Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1866-07-07
te.rii sal.h IN thief Justice
(bnse,


liilnbist. haa wrfttgn q long letter
~ chief Justice Chase, the object ~
which IN ~ prove that Judge Chnse
has mo- right NJ all 20 Try Mr. Davis,
Iho letter IL too long ihr ~ tpcopy
entlro In our columns, thorcibra We
content ourselves with making some
vytracts. In the outset he snys;
"Chief Justice Chdse--My Dear
siir; | see that Jefferson Davis Is
40 bo brought before you Tor trial
believe you have not the right TO
try him; and ] hope you Will hold
nat Won have not --..-
Your court administer the con
rti,ution-not the law of war, But,
u.ithcr Jefferson Davis nor any of
his follow rcvolutionists are under
tho constitution: nor have they
bcan since the contest they embark
cd in became civil war, They are
under tho law of war--under the
law ofthc conqueror-as exclusively
rs would be Mexico, were it she, in
stead OF tho south, that We have
conquered. In saying exclusively,
do not forgetthat our government
al actions is to the contrary. But
tIiis hybrid action-this weak and
cowardly vascillation between the
constitution and the law of war
this dealing with the south now UNI
dcrt6e one and now under the 9th
er-proves nothing but its own abb
sardity. The south, il peace be-
tween her and the north is restored,
is again under the constitution. II
it is not restored (and hor on,rcp.
rcscntation in congress and our
troops in the midst Of her arc q.
mongst the things which prove it is
not then is she still under the law
of war;" r4-.
The Mobile Advertiser and Reg.
lister, from which we copy, says Mr..
smith then proceeds to argue most
conclusivcly that the late war was
not ~ mere struggle between. the
federal government and n band o!
''rcbels,' but that it was formal
we'll defined war between two d.
iacto governments-rec recognised as
such by the acts ofthe United States
government itself-and that the
south stands in the attitude. Of Il
conquered" people. Ilo cites. the
authority of Vattel, Hallam, Macau-
lay, Welcker and Lieber, to sustain
these positions. Licber---himselt
an adherent of the federal party in
the late war-says in an article
written while it was IN progress:
"No one incurs the guilt Of trea-
son by an adherence to q king or
government de tacto, although the
king or. government has but the
right of a successful rebel, and loses
all by a subsequeat'defeat."
Mr. Smith fortiies>his principles
by reference to the, aets>of the fcde-
raj government. during the war.
such ( blockadingi, the southern
ports, dkhanging prisoners with us,
negotiating for pcaces &c, &c.
He objects to the"pardons' grant
cd by president Johnson; 'Sincc
there was no treasen,' to- pardon,
president johnson. had no, pardon
ing to do. Pardons to southern
men are no more in place than
would be pardons to Englishmen,
had we conquered England. x =
Il X Nor is the objccting to treat
ing them as traitors, instead Of en-
emies in war, overcome by pardon
ing all but a few. Tho stigma of
treason should not come upon any
of them and the pardon butfastens
it, instead Of wiping it off. = n'
Mr.. Smith does us justice in
another respect, wherein there are
not lacking even southern men to
deny it, The reader, who is famil-
lar with the vituporation daily pour
ed forth in the halls of congress, as
well as in the columns of theradical
press, will scarcely believe that the
following is from the pen Of one of
the oldest and most uncompromis-
ing abolitionists: fli f''
"When vast numbers take a very
important step, it is not only rca-
sonable to believe that they think
they have much ground for it. but
it is also reasonable to believe that
they really have some ground for it.
And in this connection let me add
that if government is entirely just
towards all its subjects, it is hardly
supposable that any considerable
share Of them will ever be found ar
rayed against it. That revolutions
occur is to be ascribed mainly, and
we'll nigh universally, to the Unjust
ice ofgovernment. Especially ready
should be republicans who, by force
of their institutions and education,
honor numbers instead of worship
ping the few. to blame government
rather than the people. Especially
ready should they be to view with
charity a however great wrong,
where it is whole people who are
driven into t."
Again, with regard to the doctrine
Estate sovereignty and scorollary,
the right of secession - .e~a,.,,@
IL have admitted the plainscss. Of
the constitution at ono point. Its
lack of plainness at another and
most vital point is of itself a suffici-
ent reason why the south should
not be held for treason. 1t was not
slavery alone, but slavery combined
with thesdoetrine of State scver-
eighty, that brought on the war.
Since no small share of the states
men of the north and large major