New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-17
SELLING BOOKS AND PAPERS.

SEEING BOOKS AND PAPERS ,s
The Ways and Means Committee promises
hearing to-day to tho merchants and others
who petition for q repeal of the odiOus law
authorizing seizure of the books and papers
of importers suspected of Irregularities in
their dealings with the CustOm-hOuse. We
have already presented an abstract OF the
able argument against the constitutiOnaity OF
the law, prepared by Mr.. 8. b. Eaton under
the auspices Of the New-YOrk Chamber of
Commerce. and we purpose making further
use of Mr.. EatOn's pamphlet to show how alb
horrent the statute is to the fundamental
principles Of American and English liberty.
The seizure of papers is forbidden by the
Constitution except under duo process of law,
and "duer process is admitted to be such only
as the common law of England recognized at
the time of our separation from the mother
country. Now the cases in which search war
rants might issue were pretty strictly defined.
They could be granted for the seizure of
stolen or struggled goods, counterfeit money
or plates, reasonable documents, and perhaps
some other things the mere possession OF
which was criminal offense; but even under
these circumstances tho place to bo searched
and the ohjoota tn he seized must be particu-
larry described. The seizure or private
papers for the discovery of evidence
was never justified either in civil or
criminal proceedings. In the famous prose-
cutions of John Wilkes the Kings messengers
carried off the private papers Of the defendant
to be used las evidence against him, ard on
an action subsequently he recovered heavy
damages tho Court declaring the seizure OF
papers unconstitutional and illegal. In 1765,
Lord Chief-Justice Camden decided in
somewhat similar case "that papers are the
"Owner's goods and chattels land arc his
dearest property, and are so far from on
"during a seizure that they will hardly bear
can Inspection and though the eye cannot,
"by the laws of England. be guilty of tres
"pass, yet when private papers are removed and
carried away, the secret nature of those goods
|" will be an aggravation of the trespass, and de-
"mand moro considerable damages IN that
Srespect." And in the same opinion this en-
inent authority bitterly denounced pretense
of jurisdiction which would allow the officers
of the law to search the secret cabinets and
bureaus of every subject in the kingdom"
"All the papers and books" said he, may
be seized and carried away, the house rif1ed,
q" and the most valuable secrets taken out OF
" the possession of their keeper before the
&" charge against him is brought to trial. and
before he is convicted. There is no process
against papers in civil causes; it has been
{" often tried, but never prevailed"
Yet this despOtic and hateful process, which
the courts of England have compelled their
own Government to abandon as inconsistent
with the personal liberty of the subject, and
fatal TO the lawful secrets of business and
friendship, is re6stablished by the Congress of
the United States of America, and enforced
with the most Objectionable of all machinery.
a system of espionage. lying. fraud, raDacity,
and oppression which no language can
stigmatize too severely. 1t is worse than
the famous Writs Of Assistance which
did so much to precipitate the revo-
luton of the American Colonies. Those
writs empowered the officers to search
any mans house for struggled goods,
and though the permission to search at
random was wcll-nigh intOlerable abuse,
it could at least be said in palliatiOn of the
wrong that the officers were required to touch
nothing except what was rightly subject to
seizure. writ for the examination of books
and papers, however, is process for the dis
covery of what the officer has no equitable
authority to seize-a process to compel man
to give evidence against himself, in violation
of one of the most cherished principles of the
common law, of numerous American statutes
and of the uniform decisions of English and
American courts. We might go on
to show that it violates also the
constitutional rule that searchwar-
rant must particularly describe the things
to be seized for the CustOmhouse agents
always take whatever books and papers they
think may possibly contain the evidence they
are in search of but when the fundamental
principle of the proceeding is false one, it is
not worth while to waste time upon its minor
defects and wrongs. The right rule was tersely
stated by Gov. Seward in his letter to Re-
corder Morris "Any search warrant for the
"priyate papers of the accused. which papers
"were not alleged to have been feloniously or
unlawfully acquired, would have been vio-
"lation of the most sacred private rights, and
of the most cherished principles of civil lib
"erty.'