The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-03-13

'NINI, 'N!h - c.'ilHN INTO action %
Congress, or temporarily, when th
action Of Congress cannot 10 invited
aud IN the case Of .iusIifying or OK
cusing peril by the President, in time
OF maarcction or Invasion, or of civi
or foreign war, Within districts or 10
calitics where ordinary law no longc
adequately secures public safety IN,
private rights"
ltwi'! DC observed that Of the three
kinds Of military jurisdiction wiial
can be exercised or erected under ou,
Constitution, there is but ono thai
can prevail in time Of peace, and thai
is the code Of laws enacted by Con
gr'ss for tic government of the M
tionai forces. THAT body of military
law has no application to the citizen
nor even to tic citizen soldier enrolled
i'll the militia in time Of peace. But
this bul IS not part Of that sort OF
military law, for thai applies only tc
the soldier aud not the citizen, whilst
contrariwi$c, tho military law provid.
cd by this bill applies only to the
citiacn and lot TO the soldier.
need not say to the representatives
OF the American people that their Con
s,im,on Iorbils the exercise Of iudicia
power III and way but onc--that is by
the ordained and established courts. Il
is equally well known that in all crimi
mai cases trnl by jury is made indis.
pcnsablc by the express words of that
instrument. | will not enlarge on the
incstimablo val.c Of tho right thus Sc
cured TO every freeman, or speak Of the
danger 20 public liberty in all parts OF
Vie country, which must onsuc from n
dGnsa. @! II anywhere or upon amy pre-
trucr. y very recent decision oil the
Supreme Court has traced tho history
vindjca e | The dignity, and made knowl
The value OF this great privilege 81
c'rary that nothing more 10 needed
TO VIVA, extent u violation Of it might
be excused in time Of war or public dan
G may admit Of discussion, but we arc
providing now for time Of profound
peace, WHERE there is not an armed
soldier within our borders except thos,
who arc in the service OF tho Govern
m"nt. 1t is III such u condition o
thingsthatm act Of Congress is proposed
wheh, if cHr.ic] or', would 'leny q
trial by the iawrul courts and iuros tc
nine millions Of American citizens, and
their postcrity for an Indefinite period.
ltsonms to be scarcely possible that any
one should seriously believe This consist
cnL with n Constitution which declares,
in simple, plain and unambiguous Ian
%uaGr, that all persons shall have that
righ,, and t!at no person shall ever, IN
any case, be deprived Of it. Tho Con
s,iiution also Iorbids the arrest Of the
citizen without judicial warrant, founded
ouproOablacnuse. This bill authorizes
an arrest without warrant, at the pleas
urc Ola military commanlcr. The Con
st!tuuon declares that 'no person shall
be held 10 answer for a capital or other.
wisc Infamous crime unless on present
mon, by grand iury.' TIIs bill holds
every person not II soldier answcrabic
for all crimes and all charges without
any rrcscnimont. The Constitution,
declares that mo person shall bo dc.
privcd Of life, liberty Or property, with
out due process of law" This I'LL scis
aside all rroccs; Of law, and mnllos the
citizen answcrahlo in his person and
property 10 tho viii Of one man, and rs
10 his life to tho will Of two. Finally,
the Constitution declares that "thc priv
ilcgc Of the writ OF hubcaS corpus shall
not be suspended unless when, in case
OF rebellion or invasion, the public safety
may require ~; whereas this bill dc.
clarcs martial law (Which Of Itself sus-
ponds This great wrl) in timc Of peace,
and authorizes The military TO make the
arrest and gives TO tho prisoner only
one privilege, and and that is Il tria]
without necessary delay llo has no
hope Of release from custody, except
hope, such as it is, OF release by aoqmt.
lal before military commission.
Tho United States arc bound to
guantcc 10 each State a republican form
Of government. Can il be pretended
that This obligation is not palpably bro
ken if we carry outA measure lko this,
which wipes away every vcstigo ol
republican government in ten States,
and puts the life, property, liberty and
honor Of all tho people in each Of them
undor tho domination ofn single per-
son clothed with unlimited authori
ty?
The Parliament Of England, cxcrcis-
ing lhc ommpotcnt power which !,
claimed, was accustomed to pass bills o
a,tuinacr; that is to say, it would con.
wet men Of treason and other crimes by
legislative enactment. The person &C
accused had o hearing, sometimes a pa
ticmt and fair one; but generally party
prejudice prevailed, instead Of justice
1t o!ten became necessary for Parlia'
mcnt TO acknowledge its error aud re-
verse its own action. The fathers O.
our country determined that 10 such
thing should occur horc. They with
held tho power nom Congress, and thus
forbade its exercise by that body, aud
they provided in The Constitution that
no S alto should pass any bill of attain
der. tis, therefore, impossible forany
person III this country to be constitution.
ally convicted or punished for an crime
k, , ln;ol. inn or,cno1tno, of onu onrl