The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-21
REVERDY JOHNSON'S VIEWS ON
SHERIDAN,S DISPATCH.

Olnce civluZauOn 1avOraDly progressed un
der the influence of our Christian faith ne
words ever fell from the lips of any man
civilian or soldier, which more outrage every
obligation of humanity, or exhibit more
nendlsh thirst for human blood. Not salts
ned with denouncing the people of three
> ates, he suggests, as you have seen, that i
the President will issue q proclamation de
claring the parties referred to "banditti, nc
further action need be taken except that
which would devolve upon" him!
How he proposed to act, We gather from
his dispatch. To ARE. It and try the ringleaders
OF what he calls the armed White Leagues
To try them by military commission Exc
cution, then, would instantly follow sentence,
and the citi:s and villages OF three States
would be the scenes of carnage, the horrors
OF which no Imagination can adequately de-
pict In this recommendation he totally dis
regards all the guarantees of personal liberty
contained in the Constitution. Those guar
antees are to be found in the amendments
which were coeval with the Constitution itself;
and it is historically certain that, without an
assurance that they would be provided, the
Constitution would not have been ratified
Among them-not to mention them all
are, first, the security Of the people against
seizure of their persons; second, "that no
person shall be held to answer for a capital or
otherwise infamous crime unless on a present
ment or indictment of grand jury" except
persons in the military or naval service Of the
United States; third, that every party charged
with crime is secured trial g by an i'm
partial jury Of the Safe and district wherein
the crime shall have been committed" and
this trial by jury was also provided by the
original Constitution. 1t is obvious that all
these guarantees would be violated, if Sheri-
dam suggestion was acted upon He alone
could then authorize the arrest Of citizen,
have him tried by a military commission, ap-
pointed by himself, and, if convicted, punish
him with death by his own orders.
That military commissions are wholly I'M
constitutional in time of peace was never
doubted. Nor was it doubted that they are
subversive of the guarantees to which have
referred. During the late war, however, it
was supposed by military chiefs and by the
President, that they could be legally used for
the trial of citizen residing in State which
had never been in rebellion. Under this i'm
preston such commission was organized by
the General in command of Indiana for the
trial of one Lamdin P. Milligan, of tina.
State, upon charges exhibited by him. That
commission, on the 21st of October, 1864
found him guilty and sentenced him be
hanged, which sentence was approved by
the President. Before, however, the
sentence could be carried into effect, an
application for habeas corpus was made to
the United States Circuit Court for Indiana,
and the judges, differing in opinion upon GER
tain points Of law, certified the same to the
Supreme Court of the United States One of
the points was, whether the military commits
sion had jurisdiction. The case was argued
at the December term, 1866, and the decision
of the court, which may be found in 4th Wal
lace, was that the whole proceeding was
illegal, and Milligan was discharged. In the
opinion given by Mr.. Justice Davis, the prin-
ciples Of liberty are strongly and clearly
stated and indicated. In the present state
of the country it is well to bear in mind few
sentences, and quote Them.
In the beginning of it, Mr.. Justice Davis
says 'that the importance of the main ques.
ton presented by this record cannot be over
stated, for it involves the very framework Of
the Government, and the fundamental prin-
ciples Of American liberty" He subsequent |
~ asserts that "no graver question was ever
considered by this court, nor one which more
clearly concerns the rights Of the whole peo-
pie, for it is the birth-right of every -Ameri- |
can citizen when charged with crime to be |
tried and punished according to law. The |
power Of punishment is alone through the |
means which the laws have provided for that |
purpose, and if they are Intellectual, there is
an immunity from punishment, no matter how
great an offender the individual may be, or
sense of justice OF the country or endangered
its safety. By the protection OF the law
human rights are secured. Withdraw that
protection and they are at the mercy OF
wicked rulers or the clanor of an excited
people," The Judge went on to say that
1" the decision of this question does not de-
pend on argument or Judicial precedents,
numerous and highly illustrative us they are.
These precedents inform US of the extent Of
4 -. -
those in civil life from military trials. The
founders of our Government were familiar
with the history Of that struggle; and secured
in q written Constitution every right which
the people had wrested from power during
contest of ages"
The doctrines of this opinion were hailed
With delight by every lover Of constitutional
freedom, and it could not have been antici-
pated that q Lieutenant General of the United
States army would propose to violate them,
and still less. that President Of the United
States would not in the strongest terms con-
denim such proposition and suspend the
General from his command. It will not do
10 urge in palliation of the conduct Of the
General or that Of the President, in not only
not condemning, but in approving the Cen
erals dispatch of 5th of January, to allege
hat they had fallen into mere errors of judg
nent, because OF their being mere soldiers,
md because the rights proposed to be vlo-
ated were mere legal niceties, OF which they
,ould not be supposed to know anything
If these were niceties-then the Whole Con-
'titution is but legal nicely, which the
President and his military and naval officers
nay be said to be ignorant Of With the
people of the United States, such degrading
'xcuse will be Of no avail But, on the con- /,
rary, they will hold the President and his : ,
General to q strict responsibility for tramp
ing upon the very principles upon which our
rec institutions are founded
If the suggestions of Gen. Sheridan, that :
he persons to whom he refers should be de- !
Jared "banditti" by q proclamation Of the !
PRESIDENT, should be adopted by the latter
nd its execution left to Sheridan, he would
DON achieve for himself an immortal
ty of infamy, and be without rival
q the history of the world, unless 9
ne is to be found in the career 2
( the Duke of Alya. in his invasion Of the Z