Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-30
THE OF JEFF DAVIS

M
He VIII BE Tried Before fhe U. s. Cir
cult Court for TreasOn-AIfOrney
General Speed, General Rousseau.
John H. Clifford and WIN. NJ. EVarts
Retained for the GOVernmentA-Chas.
O'COnnOr and II. III. Gillette for b
Defense. -
The language lately used BY President
johnson, in an interview with the de4e-1
gates of the South Carolina Convention,
has added much to the grave interest felt
by the people at large regarding the fate of
JEFF. Davis. An unauthorized statement
to the effect that Davis would be paroled
on the same terms as were Stephens, Rea-
gan, Campbell and others, was published
Throughout the country, and fears We're
entertained by many that4hee chief traitor
would escape UNPUBLISHED. The remarks
Of President johnson on the occasion al
luded to have made it apparent that he Is
firmly resolved that JEFF. Davis shall be
tried. This determination of the Presi-
dent is not a sudden resolve, intended to
quiet the numerous memorialists sueing for
Jeff Davis pardon, but a conclusion that
he long since deliberately arriEedNt. The
question was thoroughly discussed by the
Cabinet in August last, and 1t was then
decided not only that the trial should take
place, but all the proper details for its
prosecution were hrranged.f 1t was ex-
pressly declared and understood hat the
purpose of tho Government in the pro-
ceedings to be instituted should not be to
satisfy any craving for vengeance, but
simply to pursue to its proper issue the
old and often declared policy of Mr.. John
son to "make treason. odious." The Pres
ident considers treason a crime, and trait
ors as criminals, and his. purpose is to make
the crime and the criminals as offensive in
the eyes of just men as more ignoble
crimes and less dignifed criminals.
THE cHARaE-TREAsON.
The prisoner is to be arraigned on the
charge of treason in levying war against
the United States, and the plan of the
prosecution will embrace no other charge.
All charges of completely with Wirz, &c.
are to be abandoned, and the purpose of
the prosecution will be to define the ma
ture of treason and fix its punishment. As
the Wirz trial was intended to reveal the
inhumanities of the rebel leaders, and for
ever disgrace the rebel Confederaey in the
eyes of the world, the trial of Davis is in
tended to make equally OdiOus the treason
which had bred such horrors.
1t is well known hat Davis claim;
that he cannot be tried for treason, on the
ground that his State had seeded and ht
was bound to follow her lead. His entire
defence would rest on the basis of thC
right of secession. Such a plea would
have but little force in view of the fac
that the late Constitutional Convention O.
Mississippi, the State which Davis repre-
sents, nullifed instead of repeating the &C
of secession, thus declaring that the Stat,
did not secede, and agreeing with one o
the great principles which President John
son early adopted and has persistently
maintained, that none of the Southern
States were ever. legally out of the Union
1t was also determined that the Wir,
trial should be the last trial by Court Mar
tisl. The trial of Davis will be before tn
highest tribunal in the land. 1t is no
known as yet whether Chief Justice Chas
will preside, but it is presumed that h
will.
THE TINE SET o THE RIAL.
AT the Cabinet session in August, whel
the details were arranged, it was decidet
that the trial of Davis should immediatel.
follow that of WiFz, but the long delays ii
that case may tend to delay that of Davis.
THE PROSECUTING COUNSEL.
The Attorney General was authorized
select three counsel to aid him in the pros
e%cution. Mr.. Speed is a native of tn
South, and it was decided that anothe
Southern andtwo Northern lawyers SHOULD
be retained. 1t was suggested that it wa
desirable that the army also should be rep
resented. The following attorneys wer
finally selected as the prosecuting counsel
Hon. james Speed, Attorney General o
the United States.
Hon. John II. Clifford, formerly Attor
ney General of Massachusetts,.
Major General Lowell II. ,Rosseau, mem
Der of Congress elect from Kentucky.
William H. Evarts, of New.York CITY
THE COUNSEL FOL THE Defence.
1t hos bae~~-IyrsuUUd nr seY erHlu month
past that Mr.. Davis had selected his conn
sci or had accepted the services of the fol
lowing gentlemen:
Charles 0Conor, ofNew York City,
Ransom H. Gillett, of Albany, N. Y.
1t is probable that the prisoner will him
self supervise, if he does not conduct, hi
defence.
THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE TRIAL
The trial of Jefferson Davis for treason
will be the most important criminal tria
which this country or age has witnessed
and will command universal attention. /
involves principles of the very gravest i'm
p%ortance and of vital interest to the exist
ence of the country as a unit. The decision
of the Court in the case will involve no
only the defining of treason and its pun
ishment but also decide by law the question
Qfthe rightof eeessiOn-aquestion alread,
negatived by the result of the war and tn
action OF the several State reeonstructiol
conventions. The trial will be the las
victory or defeat for the cause of the Union
The acquittal of Davis would indeed max,
treason respectable, as Robert Toomb
threatened it should be by reason of its for
~midableness, while his conviction will for
ever render the cause as odious as ever
Mr.. johnson could hope for.
A Radical Illinois View of Recon
uf.uu.a-