Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-10-27

PunHHuASAb VI sly OtucA 0HehIes tuan
those as to which power was specially
granted?
Gould it raise an army otherwise then'
by voluntary enlistment? Could It force
citizens into the regular army by draft or
oonscription? Tx
Could it engage in a general system Of
internal improvements? Could it i'm
prove the navigation Of q river, running
its whole length within . single 8tateg {
Could it build q railroad to the Pa
cife? fgET EB
Could it make anything except gold
and silver a legal tender 10 payment Of
debts?
Could it pass laws impairing the ebli-
cation OF contracts ? o.
Would an act Of Congress against nat
ural equity be void?
Could an Gd Ual0rem tax be at any time
levied, on all property, or particular
kinds Of property, in all the States2
Could q General declare martial law,
and so make his own will the only law,
over a whole State?
B there any other Martial law, than
that contained in the articles of war,
and the acts Of Congress?
Could any Military Tribunal whatever
take Jurisdiction, either Of offences not
defined by the Military law enacted by
Congress, or Of persons not belonging TO
or following the army?1 wa or.
Can any pretended public necessity, in
time Of war, dispense with the constitu-
tional safeguards Of property, hbertyand
life? So
Is il within the constitutional power
Of Congress to legftimize usurpations,
violations Of the Constitution, murders
done by Military Commissions, and other
invasions OF the constitutional rights Of
the citizen?
Is the provision that the writ Of Ha-
beas Corpus shall only be suspended in
certain cases, a grant to the General
Government Of the power to suspend it,
whenever Congress or the President
may choose 10 say that the necessity ex-
lists?
II it be a grant, is the power vested in
the Executive, or can it only be exer-
cised by Congress or can the Congress
delegate it to the President, and he to
his Generals?
II the necessity does not exist, can the
Judicial power SO declare?
Can q State Legislature or Executive
suspend the privilege OF the writ, at
pleasure, within the State, or is the pro-
vision Of the Constitution a limitation of
such power?
II Congress a suspend the privilege
Of the writ, does it possess the power to
suspend the privilege Of the State writ,
so as to prevent the Courts Of the States
as well as of the United States, from
issuing the writ2
Can q State Court discharge, upon
Habeas Corpus, a person held by war
ant from a Federal Court Officer or
Judge, OF by order OF an officer of the
army Of the United States? .Frn
Can the Secretary of State arrest eiti-
zens by despatch transmitted by teIe-
graph, and imprison them without trial9
Can a Star-Chsmber or an Iuguisiti0n
be established by the United States, aud
the use of torture revived, as a military
necessity?
Can a Federal Judge discharge a per-
son held by warrant of a State Court,
Magistrate or officer?
Are the avs constitutionally silent
or is the Constitution itself suspended,
amid arms?
Can an appeal to the Supreme Court of
the United States be constitutionsIly al
from q decision of the highest
Court Of a State?
Can the property Of rebels be confs-
Gated, by Executive proclamation or act
OF Congress, or only as q consequence Of
conviction upon q trial for treason in a
Court aud before sjury.
Only two or three Of these important
and dangerous questions we're settled by
the Confederate Constitution, and these
the least important Of al. They were
still left open, for parties to form upon,
although it was proven that they could
only be settled by civil war. Take, for
example, the question of citizenship. If
4 single human being could eonstitu-
be made 8 citizen Of the United
States, otherwise than by becoming a
Of 8 State, the whole Southern I
.heory Of the Government was wrong !
md the States were not the only parties E
the constitutional compact !
It was correctly said by GoyvERNEUB q
NORRIS, that the language Of the Con- 4.
titution was to be construed with refer
nee to its general purpose and object. :
Bot unfortunately, the very question
as to that Constitution was, &
What nero its general purpose and object? :
Vss its purpose to create a National
government, as understood by those who =
the Virginia plan, or a Federal
ne, as insisted on by the small States Il
nd New York? On one hand, the com I
lentators and the authors Of it commended
bat il was meant to be 8 Eational Gov Z
r%nnleut, a government proper, acting on ii
.ldividuals, with Federal features on h
he other, that it was a Federal compact, n
a Government with nationsI =
The jHsts naiIieu held that it n
7as part National and part Federal. Ii
Nor is it to be forgotton, that the Com v
may remain the same la letter. :
-hiie an unwritteu n grows mp by the
de Of it, in practice, and in the end de- .
aturalizes it. A single inconsistent or
.luivOcal clause, wen as to a minor or 4.
o~llsteral matter, is enough to found an N
rroneous practice on, and to become the st
OF the creed Of a party and taeit e
onsent, sn error p~erpetuated, or the
recess OF a party, may establish princi. J.
les at variance with the very essence Of -
ie Constitution. u,