The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1866-03-01

charges ana speclncntlOns. 1hcl|
punishment will not be as ,helaw
declares, but such as court mar
tial may think proper; and from
these arbitrary tribunals there lies
no appeal, no writ Of error to any
OF the courts in which the Consti !
tuition OF the United States vests
exclusively the judicial power OF
the county, while the territory and
the class of actions aud oilonses
that are made subject to this mea.
sure. arc so extensive. The bill /
itself, should it become q law, will |
have no limitation in point of time,
but will torn part of the perma.
ncnt legislation of the county. II
cannot reconcile q military iuris.
diction of this kind, with the words
ortho Constitution which declare
that "no person shall be held to an
swer for a capital or otherwise in.
famous crime, unless on a present
mcut or Indictment of a Grand Ju.
ry, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the mi
litin, when in actual service, in
timc of war or public danger" and
that "in all crimina! prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy tho right
to n speedy and public trial by an
impartial jury of the State or dis.
trict wherein such crime shall have
been committed" The safeguards
which the wisdom and experience
of ages taught our fathers to cs.
gtablish ns securities for tho pro.
lection of the innocent, the pun.
ishment Of the guilty, and the
equal administration OF Justice, We
are to take the risks of the many
acts of injustice that would, of ne.
ccssity, follow from an almost
countless number Of ugcnts. cs.
tablished in every parish or coun-
ty, in nearly u thirl OF tho States
Of the Union, over whose decision
there is to be no supervision or con.
troll by tho Federal Courts. The
power that would be thus placed
in the hands of the President, is
such as in time of peace certainly
ought never to be entrusted to any
ono man. If it be asked whether
the creation OF such n tribunal with.
in q State is warranted us q rlea.
sure OF war, the question immcdi
atcly prcsents itself, whether we
are still engaged in war. Let us
not unnecessarily disturb the com
merce and credit and industry OF
the country, by declaring to the
American people and tho world ,
that the United States are still in
a condition Of civil war AT pres
ent there is no part of our country
in which the authority of the Uni.
ted States is disputed. Oftnses
that he committed by individuals,
should not work q forfeiture of the
rights ofsame communities. The
country has entered, or is returning
to Il state of peace and industry, and
the rebellion is is fact at an end
The measure, therefore, seems to
be rs inconsistent with the actual
condition of the country, as it is al
variance with the Constitution o.
the United States. IL, passing
from general con siderations, W,
examine the billin detail, it is opcr
to weighty objections. In time o
war it was ominently proper tina
we should provide for those VIII,
, were passing suddenly from con
, dition OF bondage to a state of free
dom. But this bill proposes {,
mako the Freedmen's Is1roa", es'
tablisbo od by the act OF 1865, as
''lonc of many great and cxtraordi
nary military measures to suppress
u Formidable rebellion q perma
nent branch Of the public admin
i stration, with its power greatly en-
largcd. q ..
l have no reason to suppose, anC
do not understand it to be alleget
that the act Of March, 1865, hal
proved deficient for the purpose to
which it was passed, although al
that time and for Il considerabl,
period thereafter, the Government
Of the United States remained un
acknowledged in most of the States
whose inhabitants had been in,
volved in the rebellion. u
! The institution Of slavery, for the
military destruction of which ths
Freedmen's Bureau was called in
to existence as an auxiliary, ha'
been already effectually and final
ly abrogated throughout the whole
country by an amendment of the
Constitution OF the United States,
and practically it's eradication has
received the assent and concur.
renee otmost of those States which
at any time had existed. am NOT,
therefore, able to discern in the
country anything to justify an apj
prehension that tho powers and
agencies ofthe Ffeedmen's Bureau,
which were effective for the pro
lection of freedmen and refugees
during the actual continuation OF
hostilities and of African seIyitude,
will now in a time Of peace aud az,
ter the abolition Of slavery, prove
inadequate to the same proper ends.
! If | am correct in these views,
] there can be no necessity for the
enlargement Of the powers of the
bureau for which provision is made
in tho billag 90 lLro9 gortya2
The third section ofthc bill au.
thorizcs q general and unlimited
amOunt of ennn0rt m fha dnet;tnta