Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1867-03-20
infamous crime, unless on prcscntmcnt Of

This bill holds every person not a soldic
answerable for all crimes and all charges
without any presentment. The Constitu
ton declares that mo person shall be de
prived Of life, liberty or property, without
due process Of law" This bill sets aside al
process Of law, and makes the citizen an
swerable, in his person and property, to the
will of ole man, and as to his life, to the
will Of two. Finally, the Constitution de-
clares that ''the privilege of the writ Of ha.
beas corpus shall not be suspended unless
when, in case Of rebellion or invasion, th'
public safety may require III" whereas this
bill declares martial law, which OF itself sus
pends this great writ in time OF peace, anc
authorizes the military to make the arrest
and gives to the prisoner only one privilege
and that is trial without unnecessary de-
lay. He has no hope Of release from GUS
tody, except the hope, such as it is, Of re.
lease by acquittal before Il military commits.
sion. The United States are bound to
guarantee to each State republican form Of
government.
Can it be pretended that this obligation is
not pa pably broken it we carry out a meas
ure lik, this, which wipes away every vestige
of republic an government in ten States, and
puts the life, property, liberty and honor OF
all the people in each OF them under the
domination Of single person clothed with
unlimited authority? The Parliament OF
England, exercising the omnipotent power
which it claimed, was accustomed to pass
bills of attaindcr that is to say, it would
convict men of treason and other crimes by
legislative eAactment. The person accused
had a hearing, sometimes a patient and fair
one, but generally party prejudice prevailed
instead of justice. 1t often became neces.
sary for Parliament to acknowledge its error
and reverse its own action. The fathers OF
our country determined that no such thing
should occur here. They withheld the power
from Congress, and thus forbade its exercise
by that body, and they provided in the Con.
s,tution tnat no State should pass any bill
OF attainder
1t is, therefore, impossible for any person
in this country to be observation-disclosures
ed for any crime by a legislative proceed
ing of any sort; nevertheless, here is bill
of attainder against nine millions of people
at once. 1t is based upon an accusation SO
vague as to be sacredly Ineligible, and
found to be true upon nocreditable evidence;
not one of the nine millions was heard III
his own defence. The representatives OF
the doomed parties were excluded from all
participation in the trial. The convic-
ton is to he followed by the most ignomin-
ious punishment ever inflicted on large mas
ses OF men. 1t distranchised them by hun
dreds of thousands, and degrades them ALL
even those who are admitted to be guiltless,
from the RANK Of freemen to the condition
of slaves.
The purpose and object of the bill, the
general intent which prevades it from be-
ginning to end, is to change the entire struc-
ture aud character of the State governments
and to compel them by force to the adoption
Of organic laws and regulations which they
are unwilling to accept it iett to themselves.
The negroes have not asked for the privilege
of voting the vast majority Of them have
no idea what it means. This bill not only
thlusts it into their hands, but compels
them, as well as the whites, to Use it in a
particular way.
If they do not form a constitution with
prescribed articles in it, and afterwards elect
Legislature which will act upon certain
measures in a prescribed way, neither blacks
nor whites can be relieved from the slavery
which the bill imposes upon them. Without
pausing to consider The policy or inpolicy
of Atricanizing the Southern part Of our
territory, would simply ask the attention
of Congress to that manifest, well known
and universally acknowledged .v'e of con-
stitulonal law which declares that the Fed.
erll Government has no jurisdiction, au-
thOrity or power to regulate such subjects
for any State. To force the right OF sut:
frage out of the hands of the white people,
and into the hands of the negroes, is an ar
bitrary violation of this principle. This bill
imposes martial law ut once, and its opera.
tions will begin as soon as the General and
his troops can be put in place. The dread
alternative between its harsh rule and COM
pliance with the terms of this measure is
not suspended, nor the people afforded any
time for free deliberations. The bill says to
them: Take martial law first, then delib-
crate. And when they have done all that
this measure requires them to do other con-
d:tions and contingencies over which they
have no control yet remain to be fulfilled;
before they can be relieved from martial law
another Congress must first approve the
constitutions made in conformity with the
will of this Congress, and must declare
these States entitled to presentation in
both Houses. The whole destion thus re-
mains open and unsettled, and must again
occupy the attention Of Congress; and in
the meantime the agitation which now pre-
walls will continue to disturb all portions Of
the people. The bill also denies the legality
of the governmentso Of ten ofthe States which
participated in the ratification of the amend
ment to the Federal Constitution abolishing
slavery forever within the ju istdtiOn Of the
United States, and practically excludes them
trom the Union. If this assumption of the
bill be correct, their concurrence cannot be
considered as having been legally given;
and the important fact is made to appear
that the consent Of thrcc-fourths OF the
States, the requisite number, has not been
constitutionally obtained to tbc ratification
of that amendment, thus leaving the ques.
ton of slavery where it stood before the
was officially declared to have
become a Part of the Constitution. That
the measure propo ed by this bill doessiolate
the Constitution in the particulars mention
ed, and in many other ways, which forbear
to enumerate, is too clear to admit Of the
least doubt. 1t only remains to consider
whether the injunctions Of that instrument
ought to be obeyed or not. think they
ought to be obeyed, for reasons which |
will proceed to give as briefly as possible.
In the first. place, it is the only system OF
free government which we can hope to have
M "A nation when IL ceases TO be the rule OF