Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-02-28

constitutional amendment that was SUBJ
mitted to them in common with the
Northern States2 They had previous to
this elected Congressman apd, Senators,
and had been managing their State af
fairs for nearly two years! By what
authority. then, did Congress read these
States out of the Union and declare
them conquered territories, and place
five military commanders over ten Sow
ereign States of this Union, and subject
ten millions ofpeople to their will and
merciless control, thus substituting mill
tary rule for civil authority, and drum
ken and debauched court martial for
sworn courts of justice?
~ Were these States then in rebellion
or insurrection that it became necessary
to substitute martial forcivil law? There
was not a single State in rebellion n, r
an armed foe within the boundaries OF
the entire South, yet the writ of ha6eas
corpus is suspended. and the military
made superior to the civil authority |!
When Lincoln was President he was
not only chief executive and commander,
in-chief of the forces of the United
States, but was frequently declared to
be the government itself; and to dissent
from his views was treason, odious and
punishable! q ~. 8 3.i 6aai : :
But when President johnson began
to show some regard for the Constitu-
ton, the ultra members of Congress i'm
mediately lost faith in him and COM
menced to curtail his power and hedge
him in. The long series of amendatory
reconstruction acts, and the military bill
are intended to deprive the President of
the powers conferred on him as a co-ordi-
nate branch of the government under
the Constitution of the United States.
Among these powersis the right to select
his Cabinet-the right as commander-in-
chief to detail the officers of the army to
duty wherever he may think it most ad-
visable.
The new military despotism bill takes
from the President all these powers
and confers them on Gen. Grant, who
under the law will be absolute dictator,
with power to remove Governors, officers
of State and Judges of Courts, at his dis
cretion. and is held accountable to no
legal tribunal in the land for his arbi-
trary and despotic acts Yet tits claim
ed by gentlemen on this floor that these
military bills are constitutional! These
bills deprive ten millions of people of
the right of trial by jury. The Consti-
tuition affirms to the contrary that the
''trial of all crimes, except in case of I'm
peachment, shall be by jury
By the enforcement of these acts civil
Jurisdiction is destroyed and persons are
arrested and tried without indictment,
while the Constitution declares that emo
person shall be held to answer for a cap
| ital or otherwise infamous crime, unless
on a presentment or Indictment, of a
grand jury" 1t is also claimed that
these military commanders are not "dic-
tators." They arrest and try men by
military commissions for acts that are ne
violation of any written law, and punish
them at will They remove Governors
disband Legislative assemblies. adjourn
Courts at the point of the bayonet, sus
pend Judges from Office, organize mill
tary tribunals who are instructed to con
vict, and there is no appeal from theil
arbitrary and tyrannical edicts. Ever
the Supreme Court of the United States
will have no jurisdiction in these cases
and yet our Republican friends see moth
ing unconstitutional in all this!
Mr.. Speaker, from these considera
tions am in favor of the adoption o
the resolution. Our Republican friends
tell us they are willing to go before tn,
people on these issues. | accept tn.
challenge, and we will meet them by
doing justice to the Southern people, anc
in doing so, 1 believe the American peo
pie will approve our acts, and that a res
toration of the Union, and peace ant
prosperity will crown our efforts.