Des Arc weekly citizen., 1867-07-27

legal minds admit is true, to-wit: That these military bills are not authorized by any provision of the Constitution and, if justifiable at all, they must be justified by circumstances, by some conditios, by some authority, OUTSIDE of the Constitution. And now, wise, prudent, patriotic readers, lovers of law and laws safety, propound and answer this question: If Congress has a sphere, dominion, an existence, outside of the Constitution, whence did it corse, where does it lie, and what is ns extent, it's length and breadth? Do you not knew tfere is no dominion outside of the Constitu- ton and laws, but the dominion of aHarchy-grinf, bloody lawfess, thrift less, hopeless snarchy7 Do you not know that the very definition of anar- chy is, outside of law, disregard offAw, abandonment of law? Have not all people who have gone into anarchy, and reaped her f-ict of ruin, done so under the pressure of bad men and circumstances And will Americans. black or white, abandon the well de- fined bonadsries--the safe expositions
 the well tried, cver-sufficient and glorious protection of written Con- stitation, and rush into the wild out side to find safety for person, or for property, or for liberty?
 But the argument must not stop here. These military bills are not only not authorized by, but are directly contra ry to the Constitution. They subject citizens to trial far capital and infa- moes offenses without indictment by grand jery; and this, the Constitution says, shall not be done. They author ize trial without jury, which, the Constitution says, shall not be done and the Constitution, on this subject. is so tender ofliberty that it does not trust the matter simply to a prohibit tion, bet it declares, with repeated em- phasis, the right: 'The trial of all crimes, except ia cases of impeachment, shall be by jury" fin all criminal prosecutions, the accused shah enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jnry."
 They suspend the privilege of the writ of hahcas corpus when there is neither insnrrection nor invasion, which the Consultation says shall not be done.
 In these and other respects, then, military bills arc in direct conflict with the plaincst and most solemn injunc- tions and guaranties of the Consti- tuition.
 But these bills not only thus fa- grantly violate the provisions of the Federal Constitution, but they abro- gate and destroy in whole. the consti- tutions of ten States formed by the people, and authorizes a new people to form constitutions, not according to the wishes of either the new or the old electors, but according to the wishes and under the direct dictation of the authors of these military bills. not one of whom resides in either of the tea States thus tramplcd on. CT esn be subject to the government of the constitutions which they thus dictate.
 Nor is all yet told. These bills not only violate and destroy governments, but they destroy-most ruthlessly de- stroy-the very principles on which all American constitutions and govern ments arc based, and to secure and perpetuate which, constitutions, State and Federal, were made. Magma Char ter, Bill of Rights, Petition of Rights. the settlement, the glorious principles of the Common Law, the compact wis dom of centuries, the fruits of many bloody revolutions, all the guards and guaanties which patriots, statesmen, judges, and people, by sword and pen, for eight hundred years have been pro viding and perfecting to build up and make immortal that most wonderful blessing of human genius and power the structure of Anglo-Saxon liberty are abfogatcd and withdrawn from ten millions of people, of all colors, sexes and classes, who live in the ten un- heard and excluded States, and that. too, by men, repeat, who do not live in these States and who never think of them but to hate, and never enter them but to insult.
 Surely this is enough, but the argu- ment requires me 10 add that the body of men who enacted these these militia ry abominations were not the Congress and had no authority to legislate By the Constitution all Federal legislative powers are vested in "Congress of the United States.' This Congress s'shall consist of a Senate and House of Rep rcsentatives. The House "shall be composed of members chosen by the people of the several States" The Senate shall be composed of two Sen ators from cath State" Now, was the body of men who pretended to enact the bills so composed? If not, they did not--they could not--be the Con- gress. Why were they not so compos- ed 7 By their own act. Members to compose the Congress were chosen by the people and all the States for the House and the Senate. But the mem- 1 bers from ten States were excluded ! from their seats by the members of the i other States, thus reducing what would have been Congress 10 fiaginentary