

ITIJI.IC Dt)( I MKNTS. 





the cause of arrest, or for the production of the war- 

 ()!' what avail in nnk for ll. 



'i->tndy, \\ hi.-li k , . ihing 



M ball ? ' ! to demand U trial I. 



Minors >, a copy of III.- indiclmeiit, the 



.-el, or that greater privilege, the 

 piuf 



I duty or other official power. Holding the 



mi" 1 1.. ml with ..U I- v, ..!!! to take an oath of office* 



.n. : of tin- lull P. t!- end there U 

 no provision ! or oath 



single <|uu!i!. lired under tip- 



inal hill of I he ^d of March was SUCU as i > -id. -nee, cii i/en-hi;., or any thing < 1- 

 -* only oath is that |.rovided tor in the ninth 



h\ the terms of which every one detailed or ap- 



I to any civil o/Iice in" the State i- i 



subscribe the oath of office pre- 

 scribed by law for olli> 



Thus an ollieer of the Army of the United Slates, de- 

 tailed to till a civil olliee in' one of i 1 , gives 

 no oilieial bond and takes no ollicial oath for the per- 

 formance of his new duties, but, as a civil oil 



ite, only takes the same oath which he bad 

 already taken as a military officer of the I 

 States. lie \<, at la-t, a military officer performing 

 civil duties, and the authority under xvhi h hi 

 Federal authority only; and the inevitable roult i->, 

 that the Federal Government, by the agency of its 

 ii wn sworn officers, in effect, assumes the civil gov-. 

 ernmcnt of the State. 



A singular contradiction is apparent here. Con- 

 gress declares these local State governments to be 

 illegal governments, and then provides that these 

 illegal governments shall be carried on by Federal 



, who are to perform the very duties imposed 

 on its own officers by this illegal State authority. It 

 certainly would be a novel spectacle if Congress 

 should attempt to carry on a legal State government 

 by the agency of its own officers. It is yet more 



based on two .li-mi. -nco of 



rictly appertaining to the n- 



:> of the Stales, ami the establishment 



tribunals for the trial of citizens in time 



i partial reader of that messa 

 understand that all that it contains wi 1 

 militan despotism ami martial law li 



..illy tn the fearful power conferred on the dis- 

 trict commanders to displace the criminal coin Kami 

 MI in try and to punish by military 

 hoards; that, potentially', the suspe&sion of the /"'?- 

 v. as martial law and military despotism. 

 01 now before me not only declares that the 

 ;er such military authority, hut also 

 to confer unlimited military authority over all the 

 other courts of the Stale, and over all the officers of 

 the S live, executive, and judicial. Not 



a I with the general grant of power, Congress, 

 in the second section of this bill, specifically gives 'o 

 Military commander the power "to suspend or 

 .i office, or from the performance of offi- 

 ttics and the exercise of official powers, any 

 or person holding or exercising, or professing 

 ise, any civil or military office or 

 duty in such district, under any power, election, ap- 

 point nient, or authority derived from, or gran; 



or claimed under any so-called State, or the govern- strange that Congress attempts to sustain and carry 



ment thereof, or any municipal or other division 

 thereof." 



\vor that hitherto all the departments of the 

 :1 (iovernment, acting in concert or separately, 

 it dared to exercise, is here attempted to he 

 . ed on a subordinate military officer. To him, 

 as a military officer of the Federal Government, is 

 given the power, supported by "-a sufficient military 

 " to remove every civil officer of the State. 

 What next ? The district commander who has thus 

 displaced a civil officer is authorized to fill the va- 

 cancy b. the detail of an officer or soldier of the 



on an illegal State government by the same Federal 

 agency. 



In this connection I must call attention to the 

 tenth and eleventh sections of the bill, which provide 

 that none of the officers or appointees of these mili- 

 tary commanders "shall be bound in his action by 

 any opinion of any civil officer of the United States, 

 and that all the provisions of the act " shall be con- 

 strued liberally, to the end that all the intents thereof 

 may be fully and perfectly carried out." 



It seems Congress supposed that this bill might 

 require construction, and they fix, therefore, the rule 



Army, or by the appointment "of some other per- to be applied. But where is the construction to como 



rpu:- _:iu :_i. _v.^i from? Certainly no one can be more in want of in- 



struction than a soldier or an officer of the Army de- 



duties of such officer or" person so suspended or re- tailed for a civil service, perhaps the most important 



^-j T- <, j_ cc -u: *.,i_- i n a state, with the duties of which he is altogether 



unfamiliar. This bill says he shall not be bound in 

 his action by the opinion of any civil officer of the 

 United States. The duties of "the office are alto- 

 gether civil, but when he asks for an opinion he can 

 only ask the opinion of another military ollicer, who, 

 perhaps, understands as little of his duties as he docs 

 himself; and as to his " action," he is answerable 

 to the military authority, and to the military author- 

 ity alone. Strictly, no opinion of any civil officer, 



son." This military appointee, whether an officer, a 

 soldier, or " some other person," is to perform " the 

 duties of such officer or person so suspended or re- 

 moved." In other words, an officer or soldier of the 

 Army is thus transformed into a civil officer. He 

 may he made a Governor, a legislator, or a judge. 

 Hm\ever unlit ho may deem himself for such civil 

 duties, he must obey the order. The officer of the 

 Armv must, if "detailed," go upon the supreme 

 bench of the State with the same prompt obedience 

 as if he were detailed to go upon a court-martial. 

 The soldier, if detailed to act as a justice of the peace, 

 must obey as quickly as if he were detailed for picket 



dutv. What is the character of such a military-civil other than a judge, has a binding force. 



ollicer? This bill declares that he shall perform the 

 duties of the civil office to which he is detailed. It 

 is clear, however, that he does not lose his position 

 in the military service. He is still an officer or sol- 

 dier of the Army ; he is still subject to the rules and 



But these military appointees would not be bound 

 even by a judicial opinion. They might very well 

 say, even when their action is in conflict with the 

 Supreme Court of the United States, " That court is 

 composed of civil officers of the United States, and 



regulations which govern it, and must yield due def- we are not bound to conform our action to any opin- 



erence, respect, and obedience toward his superiors. 

 The clear intent of this section is that the officer or 

 soldier detailed to fill a civil office must execute its 

 duties according to the laws of the State. If he is 

 appointed a Governor of a State, he is to execute the 



ion of any such authority.' 

 This bill and the acts to which it is supplementary 



are all founded upon the assumption that these toil 

 communities are not States, and that their existing 

 governments are not legal. Throughout the legisla- 



duties as provided by the laws of that State, and for tion upon this subject they are called " rebel .- 



the time being his military character is to be sus- 

 ponde.l in his new civil capacity. If he is appointed 

 treasurer, he must at once assume the custo- 

 dy and disbursement of the funds of the Sia; 



perform those duties precisely according to the 

 laws of the State; for he is intrusted with no other 



and in this particular bill they are denominated "so- 

 called State-," and the vice of illegality is declared 

 to pervade all of them. The obligations of consist- 

 ency bind the legislative body as well as the imlivid- 

 uills who compose it. It is now too late to say that 

 these ten political communities are not States of this 



