The New York herald., 1865-06-20


Of business, and from his intimate and thorough
acquaintance with the people of the State we
have no doubt he will secure thoroughly loyal
men to aid him, and that North Carolina will
be quietly and neatly reinstated in her proper
place as faithful and devoted member of the
Union.
The Argument OF senator Reverdy john
! SON Against the COnstitutionality Of
the Assassination Conspiracy Trial.
We have received a full report of the argu-
ment of Senator Reverdy johnson, of Mary
land, one of the counsel for Mrs. Surratt,
against the copstitutionality Of the military
commission assembled to try the assassination
conspirators. The report would fiji page of
the HERALD. We do not consider it sufficiently
interesting to publish in full at this time. Of
the evidence against Mrs. Surratt Mr.. Johnson
has very little to say, contenting himself with
the remark to which all well informed wit
- ,sscs are liable, that they seem to know more
o,,o,, the conspiracy than Mrs. Surratt herself.
of .h;. voman Mr. Johnson speaks in the high
est terms, being her counsel, and is warm
in his nrataA Of her pure, Christian cha
= 'kes no effort, k..rcyer.
to reconcile this char >'cter with the evidence
aueius, tor; but be asks she Court to
the government witnesses besause Mrs. Surratt
is such good woman. We hardly think that
such plea will suffice to secure her acquittal.
Mr.. Johnson's argument against the constitu-
tionality of the commission appears to us to be
presented at the wrong tine. If he proposed
to deny the jurisdiction of the court over such
offences and such offenders lie should have PIE
sented his argument before the trial began, or,
at the latest, before any witnesses were exam
ined for the defence. To common sense mind
Mr.. Johnson seems to have admitted the con-
stitutionality Of the court by appearing in it
during the trial, cross-examlning the govern
ment witnesses and producing testimony in
favor of his client. II will be remembered that
when one of the commission objected to his
presence in court Mr.. Johnson insisted upon
being heard as counsel. II the court had no
jurisdiction he might then have retorted that
he had as much right to be there as the COM
rnissioners, thus raising the point of uncon-
stitutionality and seizing an opportunity to
press his argument with greater force than it
can possibly have at present, when the evil
dence is all in and the prisoners, with one or
two exceptions, are already practically con
victed. By his delay Mr.. johnson has given
his argument the appearance Of a lame effort
to rescue his client from what he knows to be
o certain verdict Of guilty.
Dvested OF all verbiags and Of the count
less authorities and illustrations by which it
is supported, Mr.. Johnson's argument is sim
ply this: that the present military commission
is unconstitutional because ii conflicts with the
fifth amendment OF the constitution, which
provides shat "no person shall be held to
answer for a capital or otherwise Infamous
crime unless On presentmens or Indictment
Of grand jury, except In cases aris-
ing in the land or naval forces, or
in the militia when in active service,
in time Of war or public danger" Senator
johnson argued precisely this same point
against military tribunals before the Senate,
during n debate upon the night of I'd Of March
last a few hours before Mr.. Lincoln's reinaugu-
ration! Several of the radical Senator'S then sup
ported HING but the majority were agxnst him.
If, then, the military commission shall decide
that it is consttutionally convened and has
jurisdiction over the prisoners at the bar, il will
be sustained by no less a body than the Senate
Of the United States. The President of course
sustains it, since it was assembled by his order.
When we consider that the victim of the assas-
sination was the Commander-in-Cbef OF our
army and navy: that the assassination occurred
in city then under martial law, and encom-
passed by forts and sentinels; that the assas-
sins are proven to be the agents of; eonspi-
racy Of which JEFF Davis was the head; that
these agents were the representatives and in
strumen.s of an armed rebellion, in whose
service and for whose iAterest they acted, and
that blank rsDel commissions had actually been
provided for some of them, we zee that the
Judge Advocate General will have no difficulty
in showing that their case is fully covered
by the constitutional amendment which Mr..
Reverdy Johnson quotes. The people, who
are, after ALL the supreme arbiters, arc already
satisfied, not only of the guilt of most Of the 40
cused. bat Of the constitutionality ofa tribunal
which has proven more eficacious than any
civil court conld possibly be in tracing all the
ramihcations Of a gigantic conspiracy, anG in
sweeping aside all those quihbles by which
such pettifoggers as Sanders aad Company al
ways cndeavor to defeat the ends of justice.
The CRoPsy-From all parts Of the country
we receive encouraging accounts respecting
the crops. Despite the immense drain upon
| the labor Of the country, made necessary by
the war, a greater breadth of soil than usual in
the Northern States has been devoted to agri-
cultnre. In. the Southern States the total over.