Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1868-02-08
Ito Gas 5rn MlllTAnr nnED
Office Of sec'y tor Civil Affairs
New Orlcans Jan. -, 1864.

ll'p Gas 5Tn MiLlTAnr nrED
Office OF Sec'y Tor Civil Affairs
New Orleans Jan. -, lsG9
llrvgt Major Grn J ] soyuulds,
Commanding District OF Texas
GeHcmI-l AM dirrrirl by the
Major tieneuaf Commanding 10 &C,
kH-~stgc receipt IT your letter Of
rAe 9th inst, together with copies
~ kilograms and other documents,
showing that u disturbance was
rrraied at a public meeting In Mar.
shall, Texas. and the arrest Of Ger
tain parties by the military author
iiy, and the release of said parties
~ writ Of habcas corpus, You al'
- nsk for instructions upon the fol-
lowing points; When n military
officer makes an arrest ofa civilian,
,hall the latter bn delivered up at
once, On tho application Of himself
"r friends, To the civil authority aF
was ionc ut Marshall; or, shall the
military officer hold the civilian in
custody until the case shall have
hccn reported and acted upon at this
or superior headquarters"
IN reply, Major Gen. Hancock d.
reefs me to say, by virtue Of the
third section of the act Of Congress
m March 2. 1867, it is made the du.
" of the district commanders "to
punish or cause TO he punished all
disiurbcrs Of the public peace and
criminals, aud, TO this end, he may
allow local civil tribunals to
take jurisdiction of and try often.
'lcrs; or when, in his judgment, il
may he necessary for tho trial of
offenders, he shall have power to
organize military commissions or
tribunals for that purpose" etc. II
is ohvious that il is left optional
with, the District Commander 10 dc
tcrminc before what courts offenders
.hall be tried. When the accused
is turned over for trial TO the civil
tribunals he is subject 10 their Gus.
toby and jurisdiction, and hc must
necessarily he turned over forthwith
to the proper civil officers for that
purpose, for in that class Of cases
the military can exercise no control
over the civil authority. IL, on the
contrary, the offender is to he tried
by military commission or tribu-
nal. he is held in the custody of the
military, and the civil courts are
forbidden TO interfere under color of
State authority. These two classes
al eases arc entirely distinct, and
different rules apply to them. Gen
,ral orders No. 10, from these head
Quarters, expressly refers to this
distinction. In proper cases the of.
fender may be held for Il sufficient
length Of time, to enable tic Com
handing General to determine
whether the party ought to be tried
by n military commission. When
writ of habcas corpus issues in
cases submitted to military jurisdic-
zion, 81 return Of that fact is suffi--
cicnt, and tho civil court is bound at
once to dismiss the application.
When tho report of Col. Wood,
Special Inspector, in reference to
this affair, is received, further spc-
,ific orders will be given in this
case.
II is the intention of the Major
General Commanding to support
the civil authorities where they re-
quir.. assistance, and, to that end,
he will discharge all civil officers
who fail to perform their duties.
For further advice, as TO your
proposed action on this subject. see
letter TO Gov. Pease, copies of which
ilavc bccn furnished you.
lam. sir, very respectfully, your
obcdicnt servant,
RnnERT CHANDLER,
Capt, Assist. Sec'y for Civil Affairs.