The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-09-16


to explain his own private business
transactions to tie Committee. Tho
appeal to the Constitution, which for
bids unreasonable searches and seiz
ures; and provides that "no warrants
shall but upon probable cause, support
cd by oath or affirmation" is charac
terizcd IS essnsoless and useless clam
or" A private person, Colonel Wool
ey, whose dispatches had been seized
by tho Committee, was summoned be-
fore them, and denied, under oath, that
they related to the matter about which
the Committee had assumed to inquire,
but refused to testify as to his own pri-
vate business, w%hereupon they impris-
oned him-first in a wholesome room.
then, by order of tho House, transfer
rcd him to a dungeon in the vaults Of
the Capitol.
There seems to have been no motive
on the part of the House for this act
of arbitrary individual oppression but
to show their.power over the Constitu
ton and their contempt Of its guaran-
tees Or, perhaps their object was
merely to sustain General Butler, whom
they had adopted as their leader, and
to iEdorsc his acts. At to him, he was
so morally constituted that he corld
not even transmit the truth when he
had it before him on paper. 1t chang
ed its very nature under his eye while
he read, or under his hand while he
transcribed it and the c%oarseness Of
his perceptions disqualified him from
forming any just opinion on any matter
involving Constitution or law, OF. the
proprieties of official or professional &C
ton. Hence q case as he presents it
is never the actual case, and the Con-
stitution, after passing through his
rank mental digestion, is no moro the
Constitution as it is written than the
guano of Alta Vela is the fish that was
swallowed by the sea bird.
The Constitution declares that ono
bill of attainder or &c post fdcto law
shall be passed." whereupon, as if the
hint were taken from the clause. the
last of Congress, at their last session,
passed an Geo post Gacto law" a%ttaint-
ing n Gloss of our citizens and depriv-
ing them of citizenship-an unworthy
class, tits true-men who had violated
their oath to support the Constitution
and with it their oath to render militia
ny service. These men were probably
"acting outside the Constitution
perhaps they had been "taught by the
war'-still they deserved punishment,
and were amenable to it under the ar.
ticles of war. It was, therefore, OF
mere choice, not necessity, that this
double injunction of the Constitution
was violated.
But this abuse Of power was not suf-
fered to remain a barren act-it was
made to bear fruit. One of their at
tainted men happened to be ono of the,
three judges of election for Congress
in ono of the townships in the Mus
kiDgum District, which gave a large
majority to the Democratic candidate.
The present Congress, under pretenso
that this law, doubly unconstitutional,
was binding, DISTINGUISHED for that
election all the voters of the township,
removed General Morgan, whom the
people elected, and appointed Mr.. De.
Iano, whom they did not elect, in his
place, The case of Jack Wilkes and
Lutrrel, though an outrage which set
all England in a blaze, was fair play,
compared with this Wilkes had been
expelled from the House of Commons,
and was, therefore, declared ineligible,
but Luttrcl was not elected ; the re-
lection of Wilkes was excusable, the
appointment Of Luttrel was the wrong.
But in this case there is no particle of
excuse.-The nttainted judge was COM
petent, and if he were not, his deser-
ton from his c%clors, with which they
have nothing to do, did not deprive
the voters of their rights. DIR. Della
no, who was certainly an honorable
man before the new teaching tainted
his morals, still retains something of
his former self. ; he refused to
be a candidate for reelection, ashamed
to look an honest voter in the face. If
he would restore himself to his own
good opinion and to that ofthose whose
opinion he values, let him resign at
once a position which he Illegally &C.
cupies, and suffer the voters of the
district to elect a member for them
selves.
Two other cases occurred near the
close of the session, not equal in atroc-
ity to this, for they were, as far as dis
closed, simple Gets of arbitrary power,
unmixed with fraud or false pretense.
One from Missouri, elected by about
1000 majority, n from Kentucky by
about one thousand four hundred, were
removed by a vote of the House be-
aus they were not acceptable to the
party, and men who were not elected,
but who were acceptable, were appoint
ed in their place. A late election in
Kentucky shows how acts like these,
the mere wantonness and insolence of
unrestricted power, are estimated by
the people.
Senator Morton is correct in assert
ing that intelligent men of the South
are not fondly attached to the adven-
turers whom Congress has sent, at a
heavy public expense, to rule over them,
act as spies upon them, falsely report
them to the Northern public, and final
ly misrepresent them in Congress. A
very recent example is worthy of note.
The Governor of Louisiana, greatly in
want of a military force to control the
coming election, and if mot that, at least
Enfield rifles to arm a negro militia of
Loyal Leagues to keep suspected voters
from the polls, reported a condition of
perfect anarchy, with more than one
hundred and forty murders in a brief
space of time. This seemed serious ;
the Freedmen's Bureau were ordered to
inquire ard report, and, being COM
posed of military officers not yet taught
in tho Now code of morals. thev fnnnd