Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-20

: SOLAe extent what Is meant by pur
crime-that the common law shall defin
, crime to be treason and felony.
4 Then if man be called upon to b.
| tried for an offence smaller than Treason
or felony, the Magistrates can hear it. Il
that way this question may be settled
and then as in the amendment, the article
may read, that no man shall be calleC
upon to answer for any crime save by
? Indictment or presentment: and the small
, Ter offences may be tried without these
formalities.
Mr.. Baxter-For the purpose of testing
the sense of the House and facilitating
business, l move to lay these two
amendments on the table.
Mr.. House of Montgomery, demanded
the yeas and nays, which being taken re-
sulted-yeas 43 nays 81, as follows:
Ayes-Allen, Arledge, Bate, Baxter,
Blizzard, Branson, Britton, Brown,
of Davidson, Burket, Byrne, Car
ter, Coffin, Cummings, Cypert, Dead
erick, Fentress, Fielder, Finley, Garner,
Gaut, Gibbs, Gibson, Heiskell, Henderson
Hill, of Warren, Hill, of Gibson, -Ivie,
Jones, of Lincoln, Kirkpatrick, Mabry,
McDougal, McNabb, Martin, Meeks,
Morris, Netherland, Parker, Sample,
Shepard, Shelton, Stephens, Thompson,
of Maury, Williamson-43.
Nays-Brooks, Brown, of Henry, Car
roll, Gibson and Madison, Burton, Camp
bell, Chowning, Davenport, Dibrell,
Doherty, Dromgoole, Fulkerson, Gardner,
Gordon, House, of Williamson, House,
| of Davidson, Robertson and Montgomery,
Jones, of Giles, Kennedy, Key, Kyle,
Nicholson, Porter, of Haywood, Porter,
of Henry, Seay, Staley, Taylor, Thomp-
son, of Davidson, Turner, Warner,
Wright-27.
So the amendment was laid on the table.
Mr.. Baxter moved to amend section IA,
by striking out "citizen" and inserting
''person" in lieu.
Mr. Heiskell preferred to restore the
words of the present Constitution-the
words of Magma Charta. He preferred the
words ''free man" in lieu of the word per-
son.
Mr.. Garner said the present Constitution
has the words of Magma Charta here.
Mr.. BaXter-These words were inserted
in the Constitution when slavery existed
in the state. But now, since we have
abolished slavery, the committee thought
it best to do nothing here that would leave
trace of it.
Mr.. Heiskell insisted that these words
were borrowed from Magma Charta, and
preserved in the Constitutions of '96 and
"a. They suited the circumstances of
the people of England hundreds of years
ago, and they were suited to the circum-
stances of the people of Tennessee now.
Mr.. Heiskelps amendment in lieu was
rejected by yeas 81, nays 43.
MIR. BaXter's amendment was then
adopted, and section Il thus amended
was agreed to.
Section 10 was then read as follows:
Sec. 10. That all prisoners shall be
bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for
capital otfenses, when the proof is evil
dent or the presumption great. And the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended, unless when in
case of rebellion or invasion, the General
Assembly shall declare the public safety
requires it.
Mr.. Fentress proposed adding these
words, ''and then only as to solGiers in ac-
tual service
The object of the amendment, Mr..
President, is to guard, as far as can be
guarded, the rights of the citizen in times
of disturbance and civil war: for this
Constitution is to govern not only in
peace, but in war. 1t is expressly de-
clared in the Constitution that the military
shall always be subject to the civil author
ity. The citizen is to be protected in life
un1 1Ihartr- Of oil 4sp,o- L. It, I
taught us some sad lessons about tie sus-
pension of the writ of habeas corpus. As
to the soldier, it is necessary in an army |
that one should be in supreme command,
and the soldier in active service ought to |
obey. That is necessary. But as to the |
citizen and his civil rights, it is the very
object Of all this to protect them. And if |
this power to suspend the habeas corpus
be exercised as it has been-as an engine |
of oppression against the citizen-it is |
wrong. | cant see any objection to this |
amendment. Becauseif a citizen is legally |
detained for doing anything-as givingaid |
and comfort to the enemy, or treason |
then being legally detained, he ought to |
be tried and hung. This amendment does |
not interfere with that at ALL but simply |
takes away this power from the com |
mander of an army. 1t simply provides
that the citizen shall not be governed by |
tyrants. The way it works now, the |
General of an army has supreme control, !
and executes his DEGREES in spite of law /
and constitution. But now, if there is a
judge in the district, the freeman detained |
should have the right of being legally de-
tanned. 1t protects nOn-Combatants in |
their civil rights.
Mr.. Burton proposed the following in |
lieu: Add to the fifteenth section these |
words, 'And then only as to persons held |
for military duty" 1t appears to me, he |
said, that under the wording of the amend |
ment of the gentleman from Hardeman,
you could never get man into actual |
service. The style is too broad, l there
fore propose this amendment in lieu.
Mr.. Jones, of Lincoln, thought that this
clause is about as near right as we can
it. If we adopt the amendment of |
the gentleman from Hardeman, there will
be- new power IN no government to sus-
pend the writ of habeas corpus in case of
usurpatiOn or invasion. 1t is to apply |
onlyto the soldier. The soldier passes from
under the civil authority to the military
and martial law, and you have no right to
take him from that authority, but he is
subject to be tried for any Offense by that
law and punished if he should be convicted, |
l think that it is right and proper as it
stands-that the writ of habeas corpus
should not be suspended except in cases
of rebellion or invasion, and then by di-
rection of the General Assembly
Mr.. Burton now withdrew his amend
ment.
Mr.. Baxter-Suppose some day there
should be q rebellion, say in my end of
the State; and the Governor of the State
should raise an army to suppress the in
yasion. Then, according to this prOvi-
sion, you could only suspend the writ of
habeas corpus as to your own friends, not
rs to the enemy in East Tennessee if you
should take them prisoners. And then, to |
reverse the position: if the insurgents
should capture some of the forces of the
State; in that case, also, your friends {
could not sue out the writ. 1t would be
denied to your friends and extended TO
your enemies. The proposition goes fur
Their than the gentleman intended In
deed, it las directly the contrary effect to '
that which was intended. l move to lay
it on the table.
This motion having been withdrawn
Mr.. Fentress said-I think l fully [
the extent of the amendment t
and the illustration that the gentleman has
the insurgents would not be {
in active service. But this is emily to pro- {
teCt citizens-nOn-combatants. Still, if