Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-07-17

the var lasted showed matters in worse
light than h che beginning. Thss, - the
end Of 1861, Confederate notes were ex-
changed 1t the rate Of 81 80 for one; at the
end Of 1862, Of % for one; Of 1863. Of S2l
fof 81; Of 1904, Of sol for 81; and At the
day Of doom, 81 200 for 81.
sr-4 s.lGalaea9y JaoslCo.s'
That the New York 7ribsss tires Of the
hrcs called :. Military Justice" is evidence
Of the return to their sober senses Of por- |
ton Of that class Of our people who have
been 20 long morally, mentally and physi-
cally, s'dnder cloud" In an article last
week. under the head Of Military Justies,"
the Tribune agues that the necessity for
military tribunals asd cosrts. martial, upon
whascvsr peeteasa, anA It tie trial Of what
ever alleged criminals, no longer exists
As the republieanism Of the Tribune is un
questioned, there is no danger that its
utterance will be met with cries of ''disloy
a. "copperheadism,' treason" The ab-
clifton press, with however i'll grace its
conauslsrs may receive the truthsadvsnced
~ che 7tibses, viii not dare eavll Or ques-
don theA- AID there is much Of sound
sense 10 what the Tribune advances upon
The subject that We are tempted to repro
ducs tie article IL our colamns.. It d o.
follows:
| Tho wAr being ovsr--not shot having
been fired for weeks, and not a man on earth
bciug nav ~ sruls to resist. the authority
of the United States-we renew our
prayer for q prompt. full, uneqniv"cal res
toration Of the privilege Of Habeas Corpus
coupled with clearing out Of our military
priaosls BY tho liberation Of the iamates OF
their rendition 10 the civil authorities Tor de
tcnton, trial and punishment. We car
: imagine no good reason for further DOM
a nance Of martial law in any State north Of
the Potomac and Otto.
We have had az abundant exhibitions OF
, Military Justice throughout the past foul
= wears as was reasonable and ft-in fact
=. rather more than that. And, SO long a:
u litary power AID law were required t
keep treason under. We heartily upheld
u them. We never supposed that their ad
G m,nistration W, uld be perfect; but wanted
4 the republic saved, even At the cost OF SOM
temporary encroachmcnt on public libert
: and private rights And, now hat tn
J. work s done, we want to get back to OH
ID fashioned civil law at the earliest practice
h ble moment Let military men be suhjec
. to military law, if they must, but give u
y civil law for everybody else.
e Next winter we trust the Secretary {
&c War will report, either voluntarily or b
- order Of Congress, on these p"ilts:
IA L. How many Courts Martial have bee
held since 1860?
F" .. What was the duration Of thes
rp Courts respectively
o. 8. What was their cost respectively an
he in the aggregate?
f. In how manv cases were the nndine
y reversed or modified, or the ptn'lties IN
v posed thereby RENTED, by the revising al
he thorityy
8. What would be the probable effect
y combining these courts to the trial OF otler
dcrs in the military service OF the unlo
ne and those arraigncd for disloyal act IN ~
1t States which are the arena oil actual hostll
a. ties
:. There have been instances when '
VI needed in the field all our officers who pc
scssed any fighting capacity, yet when n
the less than fifty Of them were serving
H. dancing attendance on courts martial
+. half . dozen Of them being engaged !
~ three months or over, in the midst OF a II
inc mentous campaign, proving one br'gadc'
nee scountlrel ut "A cost to the government
., SIr.L t.vuis, at cost oil SO.
We hear talk OF more courts martial
e"' the trial of of other than persons in o
military service, and we we protest in a
err vance against them We have coul
he enough, law enough, and ut least as fair
chance for Justice with these as with al
nv that can be imp,ovsed out our army by
order from the War Department. We
en-. not much care what Europe may say Of o.
III Jurisprudence we are only anxious that 81
II shall have no just cause for censure.
Is any rebel has conspircd to starve our Sc
"a diers. or infect our cities with pes,icncc,
.rs do any act abhorent to humanity, let the
-, be fairly tried for the crime; or il it
.'' thought best to arraign some Of the reb
ne chiefs for treason, so be it but let us dc
ty with them according t. law II will be
I'm gricvous mstakc-an avowal Of weak ne
-. a blunder and a folly-to hold anoth
court martial for the trial Of other than mi
~ itary offenders belonging to our own arm
such court can render no verdict that wi
90 carry weight with it in the judgment Of in
"A, partial Christendom. The fact that such
!: tribunal is resortcd to will be trumpeted l.
=" thousands as "a virtual confession that "a
ir. trial was not desired-its verdict of guilty
en- will be decided Is prcluding and preparir
ed a judicial murder. Letus return to the d.
minion Of the law.