The weekly Butte record., 1863-08-22

intention are urectlV opposed 10 all arTu-
ments and conclusions OF your communication.
This act, besides providing that the habaas
corpus NAV be suspended, expressly commands
that the names of ali persons heretofore or
thereafter arrested BY authority of the PreSi
dent. or his cabinet ministers, beng elt,-c1s of
States ~ i-ilci TIE administration Cf the iatrs
has continued ulsrnp npnired shall be returned to
The courts of the United States for the districts
in which such persons reside, or in which their
Supposed ofenseS were committed : and such
return being made, if the next grand jury
aitendn. the courts Goes not in6ict the alleged
offenders. then the judges are commanded to Is
sue an order for their immediate discharge from
Imprisonment. Now, We cannot help asking
whether you have overlooked this law, which
most aSsuredly you are bound 10 observe. or
whel her it be your intention to discharge il
Its meaning certainly cannot be mistaken
By il the national legislature has said that the
President may suspend the accustomed writ OF
hbdcGS corpus. but at the same time it has
! commanded that all arrests under his authority
shall be promptly made known TO the courts Of
justice and that the accused parties shall be
| liberated. uulcss presented by grand jury
according TO the Constitution ana tried bv a
jury in the ancient and accustomed mode
The PreSiden; may possibly, SO far as Congress
can give the right, arrest without legal cause
or warrant. We certainly deny that Congress
can confer this right, because it is forbidden
/ By the higher law of the Constitution But.
waving that consideration its statute. bv its
very terms, promptly removes the proceeding
in every case into the courts where the safe
guards Of liberty are observed. aud where the
persons detained are to be discharged, unless
1 indicted for criminal ofnses against the estab.
lished and asceriained laws Of the country
/ Upon what foundation, then, permit Us To
I ask, DO you rest the pretension, that men who
are not accused of crime may be seized and I'M
pris0ned or banished at the will and pleasure
of the President or any OF his suoordnates in
/ civil and military positions? Where Is the
warrant for invading the freedom Of speech ard
oil the press? Where the Justification for
/ placing the citizen on trial without the presen-
tment of c grand jury and before military com
missions? THERE Is NO POWER IN THIS CoUN-
TRY WHICH CAN DISPENSE WITH ITS LAWS
! The President is as much bound by them as the
humblest individual. We pray you to bear
in mind, in order that you may duly estimate
the feeling of the people on this subject, that
for the crime of dispensing with the laws aud
statutes OF Great Britain. our ancestors brought
! one monarch to the scatfold, and expelled an
/ other from bis throne.
/ This power which you have erected in theo-
/ ~ is of vast and illimitable proportions. If
we may trust you TO exercise it mercifully and
leniently, your successor, whether immediate
or more remote. NAV WELD it with the energy
of a Cesar or Napoleon, and with the will of
a despot and tyrant. 1t is power without
boundary or limit because 1t proceeds upon a
/ total suspension Of all constitutional and legal
! A. e 81
citizen. 1t is power not inaptly described in
/ the language of one of your secretaries. Said
| Mr.. Seward to the British minister in Wash
| ugton " can touch bell on my right hand
| and order the arrest of citizen of Ohio |
can touch the bell again and order the impris-
onment of citizen of New York, and no
power on earth but the President can release
them. Can the Queen of England in her do
minions do as much - This Is the very Ian
guage of perfect despoiism, and we learn
from you with profound emotion that this is no
| idle boast. 1t is a deSpotism unlimited in
principle. because the same arbitrary and m
restrained will or discretion which can place
men urder Illegal restraint or Danish them can
apply the rack or the thumb screw, can put to
torture or to death. Not thus have the people
Of this country hitherto understood their Con-
stitution. No argument can commend to their
Judgment such interpretations Of the great
charter Of their liberties. Quick as the light
ning's flash, the intuitive sense Of freemen
perceiyes the soph;stry and rejects the conclu-
sion.
Some other matters which your excellency
has presented demand our notice.
In justification OF your course as TO Mr.
Nalandgham, you have referred to the arrest
of Judge Hall at New Orleans. by order OF
General Jackson bat that case differs widely
from the case of Mr.. Nallandigham. New
Orleans was then, as you truly state, under
martial or military law" This was not so in
Ohio, where Mr.. Y Nallandigham was arrested
The administration of the civil law had not
been disturbed in that commonwealth. The
courts were open, and justice was dispensed
with its accustomed promptitude. In the case
of Judge Hall, General jackson in few days
sent him outside the lines of his encampmeuts
and set him at liberty; but you have under
taken to Danish Mr.. Vallaudigham from his
home. You seem also to have forgotten that
General Jackson submitted implicitly to the
judgment of the court which imposed the fine
upon bin; that he promptly paid it; that be
| enjoined his friends to assent, as lie most
freely did, to the decision which had Just been
pronounced against him
More than this, you overlook the fact that
the then Administration Gn the language Of a
well known author) mildly but decidedly
/ rebuked the proceedings Of General Jackson
aud that the President viewed the subject with
surprise and soIiciiude." Unlike President
Madison, you in case much more unwarrant-
ed approve the proceedings of your subordinate
officer, and in addition justify your course by a
carefully considered argument in its support
Ii is true that after some thirty years Con
gress, in consideration Of the devoted and
patriotic services Of General jackson, refunded
the amount of the dne he had paid But the
long delay in doing this proged how reluctant
/ the American people were TO do anything
which could be considered as in any way ap-
proving the disregard shown to the majesty of
the law, even by one who SO eminenty enjoyed
their confidence and regard.
One subject more. and We shall conclude
\ ou express your regret that our meeting
spoke as Democrats : and you say that ID
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