rriJLIO DOCUMENTS. 





t arise from a threatened InrMlon. Ttm 

 necessity in 1 and present, the liivwl 



tho courts and depose* the civil 



>i). 



IM ili.it martini law comes in only when 



tin- courts and deposes tV 



authority ; but this lull, in time of peace, makes 



il hnv operate ;n though we Mere in actual 



s tho cause instead of the conse- 



brogatton of civil authority. One 



It t'.p. .-,.-. from what lias been said on this subject, that 



i-lons when martial law can be properly ap- 



If in foreign Invasion or civil war tho courts ur.i 



! It Is Impossible to administer rriiniii:il 



to law, thru, on tho theatre of active 



where war really prevails, there Is 



furnish a substitute for the civil authority 



vii, to preserve the safety of the Army and 



; and an no power Is left but the military, It Is 



allowed to govern liy martial rule until tho laws can have 



their free course. 



I now quote from the opinion of the minority of 



art, delivered by Chief-Justice Chase : 

 We by no means assert that Congress can establish and 

 apply the laws of war where no war has been declared or 

 oe exists, the laws of peace must prevail. 



This is sufficiently explicit. Peace exists in all 

 rritory to which this bill applies. It asserts a 



in Congress in time of peace to set aside the 

 I' peace and substitute the laws of war. The 



minority, concurring with the majority, declares 



ss does not possess that power. Again, 



and, if possible, morp emphatically, the Chief-Jus- 



nii remarkable clearness and condensation, 



sums up the whole matter as follows : 



There are under the Constitution three kinds of military 



jurisdiction one to bo exercised both in peace and war; 



another to be exercised la time of foreign war without tho 



iries of the United States, or in time of rebellion and 



civil war within States or districts occupied by rebels 



tits; and a third to be exercised in time 



nf invasion or insurrection within the limits of the United 



<>r din-ins the rebellion within the limits of tho 



maintaining adhesion to the national Government,* 



be piil'Iio. danger requires its exercise. The lirst of 



. i.v lie called jurisdiction under the military law, and 



Is found In acts of Congress prescribing Rules and Articles 



of War. or otherwise providing for the government of the 



national force ; the second may be distinguished as military 



government, superseding as far as may be deemed expedient 



the local law, and exercised by the military commander 



under the direction of tde President, with the express or 



implied sanction of Congress; while tho third may be 



<l"noiiiin:itcd martial law proper, and Is called into action by 



58, or Vmponirily. when the action of Congress can- 



not be invited, and In the case of justifying or excusing 



peril, by tho President in times of insurrection or invasion, 



. i! or torcinu war, within districts or localities where 



ordinary law no longer adequately secures public safety and 



private rights. 



It will be observed that of the three kinds of 

 military jurisdiction which can be exercised or 



1 under our Constitution, there is but one 

 that can prevail in time of peace, and that is the 

 code of laws enacted by Congress for the govern- 

 ment of the national forces. That body of military 

 law lias no application to the citizen, nor ev.-n to 

 the citizen soldier enrolled in the militia in time of 

 peace. But this bill is not a part of that sort of 



military law, for that applies only to the soldier an. I 

 not to the citizen, while, contrariwise, the military 

 law provided by this bill applies only to the citizen 

 and not to the soldier. 



I need not say to the representatives of the 

 American people that their Constitution forbids the 

 :se of judicial power in any way but one, that 

 is, by the ordained and established courts. It is 

 equally well known that in all criminal cases a trial 

 Iiy jury is made indispensable by the express words 

 nf thai instrument. I will not enlarge on the inesti- 

 mable value of the right thus securea to every free- 

 man or speak of the danger to public liberty in all 



parts of the country which must ensue from a denial 



"I"" 1 '".' i ' very recent 



i oftlie Supi-i -me Court has traced the hitory, 

 \indieatcd ti,. dignity, and made known the value 

 if tins great privilege so clearly that nothing more 

 is needed. To what extent u violation .,f it ( , 

 excused in war or public danger may admit of dis- 

 cussion, but we arc providing now for a time of pro 

 i". mil peace, where there is not an armed soldier 

 within our borders except those who are in the ser- 

 vice of the Government. It is in such a condition 

 <>!' tiling that an act of Congress is proposed, which, 

 if carried nut, \v<ui!d deny a trial by the lawful courts 

 and juries to nine million American citizens and to 

 their posterity for an indefinite pi-rind. It seems to 

 be scarcely possible that any one should seriously 

 believe this consistent with u Constitution which de- 

 clares in simple, plain, and unambiguous language 

 that all persons shall have that i -ighf, and that no 

 person shall ever in any case be deprived of it. The 

 Constitution also forbids the arrest cf the citizen 

 without judicial warrant, founded on probable cause. 

 This bill authorizes an arrest without warrant, at the 

 pleasure of a military commander. The Constitution 

 declares that " no person shall be held to answer for 

 a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on pre- 

 sentment by a grand jury." This bill holds every 

 person not a soldier answerable for all crimes and all 

 charges without any presentment. The Constitution 

 declares that "no person shall be deprived of life, 

 liberty, or property, without due process of law." 

 This bill sets aside all process of law, and makes the 

 citizen answerable in bis person and property to the 

 will of one man, and as to his life to the will of two. 

 Finally, the Constitution declares that " the privi- 

 lege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 

 pended unless when in case of rebellion or invasion 

 the public safety may require it ; " whereas this bill 

 declares martial law (which of itself suspends this 

 great writ) in time of peace, and authorizes the 

 military to make the arrest, and gives to the prisoner 

 only one privilege, and that is, a trial "without un- 

 necessary delay." He has no hope of release from 

 custody, except the hope, such as it is, of release by 

 acquittal before a military commission. 



The United States are bound to guarantee to each 

 State a republican form of government. Can it be 

 pretended that this obligation is not palpably broken, 

 if we carry out a measure like this, which wipes 

 away every vestige of republican government in ten 

 States, and puts the life, property, liberty, and honor 

 of all the people in each of them under the domina'- 

 tion of a single person clothed with unlimited au- 

 thority ? 



The Parliament in England, exercising the omnip- 

 otent power which it claimed, was accustomed to 

 pass bills of attainder; that is to say, it would con- 

 vict men of treason and other crimes by legislative 

 enactment. The person accused had a hearing, 

 sometimes a patient and fair one ; but generally 

 party prejudice prevailed instead of justice. It 

 often became necessary for Parliament to acknowl- 

 edge its error and reverse its own action. Tho 

 fathers of our country determined that no such 

 thing should occur here. They withheld the power 

 from Congress, and thus forbade its exercise by that 

 body ; and they provided in the Constitution that 

 no State should pass any bill of attainder. It is 

 therefore impossible for any person in this country 

 to be constitutionally convicted or punished for any 

 crime by a legislative proceeding of any sort. 

 Nevertheless, here is a bill of attainder against nine 

 million people at once. It is based upon an accusa- 

 tion so vague as to be scarcely intelligible, and found 

 to be true upon no credible evidence. Not one of the 

 nine millions was heard in his own defence. The rep- 

 resentatives of the doomed parties were excluded 

 from all participation in the trial. The conviction is 

 to be followed by the most ignominious punishment 

 ever inflicted on large masses of men. It disfran- 



