Des Arc weekly citizen., 1867-12-21

most dangerous of political crimes By tliat crime the enemies of free gov ernment in all ages have worked ou their designs against public liberty an private right. It leads directly an, 1 immediately to the establishment o absolute rule; for undelcgated powe is always unlimited and unrestrained UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES OF I'll
 ACTS.
 The acts of Congress in question ar not only objectionable for their as sumption of ungranted powers, bu many of their provisions are in conflic with the direct prohibitions of the Con stitution. The Constitution command that republican form of governmen shall be guaranteed to all the States that no person shall be deprived o either life, liberty, or property, with out due process Of law, arrested with l out judicial warrant, or punishe, without fair trial before an impartia jury that the privilege of habeas cor pus shall not be denied in time ofpeace and that no bill of attainder shall b passed even against single individ ual |; yet the system of measures es tablished by these acts of Congres does totally subvert and destroy tn form as well as substance of republi can government in ten States to whicl they apply.
 It binds them hand and foot in abso lute slavery and subjects them to strange and hostile power, more un limited and likely to be abused thai any other now known among civilize, men. It tramples down all those right in which the essence of liberty consist and which free government is alway most careful to protect. It denies ha beas corpus and trial by jury. Per sonal freedom, property and life if as sailed by the passion, prejudice O rapacity of the ruler, have no security whatever. It has the effect of bill O attainder or bill of pains and penalties not upon q few individuals, but upor whole masses including millions wht inhabit the subjected States, and ever their unborn children. These wrongs being expressly forbidden, cannot b, constitutionally inflicted upon any portion of our people, no matter how they have come within our jurisdic tion, and no matter whether they liv, in States, territories or districts.
 
 proper and just consequences of thei great crime those who were in rebel lion against the Government, but as mode of punishment the measures un der consideration are the most unrea sonable that could be invented. Many of those people are perfectly innocent Many kept their fidelity to the Unior untainted to the last. Many were ip capable of any legal offense. A large portion even of the persons able tc bear arms were forced into the rebel lion against their will, and of those who arc guilty with their own consent the degrees of guilt are as various as the shades of their character and tenn. per. But these acts of Congress con. found them altogether in one common doom.
 1NDIscRIMISATE VENGEANCE.
 upon classes. sects and parties, or upon whole communities, for offenses com. mitted by portion of them against governments to which they owed obe- dience, were common in the barbarous ages of the world; but Christianity and civilization have made such pro- gress that recourse to punishment so cruel and unjust would meet with the condemnation of all unpredjudiced and right-minded men. The punitive jus tice of the age, especially of this coun- try, does not consist of stripping whole States of their liberties and re- ducing all their people, without dis. tinction, to a condition of slavery. It deals separately with each individual confines itself to the forms of law, and vindicates it's own purity by an impar. tial examination of every case before a competent judicial tribunal.
 If this does not satisfy all our desires with regard to the Southern rebels, lei us console ourselves by reflecting that free Constitution triumphant in wal and unbroken in peace, is worth fal more to us and our children than the qualification of any present feeling.
 DURATION or THE EVIL.
 am aware it is assumed that this system of government for the Southern States is not to be perpetual. It i: true this military government is to be only provisional but it is through this temporary evil that greater evil is te be made perpetual. If the guarantie, of the Constitution can be broken pro. visionally to serve a temporary pur' pose, and in part only of the country we can destroy them everywhere, and for all time. Arbitrary measures ofteI change, but they generally change fol the worse.
 It is the curse of despotism that il has no halting place. Intermitted exer else of its power brings no sense Of security to it's subjects for they car never know what more they will be called to endure when it's red righ, hand is armed to plague them again Nor is il possible to conjecture how oi when power, unrestrained by law, may seek its victims. States that are stil in the Union may be enslaved at any moment: for if the Constitution doe: not protect all. it protects none. It i, manifestly and avowedly the objects ol these laws to confer upon negroes tht privilege of voting; to disfranchist such number of white citizens as vii give the former a clear majority at al elections in the Southern States. Thi: to the minds of some persons is so i'm portant that violation of the Constitu ton is justified as means of bringing it about. The morality is always falss which excuses wrong because it pro poses to accomplish desirable end. We are not permitted to do evil tha good may come. But in this case tho end is evil. as well as the means.
 NEGRO SUPREMACY.
 Yhe subjugation of States to negro domination would be worse than th' military despotism under which the. are now suffering. It was believed before Congress passed the act that thu people would endure any amount o military oppression for any length O time rather than degrade themselves by subiection to the negro race. There fore they have been left without { choice. Negro suffrage was established by act ofCongress, and military officer were c mmanded to SUI erintend tn,