The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1865-05-26
NEW SERIES.

people, rather than leave him an honorable
name in history, a revenue equal to the wants
Of the state and people prosperous, eontented
and loyal
But what will be our condition if the conven-
tiun succeed in placing us under the dcspotism
of martial law d? Our masters will have no in
ducement to stability and order for the present
and no hope Of continuance in the future, no
rule TO work bv. and no law TO restrain them.
Without any established accountability to law,
and without any fear of punishment for their
misdeeds, except al the caprice Of higher tyr
amy than their own, ours will be worse than
any hereditary despotsm can be, for ours must
be continually changing from one master to an
other. 1t will be de8potism multiplied by re-
publican forms.
Such, then is martial law, so eagerly coveted
by that class of Missouri politicians who are
now aboring to consolidate their accidental and
transient power, and who know right we'll that
nothing short Of despotism will serve their turn.
In different countries and different ages Of the
world, despotism has taken a variety Of names
and forms In some countries. the whole gov
ernment was military resting upon force alone,
and consequently whoever was master Of that
force was master Of the nation which It held in
subsection. and might r0e both alike by bis sim
pie orders, and it Is OF no Importance whether
we call those orders 10y the name Of firman, or
ukase, or decree, or ordinance; for, by what
ever name called, they all do but express the
will Of the commander. During the lime ofthe
feudal system ali Earope was governed by mil
irary power, and the sovereign ruler of each
particular rconntry-whetherk kayser, king, prince
or duke-was the head general Of the nation,
the commander-in-Chief of the army In such
governments as those no question can arise a.
bout martial law, for the ruler is already dcs-
potic, and speaks to his subjects, both military
and civil only IN the language Of command,
II martial law be indeed any law at ali--if
/! be a raIe Of action, binding upon any body,
any where. and at any time, it must have had
beginninq. 1T did not always exist here, and if
Il exist now, it must be because somebody en-.
acted If. Surely it IS the simple duty Of those
who claim it as the law over Missouri. and who
deprecate its disuse, to inform Us, the subject
people. how and when It began to exist here,
who imposed II, and by what pretended authoc
ity, and by what public act it is made manifest
10 the ensaved people. We demand Of them
the grounds OF their tyrannical assumption, and
t5ey are silent They leave Us 20 infer that it
noxiaus exhalation llom putrid bog, which,
as it floats away over the lands, taintS the vital
sir, and Is seen and known only in the fail Of
IT'S victims.
But if it should ever come to light (as posi-
bly, it may, for the dirty records of Missouri poi
itics ior the last few years must be scrut;aized)
that some acquisitive military man has presum-
ad TO declare, by what general order or other
wise, that martial law Is the governing rule
over this State, ny answer IS ready-he Is
usarpgr! Snch declaratiou divested Of official
form and yerb'age, and reduced to plain English,
amounts to this: s'This State, to be sure, was
made by law, and the people have hitherto lived
under the protection OF their own laws and the
laws of the United States; but that IS all chang
cd now for | have determined to abolish The
laws and 10 govern the people myself. And
this do for The good Of the people, who need
my protection, and | am the sole judge OF public
necessity and the only guardian Of public safe
tv :" Such an insolent dctation as this couched
in language ineligible to the people, would
shock The common sense OF every man who ever
conceived of civil liberty, and ever read the con-
stitutiOn Of his country, and could not tail to
rouse one universal feeling Of indignation a
gainst the crafty tyrant who tries TO disguise
and smuggle in his despotlsm, under the false
and indefinite name OF martial law. And al
firm that no soldier, high or low, has any shad-
oyy of authority thus 10 revolutionize the State
Still. it is a melancholy fact that there are
many instances in which military officers have
acted in the most absolute and oppressive man
ner. and many other instances IN which even
nrivate soldiers. taking courage from the lawless
FROM Ff,a .Y.f
of disciDline which is sure to follow the abTo-
CATION of law, have freely INDUCED in wanton
outrages both on persons and property, and rare
" if ever they are brought to condign punish
ment-
| cannot now, and here, dwell upon any Of
the many instances of wrong done to indIvidu-
ais by the military, high and low, in the spirit
of awless power. (Their turn may come here
afterl But | cannot }orbear to draw your at
tantion to certain open, direct, contemptuous
assaults upon the State itself, its dignity and It's
laws. 1t is but the other day since the meeting
of the convention, and, / believe, since 1t pass
ed that famous resolution in favor of martial
law. that the commanding officer OF military
district in the western part Of the State, Col.
Harding. sent an order TO the prosecuting at
torneY for the State, young Mr. Hyland, COM
maniing him to dismiss an Indictment then pend
inc in the State Circuit Court Of d county
The circuit attorney, it seems, had too much
respect for the State and its laws to prostitute
bis Office by yielding obedience 10 such an order,
and was imprisoned for bis contumacy. But
the circuit Judge, one bGr. Tut, was OF more
compliant temper. Intimidated, perhaps, by
the dragoon boots and long sword OF the bearer
of Col Harding's order, he sHccGmeed, and en-
tered upon his record the humlliating order ol
court, dismissing the Indictment. And thus,
publicly and of record, the laws of the land
| bowed in homage to the sword,
| Some time ago, year or more, case very
ike this occurred under the reign of Gen Fisk
He also suppressed an Indictment IN a State civil