Year: 1875

the bill passed by the House, from the
following from the New York Herald:


Passing over minor details, we ask,
in the name Of the country, what possi-
bic classification there can be for suspend
ing the writ of habeas corpus in the
present state of the country:


What is the purport and meaning of
the writ of habeas corpus? The sub
stance Of that great writ of freedom is
that any person arrested by the gov
ernment is entitled to be brought
before a magistrate competent to decide
whether his arrest and imprisonment
are according tolaw. Any person in the
community may be caught up and i'm
prisoned, but if he is innocent he is
entitled to an opportunity to prove his
Innocence and get discharge. The
writ of habeas corpus is the ordinary
safeguard against unjus imprisonment.
1t merely entities the prisoner to be
brought before judge authorized by
law to decide whether his arrest and
detention are legal. A suspension OF
the writ of habeas corpus confers upon
the President the right to arrest and
imprison citizens on his own mere
discretion, depriving them Of any right
to know whether there are charges
against them or not. When the habes,s
wi IIAo Ao suspended ViC l. lSS1dSuL Gill
snatch up any citizen in any part Of the
country and put him in perpetual i'm
prisonlnent by his arbitrary viii, and
the victim has no means of redress


He may be the most innocent man
alive, and be able to establish his inno-
cence by the strongest evidence; but
the power Of the President to arrest


him and keep him in perpetual custody


without judicial inquiry confounds all


distinction of guilt or innocence and


makes the mere arbitrary will Of the
President the supreme law.


The suspension of the habeas corpus
! would make the President an irrespon-


sible despot. 1t would enable him to


imprison any citizen whom he disIiked,
| without anysort of responsibility to the
judicial tribunals. There is no defina-
BILE distinction between an absolute des-


potism and a republic in Which the IIx-


ecutive is authorized to suspend the
| writ of habeas corpus. The suspension
| of that great writ, which has for CEN


turies been regarded as the chief bull
! wark of liberty, is simply a free per-


mission to the Executive to arrest and
| imprison anybody he pleased on his
own mere discretion, without any sort
of accountability for abuse of power
The bill agreed on in the republican
| caucus authorizes the President to de-
! clare martial law and suspend the ha-


beas corpus in any part of the United
States, making him the sole Judge Of


Tie necessity in every case. Ifthis mon


strous bill should become a law Presi-


dent Grant would be absolute master of


the liberty of every citizen oftlie United
! States. 1t would only be necessary for


him to proclaim martial law in any
IN fn ~ Il


prison his political opponents, without


any power on their part to have their


cases brought before Il judicial tribun-


al to decide whether there were any
grounds for their arrest. Such a law
would make one man the absolute
| master Of the liberty of every citizen.
Under it he could arrest and iDlprison


anybody he pleased and nobody could
call him to account.


The merest glance at the constitution
will suffice to show that the suspension
OF the writ of habeaS corpus cannot be
justified under present circumstances
The constitution does not permit that
great bulWark of liberty to be suspend


cd in mere anticipation Of danger. Its
language is that "tho privilege Of the


writ Of habcas corpus shall not be sus-


pended unless when, in eases of rebel
AioIi W III Nllc tAtplit 9<tlclS hltN
require it.' There is at present no re-
| bellion, there is at present no Invasion,


and in the present condition of the


country the habcas corpus cannot be


constitutionally suspended. The con-
| stitution does not permit its suspension


in anticipation of y rebellion Of which
there are no mediate signs, or in antic-
ipation of Il Eancifll Invasion, but only
when rebellion or Invasion has actually
occurred, or is so imminc;it as to require
strong measures. There is no rebellion
now, there is no invasion now, there is


no immediate prospect now of either
rebellion or invasion, and it would be


an abuse of authority for Congress to


authorize the suspension of the habeas


corpus ut Il time when there is no
threatened disturbance of the public


peace. The writ OF hahcas corpus is


simply guarantee against illegal i'm


prisonment-as security that no citizen


shall be deprived of his liberty without


proof that he has violated some law.
When this sacred writ is suspended the
President can arrest and inprison any
body he pleascs, with or without cause,
~ w.,