Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-06-23
Regard 70 Trying Traitors.

olAhNk ~
Judge is necessary, but a jury is necessary;
and here arises a practical difficulty, how
can you obtain a jurya Sir, you know,
everybody knows, that when you impan-
mel a jury. by the decisions Of very many
of the Courts, by the decisions of Chief
Justice Marshall in the Burr trial, when
you call a juror upon the stand, and the
question 10 whether he can sit upon the
jury or not, the question is raised whether
he has formed any opinion based upon
newspaper reports or information or his
tory or rumor. II he has formed any
opinion, in the case he cannot cit on the
jury. That is the ruling Of several Of the
Northern States, New York, Massachu-
sets, Wisconsin, and others. Chief JUS
tice Marshall, in the Burr trial, ruled in
that same way. I believe those rulings
are wrong; but at the same time they are
the rulings Of the Courts upon that impor-
tant question. How, then, can it be cor
rectedi There is no way to correct il ex-
cept by q law which shall declare that
when jurors are called, the fact that Q
juror has formed an opinion based upon
public rumor, based upon newspaper re-
ports. based upon the history Of the times,
shall not exclude him from the jury-box,
provided the Judge is satisfied that not
w%ithstanding that bias Of opinion he can
still try the case and find q true verdict
according to the evidence. For six months
that bill, introduced by myself, has been
in this body with 9 view to try to avoid a
very practical difficulty, so that some Of
these men could be brought to trial.
Why, sir, let US take a practical case.
Suppose this, instead of being in the Sen:
ate Of the United States, was a court, and
your honor the justice presiding, and we
who are here present were all jurors sum
moned, and JEFF. Davis were here, and put
upon his trial, and the men here were
summoned one after another to the jury
box, and the counsel Of JEFF. Davis should
put the question to them, "Have you
formed or expressed any opinion upon the
guilt or innocence of the accused" what
would they snswers Is there an honest
man who would not be obliged to say that
from the history of the times, from news
paper reports, from his own information,
he had formed an ~opinions Suppose the
Senator from Nevada [Mr. Nyel were
asked whether he had formed an opinion.
He would be compelled to say he had. /
see he is not now in his seat. Suppose
the Senator from Michigan mfr. Howard
was called. He would be compelled, as
an honest man, to say that from what he
had heard about it, he had formed an
opinion that Jeff. Davis was guilty. What
would the Judge say under this ruling?
"Stand aside, sir" You would 90 on
from one Senator or juror to another
until the whole panel was exhausted, and
you could not get a jury at all. There 10
no loyal man to be found that you could
get upon q jury who had not formed or
expressed an opinion. Sir, you could not
get a jury at all.
Now, / ask the honorable Senator Mr..
Nye,l and those who stand with him, 10
il advisable for the President Of the United
States to put JEFF. Davis on his trial, when
you are sure you cannot get a jury; when,
II you put him to his trial he will DO &C.
ouittedi Which 10 the best policys !
wish to have done with this eternal
clamor and denuuciation against the Exc
cutive for not bringing these men to trial.
There 10 not, and there never was, and
never can be conceived q charge so utterly
groundless and without the shadow Of q
foundation ss this charge brought against
the Administration for not bringing these
men to judgment.
There is one point In the honorable
Senator'S fhft. Nye'sl discourse Of to-day
to which I call attention. There 10 ano-
Their point. he 10 denouncing the Presi-
dent for the exercise Of the pardoning
power. There are thousands and thous-
ands Of the men un~pardoned. Al tho
great leaders of tho rebellion are still lnpdr-
doned-not merely the Ave or six whom
the Senator would bring to judgment, but
thousands upon thousands. They are to
be found every where throughout the
South. II he can conceive a mode in
which TO bring them to trial, II he can aid
in bringing them to trial, he will perform
a better service, perhaps, than In denoun.
cling the Executive for not ~endeavoring to
do what is both impossible and absurd for
him to undertake to do in the present
state Of the case. The responsibility rests
not upon the Executive ; nor do l rest
under the responsibility Of this charge. l
have done all that I could do to secure the
enactment Of q statute which alone will
authorize any Of these men to be put upon
trial.
1. To- sometimes charged that the men
who were engaged in the military service,
the officers OF the rebel army, Gen. Lee
and others, might have been tried BY o
and executed. Who does
not know that the very terms OF surren.
der on which; the rebel soldiers laid down
their arms provided expressly that il they
went to their homes and kept the peace
and obeyed the laws and the Constitution
Of the country, they should not be dis
BY the military authoritiesi Who
does not know that when an attempt was
made to indict General Lee, and the ques-
ton was referred TO General Grant for de-
who made the negotiation with
him, that General Grant spurned the idea
that under the stipulations Of that treaty
General Lee was to be disturbed as long
as he obeyed the conditions of the stipu-
Isay again, Danish. from this SEN
ate, banish from every assemblage OF hon.
orable men this olsmor against the.Ad-
.inistration for not trying and executing