Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-06-08
R.,Dse,,pu tho Trial OF Rebels.

mass they nave Deen punlbneu' 4ahe tne
States and the people of the States that
have been engaged in this rebellion-l
speak Of them as q mass-and they have
already been punished sufficiently to sat
isfy q sense of justice when considered by
any wise statesman or by any just-think-
ing man. That there may be individuals
who have been most deeply engaged in
this rebellion who still ought to be prose.
cuted and brought to trial and punished
for their great crime, I do not doubt. For
more thar six months there has been pen
ding in this body a bill introduced by
himself) to enable the Courts, which
alone can try these offenders, to obtain
jurors which are necessary in order to
have q jury at all.
I am sorry that the honorable Senator
from Nevada (Mr. Nye) has left the
Chamber, for after putting to me so many
pointed questions I desired to put some
to him. I put this question to the Sena-
tor, and those who sympathIze with him
how many do you wish to hangi An
wer the question, Sir, the men who are
continually %denouncing the Executive for
not prosecuting and hanging the leaders
of this rebellion have never yet yentured
to say, and they will not undertake to
say, that this Government could or should
or ought to 60 into O wholesale prosecu-
ton against those who. have been engaged
in the rebellion. A very few prosecutions
would satisfy even those who are the most
determined and bent upon the prosecu-
ton Of those who have been engaged in
the rebellion.
Is the Executive at fault for not enter
ing upon the punishment of those men ?
How should he punish them Should he
order their execution without any trial?
I am sorry the Senator has left his seat,
but I wish to deal with him frankly. l
wish him to answer that question. I ask
those gentlemen who sympathize with
what the Senator from Nevada, Mr..
Nye.1 has said, and denounce the Presi-
dent for not bringing these men to punish
ment, do you propose that he shall exc
cute them, as Commander in Chief Of the
Army, without triali Is there o man in
this body who would undertake to say
that ? Is there n single man on the
floor Of this Senate who will soy that the
President of the United States ought to
take Jefferson Davis, or any other person
engaged in this rebellion, and order him
to be shot or hanged without trial
There is not q man, with oil this denun.
citation Of the President, that dare stand
up and say it.
Then the question arises, how are they
to be trieds Some, perhaps, will say by
q court-martial or o military commission.
The Supreme Court have decided thai
civilians not engaged in the army cannot
be tried by O military commission or
court.martial. What then, are you going
to do about it If the President, under
these circumstances, should order q court
martial to try men who are not in the
army, and condemn them, and sentence
them, and shoot them or hang them, the
President would be guilty Of q high mis-
demeanor in the violation Of the Constit0-
ton of the United States. How, them are
they to be triedi They must be tried in
the tribunals Of justice. They must be
indicted; they must be brought before a
court ; they must be arraigned and tired
as other men are tried for the commission
OF ofenses. I see that my honorable friend
from Nevada is now present, and I desire
to put the question to him, how many
would you try, and in what manner
would you try them' By military COM
missions OF. in court?
Mr.. Nye-Do you want me to answer
now?
Mr.. Doolittle-I do.
Mr.. Nye-If the Senator viii give me a
day or two to make up q list of the num-
Der that I would have hung. I will do il
with pleasure. I cannot name them now.
MIR. Doolittle-l do not ask the gentle
man to specify the names /; how many, in
round numberss OBS
Mr.. Nye-I would hang enough to
fulfill the assertion of the President that
treason should be made odious.
Mr.. Doolittle-How many, in the opin-
ion Of the Senator, would be necessary
Mr.. Nye-Five or six.
Mr.. Doolittle-Very well ; that answers
one question. Now, I ask the honorable
Senator, in which way would you try
them BY o military commission, or court.
martial, or would you try them in court ?
Mr.. Nye-I want to answer that ques-
ton two ways.
Mr.. Doolittle-I should like to have a
direct answer.
MIR. Nye-I should not have kept them
until this issue had arisen as to how we
should try them. I would have hung
them then. III had had my way I would
have hung JEFF. Davis, no matter how ]
tried him. When the two great armies,
that of General Sherman and the Army Of
the Potomac. were mustered out in this
city, I would have had them formed in q
hollow square and hung him there, and
the world would have said amen. I sup
pose now we shall have to try him by
law.
Mr.. Doolittle-That is the answer oil
the Senator. simply desired to get his
opinion. His answer is, that he would have
ordered JEFF. Davis to be executed with
out trial in the presence Of the discharged
soldiers of the Grand Army Of the United
States. Mr.. President, I undertake to
say hat such O proceeding 40 that on the
part Of the President Of the United States
would be held to be murder by all the
enlightened judgment Of the world.
But the Senator now goes further, and
SAYS that inasmuch as he was not executed
without trial, executed and tried after
ward. 1t has gone on 50 far now that he
thinks the proper mode Of trial is to try
him in q court Of justice according to law.
We have advanced to that point in the
argument. His opinion 10, and we may
understand, Notwithstanding all this de-
nunciation by the Senator Of the President
for not furnishing these traitors, that he
would now have Ave or six Of the leading
rebels Of the country tried. and tried 10
court according to law. Sir, how will
you do iti Can you try them in q court
If the Judge will not sit and hold it, Has
not the President for months been urging
upon one of the justices Of the Supreme
Court, within whose jurisdiction JEFF.
Davis is, that he hold o court so that he
can be tried; and has not the judge re-
fused to hold the court upon the pretext
that he desires the question to come before
Congress, for its action in some shape, be-
fore he assumes to do it?
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