Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-06-24

stitutional view expressed in these resolu-
tions, by refusing to discharge Mr.. Vallan-
aigham on habsas esrpus. 10 dstsDcrats -
peter days than toese, &avina rocked !
ms judic,al mantle at theshand3sDf P1
GENT 1Aekson Aud still llore, q all tfl6sa
1mocrats who are noblyexpo&ng tbeir
Ives aeo shecdins their uIood o. :he t.
neld, l have Learned 4hat many Sn-
prove the course taken With Mr vans
sdIgham, while have notsheardsof .. ,sinzsnu
gle one condemning it. / cannot asssrt
that there are none such. Ano the nome -
OF President jackson recalls an instan.oof
pertinent history.szAfter the ha,.ls y.
New Orleans, and while the fact ths+ IT,
treaty of peace had been concluded wss
well known in the city, but before of6c;sI
knowledge of it had arrived, General
Jackson still maintained martial or mill
| tary law. Now, that it could be said the
war was over, the sclamor against martial
law, which had existed from the first
grew more furious. Among other things,
a Mr.. Louailler published denunciatory
| newspaper article. General Jackson ar
| rested him. lawyer by the name
of Morel procured the United States
Judge, Hall, to order 8 writ of hQ6eas cor
pus to relieve Mr.. Loualllier. General
Jackson arrested both the lawyer and the
Judge. A Mr.. Hollander ventured to saw
| of some pert of the matter that sit was
dirty trick Gen. jackson arrested him,
When the officer undertook to serve the
writ of habeas corpus, General Jackson
| took it from him, ald sent him away
with copy. Holding the judge in custo-
dy few days, the general sent h'm beyond
the limits OF his encampment, anu set
him at liberty, with an order to remain
= f1n ~ 80 4
regularly announced, or until the British
| should have lett the southern coast. A
| day or two more elapsed, the ratification
| OF the treaty OF peace was regularly an
nounced, aud the judge and others were
/ fully liberated. a few days more, and the
Judge called General Jackson into court
| and fined him thousand dollars for hav-
ing arrested him and the others named.
The General paid the fine, and there the
matter rested for nearly thirty years.
when Congress refunded principal and
interest. The late Senator Douglas. then
in the House of Representatives, took
| leading part in the decates, IN which the
constitutional question was much discuss
| ed. l am not prepared to say whom the
| Journals would show to have voted TOR the
| measure.
1t may be remarked: First, that we
secondly that we then had case of inva-
| sion, and now we have case Of rebel
| lion !; and, Thirdly, that the permanent
right of the people to public discussion,
| the liberty or speech and OF the press, the.
trial by jury, the law of evidence, and the
| habeas corpus, suffered no detriment what
ever by that conduct sof General Jackson,
or its subsequent approval by the Ameri-
car Congress.
And yet, let me say, that in my own
discretion, | do not know whether woud
have ordered the arrest of Mr.. Vsllandig-
ham. While | cannot shift the response
bihty from myself, hold that, as general
rule, the commander In the field is the
better judge of the necessity in any par
ticular case. Of course, | must practice a
general directory and revisory power in
the matter. -
One of the resolutions expresses the
opinion of the meeting that arbitrary ar
rests will have the effect to divide and
distract those who should be united in
suppreesing the rebellion, and | am spe-
t citcally called on to discharge Mr.. Val
landigham. | regard this as, at least,
fair appeal TO me on the expediency of ex-
ercising constitutional power which |
think exists. In response to such q peal
have to say, it gave me pain when |
learned that Mr.. Nallandigham bad been
arrested-that is, | was panied that there
should have seemed to be a necessity for
arresting him-and that it will afford me
great pleasure to discharge him so soon as
| can, by any means, believe the public
safety will not suffer by it.
L further say, that as the war progress
es, 1t appears to me, opinion and action,
which were in great confusion at first,
take shape and fall into more regular
channels, SO that the necessity for strong
dealing with them gradually decreases. |
have every reason to desire that it should
cesse altogether, and far from the least is
my regard for the opinions and wirhes of
those who, like the meeting at Albany,
declare their purpose to sustain the gov
eminent III every constitutional and law
measure to suppress the rebellion. STILL
| must continue to do so much as may
seem to be required by the public safety
| I