The southern aegis, and Harford County intelligencer., 1864-02-05
From the National I.lsliigener.
Permanent Ccnfsoations

OF our readers 10 the issue tnat nus been
made ia 4the present Congfess aud else
where for the purpose Of overriding the
terms Of the con6scation act, as passed
by the last Congress and approved BY the
President. II is~known that the existing
act was accompanied by an explanatory
resolution, adopted at the instance Of the
President, aud in conformity with his Gen.
stitutional opinions, declaring that in pro,
ceedings under the act no eonEscation Of
real estate should extend beyond the life
Of The person convicted of treason. Such
was the construction which the Preside ut,
supported by the highest authority in the
land, gave to the clause ,oftbe Consultation
which eDjoins that &c Congress- shall have
power to declare the punishment of trea-
son but NO attainder Of treason shall work
corruption of blood or forfeiture ercept 1u.
rang the life Of Me person attainted." !" ea,-
ls'is safe to say that there were not two
opinions in this country upon the meaning
ofthis clause, SO long as its Interpretation
was left to depend upon. theunbiased con-
struction and Interpretation of its Lam
guage. But when the minds Of men came
(, consider it under the stress of certain
wishes to do what the plain terms of the
clause did not allow, a resort was had to
CONSTRUCTION construed for the purpose
of extorting from it the desired signifca-
tion.. Itis not the first time that the Con-
stitution has. been subjected to the rack
and the .thumbscrew, but we have never
witnessed an instance, in which the vic.
leneer done to its terms and spirit was ap-
piled with less discretion or reason.
Disregarding alike the plain letter Of
the Constitution, the known scruples of
the President, the declared weight of au-
thority, the admonitions of history, the
impulses of natural Justice, and the most
obvious considerations of public expedien.
cy, the advocates Of this change in the
policy Of the con6scation act seek to i'm.
press on the Legislation of our country un-
der this head character for ferocity which
reviyes the worst traditions of despotic
Governments in barbarous ages. Their
minds are 50 flledswith thoughts of re-
venge that in melting out punishments to
traitors, they seem to forget not only what
is due to the Constitution, but to them
selves. And this innovation on that in
strument and on the spirit of the age is
pressed upon the attention of Congress
and the country, in the hope, We suppose,
that few will be found brave enough to
lift their voices in condemnation of any,
thing that seems harsh and violent if pro.
fessedly directed against "the enemies Of
the country" r.
There is class Of men who habitually
mistake violence forsforce, and passion for
leaanestness or who suppose, that the people
cannot discriminate between the. rant of
"loyalty' and the genuine sentiment. It
is assumed By this class that they occupy
a "coigne of vantage" if they can take any
position which places their antagonists un-
der the odium of seeming to tsask for ten
derness towards rebels. We should be
sorry to think that the species, of moral
cowardice upon which such men depend
Tor their hopes of success was as prevalent
as is supposed. We trust that we may
never live to see the day when we shall
lackNthe courage, to defend our honest
opinions because Of the odium, which it
may be falsely sought % cast upon them
by those who find it more within the range
OF their limited capacities to impute to us
improper motives than to answer our argu-
ments. But, in truth, the present case is
not one in which there is room for any
such test discourage or constaucy, as it is
they who advocates not they who oppose
this measure, who are called to exonerate
themselves from the suspicion of acting in
the interest Of the enemy, as they ayowed-
~ act in opposition to the views and de-
'clared policy ofthe President. Doessany
one doubt that Gen. Jefferson Davis and
his coadjutators desire tho passage Of
sweeping and unrelenting con6scation acts
by the Congress of the United States p
Does any one doubt that they wish success
to the new movement made in this direc-
tion2 Or does any one doubt that the ne.
cessary--we do notssay she. Designed
consequences Of all such measures is to
overleap their aim aud to furnish a.fresh
fnlcrum over which the waning strength
ofthe revolt may bend itself to new en-.
deavors in the work Of insurglpgthc South
ern masses st ~ -.
ANOTHER CALI,---The Hartfsvd /C,o,r \