Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-03-05
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! .'-Nete- 80 NIT efANtaN aAAN AtttANAAAtNl- Y
! his single rule, such a tribunal would b,
used much more probably TO divide the re-
| spOnsibility Of making il more cruel or un.
| Just. Several provisions, dictated by the
humanity Of Congress, have been inserted
in the bill apparently 20 restrain the power
Of the commanding officer, but it seems TO
me that they are of no avail for that pur-
pose. The fourth section provides, first,
that trial shall not be unnecessarily de-
layed, =. but, | think have shown that the
power is given to punish without trial, and
If so, this provision is practically inopera-
tive. Cruel or unusual punishments are
not 10 be inflicted bnt WHO'S TO decide what
Is cruel and unusual. The words have ae-
CURED legal meaning by long use in the
courts. Can il be expected that military
officers will understand il and follow rnle
IN language 50 purely technical, and not
pertaining in the least degree to their pro-
fession? lf not, then such officer NAV de-
line cruelty according to his own temper
and if not usual, he will make il usual
Corporal punishment, the gag and the ball
and chain, and other almost insIpp0rtable
forms Of torture invented for military pun
ishment, will be within the range of choice.
Third, the sentence of a commission is not
10 be executed without approval By the
commander, if it affects life or liberty, and
a sentence of death must be approved by
the President. This applies to cases in
which there has been trial and sentence.
take it 10 be clear under the bill that the
military commander nav condemn 10
death without even the form Of trial by
military commission, so that the life Of the
condemned may depend on the will of two
men instead of one. 1t is plain that the
authority here given to the military officer
amounts to absolute despotism. But to make
Il still more uncomfortable, the bin provides
that it may be delegated to as IAany
subOrdinates as he chooses TO appoint, for
it declares he shall punish or cause 10 be
punished. Such power has not been
WELDED by the monarch in England for
more than five hundred years. In all that
time no people who spoke the English
tongue have borne such servitude. II re-
duces the whole population of the ten
States-all persons of every color, sex and
condition, and every stranger within their
limits, TO the most abiect and degrading
slavery. No master ever had a control so
absolute over his slaves as the bill gives 20
military officers over both white and col
ored persons. II may be answered TO this
that officers OF the army are too magnani-
NOUS just and humane to Cypress and tram
pie upon a subjugated people. / do not
doubt that army officers are as we'll entitled
to this confidence as any other class of men,
but the history Of the world has been writ
ten in vain IL it does not teach us that an
restrained authority can never be safely
trusted in human hands. 1t is almost sure
to be more or less abused under any cir
and IL has always resulted in
gross tyranny where rulers who are stran-
gers TO their subjects and come among them
as the representatives of a distant power,
and more especially when the power that
sends them is unfriendIy. Governments
closely resembling that here proposed have
been fully tried in Hungary and Poland
and the suffering endured BY those people
reused the sympathies of the entire world
II was tried in Ireland, and although at
FIRST tempered by principles Of English law.
i gave birth 20 cruelties so atrocious that
that they are never contemplated without
ust Indignation. The French constitution
armed Its deputies with this power. and
sent them 10 the southern departments of
he Republic The massacres, murders,
and other atrocities which they com
nitted, show what the passions Of the
lblest men IN the most civilized society
will attempt TO do, when wholly unrestrain-
ed by law. The men Of our race, in every
age, have struggled TO tie up the hands of
their governments, and keep them within
The law because their own experience of all
taught them that rulers could not
be relied on TO concede those rights which
they were not legally bound TO respect
The head of great empire has sometimes
governed with a mild and paternal sway;
but kindness of an irresponsible power
never Yields what law does not extort.
Between such 4 master and people subiu-
gated 10 his domination there can be moth
ing but enmity. lie punishes them if they
resist his authority, and if they submit 10 it
he hates them for their servility. / come
now to question, if possible still more
important Have we the power TO establish
and carry into execution a measure like
his2 / answer, certainly not, if we de-
rive our authority from the constitution,
and il we are bound by the limitations
which it imposes This proposition, Is
perfectly clear, that no branch of the Fed
eral government, executive, legislative or
judicial, can have lust powers except those
which il derives through and exercises I'M
Der the organic law Of the Union. Out
side the Constitution we have no legal
authority more than private citizens, and
within it we have only so much as that in
5trument gives as This broad principle |
limits all our functions and applies TO all |
mbjects. IL protects not only the citizens |
Of the United States which are within the |
Union, but shields every human being who |
,omes or is brought under our jurisdiction. |
We havenoright which the Constitutionsays |
We shall not do at all II, therefore, the |
Southern States were in truth ont Of the |
Union we could not treat their people as |
.he fundamental law forbids Some peo- |
pie assume that the success of our arms in |
crushing the opposition which was made |
in some States 10 the execution of Federal |
laws, reduced those States aud all their |
people, the innocent as well as the guilty,
TO a condition Of yassalage, and gave US a
power over them which the Constitution
does not bestow or define, or limit No
tallacy can be more transparent than this.
Our victories subjected the insurgents to
obedience, not 10 the yoke Of arbitrary des-
potism. When an absolute sovereign re-
duces his rebellious subjects he may deal
with them according TO his pleasure, be-
cause he had that power before, bat, when
a limited monarch puts down a rebellion,
he must govern according 20 law IL an
instruction should take place in one Of our
States against the authority Of the State
government aud end in the overthrow of
those who planned it, would il take away
the rights Of all the people of the counties
when &c was engaged in by pari or = MAJ
iority Of the population? Could they, for
such a reason. be wholly outlawed and de-
prived Of their representation in the legls-
Iaure. / have always oontended that the
government Of the United States was soye-
reign within its constitutional sphere, that
il executed It's laws like the States them
selves. by employing its soerciye powers 70
and that it could put down in
surreotiou with the same effect as State.
The other opposite doctrine is the wOrst
heresv Of those who advocate secession, and
cannot be agreed to without admitting that
heresy TO be right Instruction, rebellion
and domestic violence were anticipated
when the government was formed, and the
means Of rePelling and suppreSsing them
were wisely provided for in the constitu-
ton; but IL was not thoaght necessary that
the States in which they might arise should
be expelled from the Union Rebellions
which were invariably suppressed occurred
aH - q TO- 4 II