East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1863-09-30
THE LAST PROCLAMATION.

statute of Congress in pursuance of
which it purports to be issued. We
did so that our readers might have the
opportunity Of collating the two in
and we purposely alb
stained from any note or comment in
the premises, that they might have the
of forming their own first
as to the degree of cor
that exists between the
terms of the proclamation and the pro-
visions of the statute in question.
But now that thu laws of Congress
and the edict of tie President avow-
eddy issued under it have been dis
tinctly submitted Il the Judgment of
our readers, it becomes our duty to
give expression TO our own opinion, as
candidly entertained with regard to
the scope of the last proclamation
We propose very britny to state how
far it is authorized AID how far it is
unauthorized 10y the t,ims of the stat
ute under the authority of which the
President assumes to issue it. We
shall do this with greatbrevity and at
the Same time with great plainness of
speech, for there is no completely or
obscurity in the matter. Truth in this
instance lies on the surface, and il is
not hidden at the bottom of well.
The words of the law to which the
President makes appeal in the pre-
amble of his proclamation are as fol-
lows:
&" BE IL eaoctcd By the Scaate and House
Of Representatives Of tie Lntcl States Of
.Amer3ca IN Congress assembled, That,
during the present rebellion, the Pres
ident of the United States, whenever,
in his Judgment, the public safety may
require it, is authorized to suspend the
privilege of the writ Of hGJeas corpus in
any case throughout the United States,
or wherever the said privilege shall
be suspended as aforesaid, no military
or other officer shall be compelled, in
answer TO any writ Of haJedS corpus, to
return the body Of any person or per-
sons detained BY him by authority OF
the President but upon the certifi.
cate, under oath, Of the officer having
charge Of any one so detaiied that mch
person "a lrt@,,sed Ly hiw as Il prisoner an
der authority If the President, further
proceedings under the writ Of h0Jeas
corpus shall be suspended 10y the Judge
or court having issued the said writ,
so long as said suspension by the
President shall remain in force and
said rebellion continue"
1t will thus be seen that the Statute
expressly contemplates the cases only
those who are detained as prisoner,
under the authority of the President
that is, as the context of the act il
its subsequent sections clearly shows
of persons arrested and held in charge
10y some officer of the government OF
suspicion or allegation Of disloyal de,
signs or practices. On reading the
whole statute it is discovered that the
authorization to suspend the privilege
of the writ of habeas corpus, Gin any
case" relates to that class Of cases il
which "the officer having charge o.
any one so detained" is able 10 max,
under OATH" that the person by hin
detained is detained as prisoner
under authority of the President >
1t is obvious that this provision of Tho
law covers all that class of person,
who may at any time be arrested ant
held in custody either as prisoners o.
war, spies, or aidors or abettors of the
enemy; and the President, in enume
rating this class Of detesHS as being per
sons with regard TO whom the priv
lcge of the writ Of habeas corpus il
suspended, may undoubtedly claim tC
be within the limits prescribed by tho
law of Congress. But he plainly ex
ceeds these limits when, in addition tC
this denomination of persons he pro
ceeds in like manner to declare n sus
pension of the privilege of the writ al
regards-we quote from his proclama.
Officers, soldiers or seamen en-.
rolled or drafted or mustered or en-.
listed in or belonging TO the land OF
naval forces of the United States, OF
as deserters thercfrom, or otherwis,
amenablc to military law or the rule
and articles of war, or the rules OF
regulations prescribed for the militar,
or naval services by authority of the
President of the United States, or re-
sisting draft, or for any other ofienc,
against the military or naval service
This sweeping declaration finds NJ
basis on which to rest the law of Con
gress, and in some of its denomina
tons, involves, inadvertently we doub
not, an express violation of another
act of the last Congress. With wha
propriety can il be said that "olIicers
soldiers or seamen enrolled, or drafted
or mustered, or enlisted in the land OF
naval forces of the United States ar,
prisoners, detained under the authority
of the President !" and yet it is onl,
as regards persons who can be thus
styled az a SWOlW certificate that the Law
Of Congress Of March 3D., 1868, au
thorizes the suspension of the privilege
Of the writ of habeas corpus. Suppos,
the case of a youth, under the pre-
scribed age, who has been improper,
drafted or enrolled in the army. Ma,
he not Loyalty perform his duty as
soldier while making application t.
the courts of the country for redress
And in what just sense could the Off
Ger under whose command he wa
placed make return to the Judge tina
such a person was held as ga prisOne
under the authority of the PRESIDENT
How the proclamation will act in in
creasing the hardships of the draft, n
respects persons who are erroneousl,
enrolled and drawn, and who hav,
actually entered the service, may b
read in such cases as the following
We copy from the Cincinnati! Gazett
of Monday last
"Three boys, named Isaac M. Owens
n