Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-01-09

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WEDNESDAY EVENING. $3.50. JAM.
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The Soprcmc Court Decision.
Yesterday VIC 0nished the publication oI
the recent decision Of the Supreme Cour; y !
tho United States IN the celebrated Milligan |
case. Concerning this. that very able and !
journal, the National IateH. |
osnoer, SAYS, that lie court could not pre-
sent i,s readers with u ''nohier new years |
g;f,'' than the glorious vindics,ioa Of law |
and jussice by the Supreme Court Judges
in their opinions. The Court were vaani>
moro that M,lligsn should have the. Urn o;
hdJeas corpus, that be should be discharged,
and thaf the Military Commission rhich
tried Aim had no .jurisdiction. On those
points there was no difference among the |
Judges. Four Of the Jodsss. however, dis
scented from the opinion Of the majority that
Consrsss had no porer 10 authorize Military
Commissions to ny eiriiiaas.
This 10. indeed, . glorious ew years git, |
which ~ hope viii comfort the prisoner
and open the door TO the captive. There
arc still ssms victims Of Mr.. Sewards "little
bell" OF Mr. Stanton's vindictivencss, we
doubt not. langsshing in some State bss-
tile In time Of var. when arms and pas.
sioa prevail, the courts are too often affected
By outside circumstances and influenced by
facts not in the record, or swayed by public
opinion. During thc vars Of Napoleon the
British Admiralty Courts invariably decided
rs tho q overn.ncnt wished thcn. Even the
great and pure Mansfield, IN the libel trials
81 his time. leaned towardi the prosecution,
aud eauneiatcd the mos; atrocious doctrine
on the law on that subject. JcGrcys hung
everybody the Attorney General desired ex
ecutcd. fiiow Judge Advocate Holt would
have delighted to have prscticed before him.
But when passion. and feeling have passed
away with the excitement Of the hour, and
law and reason once more. assert their su-
premaey, justice and truth must prevail.
In Nil'igans case We see the disqualification
We trust, indeed. Il may release other vic.
tins OF illegal tribunals. md once more wins
dictate the claim Of the United States TO be-
Ing free Government. LAWYERS may some
times wavcr and swerve when on.thc bench
in political caoes; Judges may sometimes
be corrupt and ime-serving, but m the end
Law and justice will be vtnd,cat,d.
-S>N> --
0mpeach0ene or Rreslaens Johm.
sOa-Aa Appeal .iren vNesdell
1shlilps.
Wendell phillips dsrss to talk just what
many Of his associate conspirators dare on
~ TO think and plot secretly. In the last
number Of the Anti>Siare,y Standard he
publishes over bic own signature - little
very plain talk" concerning the proposed
dcposal Of The President, and in his foolhar-
dy fanatcsm declares the lawlcss aud rev.
o.utionary purpose Of the movement. Ils
says:
We touched last week on some consider
atoms which show the value OF an ,,npeach-
mcnt Of the President. even IL there we're
little hope Of its resulting in a conviction.
But there ARE two very pressing reasons
why every effort should be mace TO secure
y conviction. Every anti-slavery man re.
mempcrs What dead lock to al progress
ihc supreme Court Of the United States
has been IN tunes past. lis ludges, nppomt.
eel 10y pro-slavery executive, selected from
the most conservative class. holding their
Oh scs for life. and growing more and mn q
iussIl each year Il Advancing age. no effort
sh1rt o! reyoiutlol seemed Abs 10 resist
tAeir hsncful power.
To-day that same cpuT. s,au.s tie sane
inDovab.e Obstacles "A cur path. !, u
Asrs.ood tia; i've Judges out % the ninc
ypoTi th- Precedent I. is said that il.cy
.ect~d. YEA. a-o. that the iron G. q
oata vas .i.-oas,.; u oss.l. and a. tia, tie
clisf lussscs eo-ll - sss 10 delay the flr
ia! AGrs~at.ces 4ea. OF the decision. ore Of
taose jsdses. appointed by Lincoln. has
I3.nca lhe enemy Ibis state Of things =
an almost insurmcuntsbls barrier 70 some
measures salca are indispensable to snr
sAfe and permanent rec1ns;ruc;ion. Il It
al men are mortal. Two Of these Judges
are very old, oae other infirm in health. Il,
- very probable tina; Mr.. johnson may,
"asuuh wv Ncot>, uANc tuC aYRDiututIk VI
two judges, perhaps more. VI course, his
nominations are subject to the sena,c's ap-
proval; but re all know he may select men
Of fair repute bL, welded to his policy,
~hon Il would be impossible % prevent the
senate from confirming.
Such !. one of the dangers Of leaving a
rebel at the head of the gavernment for two
years more. We may aud probably shall
have tie supreme court reinforced with
flesh. young blood, to las. another quartz,
Of u century. sud he always the refuge .,
abuses ami the foo Of progress. II his
crimes have given US sufficient grounds &c
remove johnson aud avert this momcntoul
danger. it Is olhsrdy, it is madness, tt
leave the criminal untouched and run al
these risks.
There is yet another consideration urging
MS in the same direction. The read,cst,
quickest way to secure true reconstru c,ion
seems TO be tins, for the first step ct least
brush Wway Ia SO phantoms, the pretended
State governments. and set up the terrific
rial governments in each Of the lately rebel
States. This gives room TO build, gets rid
Of ell the lumber and cobwebs Of State
rights and oil laws.
This sanc.i6ed and consecrated enemy Of
odd lsws"-or rather Of al laws --concludes
his appeal With the significant deelara
ton:
We regard this question Of impt achmcnt
- being in fact the dscisios Of ihe question
rhefher to Kspsblieas pasy shall succeed
IN the ne1t presidenfiai election. There il
very little chance Of their doing so uales
Il remores Johnsos out Of Is patti. Civ,
him another too years, end Il win be Al.
most miracle IL ever he or his State Secrc
tary ere eitlcss enough 10 allow themselv e
TO be defeated
The object Of all these high .hande
measures, then, 10 - determine "whethe
the Republican party shall succeed in Il,
next presidential election" Phillips prob,
bly, foreets that there isa very large fra,
ton Of the republican party aforesaid, whic
would prefer that some other party shoul
succeed in the next presidential election
rather than that the Republican part
should succeed in the manner apcclilcd.
4 Wlndfnll Uadcr Singular cir
c0HMs noes.
The following story in connection wit
the recent deccasc Of Il. c. Dale Eso