Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-11-22
From the n. Y. World.
Amnesty and Pardon.

Inc GnlfIeentn section OF the act OF j ul
18th, 1862, defining the penalties of Treason
and insurrection, is in the following terms
60 The President is hereby authorized, at an
time hereafter, by proclamation to extend to per
sons who may have participated in the existin;
rebellion Ill any State or part thereof, pardon AM
amnesty, with such exceptions, and at such time
and on such conditions, as he may deem expedi
| ent for the public welfare %
The power to grant pardons is conferred
on the President by the Constitution, with
out any limit or restriction, and perhap.
the authorization contained in the forego
ing section of the Confscation act, was su
perfous. But evidently Congress did moi
! think it SO, or at least considered the cues
ton as open to doubt, or they would not
have made such an enactment. The power
of the President to grant pardons in indi
Vldual cases cannot be abridged by Con.
gress OF questioned by anybody but a
general amnesty by proclamation previous
to trial OF conviction, may seem to have a
different character. In one mode of view
ing it, it is repeal Of the law ordainine
the penalties. But the repeal of laws, like
their enactment, is properly Legislative
function. By a stretch of the pardoning
power, all criminal legislation might be
defeated, by the extension of executive
clemency to all offenders. Of course, the
pardonlng power was never designed to be
used for such purpose, but only to oper-
ate in exceptional cases where the regular
course of justice would be inexpedient,
The termination Of a rebellion is a case
calling for wholesale deviation from the
ordinary methods of criminal procedure -
Congress, therefore, took care to relieve
the President from any delicacy or doubt
about trespassing Oh their prerogative of
repeating laws, by expressly authorizing
him to pardon by proclamation, in advance
OF any trial, and to any extent he might
think eXpedlent. Soon after the close of
the war, President Johnson exercised this
power by publishing an amnesty which in
cluded the rank and file of the rebel ar
mics, and the great body of the inhabi-
tants Of the Southern States, but reserving
for separate and Subsequent consideration
certain enumerated classes, consisting of
officers of rank and men of wealth. These
he has since been pardoning at intervals on
their own application but it seems to us
that the time has come when he ought to
exempt himself from the trouble and an
noyance of such applications by a new
including everybody except the
very few individuals who are to be tried
for treason.
We cannot doubt that the President in
tends, and the country expects, that all, or
er or later be pardoned. If this is to be |
the final result, the sooner it is consumma-
ted the better. The persons yet unpar-
doned are the men of wealth, the men of
the men whose capital and bust
ness capacity are needed to relieve the
South from its industrial stagnation, and
renew its prosperity. How can these men
put their property to profitable uses if they
know not whether it is their own ? How
,an they sell plantations or warehouses
while the liability to confiscation prevents
heir giving title How can they borrow
money when the security they would offer
s subject to the same liability? The great
want of the South, for the revival of it's
prosperity, is the introduction of Northern
or European capital. But such ventures
Will not be made without security, and the
men who should naturally give it cannot
1ypothecate their property for the payment
)t loans so long as they are unpardoned.-
The cases are all SO nearly alike, the crime
s SO precisely the same, not differing at all
n nature and but little in degree, that there
s no good reason why every case should
'ece1ve a separate examination at the hands
II the President. A new amnesty procla-
nation for the Immediate relief of all class
IS, is one of the tittest things the President
could execute.
Another reason for getting this whole
business of pardons off his hands is, that it
enders the President obnoxious to DANA
sing charges by his malignant and unscru-
oulous enemies. The fact that there is
great body of wealthy men who could afford
o pay handsomely for pardons, exposes
nm to the suspicious of the captious. A
ltuatlon which a corrupt man would natu-
ally covet and could easily turn to great
~, oh |
hould not wish to be placed and yet, in
he present case, it is one which it requires
aore courage to abandon than to hold. If
he President had, at any time previous to
he elections, published such an amnesty as
re now recommend, the Radicals would
ave pursued him with noisy hue-and-cry
or his leniency to rebels. But the time
7hen such an outcry could do any mischief
) past, and the President ought at once to
elieva himself from all the embarrassments
esulting from applications for individual
ardons. They consume his time to no
urpose they delay the revival of South
rn prosperity and they afford occasions {
his enemies to charge upon him abuses
7hich may be practiced by the intercessors
trough whom pardons are sought. He
an act, IN most cases, only on the repre-
9ntations Of others, and it is impossible
lat he should know that their services '
ave not been bought. The very possibility I
brokerage of this kind, of which he can
now nothing, is sufficient reason for set
ng the Radicals at defiance, and preclu- t
ing all applications by complete amnesty. |
We deem it important that lie should 8
ubhsh such an amnesty now, before the !
leeting of Congress, lest that body should
epeal the section above quoted, and then {
eny the authority of the President to take |
ny further action. The Radicals want to S
eep the remainingcases, as the only means |
ley have left OF terrifying the South
lto a ratification of the pending, or some S
ther Objectionable, constitutional amend ]
lent. The President should promptly J
Ike this weapon out of their hands, His /
uthority to do so now is undoubted and t
for Congress itself has ex- {
ressly conferred it. If that permission |
aould be repealed, at the beginning of the S
ession, his authority would be open to !
uestion; and if, after repeal, he should t
ct in manifest defiance of the will of Con- {
ress, they might make it ground of i'm I
eachment. S
The Trouble not Over I'm Baltimore. t
A dispatch from Baltimore to the Herald c
Iys: