Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-12-14
LIMITATION OF TREASON TRIALS.

LIMITATION OF ThEASON IhlALS.
In the Senate of the United States on
Tuesday
Mr.. Lawrence reported bill to repeal
certain parts of the act approved April
80, 1890, for the punishment of certain
crimes against the United States The
act of 1890, he said, provided that no
person sheuld be prosecuted, tried or
punished for treason or other capital Of
lenses against the United States, unless
an Indictment for the offense should be
found by grand jury within three years
after it was alleged to have been commit
ted, and the purpose of the bill now re-
ported, was to repeal that provision,
which, if it were permitted to continue
in force, would soon be equivalent to
general pardons and amnesty for all
reasonable acts committed during the
rebellion. The only questions that could
arise upon the passage of this bill were,
first, as to its expediency, and second,
as to the right of Congress to pass such
a law. The House had ALREADY deter
mined that it was not expedient to de-
clare general pardon and amnesty, by
repeating the amnesty act of the first day.
of the present session, and he had no
doubt of the power and right of Congress
to repeal those portions Of the act Of 1890,
which, if not repealed, would soon be
equivalent to such a declaration.
This measure is so infamous that even
THAD. STEVENS, the very "buttcut of
original sin, thought it too bold and
bloody for his appreciation. 1t is prop
osition to enact an ca post fdcto law-to
override one of the plainest prohibitions
of the Constitution, for purposes Of ven
geance. 1t is contrary to law to punish
persons charged with treason after the
termination of three years from the COM
mission of the offepse. 1t has become
clear that acts of treason committed
before that period, cannot now be prose-
cuted and punished. Mr.. LAWRENCE
suggests the repeal of the act of April
80, 1870, that those who participated in
the late rebellion may be subjected TO
prosecutions. The Congressional report
proceeds:
Mr.. Stevens, Of Pennsylvania, obtained
the floor and said: Mr.. Speaker, /
approach with great distrust all bills of
this kind which are evidently brought
forward for the purpose Of ascertaining
how we can convict men whom we cannot
convict under the laws existing when the
crimes were committed. l do not be-
lieve that it becomes this nation, and l
do not believe that it is safe for the United
States to undertake to pass laws by
which we can or may be able to punish
men, however guilty by the laws existing
when the crime was committed. | am
afraid that the traitors in the South, if
tried under our existing Constitution
and laws, will not one of them be con-
yicted. | should never attempt to try
them for treason. i would try them as
belligerents under the laws Of nations
and laws of war.
After an interruption from the bloody,
Constitution.defying LAWRENCE, STEyEss
proceeded:
Now, although I.would not discourage
trials for treason, / mention this to show
that am convinced that none of these
traitors can ever be convicted of treason
under the present Constitution and laws.
and vet ] would rather let every man of
them 90 unpublished forever than to make
a law now by which they could be pun
ished. / think our Government would
be endangered in its future existence, in
is character before the world, by conduct
of that kind, more than it would by
enduring the evil.
Gid STEVENS, like all other men
has a streak of lean and streak of fat
He cannot swallow the proposition Of
LAWRENCE. He thinks the Government
would be endangered by going out OF the
Constitution and laws to punish traitors.
he admits that, SO far as charges OF trea-
son are concerned, the rebels of the South
cannot be punished unaer the Constitu-
ton and laws as they now are. To
change the law would be unconstitutional,
because the act would be er post .fdctO
Here, then, is the very highest
authority for stating that any prose
.cution of Southern men for
treason cannot be sustained. But while
he admits this much, he indicates
another method of arriving at his darling
purpose. He would try Southern traitors
as belligerents. This is absurd enough.
The principles Of international law rec
ognize no such trials After the men Of
the South became belligerents, it was
no more possible to try them than 1t
would have been for the allied powers to
try the French officers and soldiers In
taking this position, STEVENS has surrcn-
dered the whole question.
AMERICAN WONDERS.
One Of the greatest wonders Of North