The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-12-23

~ TELEGRAPH. :
Freeamsn's BursaH---Rsvsray Jshnsen
On the Test Oath. 81 = .
~ WASHINGTON, Dec. 22.
In the recent report of Lieutenant General
Grant to the President, giving his views Of
the feelings Of the Southern people, he spoke
of the Freedmen's Bureau as an absolute ne
cessity until civil law is established and en-
forced, securing to the freedmen their rights
and full protection, and said in this connec.
ton, at present, however, it is independent
of the military establishment Of the country,
and seems to be operated BY the different
agents Of the Bureau according to their indi-
vidual notions.
Gen. Howard, Commissioner Of Freedmen
Affairs, in view Of this remark of Gen. Grant,
to-day issued an order calling Aseention Of the
Commisioners to that report, and saying that
the most thorough inspection will at once be
made and the evils complained Of be correct
ed. An order from the War Department
makes the Bureau independent of military
establishments, and any agent or officer who
presumes to act contrary to such instructions
viii be forthwith removed or reported to De-
partment Commander for trial BY court mar
tial
In all matters of military character they
are under the direction of the Department
Commander, in the same manner IS an officer
of Engineers, building Q fort in the same De-
partment, who reports directly TO ths Chief
Engineer. Every Assistant Commissioner
will constantly seek co operation with the
Department Comsaaadsr, aad mnH keep him
furnished with I'll information ID his POSSES
sion. His formal approval must be secured
when possible 70 all orders and circulars is-
sued by the Assistant Commissioner.
It is stated that Gen. vanv valkenburg, of
New York, has been appointed Minister to
Japan.
In the United StaAss Supreme Court day,
pending the case e p0rte A. II. Garland, OF
Arkansas, asking % practice rs a counsellor,
Hon. Reverdy johnson delivered an argument
against the constitutionality of the Congress
ional test oath. There being no antecedent
Government 70 our own, it is necessary to
look into the Constitution itself to see what
powers were originally conferred upon Con-
gress, it being there stated Congress is au-
thorized to pass all necessary and proper laws
and to carry them into effect. These powers
are to be 50 construed as to effect the objects
they are designed to accomplish. 1t Is the
dutv of the Court to ascertain what this is,
and then determine whether the Legislature
Will defeat or secure the end. A restriction
TO this class Of powers is that Congress shall
pass no er post fdcfo law or bill of attainder.
The meaning OF this is we'll understood to be
that any law which makes an act a crime,
which was not CRIME when the oct was com.
mitted but the law of 1865 does punish in
point Of fact, because it precludes the peti
tf,.1 -f l. II
tion, and strikes at profession in which bis
hopes and ambitions, and support Of himself
and family, are involved.
The punishment is severe, cruel and unex-
ampled. II subjects him to all the objections
Of the Constitution. while it takes from him
all its advantages. The original act Of 1859
was not made applicable to attorneys in the
courts of the United States. Three years
were suffered to elapse, when some one In
Congress, who may have been peculiarly SEN
sitive, and who saw danger in every view.
who had taken part in the rebellion, intro
dueed q bill applying the provisions of the
law to practicing attorneys. The bill was
submitted TO the Judiciary Committee of the
Senate, and by aunanimous vote was rejected
II aftel wards, however, received the sanction
Of the Senate. 1t was passed for the purpose
Of excluding the petitioner, and all others
similarly situated, to punish by excluding
hem from the United States Courts. 1t was
not for conduct subsequently, but antecedent
TO the passage of the statue. This net comes
within the meaning of the clause I'M the Con-
stitution, that Congress shall pass no er post
facto law or bill unless the accused shall be
first convicted of the offence charged, and
these rights include the holding of an Office
Of emolument and trust.
Gv,ch lo~ hot rs
utes. The Attorney General had argued last
Friday that admission to practice in the
Courts is not a national right, but iscreated by
law, and therefore be regulated by law, and
either given or taken away; but II is not true
hat Congress can by law prohibit the appear
ance of counsel in the Courts OF the United
States. The Constitution provides that par
les charged with.'crime shah have the benefit
Of counsel, and therefore Congress has no
over that subject. II is true that
every court is vested by common law with
power to make regulations to exclude improp-
sr officers, but Congress has no night to say
who shall or who shall not appear as counsel.
The obligation which is imposed on Congress
20 create courts carries with it an Obligation on
he part of the Courts to admit counsel The
safety Of the citizen depends on the existence
If the provisions for the admission ofcounsel
rhe preservation of liberty demands, as illus
rated by the history of the world, that there
Ihould be such body Of men. In all revo.
utionary struggles and despotisms which have
1sgraced the world the accused have been
denied counsel. Congress would convert
self into tyranny if, while establishing
courts, it would exclude such class of men,
The sct ofCongress under review compels
/ man to swear against himself, while no
power is given to the Court to inquire into
he facts. No man, by the Constitution. is
compelled to testify against himself The
petitioner, with others, was involved in the
effort to establish separate independence of
he authority of the United States, and re-
listed it by levying war. The punishment
or treason anterior to the passage of the Act
# 1865. was death or imprisonment, but this
lct imposes an additional penalty, that per-
IONS accused shall not be admitted as Attor-
,eys in the Uuited States Courts.
Congress in 1862 passed law saving
whenever the President deemed proper, he
night declare general amnesty, while the
Constitution confers upon him the exclusive
,ower of granting pardons and reprieves.
The pardon places the recipient of it in the
position he stood before the commission Of the
:fime; makes him q new man, aud divests him
If all antecedent consequences.
Suppose this law of 1866 had been made
part Of the act for the punishment of treason,
md the man committing the crime had been
,Ardoned. would it not also have exculpated
lin from the punishment for the offence, and
prevented him from being excluded from
,racticing as an attorney in the United States |