Year: 1866

SAGE.


AS anticipated by most people acquaint-
ed with his views, the President returned
Yesterday re the Senate, the Freedmen's
Bureau Bin'7 8 his objections. Like all
of Mr.. JeHa IS public communications,
this docum.z@ + IS calm, dignifed, dispas-
sionate, statesmanlike. He presents the
rare spectacle of-a civil magistrate, elected
during time of high excitement, rising
superior to all mere party or sectional con-
sdcrations and from the height of a lofty
patriotism, taking in, incomprehensive
view, all sections. all parties, all citizens,
even those against whom he 50 strenuous
" contended during the war with noble
impartiality which cannot fail to win the
admiration of all who know how to
appreciate pure motives or magnanlmous
acts


His objections to the bill are two-fold
general and special OF the former, the
first is that there is no need for the law ut
present., as the act now in force has not
yet expired and was stringent enough for
the purposes of the Government during the
war.


His gravest objections are, however. le
yelled against the unconstitutionallty of the
measure He shows that it proposes, III
time of peace, to set up amilltary tribunal. .
with vague and indefinite powers having
cognizance of host of offences, real and
imaginary, against unknown provisions OF
bureau attached to the Executive Depart
ment OF the Government The trials to
take place under this act are to be without
Indictment, without jury, and are to pro
ceed upon the arbitrary prlnclpl of
court-martial, and to be administered III
many eases by agents ignorant of the laws
of the land and of The customs of the peo-
pie among whom the decisions are TO be
made As the territory over which this
kind of Jurisdiction extends is very large,
so the time of its duration is Indefinite and
it becomes a part of the recognized law OF
the land.


In this respect, it is monstrous anon
alv, as these decisions admit of no appeal,
and are removed entirely from the judicial
control of the Supreme Court These
are groos and palpable infractions
of the Constitution, which positively
prohibits any such trials except i'll
the regular army and navy. or in the nil
tia in time of var He also repudiates it
as too dangerous power to be entrusted
to the hands of any one man.


If, he goes on to say, it be urged as
a war measure, it behooves us to inquire
whether there is still civil war in the coun-
try. This he emphatically denies, and ac-
cuses those who assent to it as unnecessa-
rily disturbing the commerce, credit and
industry of the country, and concludes that
the proposed law is ''as inconsistent with
the actual condition Of the country, as it
is at variance with the Constitution of the
L nited States"


His objections to its details are equally
wcightv. He shows that the destruction
of the system of slavery the object for
which the Frecdmen's Bureau was origi-
nally established, has been accomplished


in the most cffectual manner possible, viz;
Bv Constitutional amendment in which
the Southern States themselves concurrcd.
Nor does he apprehend that the powers
which assisted in et1ecting this in time of
war needs any enlargement now that peace
is rc-established


He objects also to the building of school
houses and asylums for the Blacks, as Con-
grcss has never considered it had the pow
er to DO anything of the sort for multitudcs
of white people who are honestly toiling
day after day for their subsistence. Such
a course is injurious to the negro and ex
pcnsivc to the white man.


The Bureau would cost the taxpayers
more than twenty millions year, besides
the additional expense of retaining troops
to keep the peace between Its officers and
the people of the district in which they
might be stationed Such expenditure IS
particularly ill-judged at present, when Il G
utmost economy is required to maintain
the credit of the government


The proposition in the fifth section to
take away the land Of the people without
legal proceedings is also unconstitutional
The owners may be minors, or persons of
unsound mind, or may have had nothing
to do with the late var. in all which eases
the proposed seizure of their property. is
utterly ndefensible. Even if the estates
are liable to conhscatlon they cannot be
appropriated by the government, without
previous trial and condemnation


Now all these gross violations of the
Constitution and the common law are real
" productive of nothing but mischief 10
the race il is proposed they shall benefit
They tend to keep up indefinitely the un-
settled condition of the nccros mind and
prevent him from making any effort to help
himself OF course he should be protec-
ted, but like everybody else. by ciyi! law.
Ills labor is needed, and when matters
come to be tested, ii will he found tha, it
is not sufficient tosuppiy the large demands
Of the section in which he lives. He is,
therefore, in peculiarly favorable con-
di,ion for masking god bargains for him
ssii