Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-03-19

exee1ss vengeance with FIRE and sword. Bus
this Bsptist captain and bis company Of home
guards VIII bring some Of them to grsf.
ChIcE Jasfsee Taaey aad the Illegal szs.
Persioa OF sEe Writ of KsbeEs CSPpne
cy tfse RreaE6eat
Prom ths Nszg YSrk Daiy News
President Lincoln by his last act Of usurpa.
ton, hes sUcceeded ia casting all former viola
tons Of the Constitution and Of the laws into
the shade. His illegal enlissmsnts, the SEIZURE
Of tSsgfsphic dispatches, the invasion Of Vir-
ginis, the infam0asly false pEeisncss under
which Txr was forced upon the country, the
massacre at ST. L3uis, the unconstitutional
proclamation Of martial lsE IN the District Of
CaluEbis, Maryland, Missouri and AiexsadFia,
Fefs deserving of TeprOb stioH; bat all combined
have not squalled in stTocity the daring step
Which ass bsen authorized, in the case Of MeT-
rYm2D = hose delivery IN court WAS ordered by
Chief JGsfics TaneY, Despotism may become
so odisus that its fnal overthrow usy be pre-
dieted long esyre j! arrives st the roint CT an
absolute aRsocgatic tyTar1y, WIIsz. . subject
hss no security for either mis- liberty OF his life;
and every individual inheTiting Anglo-saxon
traditions has been brought up to understand
that beth are endangered when the Bauctity Of
the habeas corpus writ Is trAmpled under foot,
or even questioned.
L may be safely asserted that since ths dsys
Of Cherles Of England, no more arbitrary aes
has been committed, thau has been perpetrated,
with the approval Of the President By Gen.
CadWasladeT Bithia the last week. The Con
s.iiusion, tha ussges of common Law, the teach
ing of al legal authorities, and multitude Of
precedsnts in England and this country, render
the crime which has been committed so clear
that no eye who has looked dispassionstelY into
the case wiz pretend to Justify il for an instant.
In fact SO dangerous has it ever been regarded
to tsrs.psr with the right Of habsas corpus, TIA.
is has never in America been Suspended in say
siugle instance before, excepting in the case Of
Shsv's rebellion II Massachusetts, from Noyem-
Der, 1876, to July, 1857. Ia 1914 the poliey Of
such step was urged Upoa The Ssase Of Louis.
lana but Gen. Jackson, ia mpstIsnt Of the action
Of the Legislsture, laid New Orleans under
martial law, and practically suspended the wit
He or6eIed the arrest Of Lousilisf for alleged
mulinY, and upon Judge Halls issling a wit
Of hA5sas corpus, arrested hiu also. Hs was
sunn5ned, however, TO answer foE this con
tempt rosd bis own defense in court, and was
fined 81 600 for bis oIense, which he psid upon
the sp8s. The sewers rebaks which the old hero
sftsrWards submitted to from President MAdi-
son vss slsO patiently borne by him, so ps!ent
had been tho illegahty Of his eoRdact.
Conggsss has never exercised its prerogatiys
Of sussendiag the hsbe&s cOzpUs law. On he
22d Of JsnusTy, 1867, the President Of the Uni-
ted Stsles sent special massage 20 the Senate
on the subject Of the Barr conspiracy, stating
that o1s Of the emissAIieS Of Aaron Barr, ar
rested oy Gen. Wilkinsoa, bad been released by
hsbeSs corpus. TIE Senate bseaTas alarmed,
sod oa the same day passed bill to suspend the
privilege Of lie wit ior three months but tie
House ef Representatives, with equal pFomD.i-
tnds, rejected the act as unworthy OF its con
sidsrSnon" The Constitution Of the United
S;ate5 provides that ''the privilege Of The writ
Of habeSs corpus shall not be suspended, unless,
in cases Of rebellion or invasion, the public
safety may require il" Rebellion and invasion
are enineltly matters Of national concern, and
It is lis thst Congress shoHld possess the power
10 make effsesRal such measures as It may deem
expe6isnt 30 adept tor their suppression. In the
discharge Of this duty it may toTbid the release
OF PTissasrs by either Federal o. Ssats cOurts
while the exigeney lasts but no authority short
Of Congress can do this. Judge Story, IN bis
work on tbs Constitution Of the United States,
says that the right TO suspend the hsbeas corpus
writ nrst exclusively belong 70 that body, as in
England il can only be suspended By act Of
Parliament. 10 CoRkiug's Treatise on the Ju-
risdic5on Of the Supreme Court, page %, it is
declared that "ths privilege Of hsbeas corpus,
in common with AL olbsr Judicial powers, with
ton of the supreme court, was left st the dispo-
sal Of Congress. Tho subjsct was too impor-
tsnt to be overlooked or deferred, and, accord
ingly, vas provided for IN the organic judiciary
act Of 1859 Chief Justice Tauey was, there
fore, quite right in declaring:
1st The President under the Constitution
and laws Of the United States, cannot suspend
the privilege of the writ of habeas coIpas, nor
authorize any military ofiiesr to do 50.
2d A military officsr has no right to arrest
aud detsin = person, nor subject him to the
rulss and articles of war for an offsuse against
the laws Of the United States. except in aid of
the judicial authority and subject to its conGrol
aud If the party is arrested by the military it is
the duty OF the cfIieer to deliver him over i'm
medialely to tbs civil authority, to be dealt
with soeoTdirg to law.
The act Of MaTch 8, 1888, section 7, (ses vol.
of statutes ss largo, p. 634) under which
Chief Justics Taney issued bis writ, reads as
fellows:
Either of the off ssrs of the supreme court,
or judge of any district court OF the United
SAFES, in addition to tho authority already CON
farrsd By law, shall have power to grant Writs
of hAbeas corpus IN all cases Of prisoner or
prisoners, in Jail or confinement where he or
they shall be committed or coGfnsd, on, or By
sny authority of lsw, for any act done or omit
tad % be done, iB pursuance to ths Law Of the
Uni.ed States, or any order, process or decree
OF the judge or court thereof anything in any
act Of Congress to the contrary notwithstand-
ing. And if any person or persons TO whom
such writ Of habess corpus may be directed,
shall refuse 70 obey the Same, or shall neglect or
or refuss to maks returns, or shall make false
return thereto; in addition to the remedies al
ready given by law, be or they shall be deemed
and taken to be guilty Of misdemessoT, and
shall, on conviction before ssy court Of e0npe-
tent Jurisdictions, be punished, By 6ns, not ex-
cssding one thousand dollars, and by impTisOn-
msnt not exceeding six months, or by either.
according to the nature and sggravLtioa Of the
case"
A subsequent act exespts ffon thoss who are
entitled TO Ihs bensfs Of habea5 corpus " per-
sons eemmittsd for felony, plainly expressed ia
the warrant, as well as persons convicted or in
execution" In the Merryman case it Is not
pretended that any warrant was issued st all,
aud Chief Justice Taney would have subjected
himself, according to the manner IN which the
rights Of citizens to the privilege of tns writ
have been interpreted in most of. the States, to
the most grave and unworthy imputstiens,
tainting his Judicial integrity, if he had failed
to issue it upon proper application being made.
The laws of New York Revised Statutes, Vol
IL, part 3, chap 9, sec 46. art. 3 goes so lar
ss to say that if any court or officers author
ICED 0y tHs provisions OF Lnls aTncle 20 grant
writs of hAbess corpus or certorsri, shall refuse
to grant such wnt, when legally applied for,
every member of such court, who shall have
assented to such refusal, and every such officer,
shall seVerally forfeit to the party sggrieyed
$1,000" In AsNns&s and Missouri the courts
are subject to pe. ties, not only for refusing
the writ, but also for -eASonsbly delaying 20
issus It. There are, alss enalEes in PsRnsyl-
vaniR, kentucky, New jersey, North Carroll a,
California, GsoTgis and South Caroliua, for a
refusal to issue = writ in vacation or in cham.
bers.-l Vid. Hurd on habess corpus YET
such Republican journals as the TfibsEs dare
to call the venerable chief justice a hoary
apologist fer crime" because he did what il
would have been regarded in many States Is 9
misdemeauor not 70 have done.
~ A report in respect 70 the Yankee vessels
captured By tbs Confederate cruisers was made
I