Year: 1861

lIdilos, ~ WOuiu TIC the handS OF the JnlDn
men and freely pass supplies from among
them to the insurrectionists. which It conld
not do as an open enemy At 4 stroke it
would take all the trouble off the hands ot
secession, except only what proceeds from the
external blockade It would do for the dis
unionists that which Of all things they most
desire, feed them well and give them dish
Mon without q struggle of their own. It rc-
cogni147 40 fidelity to the Constitution. no
Obligation 70 maintain the Union. ana while
very many who have favored it are doubtless
loyal, it IS, nevertheless, very injurious i'll ef-
feet retardln. the action Of the government
1t may he stased that at first a call was made
Tor 5000 militia, and rapidly following this
proclamation was issued for closing the ports
Of the insurrectionary districts by proceed
lngs n the nature Of blockade So far all
was believed to be strictly legal


81 this point the insurreerionists announc-
ed their purpose to enter upon the practice ct
prlvateering. Other calls We're made fol- vol
nnteers 70 serve three years, unless sooner
discharged, and also for large addition, 20 the
regular army and navy These measures.
whether strictly legal Or not, were yentureel
upon under what appeared to be i popular
demand and q public necessity, trusting then
IS nov that Congress would readily ratify
them 1t ~ believed that nothing has been
done beyond the constitutional competency Of
Congress. Soon after the tlrst call for militia
It was considered a duty to authorize the
commanding General III proper cases accord
ing to hiS discretion to suspend the privilege
of the writ Of habcas corpus, Of in other
words, to arrest and dctan, without resort to
the ordinary processes and forms Of law,
such individuals as he might deem dangerous
to the public safety. The authority has pur-
resely been exercised but very sparingly
nevertheless the legality and propriety Of
What has been done under it are questioned
and the attention Of the country has been
called to the proposition. that one who is
sworn to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, should not himself violate them Of
course Some consideration was given to the
questions III power and propriety before this
matter was acted upon The whole Of the
laws which were required to be faithfully ex-
ee5tcd, were being resisted and failing Of cx-
ecutlon in nearly one third of the States w.
Must they be allowed to finally fail Of eNcc,l-
ton even had it been clear that by the use OF
the means necessary to their execution, some
single law made III such extreme tenderness
Of the citizen liberty that practically it re-
lieyes more of the guilty than Of the inno-
cent. should to very limited extent b. VIC
lated? 10 state the matter more directly. are
all the laws To 20 unexecutcd. and the GOV
ernmcnt itself 20 to pieces lest that one DC
violated? Even in such a case would not
the official oath be broken If the government
should Be oycrthroWn when it was believed
that lsregartlng the single Que would tend
to preserve it2 But it was not believed that
this question was presented 1t was not he-
!ieyed that any law was violated. The pro
vision of the Constitution that the privilege
Of the writ Of ll;lbeas corpus shall not he sus-
pended unless when in cases Of rebellion cl
inva ss1 i, The public safety may require, i
IS egii4 -ntSto a provision that such pllyll-
cge may ha suspended when i'll cases of rebel
lion o. invasion the public safety does require
it. It was decided that We have case Of re-
bellion and that the public safety does re-
quire the qualified Suspension Of the privilege
of the writ which was authorized tp he made.
Now 1t Is insisted that Congress. and not
the Executive. is vested with this power
But the Constitution itself IS silent as te
a. the provision was plainly made for Il dan
eernuS emergency, il cannot he believed the
trainers Of the instrument intended that IL
every case the danger should run it, courSe
until Congress could be called together. TIL
very assembling (which might III prevented
aS was intended in this casa. by the rebellion
~ more extended argument i now offered
1, an opinion ut some length will probably "
Offered 1T tha Attorney General Whether
there shall he any legislation on the subject,
and i any, what is submitted entirely to the
better judgment Of Congress


The forbearance Of this Government lal
been % extraordinary and - long continued.
as to lead some foreign nations to shape their
action as ifthey supposed the earls destruct-
ion of our national Union was probable
While this, on discovery. gave the Executive
some concern. he i now happy to say that The
sovereignty and rights Of the United States
are now everywhere practically respected b
foreign powers. and manifested throughput
the world


The reports of the Secretaries Of the Treas
ury, War and the Navy, Will give the infor-
nation ii detail deemed necessary and con
yenieut for your deliberation and action.