IMHLIO DOCUMENTS. 



668 



idly and as completely as their circumstances will 



it. 



r, \\ould seem to show upon its 



'.!i>hni.-nt of peace and good order 



-l. The filili section declares that 



-hull cease IIP operate in iinv 



shall have in: 



.vents arc, lirst. the selection of delegal 

 ntiiMi by an election at which i. 



shall In- allowed to vote ; second, the formation "I ;i 

 itution by the convention so chosen ; thin I, 

 the insertion into the Stale constitution of a provis- 

 ion wliieli will secure the right of voting at nil elec- 

 tions and to such white men an may not 



!"T rebellion or felony; fourth, the 



submission of (he constitution for ratification to ne- 

 ..ml white men ti"t disfranchised, and its actual 

 ition by their vote; fifth, the submission of the 

 State constitution to <'onicre>s for examination and 

 approval, and the actual approval of it by that body ; 

 sixth, the adoption of a certain amendment to the 

 .1 Constitution by a vote of the Legislature 

 elected uniler the new constitution; seventh, the 

 adoption of said amendment by a sufficient number 

 of other States to make it a part of the Constitution 

 of the United States. All these conditions must bo 

 fulfilled before the people of any of these States can 

 be relieved from the bondage of military domination ; 

 but u hen they are fultilled, then immediately the 

 pains and penalties of the bill are to cease, no matter 

 whether there be peace and order or not, and with- 

 out any reference to the security of life and property. 

 The excuse given for the bill in the preamble is ad- 

 mitted by the bill itself not to be real. The military 

 rule which it establishes is plainly to be used, not for 

 any purposes of order, or for the prevention of crime, 

 but solely as a means of coercing the people into the 

 adoption of principles and measures to which it is 

 known that they are opposed, and upon which they 

 have an undeniable rignt to exercise their own judg- 

 ment. 



I submit to Congress whether this measure is not, 

 in its whole character, scope, and object, without 

 precedent and without authority, in palpable conflict 

 with the plainest provisions of the Constitution, and 

 utterly destructive to those great principles of liberty 

 and humanity for which our ancestors on both sides 

 of the Atlantic have shed so much blood and expend- 

 ed so much treasure. 



The ten States named in the bill are divided into 

 five districts. For each district an officer of the 

 Army, not below the rank of brigadier-general, is to 

 be appointed to rule over the people ; and he is to be 

 supported with an efficient military force to enable 

 him to perform his duties and enforce his authority. 



Those duties and that authority, as defined by the 

 third section of the bill, are, "to protect all persons 

 in their rights of person and property, to suppress 

 insurrection, disorder, and violence, and to punish, 

 or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public 

 peace or criminals." The power thus given to the 

 commanding officer over all the people of each dis- 

 trict is that of an absolute monarch. Ilis mere will 

 is to take the place of all law. The law of the States 

 is now the only rule applicable to the subjects placed 

 under his control, and that is completely displaced 

 by the clause which declares all interference of State 

 authority to be null and void. He alone is permitted 

 to determine what are rights of person or property, 

 and he may protect them in such a way as in Ins dis- 

 cretion may seem proper. It places at his free dis- 

 posal all the lands and goods in his district, and he 

 may distribute them without let or hinderance to 

 whom he pleases. Heing bound by no State law, and 

 then- being no other law to regulate the subject, he 

 mav make a criminal code of This own ; and he can 

 make it as bloody as any recorded in history, or he 

 can reserve the privilege of acting upon the iitipulsc 

 of his private passions in each case that arises, lie 

 is bound by no rules of evidence ; there is indeed no 



provision by which be is authorized or required to 

 take any evidence ut nil. Every thing in a 

 which he chooses to call so, and all per-on* at 

 ilcini.nl whrn he pronounces to be guilty. 



not hound to keep any record, or make an> n ; 



bis proceedings, lie mav arrest Ins \\> lims wherever 



hc/inds them, without warrant. MCUMtion, I 



nf probable caii-e. Il'he uives tin m a trial b. 

 inllicts the pnnishmcn:, ' e, and 



mercy, not hecau-e be is commanded so to <|.p. 



To" a casual leader of the bill it might seem that 



some kind of trial was secured by it to persons ac- 

 cused of crime ; but such is not the case. The officer 

 "may allow local civil tribunals to try offenders," 

 but of course this does not require that he shall do 

 so. If any State or Federal court presumes to exer- 

 cise its legal jurisdiction by the trial of a malefactor 

 without his special permission, he can break it up, 

 and punish the judges and jurors as being themselves 

 malefactors, lie can save his friend.- from justice, 

 and despoil his enemies contrary 



It is also provided that "he shall have power to 

 organize military commissions or tribunals;" but 

 this power ho is notcommandedtoexerci.se. It is 

 merely permissive, and is to be used only "when in 

 his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of 

 offenders." Even if the sentence of a commission 

 were made a prerequisite to the punishment of a 

 party, it would be scarcely the slightest check upon 

 the officer, who has authority to organize it as he 

 pleases, prescribe its mode of proceeding, appoint 

 its members from among his own subordinates, and 

 revise all its decisions. Instead of mitigating the 

 harshness of his single rule, such a tribunal would 

 be used much more probably to divide the responsi- 

 bility of making it more cruel and unjust. 



Several provisions, dictated by the humanity of 

 Congress, have been inserted in the bill, apparently 

 to restrain the power of the commanding officer ; but 

 it seems to me that they are of no avail for that pur- 

 pose. The fourth section provides : first, that trials 

 shall not be unnecessarily delayed; but I think I 

 have shown that the power is given to punish with- 

 out trial, and if So, this provision is practically inop- 

 erative. Second, cruel or unusual punishment is 

 not to be inflicted ; but who is to decide what is cruel 

 and what is unusual ? The words have acquired a 

 legal meaning by long use in the courts. Can it be 

 expected that military officers will understand or fol- 

 low a rule expressed in language so purely technical, 

 and not pertaining in the least degree to their profes- 

 sion? If not, then each officer may define cruelty 

 according to bis own temper, and if it is not usual, 

 he will make it usual. Corporal punishment, im- 

 prisonment, the gag, the ball and chain, and the 

 almost insupportable forms of torture invented for 

 military punishment, lie within the range of choice. 

 Third, the sentence of a commission is not to be exe- 

 cuted without being approved by the commander, if 

 it affects life or liberty, and a sentence of death must 

 be approved by the President. This applies to cases 

 in which there has been a trial and sentence. I take 

 it to be clear, under this bill, that the military com- 

 mander may condemn to death without even the form 

 of a trial by a military commission, so that the life 

 of the condemned may depend upon the will of two 

 men instead of one. 



It is plain that the authority here given to the mil- 

 itary officer amounts to absolute despotism. But. to 

 make it still more unendurable, the bill provides that 

 it may be delegated to as many subordinates as he 

 chooses to appoint ; for it declares that he shall 

 "punish or cause to be punished." Such a power 

 has not been wielded by any monarch in England for 

 more than five hundred' years. In all that time no 

 people who speak the English language have borne 

 such servitude. It reduces the whole population of 

 the ten States all persons, of every color, sex, and 

 condition, and every stranger within their limits to 

 the most abject and degrading slavery. No master 



