Arizona miner., 1867-12-21

GU PonGict with the direct prohibitions of A' Constitution The Constitution com
 '"ds that republican form of govern
 at Inan sboll be guaranteed to all the States;
 u'ot mn nerson shall be deprived of life, lib-
 .ntr or propertv, without due process of law,
 .nr arrested without a judicial warrant, nor
 r,,,ished without fair trial before an impar-
 .ial iurv that the privilege of hobeas corpus
 sLai not be denied in time of peace, and that
 no bill of attainder shall be passed even
 s,,oinst single individual yet the system
 o5 measures established by these acts of Con
 y,os. does totally subyert and destroy the
 5,rm as well as the substance of republican
 government in the ten States to which they
 ssnnlv It binds them hand and foot, in ab.
 soiuie slavery, and subjects them to strange
 and hostile power more unlimited and more
 Tlcly to be abused than any other now
 lnoWn among civilized men. It tramples
 down all those rights in which the essence of
 liberty consists, and which free Govern
 ,neDt is always most careful Co protect. It
 denies the habsqs corpus and the trial by jury.
 Personal freedom, property and life, if assailed
 by the passion, the prejudice or the rapacity
 of the ruler, have no security whatever. It
 bas the effect of a bill of attainder or bill of
 pains and penalties, not upon the few indyid-
 uals alone but upon whole masses of the peo-
 Ip.l
 subicctcd States and even their unborn chil-
 dren. These wrongs being expressly forbid
 den. cannot be constantly inflicted upon any
 portion of our people, no matter how they
 may have come within our jurisdiction, and
 no mater whether they live in States, Terri
 tories or Districts. l have no desire to save
 from the proper and just consequence of their
 great crime thos3 who engaged in rebellion
 against the Government. but as a mode of
 punishment the measures under consideration
 are the most unreasonable that could be in-
 vented Many Qf these people are perfectly
 innocent many keep their fidelity to the
 Union untainted to the last many were in-
 capable of any legal ofiense, a large propor-
 ton even of the persons able Co bear arms
 were fur,ed into the rebellion against their
 will and of those who are guilty with their
 own consent, the degrees of guilt are as yari-
 ous as their character. and temper. but these acts of Congress confound them altogether in one common doom Indiscriminatc vengeance upon classes, sects and parties, or upon whole communities for offences committed by portion of them against the Government to which they owed obedience, was common in the barbarous ages of the world; but Chris tianity and civilization have made such pro- gress that recourse to a punishment so cruel and unjust would meet with the c0ndemna- ton or all uuprc udiced and rght-minded men.
 DANGER or NEGRO SUPREMACY.
 The primitive justice of the age, especially of this country, does not consist in stripping whole States of their lberties and reducing all their people, without distinction, to the condition of slavery. l. deals separately with every individual, confines itself to the form of law. and vindicatcs its own purity by an impartial examination of every case befors competent judicial tribunal. If this does not satisfy all our desires with regard to southern rebels, let us console ourselves by rehectiug that Constitution triumphant in war and unbroken in peace is worth far more to us and our children than the qualification Vi any present feelings. l am aware it is as- slmed that this system of government for the southern States is not to be perpetual. l. is true this military government k to be only # provisional, but it s through this temporary 8 evil that greater evil is to be made pcrpet- Il ,al if the guarantees of the Constitution 4 can be broken previously to serve a temporary # #purpose, and in part only of the country, x we can destroy them everywhere and for all Aztae. Arbitrary measures often change, but VI tAey generally change for the worst 1t is tAc curse of despotism that it has no halting place. The intermitted exercise oi its power # brings no sense of security to its subjects, A for they can never know what move they will q De called to endure, when it's red right hand 4is armed io plasae theta again. Nor is it 4possib.e 10 conjecture how or where power H kuHrestrained by law, may seek it's next vic 3im. The States that are still free may be s44en>layed at any moment, for if the Constitu-
 ton does not protect all, it protects none. X IScAPAcIrY OF THE NEGRO.
 M l. is avowedly the object of these laws, to
 conier upon negroes the privilege ef voting, E and to dsfranchise such number of white 5TS el'zcns as viii give the former clear major 2 ny, at all elections in Southern States This s14= =ie tho minds of persons is so important that violation of the Constitution is iusti- .1h he'd as a means of bringing it about The 8norallty is always false which excuses a
 wrong, beeaus it proposes to accomplish de- araole ent We are not permitted to do evil
 mat good may come about. In this case the .*enn itself is evil as well as the means. The uQlpgation of the States to negro dominion E would be worse than the military despOtsm
 eiler which they are now suffering. It was
 peheyed beforehand that the people would =.As hdure any amount of military oppression, 1' any length of time, rather than degrade ,lcihselyes by subjection Co the negro race
 leielore, they have been left without a
 Ioce Negro suffrage was established by
 Net of Congress, and the military officers
 were commanded to superintend the process clothing the negro race with the political 'nheges torn from white men. The blacks