The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-27

The Dispctch is In error In supposns Iha.
,,,anr IN, kukluy bill The President may
Snn1.rn martial law. He is authorized TO
susncnd the writ of hnbcGs corpus; OUT
thr clause Originally in The bun empower
ing him TO declare martial law was stricken
out Enquirer.
The Enquirer Is itself III error. General
GRANT can, under the kuklux law, suspend
the privilege OF the writ Of habcnS corpus
and thus close up the jails i'll when prison.
ers are confined, and render roWerscSs the
courts upon whose freedom OF ac'lon Ii'c
liberty Of every citizen depends. ms KIN"
of law would be "mariial " enough lof
most nnrnoses. But we do not stop here.
The mower of the President to declare mar
tia, law does not depend upon the kuklux
law or upon any other act of Congress, Gum
less il were one to prohibit him from so do.
ing.) but inhereS In his office. Judge PAINE.
of Wisconsin, thus defined this power Il
few years ago
A military commander may declare
martial law in districts which are he actual
theatre of war: where hostile armies are
met for the purpose OF destruction or an
discretionary districts where domestic
violence and diScord have eiicctualiy dis
placed the civil authorities, but not else
where"
Now, 1t needs no argument 10 show that
as General GRANT is himself, a> President.
the commanding officer of every Federal
army. or body OF troops, he may rs such
declare martial law. The kukluN act de-
ciarcS in terms that a certain state Of things
shall be deemed "a rebellion" and thus,
of course, con!ers upon the President the
power to declare martial law in that rebel
liouS district.
The Supreme Court Of Indiana has dis
cuSsed this question at length. IN the case
OF Griffin Us. WILCOX, it said:
"rhe right, then. of the President to
Temporarily govern localities through his
military officers, he derives solely from the
fact that he is commaEdcr-in-chicf of the
army" &c.
The Wisconsin judge says military
commander may declare martial law. The
Indiana court says that the President is 4
military commander.
But the Supreme Court Of Indiana set
tiled in plain terms the point We are argu-
ing. 1t said:
"The war power Of the President, then,
may be stated thus : He has 4 right to GOV
ern, through bis military officers, BY
MARTIAL Law when and where the
civil power of the United States Is sus-
pended by force" &c, DC.
Again The same court says:
eve feel constrained, then. to come TO
the conclusion that the war power OF the
President is limited to the simple right OF
exercising martial lac simply rs 1t military
chief, locally and tempOrdrity, where actual
or immediately impending force renders 1t
military necessity"
The state Of things thus described by
the court is exactly the same Us that de-
scribCd in the kukluX act as being that
state Of things which shall authorize the
President to suspend the writ of hdbcdS
corpus. 1t follows, then, that the facts (ol
what he deems to be tacts) which will JUS
tty the President in suspcnding the privi-
iesc OF the writ of hd6eaS corpus will also
justify him in declaring martial law.
1t seems to lis, therefore, that there can
be no doubt that whenever the President
can. under the kukluX law, suspend the
privilege of the writ OF habcas corpus. lie
can declare martial law. And since he is
the sole judge as TO the circumstances which
VIII justify hlm III DONG the former, 1t fol-
lows that he is the sole judge as to when h.
may declare martial law. Under the Fed
eral Constitution the Governor or the LcgiS-
lature of Il state must first certify the illsti-
flying facts to the President before he can
declare martial law, and he cannot suspend
the privilege of the writ Of habcas corpus
At all; but under the kukluX act, which
cot. Il fl,n
can suspend that writ and declare martial
law whenever he chooses so to do.
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