The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-24
THE RELEASED TRAITOR.
1dependent

Prom me Independents 80
Jefferson Davis ought to have been tried
long, long ago. His protracted detention III
prison, without trial, Justly brought reprO"oh
nnon the Government. This reproaeh is now
fearfully increased by his discharge on ball.
II was hitherto supposed that the Government,
being either not ready or not willing TO bring
him TO trial, had no other alternative than to
continue him in custody. 1t now seems, how
aver, that the prisoner might have been re-
Aeased at any time within the last two years,
If only the officers of the law had bethought
themselves of admitting him to bail. Can any
good reason be assigned why he should nave
Ieen bailed few days ago, rather than few
weeks ago, or few months ago, or year and
a half agoY None But he never should
have been bailed at ALL Does not
everybody know that men charged with
far less heinous crimes are not admitted to
bail Are small Grimm ais to be denied the
privilege of bail, and great cri mlnals to ENJOY
itY If man who robs bank must remain
in iail till his trial, shall q man who levies
war against the Government, fires hotels,
starves prisoners and slaughters half mil
lion of his felloW-me be obsequiously in
Vited to put on a pair OF green kid gloves,
take a new hat and cane, and step out of
prison to receive the congratulations of his
friends? Our sense of justice revolts at
such a proceeding. We grant that Mr..
Davis should not have been incarcerated for
an undue term without trial. No apology
can be made for the Governments unusual
and unjust delay in arraigning him before its
bar. But to admit him to bail, like the COM
monest of culprits, is a mockery Of Justice
a confusion of moral distinctions--a national
4
Mr. Davis as a state prisoner, thus far, shows
him to have been guilty of any greater
crime than picking pocket, or committing
assault and battery. To say that treason is
a bailable ofense is next to saying that it is
no offense at all. The greatest law breaker
of modern times shocks the civilized world
by his crimes, fills the land with mourning,
darkens the nations history with his
shadow, and yet the sum total of his guilt
is roundly estimated by the law at one
hundred thousand dollars This man
stands charged with connivance at the
murder of Abraham Lincoln. Has any
other man, so charged, been so bailed Why
not release John H. Surratt on similar terms
As both men are charged with the same
Ofense and as neither has yet been brought
TO trial, why should not both be treated
alikei In view of all the circumstances, we
have found it impossible to regard the release
of Mr.. Davis as other than hideous blunder.
We have no words adequate to express our
mingled regret, indignation, and scorn at the
act. Some of the principal actors in it are
men whom we personally love and revere. OF
course, they have acted from the noblest and
purest motives; they are incapable of acting
from any other. But they have, nevertheless,
lent their countenance to proceeding which,
in our Judgment is as great disgrace as has
fallen upon the nation since the public
drunkenness of Andrew Johnson on the day of
his Inauguration as Vice-P President.