The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-09-29

Il
Democratic organ. Go It Bourbona.
IMP0KrAMT LEITER PROM CHIEF
| JUSTICE CHASE.
| Why JeAessoa Davfs's Trial Was Ne.
ssSssExeser fSr iSSeSisse A.
Desty.
WASHINGTON, Sept. Is, 1870.
The following letter from Chief Justice
Chase has already attained such publicity that
l am fully warranted in transmitting Il to
your for publication. At the same time, it
n proper that I should advise you of my I'M
certainty "A to whether the persons Who have
already given it out for publication elsewhere
had received the proper authority Of the
writer for the use Of private letter:
To the Hon. T. w. Conway.
MY DEAR Sur: have received your kind
letters, and am much obliged for the infor-
nation they convey. am particularly
touched by the proofs they afford Of the at
tachments and confidence Of the cOlored peo-
pie. l have always mid that to poses the
affection and true respect of the poor and
oppressed Is . worthier object Of ambition
than any Official position, even the highest.
In that ambition / am glad 10 know 1 am
not likely to be disappointed. may be
mistaken, but really believe that / have
been credited with more ambition for place
than feel. Not that l poases any uncOm-
mon Indifference to the qualification derived
from distinction, but, TO me, great place
has always seemed chiefly valuable a. great
opportunity for useful service.
No one can force the future. Congress
has adjourned, and the members have Eone
home to confer with their constituents.
When they return, presume they will take
hold Of their work vigorously. Opinions
differ as 10 what Is best to be done. On one
point there Is little real Division. All seem
agreed that the Reconstruction policy Of Con-
gross must be ardently pursued, and that the
earliest possible restoration Of the Southern
States to their old relations, upon the basis
Of universal suffrage and equal rights, II
most desirable. i feel more anxiety on this
point than any other, because, this point once
secured, all other points may be reckODed as
secured. The rights Of labor, and the inter-
est Of labor, are at the basis Of all sound
policy, and nothing is 70 important to theirs
as the right to vote for the laborer.
Sincerely yours, S. p. CHASE.
i. 81 have never advocated universal
suffrage and immediate amnesty 10 ALL
have said that universal suffrage would recon-
| Gle comprehensive lenitv with Tranquility
and prosperity. 1 would have no more disr
Reinstatement after the complete establish
ment of universal suffrage than IL absolutely
| necessary to secure the new order of things,
and the new State constitutions against over
throw. Those lately in rebellion have no
more right to destroy the country by ballots
than by bullets.
As to the trial of Jefferson Davis, the
amount and kind of Misrepresentation l. as
tonishing. The facts are simple. l neither
seek nor shun the responsibility of trying
anybody. my purpose is to do my duty as
a Judge, honestly and faithfully, turning
neither 10 the right nor the Left. While
military authority was supreme in the South,
as an incident Of the war, and anybody could
be tried by military commission, no Justice
Of the Supreme Court could properly hold
Court there. This state of things lasted from
before the surrender of Lee, in April, 1865.
till the final suppression Of the rebellion
was proclaimed, in 1866. Meantime, in
July, 1866, an act Of Congress, by changing
the Circuits, had deprived the Justices Of the
Supreme Court Of Jurisdiction in the South
ern States, and jurisdiction was not restored
until March, 1867, when Congress passed
the necessary act. OF course, from July,
1866, to March, 1867, neither the Chief
Justice, nor any other Justice, could
try anybody in Virginia. Any edi-
tor Of any newspaper would have as
much right. At the time the act of March,
1867, was passed, the Supreme Court was
sitting in Washington, and the Chief Justice
was bound to be there, but he wrote to the
District Judge at Richmond, Va, that he
would come down and Join him in holding
the Court, as soon as the Supreme Court ad-
jOurned in May. Jefferson Davis, however,
was brought before the District Judge and
bailed in May, before the Supreme Court ad-
journcl. This seems TO have been done by
common consent, and it was done without
any conference with the Chief Justice, and
WAS a matter over which he had no control
The counsel on both sides were informed by
the District Judge that the Chief Justice
would come in few days and if trial had
been desired ON either side, it could have
been then had in that very month of May.
In October, 1867, an adjourned term having
been appointed to be held.at Richmond on
the 18th of November, the Chief Justice
caused the parties to be notifel that he
would attend at the time, in order
that the trial might take place, If parties
were willing. He did accordingly attend,
but the parties were not ready. This was in
November, 1867. Since then the Chief JUS
tice has been obliged to attend the Supreme
Court at Washington. One thing is certain,
there has been no term at Richmond since
the capitulation of Lee, which the Chief
Justice could have attended, at which he has |
not attended; and another thing il clear,
that the trial of Jefferson Davis might at
any time have taken place, that is, since his |
capture in May, 1865, either by military
commission, when military commissions were
being held for the trial Of offenders under |
the authority of the President, or by court |
held by the District Judge. The Chief JUS
ticc, therefore, il in no sense or in the least |
degree responsible for the delay which has |
taken place. Until last May he could not |
try him, and since then he has always been |
ready. S. p. CHASE.
WASHINGTON, Jan. l, 1868.
We publish the above letter, which pur-
ports to have been written by Judge Chase
in 1868. We have great respect for Mr..
Greeley. In the main we believe he means |
to do right. But in this matter of fixing up
Judge Chasc's record since he left the United |
States Treasury Office, it is quite as we'll that
he and Whitelaw Reid should know that |
the people read the newspapers, and that
they store away the prominent facts CON-
nectcd with the current history of such men
rs Chase. While we have no feeling to
ward jeff Davis that would encourage the
least desire to see him more seriously or
punished than he has been for
his terrible crime, yet we are not unmindful
of the improper methods employed by Mr..
Greeley and those he could influence to
shield the traitor from proper punishment.
They should not now, when there is no
great need, unless it be true that Mr.. Chase
has been wretchedly maligned by the reports
rs to the condition Of his health, indulge
themselves in the labor Of hunting up or
writing up old letters to rescue his character
from the common verdict of the people that
when he offered himself to the Democratic
party, he proved himself a traitor to the
party he had helped build up, and a man
whose ambition for Office was stronger than
his anchorage to truth and principle.
rEE WAR.