The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1866-08-04
Case Of JEFF Davis in Congress.
THE REPORT on THE SUBJECT.

THE REPORT or THE SUBJECT.
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom
was referred the Resolutions of the House
of Representatives Of April 9th and April
3Oth, 1864, instructing the committee to in
quire into the nature of the evidence impIi
eating Jefferson Davis and others in the as
sassination Of President Lincoln, and also
whether any legislation is necessary in order
to bring such persons to a speedy and impair
tal trial, if it should appear that there was
probable cause to believe that said persons,
or any of them, are guilty Of melting, con
certng or procuring the assassination of the
late President of the United States and al
so whether any Legislation is necessary in
order to bring said persons to a speedy and
impartial trial for the crime of treason, sub
mitted report to the House on the 9th
ult. The report is very long and contains Il
number of letters and documents belonging
to the official records of the late Conicdcr
acy, now in possession Of the War Depart
ment relating to what was termed the 'se-
cret service" of the Conftderacy.
With regard to the trial of Davis, the com
mitee are of the opinion that there are no
obstacles to n speedy and impartial trial
which can be removed by legislation. The
evidence in possession Of the committee
connecting jeff Davis with the assassination
of President Lincoln, justices the committee
in saying that there is probable cause TO be.
]ievc that he was privy to the measures which
led to the commission Of the deed, hnt the
Investigations which have been made by the
War Department and by the committee, have
not resulted in placing the Government in
possession of all the facts in the case. Tie
committee are of the opinion that further
investigation will result in full develop
ment of the whole transaction. The exam
ination ofthe captured rebel archives, though
not complete, has gone far enough to throw
light upon the gen raj policy OF the rebel
authorities, which in many particulars involv-
ed total disregard of international law, and
of the usages Of civilized war.
The committee in this connection give
detailed history of the course pursued by the
Confederate government towards slaves
found in the ranks of the Union army
Most of this is taken from the published or
ders of the rebel War Department. In sum
ming up this part Of the report the commit
tee says :-"'rhc declarations made and the
acts done in the pursuance of the dcclara-
tons are conclusive proofs of the brutal and
malignant feelings by which the leaders of
Il lad ,I,,rn Il
it not only possible, but probable, that they
would at once engage in projects for the de-
struction of the chief men of the republic
A considerable portion of the report of
the committee is devoted to the evidence in
the case of C. c. Clay, Jr. Clay's letter to
President Johnson, dated November 23l,
1868, is quoted wherein he denies having
been in Canada at the time of the assassina-
ton. This, the committee says, is shown to
be a falsehood, according to the evidence
before them. They say the falsity of the
statement goes far to show that he has some
reason for attempting to conceal the fact as
to the time when he left Canada and mas
much as the statement was made in order to
relieve himself from the charge contained
in the Presidents procamation it has "A
strong tendency to connect him Of compi-
CITY in the deed. A number of letters is
nroduced to show that Clay was in Canada
at the time, and also that he was the origi,
nator of the various raids on the northern
border of the United States. The first al
fusion in point of time made to the presence
of Clay in the South among all the papers
i'll the possession of the Government yet eX-
amined, is letter dated at Richmond, March
g. 1865, and written by H. l.. Clay to c. G..
Clay, Jr. The statement of Clay that hs
has never known any of the persons accused
and convicted of participating in the assas
sination of President Lincoln is shown tc
be false by the evidence before the commit
toe. Clay, while in Canada, acted under tho
following commission:
RICHMOND, Va, April 81, 1s64-Hon. c
c.. CLAY, Jr., &C., &c.-Sr: Confding spe
cial trust in your zeal, discretion and patri
otism, hereby direct you to proceed at one
to Canada there to carry out such nsruc
tons as you have received from me verbally
in such manner as shall seem most likely t.
conduce to the furtherance of the interes
of the Confederate States of America, whicl
have been entrusted to you.
Very respectfully and truly yours,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The committee says it is we'll establishes