Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1864-02-02
Tor 4. s.sasr
MARTIAL Law.

For the Standard.
MARTIAL LAW
evera penalties add arbiarys constructions Of laws
intended 6r security lay the foundations Of aispsson
from every banau government and have been the cause
of ali the camtes that have e6me and are coming upon
the earth '--ERsKIEE. y
In fo.nner article, endeaYored to show that the
Military lnF was . special statutory code, exsr-i
cising risnfnl Jurisdiction over the sodiery only
and could not extend to the citizen for any offence
whatever 4 now proceed to Martial Lap the
most questionable and dangerous systemof arbitra-
nv power known to free governments: 1t is de-
fined 10 be .sthat condition of things which results
from the application of military rules to all persons
indiscrimina.ely, and which subjects the citizen
as well as the soldier to the control of the military
commander Who is restrained by 90 rule except the
general principles Of the military code and his own
discretion From what source Is derived this power
of suspending the functions Of the civil magistrate
and converting the country into military camp :
Even military authors admit this to be "perpexlpg
question. While they generally concur that Martial
Law can have no existence without special act of
Congress, their difficulty is to hnd provision in
the Constitution comforting upon Congress the pow
er to declare Martial Law. The Constitution does
vest in Congress the power of suspending the writ
of ha6eGs coypu in cases of rebellion or invasion,
where the public safety may require it. !" but mere
ly suspending this writ of ITSELF confers no addi.-
tionai legal poxers upon the military commander
II only suspends the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Of the citizen
arrested to speedy trial for the offence charged
upon him, leaving the military, as before amenable
to the civil tribunals for all infractions Of the law
protesting the personal liberty of the citizen. The
suspension Of the writ Of Gbeus corpus by Congress,
therefore,swould not confer upon che Presidsnt or
his officers The right to declare Martial Law. Some
thing more is necessary.
Col O. Ii: Lee, SON Of Gen. Lee, in q late inter
esting work upon Courts. Martial, while admitting
the difficulty Of finding in the Constitution any au
thority for Martial Law, by strange Inversion of
reasoning, takes IL for granted that the power Is
there and then exerts his ingenuity to locate it
and finally claims it to be an implied power neces-
sary to the complete efficiency of the cypress power
to suspend the writ of hd6eas corpus. Col Lee is
no friend of arbitrary power His work combats
those writer's whoplace the power of declaring Mar
tial Law upon the dangerous ground of military ne
cessity therefore he concludes that the right can
De exercised only by authority Of Congress- and nay
be dedueed from the provisions of the Constitution
In this think be fails. A power against common
right must be clear as asunbealn. Better to con-
fess frankly, that the power to declare Martial Law
cannot be found in the Constitution and that ills
gross bsurpatiOn in Congress to exercise h. than to
grope among the provisions of that sacred instru-
ment, In 3 desperate search for doubtful and dan
gerouS powers. tits power dangerous to liberty
it is not necessary; it should not exist. Jefferson,
who lived in the Revolution, not only failed to see
the necessity for Martial Law during that struggle
for freedom, but opposed the adoption Of the Consti
tuition with the provision for suspending the babeds
corpus earnestly declaring his beliefin the eternal
and uDremittng force of the writ of h1beas corpus"
The history Of Martial Law is curious Col Lee.
afirms it to be prerogatiVe of the British crown.
History does not support him. 1t never had a4egal
existence in England before the Revolution of 1888.
The kingdom had no standing army before the reign
of William Ill Prior to that time the militia was
the only military force of Great Britain If soldier
dacarfad. ha no1 ha Su.d ~, r.
a breach of his contract of enlistment a1his was
the only legal redress. Armies were raised upon
the spur OF occasion, and disbanded soon as the
occasion ceased
Being levied for short periods and without regu-
lar pay, their discipline was not curiously looked
into. Little danger was apprehended from On army
of militia, which, being suddenly assembled to meet
exigences, vanished still more suddenly While in
the field, they were subject to such rules as the
Sovereign prescribed and could enforce not of right
but by tolerance and usurpation.- Magma Oharta,
the Petition OF Right the Hd6eds Corpus act furnish
the accumulated parliamentary evidence Of seven
hundred years, that no such prerogatve was inhe-
rent In the crown, while they yndicate the inalien
able right of personal liberty, and provide ample
safeguards for the individual freedom of the subject
This alleged prerogatiVe Of the crown has not
been claimed since William Of Orange, mounted the
throne, nearly two centuries ago. The British army
now exists only by virtue of annual acts of Paria.
framed upon the mutiny acts passed from year to
year. Whether Martial Law, even now canObe de-
clared, is QUESTIONABLE certainly it cannot, unless
in strict subordnation to the mutiny act 1t may
be a Constitutional right there because the King,
Lords Shd Commons, in Parliament assembled, are
the supreme and absolute power of the State; in
other words. when so assembled, they are the Con-
stituti0n itself But in this land we have writ.
ten Constitution of limited and defined powers and
Congress can exercise no power unless warranted
by The fundamental law. This sacred charter of
liberties was framed and sealed by soldiers and
statesmen, reared in the midst of sanguinary war;
and fully alive to all the necessary requirements for
the discipline and efficiency Of armies the security
Of liberty and the safety of the State If therefore
the Constitutions formed under such circumstances
contains no provision for the declaration of Martial
Law, it affords powerful evidence Of the inutility
as well as danger of the power. -.
Wherein is the necessity, here and How, for tie
exercise of such dangerous and Questionable
power? The people, always justly jealous of per-
sonal liberty, are now peculiarly sensitive to en-
croachment laboring as they are under the heavy,
oppressive and necessary burdens of the war. Why
then, arouse their suspicious and ALLEVIATE their az
fcctions from the governments by the ostentatious
parade of most dangerous arbitrary pNwerl The
necessity is less apparent and less real now than
ever. The political opinions of almost every man
in the South are now we'll known We have now
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