The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-12-23
washington Yev..

WARRINGTON, Dec. 22-In the recent
report OF Lieut.. General Grant TO the
President, giving his views of the feel-
ings OF the Southern people, he speaks
or the Freedmen's Bureau as an abso-
Lutte necessity until civil law Is estab-
lished and enforced security to the
freedmen in their rights and full pro-
lection, and said, in this connection.
that at present, however, it Is independ-
emit Of the military establ ishments of the
country, and seems to be operated bv
the different agents Of the Bureau ac-
cording to their Individual notions.
General Howard, Commissioner OF
freedmen's affairs, in view of the re-
marks of General Grant, to-day issued
an order calling the attention of the
Assistant Commissioner to that report,
and saying the most thorough inspec-
ton VIII at once be made and the evils
complained of be corrected. An order
nom the War Department made the
bureau independent of the military es-
adjustment, and any agent or officer
who presumes to act contrary to such
instructions win be forthwith removed
or reported to the department COM
mander for trial by court martial, and
IN all matters of a military character.
they are under the direction of the de.
partment commander in the same man
ner as an officer of engineers building a
fort in the same department who Re-
ports directly to the chief engineer.
Every assistant commissioner will con-
sequently seek cooperation with the
department commander and must keen
him furnished with all information in
his possession. His formal approval
must be secured, when possible. to All
orders and scirculars Issued by the
assistant commissioner.
In the United States Supreme Conrt
to-day, pending the case eIparte. A. II.
Garland, of Ark. ,tasking to be allowed
to practice as a counsellor, Hon. ReVer-
dy johnson delivered an argument
against the constitutionality of the
congressional test oath. There being
no antecedent Government, % our own
II is necessary to look to the Constitu-
ton itself to see when the powers were
originally conferred upon Congress-
Thls being stated Congress is authoriz-
ed to pass all necessary and proper laws
70 carry them into effect. These powers
are to be so construed as to effect the
OBJECT they are designed to accomplish,
1t is the duty of the court to ascertain
what this Island then determine whether
this legislation will defeat or secure the
end. a restriction to the class of per-
sons is, that. Congress should pass no
e1 post JGctO law or bill of attainder.-
The meaning of this Is well understood
10 pc, that any law Which makes an
act crime, which was not q crime
when the crime was committed, but the
law OF 1865 is e1. post Jdcto, in point of
fact, because 1t precludes the petitioner
from the exercise of a lawful occupa-
ton and strikes at aprofession in which
his hopes and ambition and the sun
port of himself and family are in
VolVed. The punishment is severe.
cruel and unexampled. It subjects
him to all the objection of the Constitu-
ton, while it takes from him ali its adj
Yantages. The original act of
1852 was not made applicable
to attorneys in the courts Of
the United States. Three years were
supposed to elapse when persons in
Congress, who may have been pecu-
l1arly sensitive, and who saw no danger
to every view, who had taken mart in
the rebellion, introduced bill apply
ing the provisions of the law to practic-
ing attorneys. The bill was submitted
to the Judiciary Committee of the SEN
ate, and by unanimous vote was re-
jected. It afterward, however, received
the sanction of the Senate. 1t was
passed for the purpose of excluding the
petitioners and all others similarly sit
uated, to prevent by excluding them
from the United States Court. 1t was
not for conduct subsequent, but antece-
dent to the passage of the statute. This
act come within the clear meaning of
the clause of the constitution that Con-
gress shall pass no ex post facto law or
Dill of attainder. No rights can be
taken up by law unless the accused
shall be first convicted of the offence
charged, and these rights include the
holding of office of emolument and
trust. The Attorney General had argued
last Friday that the admission to prac-
ttce in the courts is not a natural riDht
but is created by law, and therefore
may be regulated by law, and either
given or taken away; but it is not true
that Congress can, by law, prohibit the
appearance of counsellers in the Courts
of the United States. The Constitution
provides that parties charged with
crime shall have the benefit Of a conn
sci, and therefore Congress has no iuris-
diction over that subject. It is true
that every court is vested by
the common law with power
to make regulations to exclude imnron-
er officers, but Congress has no right 70
say who shall or who shall NOT oT1near
as counsel. The obligation which Ia
imposed on Congress TO create courts.
carried with it an obligation on the part
OF the courts to admit counsel. The
safety of the citizen depends on the ex-
istence of the provision for the admis-
sion of counsel. The preservation of
liberty demands, as illustrated bv the
history of the word, that there shoIild he
such body of men in all Revolutionary
struggles and despotism which have
disgr9ced the world. The accused had
been denied counsel. Congress- would
convert itself into a tyranny, If while
establishing courts, it would exclude
such a class of men. The act of Con-
gress under review compels a man to
swear against himself, while no now
er Is given to the court to INQUIRE into
the tacts. No man by the constitution is
compelled to testify against HIMSELF
The petitioner, with others, was in
volved in the effort to establish their
separate independence of the authority
OF the United States and resisted IL by
!eVylng war. The punishment for
treason anterior to the passage Of the
act OF 1853 was death or imprisonment,
out this act imposes an additional pen.
atty that persons then accused shall
not be admitted as attorneys in the
United States court. Congress. in 1860
passed a law saying that whenever the
President deemed proper he MIGHT
declare general amnesty, while The
constitution confsrs upon him the
and reprfeves. The pardon places the
recipient of it in the position he stood
in before the commission of the crime.
makes him new man andJdiyests him
OF all antecedent consequences. SIM
pose this law of 1855 had been made n
part OF the act for the punishment of
treason and the man committing the
crime had been pardoned, would IL NOT
also have exempted him from the
punishment for the offence, and pre-
vented him from being excluded from
practising as an attorney in the courts9
The court holds the matter under under
adVisement and has adjourned until
Monday next.
New York Market.
NEW York, Dee. %.
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