American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-07-03

these of late so formidable as to require
the temporary suspension of all civil gov
ernment aud the establishment of martial
law in its place, whatever power is neces.
sary to meet such an emergency the mil
itary commanders may properly exercise
in the suppression of insurrection aud
riot. The military commander is wholly
independent of the civil authority, So,
too, in the trial of criminals and offend>
ers, he may supercede the civil jurisdc
ton. IF civil order is preserved aud
criminals are duly prosecuted by the reg
ular Criminal Courts, the military pow.
er, the ugh present, must be passive. Its
proper function is to preserve the peace
to act promptly when the peace is broken.
and restore order when that object is
done, and civil authority may again
safely resu ne its functions, the military
power becomes again passive, but on guard
aud watchful. This is the whole scope
Of the military power conferred BY
| this act the military commander is made
ii cOnservator OF the peace, not legisIa>
tor His duties are military duties J;
executive duties, not legislative duties
Congress reserved to itself the power to
alter, amend or abolish such laws as it
uaj not ihterfere1 with. Where, then,
does military commander fud his au
thor:y to abolish, modify, control or
su, ercede any one of these laws?
The Attorney General proceeds to spe
city some Of the acts of military cum>
manders in which, in his opinion, thoy
have exceeded their authority un Ter the
law La one district, the judge of one of
the Grim nal Courts has been summarily
deals with The act of Congress gives
authority in cases of necest ty, to the
military commander to transfer the lurs
diction of criminal court to military
tribunal No appolntee tf the military
commander in place of the judge super
sedeI, can lawfully exercise au hority
either as civil magistrate or member OF
4 military tribunal
The commanding General of the dis,
trIct OF North Carolina and South Caro>
hna coustrues the act Of Congress a,
| placing him on the same footing as re
CARDS power and authority as Congress
itself He assumes that the paramount
authority Of the United States at any
time to abolish, modify, contract or 50,
perscde is vested 10 him as Iully as re-
served to Congress He assumes direct
ly or Indirectly The authority of the State
Legislat re, executive aud Judicial, aud
in effect declares. am the State
In the Attorney Generals opinion,
there are executive duties to be perform
ed, which cannot safely be avoided or
delayed These commanders, notwith
standing their assumptions, are not in
any sense clothed with paramount au-
tho'ity. They treat as subordinate
Q iecutive officers responsible for the
proper execution of their duties, and the
tinal .respon ,ibiliiy end duty remains
with him to see that they execute their
duties faithfully and according to law
In support Of this opinion he cites the
opinion of the Supreme Court, delivered
By the Chief Justice in d smis,ing the
motion of the State Of Mississ ppi Tor
leave to file bill against the President.
He then proceeds to reply to certain
questions propounded from one Of the
military districts touching the power OF
military commanders to constitute ml
rary tribunals for the trial of offenders
Whilst the act does not in terms dispiace
the Criminal Courts Of the S ate it does
give power to the military commander
when, in his judgment, the necessity
arises, to take the ADMINISTRATION OF the
cr'minai law into his own han Is, and tp
Try and punish offenders by means oi
military commissions. Heck presses grave
doubts IS to the constitutionalty Of this
provision Of the law in time Of peace
and cites in support Of his position the
opinion of the minority of the S1prem
Court delivered by Chief Justice Chase.
He says: Nothing short ct necessity
car give any culor Of authority tn mill
tary commander to call into exercise
such power. 1t is power, the exar,
else Of which may involve him AMI every
"ne concerned in the gravesr respbnsl.
bilify The occasion for its exercise
should be reported at once to the Exec
utiye Tor such Instructions as may be
dee led necessary dnd proper,
The Attorney General is clearly of the
opinion that military commissions can
t-ke cogniznace of no ofTense that has
not happened after the law tok effect
and that they have no jurisdiction to4ry
and punish for acts not made crimes or
ofenses by Federal or State law There
is no legislative power given under thi,
military bill to establish a new criminal
c de as to crimes or offenses against the
laws of the United States The military
authority can take no cognizance of them,
nor in auy way Interfere with the regu
lar administration ofjusticc BY the appro~
pirate courts. EN-
The Attorney General supplements
this opinion with synopsis frop his
eormer opinion, giving the classes dis
franchised under the military bill
4