The national Republican., 1868-12-05
THE JEFF DxvIs TRIAL.
speech OF =. II. Dana for the Cow
ernmsnt-RePly Of Mr.. O'Conor.


ernmsnt-RePly OF Mr.. O'Conor.
RrcHMosD, Dec. 4.-In the United States
Circuit Court to-day, Chief Justice Chase
presiding, the motion to qussh the proceed.
ings against Mr.. Davis was under considera.
tion. R. H. Dana, for the Government,
opened this morning. He proceeded to show
that the fourteenth amendment pleaded In bar
Of punishment by the defendant was not a
penal statute, but was merely q change In the
political system adopted to secure trust.wor.
thiness in ONCE, and preserve purity in the
administration Of the Government. It was q
measure of precsution to secure the country
against filling offoes with persons who once
before filled them and broke their oaths.
II 1t had been intended to innict punish me mt,
Il would have been the utmost folly OF legis-
lation, seeing that, while II would-if viewed
as the defendants counsel had viewed it
tighten the punishment of leaders who had
held office and broken their osths, Il would
leave the people who never held office ex-
posed to the penalties OF death and imprisou.
ment, ss denounced in the Constitution be-
fore the adoption OF the amendment. II was
an expression Of the public will Of the htness
Of persons who engaged In rebellion after
breaking their oaths to hold ofnce again.
II was not intended or alleged by the defence
to act As an amnesty, nor was there q word
uttered In the Congress that framed, nor the
Legislatures that adopted II. to warrant such
a construction. So from that, II was intended
as test by which these men may be reached
and guarded against, who had proved unfsith-
full to their pledges to the Government. II
could not be plead In bar OF conviction for trea.
son, seeing that It applied to those only who
had after taking the oath OF once, engaged in
s,.n "a ..l.. q 49, n
nent. Now treason is something more than
engaging In insurrection and rebellion. 1t ID
lcvying war against the Government, and oi
this the defendant stands charged.
II would be strange indeed, II Jefferson
Davis could, AZ he might, under this plea
come to the bar and acknowledging that he
was guilty OF treason, deny the liability to b
punished because OF the fourteenth amend
ment.
Mr.. Dana contended that viewed, as the de
fence would have II, as a repeal OF the puniAh
rug clause oil the Constitution, the fourteenth
article would offer premium for rebellion
her eafter, securing, as 1t would, the partici
pat, ,rs, who had held ofice, from all penaltiel
saw dIsfranchisemsnt.
MIR. O'Conor followed Mr.. Dana. He showet
fro m the very nature OF the great civil war 4
wfis impossible to follow 1t up by trials fo
TT eason conducted with the irmness required
b y law. How utterly repugnant to the world'
dea of mauity 1t Is that after being reeog
nized during the war as In all respects equa
and as honorable men, the leaders of the con
quered force should be searched out In peac
| to be hung as traitors. That the Governmen
1 and people had never intended to do this. an,
ii was for this reason the fourteenth amend
uent had been adopted. 1t was a constitu
tion VI provision and executed Itself and thos
who fell under 1t were not suffering the pun
ishment.
He asked the court to give the construction
to the l4th article that the American peopl
intended 1t should be, and accept the great an,
bsnehccnt act OF mercy In the construction
they had put upon It, aud which tends to ad
vance what all good men, who arc believers II
universal suffrage, SO much desire, that uni
| versal suffrage should be accompanied hand Il
hand with universal amnssty of supposed oi
n fences arising out OF the unfortunate contro
versy In which universal suffrage may be sal
go have had Its origin and establishment.
The court adjourned until tomorrow.