Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1865-10-04

from this assume that every person who is cit
izen of the United States whether by birth or
naturalization. hol Ids his great franchise by the
laws of the United States and Gbore me eontfo|
of any particular State. Citizenship OF the I nj
ted States is nteg al thing. incapable OF eXis
tence in fractional parts. Whoever, then, mas
that franchise. is whole citizen and CITIZEN OF
the whole nation, and cannot be such citizen In
State and not in another.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania agree
with Judge Bates in his definition of the
word ''citizen In 1st Grant, page 42f,
Judge Woodward says:
So was the word citizen well understood, as it
is now understood, TO mean human heng-a
natural person. capable of acting contracting, su-
ing and being sued without Legislative aids-a
person of whom allegiance is practicable, and who
may be guilty of treason.
In Penn. Law Jour-, p ll5, Van Metre
rs. Mitchell Judge Grler decides
No State Legislation can interfere with the pro-
visions of act of Congress. or protect from pun
ishment any one who may incur penalty pre-
scribed by such act.
Let us now ascertain who are Deserters
contemplated by the act of Congress taking
away the right of citizenship. The inquiry
is rendered simple by a reference to the act
itself and the law regulating the military
were alleged to be made This act was
in part as follows:
Section l2-After ordering a draft, this
section proceeds:
And the persons so drawn shall be notified of
the same within ten days therea fter. by written
printed notice, to be served personally or By
teaUing copy at the last place of reSfdsRce requi-
ring them to appear at designated rendezvous
to report for duty
SEC l3-* # And any person failing to report
after due service of notice as herein pre- scribed
wit furn nishi bSt itutp he
quired sum therefor, shall be deemed u deserter.
On the 9th of February, 1864, Congress
passed another law in which the powers and
duties of the board of enrolment were en-
larged By the 18th section this board was
authorized to summon witnesses. issue at
tachments, allow fees and mileage, admins
ter oaths; and heavy penalties were impos-
ed for false swearing in any case pending be-
fore this board. The next section reads
thus:
See l6-Tha. copies o. auy record of a Provost
Marshal or board of enrolment. any part here-
of, certified by the Provost Marshal. majori-
ty of said board of enrolment, shaH be aeemea art
taken as er'demce an any ctUaf or military court
in like manner the original record provide 4,
that if any person shall knowingly certify any
false copy copies of such record te be used in
any civil or military court, he shall be sabject to
the pains and penalties of perjury.
How are Deserters to be known? It will be
seen from the 10th section of the Act above
quoted that copies Of papers, duly certified
by the Board of Enrolment or by the Pro-
vost Marshal, shall be evidence. Under the
system regulating elections in Pennsylvania.
the judges and inspectors compose the tribu-
nal by which must be determined all ques-
tions (prin,a fdcie) touching the right to
vote Of all persons claiming the right of suf-
frage. From them an appeal lies to the tr-
bunals provided for the trial ofcontested elec-
tions- But tie board of judges and inspec-
tors must first decide. They must deter
mine whether the applicant is over or under
twenty one years of age; wether he is white
or black; whether he has or has not resided
within the State or the election district a
sufficient length Of time to entitle him to
vote. They must also determine whether he
is sane or an idiot or madman; whether he
Is a native Or foreigner, and if a foreigner
other question which may arise under the
law All this they do by examining wit
nesses and hearing evidence, as directed by
the law or as indicated by their good sense
There is nothing in this new duty, g rowing
out Of questions of desertion, more difficult
these duties. If the books of the Provost
Marshal or enrolment board show an indi-
vIdual to be deSerter, and he claims to be
innocent of the charge, he will have no trOu-
bic in producing papers or witnesses to show
that at the time of the draft made in which
he was drawn he was serving the country as
a volunteer, or that having deserted he re-
turned under the proclamation OF sixty days
amnesty and was pardoned, or show some
other legal defeuce twill be observed that
the person tchO left has district or has coua-
t3y to droid the draft, dad aChO 1cGs su5se-
Que1tly dra1on, and had notice left at has
ref l-Dp 1lIrc
| deserter as he who ran away after having
been duly mustered into the service.
The authorities already produced appear
| to be conclusive of the subject. But there
| is still another view of the question which
is equally decisive. The rightofexpatriation
has been recognized by the laws of nations
from very early period in history 1t has
been definitely and conclusively settled in
the United States that the right of election
| (choice of allegiance) exists in every citizen
This view is taken by Chancellor Kent >
Kent; SO, &c.
The doctrine is thoroughly discussed and
| fully establised by the Supreme Court of the
| United States in the case of Inglis u.s. Trus-
tees of Sailors Snug Harbor-3 Peters,
| 305; and also in the case of Shanks u.s. Du-
pont-same book, 395. In these two cases
all the authorities and decisions bearing
upon this question are fully cited and ex-
planned Indeed, it is now the well-settled
and undisputed law of the United States,
| that the citizen may surrender his right of
citizenship, or may withdraw or change his
allegiance. Our naturalization laws are
founded entirely upon the soundness of this
position. Pennsylvania adopted this view
of the law at an early period of her history.
In the case of Jackson Us. Burns, Binn,
So, Chief Justice Tilghman, in delivering
| the opinion of the Supreme Court, said:
The principle of the English law, that no
| man .o,,ld ava,, for tbo ,,,oe+