Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1868-04-11

aHHNN AA.'"N H'"
and relrcss ail Wn0nss, How is ll
possible ilr mo i"aailg innumrr-
able questions arise of Nhich j am
not only ignorant, bni, 10 lhr
solution of which "a military eonrl
Is cutlrrly untitled, one would es-
tahlish a will, another a decd "r
the question '- onr u. succession, "r
partnership, ar descent or lrusl- "a
suit ~ ,'eclmrnt ar e'alm a. chat
tels; or lhe application may relate
t0 robbery, then, arson ur murder,
How am / ln take ihc ilni stop In
anv such natter. I'll turn % ihe
acts al Congress, / lind nothing on
the subject, I dare nnt "F'n the
authors ON ihc local code, for Il has
ceased Ia exist,
And Won tell mc that In this per
plcNlug condition, | am 10 furnish
hy din, 0f my own kassy and crude
Judgment, lhc legislation demanded
by the vast aud manifold Interests
Of the people, repeat, sir, that
y0n, aud not Congress, are respnn-
siblo for thc monsirOus suggestion
that there arc no local laws or in
slitulions here to be respected hy
me outside of the acts of Congress,
say uuhcsi tatingly, II II
were possible that Congress
should pass M net aholishinc the
local codes for Louisiana and Tex
as-which do not hclievc-and Il
should fall to my lot to supply their
places with something Of my own
/ / do not see how / could 10 better
than follow the laws in force here
prior to the rebellion, excepting
whatever therein shall relate to sla'
very. Power may destroy the
forms, but not the principles of JUS.
ticc; these will 1.-Two in spite even of
the sword. History tells us that
| the Roman pandccts were lost for q
long period among the rubbish that
war aud revolution had hcapcd up
on them. but ut length were dug
out of tho ruins-aGain to be re
garded us II priceless treasure.
You arc pleased to state that
''sncc the publication Of (my) Gen
eral Orders No. 10, there has been
II prcccptiblc increase Of crime a'd
manifestation OF hostile feeling to,
wards the Government and its sup
portcrs," and add that it is can un-
pleasant duty to give such n recital
OF the condition Of the country
You will permit me to say that !
deem it impossible the first of these
statements can be true, and that ]
do very greatly doubt the correct
ness of thc second. General Orders
! No. 40 was issued at New Orleans,
November %, 1867, and your letter
was dated January II, 1868. Al
lowing time TOR Order No. 40 to
reach Texas, and become generally
known, some additional time must
have elapsed before its effect would
be manifested, and a yet further
time must transpirc before y u
would be able to collect the evidence
of what you term "thc condition OF
the country" and yet after all this
you would have to make the neccs'
sary Investigations TO ascertain II
Order No. 40 or something else was
the cause. The time therefore re
naming to enable you, before the
18th Of January, 1868, to reach a
satisfactory conclusion on so deli
cate and nice question, must have
been very short. How you proceed
ed, whether you investigated your
self or through third persons, if so
who they were, what their compc-
tency and fairness, on what evidence
you rested your conclusion, OF
whether you asccrtaincd any facts
at all, are points upon which youl
letter so discrcetly omits all men
tion, that | may well be excused tol
not relying implicitly upon it: nol
is my difficulty diminished by the
fact that in another part OF YOU
letter you state that ever since The
close Of the war very large portion
of the people have had no affection
for the Government, but bitterness
of feeling only. Had the duty o
publishing and circulating through
: the country, long before it reached
me, your statement that the actor
of the District Commander was in
crcasinr crime and hostile feeling
against the Government, been less
painful to your sensibilitics, it nigh
possibly have occurred to you t.
: furnish something on the subject il
addition to your bare assertion.
But what was Ordc" No. 40, anC
how could it have the effect you at
tribute to it2 1t sets forth tha
"thc great principles of American
liberty are still the inheritance o
this people, and ever should be.
"T'hat the right Of trial by jury, tn
habeas corpus, the liberty of tn,
press. the freedom of speech, anC
the natural rights of person anC
property, must be preserved" )" vii
YOU question the truth of these dec
larations? Which one these grca
principles of liberty are you read,
TO deny and repudiate? Whueve
does SO, avows himslf the enemy 0
human liberty and the advocate o
despotism. Was there any intima-
tion in General Orders No. 40 tha
any crimes or brechcs Of law woulC
be countenanced? You know tina
there was not. On the contrary
} you know perfectly well that Will
'.the consideration Of crime and of
fences committed in the Fifth Mill
tary District was referred to th
. Judgment of the regular civil tribu-
mails. a pledge was given in Orde
No. 40. which all understood, tha
tribunals would be supported
. their lavf Jurisdiction, and tina
'-forciblv resistance to law woull
be instantly suppressed by arms