Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1864-05-27

| . papeEbs -..'.I
STATE OF NEW YORK. EXECUTIVE DErARrMENr,l
| ALBANY. May 20, 1864.
To A. Oakley Hall, Esq, District Attorney Of
the County Of Ne,o York::
SIR:-I am advised that on the 10th in
slant the office of the Journal of Commerce
and that of the New York World were en-
tered by armed men, the property of the
owners seized, and the premises held by
force for several days. 1t is charged that
these acts Of violence were done without
due legal process and without the sanction
of state or national laws.
If this be true the offenders must be pun
ished.
In the month of July last, when New
| York was scene of violence, gave warn
ing that ''the laws of the State must be en-
forced, its peace and order maintained, and
the property of its citizens protected at
every hazard" The laws were enforced at
a fearful cost of blood and life.
The declaration then made was not in
tended merely for that occasion or against
a w class of men. 1t is one of an enduring
character to be asserted at all times and
against all condition of citizens, without
| favor or distinction. Unless all are made
to bow to the law, it will be respected by
none. Unless all are made secure in their
rights of person and property, none can be
protected. If the owners of the above
named journals have violated State or Ma
tional laws, they must be proceeded
against and punished by those laws. Any
action against them outside of legal proce-
dures is criminal. At this time of civil
war and disorder, the majesty of the law
must be upheld or society will sink into an
archy. Our soldiers in the field will battle
in vain for constitutional liberty if persons
or property, or opinions, are trampled upon
at home. We must not give up home-free-
dom, and thus disgrace the American char
acter while our citizens in the army are
pouring out their blood to maintain the ma
tional honor. They must not find when
they come back that their personal and fire
side rights have been despoiled.
In addition to the general obligation to
enforce the laws of the land, there are local
reasons why they must be upheld in the
city of New York. If they are not, its
commerce and greatness will be broken
down. If this great center of wealth, busi-
ness, and enterprise is thrown into disorder
and bankruptcy, the national government
will be paralyzed. What makes New York
the heart of our country? Why are its
pulsations felt at the extremities of our
land? Not through its position alone, but
because of the worldwide belief that prop
erty is safe within its limits from waste by
mobs and from spoliation by government.
The laborers in the workshop, the mine,
and in the field, on this continent and in
every other part of the globe, send to its
merchants, for sale or exchange, the pro-
ducts of their toll. These merchants are
made the trustees of the wealth of millions
living in every land, because it is believed
that in their hands property Is safe under
the shield of laws administered upon prin-
ciple and according to known usages.-
This great confidence has grown up in the
course of many years by virtue of a
painstaking, honest performance of duty
by the business men Of your city
In this they have been aided by
the enforcement of laws based up
on the solemnly-recorded pledges that
'the right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and effects against
unreasonable searches and seizures shall not
be violated, and that no one shall be de-
process of lawn For more than eighty
years have we as a people been building up
this universal faith in the sanctity of our
jurisprudence. 1t is this which carries our
commerce upon every ocean and brings
back to our merchants the wealth OF every
cline. 1t is now charged that, in utter dis
regard of the sensitiveness of that faith, at
a moment when the national credit is under
going fearful trial, the organs of COM
merce are seized and held. in violation of
constitutional pledges, that this act was
done in public mart of your great city,
and was thus forced upon the notice of the
commercial agents of the world, and they
were shown in an offensive way that prop
erty is seized by military force and arbitrary
orders. These things are more hurtful to
the national honor and strength than the
loss of battles. The world will confound
such acts with the principles of our gov
ernment and the folly and crimes
of officials will be looked upon as
the natural results of the spirit of our
institutions. Our State and local authori-
ties must repel this ruinous inference. If
the merchants of New York are not willing
to have their harbor sealed up and their
commerce paialyzed, they must unite in this
demand for the security OF persons and
property. If this Is not done, the world
will withdraw from their keeping its treas
ure and its commerce.. History has taught
all that official violation of law in times of
civil war and disorder goes before acts of
spoliation and other measures which destroy
tile safeguards Of commerce.
/ call upon you to look into the facts con-
nected with the seizure Of the Journal Of
Commerce and of the New York World. If
these acts were illegal, the offenders must
be punished. In making your inquiries
and in prosecuting the parties implicated,
Won will call upon the sheriff of the county
and the heads Of the police department for
any needed force and assistance. 'The fall
ure to give this by any official under my
control viii be deemed asufiicient cause for
his removal. a..JFf lliig 20 .t.ia{,'}
Very respectfully yours, &c, :
"a Z .. lIi4 l<srr fffsrf1