The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-02-21
StrinEiny Pearls.

hhcN cohbdiH tfitshS very nt1y ana
aptly written; but we fear our re-
spected cotcmporary is engaged in
the unprofitable business of string
ing pearls to cast them before swine:
Mr.. Harding might well say, as he
did in the House yesterday, that ten
years ago the most ignorant law stu
dent in the country could not have
been found pretending chat there
was any constitutional power ior cs-
tablishing a military government
within the lirits Of any State in this
Union
The arbitrary arrest and persistent
confinement OF an Englishman. held
by military order i'll spite Of The writ
OF hndenS coypus, would convulse all
England VIII the American ,eople
consent that one-half Of their coun-
trymen shall hold their liberty by the
will of Il military commander and his
subordinates?
1t IS a maxim OF law, tnat it is bet
ter that nine guilty men should es-
cape than that one innocent should
be punished. With an enlightened
craftsmanship that should make all
previous law-Sivers blush, the Con
gress OF thc United States would
enslave Il whole people, lest :, few
lawless men shoull go unpunished.
Mr.. Mayn;rd, OF Tennessee, do-
clared that the portraits of the found
ers of the Government should adorn
the panels and their busts fill the
inches Of the House, that It's mem
bers might catch something OF their
patriotic and heroic spirit They
would look down with pity and Will,
scorn upon the degenerate mon who
would gravely debate for an houl,
much less days, the propriety OF put
ting absolute power over the life and
liberty and property OF one third of
its people into the hands Of mill
tary despot.
y House OF Representatives that
claims to represent the great party of
freedom justihes this pretension by
seeking to impose on the entire pco-
pie Of & State a complete oligarchv,
under the pretence Of preparing
them for selfgovernment 1t voted
yesterday to annihilate the laws
enacted by a people, in order to cs-
tablish those dictated by Senate
and enforced by the bayonet. Well
might Madam Rowland exclaim, 80
Liberty, what crimes are committed
in thy namel"
Military power is the last resort of
decayed and dying republic, said
Mr.. Raymond. The words made a
strong impression, not only on Mr.
Garfield, who 50 easily recalled them,
but on every thoughtful man in that
House. Martial law and republican
institutions are as incompatible as
| light and darkness, as fire and water;
! and he is no true friend of his coun-
try whc, when no invasion threatens
our border, when no rebellion con-
vulses our territory, would hand the
nation, or any part of it, over to the
| unlimited discretion of even Cincin-
maths or Washington.
There are sixty-one men in the
House of Representatives who are
willing that half their countrymen
shall hold their liberties at the will OF
a brigadier-general OF the army.
Are they willing to hold their own
liberties by the permit of military
commander? Il they are, they are fit
to be slaves, and unfit for the high
duty Of an American representative.
If they are not, with what Justice can
they claim to be true Democrats or
honest Republicans, who would i'm
pose an arbitrary authority on their
countrymen, to which they them
selves are unwilling to submit?
Was rebellion a great crime? If
50, can we not leave the people
OF the South to find it out? All
our fierce contention and angry
controversies will not add an iota to
their appreciation Of its folly and
its enormity. Nay, the freer we leave
them to the discussion Of the acts of
those who misled them, the more
likely they are to arrive at the truth.
The attempt to coerce the public
opinion OF The South by test oatls
and punitivelegisIation, is anti-repub-
lican and hostile TO the spirit OF our
institutions. It shows a want OF
faith in the truth and It's inevitable
triumph that might become an advo-
cate OF the Inqnisition or a subject OF
the Sublime Porte, bnt is utterly TO-
reign to the civilization of the nine
teenth century and the tolerant tenn
per OF the American people.
SMALL FARMS. The venerable ed