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GOT. BROWN'S MESSAGE.
tAa Message of Gob, Brown to the
itwe of Runrnin. in exlra Sension. Mattk
.. V. TH CITRRBSCT..- -'.
TSt late action of the Congress of the Confeder
m States upon the subject of the currency hasren
iered further legislation necessary in this 8tate
.apon that question. It cannot be denied that this"
. nas seriously embarrassed the financial system
f this State, and has shaken the confidence: of our
people in either the justice of the late Congress or
its competency to manage our financial - attain.
Probably the history "of the past furnishes few more
Striking instances of unsound policy combined with
bad laiih. " The government issues its. Treasury
note W flOO, and binds itself two years after a
treaty of neace between the Confederate States and
Hhe United States, to pay the bearer that sum ; and
stipulates upon tne lace ot tne note, inai 11 ia mut
able in Confederate States' stocks or bonds, and re
ceivable in payment of all public dues except export
duties. The Congress while the warjs still pro
gressing, passes a statute that' this bill shall be
funded in about forty days or one third of it shall
be repudiated,, and that a tax of ten per cent month
shall be paid for it after that time . by the holder,
and K shall no longer be receivable in payment of
,r public dues, and if it is not funded by the 1st of
January next, thevmole debt is repudiated, uia
.the holder take the note with any such expectations?
Was this the contract, and is this the way the gov
ernment is to keep its faith ? If we get rid of the
old issues in this way, what guaranty do we give
for better faith, in the redemption of the next issues?
Again, many of the notes have the express promise
on their face, that they shall be fundable in eight
percent bonds. When? The-plain import is, and
so understood by all at thetime of their issue, that
it may be done at, any time before the day fixed on
the face ot the note for its payment With what
semblance of geoddaith then, does the government
before that time compel the holder to receive a four
per cent bond, or lose the whole debt ? and what
better is this than repudiation ? When was it ever
before attempted by any government, to compel the
funding of almost the entire paper currency of a
country, amounting to seven or eight hundred mil
lions of dollars, in forty days ? This is certainly a
new chapter in financiering.
The country expected' the imposition of a tax, and
all patriotic citizens were prepared to pay it cheer
fully at any reasonable sacrifice ; but repudiation
and bad faith were not expected, and" the authors of
it can not be held guiltless !
.The expiring Congress took the precaution to
discuss this measure in secret session, so that the
individual act of the representative could not reach
his constituents, and none could be annoyed during
its consideration by the murmurs of public disap
probation being echoed, back into the Legislative
Hall. And to make assurance dubly sure, they
fixed the day for the assembling of their successors
at a time too late to remedy the evil or afford ade
quate redress for the wrong.
These secret sessions of Congress are-becoming a
blighting-curse to the country. They are used as a
convenient mode of covering up from the people
such. acts or expressions of their representatives as
will not bear investigation in the light of day. . Al
most every act of usurpation of power, or of bad
faith, has been conceived, brought forth and nur
tured, in secret tension. . If I mistake not the British'
Parliament never discussed a single measure in se
cret session during the whole period of the Crimean
War. But if it is necessarar to discuss a few impor
tant military measures, such as 'may relate to the
movement of armies, &c., in secret session, it Hoes
not follow that .discussions of questions pertaining
to the currency, the suspension of the writ of habeai
corpus, and the like, should all' be conducted ui se
cret session. The people should require all such
measures to be discussed with open doors,. and the
press should have the liberty of reporting ar:d free-
y criticising tne acts ot our puouc servants, in
v i n .f . i -ii i i
nis way ine reuecuuu oi me popular wiu uaun. up-
n the representative, would generally cause tne
ieteat of such unsound measures as those which are
low fastened upon the country in defiance of the
tin ot tne pap- "
I But dismissing the past and looking to the future
he inquiry presented for our consideration is how
nail the State authorities act in the management of
lie finances of the State ? As the Confederate States'
reasury notes constitute the currency of the coun
ty, tne state nas oeen oongea to receivejtna pay
siem out ; and she must continue-to do so, as long
s they remain the only circulating medium. the
resent Legislature has very wisely adopted the
lolicv, in the present depreciated condition of the
urrency, of collecting by taxation a sufficient sum
h currency, to pay tne current appropriations ot
he State government; instead of "adding them to
C3fhe debt of the State to .be paid in future upon the
&'.-old basis. If the State issues her own bonds and
SIU13 iucui upuu iuc uiamei, ur ii alio la&uca uer uwil
reasury notes- redeemable a future day in her
ionds, she adds the amount so issued to her per
manent indebtedness ; and defeats the policy cY pay-
jr- Ing as she goes ; as her own bonds or notes, would
I (then be out, and could pot be redeemed with the
' " ' J -
If the State receives in payment of taxes the pre
sent Confederate treasury notes, they will be re
luced in amount one-third by act of Congress after
irst of April next, and -the State receiving them at
)r pays a Confederate tax of 33 per cent upon all
noncys that pass through her treasury. This of
:ourse cannot be submitted to.
The repudiation policy of Congrejss, seems there
ore to have left us but one alternative ; and that is
o receive and pay out only such issues of Confed
erate notes, as under the act of Congress pass at pas,
without the deduction of S3 on any other per cent
But as we are obliged to have funds before the time
rheo the new issues ot ' Confederate notes can go
into circulation, the question presenteoTis how shall
ve supply the treasury- in the meantime ? ' In my
udgmeht the proper plan will be to issue State
treasury notes,, payable on (he 25th day ef Decem
ber next at the treasury, and each of the more im
portant cities of this State in Confederate treasury
notes, of Such issue as may be made fter first April
iext, to be used .as a circulating medium. This
enables the State to anticipate the new issues, and
ise them in advance oHheir circulation by Confed
erate authority. The new Georgia- treasury notes
if this issue, .would be just as good as the new issue
f Confederate notes.; because payable in them, and
vould be as current in payment of debts. The act
nould provide that all taxes hereafter due the estate
'or this year, ' shall be payable in the Confederate
;reasury notes of this new issue, and that they shall
pe deposited in the treasury, when collected, to re
teem the State notes payable in them. The act
lhould also provide that the State notes shall be re
turned and the Confederate notes received in place .
nt them within three months after they are due, or
Ihat the State will r.o longer be liable for their pay-
i
nenr, ibis would prevent holders from laying
hem away, and refusing to bring them in for pay
nent when due, according to the terms of the con
ract As the State tax is not. due till next fall,
here will be an abundant supply of the new Con
ederate notes in circulation by that time, to obviate
in uimcuny in obtaining them by our people to pay
he tax. '
I recommend the nassace of a ioint rosolution .:
uthorizing the Governor to have funded in the six
er cent bonds, prov ided for by the act of Congress,
11 Confederatejioios which mavremain in the trea-
ury ; or may be in the hands of any of the fifian
ial agents of the State, after the first day of Aoril-
, .uu vu bbii ana dispose ot such bonds at their
market value in currency, which can be made avail
ble in payments to be made by the treasury ; and
. i.d.u.c, wua any loase that may
ccrue by reason of the failure of th h,.,i.. h.;-
kar in the market , 6
SB NEW MILITU 0RQAKJZ4T10K AND CONSCRIPTIOH
since your adjournment in Decemhw tK
Mit and Inspector General, under mv direction Gas
.. in ii.H power 10 press lorward tbe-orgahizn-on
of the Militia of the State, in conformity to the
t passed for that purpose ; and I hve the pW
e to state, that the enrollments are generally
ade, except in a few localities, where proximitv
- ---J iMCTci.ieu ji, anu me oreaniza
Dns will soon be eomnleted
i S P. -m, 0Ur Pr0cecdigs. we are met With
rmidable obstacles, thrown in our way by the late
j?ftVI,grMft Whicb 8ubct8 those between 17
id 50 to enrollment as conscripts, for Canhfont
irvice. This act of Concrpua tt ii..
nnt .1 Oa i r r 1-0 w
om iDQ a tale, as was done on a forma
fcr entire military force, who belong to th active
Ton XXX. No. 0.
i.-t-J
list, and to leave her without a force Ita the" differ
ent counties sufficient to execute her laws or sup
press servile Insurrection.
. Our Supreme Court has ruled that the Confeder
ate government has the power to raise armies by
conscription, but it has not decided, that it also has
the power to enroll the whole population of the
State who remain at home, so as to place the whole
people under the military control of the . Confeder
ate government, and thereby, take, from the States
all command over their own citizens, to execute
their own laws ; Ad place the internal police regu
lations of the States it) the hands of the President
luis one thing to "raise armies," and another, and
quite different thing to put the whole' population at
home under military law, and compel every man to
obtain is military detail .upon such terms as the cen
tral government may dictate, and to carry a milita
ry pass in his pocket while he cultivates his farm,
or attends to -his other necesaary. avocations at
home. ' .
Neither a planter nor en overseer engaged upon
the farm, nor a blacksmith making agricultural im
plements, nor a miller grinding for the people at
home, belongs to, of constitutes any part of the ar
mies of the Confederacy, and there is not the shad
ow of Constitutional power vested in the Confeder
ate government for conscribing, and putting these
classes and others engaged in home "pursuits under
military rule, while they remain at home to dis
charge these duties. If conscription were constitu
tional, as a means of raising armies by the Confed
erate government, it could' not be constitutional to
conscribe those not actually needed, and not to be
employed in (he army, and the Constitutional pow
er to "raise armies," could never carry with it the
power in Congress to conscribe the whole people,
who are not needed for the armies, but are. left at
home because more useful there, and place them
under military government, and compel them to get
military details to plough their fields, shoe their
farm horses, or go to mill.
Conscription carried to this extent is the essence
of military despotism ; placing all civil rights in a
state of subordination to military power, and put
ting the personal freedom of each individual in civ
il life at the will of the chief of the military power.
But it may be said that conscription may act upon '
one class as legally as another,- and that all classes
are equally subject to it- This is undoubtedly true.
If the government has a right to conscribe at all, it
has a vigbt to conscribe persons of all classes, till it
has raised enough to supply its armies. But it has
no right to go farther and conscribe all, who are by
its own consent to remain at home to make supplies.
If it considers supplies necessary, somebody must
make them ; and those who do it, being no part of
the army, should be exempt from conscription and
the annoyance of military dictation, while engaged
in civil and not military pursuits.
If all between 17 and 60 are to be enrolled and
placed in constant military service, "we must con
quer the enemy while we are consuming our pre
sent crop of provisions, or we are mined ; as it will
be impossible for the old men over 50, and the boys
under 17, to make supplies enough to feed our
armies and people another year. I think every
practical man in the Confederacy who knows any
thing about our agricultural interests and resources
will readily admit this.- '
If, on the other band, it is not the intention to
put those between 17 and 18, and between 45 and
50, into service as soldiers, but to leava tkei at
Wm in produce supplies, and occasionally to- db
police duties within the State, which properly be
long to the militia of a State; or. in other words, ir
it is the intention simply to take the control of
them from the State, bo as to deprive her of all
power, and leave her without sufficient force to ex
ecute her own laws, or suppress survile insurrec
tion, and place the. whole militia of the SUte, not
needed for constant service in the Confederate
armies, under the control of the- President while
engaged in their civil pursuits, the act is unconstitu
tional and oppressive, and ought not to be executed.
If the act is executed in this State, it deprives
her of. her whole active militia, as Congress has so
shaped it as to include the identical persons em
braced in the act passed at your late session, and
to transfer the control of them all from the State to
the Confederate government . . , ' .
The State has already enrolled these persons
under the solemn act of her Legislature for her
own defence, and it is a question for you to deter
mine, whether the necessities of the State, .her
sovereignty -and dignity, and justice to those who -
are to be affected by the act, do not forbid that she
should permit her organization to be broken up,
and her means of self-preservation to be taken out
of her hands. . If this is done, what will be our,
condition? I prefer to answer by adopting the.
language of the presant able and patriotic Governor
of Virginia; ''A sovereign State without a soldier,
and without the dignjty of strength stripped of
all her men, and with only the form and pageantry
of power would indeed be nothing inure than a
wretched dependency, to which I should grieve to
see our proud old commonwealth reduced."
I may be reminded, that the enemy has three
times as manv white men, able to bear arms, as we
have, and that it is necessary to take all between J
tne ages above mentioned, or we cannot Keep as
many men in the field as lie doei
If the result depend upon our ability to do
this, we must necessarily fail. But, fortunately for
us, this is not the case. While they hive the ad
vantage in numbers, we have other advantages',
which, if properly improved, they Can never over
coma We are the invaded party, in the right,
struggling for all we have, and for all that we 'ex
pect our posterity to inherit This gives us great
moral advantage over more powerful enemy,
who, as the invaders, are in the wrong, and are
fighting for conquest and power. W e have the
inner and shorter lines of defence; while they have
the longer and much more difficult ones. .For in
stance, if we desire to reinforce Dalton, from Wil
mington, Charleston. Savannah and Mobile, or to
reinforce either of those points, from Dalton, we
can do so by throwing troops rapidly over a short
line from one point to the other.' If the enemy
wishes to reinforce Charleston or , Chattanooga,
from Washington or New Orleans, he must throw
his troops a long distance around, almost upon the
circumference of a circle, while we meet them with
our reinforcements, by throwing "them across the
diarceterjaf a- semi-circle. This difFv.-fer.ee in our
favor, is as great as four to one, and enables us, if
our troops are properly -handlelto repel their as
saults, with little more than one fourth their
number.. ,
In consideration of these, and numerous other
advantages, which an invaded people, united and
determined to be "free, always have, it is not wise
policy for-us to' undertake to keep in the field as
large a number as the enemy has.
It is the duty of those in authority, in a conn'ry
engaged in a war which calls for all the resource?
at command? to consider well what proportion of
the whole population can safely be kept under arms.
Li our present condition, surrounded by the enemy,
and our port blockaded, so that we can place but
little dependence upon foreign supplies, we are ob:
liged to keep a sufficient number of men in the ag
ricultural field, to make, supplier for our troops
under arms, and their families at home, or we must
ultimately fail - -
The policy which would compel all our men to
go to the military field,- and leave our farms uncul
tivated, and our workshops vacant;-would be the
most fatal and unwise that oould be adopted. In
that case the enemy need only avoid battle, and
continue the war, till we ownsu'me the supplies now
on hand, and we would be completely 'in their
power. .
There is a certain proportion of a people in eur
condition who can remain under arms, and the
balance of the population at home can support them.
So long as that proportion has .not been reached,
more may be safely taken ; but when it is reached,
RALEIGH, N. Ov
every man taken from the field of production, and
placed as a consumer in the military field, nukes ua
that much weaker; andMf we go far beyond the
proportion, failure and ruin Are inevitable, as the
army must soon disband, when it can no longer be
supplied with- the necessaries of life; There is rea
son to fear, that those, in authority have not made
safe calculations upon this point, and that they do
not fully appreciate the incalculable importance of
the agricultural interests in this struggle.
We are able to keep constantly under anna two
hundred thousand effective men, and to support
and maintain that force by our own resources and
productions, for twenty yean to come. No power
nor State can ever be. conquered so long as it can
maintain that number of good troops. 1 the ene
my should bring a million against us, let us remem
ber that there is such a thine as whipping the fight
without fighting it, arid avoiding pitched battles and
, unnecessary collisions; let ua give this vast force
time to melt away under the heat of summer and
'the snows of winter, as did Xerves' army in Greece
and Napoleon's in Russia, and the enemy's resources
and strength will exhaust when so prodigally used,
much more rapidly than ours when properly econ
omized. In properly economizing our strength and
' husbanding our resources, lies our best hope of suc
cess. N
Instead of making constant new drafts upon the
agricultural and mechanical labor of the country,
for recruits for the army, to swr'.l our numbers be
yond our present muster rolls, which must prove
ou- ruin, if our provisions fa.!, I respectfully sub
mit that it would be wiser to put the troop into
the -army, and leave -men enough at home to sup
port them. In other words, compel the thousands
of young officers in gold lace and brassbuttons,
who are constantly seen crowding our railroads and
hotels, many of Whom can seldom be found at their
posts ; and the thousands of straggling soldiers who
are absent without ''leave, or, by the favoritism of
officers, whose names are on the pay rolls, and who
are not producers at home, to remain at their pre
sent places in the army. This is justice alike to
the country, to the tax-payers, to the gallant officers
who stand firmly at the post of duty, and the gal
lant soldiers who seldom or never get furloughs,
but are always in the thickest of the fight . When
they are enduring and suffering so much, why should
the favorites of- power and those of their comrades
who seek to avoid duty and danger, be countenan
ced or tolerated at home, while Jbeir names stand
upon the muster rolls ?
If all who. are able for duty, and who are now
nominally in service drawing .pay from the govern
ment, are compelled to do their duty faithfully,
there will, be no need of compelling men over 45"to
leave their homes, or of disbanding the State militia
to place more men under the President's control. .
CONFLICT WITH THE CONFEDERATE GOyBRNXENT.
But it may be said that an attempt. to maintain
the rights of the State will produce conflict with the
Confederate government I am aware that there
are those who from motives .not necessary to be
here mentioned,, are ever ready to raise the cry of
conflict, and to criticise and condemn the action of
GeoVgia, in every case where her constituted au
thorities protest against the encroachments of the
central power, and seek to maintain her dignity and1
sovereignly as a State, and the constitutional rights
and liberties of her people.
Those who are unfriendly to State sovereignty
and desire to consolidate alt ptfwefln the hands of
the Confederate government; hoping to promote
their undertaking by operating upon the fears of
the timid, after, each new aggression upon the con
stitutional rights of the States, fill the newspaper
presses with the cry of conflict, and warn the peo
ple to beware of those who seek to maintain their
constitutional rights, as agitators or partizans who
may embarrass the Confederate government in the
prosecution' of the war. ,
Let not the" people be deceived by this false clam
or. It is the same cry Of conflict which the Lincoln
government raised against all Who defended the
rights of the Southern States against its tyranny.
It is the cry which the usurpers of power have ever
raised against those who rebuke their encroach
ments and refuse to' yield to their aggressions.
When did Georgia embarrass the Confederate gov
ernment in any matter pertaining to the vigorous
' prosecution of the war ? When did she fail to lurnish
more than her full quota of troops, when she was call
ed upon as a State by the proper Confederate author!-;
ty ? And when did her gallant sons ever quail be
tare the enemy, or fail nobly to illustrate ber char
I cter upon the battlefield ? '
She cannot only repel the attacks of his enemies
f-n the field of deadly conflict, but she can as proud
I y repel the assaults of those who, ready to bend the
Is nee to power for position and patronage, set them
selves up to criticise her conduct, and she can con
Ji lently challenge them to point to a single instance
;n which she has failed to fill a requisition for troops
Jaade upon her through the regular constitutional
channel. To the very last requisition made she re
1 ponded with over double the number required.
She stands ready at all times to do her whole du
ly to the cause and to the Confederacy, but while
j he does this, she will never cease to require that
) er constitutional rights be respected and the liber
ties of her people preserved. , While she deprecates
1 11 conflict with the Confederate government, if to
I .'quire these be conflict, the conflict will never end
till the object is attained. '..
" For freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeatb'd by bietdmjr sire to oq,
Tliough bufBed oft i ever won,"
. Uill be emblazoned in letters of living light upon
I er proud banners; until State sovereignty and con-
'itutional liberty, as well as Confederate indepen
dence, are firmly established. '
SUSPENSION OF THE HABEAS CORPUS.
. I cannot withhold the expression of the deep mor
: fication I feel at, the late action of Congress in at
tempting to suspend the privilege of the writ of
abeas corpus, and to confer upon the President
. ; owers expressly denied to him by the Constitution
rfthe Confederate States. Under pretext of a ne-
jssity which our whole people know does not exist
' i this case, whatever may have been the motives
: ur Congress with the assent and request of the
executive, has struck a fell blow at the liberties of
' le people of these States.
'Tneonstitution of the Confederate States de
; ares that, " The privilege of the writ of habeai
-' rpv shall not be suspended, unless when in cases
1 i rebel? ion or invasion the public safety may re
i uire it" The power to suspend the habeas corpus
I all is derived, not from express and direct deiega-
on, but from implication only, and an implication
? in never be raised in opposition to an express r.e
t rictlon. In ease of any conflict between the two,
. f. i implied power must always yield to express re-
rictions upon its exercise. The power to suspend
I le privilege of the writ of habeas corpus derived by
( .iplication must therefore be always limited by the
; press declaration in the Constitution that :
' The right of. -the people to be secure in their
J arsons, houses, papers, and effects, against unrea-j-
.nable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ;
4 .d -no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause,
c ipported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
.r' tscnbihg the place to be searched, and the persons
' - things to be seized," ard the further declaration
t tat "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or
I roperty, without due process of law." And that
" In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall
f ijoy the right of a speedy and public trial by an
npartial jury of the State or District were the crime
i iall have been committed, which district shall have
f en previously ascertained by law, and to be far
f irmed of the nature and cause of the accusation ;
r . Kn Auvfrnntarf with the witnesses asriinst him : to
ive ewmpuisory process for obtaining witnesses in
is favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for
is defence." . .
Thus it is an express guaranty of the Constitu
on, that the "persons" of the people shall be se
iie, and " no warrants shall issue," but upon pro
..- . ,.,.'. , . . "'r,'.-.-. -' - . ' ;' . . -' -. .- '' ."' ' . . ' . '
DAT, APBIL : 6, 1864,
bable cause aupported by oath or "affirmation."
particularly describing " the persons to tie seised f
that, "bo person shall be deprived of liberty, with
ot due process of law," and that in "all criarfttal
prosecutions" the accused shall enjoy the right of
nd Pub,ie trial, by an impartial jury."
- The Constitution also defines the pdwers of the
Executive, which are limited to those delegated,
ong which there is not one authorising him to
issue warrants or order arrests- of persons not in
ctu. military service ; or to sit as a judge in any
Caavto try any person for a criminal offence, or to
appoint any court or tribunal to doit, not provided
far itr the Constitution as a part of the Judiciary.
The power to issue warrants and try persons under
Wu:mJ accusations are iudirial twiornra vhu4i ha.
Joig under the Constitution exclusively to the iudi.-'
, der arrests as Commander-in-Chief is strictly a mili
tary power, and is confined to the arrest of persons
subject to military power, as 'to the arrest of per
sons in the army or navy of the Confederate States;
or in the militia, when in the actual service of the
Confederate -States: and does not extend to any
persons in civil life, unless they be followers of the
camp or within the lines oT the army. "This is clear
from that provision of the Constitution which de
clares that, '
'.'No person shall be held to answer for a capital,
or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment
or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases aris
login the land or naval farces, or in the militia
when in actual service in time of war or public dan
ger." But even here, the pow,er of the President
as Commander in Chief, is not absolute, as his pow
er8 and duties in ordering-arrests of persons in the
laad or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual
service, are clearly defined by the rules and articles
of war prescribed by Congress. Any warrant is
sued by the President, or any arrest made by him,
or under his order, of any person in civil life and
- not subject to military command, is illegal and in
plain violation of the Constituiion,' as it is impossi
ble for Congress by implication,, to confer upon the
President the right to exercise powers of arrest, ex
pressly forbidden to him by the Constitution. Any
effort on the part of Congress to do this, is but an
attempt to revive the odious practice' of ordering
political arrests, or issuing letters de ticket by royal
prerogative so long since renounced by our English
ancestors ; and the denial of the right of the consti
tutional judiciary to investigate such cases, and the
provision for creating a court appointed by the Ex
ecutive and changeable at his will, to take jurisdic
tion of the same, are in viola'ion of the great prin
ciples of Magna Charts, the Bill of Rights, thmha
bea corpus act, and the Constitution of the Confed
erate States, upon which both English and Ameri
can liberty rest; and are but an attempt to revive
the' odious Star-Chamber court of England, which
in the hands of wic&ed kings, was used for tyranni
cal purposes by the crown, until it was finally abol
ished by act of parliament, of 16th Charles the first,"
which went into operation on the first of August
1641. This act has ever since been regarded as one
of the great bulwarks of English liberty ; and as it
was passed by the English Parliament to secure our
English ancestors against the very same character
of arbitrary arrests, which the late act of Congress
is intended to authorize the President .to make, 1
append a copy of it to this message, with the same
italics and sujaJUtpital letlera, whtoh re used in
the printed copy -in the book from which it ia taken.
It will be seen that the court of " Star-Chamber,"
which was the instrument in. the hands of the Bng
lish King foe investigating his illegal arrests and
carrysjg out his arbitrary decrees, was much more
respectable, on account of the character, learning
and ability of its members,-than the Confederate
Star-Chamber or court of " proper officers," which
the act of Congress gives the President power to
to appoint to investigate his illegal arrests.
I am aware of no instance in which the British
King has ordered the arrest of any person in civil
life, in any other manner than by judicial warrant,
issued by the established courts -uf the realm or
in which he has suspended, or attempted to suspend
the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus, since the
Bill of Eights and act of settlement passed in 16SSJ.
To attempt this in 1864, "would cost the present
reigning Queen no less priee than her crown.
The only suspension of the privileges of the writ
of habeas corpus known to our Constitution, and
compatible with the provisions already stated, goes
to the simple extent of preventing the release under
it of persons whose arrests have been ordered under
constitutional warrants from judicial authority. To
this extent the Constitution allows the suspension
in case of rebellipnr invasion, m order that the
accused may be eeMKoly and safely held for trial ;
but Congress has no right under pretext of exercis
ing ihis power, to authorize the President to make
illegal arrests prohibited by the Conssitution, and
when Congress bas attempted to confer such pow
ers on the President, if he should order such i'legal
arrests, it would be the imperative duty of the
judges, who have solemnly sworn to support the
Constitution, to disregard such unconstitutional
legislation, and grant relief to persons so ille
gally imprisoned ; and it would be the duty of the
Legislative and Executive departments of the States
to sustain and protect the judiciary in. the discharge
of this obligation.
By an examination of the act of Congress now .
under consideration, it will be seen that it is not an .
act to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus in case of warrants issued by judicial author
ity ; but the main, purpose of the act seems to be
to authorize the President to issue warrants'sup
' ported by neither oath nor affirmation and to make
arrests of persons not in military service, upon
charges of a nature proper, for investigation in the
judicial tribunals only, and to orevent the Courts
from inquiring into such arrests,, or granting relief
against such illegal usurpations of power,, which are
in direct and palpable violation of the Constitution.
The act enumerates more-than twenty different
. causes of arrest, most of which are cognizable anr'i
tryable only ia the judicial tribunals established Vj
the Constitution, and for which no warrants can
legally issue for the arrest of persons in civil lif. by
any poorer except the judiciary, and then onlv up
on probable cause supported by oath or affirriatin,
particularly describing the persons to ba seid ;
such as " treason," " treasonable efforts or orr Joba
tions to subvert the government of the Catof derate
States," "conspiracies' to resist the lawful authori
ty of the Confederate States," giving & enemy
"aid and comfort," ."attempts to incit j servile in
surrection," "the burning of bridges,'5 Railroad,"
or "telegraph lines," "harboring deserters," and
"other offences against the laws of t'ae Confederate
States, Ac., 4a And as if to pi the usurpation
of power beyond doubt or cavil, ' the act expressly
declares that the "suspension sh jl apply only to the
case of persons arrested or detair'.ed by the President,
the Secretary of War, or the ; General officer com
manding the Trans-Mississip'i military department
by authority and under the C ontrolof the President"
in the cases enumerated in the act, most of which
are exclusively of judicial cognisance, and fn which
cases the President has i0t the shadow of constitu
tional authority to iasu 3 warranta-or order arrests,
but is actually prohibited by the Constitution from
doing so. . .
This, then, is not ,M act to suspend the privilege
of the writ ot habet 'u corpus, in the manner author
ized by implicatioi' , by the Constitution; but iu's
an act to authori the President to make illegal
and uneonstituy jonal arrents, in cases which the
Constitution giVes to the judiciary and denies to the
Executive; a,d to prohibit all judicial interference
ror ius reiiei 0f the ctt'xen, when tyrannizea over "
illegal arreg; under letters de cachet issued by ' .
ecutive authority. x
Instead of the legality of the arrest being e .
' ed in thf tribunals appointed by the Con's
it ia to be examined in the Confederate Sta
ber; that is, by officers sypointed by f' ' f-nV
. Why say that the " President shall Weai"
Whole Numbir 1511
per officers to Investigate.? the- legality of arrests
ordered by him f Why not permit the Judges,
whose constitutional right and duty it is, to da ijj '
. We are witnessing with too much ind fference as
sumptions of power by the Confederate government,
which, in ordinary times, would arouse the whole
country to indignant rebuke and stern resistance:
History teaches, us that submission to one encroach
ment upon constitutional liberty is always followed
by another ; and we should not forget that impor
tant rights, yielded to those in power, without re- j
buke or protest, are never reoovered by the people
without revolution. . j
If this act is acquiesced in, the President, the
Secretary of War, and the commander of the Trans.
If Missippi department, under the Control of the
President, each has the power conferred by Con
gress, to imprison whomsoever he choose ; and it
is only necessary to allege that it is 'done on ac
count of "treasonable efforts," or of "conspiracies
to resist the lawful authority of the Confederate
States," or for " giving aid aod comfort to the ene
my," or other of the causes of arrest enumerated
in the statute, and have a subaltern to file his affi
davit accordingly, after the arrest, if a writ of ha
beas corpus is sued out, and no court dare inquire
into the cause- of the imprisonment- Tbd statute
makes the President and not the courts the judge
of the sufficiency of the cause for his own .acts.
Either of you or any other citizen of Georgia, may,
at any moment (Mr. Vallandigham was in Ohio) be
dragged from your homes at midnight by armed
force, and imprisoned at the will of the President,
upon the pretext thatyou have been guilty of some
offence of the character above named, and no court
kdWc" to our judiciary can inquire into the wrong,
or grant relief.
When such bold strides towards military despo
tism and absolute authority are taken by those in
whom we have confided, and who have been placed
in high official position, to -guard and protect con
stitutional a'nd personal liberty, it is the duty of
every patriotic citizen to sound the altrin, and of
the State Legislature to say in thunder tones to
those who assume to govern us by absolute power,
that there is a point beyond which freemen will not
permit encroachments to go. .
The Legislatures of the respective States are
looked to as the guardians of the rights of those
whom they represent, and it is their duty to meet
such dangerous enactments upon the liberties of the
people promptly, and t6 express their unqualified
condemmtion, and to instruct their Senators and
request their Representatives to repeal this most
monstrous act, or resign a trust which, by permit
ting it to remain on the statute book, they .abuse,
to. the injury of those who have honored them with
their confidence, in this trying period of our histo
ry. I etrnestly recommend that the Legislature of
this State take prompt action uSon this subj.ct,
and stamp the act with the seal of their indignant
rebuke. . -
. Can the President no longer trust the judiciary
with the exercise of the legitimate. powers confer
rei upon it by the Constitution and laws?" In what
instance have the grave and dTgnified Judges proved
disloyal or untrue to our cause ? - When have they
embarrassed the government by turning loose trai-tor.-,
skulkers or Bpies ? Have they not, in every
instance. iven tha government the benefit of their
doabts in sustaining. its action, though. they might
thereby seem to encroach upon the rights of the.
States, and for a time deny substantial justice to
the people? Then why this, implied censure upon
them? . . '
What justification exists now for this most mon
strous deed, which did not exist during the first or
second year of the war, unless it be found-in the
fact that those in . power have found the people
ready to submit to every encroachment rather than
make an issue with the government, while we are
at war with the enemy, and have, on that account,
been emboldened to take the step which Is intended
to make the President as absolute in his power of
arrest and imprisonment as the Czir of all the Rus
sias ? What reception would the members of Con
gress from the different States have met in 1861.,
had they returned to their constituents and inform-,
ed them that they had suspended the habeas corpus,
and given the President the power to imprison the
people of these States with no restraint "upon his
sovereigi will ? Why is liberty less sacred now
thtn it was in 1861 ?, And what will we have gained
when we have achieved our Independence of the
Northern States; if in our effort to do so, we have
permitted our form of government to be subverted;
and have lost Constitutional liberty at home ?
' The hope of the . country now rests in the new
Congress soon to assemble. They must maintain
our liberties against encroachment, and wipe this
and such stains from the statute book, or the sua
of liberty Will soon set in darkness and blood. - "
- Let the constituted authorities of each Staie' send -up
to their representatives, when they assemble1 in
Congress, an unqualified demand for prompt re
dress; or a return of the commissions which they'
hold -from their respective States.
Gov. Brown here discusses at grea length "The .
Cause of the War, How Conducfe!, and Who Re
sponsible," in the course of which the enemy is
soundly scored for his vandalism, and the federals
are assured ihat if they continue the dupes of Abra
ham Lincciu and the radical abolitionists, they will
be involred in the end in one general ruin.J
- HJbW PCACK -SHOULD BE SOUOHT. '.
In view; of these difficulties, it may be asked
Wher. ajd how i3 this war to terminate?.' It is im
possible to say when it may terminate, but it is
ea.y to say how it will end. We do not seek to
.conquer the Northern people, and if we are true to
ourselves they can never conquer us. We do not
segk to take from them the right of self govern
tuent, or to govern them without their consent
And they have not force enough to govern us-with
out our consent, or to deprive us of the right to
govern ourselves. The blood of hundreds of thou
sands may yet be spilt and the war will not still be
terminated by force of arms. Negotiation will fi
nally terminate it . The pen of the statesmen, more
potent than the sword of the warrior, must do what 1
the latter has failed to do.
But I may be sked how negotiations are to, com
menee when President Lincoln refuses tq receipt
commissioners sent by us, and hi3 Congros res tvua,
to hear oo proposition for peace. I rcriy hatih
ray opinion, it is our duty to seep it lw.ys oalpra,
the' Northern people and the civilizet. world thabwe
are ready to negotiate for peace whenever t&e,. peo
pie and governments the Nortbwn 'ta.Ta-re. pre.
pared to recognize the great fundaronteti principles
of the Declaration of Independeu-e maintained by
our common ancestry the righ'j ,f jtiti to sclf-gov-ernment
aod tho sovereignty ' States, "ho my
judgment, it is the duty, of government, after
each important victory ach jggty gallan't and
glorious armies on the r lt field, to make a dis
tinct proposition to th orthem government for
peace on these terms. d . y th,
sition is declined A :,. bojd them up
constantly in Or . beforo tneir own, people
and the judg m)Mlkm4 H they refuse to
r" I .. jatoaiissioiMsrs who bear the prouoai
duct of 4t Pn, and let the con
?a : xAr rulers be known to the people, and
a HMMMiibla crtfnnd to hone that the time
I:, . Bnt be far distant when a returning sense of
Ainse, and a deaire for self protection against
, jOtSsra at home, will prompt the people of "the
. Northr States to hurl from power those, who deny
the fundamental principle upon which their own
liberties rest, and who" can never be satiated with
hina blood. Let us stand oh no delicate point of
etiquette or diplomatic ceremony. If the proposition-
is reacted a dozen limes, let us tender it again
after the next victory that the world may be reas
sured from month to month, that we are not re
sponsible for the continuance of this devastation
and carnage.
Lai ft W fapaafod agaia and again- to the North
people, that all we ask is, that they recognize
"Jeat principle upon which their .own govern--
atnt rtto the- sovereignty of the States, and ht
oar own people bold our own government to a strict .
pvtaSplfc rjr ,,M,0Mb,,wnt uPn H"1 Tiul
jJBsrein has the sTsapw aolntion of all these troii- !
-? do"bVr "J viestion of douW, :
" ,a!0?i,, f "T ot Ml the Slates
Of this Confederacy upon the subject ot Heir pre
ent or future alliance, let all armed force be
drawn, and let that sovereign will be fairly express- '
ed at the ballot box by the lega voters of the State,
and let all parties abide by the decision.
Let each State have and freely exercise the right,
to determine its own-destiny, in its own way. This
is all that we have been struggling for from the be
ginning. It tea pricci0- that secures "rights, in- .
estimable to freemen-, aod formidable to tyrants
only." ... r
Let both governments adopt this mode of-settlement,
which was bequeathed to them by the great
meifbf the Revolution, And which has since been
adopted by the Emperor Napoleonas the only just
mode for the government of States, or even pro
vinces, and the ballot-box will soon achieve waat
theaword cannot accomDlish rMtnra neaca to the
country, and uphold the great doctrines of State
awarcigniy ana constitutional liberty.
If it is a -question of strife whether Kentucky or
Maryland, or any other State shall cast her lot with
the United States or Confederate States, there is no
mode of settling it so justly, "with so little cost, and
with so much satisfaction to her own people, as to
withdraw all military force from her limits, and
leave the decision, not to the sword, but to the bal
lot box. If she should decide for herself to abolish
slavery and go with the North, the Confederate
government can have no just cause of complaint, for
that government had its origin in the doctrine that
all its just " powers are derived from the consent of .
the governed," and we have no right to insist on
governing a sovereign State against her will But
if she should decide to retain her institutions and -go
with the South, as we doubt not she wiliwhen
the question is fairly submitted to her people at the
polls, the Lincoln government must acquiesce, or it
must repudiate and trample upon the very essential
principles on which it was founded, and which were
carried out in practice by the fathers of the Repub
lic, for the firsC half century of its existence.
What Southern man can object to this mode of
settlement? It is ail that South Carolina, Virginia, .
or Georgia, claimed when they seceded from the
Union. It is all that either has at any tim? claimed,
and all that either ever can justly claim. And
what friend of Southern independence fears the re
sult? What has the Abolition government done
to amo the people ot any Southern State to desire
to reverse ber decision, and return ingloriously to '
its embrace ? Are we afraid the people of any se
ceded State, will desire to place the State back in.
the Abolition Union, under the Ljncolri despotism,
after it has devastated their fields,, laid waste their
.country, burned their cities, slaughtered'iheirsona,
and degraded their daughters? There is no reason
lor such fear.
Uut I may be told that Ur. Lincoln has repudiat
ed this principle in advance, andMiat it is idle again
to tender a settlement upon these terms. This is.
.no reason why we should withhold tiie repeated re
newal of the proposition. Let it be made again and
again, till the mass of the. Northern people under
stand it; and Mr. Lincoln cannot continue to stand,
before them and the world, stained with the blood
of their sons, their husbands, and their fathers, and
insist, when a proposition so fair is constantly ten
dered, that thousands of new victims shall still con
tinue to bleed, to gratify his abolition fanaticism,
satisfy his revenge, and serve his ambition to gov
ern these States, upon the decision of one-tenth of
the people in his-favor, against the other nine-tenths.
Let the Northern and Southern mind be brought to
contemplate this subject in all its magnitude, and
while ihee may be extreme men ou he Northern
side, satisfied with nothing less than the subjuga
tion ot the bouth, and the confiscation ol our pro
perty, and like extremes on the Southern side,
whose morbid sensibilities are shocked at the men
tion of negotiation, or the renewal of an offer by us
for a settlement upon any terms, I cannot doubt .
that the cool-headed,' thinking men, on both sides
of the line, who are devoted to the great principles of
self-government and State sovereignty, mcluding the
scar-covered veterans of the army, will 'finally settle
down, upon this as the true solution of the great
problem which now embarrasses so many millions
of people, and will -find the higher truth between
the two extremes.
-; If,, upon the sober second thought, the public
sentiment North sustains the policy of Mr. Lincoln,
when he proposes, "by the power of the sword, to -place
the great doctrines of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, and the Constitution of his country, un
der his feet, and proclaims his purpose .to govern
these-States by military power, when be shall have
obtained the consent of one-tenth of- the governed,
how can the same public sentiment condemn him,
if, at the head of. his vast armies he shall proclaim
himself Emperor of theVhole country, and submit
the question to the vote of the Northern people, and
when he has obtained, as he could easily do, the
vote of one-tenth in his favor, be shall insist orr his
right to govern them -as their legitimate sovereign?
If he is right in principle in the one case, he would
unquestionably be right in the other. If he may
rightfully, continue the war . against' the South to
sustain the one, .why may ho not as rightfully turn
his armies against the North to, establish the "
other? ; . ' . ' '
But the timid among us may say, 1iow are we to
meet and repel his armies, if Mr. Lincoln shall con
tinue to rrject these, terms; as be claims not only
the right to govern us, but he claims the right to
take from us all that we-have.
- The answer is plain. 'Let every man do his duty; '
and let us as s people place our trust .in God, and
we shall certainly repel his assaults, and achieve
our Iiiilepen4ance, and ii true to ourselves and poa- '
terity we .shall . maintain our constitutional liberty
also. . The achievement of our independence is a
great object but no greater ' than the preservation
of constitutional liberty. . V
The g-jod man cannot read taa late proclamation
of -air. Lincoln, withouc being, struck with the re
semblance between it, and similar one, issued sere
ral thousand years ngo, by. Ben-hadad, king of. Syria
That wicked king deaiedlin others the right of self-
gowrament; and vaunting himself in numbers, and
putting bis trostiot chariots and horses, he invade I
Israel, and. bessiged Samaria with an overwhelming;
force. When) the king of Israel, With a small band,
reniiitedhis,otrance lntothe city, the Syrian king
sent hiiu this message : " Thou shalt deliver toe thv
si'vw and. thy,-gold, and thy w.ives, and thy child- -rea
yet Ii will tend my. servants unto thee to mor-
vow, about thift.time. and thev shall search thy
house and the houses of thy servants, and it shall
be, that whatsoever is pleaint in thine eyes,, they
sMLpniiiUhejr hm$s and take it away." Tho r
long of Israel consulted the Elders, af-er receiving
thia srmirant mussaze and Tcnlied: "This thing I
way not do. lien-hadad enrageu ai mis repiy, u
confident of his strength, sent back and said :
"Ehp G.!de.do so to me, and more alao, if the (
dnst of Samaria shall suffice, for haiidfuls, for all
the people that follow me." The king bTIsrael an
i nd Raid. u Tell him. let not bira that girdeth
.on hi harness, boost himself as he that putteth it
off". " -
rh uanit wis that tha small hand of Lraei'.tcs
guided by Jehovah, attacked the Syrian armies, and
routed them with great slaughter, and upon a se
cond trial of strength the Syrian armies were de
stroyed and their king saade captive.
When Mr. Lincoln, following the example of this
wicked king, and relying upon his chariots, and hi
vart armies to sustain a course equally unjust,
proclaims to u that all we have is his,"and trut h
will send his servant, whose number are over
whelming, with arms in their hand? to take it, and
threatens vengeance if we" rewst ; let us "Tell
himj. let not hiai that girdeth on his harness, boast
himself as be that putteth it off" -The race Is not
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.
"God isthe judge, he putteth. down one and set
teth up another." " V
Not doubting the justice of out cause, let m stand
in our allotted phcei,-aod in the name of Hiui who
rules the b-vsts of Heaven, and the armies of earth,
let us conlinue to strike for liberty and indefa
dence, and our efforts will ultimately be. crowned
with iriUiiuUaut success. - . ".
JOSEPH E. BROWN. '
9