The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-16
IL HTS Exceiiency Insanes

and alarming bill agreed on by the republican
caucus at Washington embodies the views
and wishes of the President. This caucus
measure is not indorsed by the recognized
republican leaders in either branch of
Congress, and the small fry of repub-
lican members would not have ventured
to go counter to the wishes of the
able men of their party unless they were
satisfied that they were carrying out the wishes
OF the President. We may, therefore, assume
that His Excellency desires and covets the ex-
traordinary powers which the caucus bill
seeks to confer upon him. We will not go
into minute discussion of particular pro-
visions of the remarkable bill adopted by tine
Congressional caucus. Passing over minor
details, we ask, in the name of the country.
what possible justification there can be for
suspendine the writ of habeas corpus in the
present state of the country?
What is the purport and meaning Of the
writ of habeas corpus? The substance of
that great writ of freedom is that any person
arrested by the government is entitled to be
brought before o magistrate competent to de-
eide whether his arrest and imprisonment are
according to law. Any person in the COM
munity may be caught up and imprisoned,
but If he is innocent he is entitled to an OPP
discharge. The writ of hAbeas corpus is the
ordinary safeguard against unjust imprison-
ment 1t merely entities the prisoner to be
brought before judge authorized by law to
decide whether his arrest and detention are
legal suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus confers upon the President the right to
arrest and imprison citizens on his own mere
discretion, depriving them of any right to
know whether there are charges against them OF
not. When the habeas corpus is suspended the
President can snatch up any citizen in any
part of the country and put him in perpetual
imprisonment by his arbitrary will, and the
victim has no means of redress. He may be
establish his innocence by the strongest evil
dence; but the power of the President to
arrest him and keep him in perpetual custody
without Judicial inquiry confounds alfdistinc-
ton Of guilt or innocence and makes the
mere arbitrary will of the President the
supreme law. The suspension of the habeas
corpus would make the President an irrespon-
sible despot. 1t would enable him to i'm
prison any citizen whom he disliked, or
against whom he had prejudice, without
any sort of responsibility to the judicial tri-
bunals. There is no definable distinction be-
tween an absolute despotism and a republic
in which the Executive is authorized to sus-
L. Sc LoI1
pension of that great writ, which has for CEN
turtles been regarded as the chief bulwark of
liberty, is simply free permission to
the Executive to arrest and imprison anybody
he pleases on his own mere discretion, without
any sort of accountability for abuses of power.
The bill agreed on in the republican caucus
authorizes the President to declare martial
law and suspend the habeas corpus in any
part Of the United States, making him the sole
judge of the necessity in every case. If this
monstrous bill should become law President
Grant would be absolute master Of the liberty
of every citizen of the United States. 1t
would only be necessary for him to proclaim
martial la y in any State to enable him to ar
rest and imprison his political opponents,
without any power on their part to have their
cases brought before judicial tribunal to de-
eide whether there were any grounds for their
arrest. Such law would make one man the
absolute master of the liberty of every citizen.
body he pleased and nobody could call him
to account.
The merest glance at the constitution will
suffice to show that the suspension Of the writ
Of habeas corpus cannot be justified under
present circumstances. The constitution does
not permit that great bulwark of liberty to
be suspended in mere anticipation of danger.
Its language is that ''the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended un-
less when, in cases of rebellion or invasion,
the public safety may require it, There is
at present no rebellion, there is at present nc
invasion, and in the present condition of the
country the habeas corpus cannot be consti.
tutionally suspended. The constitution does
not permit its suspension in anticipation of q
rebellion of which there are no immediate
signs, OF in anticipation of fanciful inva-
sion, but only when rebellion or invasion
has actually occurred, OF is so imminent as to
require strong measures. There is no rebel
lion now, there is no invasion now, there is
no immediate prospect now of either
rebellion or invasion, and it would
be an abuse of authority for Con
gress TO authorize the suspension of the
habeas corpus at time when there is nc
threatened disturbance of the public peace.
The writ of habeas corpus is simply guaran
tee against illegal imprisonment-a security
that no citizen shall be deprived of his liberty
without proof that he has violated some law
When this sacred writ is suspended the Presi
dent can arrest and imprison anybody h
pleases with or without cause, and the mos
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