Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-07-29


tanned by law, and TO be informedo of the
nature and cause of the accusation.
All these provisions of the Constitution
are being openly and VIGOROUSLY violated
every day in North Carolina by Col.
Kirk and his mob, at the instigation and
by the authority of the Governor of that
State, and yet Gen. Grant turns deaf
car to the people of North Carolina who
appeal to him for protection against the
outrages committed by Kirk snd his mob.
Touching the condition of affairs in
North Carolina, the Baltimore Sun says:
Chief Justice Pearson gave his de-
cision on Saturday, the 23d inst, in the
habeas corpus cases growing out of the
arrests made by Col. Kirk, acting under
orders issued by Gov. Holden. The Chief
Justice decided that the writ was not sus-
pended and must be obeyed, and ordered
it to issue in the cases of Adolphus G.
Moore, one of the petitioners, and
eighteen Others, directed TO the Marshal of
the Supreme Court of North Carolina,
who is ordered to bring the bodies of the
persons named before the Chief Justice,
wherever found. According to the mea-
gre statement given of Judge Parsons
opinion in the Geographic dispatch. while
declaring that the writ had not been sus-
pended, he at the same time justified
Kinks refusal to obey it, upon the ground
that he was acting under the orders of
his superior, the Governor.
If the writ is not suspended, and the
Governor had no power to suspend it, or
to authorize its suspension by Kirk, it is
difficult to see what justification the latter
can find in the illegal orders of his supe-
rior. Can the Chief Justice mean that
if Gov. Holden were 10 order Kirk to
commit murder, the order would be his
-justlfcation2 There was time in this
country when the liberty of citizen was
considered az sacred as his life, and the
violation of the one scarcely less heinous
than the unlawful taking of the other.
We can hardly conceive that so eminent
a jurIst as Judge Pearson has promulga-
ted doctrine at variance with the de-
cisions of the highest courts, both of
this country and of England, and with
every principle of constitutional liberty.
Only under an absolute despotism can the
orders of the superior be pleaded in justi-
fcation of any crime the inferior may
commit The next thing to be seen is
whether the writ will be obeyed. The
return made by the marshal to whom the
writs are addressed will be looked to
with interest.
In the meantime, some clue to the
probable course of events may be had
from the following paragraph which ap-
peared in yesterdays Sunday Washing
ton Chronicle, and the dispatch given
from Gov. Holden to the editor of that
paper. 1t will be seen that Holden claims
Judge PearSon's decision as substantial
victory, and the Chronicle considers that
the Governor, backed ''by the President
of the United States and the Chief Justice
of his own State, has command of the
position" The paragraph is as follows:
'ENoRTH CARoLINA.-The following dis
patch explains itself. Governor Holden
has command of the position in North
Carolina, and is now sustained by the
President of the United States and by the
Chief Justice of his own State:
'RALKIGH, N. c., July %, 187O.-To
John w. Forney, editor of the Chronicle:
Habeas corpus case just decided. Chief
Justice Pearson substantially sustains the
State government andrefuses to interfere.
w. w. HOLDEN,
chairman State Rep. Elk. Com"