Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-02-11

Confscdtion act, Jdunory l9H, 1864.
Mr.. BLISS. Mr.. Speaker, the debate
N this House, on a motion pending to re-
commit to the Committee on the Judiciary
House resolution No. Is, the same being
4 joint resolution to amend Sont resou-
ion explanatory Of "An act to suppress in
to punish treason and rebellion,
TO seize and coniiscate the property of reb-
els, aud for other purposes" approved
July 18th, 1862, has given rise to a conflict
)f opinion between gentlemen of different
political parties as to the true intent and
proper construction Of that provision of the
Constitution which limits the power Of Con-
gress in fixing the penalty of treason. |
confess my surprise at any such difference
Of opinion; for until considerable time ai-
ter the inauGuri tiDn of this Administra-
ton no difference of opinion existed among
men of legal attainmcntS. or among the
people at large, as to the full effect Of that
clause in abolishing and rcpudiating forever
in the United States Of America the Eng
lish policy Of interruptng the legal descent
of ancestral estates By corrupting and rem
dering uninhcritable the blood Of the issue,
whatever might have been the ancestor ;
crime.
la section third Of the third article, after
defining the crime Of treason against the
United States, the trainers inscribed this
clause
Congress shall have the power to de-
clare the punishment of treason, but nc
attainder Of treason shall work corruption
Of blood, or forfeiture except during the
life OF the person attainted
It seems TO me to be impossible that the
iramers Of the Constitution, by the iorogo
ing clause, meant anything less than what
the words clearly import-an absolute inter
diction Of the doctrine or penalty Of cor
ruption of blood and a limitation Of for
fciturc of estate to the life Of the convicted
party. Their rcpugnance to the harsh in
hctions Of the British law was manifested
as clearly in this as in other parts Of the in
stumcnt. They had recently achieved ;
revolution by which they had thrown off The
tyrannous expressions of the British Gov
crnment and in establishing new one fo
themselves and their posterity they wer
determined to protect the American peopl
against all unjust and needless penalties in
hictcd by the State from whose authorit,
they had rcvoIted. They saw, as any onl
may see, that il was monstrouS injustice t,
lnillct upon an innocent child the create
part of the penalty duc only to guilty pa
rent, aud that the doctrine OF corruption
Of blood incapnctatino the innocent fO
their lawful inheritance produced precisely
that result, and therefore protested agains
the harbarism, by common consent, mC
put their protest into the Fundamental
law.
Can any gentleman perceive now, any
. h, f,II I, "a
wrcnching from the hands of II child inca
pa ,itated by homage and the want of NOR.
al accountability for any participation in the
crime of his parent, the right Of inherit
ancc which is justly guaranteed to him by
the law ?
The wife who is TO be made widow b,
the inlliction Of the penalty Of treason up
ON her husband may be as innocent rs he
cradlcd infant of his crime, and should he
ega! right to be endowed of his estate b.
taken from her? Does the Governmen
desire to obtain property in that way? Th
Constitution answers No, and its voice
potential.
1t would certainly be difficult to suppl
any more clear and sufficient terms to in
pugn the corruption of blood atogcthel
and the forfeiture Of estate beyond the Iii
time of the attainted party than those en-
ploycd in the clause cited The style Of til
sentence is tcrsc and compact-there m
words enough in it to express with clca
ness the sense which | imputc to it, an
nothing .morc. 1t is divided by punctui
ton into three parts, each of which COZ
tuins proposition. The first pant reads
Congress shall have power to declare til
punishment OF treason. This is II con
pletc sense The second part reads, = BIT
no attaindcr of treason shall work CORFU
ton of blood This is also II compleI
sense. The third and last member Of I'll
sentence, separated from the preceding by
mark of punctuation, reads 'or torteitul
except during the life of the person attain
i cd which last words, in addition TO ii
former provision, that corruption OF bloc
shall not be worked to defeat the mherl
ance 'of the estate Of the attainted by h
legal heirs, provides that no delay of Il
inheritance after the decease OF the attain
cd person shall occur by reason OF the Il
tainder, because the life of the attainted
the limit Of the forfeiture. Ii appears the
clearly from these restrictions that the poN
or given to Congress to declare the punis
mcnt of treason, although it aulhorz
legislation against the life Of the guilty pa
ty, and for the forfeiture of his estate viii
he shall live, yet gives no authority to Co
grCSS to affect that estate after hlS death.
IL has been said in this discussion tn
the forfeiture of a traitors estate dhrli
his life merely would be vain thing, ina
much as the forfeiture can only lac cnlurc,
by tho same Judgment of the court Win,
cOnsigns him to death, and that the inter-
between the sentence and execution may
. only day. cannot perceive any cogch
{ III this argument, because the Constitute
does not doom him to death, and CongrC
may punish him by imprisonment for Ill
, and coniiscation of his estate for life, or
other such penalty, operating within Go
stitutional limits, as shall be- deemed pro
cr OF course the trainers could not kno
and perhaps did not suppose, that Congrt
would impose tho penalty of death,
The first general act of the punishmc
of crimes was passed by Congress in l71
in which they prescribed for treason {
9 penalty of death without forfeiture; and
9 believe that the law so remained until t
conRscation act of 1862 Sometime all
the adoption by this Government of t
comparatively humane policy of limit
= fortGituros to life and eschewing corrupt
! of blood, the English Parliament in I
reign of William ~, influenced by our {
ample, adopted the American policy, a
' cast the oppressive doctrines of corrupt
n of blood and forfeiture of estate beyond t
life of the convict out of the legislation
Great Britain, We're the English stat
men also deceived as to the intent a
meaning of our Constitution?
. 1t cannot be denied that the undcrstal
Ing Of the. able and learned mon, iuri
NVh ~ t,l