Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1864-01-06
Discussion in the Senate on Principals and
Notwithstanding DecIar ati0ns by senator
Brown, of Mississippi.


Notwithstanding Declar ations BY senator
Brown, of Mississippi.
On Monday last the Senate took up the House
bill to put the principals Of substitutes in the army
Mr.. Orr, of South Carolina, opposed the BILL and in
the course of his remarks said:
1.-THE Secretary Of War said there was no con.
tract between the government and the principals
He (Mr. Orr insisted that there was contract
But if there was none, put it upon the ground Of
good faith. The country makes call for soldiers.
A comes forward and offers himself The govern.
ment says to him, if he will furnish suitable sub
stitute be shall be discharged He furnishes B, who
ls accepted and mustered in, and is discharged
Was it contended that consistently with good faith,
the government could afterwards take A and put
him into the army? Senators had said there could
be no contract between the government and princi
pail that it was a nudum pactun', there being no
consideration. A consideration was not necessary
to contract. He directed the grave attention of
Senators to this question Of good faith. They had
conscribed citizens to the age of thirty five. They
had said to them, if it suited their pleasure and
convenience, they might furnish substitutes Some
of the conscribed searched out substitutes, paid
| them their money, and, having put them into the
| army and complied with all the prescribed condi.
tons, secured their discharges Now, it was said,
there no violation of good faith in putting in
these principals.
But there were other difficulties in the way Of this
bill. If it was passed and became law, how was
it to be executed? He could say, from information
that he had that it could never be executed except
BY the means recommended the other day by the
Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Browul in his revo,
lutonary speech. Already it had been decided by
the Supreme Court of North Carolina that ever
when substitute became liable, by the extension Of
the conscript age the principal was not liable. 9th
decisions on the same subject had been given in
| South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. 1t was
proper he should here say that if the North Carroll
ma State had had the general order Of the War
Department before them their decision might have
been different But still that court had decided that
when the substitute accepted and the principal
discharged the latter could not be taken again. If
after this decision this bill is passed. the principals
when conscribed will sue out their writs of ha6cas
corpus and will be forthwith released and the gov
ernLhent must either acquiesce trample the civil
tribunals under foot and put the whole country
der military rule, as recommended by the gentle
man from Mississippi, (Mr Brown. He was not
prepared for such condition Of things as this. He
did not believe there was any necessity for it"
Mr.. Johnson of Georgia, said it struck him there
no necessity for the passage of the bill under
consideration. The bill reported by the Military
4 committee covered the whole ground 1t extended
the conscrpt age to fifty five, and all the substitutes
in the army, he thought, would be found to be
adopted any legislation this subject will be found
unnecessary. He would therefore, suggest the
rropriety of laying aside this bill until the bill Of
Tie committee shall have been acted upon. He
moved its further consideration be postponed till
Wednesday.
The bill and amendments were ordered to be
printed.
1.-The course Of the debate Mr. Brown, OF Mis-
sissippi, said
"This law should not be allowed to drop through
from respect of mere technicaltes, such decisions
of State courts 1t was agreed upon all sides, with
rare exceptions, that legislation on this subec
should be retraced The legislation Of the Hous
on this subject met his views, but if it did not h
would agree with it. If we could not get what VI
wanted we should agree with the House in whs
they wanted. Their opinions were as much enttlct
to respect as ours. The bill strikes at the root o
the evil. The Senate should pass it promptly, ant
il there was danger of the law not being executed
there was a remedy, and let the Senate use it. Sus
pend the habeas corpus. The country should no
be lost because of the opinion of every petty judge
authorized to issue hdbeas corpus giving differen
decisions in Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mis-
) sksippi To get uniformity, Congress should pas
Law declaring this law to be for the regulation ant
discipline of the army, and by that means, as t.
this measure suspend the writ Of habeas corpus.-
Congress, there was no doubt, could suspend tn
ha6eas corpus as to particular measures, having au
thority to pass it generally. 1t would be bad
have it said, after we were in graves, that ou
liberty had been lost whilst struggling owe
, petty constitutional questions"
| Mr.. Brown does not wish to be troubled wit
+ "p.tty constitutional questions" He desires t
4 suspend all law and all constitutions, and estabs
4 military law in their stead. In the language
Mr.. Secretary Memminger, endorsed by Presiden
Davis, he regards "the public safety as the suprem
E law" He therefore sneers at constitutions, an
laws, and the decisions Of "petty Judges" M
-. | Brown should have lived in France in the days ,
= Danton and Robespiere.
, We now tell Mr.. Brown, and those who thir,
with him, for ALL that if the desperate revol,
tionary measures which he advocates shall be
tempted to be carried out-if the civil law is to /
! trsmpled under foot by the suspension of the wr
ofha6eas corpus, and every able.bodied man place
9 in the army from sixteen to fifty .6ve-if no man
to have hearing before State Judge as to tn
right of the enrolling officers to seize him, and
the rights Of the States are to be thus ignored
; swept away by the mere creature of the State
the common government the people Of Nortl
Carolina wiW take their own afairs into their os
hands, and wiU proceed, in C0noention assembled
to eindicate their liberties and prioileges The
will not submit to military despotism. They wi
not submit to the destruction of their personal an
, civil rights in this, or in any other war. We sa
what We know to be so. A vast majority Of ou
, people already excited and restless on accoun
, OF the threatened encroachments on their liberte
by the Congress at Richmond; and We most re
s2ecuully and earnestly warn the members Of tina
body not to kindle fame which no efforts can eA
'inguish. Pass these measures suspend the ha6e"
corpus in order to silence our Courts and force
whole population into the army-break faith wit
tie principals Of substitutes-repudiate the currer
e. Of the country-levy tax in specie to pay tn