Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-05-18
RUTLAND HERALD.
SATURDAY, MAY IS, 1865,
The Trial OF the Assassius.


cuscd by secret court martial. we en- |
deovorad to show that the government /
,r.,,,,al tl,. uuaisnutrd .
O"S"' W. w. .r.u
flSht OF hhal JuuSu'euV III NV '.~
The last number OF the New lofh Iiules |
has a very able and candid article on /
+bo sor,.. y,biaot and we think we can /
..,r,.igo 10 onr readers |
A0O Wv ..i..,,. ,,,,
thaH o5 puoh9"IH- a. '""~N
have room Tor. In Itply 10 Iht seN'iC
structures Of the World, it says
trt may relieve the World somewhat
+o know that Secretary Stanton is not
resnopsibIp for the trial of these prison
orc hef,rr. 81 military tribuual. Indeed
we balieve we ara nuitr rorrect in say
inc that Mr. Stanton has had COMPARE
+ivelv nttlp to do with the judicial ar
ronoanants of this case and has not
avaT road the Great mass of evidence
which came into his department. tend
inu to nrnve hpvond aU doubt that the
ossossinatinn of Mr. Lincoln was not
+bn oc+ of a few crazy individuals, but
ono i'm @ series of ms,rjIers pIahned nv
gioantic' and wide sDread Conspiracy.
9cfino i, the interest of the rebellion
end oinin,y f., rqn,at i'm this country the
enercbv and carngoa which have often
foIIoyed simitor acts i'm other lands
Tbo+ evidence +o0pthpr with that which
had accumuIatad in tba State Dpngrt-
mont was handed over to thp Jndoe
Advocate General the nroper officer to
take LEGAL ropuizanca of the case: and
IT, was upon he written rpnOrt Of Hon
Joseph Ho)t-stating his deliberate and
fixed conviction formed after careful
examination of all the testimony. that
the murder was the result of Conspir-
acy. and that this Conspiracy was most
formidable in its extent and in the prom
inence. character and resources of it's
Ieaders-that th, decision of the Gov
erument was based re WIS President
johnson. and not Mr.. Stantoa' Who took
action upOn this renOrt. Aftefa careful
discussion of the whole subject at a Cab.
met meeting. she President decided with
the concurrence of every member of his
Cabinet that public ;r:Stice and public
safety demanded that these AGENTS and
tools of the Conspiracy should be tried
bv military tribunal as for military
crime. They are charged with having
aided and ACCOMPLISHED the assasSina-
tion. in time of civil war, in a city forti.
fed and held by a garrison. of the Com
mander in Chief Of the Army Of the
United States. If that crime cannot he
tried nv onrt-martial what crimes can ?
If Booth had shot Grant at the head of
his troops. who would have dreamed of
demanding for him a trial under the
civil law. bv iury of the vicinage ,
Yet in what possible Doint doe, that
case differ in Dyincitle from the case
which actually occurred The assassi-
nation of Mr. Lincoln was the murder
of a military officer. in actual command.
during actual war. in a fortified Camp.
and for the purpose o. aiding the enc
my: what more was needed to give the
military tribunals complete coenizance
of the case
It is alleged in some Quarters that the
war was over when the President was
assassinated and that the laws and
usapes of npqce were therefore alone in
force But is this ouite truce To all
practical jntents the war was doubtless
over: but was il SO actually aud legal
Iy? Only portion of the rebel troops
had surrendered Our armies still held
the field. The procamati0n of martial
law-the suspension of the habeas cor
pus-were still unreyoktd. Garrisons
of troops still held the forts of Wash
ingtOn, and mounted guards patrOled
its streets. No peace had been pro
elaimed-the war was not in anv strict
or legal sense. at an end. The laws of
a place do not change with public opiu-
ion-still less with public hope. And
the laws Of Washington, when Lincoln
mas murdered, so far as the officers and
men of the armies were concerned, were
the laws of war. Is it worth while to
shut our ewes to this plain fact-to TO-
more and deny if for the sake OF giving
these assassins a civil trial and better
chance TO escane2
PuI IL Is Gtseu tha' Ihese IIlalS siloulu
t e ~ "'tI" % W , n,Glv 9aS'S'aC va.
oorId Io do1o ,rhoro c'j p"o'iC ~, - 'tias
go ,,,,i,,nr.,1 dasiro 20 Toad -, no rr
oondiro5 ,r +boso trioIs os +ba, c,d ~,