Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-04-02

" ment In Texas, and no local laws outside
|, of the acts Of Congress, which ] ought 10
q respect; and that / should undertake 10
: protect the rights Of persons and property
q in my OtOsl a0dg, and in an arbitrary man
aer. IL such be your meaning, / am
compelled TO differ with you. After the
: abolition of slavery, ian event which l
, hope no one now regrets), the laws OF
Louisiana and Texas, existing prior to
the rebellion, and not in conflict with
: the acts of Congress, comprised vast
system of Jurisprudence, both civil and
, criminal. It required not volumes only,
! but libraries to contain them. They laid
I down principles and precedents for ascer-
tanning the rights and adjusting the con-
troversies OF men In every conceivable
case. They were the creations OF great
and good and learned men, who had
labored, in their day, for their kind, and
gone down TO the grave long before Qur
, recent troubles, leaving their wOrks'an
inestimable legacy to the human race.
These laws, as I am informed, connected
the civilizations Of past and present ages,
and testified of the justice, wisdom, hu-
manly, and patriotism OF more than one
nation, through whose records they de-
scended to the present people of these
States. I am satisfied from representa-
tions of persons competent to judge, they
are as perfect a system Of laws as may
be found elsewhere, aud better suited
than any other to the condition Of this
peopie-fOr by them they have long been
igoverned. Why should il be supposed
Congress has abolished these laws?
Why should any one wish to abolish
them 4? They have committed no treason,
nor are hostile to the United States, nOr
c0untenance crime, nor favor Injustice.
On them, as on q foundation Of rock, re- =.
poses almost the entire superstructure of
social order In these two States, Annul
this code Of local laws, and there would
| be no longer any rights, either OF per-
Sons or property, here. Abolish the
local civil tribunals made to execute
them, and you would virtually annul the
laws, except in reference to the very few |
cases cognizsbls in the Federal courts. |
Let us, for moment, suppose the whole /
local civil code annulled, and that [ am |
! left, as commander Of the Fifth Military |
| District, the cole fountain of law aud |
| Justice. This is the position in which |
| you would place me,
am now to protect all rights and re- |
dress all wrongs. How is it possible for |
me to do it? Innumerable questions |
arise, OF which lam not only ignorant, |
/ but to the solution of which a military |
court is entirely unfit. One would es-
| tabiish will, another 3 deed or the
question is one OF succession, or partner |
| snip, or descent or trust q suit Of eject
ment or claim to chsttsls; or the applies-
| ton may relate to robbery, theft, arson,
or murder. How am TO take the first
step in any such matter? II I turn to
| the acts of Congress, find nothing on
| the subjsct. l dare not open the authors
on the local code, for it has ceased TO
| exist.
| And you tell me that in this perplex-
| ing condition | am TO furnish by dint OF
my own hssty and crude judgment, the
legislation demanded by the vast and
manifold interests OF tbs people. repeat
sir, that you, and not Congress, are re-
spOnsible for the mOnstrOus suggestion
that there are no local laws or institutions
here to be respected by me, outside the
acts OF Congress, ! say unhesisatiUgly, if
it were posi- bic that Congress should pass
an act abolishing the local codes for Lou
isiana and Texas-Which | do not be-
lieve-and it should fall to my lot to sup
ply their places with something Of my
own, do not see how / could 20 better
tban follow the laws in force here prior
to tle rebellion, excepting whatever
therein shall relate TO slavery. Power
may destroy the forms, bat not the prin-
ciples of justice; these will live i'll spite
even of the sword. History tells US tnat
the Roman pandeets were lost for long
period among the rubbish that war and
revolution had heaped upon them, but at
length were dug cut Of the ruins-again
to be regarded as a priceless treasure.
You are pleased to state that 'since the
publication OF (my) General Orders No.
40, there has been 3 percepnble increase
of crime, and manifestation of hostile
feeling towards the Government and It's
supporters" aud add that it is ian IN
pleasant duty 10 give such arecital of the
condition of the country
You will permit nae tosa that I deem
IL impossible the AFst OF these statements
can be true, and that do very greatly
doubt the correctness of the second.
General Orders No. 40 was Issued at New
Orleans, November 10Th, 1861, and your
letter was dated January II, 1868. Al
lowing time for Order No. 40 to reach
Texas and become generally known,
some additional time must have elapsed
tefore its effect would be manifested, and
yet further time must transpire before
you would be able to collect the evidence
OF vh3t you term "the condition of the
cOuntry;n and yet, after ali this, you
would have to make the necessary inVes- |
legations to ascertain if Order No. 40, or
something else, was the cause. The time, |
therefore, remaining TO enable you, be-
fore the nth Of January 1858, to reach s
satisfactory conclusion on SO delicate and
nice q question, must have beeD very
short. How you Observation-Disclosures YOU
investigated yourself or through third |
persons, and, If so, who they were, what ]
their competency and fairness, on what
evidence you rested your cOnclusiOn-or
whether you sscertained any facts at all,
are points upon which your letter so dis
creetly oElita all mention that NAV well
be excused for not relying implicitly up-
on it nor is nay difficulty diminished bv |
the fact that in another part of your LET {
ter you state that ever since the close Of
the war very large portion OF the peo-
pie have had no affection for the Govern. :
ment, but bitterness of feeling only. .
Had the duty of publishing and circula-
ting through the country, long before it
reached me, your statement that the ac- =
ton Of the district commander was in
creasing crime and hostile feeling against
the Government been less painful to your
sensibiiities, it might possibly have Oc-
Cured to you 10 furnish something on the
subject in addition TO your bare assertion.
But what was Order No. 40, and how
could it have the effect you attribute to
it? It sets forth that " The great prinei-
pies of American liberty are still the in-
neritance Of this people, and ever should |
be-" "ThAt the right of trial by jury,
the habeas CORPUS, the liberty OF the
press, the freedom Of speech, and the
natural rights of person and property =
must be preserved" viii you question
.he truth of these declarations Which
1De of these great principles of liberty
are you resdy 10 deny ana repudiate? +?
"a h AZ h /
enemy Of human liberty and the advo- I
,ate Of despotIsm. Was there any inti-
nation in General Orders No. 40 that any
crimes or breaches of law would be coun-
You know that there wss 8
not. On the contrary, you know per-
'eetly well that while the cOnsiGera- -
ion of crime and Otenses committed ia | =.
he Fifth Military District was referred I
10 the judgment OF the regular civil tri-
Junals," pledge was given in Order
No. 40, which all understood, that tribu- :
GALS would be supported in their lawful
and that " forcible resistance
10 law would be instantly suppressed by
arms" You viii aOt affirm that this / r
pledge has ever been forfeited. There /
1ss not been moment since have been
in command Of the Fifth District when
the whole military force in my hands
has not been ready to support the civil ]
of Texas in the execution of
the laws. And l am unwilling to believe
they would refuse to call for aid if they
needed il.
There are some considerations which, !
it seems to me, should cause you to hesi-
tate before indulging in wholesale cen.
sures against the civil authorities of !
Texas. Yeu are yourself the chief of
those authorities; not elected by the peo-
pie, but created by the military. Not | q
long after you had thus come into Office,
all the judges Of the Supreme Court OF
Texss-five in number-were removed
from Office, and new appointments made;
twelve Of the seventeen district judges
were removed, and others appointed.
County officers, more or less, in seventy
five out of one hundred and twenty
counties, were removed, and others ap-
pointed in their places. 1t is fair to con-
clude, that the executive and judicial
civil functionaries in Texas are the per-
sons whom you desired to fill the offices.
1t is proper to mention, also, that none
but registered citizens, and only those