Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-03

Q CrfmfnnI Punishment for the Par
:, Taken by h m in the tate War betUeeI
p she Tive Sections of the United states
T From the Colunbus tobio) CTlsis.l
a wise and just solution of the problem
{ involved in this interrogatory, is one o
= the questions which now concerns the
people Of the whole country; not of thi'
= generation only, but of all succeeding
, / generations. Nor does it concern the
people of the United States alone, fol
Europe is looking on with interest to see
what shall be done with the distinguished
5 state prisoner.
%. Justice is the common concern O
mankind" says Burke.
5 Lord Bacon declares that zone bad pre-
2 eedent doth hurt more than many bad
examples" The things which have
: been done in the United States, during
the past six years, are part of the worlds
enduring history, while, as she recountsi
T punishes wicked rulers and rewards the
wise and the just.
During the past twenty months, he
who had stood forth as the chief of great
T people-the president of the Confederate
States-has been a close prisoner in q
military fortress of the United States
end his captors persistently refuse either
to try or to release him. l propose to
{ show and to prove that the United States
authorities had no legal right TO hold
Jefferson Davis single hour, as a pris-
oner, after the surrender of the COnfede-
rate forces, and that they have no au-
thOrity to try him criminally. Here it
becomes necessary to examine the prem
ises, ana to correctly ascertain the legal
status, and the consequent relations and
liabilities Of each OF the parties con-
cerned in the late war.
II it was mere insurrection or rebel
lion in which the South was concerned,
then Jefferson Davis and all his cOnfede-
rates, including every man who took
arms against the Unite2 States, are liza
bic to be separately tried for treason, and
to be convicted and executed.
The second section of the act of con-
gress, of February 2S, 1875, defines an
insurrectiOn or rebellion in the following
words:
"That whenever the laws of the
United States shall be opposed, or the
| execution thereof obstructed IN any state,
by combinations too powerful to be sup
pressed by ordinary Judicial proceedings,
| or by the powers vested in the mRrshals
by this act, it shall be lawful for the
president OF the United States TO call
forth the militia of such states, or Of any
other state or states, as may be neces-
saIy, to suppress such com binsiiOn, and
to cause the laws to be duly executed"
The movement on the part of the
south in the year 1861, was something
more than a " combination IN q State to
resist the lars Of the United States" 1t
was, in fact, an uprising of the people of
eleven great States, embracing popula-
/ tions OF nearly ten millions, covering an
area Of about nine hundred thousand
square miles. They proceeded with sys-
TEN and order. The states first sepa-
rately formally seeded from the federal
union they then chose delegates to
! general convention, in which all the
/ seeding States were fully represented,
! for the purpose of framing a cOnsti-
| tuition of government. The delegates so
| chosen met in convention at Mont
! gornery, in June, 1861, and prepared a
constitution of government for said
states, which they named the "COafed-
crate States of America" This cOnsti-
/ tuition was ratified by each Of the several
states It's provisions were, in many re-
spects, similar TO those Of the federal con-
| stitution. IL maoe the same classitica-
! ton of power into departments. AT the
first election, held in pursuance OF this
| constitution, Jefferson Davis was
I
II. Stevens vice-president senators
and members Of congress were chosen in
the several states, which met in the city
Of Richmond and enacted laws. A judi
ciary was chosen, which performed all
! the functions of courts of Justice. An
army was brought into existence Of suffi-
| cient numbers and power to contend sue
cessfully with the armies of the United
/ States. a war ensued of the largest pro-
| portions of anV war of modern times
| which continued upwards of four years.
! During the first year of the war the Con-
! federate states were recognized as a be-
! ligerant power not only by the United
! states, but also by France, England and
other leading nations Of Europe.
! The war, on the part of the south, was
| no spasmodic rebellion; it was well
| devised plan of TeUOiUtiOH-a war for
independence, and separate national
| existence.
The writers on international law have
! classified wars according 10 their origin,
objects and effects having reference also
| to the character Of the parties which en-
| gage in them-such as:
| /. Wars OF Intervention
! . Wars of insurrectiOn;
3. Wars of conquest;
| 4. Wars of opinion;
5. Religious wars;
6. Wars for independence
:. Civil wars.
See section 8, Halleck's international
law. page $50. The same author tp. 23I,
see. 81 SAYS 4" Wars of revolution are
! generally undertaken to gain or regain
the liberty or independence Of the party
or state which undertakes them, as was
the ease Of the war of the American rev.
olution in l7T6, the war of the Greeks
against the Turks in 1921, and of the
Hungarians against the Austrians in
IS4Sn
Ii may be safely said that the late war
between the states Of this Union en-
braced most of the elements of a re-
ligious war, a war OF opinion, a war Of
revolution, and a war for independence.
So far as the present inquiry is con-
cerned, il is useless to speculate upon
the causes Of the war. 1t is sufficient to
know that the clergy both north and
south had forgotten Gil the pFeCepts
OF christian charity, and they had been
in the habit Of scandalizing the people
of each section for many years before
the commencement of actual armed
hostilities. The legislatures Of thirteen
northern states had interposed the "state
reto,r not only upon an act Of con-
gress, but upon provision Of the fed
eral constitution which the people of the
southern states deemed vital to their in
terests. in 1880 president Of the Uni
ted States was chosen by strictly north
ern vote. These, with tariff regulations
discriminating in favor of northern in
dustry, were among some of the causes
which induced the south to appeal 70
arms for their independence.
During the war the law Of nations. su-
preceding the municipal law, took charge
Of the country, and determined therights
Of both parties.
II is claimed by the administration Of
the general government now in power,
as well as by congress, that the conquer
ing party has the right TO dispose Of
the lives aud property of the people
lately in "rebsllion," In other words,
that the lives and estates Of the southern
people only exist by the sufferance
1 of their conquerors. Such was the doc
trine and practice Of the world during
what are known as the "middle or dark
ages." Then il was common to put
| captives TO death or TO sell them into
slavery, and 10 " "cophscste their prop
erty. IT was then a common saying that
+" CaptiUes haVe no rights." This doc
trine OF barbarous ages is now revived
in this country; il is publicly advocated
in many pulpits and in congress, and the
people snok on with stoi0sl Indifference.
But there is a polOeg which intervenes
between the cohqueror and the captive,
and sets limit to the revengefuf pas
sions of men, and checks the arrogance
OF conqueFors. That power is the Law
or NATIONS, which Congress cannot
modify or repeal. II is the law OF the
land for determining all questions grow
ing Immediately out Of the late war Of
sections.
A civil war, says Vattel, book 3.
chap is, p. 425, breaks the bands OF So
ciety and government, or at least sus-
pends their force and effect 1t produces
fn the state two independent parties.
who consider each other as enemies,
and acknowledge no common Judge.
These two parties, therefore, must neees-
sarily be considered IS thenceforwRrd, at
least for time, two separate bodies, two
distinct societies. Though one oRiV of
! the parties may have been to blame for