Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-07-20
VOL. XVII.
~ Local Items on this page are from
Saturday Evenings Edition.


ana the Grand jury was organized at the same
time, and has continued till now with some
changes ofits members and several recesses O
its sessions equivalent to about one third Of its
who.e duration. This protracted continuance is
attributable to the extraordinary condition O
plblic affairs, growing out Of the existing rebel.
lion against the Government of our Union and tc
the great number Of offences created, extended
or modified by recent legislation Of Congress
made necessary by the rebellion.
| Not more than the usual number ofcOmplants
have been made for offences Of q general nature,
and unfortunately always occurring such as the
making and passing Of spurious coin, dePreda-
| tons on the mails, and the like, on which we
have presented nineteen bills Ofindctment.
For minor offences under late statutes, we have
7 presented ten bills, and for others Of higher
/ grades three for resisting enrolling ofieers-one
OF them agalnStfOur parties another against five,
and third against siK-twelve for treason and
! for consplrng to resist and IN part actually re-
| sisting Government officers, various bills, en-
| bracmg seventy-tWO persons.
| We have endeavOred to be especially careful to
| ignore all cases in which the testimony was
thought to be ins Efficient or from witnesses not
| entitled to our full confidence. We have been
! much delayed in one class Of cases by the alb
| sence, at remote points, Of witnesses now N the
/ army, whose attendance we ceuld not procure
and some parties have, as a result perhaps, es-
| capped action for the time.
With these explanations Of our doings and to
/ account for the length Of our session, we avail
/ ourselves Of the suggestion Of the Court at the
/ commencement Of the term to make such re-
marks as wemight deem appropriate at the ter
/
PRIVATE PLUSDERING.
! Laws Of Congress prohibit all plUnderiDg of an
! enemy's property by our troops. Seizures may
| be made for good cause for public use by au-
! thority of the commanding officer, but sabOr-
dinate officers and private soldiers become mere
marauders by taking and applying 10 their own
use property Of value belOr gng to public en-
! emy. No captor acquires individual rights, the
law declaring that all seizures shall enure TO the
/ benefit Of the Government case Of this kind
I has been submitted for the action ofthe Court
ARMY ACCOUNTS.
| Testimony has been furnished TO US showing
/ that officers charged with duties involving the
! expenditure Of public money for army purposes
/ have rendered accounts for disbursements, which
If not utterly or mainly grOundless are so gross
Is obscure in details that frauds might be prac-
iced with little fear OF detection. In the par
ticulsr cases brought to our notice. the account
ing officers, both State and Federal rejected the
l claims but that does not divest the original de-
4 sign ofits apparently criminal intent.
ARREST OF DEsERTBRs.
| Gross outrages have been committed by IN e
| pnncpled meu in military Garb falsely claiming
TO have special authority, by arrestlng deserters
or men assumed to be such by their captors, and
then rObblng them OF their mOney-in one case
two hundred dOllars-and driving them from the
country under threats Of personal violence in
case they should not leave or should return. If
these men were in fact deserters, and their cap
tors like other citizens, had the general right to
arrest them-they certainly hsd nOne to release
them for pecuniary or any other consideration.
sECRETING DEsERTERs.
Information has been given us Of cases where
private citizens have concealed deserters and
men subject to draft, acts nearly as INJURIOUS in
their results as desertion itself, and deserving
almost as severe punishment. We have learned,
too, that many individuals in this and adjacent
judicial districts have made II systematic bust
ness to procure men 70 enlist, get the bounty,
aud then desert to be re-eniisteda at some remote
point, the process to be continued 50 long as
might be safe, the various bOunties to be divided
between the cOnspiTatOrs. This procedure not
only sWindles the people out Of their money, but
the Government, struggling for its very exist
ence against ggauii ic rebellion that has no pa
rae in this worlds history for ITS causelessness
and wickedness, is grossly misled as to the ply
sical strength at ITS command for crushing it.
Another practice akin to this, is the inducing
men to desert from one regiment TO enlistin an
other, and-from the same meTenary motive as.
the other class. The same objections in part
apply to this practice as to the other, and, in the
opinion of this Jury, is covered by the statute.
COPPER TOKENS -
We have been requested to call the attention
fthe Court to a nuisance, not exactly involving
great national Interests or the restoration OF the
Union, but annoying TO al loyal and honest cit-
zens. 1t has been generated by the peculiar
state Of the times, and appears In the very ques
tonable shape Of metallic tokens, ostensibly as
business cards, but intended for circulation, and
so closely resembling our copper and nickl0
coinage as to pass readily IN the absence OF any
examination. They are Of little intrinsic value,
and nobody seems bound to redeem them. So
far as the persons issuing them do so, as a mer-
eenary speculation, they practise a kind of mis-
cradle, contemplate thievery, on a level so low
as to make ordinary petty larcenies compare
lively respectable. We have heretofore pre-
sented a bill in the most fagrant case brought to
our notice, hoping it would be a sufficient init
nation to all other parties engaged in the busi-
ness of what they might expect If they continued
to issue more such currency.
OPPOSITION TO ENEoLLMEST.
In some small sections within this district,
armed opposition has been made to the enroll
ment preliminary to a draft of men subject to
military duty, snd muskets have been fired at
| the enrolling officers. They have been lnso-
lently required to desst from further efforts to
! execute their official duties-under penalty Of
death-and even to take an oath not to exercise
them. The consequences Of sucn violence are
| too obvious to require comment, and We are glad
to say the rutiians were defeated in their designs,
but this was only done by aid Of military force.
In one instance four Of The conspirators were
| rescued from Deputy Marshal OF the United
States with civil process m his hands. We have
| indicted portion Of these men for treason, and
| large number for conspring to Obstruct the
| officers Of the Government. So far as we can
| learn, most Of those who committed overt acts
were ignorant men, and were unquestionaby the
| dupes of more intelligent and shreWd ones, who
/ much more merit the seyerest punishment The
| law can inflict than the miserable instrument
that instigated to such acts Of laWless violence
/ Like most men-utterly destitute of principle
but with education and tact and talente enough for
| mischef-and for little else, the leaders may
| have so elOaked their own action, as finally to
! escape pun shment, but we flatter ourselves the
/ day Will not be remote one when their Infamous
deeds may be exposed to the full light Of day
| before an honest jury on this floor. All these
| men, whether in position high or humble, rich
/ or poor, of native or of foreign birth, must be
taught that violation Of the law Is above or be-
| low its reach. When governments are cOnstitu-
| ted each man surrenders portion of ms natural
| rights, and especially so here where the people
| themselves created the Government under which
they and their children we're to live and die.
| RIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT TO MEN AND MEANS.
In great public emergencies the Government
| has the paramount right for its own use to so
| much of the property, and to the service of so
many Of the people OF the whole country as may
| be necessary for its preservation and the propO-
| sltion is pre-emnently applicable now and here,
when traitors to their God and Government, and
| to humanity everywhere, seek the overthrow and
| utter destruction Of that Government won by the
blood and cemented by the wisdom Of their faith
| ers and ours, This generation is but the trustee
| for fdture generations, and TO them, by every
obligation Of which the mind can conceive, are
| we bound to transmit unimpaired the rich be-
| quest to US. Ours is but life interest-to them
! belongs the estate.
| SECRET SOCIETIES.
The existence Of secret societies for the pur-
| pose of opposing or embarrassing the efforts ol
| the Government IN Its existing troubles has been
| vehemently charged and denied for year OF
two past. On this question the Grand Jury can
| furnish reliable information as TO the existence
of one such in this Judicial District. 1t Is g
source of modification to us to report such a
fact, but thatit IS so we entertain no doubt
| That intelligent men should so band themselves
together in secret conclaye for such purposes in
aeountry controlled by the ballot-bok is almost
| incredible, and particularly considering the con-
dition the country Is now and for more than two
years has benin. But if cOnsummate deprayi-
| tv and the foulest treason be combined with in
telligence and be governed by it, it will excite
no especial wonder.
! We affirm then, If faith can be placed in human
Il fnetfrnOuv that such association does exist OF
did exist not many months ago, within the juris-
] diction of this Court, the members Of which
were sworn on the Bible TO protect each other
and others, whether living North or South, from