Year: 1862

utive power till now. Sir, the only OBJ


ject Of this suspension, and the effect al


so of it, is to prevent inquiries into the


legitimaieness of the imprisonment un-


der military power. The object of this
evasion of the great charter Of liberty is


to enable military officers or others who


have like power to arrest and imprison


men though they have committed no


crime against the laws Of the land and


to punish them, not as the law prescrbes,


but in whatever way those who have the


power may ordain. If rightly construc


the message of the President, he claims


authority to seize, to hold and detain all


persons not engaged in the land or naval


forces, not men engaged in enterprises


against the Government, but all persons


whom he may suspect, and to imprison


them without regard to the provisions or


process of law.


The President further claims the au-


thority of the Constitution, of which it


is a complete violation to arrest whoever


in his judgment he may think proper


The President says his authority is deriv-


ed by implication, and because, suppose


he deems it inconvenient to have the right


to suspend the writ of hdbedS corpus vest


ed in Congress alone. Now, the only


clause which refers to the subject is one


which provides that the writ of haJeaS


corpus shall never be suspended except in


cases of rebellion or invasion, or under


circumstances when the public safety de-


mands it. This is undoubtedly the only


implication that can be derived author-


izing the suspension of the writ of haJe-


as corpus. Who shall suspend it? This


is the question. 1t is not vested in the


Executive exclusively, nor in Congress


exclusively, but in all the departments OF


the Government. | grant that under the


arbitrary rule of Elizabeth, of England,


and during the early part of the reign Of


Charles the First, it was exercised by


these monarchs, but Charles was com


PEELED, as the price of his throne, to as


sent to the Bill of Rights, by which he


bound himself never to imprison man


without due process of law. Charles did


not stand by his Interpretation of the an


cient Constitution, and after ten years of


struggle with his people, he lost his


throne and his life as the penalty of his
infraction OF it. His successor tried all


means and every kind of scheme to retain


this arbitrary power, which was at last


swept away forever by the great charter


We are told by the eminent historian,


Macaulay, that Charles ii sought to re


peal the habeds corpus act, for that he


hated it as only tyrants can hate what
+ ever stands between them and their owr
despotc wills. And this habeas corpu


act was the most stringent curb ever i'm
: posed by a legislature on tyranny.


When William and Mary came to the


throne they declared that the crown did mo-
possess the power of ofsuspending the writ o


haJeas corpus and from that hour to this
one hundred years before the adoption oi


the Constitution of the United States
, England had no monarch during all hel
, foreign wars and intestine troubles, way
ward and wicked enough though some OF


them were, who dared to suspend the
, writ Of haJeas corpus, or who ever claim
} ed that they had the power to imprison a
citizen without due process of law All
history to which have had access con-
= firms this view Of the case. Hume and
J Macaulay claim this right as the princi-
pal in the structure of the English Con
; stitution. But here, according to this
novel theory of government, the Presi-
! dent may suspend the Constitution and
the laws of the United States made un-
der it. He may, as it is claimed, do all
, this, supersede them all, disregarding the
limitation enioined for the exercise OF his
prerogatives. He may abolish all the
: laws OF the land and substitute in their
: place his own will. He may abolish the
, whole system of government built up
and bequeated to us by our Revolution
l ary fathers, and he may build up for him
self new and entirely different system
All this he may do, it is claimed, right
fully, legitimately and without interfer-
+ ence.


G | hold this assumed position is untena-
= bic and indelensible; that there is nc
a warrant for it in the Constitution or in


the principles which underlie the theory
a of government, nor in the genius of the
D American people, nor in the spirit Of lib
4 erty which is the boast of our institutions
e Such a proposition will destroy the law
4 as it is utterly incons sistent with the law
1t will reduce this nation, if this theory
of government is deliberately adopted,
to the condition of slavery; and | say
that any nation that will willingly adopt
| it is lost to the appreciation of its own
dignity and national rights, and for them
, the yoke Of the slave is the only
fitting emblem. We are told in defense
+ Of this theory, that it would exist only
in cases of rebellion against the Govern
t ment. We are also told that it was not
intended that the Constitution of the
| United States should be operative in times
, of civil war. Our fathers hoped that
|. civil war might never befali us, but they
5 knew human nature too well to expect
! that we should forever enjoy profound re.
s pose, They had freed themselves from,
: the yoke of oppression; they had success
/. fully conquered enemies without and to
+ ries within, and then they formed Con
$ stitutonal Governn2nt, recognizing in
i them that honesty and good sense which
= mark the patriot Is it to be supposed
Y that they would adopt CONSTITUTIONS
,. Government to be operative only in time
d of peace, and that Constitution shoula
h be superseded whenever discord or wal
o would present an opportunity to set i
n aside, and substitute for it the will of mil


itary power? The Constitution gives tC
e the several departments of the Govern
l. ment all the power ever intended to b'


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