one-tenth part of
the noble devotion to liberty and their
country which then animated the breast Of
that noble Lord Let them remember
that the only guaranty which any man has
for his personal rights or liberti9s-the
only guaranty he can ever hope to have,
is found in the Constitution of the United
States, and in the Union, by whose power
alone it can be maintained and when
they are struck down, every mans person
al liberty must perish with them. Pre-
serve the Constitution, save the Republic
then your liberties viii be secure
Without that you. havesno liberty-no
title, no show of title, to the smallest po-
litical right that any citizen Of aSgee coun-
try can enjoy.