Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-02
Holm :. &. HOGAN a co.
-11T.Rr oonnIssrONs AND rEsr

Holm :. {. HOGAN d CO.
urTaRV COMMISSIONS AND
BATHS.
rbe snpreme Court Of the United
- has ~strangled these twin abomina-
- Il has decided that Congress not
- never did authorize those lniernal
and convenient instruments OF
5aatjsm Military Commissions but
mid not have empowered them
20 trv persons wholly uncOnnee'ed WIN
,be armies. OF course the execution %
In and more especially OF women ~
District Of Columbia, by the sentence
=, unlawful and unconstitutional
hoard of military officers, after cV,e'a'
,o,;oe girca By the Secretary OF S'dtS -
,sig1 governments that the wdT ana r.
~, 5rere completely at an end, was
MURDER.
The plain truth is, that nc Respectable
1avvar ever could have believed thal
there was any law Of the Ian aulnol-
5zing Military Commissions or that' Il
ALNNE =aNaAA~-
thew could be held legal, they could uy
c;,51ians apo a charge Of murder. Even
a eommon soldier could net be tried 10
that crime before q regular court mar
+isI. and if it had ever been attempted IN
F,g,and. to try a freeborn EDgllsn-
man or EngIishwoman before q
military Commission, even for as
s-sssinating the King, a HOLT d
HAZE a oNER or a DENMAN, WouIu
have been found, TO set the heel OF the
law MOL the neck Of such a tribunal anu
STAMP out its life. We can hardly ina
g;na an English lawyer, ERsKINE OF
RRorGHAE. for example, offering such
an argument before the Court Of Kings
Bench, in defence Of Military Commis-
sions as Mr. Attorney SPEED q BING-
HAM and CHIPMAN, were not ashamed
70 make, to the scandal, and, as Tar as
they could disgrace it, to the disgrace oil
The legal profession. For, to the
Of that profession, il Is to be said that II
has rarely become the advocate or apollo
gist Of u~surpations and judicial murders
a.N
tbo1gh England has had some Attorney
Generals, when she had such judges as
IEFFFRIEs and SCROGGsi who were
willing to pervert the law to murder IN
noeent men and crafty the bloody de-
sires of power. An attorney prosecuting
for the government, who could so fsr
forget his loyalty to law, as to argue IN
favor Of the Jurisdiction God save the
mark Of Military Commissions to try
aoomea, ought to he put on the same roll
with the judges who decided that JAMES
il. had the power to dispense WIN Inc
pensl provisions Of acts Of Psrliament.
The attacks of political rascality on
the Supreme Court for its late decisions
are but the frank out-speakings Of that
iaeobinism, possessed by which, the
Nortbern states are drifting toward an
areby. and through that hell into un-
known seas. They are bat n symp-
tom Of the malignant disease that is rot
ting the bones Of she States. 1t was
strange enough, TO one who could lOok
back twenty years, and remembered the
themes with which The orator then
stirred the popular heart not only to see
LAWYERS journalists and legislators shame
less enough to pretend a belief in the
lawfuIness Of military commissions but
to find that in all the Northern States
hardly a voice protested against them.
and the public rejoiced over the swift anc
sure a tustiee " which they executed OIL
upfortunates ASSUMED to be guilty, il they
could not prove themselves innocent. i
did not shock q people, once seenlingtl
Jealous Of its Liberties, that the judicia
functions in MATES of life and dealt
were exercised by he merciless men o
arms, instead Of tie ermined judges and
lawful magistrate clothed with the rea
majesty ofthe lav.
But the most fatal sign Of the rotten
ness Of the bodr polite, Of the tainted
condition Of tIe public mind Of thu
North, Of the universal want Of conf
denee ia the honesty Of men and th'
stability OF free institutioDs,-tha which
most plainly reveals the real insecu
rity Of rights not long ago deemed be
vond the reach Of power or fraud, ant
Che immense and trescherous bog anC
ouisk-sand, covered by a thin crust o
apparent and deceitful prosperity, OF
which the crumbling pillars Of the Stat
stand, is that It long was a matter Of verl
grave doubt what might be the deci
sion Of the Sapreme Court Of the Unite'
States, upon so plain a question. WheI
confidence in the Courts is lost, ",
feel Insecure as those do who live in
country continually shattered by earth
guakes, and where ven the solid foun
dsfiops OF the earth seem unstable, anC
men feel helpless as infants.
Fifteen years ago, If any public mai
had expressed the opinion that Militar!
Commissions could be used for the tria
~ citizens, for offences not military, o
,,sed al all, in the absence Of law, Ian
g.age would have failed TO express tn
emotions Of Indignation that would havI
struggled for utterance In the bOsOms o
me SPEEDS, the HONS, the FoRNEYs
and other Democrats who now admir-
.be " Bureau Of Military Justice, - at tn
hare idea Of taking away from the citi
zen the right Of trial by jury, that pal
ladium of American liberty!
II is a shame and a disgrace to Ameri
csn jurisprudence that the highest cour
IN the country should have hesitsted
moment to pronounce illegal and infa
mous the attempt to naturalize in tn
limited States that which NAPOLEON re
sorted to, to murder the Due D'ENGH
IEN,-a Military Commission, elsewher'
used by d~espotism only. 1t is a sham'
that it even heard argument upon s.
plain a question, and permitted the AT
torney-General 70 disgrace his office b.
discussing it. II should, las honest Jus
tee WmNoT onc did, in the case Of al
infinitely less outrage), have decided in
stantIy and with great indignation"
The question as to the constitutionality
Of the test oaths prescribed by the act
~ Congress and of the Missouri Legisla
tare was not 50 palpably clear, but tina
a lawyer might be permitted, withou
icing deemed to dishonor the profession
Ia argue that they were valid, howeve
aisreputable to the State and nation
Rut II is not comprehensive, by Us, a
least. how any respectable judge coul'
entertain any grave doubt upon th
Question, and how the Supreme Court G
~. Uufted States could hesitate, an
ooDseut 10 delay its opinion for a Who'll
- There neither is, nor ever was
- mestion in England or France O
- TTnjted states as to the effect OF
-.Son 10 annihilate The offence and a
aonseouenees. The cannot be an.
Go,bt that to exclude from Office or en-