Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1864-11-03
POLITICAL AUDACITY ILLUSTRATED.

POLITICAL AUDACITY ILLUSTRATED.
In speech purporting to have been delivere,
by the Hon. JAMES HARLAN, q Senator of tn
United States from the State Of Iowa, and at pre-
sent the Treasurer of the Republican Congressiona
Committee residing in this city for the management
OF the pending Presidential contest, that gentleman
says;
In this country every patriot the Consttu
on ana the laws Every wantOn violation of either str
his indignation. As 10 Rome the voice of the people was
said to be the voice of God in this country the law
our only sovereign, which all from the President to the
bumblest among the toing millions, must implicitly obey
Whoever waDtony tramples the Constitution and the laws
under bis feet is properly held to be enemy of the peo
pie and at war with their dearest interest"
Having carefully observed the administration o. public
affairs by President Lincoln, and carefully examined
the charges of unconstitutonaty preferred against it.
feareAsy pronounce them groundess Let examine for
few minutes some Of the gravest of these charges"
As specimen of the csndor which this Repub-
can Senator brings to the discussion Of his topics,
we will take single one of the heads of his
spcech-that relating to the trial of persons ac-
Government. He says:
In of arrest after the commission of the crime
what authority has the President to try condemn and
punish the offenders The Constitution says:
person shall be held to answer for capital or other
wise infamous crime unless on presenment indictment
Of grand jury except in arising in the land naval
forces in the militia when in actual service in time of
war or public Article 5 amendments to the Con-
naation)
Hence, the President and all his Cabinet, tbe Con-
gress and all the Courts combined, hare The consn-
onal po,oer TO put man on trial for an aHeped crime
except 10 the nature of preliminary examination for the
purpose OF ectng facts to justify restraint of the sus-
pected party This can be done only by grand jury.
The President has the constitutional right TO arrest and
restrain during the continuance of the rebellion any
offender. or person about to commit crime, long
the public safety may require it To deny this right is to
deny the validity of the Constitution. But he has right
to try IN the judicial sense, to conDict condemn
punish any this the province of the jury the court
and the sheriff Nor has the President put on trial. in the
judicial sense punished any not an the land naua
forces When restrained of their liberty by placing them
under guard within the walls of fortcatoas the con-
fnement not in the nature Of punishment nor con-
sdered intended to be considered Infamous They would
be liable afterward much before such restraint in
dctment and punishment by the civil authorities. fol-
ions therefore, that the President has proceeded far
he has the right under the Constitution and hair,
breadth farther"
Thus it will be seen that this Senator, speaking
under the sanctions attaching to his character in
that relation, and as such presumed to be man of
intelligence and truth, while admitting that the
President "has right to try in the judicial sense,
or to convict, condemn, or punish any one" afrms
at the same time that the President has not put
on trial. in the Judicial sense, or punished any
NOT "a Ae land or naval forces.' The question of
principle is conceded 1t is only question of
fact that is denied And this fat denial is made in
the presence of unnumbered instances in which the
President has not only assumed the right to do the
thing in question, but in some of which he has
defended it after it was done. Has Mr. Harlan
ever heard of the case of Mr.. Vallandigham, in
Ohio, or of Mr.. Waring, in Maryland? Neither
of them was in the land or naval forces, and yet
both of them were put on trial before military
commissions, and both Of them were punished by
Executive authority in way not authorized by the
Constitution and the Laws. And these cases are
only two among innumerable similar cases well
known to every body in the land who gives any
attention to the civil operations of the War De-
partment.
We cite this speech as an illustration of partisan
recklessucss in the conduct of the pending oam-
paign, and of the extreme lengths to which even
Senator of the United States can 90 in the effort
to serve his party. This speech is circulated as
campaign document. AS such it has been for
warded to us by gentleman into whose hands it
had fallen, and who was so much shocked by the
want of candor betrayed in this attempt to play on
the popular ignorance that he communicated it to
US for exposure. We have other illustrations Of
the same kind to bring to the notice of readers
and to the condemnation of honorable men in all
parties