The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-10-10
ISSUES OF THE PRESHDEN.
TMAL CANVASS.
Arbitrary Arrests and Denial al
ale Right of Habeas Corpus.

Before the manifest lawless acts and
usurpations of the Grant party, was any
such danger to the liberties of the peo-
pie, and to the just rights of the States,
considered possible, in this country as
now threaten? The danger is felt to be
upon us, and the people, through the
Cincinnati and Baltimore Conventions,
have raised the cry of alarm.
Let us examine the particulars of the
wanton violation of the great Writ of
Right which our ancestors incorporated
in the Constitution and declared as part
of the Supreme law of the government
should not be interfered with "unless,
"when in cases of invasion or rebellion,
''the public safety may require it." No
one will pretend to say thatsuch an emer-
geney has arisen since the Grant Admin
istration.
The Act of Congress, of April20, 1871,
known as the Kuklux law, provided that
the President might, in the particular
case therein specified, suspend the writ
Of habeas corpus. The important ques-
ton is, when and under what circum-
stances, might the President suspend this
writ, or in other words, deprive the citi-
zens, black and white, of the great ben
eft and protection of it?
The third section of the act provides
for certain cases of instruction, do
mestic violence, unlawful combinations.
or conspiracies in any State" but it does
not authorize the President, in any of
those cases to suspend the operation of
that writ. 1t is the fourth section, only,
which gives him the power to suspend the
writ The material parts of that section
are as follows:
eSection 4. That whenever in any State
or part of a State, the unlawful combina-
tions named in the preceding section of this
act, shall be organized and armed, and so
numerous and powerful as to be able, by
violence, to either overthrow or set at de-
fiance the constituted authorities of such
State, and of the United States within such
State, or when the constituted authorities
are in completely with, or shall cOnnive at
the unlawful purposes of such powerful and
armed combinations; and whenever, by
reason of either or all of the causes afore-
f said, the conviction OF such offenders and
the preservation of the public safety shall
become in such district impracticable, in
every such ease such combinations shall be
| deemed a rebellion against the government
of the United States. and during the eontin-
uance of such rebellion, and within the linn
its of the district which shall be so under
the sway thereof, such limits to be preScri-
bed by proclamation, it shall be lawful foI
= the President OF the United States, when in
2 his judgment the public safety shall require
it, TO suspend the privileges of the writ OF
habeas corpus, to the END that such rebel
lion may be overthrown-"
, President Grant is now candidate fol-
reelection, and is thus on trial before the
! American people. a most vital ques.
r ton, affecting his character as citizen
and his fitness for high executive office
and most important to every lover of lib
: erty, is the manner in which he acted
under this law. Did he regard this ac
of Congress, or the rights of citizens; OF
did he disregard and violate both?
! In his annual message, of December
+, 1871, he made official report of his do
t ings under this statute and we propose
! to try him by his own message. He
says:
'After the passage of this law, informa.
ton was received, from time to time thai
e combinations of the character referred tC
in this law existed in and were powerful il
: many parts of the Southern States. particu-
larly in certain counties in the State o
, South Carolina. Careful investigation was
: made and it was ascertained that in nine
: counties of that State such combination!
4 were active and powerful. embracing a suf-
I ticient portion OF citizens TO control the loca
: authority
, Thereupon, on the 18th of October
1871, as he says, he issued his proclama
ton, commanding the members to dis
perse within five days and deliver W
5 their arms. Give days! A time rath
er short, for proclamation, dated al
: Washington City, to be circulated and
generally known throughout those nine
/ counties in South Carolina. He tells us
f further:
| s'This warning not having been needed
on the 18th of October another prOclama-
ton was issued, suspenGing the privileges
of the writ of habeas corpus in nine cOun-
ties of that State!
1t was short grace to give the people,
in such a case, only five days warning tc
! disperse but the President tells us he
did not allow them even that short time
| for he issued his second proclamation Oh
the 18th, or fifth day when by every
: rule of law and right he could not issue
! it until the 18th.
The people, especially those of the
South, know the untold horrors that fol
low a suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus, under Radical rule. The fiat OF
the President put under military law the
whole population, men, women and chill
: dren of those nine counties which, by
the census of 1870, contained popula-
ton of over 176, 900 persons. The news.
. papers of the time were.full of reports of
the outrages and wrongs that followed.
Fathers and brothers were seized in THEN
beds, at midnight, and driven by the sol
ciers to distant prisons and there herd
ed like wild beasts, in prison together.
As judicial reports show, the prisons
were crowded with victims. Women
} were insulted, and the privacy of their
rooms invaded. By reference to the act
of Congress and the Presidents own con-
fession, above quoted, it is plain that
these monstrous acts were wanton, law
ess, and without pretence of authority
| under the statute The President saws