National Republican., 1881-11-07

IN y BOuNlerA institutes 4lbs
consistent with the common principles OF honesty
md humanity the law considers his onth g q 20
lnd suspicious nature to be admitted In court Of
nsco 20 deprive another OF llie liberty or ntoIsE,y
le has been lawfully convicted Yf them are l,cason
within the nature Of the crtnen ydts OF the Nomhn
aw,ns perjury, and su9ornation OF perjury, snpprvs
he absence OF witness c0nspiracyt to accuse one OF
crime, or to dcfreud him Of his property. ~ a..
Conspiracy TO defrdud he Government OF ib
property Is the same.
Forgery, barratry, piracy, swindlng, aud cheating
y is the crime, anu not the PUNISHMENT Whch re"-
iors the onensc unworthy OF credit
will not waste my own time, nor the time ofthe
court, in attempting 10 show that this crime, ~
proved, is Infamous. Let 10 he understood that
sha not be entitled nj 70 Voe or hat he % shall not be
entitled To hold Office then that makes II All inia-
nous crime. Aud we musttakc Into consideration
the Constitution. But MS understood my friend.
Colonel Bliss, HIS argument was this: that
only that can now be called nm Infamous
crime which was Infamous Mt the adoption OF the
fourth amendment 20 the Constitution ana that
although since that time, for the commission OF
crimes that were then punished only by fine or arc
now punished
ny A Loss OF SOME CIVIL RIGHT,
the accused can be proceeded against by informa.
ton. That IL what understood him to say. |
deny t. That constitutional provision applies to
every crime that IS made infamous, as long as that
provision exists. IL is now within the power OF
Congress to say that for the commission ofcertain
ollcnscs not now infamous no person shall there
court; and If Congress should DO that, that crime
would instantly become Infamous, IL would be
covered by that amendment to the Constitution
Why2 II Is the gravity OF the consequences that
the trainers of the Constitution were looking TO,
They said q man shall not be deprived OF his lib
erty, he shall not be made Infamous, unless upon
the presentment or
INDICTMENT OF THE GRAND JURY.
So with the words duo process of law" At the
timo Of the adoption Of these words the law
may have been changed thousand times, as to
moro notice, less notice, rights Of appeal, &C., and
yet Il is educ process law" II Il is in accordance
with the ordinary process in that State. And Col
onel Bliss Is too much of lawyer to dispute II.
Wherever the punishment Is 10 unCrown II citizen
II cannot be effected upon information and belief,
nor by information; it must be by the present
ment and indictment Of the grand jury. Section
ST2, X. $. d. g. reads:
Noperson shall be competent to act az q juror uni
less he be citizen ofthc United States and resident
of the district over twenty.onc aud under sixtynvc
years of age and good and lawful man. who las
never been convicted OF u felony or misdemcanor
involving moral turpltude.
Colonel Bliss said OF that: "Is II possible that n
man can be infamous In the District of Columbia
and not out ofit2" llo seems TO hold In contempt
this District, or the idea that we can have law
here that is not also a law in the State of New
York. But If what he said about the practice I'm
New York is true, am glad that they can have q
law there that we have not here. Laughter |
Let me say to the Colonel that this law was made,
not by the District of Columbia, but by 6O000,000
ofpeope, and by the representatives of the State
passed
ny THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
and IL Is not for him 10 say that of people
have not the right to declare who shall be compe-
tent jurors IL Is the same as though IL had been
o-cnacted and re enacted by every State In this
Union. And what Is that2 That he shall not bo
allowed TO sit upon Jury II he has been convicted
of u felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpi-
tudc. No man Is Infamous because he Is sixty
Ave years of age; neither is any man Infamous be-
cause he Is only twenty years old. But whenever
n IN n eDppinl
his case, which is general to others, and that law
deprives him of some right, then he becomes infa-
nous.
IN THIS DISTRICT
man who Is not permitted to sit upon jury be.
cause he has been convicted of crime involving
moral turpitudc is an Infamous man. Does this
hen bs SSH
Is Infamous, because to be convicted of a crime
by the law of the land renders man Infamous.
The moment one ofmy rights Is taken from me, that
moment am ncrowned-thatm moment cease TO be
asovereign and become an outlaw. Ill am correct
in this-ifthis Is an infamous oense-then 0fcourst
as explained by Judge Wilson, and so clearly cx-
planned, line is drawn by the law of this District
between infamous oienses and misdemeanors,
aud that limo Is the wall OF the penitcntiary.
MY FIRST PROPOSITION
wasas to probable cause; aud, for the purpose OF
supporting my proposition that there was no prob
able cause, invite the attention of the court to
the information and to the ailidnvlts Tho second
proposition Is, " Is thisan infamous crlmeW Aud |
| have endeavorcd tosupport upon that
] believe that there is no particular propriety In
| arguing that particular question further. The
question-and really the only question now left
is whether the court will abandon the practice OF
| 100 years. or whether the court will say to all per-
sons wishing to ndict others for oiFenscs of this
| gravity "You must 20 before the grand jury
state that the law is that this court has no Juris
diction over this ofiense until an indictment ha'
been presented. state that even If the court has
| Jurisdiction,
THERE MUST BE PROBABLE CAUSE;
| that that probable cause musi be the affidavit o
| some man who knows and states the flcts. ! stat,
| that the practice of allowing man TO be arrested
| without oath or Affirmation is simply Infamous, 0nd
any court in the United States that does IL ought
| be impeachcd, and If II is done in the Southern
District of New York II Is disgrace to the South
crn District of New York. insist that there mus
be nn oath-that the iacts set forth IN the oatf
thing insist Is that the information itself must bC
reasonable, not contradictory, and that the plcade
must set forth the facts. Now, let the Court JUS
| for II moment look at the case. My client ha3livet
| in this District many years, against whom charg,
was never made. suddenly he is arrested. u Il
| suddenly teCgraphed over the United States tina
| he is n thief and robbor; that he has conspirct
| with other thieves and robbers TO delraud
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES
| that n court, upon the information filed
| has issued warrant for his arrest; that hc II rs
| been brought into court as common fclon tina
he has been compelled TO give bail or go 10 Jail nnC
at the same time one of the law officers of the Gov
| crnment congratuates himself that he has BRANDED
this mnn as n thief, - owl Simply by he instru
mentality Of this information. l say here To- da!
that if that information aud the evidence upon Il
| had been taken in q grand jury ON, no homes
| grand Jury would have indicted these defendants
| They were branded through this machinery anC
| in no other way.
HERE Is WASHINGTON.
of al places In the United States II Is necessary Il
| keep the grand Jury between the citizen and th
i Government. Here Is where the Government II
most powerful: within these ten miles square thu
Government IL absolutely supreme ana sovereign
| Here, II anywhere. Cabinet officers have intlu
ence; here, If anywhere, they have patronage
here, II anywhere, they can trample upon th'
| should be n grand jury to stand between tn
humble man aud the holder Of office. Better d.
with It II every 81 S'Gte Sr liS Sn H0m IN,
body of the people in the State may protect tn,
citizen; but here, If he can be branded, u hii
| whole life can be made shame, IL his whole fn
tnre can be blghted upon
MERE OATH OR AFFIRMATION
| based upon information and belei-herc, wher
that can be done, he should have the protection o
the time -honored institution known as the gran,
inry. one more point rs to the history OF Inform
ations In this country. have taken pains TO poin
out every section of the statute from year 10 yea
from the commencement of tho Government al
most TO the present time. In reference TO the use
the word Information. will not take up the tim
ofthc court in reading 1t, but will simpysay that
commenced with revenue cases and IL euds wit
| revenue cases. Nearly every case cited by tn
other side Is simply revenue case, where thcr
was fine and penalty; aud wherever there was
fine and penalty admit that the accused partiC
| can be
PROCEEDED AGAINST ny INFORMATION.
Amer my client has been branded by Cabinet oil
fcer after he has been branded upOn an alldHyit {
another ollicial-hcCause that official, being IA
bdlieve) Un honest man, swOre only what other
had told him, aud, so fur us this case Is con
cermed, It wns the same as II he had made no ali
dayit at al-afler my client has been arrested an
DETAINED, when he Is held up IN scoru to publ
Indignation. IL Is about time that IL there are an
doubts, they be resolved In his favor, But instea
OF that, not satisfied with tho harm already done
not satisfied with violating the custom OF one hun
dred nnd sixty years; not satisfied when they wer
afraid TO present the case to the grand jury
AFRAID, AFRAID
Il say tho word, knowing what II means)-whe
ihoy were afraid 10 present IL to the grind Jury