Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-23

declares that the :
light of trial by jury shall remain
nviolate; that the people shall be I
secure in their persons, houses, pa e
pers, and possessions, from unreason- )
able searches and seizures" "that no
free man shall be taken or imprls-
Oned. or disseized of his freehold,
liberties or privileges, or outlawed d
or exiled, or in any manner de-
stroyed, or deprived of his life, lib '
erty or property, but by the judg
ment of his peers, or the law of the
land" meaning, according to the
opinion of our Supreme Court, "a
general and public law, equally
binding on every member of the
community" "that in all criminal
prosecutions, the accused hath a
right" to "a speedy public trial by
an impartial jury Of the county or
district in which the crime shall
have been committed" and chat
all courts shall be open" and fright
and Justice administered without
sale, denial or delay" How are
these mandatory provisions of the
constitution to be set aside by
mere act of the Legislature and the
proclamation of the Governor
But this is not ALL That self-same |
constitution which the Governor |
and every member of the Legisla-
ture took solemn oath to support,
declares in the plainest, most m-
equivocal language "that in all
cases the military shall be kept in
strict subordination TO the civil au-
thority." Notwithstanding this
mandate of the supreme law OF the
State, the Governor has notified
| the people that he will in few
days set aside the civil law and
constitute an irresponsible court
martial the arbiter Of the lives and
property of the citizens OF whole
counties. The constitution having
| declared that "the military shall be
kept in strict subordination to the
civil authority" how can the mere
proclamation of the Governor set
the former above, or even upon an
equality with the latter? The de-
cision of the Supreme Court OF the
| United States in theBowles and Mil
| Iigan case from Indiana, was that
military tribunal had no right or
authority to try q citizen not in the
military service. The principle de-
cided in that case will hold good in
| Tennessee, and if q citizen OF any
county in this State shall be de-
| prived of his life by order of a court
martial under the proclamation OF
| Gov. Brownlow, the members OF
the court martial and the officers
who may hang or shoot him, will
be held guilty of murder, unless
the Judiciary has laid at the feet OF
the despot the independence with
which the constitution clothed
that coordinate department OF
tho government It is we'll that
these facts should be known and
understood, for the people will as
sert and maintain the rights guaran
tied by the constitution and the laws
of the State. They have quietly
submitted to usurpation after usur-
patton, until their liberties and
privileges have been we'll nigh
swept away, but this browning in
iquity, if carried out in the spirit
of the proclamation calling out the
militia, will unquestionably arouse
them to an assertion and maintain
ance of their rights by all the pow
= ers which the constitution and laws
give them.
The Knoxville Press and Herald
, Justly denounces this last and bold
est attempt at usurpation, when it
says:
"Were there an impending and immi-
nent danger to the peace of the people
and the safety of the commonwealth,
, there might be some palliation of this
monatrous crime against popular liberty.
Bat there is none. 1t is known to the
world that there is none. The pretended
reasons and iustifcatiOns set forth in the
proclamation are simply puerile and
contemplate. The attempt to place the
State under martial law is nothing less
than a bold, reckless attempt to override
the rights and trampls upon the liberties
of a free people. 1t is revolution
ary and subversive of the republican
government guaranteed to the peO-
pie by the constitution Of the
United States, and the people of
: | Tennessee are entitled to national pro"
lection against such unblushing usurpa-
ton and forcible revolution. What is to
be the result of this last crusade against
! the people, it were idle to ANTICIPATED
With the picture of Arkansas, before our
epes, now reeking with the blood of her
| own people, and the smoke of her towns
and villages yet marking the track OF a
yandal militia-with her industry par
alyzed, her commerce ruined, her social
? peace destroyed, her sons butchered, and
her daughters fleeing from negro tends
for the protection of their lives and their
8 honor-we may well shudder at the
coming horrors which already begin to
cast their shadows upon us
Cash for Cotton Seed.