Columbia democrat and star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1867, 1866-04-25

bare thought of such an insulting outrage
upon the liberty and law of his country In
the war oflS12, the man emphatically called
the Father of the Constitution was the SUI
preme Executive Magistrate. Talk of peril
Gus times there was the severest trial this
Union ever saw.
That was no halforganized rebellion on the
one side of the conflict, to be crushed by the
hostile millions and unbounded resources of
the other The existence of the nation, was
threatened by the most formidable military
and naval power then upon the face of the
earth. Every town upon the northern from
tier, upon the Atlantic seaboard, and upon
the Gulf coast was in daily and hourly dan
ger. The enemy had penetrated the heart
of Ohio. New York, Pennsylvania, and
Virginia were all of them threatened from
the west as well as the east This Capitol
was taken, and burned, and pillaged, and
every member of the Federal Administra-
ton was a fugitive before the invading army.
Meanwhile, party spirit was breaking out in
to actual treason all over New England
Four of those States refused to furnish a
man or dollar even for their own defense.
Their public authorities were plotting the
dismemberment of the Union, and invidu-
ais among them were burning blue lights upon
the coast as signal to the enemy's ships.
But in all this storm ofdisaster, with foreign
war in his front, and domestic treason on his
flank, Madison gave out no sign that he
would aid Old England and New England to
break up this government of laws. On the
contrary he and all his supporters, though
compassed round with darkness and with
danger, stood faithfully between the Consti-
tuition and its enemios
ITO shild it, aud it perish there too"
The trainers of the Constitution and all
their cotemporaries died and were buried !;
their children succeeded them and contin-
ued on the stage of public affairs until they,
too,
Lived out their lease Of if and paid their breath
To time and mortal custom -
and third generation was already far on its
way to the grave before this monstrous doc
trine was conceived or thought of, that pub
lie officers all over the country might disre-
gard their oaths whenever a war or a rebel
lion was commenced.
Our friends on the other side are quite
conscious that when they deny the binding
obligation of the Constitution they must put
some other system of law in its place.
Their brief gives us notice that, while the
Constitution, and the acts of Congress, and
magma chortd, and the common law, and all
the rules of natural justice shall remain un
der foot, they viii try American citizens ac-
cording to La,c Of the nations But the law
of nations takes no notice of the subject
IF that system did contain a special provi-
sion that government might hang one Of
its own citizens without Judge or jury it
would still be competent for the American
people to say, as they have said, that no
such thing should ever be done here. That
is my answer to the law Of nations.
But then they tell us that the lars Of icar
must be treated as paramount. Here they
become mysterious. Do they mean that
code of public law which defines the duties Of
two belligerent parties to one another, and
regulates the intercourse of neutrals with
both? Ifyes, then it is simply recurrence
to the law of nations, which has nothing on
earth to do with the subject. Do they mean
that portion of our municipal code which de-
fines our duties to the Government i'll war as
well as in peace? Then they are speaking
of the Constitution and laws, which declare
in plain words that the Government owes
every citizen fair legal trial. as much as the
citizen owes obedience to the Government
They are in search of an argument under
difficulties When they appeal to intema-
tional law, it is silent; and when they inter
rogate the law of the land, the answer is an
contradiction Of their whole
theory.
The Attorney General tell us that all per-
sons whom he and his associateseboose to de-
nounce for giving aid to the rebellion, are to
be treated as being themselves part Of the
are public enemies, and
therefore they may be punished without be-
ng found guilty bya competent court or jury.
This convenient rule would outlaw every cit |
zen the moment he is charged with poiiti-
al ofense. But political offenders are pre-
.isely the class of persons who most need the
of court and jury, for the prose
,utions against them are most likely to be
both in fact and in law. Wheth-
II innocent or guilty, TO accuse is TO convict !
hem before the ignorant and bigoted men
Who generally sit in military courts. But
his court decided in the prize cases that all
Who live in the enemy's territory are public
enemies, without regard to their personal
entiments or conduct; and the converse. ofl
he proposition is equally true-that all who
eside inside of our own territory are to be
reated as under the protection of the law
they helm the enemy tba1y ara ,,;,,,; ;,aI