, 1865-06-14

late az his means OF success upon the mise
lies he can iDi1ct On his ncighUors Eo have
little respect, aud If VIC pleed for the life OF
afr. Jefferson Davis. 1t is not Tor any esteem
for his motives or sympathy with hts charac.
ter. It is purely In tue cnusc apd for the credit
Ct the American Union that We urge Its
stsh s:ntn, It there Is get time. to consider
nsain aud sga'n the extreme lmpo1icy OF she'd
ding the blood Gf a Mau whom q little sue
cess onld hare transformed from an att4Int-
ed traitor intu something very like euccess.
full monarch. The stake has bten played fair
ly, it has been lost entirely, and The VICTOR
should be content with his Success.
Orc0urse 1t L. quite possible for q govern
ment able to put Its own Interpretation on
tile Constitution, which the sword has estah-
Gshees, to dec1srr Mr. Davis md all who have
acted with him during the great civil wnr,
tion as an unsuccessful attempt 10 separate
two sovereign States. We cannot, however,
help feeling that It is more In accordance
with The disposition Of the present President
to rule every point in his Own favor, and to
trent any attempt to break up conicderacy
a q 1ebelllon aggainst the. government: Of a
lawtnl sovereign. Eeen If this be his view,
We venture to propose to him our own exam
pie. We had rebellion in 1915 IN Ireland,
But we disdaintd to dip our hands in the
blood Of the Rete's. We parloled Smith
OtDsftn, and Mitchell, and MeaShtr. In their
case there was no difficulty IN ascertainiug
the Law; the crime was perfectly well known,
capital punishment Of Charles l., wh1terer
people may think Of it now, was undou3ted-
~ great mistake, and probably one Of the
principle causes Of the long aud rcary period
during which we had to wait before the ac-
compItshment Of cur liberties was finally at
tsined. Equally impo1ittc was tbs execution
Of Louis XVI. Had ne seized Washington
IN the earlier days Of the Revolutionary WEI,
We might have considered ourselves Justified
In executing him as deserter, for he had
once borne The Rings commission. But long
before the end Of lAe war We had learnt to
know him and respect him, and had he fallen
Into our hands LIE would have been consider
I'd entitled to all courtesies due to generous
and nob1e-1uindcd adrerknrT.
All this Is, OF eoaise, written on The suppo-
sItinn, the Truth Of which xe do not for mo-
DGnt doubt, tint 1t Will be found impossible
TO connect Mr.. Davis in any VAT With the
at aocloua plot for tho ASSASSINATION Of Mr.
enormous GRIM, and, II It be possible to chow
that Mr.. Davis was cognIzant Of it., We hAya
nothing TO say In has defense. We desire
only to take the first opportunity Of repre-
sen1irs bow enormous would b. tho gnstt Of
ccnn1encing prescription which would give
The tone to all political contests In America
for The next century. We do not doubt that
the punishMent OF death has It's uses, bns
they arise when 1t Is employed really as
punishment, and not as IN act Of vengeance.
Wise conqueEers make as few martyIs as pos
t'l1e, and for one cause that has suffered by
too great lenity It Is easy to point out hun
drtd that bare been tuiped by too much
severity. Punlshuacnt is for the violation
Of municipal law. The man who Ia able to
6tt up government ard carry on a trem:n.
1Dus conflict for four yesrs has elevated
himself beyond 1he reach Of nero criminal
Tsn mi n n I'll ON In
dictment against nation. and on Mr.. Jefer-
son Davis were concentrated the hopes and
the feelings Of bsaye and most unhappy
people. Modern Europe Affords but one pre-
cedent for caplt4i punishment in such ase
the treatment Of Poland by Russia and
that precedeD. Is not one to encourage {mtta-
lion. When people rise for common OBJ
Iect thEy ars not likely to be deferred by the
prospect of individual punishment, and when
pun samt Mt ceases to deter 1t ceases 10 be
iesniIatlc.
NJ F;e 'hs s5 Da'z z,,7;s Sss; ~ e
the Law, and We alncerely wish that he may
1nd moie consideration tban be showed tor
his fellow corntrymcn. Now that he Is
taken We can only repeat what We said ten
days ago-tbat ne cannot see Hhat the G3v-
e1nment or people Of the Union gain BY his
than any that an earthly tribunal can p7o-
nounee+ The halter eau do nothing to make
the rebellion more infamona. The Govern
me1t Of the United States is warranted In
doing everything to e1tirpate the deep seated
Ti.rds - we, r,,, 49, y Iii ia1 s;do al
the1,Ht - tuas ~ ~ - -
tnnt nttG :! -1aJa ai.u tIaa 70 70 ~ ~
.s.s. Ell "i9 tIs 1puu'u ~ tgu ;" t ~
charre which las hecn hrnnght aaninst 3fr.
Davis Of compliclty with The c9rspsfators
srainst Mr. Lincoln Is another matter, and q
Government that might be content to let
traitor escape with q slight puniahment
would be bound to visit partIcipatiou in
murder with the heaviest penalties,
Without knowing ppon what
EVIDENCE Jndns Advocate Holt
adyised the issu:n9 Of President Johoson's
procIamatipa containing tic charrc-and the
authority Of The Ne,o Yerf EEprcsi ID not sui:
wjthi31awp--wo can only express hone that
If 3Ir. Davis responsfnility for Booth's cfime
Is ouly legal and technical, that is 10 Bay, If
be has given some conamissIon to The con-
spsratois, under which they hare proceeded
to acts that were never couttnplstcd at
Riehmcnd, the Government Of the United
States will look only 10 the substance Of his
cfense, and rcEtnin from pushing the Law to
extremes, Let Linn be held in safe custody,
If there is the least danger that his liberty
might coat single life, as, for instance, in
rrolopeiug the Eat In Texas hut when q
CGmIlRfG G8Ei0cA110n UAA t8kA0 0t1CE% B QF0-
kcn and ruined man can do no harm to the
Republic. We earnestly trust tt1at In this
case the Government viii as; Ire {, the noble
virtue of clencrcy, follow m 1dctate couu-
sells, and cons;der less The dcmerits Of Its fal-
len and captive enemy, than lts own dignity
and honor.
rr,o, aro,do,p pos, x,ve7,
r4 le.gn ns Lc1uun 4u,1,! TUT, S ~ ~ r.
tne pistol SPOT o. Wnses boo1n stlasS i Ms.
~ ssnseess a. ~ vy oen. tt mnsn
nS H. 1,iex .thin 9er 1onr inn@ az ha haJ
~ ~ 1os tsss - % rnteata ea ~
n,nTT the cnf,,e nj Eo11d au3 ~ he AZ tsot eq -
re1Ic5re 4he re,r 4sh;a,' 4 pron1d - bava hean
hrnnrhf hv .f3s c,,,saiens,sasa ~ ~ ,,aIne<
ne11njtted II cnn nsste ihe 11orb wbicb 81 @ he hsi
Ia a1i annea5snret 6ronoht a ~ nsa- % ~ rnr
c1usiona But the fate ~ the ~ Ganfede,ate Ip i r
President Is tar worsr. Eiectsd 80 1ha GhIar
Mariafrnto If six millions If nannie he
achtcycd fo1 himself and for thrm. dnfinr the
period ia which he held his htch Office. a famn
IN nreserce If WhIch that 81 hfs Northern
r3r1f must pase. In the space of a few shnrt
ycara nr ,ieIncd tn found n rennfiic xsh1ch
1;ssessed within Itself iii tic elemcnts ~
comnercja1 strength and political Greatness
and which. but for the md Wing animoslty al
foes vhose prowess proved Irresistible. wouid
probably 10 time Lave become one of the
most powerful commonwealths in the world,
IL :.