424 



HABEAS CORPUS. 



"When Buckley arrived at the house of Patrie, 

 he learned that Patrie was in a distant field on 

 the farm, at work, and he took the little son of 

 Patrie to conduct him to the field, where the 

 arrest was made. After returning with Patrie 

 to his house, in answer to an inquiry of Patrie's 

 wif.3 as tc the probable fate of her husband, 

 Buckley said he supposed that he would be 

 sent to Fort Lafayette. Patrie was taken by 

 Buckley to the city of New York, and delivered 

 up to Murray, by whose order he was im- 

 prisoned in the Elm Street prison for nearly a 

 week. 



Some of Mr. Patrie's friends from Greene 

 County and his father from Schoharie County 

 .went to New York in his behalf during his im- 

 prisonment, but were unable to procure his re- 

 lease on bail or otherwise. In answer to Mr. 

 Patrie's application to be bailed, Mr. Murray 

 told him that all Greene County could do him 

 no good. A bail-bond was afterwards exe- 

 cuted by two of Mr. Patrie's friends residing in 

 New York, and he was permitted to return 

 home. 



Mr. Patrie then commenced his action for the 

 false imprisonment, but the defendants suc- 

 ceeded in keeping off the trial till the June cir- 

 cuit. At the November circuit, 1863, a post- 

 ponement was procured by the defendants on 

 various pretences of the absence of witnesses 

 and otherwise. At the February circuit, 1864, 

 it was again sworn off to enable the defendants 

 to procure the testimony of the Secretary of 

 War. But none of these witnesses were pres- 

 ent at the trial, nor did it appear that any 

 steps had been taken to procure their attend- 

 ance or obtain their testimony, or even that 

 their attendance was desired. 



The cause was tried at Catskill, before Judge 

 Ingalls and a jury composed of men of both 

 political parties. The jury, after about two 

 hours' deliberation, found a verdict for $9,000. 



Messrs. J. A. Griswold, D. K. Olney, and 

 Amasa J. Parker appeared for plaintiff. Messrs. 

 Vail and Sedgwick and P. C. Mattoon for de- 

 fendants. 



Judgment having been perfected on the 

 verdict, the defendants applied to remove the 

 cause to the United States Circuit Court, for 

 the purpose of having it tried de noro, as if 

 originally commenced there, under the 5th 

 Section of the Act of Congress, known as the 

 " Indemnity Act," passed March 3, 1863. The 

 defendants moved, on notice, for an order of 

 the Supreme Court staying procedings and re- 

 moving the cause into the United States Circuit 

 Court. The motion was resisted on several 

 grounds. The plaintiff's counsel claimed that 

 the section of the act of Congress, under which 

 the removal of the cause was attempted, was 

 unconstitutional, for two reasons : First, be- 

 cause it went beyond the 3d article of the Con- 

 stitution of the United States, in proposing to 

 give the United States Circuit jurisdiction of a 

 cause in which a case had not arisen under the 

 laws of the United States, for it appeared by 



affidavits that no question involving the validity 

 of an act of Congress had been raised or de- 

 cided on the trial ; and secondly, because tc 

 remove the cause to another court and try it de 

 novo would be a violation of the seventh amend- 

 ment of the Constitution of the United States, 

 which declares that " No fact tried by a jury 

 shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of 

 the United States, according to the rules of the 

 common law." The counsel for the plaintiff 

 contended that the only mode by which a re- 

 examination of a question of fact could be had 

 at the common law was of obtaining a new 

 trial in the same court in which the verdict wag 

 rendered. 



After a full discussion the Court took the 

 papers for further consideration, and the de- 

 cision was rendered in August. 



The Judge denied the motion, holding that 

 the case did not fall within the act, and that the 

 act, so far as it extended to cases after a ver- 

 dict has been rendered, is invalid and unconsti- 

 tutional. 



Suit was also brought against Marshal Mur- 

 ray and deputy by Libbeus II. Berry. The case 

 came up in October before Judge Scrogham, at 

 a special tei-m of Supreme Court in Kings 

 County, on a question to remove the case to tho 

 U. S. Courts. 



It appears that in August, 1864, the plaintiff, 

 who resides in Duchess County, whilst engaged 

 in the business of farming, was arrested by the 

 defendants on the charge of disloyalty. The 

 defendants, without process, took him to New 

 York city, and caused him to be there im- 

 prisoned for three days, and without having 

 any charge whatever preferred against him, he 

 (the plaintiff) was discharged. The action was, 

 therefore, brought to recover damages, which 

 were fixed at $10,000, for this illegal arrest. 



The defendants justified under the act of 

 Congress protecting all acts done under the 

 " order " of the President or any of his sub- 

 ordinates, and claimed that they are protected 

 by the provisions thereof. 



In the Supreme Court at Washington, on 

 Tuesday, Dec. 20th, in the case of the United 

 States i-s. Col. Baker, upon the indictment for 

 the arrest of Dr. Gwynne, the Court decided 

 that neither the order of the Secretary of War 

 nor of the Secretary of the Treasury would be 

 justification to the defendant. 



The liberty of the press and of the person 

 seems also to have been violated in the in- 

 surgent States by those in power. Mr. De 

 Bow, a financial writer, wrote an article upon 

 cotton which was displeasing to Mr. Davis, and 

 the consequence was that it was suppressed 

 and the author sent to prison for writing it. 

 Here is a paragraph from the article which Mr. 

 Davis snatched from the eyes of his countrymen : 



Cotton has failed or will fail us ; the negro has 

 failed or will fail us ; it is idle to hope longer to en- 

 joy peacefully the proceeds of his labor when at this 

 moment eighty thousand of his color are organized, 

 and hold arms in their hands to free their fellows. 



