New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-08-06
GENERAL sHER1DAN'S ORDER,

An order from General Sheridan, declaring
that martial law will be enforced as far as is
necessary for the preservation of property and
the public peace. appears in the newspapers
of this city. This is said to be q definition Of
martial law, as that peculiar kind of law exists
in New Orleans. II is to be regretted that the
definition is so very vague as to involve the
question in an obscurity still deeper than that
which previously surrounded it. Martial law
in its original sense is not very easy to COM
prehend as a system. Its very name presents
contradiction Of its character to the minds
of those who are accustomed to regard law as
a fixed and inyariable rule Of action, As mar
tia1 law reflects merely the uncertain will Of an
individual it lacks that attribute Of stability
which is an essential in the nature Of
law in general In fact, the only de6ni-
ton of it that can be given is that
it is the assumption and exercise Of su-
preme power by military commander" Ac-
cepting this definition and then modifying it
to meet the requirements of Gen. Sheridan's
order, we find that the kind Of martial law
now existent in New Orleans is the assunp-
ton and exercise, by military commander,
of the power to preserve the peace and protect
property" But in this sense martial law
exists, potentially, in every town Or village Of
the country in which a company of soldiers
NAV happen to be stationed. 1t is the duty of
military commanders to assist in preserving
the peace and protecting property whenever
an exigency requiring their intervention may
arise. But of that necessity the civil authori-
ties are to judge and hence the President of
the United States instructed the attorney gen
eral to call on the military for any assistance
that might be needed for suppressing tumult,
and thwarting the revolutionary andrebellious
purposes of the so-ealled convention of ga.
So far then as Gen Sheridans order tenders
the aid of the military in the contamination Of
these purposes and thereby in preserving
peace and protecting property, it is strictly
legitimate, and is, of course, not regarded with
disfavor by our people. The only extraordinary
part of the proceeding is that he should have
embraced this sort of military intervention in
any definition of martial law. That term has a
harsh sound and harsher meaning. By using
it in a connection in which it was not needed,
and indeed in which, being subjected to strict
analysis, it loses its essential characteristics
the commanding general conveys the impress
sion to the outside world that the civil author
tiles of New Orleans are not capable of preser-
wing order and protecting property. This is an
unmerited reflection on our people and our
authorities
The facts demonstrate that it is a mistaken
view of the situation. The city authorities,
on Monday last, suppressed the riots with an
admirable yigor and CELEBRITY, and quiet was
perfectly restored when Gen. Baird proclaimed
martial law. If no military aid was needed
in the midst of crisis which had stimulated
one portion of the community to the point of
Instruction and had deeply stirred the feel
ings of all of the white citizens, surely none
is needed when all the causes which led to the
outbreak are removed. We presume that a
conviction of this fact, which Gen.
Sheridan must have learned from an examina-
ton of all the attendant circumstances, has
induced him SO to modify the military status
that civil authority is not restrained in its
action, and that the ordinary course of JUS
tice is unimpeded