Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-04-23
Meaning of the late Peace Proclamation.

Meaning of the late Peace Proclamation.
The letter of Assistant Adjutant General
TOWNSEND in reply to the enquiry of Brigadier-
General DAVIS TILsoN, stationed at Macon,
Georgia, in regard to the effect Of the Presi-
dents Peace Proclamation, has attracted much
attention. The correspondence is as follows ;
AUGUSTA, GA, April 10.
" Major General HOlrard
Does the Presidents Proclamation remove
martial law in this State If so, General Brannon
does not feel authorized to arrest parties who have
committed outrages on freed people or Union refugees.
Please answer by telegraph. DAVIS TILsoN,
"Brgadier-General Of Volunteers.
ITO this the following answer was sent to-day
by direction of the President
WAR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON CITY, April H.
" The Presidents Proclamation does nor rem0rc
martial lGlg, OF operate IN any way upon the
Freedmen's Bureau in the exercise OF its legitimate
Jurisdiction II is not expedient however, to resort
TO military tribunals in any case where justice can
be obtained through the medium Of civil authority.
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant- General"
We have been frequently asked how this an
swer of Assistant Adiutant- General TOWNSEND
is to be Interpreted The enquiry is specific
in reference to the arrest Of parties commit
ting outrages on " freed people or Union refu-
gees" The answer, we suppose, must also be
regarded as specific, and as limited to the issue
raised. Thus interpreted it would mean that,
as TO the Freedmen'S Bureau, martial law has
not been removed. This bureau was created
by act of Congress, is sustained and operated
bv the military, and stands for one year from
the official PRONUNCIATION Of the end Of the
war. This Interpretation would consist with
the opinion expressed by us in an article we
published on the proclamation when issued
We said &" One anomaly will continue for a
year from the date of this prOclamatiOn-the
&" Freedmen's Bureau. But it must be borne
" in mind that this does not relate to martial
" law in the ordinary Specification Of those
&" words. 1t is organized for special and pc
" culiar object, is composed Of army officers,
" and is in the nature of military police
" This bureau was established by the act of
" March Sd, 1865, Ito continue during the pre-
" sent war Of rebellion, and for one year there
{" after"
1.-THE letter to which we refer is not to be so
construed, We are at loss to reconcile it to
the plain terms of the proclamation. Some
uneasiness is felt on the subject in the South.
more on account of the manner in which il is
treated by the Radical press than by anything
contained in the paper itself. As a specimen
Of this, We extract the following from that
bitterest Of all bitter-mOst radical of all radi-
cal journals, the Chicago Tribune. Says that
paper:
The instructions which are now being issnad h,
the President through the War Department. Geners
Grant and the Freedmen's Bureau, to miii,Srv an
civil officers at the South to the effect that the Presi
dents peace proclamation does not restore IN,
ha6eas cOrpHS, nor end military authority, mo-
affect the duration continuance Of the Freedmen
Bureau, nor place the civil above the militar
mower nor recognize the Johnson pocket" Gov
eminent American States, nor restore trial b
Jury, nor declare peace, nor any other OF the man
fold effects which were at first attributed to til
short that said proclamation is null and void-ar
highly satisfactory TO the loyal people These IN
structions fully accord with the views we have froT
the first expressed Of said proclamation. We de
nounced il as utterly void, and the President MOI
issues instructions that il be 80 regarded" W
insisted that Congress alone had the power, By tn
Constitution, to declare war and, consequently .
declare peace that Congress alone had the power
authorize the suspension Of the hGbeGs o0rPuS, an
consequently by its restoration after being suspended
that Congress alone had the power 20 admit new
States into the Union and consequently to ADM
the eleven seeded States, al Of which come wit
wholly new State Governments having no identit
with, and deriving no authority from the old
Hence that a proclamation Of the President issue,
without the authority Of Congress, aiming to accom-
plish all these purposes, Is null and void.
"Of course il would not do for the President % il
sue new proclamation amazing the former, fer tina
would be honest and being So would conflict wit
his settled principle oftakng no step-forWaEd. Bu
we can all see that that would have been the NOR