The Portland daily press., 1866-02-20

N'd eYaa Z .Fe WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.
To the Senate Of the United States:
have examined with care the bill which
originated in the Senate, and has been passed
by the two Houses of Congress, to amend an
act entitled An act to establish Bureau for
the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and for
other purposes" M .r.sNss sai, IA
Having, with much regret, come to the con-
clusionl that it would not be consistent with
the public welfare to give my approval to the
measure, / return the bill to the Senate, with
my objections to its becoming law. might
call to mind in advance these objections, aathat
there is no immediate necessity for the pro
posed measure" The act to establish Bu-
reau for Freedmen and Refugees, which was
approved in the month of March hast, has not
yeBi expired. It was thought stringent and
extensive enough for the purpose in view.-.
Before It ceases to have its effect, further ex-a
perience may assist to guide us to wise con-.
clusion as to the policy to be adopted in time
of peace. 1 have with Congress the strongest
desire to secure to Freedmen the full enjoy-
ment of their freedom, and their property, and
their ieItire independence and equality in.
making contracts for their labor, but the bill
before me contains provisions which, in my
opinion, are not warranted by the Constitu-
ton, and are not well suited to accomplish the
end in view. i'l'aS1'
The bill proposes to establish by authority
Of Congress over all parts Of the United States
containing refugees and freedmen. 1t would,
by its very nature, apply with the most force
to those parts of the United States in which
freedmen most abound, and it expressly ex-
tends the existing temporary jurisdiction of
the Freedmen's Bureau, with greatly enlarged
powers, oyer those States in which the ordi-
nary course of judicial proceedings has been
interrupted by the rebellion. The source from
which
Is none other than the President of the Unit
ed States, acting through the War Depart
ment, and the Commissioners of the Freed
mems Bureau. The agents to carry out this
military Jurisdiction are to be selected either
from the army or from civil life. The country
is to be divided into districts and sub districts
and the number of salaried agents to be en-
ployed may equal to the number of counties
or parishes in all the United States where
freedmen and refugees are to be found. The
subjects over which this military jurisdiction
is to extend in every part of the United States,
includes protection to all employees, agents,
and officers of this Bureau in the exercise OF
the duties imposed upon them by the bill in
eleven States 1t is further to extend over all
cases affecting freedmen and refugees, discrim-
mated against by local law, custom or preju-
dice. TO Hals s.5 a .-.s..l h. is
Ia the eleven States the bill subjects any
white person who may be charged with Ge-
pressing freedman Of any civil rights or i'm
munities belonging to white persons, TO impris-
Onment or fine, or both, without ever defining
the civil rights and immunities which are thus
to be secured to the freedmen by military law
This military jurisdiction also extends to all
questions that may arise respecting contracts
The agents who are thus to exercise the office
OF military judge may be a stranger, entire
ly ignorant of the laws of the place, and ex-
posed to errors of judgment to which all men
are liable. The exercise of power over which
there is no legal supervision but by so vast
number of agents as is contemplated by the
bill, must by the very nature of man, be at
tended by acts of caprice, injustice and pas
sion.
The trials having their origin under this bill
are to take place without the intervention of
jury, and without any fixed rules of law or ev-
idence. The rules on which offences are to be
heard and determined by the numerous agents,
are such rules and regulations as the Presi-
dent, through the War Department, shall pre-
scribe. No previous presentiment is required,
nor any Indictment charging the Commission
er of crime against the laws, but the trial
must proceed on charges and specifications.
The punishment will be not what the law de-
clares, hut such as the court martial may think
proper, and from these abutting tribunals there
lies no appeal, no writ of error to any Of the
courts in which the Constitution of the Unit
ed States vests exclusively the judicial power
of the country, while the territory and the
class of actions and offences that are made
subject to this measure are SO extensive that
the bill itself, should it become a law, will have
no limitation in point OF time, but will form
part of the permanent legislation of the coun-
try. et ae eye. ags u,
| cannot reconcile system of military jur-
isdiction of this kind with the worth of the
Constitution, which declares that no person
shall be held toanswer for a capital or other
wise infamous crime, unless presenfment or
Indictment of Grand Jury, except in cases
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the
militia when in actual service in time of war
or public danger, and that in all criminal pro-
solutions the accused shall enjoy the right to-
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury
Of the State or District, wherein the crime
shall be committed. The safeguards given by
the wisdom and experience Of ages, to estab-
fish as securities for the protection of the in
nocent, the punishment OF the guilty, and the.
equal administration Of justice, are to be set
aside, and for the sake of a more vigorous in
terposition in behalf OF justice, we are to take
the risk OF the many acts of injustice that
would of necessity follow from an almost
countless number of agents, established in
every parish or county in nearly third Of the
States of the Union, over whose decision there
is to be no supervision or control by the Fed