The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1865-06-21
preme Court, within the strict letter Of the

p10l0gTGph OF BOON, Sergeant Dye, II not
unlike oil other sergeants that ever tipped
his cap for an officer, must almost neceea.
lrIly have answered, aThat is the man r
The wrong Of such a system Of examina.
ton needs no lengthy explanation, but finds
/ all that is necessary for its condemnation in
the following grouping of the replies made
by Sergeant Dye, in reference to the identity
T Of one Of the prisoners, Spanglr. Spangier
is known positively by several witnesses to
have not worn moustache, but on tlie con-
trary, that his face was shaved, lip and chin.
g Will you please describe the several ar.
ticles Of his dress as nearly as you cant
Answer: / cannot particularly, il .sns so
dark"
did you notice the color Of his nous.
tache? Answer !: His moustache was
black M
"Will you lcok at these persons and see
whether you recognize any Of them as the
persons you saw on that occasion? Answer:
If that man (polnting to Spangler) had a
moustache, he has just the appearance ex-
actly Of the rough-looking man standing at
the end Of the passage; ii vas dark there,
and / could not see him distinctly, but be had
a moustache." i
The identification, in this case, was made,
not only exceedingly doabtingly, but il q
Iquestionof life and death, in manner IN.
worthy Of any consideration whatever. AT
| ter the questions and answers which We
have extracted here, the Court said: ~
understand gou to say that tie prisoner You
HAVE IDENTIFIED, Spangler, was the man. s
And Sergeant Dye, like all sergeAnts that
ever presented arms in acknowledgment Of
the sublime presence Of major general, not
to say the whole /" bench" and bar Of
generals, answered. g | say that is the coun.
tenance with moustache; that is The yeru
face" A very effective form Of exauiDa.
ton, truly, is that very extraordinary one
which has been adopted ID these worshipfal
I" Courts that high officer DIT tie Cabinet
declared to Senator Hale to be Z organized
to convict"
TIE sentence Of the assassination
"conspiraters" must not be made to
rest on their eyes or their looks, but
on their acts. And these acts mist
be established distinctly as in
court Of law, in referance to each Of
the convicted individuals severally.
The "bloody ass . which hts made
the memory Of Jeffrey eternaIly infa-
nous, is in q far way tooutdone III
atrcsity by the sharp and short pro.
Icedure now in progress Lefvre the
Military "Courp at Washington
osave time. that worslaipfal bench
of drumhead justices is determined
t, take very little pains to save lifel
The accused constitute a large nun.
lb rof citizens Of the United States,
land yet, in order to avoid tiresomo
from the judicial pother, are all
placed ulder s'trial' i'll a batch! Your
drurh-lead Justice if it be somd.
what defective in tie trifing formu.
laies that constitute, ii the womanly
tenderness Of liberty, tue safeguard
oi the life OF the citizen, is certainly
mot open to the change Of any want
of acertain kind of scut-throat vigorl
| Three hundred witnesses are, it is
st,ted, to be examined by the "Cat-
|o,line-tail Court which has usurped
the functions Of the Supreme, Bench
| in Washington. The proper sitting
of atestimony so extensive consti.
tues task that, in reference to the
cast Of even one prisoner, would re.
| quire no every day experience Of
criminal proceedings, no ordinary
power of perception and analysis.
but when that task is to be accom-.
plisfnd in the case Of a dock full Of
people, in the case of an indictment
|of ten individuals accused expressly,
land IF indefinite number Of others
contingently, the separation Of the
guilty from The innocen. become .
| task Of an acutoness Of intellect, an
exactitude Of training q clearness Of
Judicial perception which cannot, TN.
| der any reasonable superstition, be
foundinthe platoon shooting Justice
fof the drum.head.
| A constructive conspiracy seems
| theobject Of proof ip tho form Of tho
|prosecution Of Booths associates.
Nicely Of conscience or delicacy Of
judgement on tho part Of the Court
Imay be thus avoided in reference to
1.-THE discrimination otherwise nccessa-
]ryto even common decency in the
lease Of such an ENHANCEMENT Of eeYi-
dence, Military Justice finging
aside "thc balance Of that goddess
| in civil life,n is thus free, under the
form Of constructive conspiracy, to
Hack away blindf0lded, like Malay
lin muck" with her two.edged
sword. And SO, in these days Of hal
'lcyon peace, in the reign Of civil law.
1.-THE very shadow Of the Supreme Court
|of the United States, half dozen
men who have been flung to the sur
face by the up heavings Of g revolu-
!Ition, are about TO Horder private cit
liens to be shot or hanged ~ the
.sqnadl' q very pretty pass, truly,
has the boosted freedom Of American
|republicanism come to, when,, in this
] year Of our Lord, 1866, and Of the In.
dependence Of the United States Of
America, the eighty ninth, our fellow
citizens, guilty, Or not guilty, can be
marched out, q dozen at q time, to,be