New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-21
Jefferson Davis.


From the New York Trbunel
The House of Representatives yesterday, on mo
ton Of Mr. Boutwell, Of Mass, by vote OF 10
Resolued, Assthe opinion of the House of Rep
resentatives, that said Davis should be held ii
custody as q prisoner, and subjected to trial, &C
eording to the laws of the land,
There would seem to be no room for doubt a:
to the correctness of one proposition here given
since all parties are agreed upon it. The House
says Davis should be tried his counsel say
exactly the same, and have been trying ever SINCE
they were allowed to communicate with NM %
get his case before judge and jury, They why Is
he not tried Who stands in the way
Judge Underwood held yesterday on an apphca-
ton for bail, that he was prisoner OF Rar-there
fore, not bailabe. The fact being assumed, the
reason is conclusive. But how long may a Prise s
ner of war be held after the war y othGlaiy
declared at an end Suppose one were held TO-
day as a prisoner of war, taken by Gen. jackson
at New Orleans in 1916, would that suffice to bar
his liberation
Of ware He was not arrested as public enemy
but as felon officially charged, in the face of the
civilized world, with the foulest, most execFable
guilt-that of having subofned assassins 10 murder
President Linc0ln--a crime the hasest and most
cowardly known to mankind. 1t was for this that
800 600 was offered and paid for his arrest and
the proclamation of Andrew Johnson and William
Fl. Seward Offering this reward says his completely
with Wilkes Booth u Co., is established " by evil
denee now in the bureau Of military justice.n So
there was no need Of time to hunt it up.
Others charged with that horrible deed have
been arraigned, tried, some Of them long ago &C.
quilted and set at liberty; others executed and
buried; Others are now serving out their terms as
eonvict-prisoners. Why is this one alone still
awaiting trial-not even indicted? Is the charge
Of assassination abandoned? Then it should be
retracted as publicly as it was made. Is it per.
sisted ina Then why is he not tried on it? Can
you imagine any creditable reason for leaving this
matter as it is?
ia 4l,oA
for the death by exposure and famine of our cap
tured soldiers and his official position gives pla-
sibiiity to the charge. Yet while Henry Wirz-a
miserable wretch-a mere tool Of t0ols-was long
ago arraigned, tried, convicted, sentenced, and
hanged for this eriIne-no charge has been officially
preferred against Davis. So we presume none is
TO be.
For eight or ten months, he was not allowed to
see his wife or any member of his family, nor to
communicate with counsel save by open letters
sent through the war department. At length the
embargo is relaxed, and he is simultaneously in
dicted for treason. Now, SAY his counsel, 'w we
shall get his case into courts and they attend at
the very first sitting to call it on. The Judge has
no serupple about trying 1.-THE is loyal, upright,
and aariess-there is no business in the way
but the government comes hmping in the second
day and is not ready No preparation has been
made on that side, and the case has to 40 overI
Now if there be any reason for not trying the
case in Virginia, it is perfectly triable in Tennes-
see. There Is ample evidence that JEFF Davis was
the rebel army Of Tennessee. Judge Trigg of that
district IL thoroughly loyal he holds the court at
Knoxville, among q people IS overwhelmingly
loyal as Vermont. Why has not an indictment
been found and tried in his court? Who can say?
It has very bad look when a man officially
charged with the vilest crime known to men is not
even indicted therefor but kept in close jail over
year without knowing on what charge: and
when at length an indictment is found against him
for something totally different he can't get tried
on that but 10 still held in close jail without being
allowed chance TO face his aecusers. We should
not like this SOFT Of treatment; and we mean to |
INSIST on fair play for friends and enemies alike
Mind, here 10 no question Of mercy or lenity, |
since none has yet been solicited. prisoner &C.
oused Of heInous crimes asks to be tried and his |
trial is shufied off, while he is kept in close Jail
good way on his second year. Meanwhile the |
belief gains ground that the whole thing is sham;
that there IS no intention Of trying him that he is
only heIa VII favorable time shall have come for
letting him go-and, when his counsel offer bail |
they arc told that he is not criminal but prg.
oner Of war And, in the South, it ia currently
proclaimed that the government dare not try him
Tor treason lest IL be proved on trial that he was
right and the UnioDst wrong in our late struggle
The government of the United States cannot afford
to be thus covering and fleeing before an alleged |
criminal. 1t must come to the light. 1t must de- /
clare on what charge he is held for what crime he
is to be tried Nnd when; why these hesitations
and Why his counsel have to be coaxing and beg.
ging for trial. If he is to be tried at ALL he can
not be tried too soon.
y
utterly prostrate rebellion. lie was unpopular at
the South and detested at the North. It is very
different now. Hehas fully regained all the popl-
laritg he ever had Every eXrebel regards Davis
as suffering for him; and he wins sympathy out
side Of their circle. Another year of Fortress
Monroe might make him popular at the North
For our own part and in behalf of some others
who believe the true, sufficient bases of recon
strnebion to be universal amnesty, impartial suf
frage-theBe two, and no more-We demand that /
this prisoner of war, prisoner of state, or what
ever he may be, shall have the full legal rights |
secured to him by the Constitution and laws of the
land. Believing that any illegal hardness to |
which he may be exposed tends to engender new
bitterness between North and South and to indis- |
pose the latter to accept conditions OF reconcilia-
ton which we hold best for each and all, we shall
oppose il as ct once wrong and blunder. We |
have still an open, serious controversy with those
who insist on reconstrgcting our country on |
basis of caste and prejudice, and we cannot affo
TO give them the advantage of truly representing
us as making war on fallen, powerless prisoner |
of war or of peace.