The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-12-23

pentine course, We see the perpetual VA
Of its devils tail. The scene In AuEs
BAoHs cellar is continually renewed, wher'
| NxpHmropHnxs, with the aid Of . gimle
fanrS wooden table, improvilsasd Z ~ sorts 3
wine for The occasion, and got bis friend
80 gloomily drunk that the devil wa
kobNeed to leave them himself lin disgust
The latest discovery Of til. Times re.
Jates to; the "',,eicly Developed powers .,
the Constitution, /" which, according to the
editor, ofthat paper, are being drought
ont by the struggle for national life" Says
the, Times: nv. U1ts.ea. j.
The Constitution requires that the Executive
''shall take care that the laws De iaitniuuy eX'
ecuted, and to that end makes MIN Comman-
der-in.chief of the militia IN actua! service.
This, in CONJUNCTION with the unrestricted power
and to provide for calling forth the militia to
execute laws Of the, Union, suppress insurrec-
tions- and repel invasiOne, and 10 suspend the
writ of habeas corpus makes the Government
an absolute master of all military means requi.
site for its preservation and protection-as
completely so as IL the strongest Government
in Europe. And yet how vague before the
rebellion was the general idea concerning the
extent of this constitutional right. When the
suggestion of q compulsory draft into the ma
tional armies first began to be heard, it struck
the great body of the people as an expedient
utterly Inconsistent with our free Institutions
an invention derived from the despotic systems
of Europe. And yet it is found that the Gov
eminent has this power as clearly as any. in
the constitution; and compulsory requisitions
for men to an extent beyond anything that ID
without murmur respecting their constitu-
tioanality. t..' a.; ,..
Nothing could be more impudent than
the assumptions embodied in this extract
Who doubts or denies toutside of the New
York Times the unconstitutionality Of a
national draft, and its inconsistency with
free Institutions. Even the argument of
the Times, in its justification, is based
upon military necessity, while that ne
cessity is classed as among the "me'oly
Developed powers of the Constitution"
The Times further remarks:
So, too, in respect to the military power of
the Government to arrest and contine danger
Gus persons without interference from the civil
tribunals. 1t Is now understood, as 1t was not
before, that the great personal rights which
are so carefully enunciated IN the constitution,
are not absolute and unconditional, but may,
under peculiar circumstances, be abridged I'M
der the sanction of the constitution itself. 1t
is seen that the right, expressly conferred upon
the Government by the constitution, to sus-
pend the writ Of habeas corpus, in case of re-
bellion or invasion, thus makes not the indi-
vidual right, but the public safety, the supreme
law.
What braxen-faced lmpudence again
The Constitution guarantees under all cir
cumstances the right of trial by jury in
terms 80 explicit that the wayfarer
though fool shall not err therein" Pub
lie safety is only to be maintained by Sc
curing individual rights, and we certainly
must class it among the ''ne,oly deoeloped"
powers of the Constitution, that the way
to secure public safety is to tranple on the
rights of the individual. ...- ~.
Again, Gays the Times: ..si h.
We might also instance the newly recognized
power of the Government over the currency.
Before the rebellion this power was almost
universally considered to be limited. Mr.Web-
ster, who certainly had as clear view of the
Constitution as any of our modern statesmen,
denied that Congress had the power to make
anything but gold and silver legal tender.
Alasl and alack-a-dsyi Mr.. WEBSTER
was an old fogy. He and his theories
have been consigned to the tomb of the
Oapulets The ,aeioly Developed power -
Of the government to issue unlimited
quantities Of greenbacks, is now univer-
sally conceded. Who shall limit the il
limitable7