Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1867-06-08
Opinion of the Attorney General.
TCONCLuDrD. |

legislative Act, in derogation of an oxistino
right. It is, in effect, a law Which takes awpv
nm existing right as consequence of acts done
at prior tune, and which, at the time thew
were done, cntaicd no such consequences. In
the late case before the Supreme Court Of the
United States upon the tcat oath prescribed
ny an Act of Congress to be taken by lawyers,
ny which the exclusion from the RIGHT to plac-
tlce their profession was made to arise from
PRIOR participation in the rebellion, the court
says: as the oath prescribed canuot be
taken by these parties, the Act as against them
operates as n legislative decree OF perpetual
exclusion, and exclusion from any Of the pro.
LESSONS Or any of the ordinary avoca,ions of
life, for past conduct, can lie rcgaltlcd in no
other light than as a punishment for such
conduct. The exacton Of tho oath is tho
mode provided for asccrtaining tho parties up
on whom the Act is intended to operate, and,
instead OF lesscning, Increases its obicctiona.
bic character All cnactmcnts of this kind
partakc of the nature Of bills Of pains and pen
aities. The court further says tho dcprva,
tlon of any right civil or political, previously
cnloyed' may be punished, the circumstan-
i ces attending aud the causes of the dcpriva-
ton determining this fact The charactcris
tics of this clause of the Acts arc therefore
retrospective, penal and primitive. OF course,
there can be no question as to the rule of con
& struction which is here to be applied Those
who are expressly brought within its opera
tions cannot be saved from It's opcratons.--
Where, from the generality Of terms of de-
scription, or for any other reason, a reasonable
.oubt arises, that doubt is to be resolved
against the operation Of the law and in favor
Of the voter What Acts, then, within the
meaning of tho law, make party guilty o"
engaging i'll instruction or rebellion against
the United States, or giving aid and comfort
to the enemies thereof? The language here
comprchcnds not only the late rebellion, but
every past rebellion or insurrcction which has
happened in the United States. SO, too, il
comprchends every foreign war in which tho
United States has at any timo been engaged
The irst part Of the sentence covers cases o
domestic war existing in the form of rebellion
or insurrcction, whilst the last part applies t,
foreign war. The words "giying aid allt
comfort to the enemies Of the United Stutcs ,
arc the same used in the constitutional dpfni
tion of treason, and the enemies there mean
must be taken to be foreign enemies Tlcs,
words, originally found in the carly statute.
of England against treason, have received thai
settled Interpretation in English and tmcr
can courts. They are used in this Net with
out any qualification, and we Give them full
force and application when they are made Ia
apply to adherence or giving ail and comfort
to foreign enemies. Such an Aet as to the
breach of the oath or duty Of nlIcgiaacr, stands
upon the same policy of disqualification as en-
gaging in rebellion or civil war. \ person,
therefore, who gave aid and comfort to our en-
cmes in the war with Great Britain in 1912
and in the war with Mexico in 1917 would
in that particular, come within this clause
In laying down this rule, donot forget that
for certain purposes, and in certain sense
every citizen in the rebel States, during the
late rebellion, is to be considered public en-
cmy as in respect to the liability Of his prop
crty to capture as a prize of war, and in re
spcct to various Acts of Congress passed du
ring tho rcbcllion, which, as to property, de-
clare its liability to capture forfeiture, or con
tiscation, when used in aid of the late rebel
lion. But whenever, in any Of these Acts Of
Congress, these terms, " aid and comfort, ,"
are used in any other than The commonly re-
cevcd acccptations. some qualification or de
scription is added to make them apply to The
rebellion. Nevertheless, although | strongly
incline to think that the "ad and comfort I"
here mentioned should strictly be confined to
its acknowledged legal interpretation am
not quite prepared to soy that Congress may
not have used it rs applicable to the rebellion
shall therefore allow it due weight in the
next inquiry in giving construction to the
clause now to be considered.
We ale now 10 inquire what is meant by
engaging in insurrcction or rebellion against
the United States. The force Of the term 10
engage carries the idea of active rather than
passive conduct, and Of voluntary rather than
of compulsory action. Take as an instance
rebel soldier compelled to service BY force Of
conscription. Take as another instance the
case of a slave who, BY tic command of his
master, or by military order, has served in tho
ranks or aide in the construction of military
works. 1t would be an abuse OF language to
hold that in these instances the parties en-
4 gagged in rebellion within the meaning of that
word as used in this law. But whilst, in my
opinion, a acopscript or slave forced into the
9 ranks or othor military service, is not inclu.
.ded, it does not follow that other classes than
those who actually levied war and voluntarily
Joined the ranks of the rebels arc to be cxclu
led. Taking it to be clear that in the sense
Of the law persons may have engaged in the
rebellion without having actually levied war or
taken arms, all those who, in legislative or
other official capacity, were engaged in tue
furthcrancc of = common unlawful purpose,
or persons who, in their individual capacity.
have done any overt act for tho purpose of
promoting tho rebellion, may well be said, in