Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-30
EsTABLISHED 1910.

IA 9nt and execution Of citizens, were
l niegal and void
But this question must be decided,
/ without passion, upon the law appli-
( cable 10 it: What was the state Of case
under which this Commission tried
! the defenda1t2
By the preamble to the first recon
! struction act, Congress declared Mis-
sIssippi to be then a "rebel State y its
/ government mot legal" and that
there existed mo 8dequate protection
/ for life or prOperty;" and that a neces.
1 sity existed for Congress to interpOse,
as provided by that act, for the pre-.
! servatiOn of peace and order. It was
because Of this assumed condition Of
/ Mississippi that Congress proceeded
| 70 make the government and people
Of Mississippi subject in ali respects
70 the Wilp' of the military COM
mander. The state government was
thus suppressed by act Of Congress.
Under the reconstruction acts, the
] commanding general proceeded TO
/ remove all the State and county off
GERS, and TO appoint, in his own mode,
and without regard 10 the laws of
/ Mississippi, persons to supply the va
/ cancies he had thus created He
/ suspended laws; OF his own motion
1 vacated judgments and DEGREES; for
| bade the people to hold elections or
exercise any political power. All
| things were done according to his
"will and the acts of Congress, with
out regard to the laws of Mississippi.
A State Convention was elected by
1 his order and under his direction; a
Constitution was formed aud finally
adopted, and a State Government put
into operation under direction and by
sole authority OF the same command
ing general and acts OF Congress.
The military power thus established
and exercised in Mississippi, consti-
tuted and was the de fucjO govern
ment Of the State. On the 8th of
June, 1869, when Colonel Crane was
slain, and during the time of trial Of
of defendant, there was no civil gov
ernment in Mississippi. General
Ames reigned supreme; his will"
as permitted by the act of Congress,
was the law. Martial law was the
law, in fact, Of the State, and no civil
institutions existed in it, except such
semblance of the old legal order as
the commander permitted to exist for
his own convenience and subject to
his will.
If the state offacts assumed by Con-
gress existed, they present a case Of
necessity, which is alleged to be the
foundation of martial law. And will
this Court, an officer Of the new gov.
eminent created by exercise Of that
military rule, presume to question the
rlH HnH hl1r %
citizen might not be tried by this mil
itary power, might that same power
destroy State government and or
ganiZe a new government by force Of
that power? The objection urged
against the validity Of the Military
Commission strikes with greater force
against the new government, and the |
argument for the prosecution assails /
the validity Of the State government. |
The proceedings Of the commission |
are said to be illegal, and the former /
State government was declared 'nOt /
legal '-bOJh thus placed in the same
prediCament. Are the proceedings /
had in our State government, declar- |
ed by Congress "nOt legal, K" to be all /
vacated on this same objection ? Are /
the proceedings Of courts during the /
military administration to be annull- |
ed for the same cause?
Suppose the military government |
Illegal, still it was the de fGctO gov
eminent Of Mississippi; and what is
the law in such a case? The books /
declare that the acts of the king in |
fact are good against the rightful /
king. Judgments in the courts Of |
the usurper bind the rightful king
when he gets possession of the gov
General Ames, under the
acts Of Congress, exercised here a
de JQct0. He established
his courts and tried citizens; and,
such being the case, a trial in his court
created a case Of legal jeopardy.