The mountain Democrat., 1863-01-24

able aud widely circulated journal, thai
nobody cares whether u great public
act Of the President Of the United States
is in conformity with, or is subversive o
ths supreme law Of the land--the only
basis upon which the government rests
that our public affairs have become 81
desperate, and our ability to retrieve then
by the use Of honest means so distruSted
aud our willingness to use other means 81
undoubted, that our great public servants
may themselves break the fuodAUsnta
laws of the country, and become usurp
,t e1S o( vAst powers not entrusted to them
in violation Of their solemn Oaths OF office
and nobody cares
Ii is not believed that this is just to tht
people Of the United States They dc
care, and the President cares, that he and
all other public servants should obey the
Constitution. Partisan journals, their own
honest and proper desire to support the
President-on whose wisdom and tirmness
they rely to relieve their country from lis
evils and dangers--and the difficulties
which the mass Of the people encounter
| in forming opinions on questions of constr
tutional law, may prevent them, for q
limited time, from arriViog at A'yeSs.' SAAs-
ment of such questions. or Of the vast
practical effects dependent on them.
But the people Of the United States dc
not expect national concord to spring from
usurpaiions Of power; or national security
da'R%< s tAoss great pfj.Jci
Piles of public liberty, which are the only
possible foundation, IN this country, u
private safety anI public order. ThciI
instincts demand n purcr and more COM
prehensive craftsmanship than that which
seizeS upon unlawful expedientS, because
they may possibly avert for the moment
some threatened danger at the expense O
the violation of great principles Of free
government, or of the destruction Of some
necessary safeguard Of individual secu
rity.
1t is a subject Of discussion in the pub
| lie Journals whether 1t is the intention oI
the Executive to use the powers asserted
in the last proclamation and in the orders
of the Secretary Of War, to suppress free
discussion Of political subjects. | have
confidence in the purity and the patriot.
ISM both Of the President and Of the Sec.
retary of War. / fear no such present
application of this proclamation and these
orders by them. But the execution Of
such powers must be intruStcd to subor.
dinatc agents, and it is Of the very es-
Sence Of arbitrary power that it should
bejn hands which can act promptly and
efficiently, and unchecked by form
These great powers must be coniidcd to
persons actuated by party. or local or
personal feelings or prejudices; or, what
would often prove as ruinous 10 the citi.
zens, actuated by n desire to command
their vigilance TO their employers, and by
a blundering and stupid zeal in their ser.
vice.
But it is not this or that particular ap.
plcation Of power which is to be conSid.
cred. Ii is the existence Of the power
itself, and the use of which it is suscep-
tible, while following out the principle
on which it has been assumed.
The uses Of power, even in despotic
monarchicS, are more or less controlled by
uSages and customs, or. in other words.
by public opinion. In good hands, and
in favorable times, deSpolic power is not
commonly allowed TO be felt to be op.
presSive; ard, always. the forms of free
government, which has once existed, so
far as is practicable, are carefully and
speciuuSly preserved. But wise people
does not trust its condition and rights to
the happy accident of favorable times or
good hands. 1t is jealous Of power. 1t
knows that Of all earthly things, it is that
thing most likely to be abused and when
it affects n nation, most destructive by its
abuse. They will rouse themselves to
consider what is the power claimed; what
is its origin; what is its extent; what uses
may be made of it in dangerous times,
and by men likely to be produced in such
times; and while they will trust their pub
lie servants. and will pour out their dear
est blood like water to sustain them in
their honest measures for their cOuntry'S 5
salvation, they will demand of those ser.
wants obedience to their will, as expressed
in the fundamental laws of the gNg%YM.
ment, to the end that there shall not be
added to all the sutftringS and losses they
have uncomp'ainingly borne, that most
irreparable OF all loSSeS-th ruin of the
principles Of their free government.
What. then, is TO be doneG Are We to
cease our utmost efforts to save our coun.
try, because its chief magistrate seems to
have fallen. for the time being. into what
We believed would be fatal errors if per.
sisted in by him and acqniesced in by
ourselves? Certainly not. Let the peo.
pie but be right, and no President can
long be wrong; nor can he effect any IA
tai mischief if he should be.
The sober second thought Of the peo-
pie has yet controlling power. Let this
gigantic shadow, which has been evoked
out Of the powers Of commander-in chief,
once he placed before the people. so that
they can see clearly its proportions and
its mein, and it will dissolve and dissap.
pear like the morning cloud before the
rising sun.
The people yet can and will take care
by legitimate means, without disturbing
any principle of the Constitution, or vio
lating any law, or relaxing any of their
Efforts for their country's salvation, that
their will, embodied in the Constitution,
shall be obeyed. If it needs amendment,
they will amend it themselves. They
will suffer nothing to be added to it, or
taken from it, by any other power than
their own. If they should, neither the
Government ITSELF nor any right under
it, will any longer be theirs.
@fhe case Of Mitchell vs. Harmony (1S
How, 1l5,) presented for the decision Of
the Supreme Court Of the United States
the question of the extent of the right Of
commanding general in the field to ap.
propriate private property to The public
service, and it was decided that such an
appropriation might be made. in case it