Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1867-03-02

m Hilary commteoton, 50 that the II a Of the
c adt mn~o ,rny oep~na upon to vii OF tao
It's ria 'bai the authority here gwen tn tn
m itary ON ser amount, abso ue despoti SIN.
But 10 make IL still more uneadurabie. the bill
provinces that 10 may be delesa ted to a, Uanv
subordiDales IS he chooses to appo mt: for It
declares tn at he shall spunish or eau 90 10 ne
punished Such power has not bsen W cid.
five hundred years. In all that time no peo.
pie who speak the English language ha We
borne such servtiude. 1t reduces the whole
population OF the ten States-aN peraons, of
every color. sex. and condition, and every
stranger within their limits-to the most An.
irct and degrading slavery. No master ever
had control so absolute over his slaves as
this bill gives TO the military officers over both
white and colored persons r..r- ~ -
ltmay be answered to this that the OH GERS of
the army are too magnan imous, just. and hu-
people. do not dou bt that army on car. ara as
well entitled 10 this kid of confidence as anv
other class OF men. But the history of the
world has been written in vain, IL It does not
teach Us that unrestrained authority can never
be safely trusted in human hands. 1t 10 al
most sure TO be more or less abused under anv
circumstances, and il has always resulted IN
gress ~ nanny where the rulers who exercjs e
1t are Strangers 10 their subjects, and come
among them as the representatI yes ola djstaut
power. and more especially when the DO wer
closely resembling that here proposed have
been fairly tried in Hungary and Poland, and
the sunering endured by those people reused
me syppahles OF the entire world. 1t was
tiled in Ireland, and, though tempered at first
by principles Of Er glish law, 1t gave birth to
crueiues so afrocious that they are never re.
counted without just indignation. The
french Convention armed its deputies with
ms power, and sent them to the Southern de-
partments Of the Republic The massacras
murders, AND other atrocities which they COM
muted show what The passions or the abIest
men in the most civilized society will temp
Them TO do when wholly unrestrained bv Ia w.
ne men OF our race in every age have strug.
CLEO TO lie up the hands of their Governm-n ts
ahO keep fbem within the law: because their
owh experience of all mankind taug hit them
that rulers could rot be relied on to concede
those rights which they were not legally bound
TO respect. The head of a great empire has
sometimes governed il with a mild and pater.
nal sway; but the kindness of an irresponsible
depu'y never yields what the law does not
eAtori from him Between such master and
the people subjected 20 his domination there
can be nothing but enmity; he Furnishes them
II they resist his authority, and. iftney submit
to II, he hates them tor their servility
come now to question which is, If posi-.
ole, suit more important Have we the DO gsr
TO establish and carry into execution meas
ure Ike this! L answer, certainly not, If we
derive our authority from the Constitution
and If we are bound by the limitations which
imposes.
This proposition is perfectly cIear-that no
oraheh Oh the Federal Govern nent, executive.
legislative. or judicial. have any inst
powers, except those which it derives through
and exercises under the organic law of the
Union Outsid- of the Constitution, we have
no Iegal authorlty more than private citizens
and within 1t we have only SO much as that
Instrument gives us. This broad principle
limits all cur functions, and applies to all
subjects, II protects not only the citizens of
States which are within the Union but il
shields every human being who comes or ia
brought under our jurisdiction. We have no
iient 10 90 In one place, more than In another,
that which the Constitution says we shall NOT
do at ALI If, therefore, the Southern States
were In truth ont of the Union, we could not
treat their people In a way which the funda-
Some persons assume that the success OF our
arms In crushing the opposition which was
made In some OF the States to the execution of
the Federal laws, reduced those States and ali
their people-the innocent as well as the guilty
to the condition Of vassalage, and gave us a
power over them which the Constitution does
not bestow, or define. or limit No failacy can
be more transparent than this. Our yictorie,
subjected the iDs urgents to legal obedjen CO. of
TO the woke Of an arbitrary despotIsm When
an absolute sovereign reduces his rebeIlions
suoJecls, ne may deal with them according to
MS pleasure, because ne had that power be.
lore. But when limit monarch puts down
an instruction, he must still go yern ACCORDING
TO law. If an instruction should take place
In one OF our states against the authority OF
the State government, and end in the over.
throw OF those who planned II, would that take
away the rights OF all the people OF the coun.
ties where it was favored by a part or a ma.
Jority of the population Gould they, for sucn
reason. be wholly Outlawed and depri we'd OF
their !epret entation in the Leg .slaturel have
aiwsys contsaded that the Government of the
United State" wac sovereign within its constl-
tutional sphere; that Ii executed its La WIS, like
the States themselves, by applying It's coer
GIVE power directly to individuals; and that il
could put down insurrection with the same eff.
rect as State, and NO other The opposite
doctrine IL the worst b sresy Of those who ad-
vocated secession, and cannot be agreed to
without admitting that heresy TO be right
tnaUrrectlOn-
mestic violence were anticipated when the
Govern ment WAS framed, and the means Of
Iepelhng and suppressing them were wisely
provided for in the Constitution; but IL was
not thought necessary to declare that the States
IN which they might occur should be expelled
IRON me Union. Rebelhons, which were in
out Of which these questions grow; but the
States continued TO exist and the Union re-.
NAMED unbroken. In Massach usstts, in Penn.
sylxsnia. In Rhode Island. and IN New York,
al Inherent periods in our history, violent aud
armed opposition to the United State. was
carried on; bat the relations of those States
with the Federal Government were not sup
posed to Be interrupted or changed thereby,
after the rebellious portions OF their popula.
uon were defeated and put down. 1t il true
that In these earlier cases there was no for.
from the Union, but IL is also true that in the
Southern States the ordinances Of secession
were treated BY all the friends of the Union as
mEe nultitieo. anu are now acknowledged to
that they had any force or validity. or that
they did In fact take the states in which they
were passed out Of the Union, we sweep from
under our feet all the grounds upon which we
stand In justifyink the use Of Federal force
TO maintain the integrity of the Government
This is bill passed by Congress in time Of
peace There Is not In any one OF the States
brought under its operation either war or in.
.urrection. The laws OF the States and OF the
Federal Government are all in undisturbed
and harmonious epeI alton. The courts, state
and Federal, are open, and In the full exercise
OF their proper authority. Over every State
comprised In these Il We military districts, life
liberty. and property are secured by State laws
ana Federal laws, and the national Coustitu.
tion Is everywhere In force and everywhere
obeyed. What, then, is the ground on which
TINS bill proceeds 2 The title OF the bill an.
nounces that 1t Is intended "for the more EN-. |
cient government of these ten Slates. 1t il
recited BY way OF preamble that NO legal State
governments, NOR adequate protection for
life or property 7" exist in those States, an that
peace and good order should be thus Enforced.
Inc nfst ming which arrests attention upon ]
these recitals, which prepare the way for mar
tiai law, Ia this-that the only foundation upon 1
which martial law can exist under our form of
Government Ia not stated or 30 much a. pre-
tended. Actual war, foreign invasion, do
nestle tnsurrectton-none of these appear: ana
none OF these in fact exist. It % not even re- \
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