Year: 1863




the SAID Secretaries, or either OF them te


have violated, any law Of the United


States In any of said Jurisdictions, and alst


the date OF each arrest; the Secretary O


State to furnish a list of such persons a,


are imPil 'oned by the order or authorit,


OF the fresident, acting through the Stats


Department, and Secretary Of War list


OF SUCH as are imprisoned by the order O,


authority of the President, acting through


the Department Of War And in all cases
| where a Grand Jury having attended any


OF said courts having jurisdiction in the


premises, after the passage Of this act, and


after the furnishing Of said list as afore


said, has terminated it's session without


finding an indictment, or presemtment, OF
other proceeding against any such person


1T shall be the duty Of the Judge of said
court forthwith n to make an order that
any such prisoners desiring q discharge
from said imprisonment be brought before
him to be disc charged; and every officer oi
| the Uuited States having custody of such
| prisoner is hereby directed Immediately
TO obey and e kecute said judges order
| and in case he shall delay or refuse so to
do, he shall be subject to indictment for
a misdemeaner, and be punished by fine
Of not less than FIVE hundred dollars and
| imprisonment in the common jail for a
heriod of not less than six months, in the
discretion of the court; Provided, however,
That no person shall be discharged by vir-
tue OF the provisions Of this act until after
he or she shall have taken an oath of allie.
glence to the Government of the United
States, and 10 support the Constitution
thereof; and that he or she will not here
after in any way encourage or give aid
! and comfort to the present rebellion or
. the supporters thereof; .4na provided dLso
That the Judge or court before wi ON such
person may be brought befor. di.charg'ng
him or her from Imprisonment, shall have
power on examination of the case, and If
the public safety shall require it, shall be
required 10 cause him or her TO enter into
recognizance, with or without surety, IN a
sum to be fixed by said Judge or court, 10
keep the peace and be of good behaviour
toward the United States and its citizens,
and from time TO time, and at such times
as such judge or court may direct, appear
before said judge or court 20 be further
dealt with according to law, as the cir-
cumstaRces may require. And it shall be
the duty OF the District Attorney Of the
United States to attend such examination
before the judge


SEC 3 Aad be Il furthsr enacted, That in
case any OF such prisoners shall be under
indictment or presentment for any ott.nsS
against the laws of the United States,
and by existing laws bail or recogaiz
ance may be taken for the appearance for
trial of such person il shall be tie duty Of
said judge at once to dischage such per
son upon bail or recognizance for trial as
aforesaid And in case the said Secretay
Of State and War shall for any reason re
fuse or omit TO furnish the said list of per.
sons held as prisoners aforesaid at the
time o! the passage OF this act within 90
days thereafter. and Of such persons a.
hereafter may be arrested, within % DAYS
from the time of the arrest. any citizen
may. after grand jury shall have termin
ated il, session without finding an indet-
ment or presentment, rs provided in the
second section OF this act. by a petition
5iieging the facts aforesaid touching any
Of the persons as aforesaid imprisoned,
supported by the oath Of such petitioner
or any other credible person, obtain and
De entitled TO have the said judges order
to discharge such prisoners on the same
terms and conditions prescribed in the
second section of this act Proviaed, ho,~e,,-
er That the said judge shall be satisfied
such allegations ar. true


The reader can easily educe from these
provisions .he law of the question raised
by the arrest OF Gen Burnside They will
perceive that proceedings under the w,it
of h1Jeas corp0: are to be suspended by
the courts whenever and wherever the
privilege of this writ has been suspended
bv the President, which is not the case in
the State of Ohio. Judge Leayi,t. in rsf1s
ing In grant the writ sued out in behalf Of
Mr. Eailandingham, stated that he had
not seen this law, which was cited in court
by Mr. Pugh, the attorney of Mr. Nailan-
bingham We infer from this fact that
Judge Leavitt does not deem. it necessary
to haze knowledge of the laws which it
is his swern duty to administer, or that his
means of procuring information under
this head are more limited than those
possessed by laynen who read the jour-
mails which are authorized to publish the
laws of the United States officially or who
possess a sufficient interest in such matters
10 purchase the volume printed by the
eminent publishers, Messrs Little d
Brown, Of Boston, under the authority of
Congress. His ignorance of the laws may
be his best excuse for not doing his duty
under them


And when a Judge of the United Stated
is ignorant of the legislation of Congress
on this head, surely Gen. Burnside may be
excused for not knowing that Congress.
by the act of July II. 1862, had expressly
provided for the trial by the courts of the
etiense be alleges against Mr. Nallandins-
ham Nor is 1t aay answer tosay, as Gen.
Burnside urges in his statement made to
the judge. that 1--WE are in q state of civil
war. and an emergency is upon US which
requires the operations of some power that
moves more quickly than the civil for it
was precisely in view Of such an "emergen
cy' that Congress passed the act Of last
July IL already cited and it was to ex
clude the possibility of the arbitrary de-
tent:on Of persons held las prisoners of
the United States by order of authority of
the President of the United States, as
than as prisoners of war, that Congress
passed the act approved on the Sd of
March last, and the sections Of which, so
far as they relate to this case, we have re-
cited above The intention of Court
martial, illegally charged with the trial of
citizen, does not alter the nature Of the |
Of Mr.. ValIandinghan. who
while deprived of his liberty; must be re-
garded in law as one "imprisoned by the |
order or authority of the President, acting |
the Department of War"


Ifit be true, as is said, that Mr.. Vallan- !
bingham has been imprisoned in Fort
by order of Gen. Burnside, con-
6rming the sentence of the court martial
illegally charged with the trial of a citizen
for an offense made cosnizable by the
courts, it follows that Vallandingham 10
now held as ''state or political prisoner"
within the terms of the act of March Sd.
1868; and it will therefore be the duty, |
as we doubt not it will be the pleasure, of
Mr. Secretary Stanton to report the name |
Of Vallandingham to the Judge of the
United States Circuit or District Court
which has local and legal jurisdiction of
the offense for which Mr.. Valiandingham
Is now irreunlarlv detained that he may