Southern recorder. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1820-1872, November 18, 1862, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextVOLUME XLIII. Title r M . O H M E & SON, EDITOBS AND PROPRIETORS. cpRJPlJEN I'. ISIIIjT<KR, s associate editor. MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1862. „ rt ]e RECORDER is published weekly, at 5 .*jji,LLARS per annum, strictly in advance. T'* 6 - 1 ' . . ..t'oai received for less than six month*, S* 1 ' 1 ; 1 ’ , j always in advance. Kemittanees by to L. c ' r i!iers wishing the direction of their papers 1,11 a will notify as from what office it is to be I {Mt.'; “‘SvraTKnwr.si’s conspicuously inserted at square for the first insertion, and 50 '' *■' ...... f or each subsequent insertion will be published uutil ordered out, i •ha'-' ! accordingly. [A square is 12 lines.] *",7t' Land and Negroes, by Adin.nistrators, Guardians, are required by law to be k'-’ 1 ' first Tuesday in tho month, between Amirs of ten in the forenoon, and three in the r, a t the Court-house, in the county in property is situate. Notices of these T i ‘ “ as t he given in a public gazette FORTY w \’ vi.ms to the day of sale.—f $3 50 per 'Votin's fer the sale of personal property must ‘ : ve u at least TEN days previous to the day of V'ltl' d FORTY DAYS.—[$>3 00.] nR be publis application will be made to the Court for leave to sell Land aud Negroes, r TWO MONTHS.—[$4 00.] for Letters of Administration must [$•2 75.] For Disniis- Administration, monthly six months— Dismission from Guardianship, for- CHATI. i, e published thirty days situ troia $4 50 1 1 jv jS _[.*3 r>o j Foreclosure of Msrtgage must be Kt'LKs tor ,nthly for four months—for establish- , ip vs, for the full space of three months— titles from Executors aud Adminis- a bond has been given by the de- ! th ■ full space of three months. Publications will always be continued according . the l-’gal requirements, unless otherwise or- ’ ^ j.,, :1 , ss iii the line of Printin'*} will meet »i"th nriinp; attention at the Recorder Office. CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT. .- RESIDENT. JEFFERSON DAVIS, OK MISSISSIPPI. Vice President: ALEX. II. STEPHENS, OF OF.ORGIA. CALENDAR FOR 1862. days' DAYS. I «* s }!|H 3 2 JAN, 8..:. 5 6 U ; a.,t; a- = » c. s» | 3 aj'-s ’*4 * I *> ' I , * ‘ 3. 5. a. s -!-h j 7\ 8 12 13 14,1516.. 19 20 21 ’22 23)24 262728129-30 FEB , &) 6 ! 2 31 4 | 9T0I11 Sl«d7;iajl9l20(21 (12324,25 marL. J 2 3- 4 31 12 13*14 19*20jill 26*27|2t t af’l ii ftlOill 1213114 f J6;17]18ll92olil t23 k J4>^26127 *28 |303I| I * | ..|-i l! 9 3 4 6 7] b, 910 131415 16117 •2*2! 222324125 27 ■28:29-30 JTX.L 1 4 5 bj 7 ‘ I* 1112 13-14 15 11+1920*21 22 H25196 27 JU’E- I I 2 3 15 16 17 52 2324 ‘2930. 2829 4 5 6 9 10tll.]2 13 18 19*20 25 2627 JU’Y 5JOCT 12 \ 19 26 3Jnov 105 m w § 2 Cl. ~ •5 «1 7 13 14 20)21 27.28 3 4 10 11 1718 24 25 31 .. 1 7f 8 14 15 21 22 2829 1 2} 3; 4! 5 8 910 1M2 15 16 17 18 19 2223242526 29 3031! i -.'.-I.. 1 2 5 6 7' 8 9 121314 1516 19 20212223 ■(26,27 2er29 30 5 6 12 13 1920 2627 16jl7 23 24 30 i\ 39 -si *1 a : rWa- 3 » Mg.|Sl5;.S 2 3 4* 6 9 10 11! 5]3 16 1716-12 20 23 24 25 1927 30 r2f> .. 1 2j 3 4 7 8 9,1011 14 1516;I7 1H 21 2223:24 25 -28 29 30 31 • - X 1 4i 5 6| 7 8 9 101112 13 14 15 16 19(20,21^2 25 2627,28*29 2 31 4: | 6 8j 9 10 111 5 13 14 15 16 17 1842:20 , 21 22 23 24 25 19 27 **28-29 30 31 -26* COURT CALENDAR FOR 1862. REVISED BY THE SOUTHRRN RECORDER. SUPERIOR, COURTS. CABINET OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. ; p. Beniamin, of La., Secretary of State. Q VV KandolphjOf Va.. Secretary of War. ij 6. M -mniinger, of S. C., Sec’y of Treasury. » It. Mall-'iy. of Florida, Secretary of Navy. T , ,< 11. Watts, of Ala , Attorney-General. J 11 Ktagau. of Texas, Postmaster-General. {UFEttERATE COACRESS—FIRST SESSION. Pi.- following is a list of the members of the Fir.t CoHjri-'> uf the Permanent Government of i. .. erate States, which meets in February Thou- marked with an asterisk (*) are members , t: the Provisional Congress. • SEN ALABAMA. Fa. L. Yancey, f. C. Clav, Jr. Esjert W. Johnson,* C.B. Mitchell. FLORIDA. James M. Baker, LE. Maxwell. HA. B H. Hill. KENTlieX V. Henry C, Burnett, Wiliam E. Siin.s, LOUISIANA. E ; »-ar,l 8narrow * i ATE. MISSOURI. John B Clarke, R. L. E. Peyton. NORTH CAROLINA. George Davis,* William T. Dortch. SOUTH CAROLINA. Robert W. Barnwell,* James L. Orr.* TF.NNESSEE. Gustavus A. Henry, Landon C. Haynes. TEX AS. Lewis T. Wigfall,* S. Oldliatn.* VIRGINIA. (Not yet elected.) JANUARY. 2d Monday, Chatham •Floyd februar'y. lit Mouday,Clark Lumpkint 3d Mauday, Campbell Dawson 3d Monday, Forsyth ♦ Polk Uiaatoak Meri lii t r Walton 4th Monday, Baldwin J ackana Mont on Panldmg Taliaferro Walker MARCH. latThursday,Fierce 1st Monday, Appling Chattooga Cherokao Cowsta Columbia Crawford Gwinnett Madias n M arion Morgan 2d Monday ,Butts Bartow Coffee Elbert Fayeita Greene Piukena Washington W ebsle r JULY lit Monday. Floyd* AUGUST. 1st Monday, Lumpkin S.lMsuday, Can.pbel. Clark Dawson 3d Monday, Forsyth Polk Glascock Meriwether Walton IthMauday .Bald win Jackson Monroe Paulding Taliaferro Walker Thuradayaftei,Pierce SEPTEMBER. latMonday, Appling Chattooga Cherokee Columbia Coweta Crawford Madison Marion Morgan 2d Monday .Bulls Bartow Coffee Elbert Fayette Greene Gwiunett Pickens W ashington . Webster W :.i. ISSIPPI. l a. Jiffies pi. clan. j H 'SE OF REP RESENTATIVES. AL ABiMA 1 Uist Out. NORTH CAROLINA. 1. T. J. Foster, 1. VV. N. H. Smith,* w i . Smith, 2. R. It. Bridges, j. \ I>q!|q 3. O. R. Konan, i. j. L M Carry,* j 4. T. D. McDowell, i F. > Lv-on, 5. A. H. Arrington, 5. W p Chilton,* ! 6. J. R. McLean, it. 7, Ashe, 1 j. 3 P.Fjfh, William Lander, J. L. s Dargan. 9. B. S. Gaither, R A V S 4 3. 10. A.T Davidson.* !. G. A Garland, I SOUTH CAROLINA. t J:t M. Patterson. 1. John McQueen, (I n,* pnnifilp ) 2, VV P-ircher Miles, r l ♦ HID A. 3. L. M. Ayer, 1. Ja >. Dawkins, 4. M. L. Bonham, !■ K. ]\ Hilton. 5. James Farrow, GE ORG 1 A. 6. VV. VV. Boyce.* 1. Jt Lia TENNESSEE. i. c. fj Mnnnerlvn, 1. Jos. B. Heiskell, 1 Hi ne s Holt. 2. VV. G Swan, !. 4 , ,r t id. Kenan, 3. Tibbs, ' L> vl 1 W Lewis, 4. J. B. Gardenshire Tliutsdayaft’r.Moiitgoinerycld Monday .Cobb ) Echols l Ethngha > H: VV. W. Clark, It ih’t. P. Trippe, us J. Garlrell,* ly Strickland, • Aug R. Wright. BLS rUCKV. Nat yet elected.) LOUISIANA.- I Cu;is. J. Villere, •• M. Conrad,* 1>. F . Keuner,* * * Lacieu J Dupree, »■ Jii’uu L. Lewis, • Jao Perkins, Jr. MISSISSIPPI. '■ J \V. Clapp, Reuben Davis, J- Israel Welch, j- H. C. Chambers, *■ 0. R. Singleton, ;■ K. B.n ksdale, '• JobnJ. Mcliae. Missouri. l - W. M. Cook, f-C. Harris. 1 Casper W. Bell, ] * Adam II. Condon, : 0. G. West, ; h. W. Freeman, \ — — Hyer, 16. Meredith P. Gentry, George W. Jones, Menses, J. D. C. Adkins,* John V. Wright, D. M. Curriu.* TEXAS. John A. Wilcox. C. C. Herbert, P. W. Gray, F. B. Sexton, M. D. Graham, B. H. Epperson. VIRGINIA. M. R. H. Garnett, John B. Chambliss, John Tyler, Roger A. Pryor,* Thos. S. Bocock,* John Goode, Jr., Jas. I’- Holcombe, D. C. DeJarnette, William Smith, Alex’r. K. Boteler, John B. Baldwin, Walter K. Staples,* Walter Preston.* Albert G. Jenkins. Robert Johnston.* Chas. W. liussell,* OIIVEttNMEXT OF GEORGIA. JSEPIl E. BROWN, Governor. r HARNETT, Secy of State & Sur. Gcn'l. HN JONES, Treasurer. -ililts i\ THWEATT, Comptroller General, h BRijWN. Librarian. • BILLUPS, President of the Senate. i! - MOBLEY, Secretary “ “ “ iHliEN AKIN, Speaker of the Houfie of Reps. A ARRINGTON, Clerk “ “ “ “ “ ? CAMPBELL, Secretary Ex. Department H - waters, “ ' Rowland, sup’t. w. 2c a. Railroad. ; 5 A. GREEN, Principal Keeper Penitentiary r - WINDSOR, Book Keeper Nuprcnc tour! Judges. I H. U:\IPKIN, of Clark. P R JENKINS, of Richmond. “■ 1- LYON, of Fulton. T1) !Kn AND PLACES OF HOLDING COURT. f r -'t District—Composed of the Eastern, Mid* •id Brunswick Circuits, at Savannah on the iaidays in January aud June. .**<>*1 D 3d Monday, Cobbt Calhoun Hall Hart Heard Macon Newton Talbot Tattnall Ware Thursday af. White Friday after,Bulloch 4th Monday, Clinch Chattahoochee Johnson Lee Milton Putnam Rabun Twigga Wilke a Thursday af.Habersham Monday af ter 4th Mon day. APRIL. latfc 2d Mon. Carroll 1st Meinlay, Dooly Einanue 1 Early F rank] ■ Fulton Gordon Pike T ay lor Warren Wilkinson Thursday aft. Banka 2d Monday, Hancock Richmond Harris Laurens Miller Sumter Tuesdayafter McIntosh 3d Monday . Glynn Haralaan Hanry «. Jones Liberty Murray Oglethorpe Pulaski Stewart ) Worth $ Bryau 4th Monday,Wayne Decatur DeKalb Houston Jasper Lincoln Schley Whitfield Wilcox Friday after, Telfair Camden Thursday after Jrwin Monday “ Berrien Charlten MAY. 1st Monday .Clayton Gilmer Randolph Scriven Upaon 2u Monday, Catoosa Chatham Fannin Jefferson Mitchell Muscogee 3d Monday.Baker Bibb Burke Quitman Spalding Troup Union Thursday aft. Towns Hh Monday, Dade Terrell Las tMonday .Colquitt JUNE . IstMonday, Dougherty Lowndes 2d Monday, Biooks Clay 3d Monday .Thomas Calhoun Hall Hart Heard Macon Newton Talbot W are Builoch, Thursday aft. White 4 th Monday, Clinch t Ch attahoochee Johnson Lee Milton Putnam Rabun Twiggs Wilkes Thursday af, Habersham Monday af- Y the 4th > Monday y Echols OCTOBER. lst&2d Mon.Carroll 1st Monday Dooly Early Emanuel Franklin F niton Gilmer Gordon Taylor Warren Wilkinson Pike ! Thursday aft. Banks 12d Monday . Fannin Hancock Harris Laurens Miller Richmond Sumter 3d MonJay, Glynn Haralson Monday ■ fter. Henry Jones Murray Ogiethirpe Pulaski Stewart Union Worth i Montgomery Thursday after J Towns 4th Mondv.Decatu r DeKalb H ouston Jasper Lincoln 8chley Tattnall Wayne Whitfield W i’.cox Friday after Tellair Camden Thursday after, Irwin Monday after Charlton NOVEMBER, tat Monday, Berrien Clayton Effingham Randolph Scriven Upson 2d Monday, Catoosa Jefferson Mitchell Muscogee 3d Monday.Baker Bibb Burke Quitman Spalding Troup AtliMonday.Dade Terrell 'Thursday after.McIntosh I Monday after. Colquitt Jo do Liberty (Mon after Liberty. Bryan DECEMBER. IstMonday. Dougherty Lowndes Cd Monday. Biooks *Clay 3d Monday, Thomas May hold three weeks, if neeessary, at each 'ric>—Composed of tlie Macon, South- • uttahooehee and Pataula Circuits, at )K °a the 4th Mondays in January and June. l f ri District—Composed of the Flint, Cowe- ■7“ Rnigo. Cherokee and Tallapoosa Circuits, on u le nh Monday in March and 2d f - in August. J‘ rih District—Composed of the Western and 370 Circuits, at Athens on the 4th Mondays G tad November. 7 District—Composed of the. Ocmulgee and bib w irouits ' Milledgeville ontho 2d Mon- ■ m and November T Judge not required to draw Jurors for two weeks; and not obliged to-hold two weeks Court ju the counties of Cobb and Lumpkin. SPECIAL MESSAGE. Tax Receiver*' and Tax Receipt Book*. The Recorder office keeps on hand for sale, printed on good paper, blanks to form the above books. Trice seven c ents pkk sheet, and w. eeuts to be added for light binding—we paying postage. The money in every iustance must be sent iu advance. Recorder Office, Feb. 18, 1862. H#nsc and Lot for Sa'e. T HE LARGE and couuumlioOT House,at pres eat occupied by James L. Hayg 1 sold loot for cash. & CARAKKR. July 8, 1862 27 lf Executive Dep’t. Milledgeville, Nov, 6th, ’62 To the Senate and House of Reyresentalives. The great struggle for liberty and in depence in which we have been engag ed during the past year, against a pow erful and relentless enemy, has called not only for the exercise of the united energies ofour whole people, but for the most costly sacrifices of blood and trea sure. When we look at the material of which the armies of the contending par ties are composed we can but exclaim, how unequal the contest! In the ar mies of the South are found her no blest and best sons, whose valor upon the battle-field has been unsurpassed and whose blood in abundant pro fusion has been poured out, a rich sac rifice upon the altar of liberty. The Northern armies, on the contrary, have been composed, in a great degree, of imported foreigners and paupers, and ot the worst classes of Northern society- who have served as mercenaries, and whose destruction, in many instances, has been rather a relief than a misfor tune to society. But the contrast does not stop here. The motives which prompt the people of the two sections to protract the war, are as different as the material of which the two armies are composed are unlike. The people of the North are fighting for power and plunder, the people of the South for tfie liberty and independence of them selves and their posterity. Ourenemies have it iu their powor to stop the war whenever they are content to do justice and let us alone. We can never stop fighting wnile they continue to attempt our subjugation, but must prosecute the war with vigor, if necssarjG to the ex penditure of the last dollar and the de struction ot the last man. If we are subjugated, let it be only when we are exterminated. We were born free ; and though it be upon the battle-field, we should die free. This I believe to be the unanimous sentiment of the people of Georgia who have, on this question, laid aside all party divisions and differences; and have, from the commencement of the struggle, promptly discharged their whole duty 10 the cause, and to their brethren of the Confederate States.— Not a requisition has been made upon Georgia by the President of the Confed eracy for assistance which has not been met without delay ; and in every case of requisition on the State for troops, more men have been tendered than were required. In the face of this proud record, no plea of necessity could be set up, so far as Georgia is concerned, (and 1 believe the remark will apply generally to ail the States,) for the passage of any act by Congress 10 raise troops, which either infringed her constitutional rights or disregarded her sovereignty. The Actof Congress oflGth April last, usual ly known as the Conscript Act, in my opinion, does both : arid is not only a palpable violation of the Constitution of the Confederacy, but a dangerous as sault upon both the rights and the sove reignty of the States. Who supposed, when we entered into this revolution for the defence of States Rights against Federal aggression, that, in a little over one vear, 1 he persons of' the free-born citizens of the respective States would be regarded and claimed, while at home in pursuit of their ordinary avocations, as the vassals of the central power, to be like chattels, ordered and disposed of at pleasure, without the consent, and even over the protest of the States to which they belong; an ! that he who raised his voice against such usurpation would be denounced by the minions of power as untrue to the cause so dear to every patriotic Southern heart ? And who that has noticed the workings of the conscription policy, will say t l, at this picture is over drawn ? Not only 1 he rights and the sovereignty of the States have been disregarded, but the individual rights of the citizen have been trampled under foot, and we have by this policy been reduced, for a time at least, to a slate bordering upon mili tary despotism. This extraordinary act has been de fended, however, by two classes of in dividuals, upon two distinct grounds. The first class admit its unconstitution ality, but justify its passage upon the plea of necessity, and say that without it the twelve months volunteers could not have been kept in the field in a time of great emergency ; and further, that the Constitution is a mere rope of sand in the midst of revolution. The se cond class justifies it on the ground that Congress had the right to pass it. Is either correct ? To the first, it may be replied that the plea of necessity cannot be set up till it can be shown that States when called on had neglected or refused to fill the requisitions made upon them for troops by lhe President. Again, in re ference to the twelve months troops, it should be remembered that the Gov ernment only called on them to volun teer for that period before they left their homes, and that the contract clearly implied between them and the Govern ment, was that they should faithfully serve it, and do all their duty as sol diers for that period, and that they should have all the rights of soldiers, with the legal pay and allowances, and should in good faith be discharged and permitted to re! urn home at the end ol that time. The Government cannot, therefore, be justifiable in violating its contract, and acting in bad faith to wards them, no matter how great the emergency may have been, unless it can be shown that the Government, by the exercise of due foresight and ener gy, could not have supplied their plac es in lime to meet the emergency. The fact that they were twelve months men was well known to the Government from the time they entered the service. Why then were not requisitions made upon the States for enough of troops to fill their places a sufficient time before the expiration of their term, to have men in sufficient numbers ready for ser vice ? But admit that the Government had neglected this plain duty till it was now too late to get the men from the States in time to meet the crisis, and that it had on that account become ne- cessaiy r for it to violate its contract with the twelve months men, to save the cause from ruin ; was it then necessary to pass a general Conscription Act to accomplish this purpose ? . Could it not have been done by simply passing an act compelling all twelve months men ol every age, to remain in service for ninety days, as all under 18 and ovet 25, though not conscripts, weie com pelled to do? This would, have given the Government three months more of time to provide against the consequen ces ol its former neglect, and raise the necessary foice, and would Lave left the troops, in the meantime, under the command of the office: appointed by the Slates, as provided by the Constitu tion. The emergency would thus have been met, more of justice been done even to the twelve months volunteers, and no dangerous precedent at war with the constitutional rights of the citizen and sovereignty of the States would have been established. It must also be recollected while upon this part of the subject, that the act, by its plain letter, deprived the troops who had vol unteered lor the war, in response to calls made bv the States to fill requisi tions made upon them, of the right to elect their officers, when so authorized by the laws of their respective States and have them commissioned by their State authorities ; and that it establish ed a system of promotion of officers in violation of this right of the troops, and authorized the President to issue the the commissions. What pressing ne cessity existed to justify this act of pal pable injustice to the Slate ivolunteers, who had entered the Confederate ser vice at the calls of their respective States for the war, with the constitu tional guaranty that their officers should he appointed by the States, and with the further guaranty from the States, as in this State, that they should have the right to elect those who were to command them ? But it is said by the first class of advocates of conscrip tion, that the Constitution must yield to-the exigencies of the’times, and that those in authority may violate it when necessary during the revolution ; if so.it of course follows that those in authority must he the judges of the necessity for its violation, which makes their will the supreme law of the land. If this were the intention of the people, why did they form a Constitution at the beginning, of the revolution, and why did they re quire all our Senators and Representa tives in Congress, all the members of the Legislatures of the-several States, and all executive and judicial officers of the Confederate Stales, and of the several States, to take an oath to sup port this Constitution ? When the Governor of this State and each member of the General Assembly tot.k a solemn oath to support the Con stitution of the Confederate States, no exception was made which relieved them from the obligations of the oadi during the revolution. This fact should be remembered by those who admit the violation of the Constitution, but severe ly censure the public officer who, true to his obligation, throws himself in the breach for the support of Constitution against the usurpation. I here dismiss the first class of advo cates, and turn to the justification set up by the second, which from its nature hower unfounded, is e,.Jtled to more respectful consideration. Does the Constitution authorize Congress to pass an act such as the one now under con sideration. The advocates of this power in Con gress rest the case upon the 12th para graph of the Sth section of the first arti cle of the Constitution of the Confeder ate States, which is an exact copy of a similar paragraph of the same article and section in the Constitution of the United States. This paragraph gives Congress power to‘‘raise and support armies.” The advocates of conscrip tion take this single clause of the Con stitution alone, and contend that it does not define any particular mode of rais ing armies, and that Congress has the power, therefore, to raise them either by voluntary enlistment, or by con scription or eoerciqn, as it may judge best. The Convention which framed the Constitution ot the United States, of which ours is a cop}' so far as relates to this point, must be supposed to have used terms iri the sense in which they were usually understood at the time, iu the government which had lately been ibeir own, and from which as decend ants they had derived not only the terms used, but their whole system of language and laws, civil anil military. In placing a just construction Ujion the phrase to “raise armies,” as used by the Convention, we are, therefore, nat urally led to inquire how armies ha4i been, and were at that time raised by the British Government, from which the members of the Convention “had derived mostot their ideas mpon this subject,” By reference to the legisla tion and history of the British Govern ment, it will be found that armies were not then raised in that Govern ment by coJiscription, but only by volunta ry enlistment. This waa not only the case at the adoption of the Federal Con stitution, but had become the settled and established practice of that Gov ernment, after deliberate consideration of the question ; which fact cannot he presumed to have been known to the Convention when they useil the phrase now under consideration. The terms used by the Convention having acquired a definite meaning well understood and recognized by all, we cannot justly presume that the members of the Convention intended that these terms when used by them, should be understood in a different sense. Had this been their design, they would certainly have used such qualifying language as would have left no doubt of their intention to reject the the ordinary acceptation of the terms, and use them in a different sense. * By reference to the constitutional history of Great Britain, it will be seen that a bill was attempted in 1704 “to recruit the army by a forced oonchiftion of men from each “parish, but. was laid aside as UNCONSTITUTIONAL.” It was tried again in 1707 with like success; but it was resolved instead to bringin a bill for raising a sufficient number of troops out of such persons as have no lawful calling or employment. A dis tinguished author says": “The parish officers were thus enabled to press men for the lamf service, a method hardly more constitutional than the former, and liable to enormous abuses.” The act was temporary, and was tem porarily revived in 1757, hut never upon any later occasion. The Con vention of 17S7 sat thirty years after the British Government had abandon ed the policy of tonscription, even of persons having no lawful employment, as unconstitutional. The Convention was composed mostly of intelligent lawyers, who were well acquainted with this fact, which leaves no room to doubt that when they gave Congress the power to “raise armies” they in tended that the phrase to “raise ar mies,” should be understood in the sense then attached to it, and that the armies should be raised by volunteer enlistment: which was the only consti tutional mode then known in Great Britain or this country. It had not only been solemnly determined by the proper authorities in the kingly gov ernment of Great Britain long belbie the commencement of the American revolution, that it was unconstitutional to raise armies by conscription, but even the monarchical government of France had not yet ventured so far as to disre gard the rights of the subject of that Government as to adopt this practice, which places each man subject to it, like a cliattal, at the will of him who, under whatever name, exercises mon archical power. The practice of the Government of the United States was also uniformly against conscription from its creation to its dissolution. In view of these facts of history, can it now bejust to charge the great and good men who framed our republican government with the grave mistake of having conferred upon the General Government of a Confederation of States powers over the persons of the citizens of the respective States, which were at the time, regarded too danger ous to be exercised by the most abso lute European monarchsover their sub jects ? When we construe all that is con tained in the Constitution upon this subject together, the meaning is clear beyond doubt. The powers delegat ed by the States to Congress, are all it has. These are chiefly enumerated in the 8th section of the 1st article of the Constitution. Paragraph 11,gives Congress power. “To declare war; grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on laud and Wit ter ;” i Paragraph 12, “To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;” Paragraph 13, “To provide and maintain a Navy Paragragh 14, “To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces .” It’ it were the intention of the Con vention to give Congress the power ^to “raise armies” by conscription, these four consecutive paragraphs gave ple nary powers over the whole question war and peace, armies and navies ; and it could not have been necessary to add any other paragraph to enlarge a power which was already absolute and complete. lf Congress possessed the power un der the 12lb paragraph above quoted, to compel every officer am! ever^ citi zen of every State toenter its armies at its pleasure, its power was as unlimit ed over the persons of the officers and citizens of the Stales, as the powes of the most absolute monarch in Europe ever was over his subjects ; and it was extreme folly on the part of the Con vention to attempt to increase this solute power by giving ta Congress a qualified power over the militia of the States, when its [tower over every man composing the militia, was unqualified aud unlimited. 'That the Convention was not guilty of the strange absurdi ty of having given abso lute, unlimited power now claimed for it, will be seett by reference to the two next paragraphs, which give only limited powers over the militia of the States. Paragraph fo gives Congress the power, NUMBER 46. “To provide for calling forth the mi litia to execute the laws of the Confed erate States ; suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;” Paragraph 16, “To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia ; and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the Con federate States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.” Now it must be admitted that Con gress had no need of the limited piiwer over the militia of the States, which is given by the two last paragraphs, if it possessed under the 112th paragraph, the unlimited [lower to compel every man of whom the militia is composed, to enter the military service of the Confederacy at any moment designated by Congress. When the six paragraphs above quot ed, are construed together, each has its proper place and its proper meaning and each delegates a power noidelegat- ed by either of the others. The power to declare war,is the first given to Congress then the power to raise ami support ar mies ; then the power to provide a Navy , then the power to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces. Congress may, therefore, make war; and as long as it can do so by the use of its armies raised by voluntary enlistments, (which was the meaning of the term “to raise armies,” when inserteii in the Constitution,) and by the use of the navy, it may prosecute the war with out calling upon the States for assist ance, or in any way interfering with the militia. But if it should become necessary for Congress to employ more force than the army and the na vy at its command, in the execution of the laws of the Confederacy, the sup pression of insurrection, or the repul sion ofinvasion, Congress may then, under the authority delegated by para graph 15, provide for calling forth the militia of the States, for these purpos es. When this is done, however, paragraph 16 guards the rights of the States, by reserving, in plain terms, to the States respectively, the appoint ment of the officers®to command the militia when employed in the service of the Confederate States. This au thority was regarded by the Convention of 1787, as of such vital importance, that they, with almost entire unanimi ty, voted down a proposition to permit the general government to appoint even the general ojfcccrs ; while the most ultra lederalist in the Convention, never seriously contended that the States should be deprived o! the ap pointment of field and company officers. The Convention doubtless saw the great value of this reservation to th«. States, as the officers who were to com mand the militia ^vjien in the service of the Confederacy, would not be de- pendendent upon the President for their commissions, and would be sup posed to be ready to maintain with their respective commands, if necessa ry, the rights..of the States against the encroachments, of the Confederacy, in case an attempt should be made bv the latter to usurp powers destructive of the sovereignty of the former. On the contrary, should the officers to command the militia of the States in the service of the Confederacy, be ap pointed by the •ontederate Execu tive and be dependent upon him for their commissions, they might be sup posed to be more willing instruments in his hands, to execute his ambitious designs, in case ol attempted encroach ment. When, therefore, the different dele gations of power are construed togeth er, the whole system is harmonious.— When Congress has declared war, and has used all the power it jiossesses in raising armies by voluntary enlist ment, and providing a Navy, and still needs more forces for the purposes al ready mentioned, it may then provide for calling forth the militia of the seve ral States, as contradistinguished from its armies and Navy ; and here, for the first time, the States as such, have a voice in the matter ; as Congress cannot call forth the militia with out giving the State*the appointment of the officers, which gives them a qualified power over the troops in the service of the Confederacy, and an op- porl unity to be heard, as States, if the delegated powers have been used by Congress, or the military force is like ly to be used lor the subversion of their sovereignty. As the residuum of powers not dele gated, is reserved by the States, they may, when requisitions are made upon them for troops by the Confederacy, or when necessary lifr their own pro tection or the execution of their own laws, call forth the tnililia bj draft or by accepting volunteers. The advocates of conscription bj' Congress, have attempted to sustain ths doctrine by drawing technical dis tinctions between the militia of the Slates, and all the ^rms bearing peo ple of the Sta»es, of whom the militia is composed. In other words, they at tempt to draw a distinction between a company ol militia of one hundred tnen in a district, and the one hundred tnen of whom the company is composed.— And while it is admitted that Congress cannot caff forth, the company by con scription but must take the company with its officers, it is contended that Congress may call forth, not the com pany, but the one hundred men who compose the company, by conscrip tion; and by this evasion, get rid of the State officers and appoint its offi cers. This mode of enlarging the pow ers of Congress and evading the con stitutional rights of the Stales, by un constitutional technicalities,would seem to be entitled to respect, only, on ac count of the distinction of the names of its authors, and not on account of its logical truth, or the soundness of the reasoning by which it is attempted to be maintained. If Congress rnay get rid of the mi litia organizations of the States, at any time, by disbanding them, and com pelling all the officers and men of whom they are composed, to enter its armies as conscripts, under officers appointed by the President, the pro vision in the Constitution which re serves to the States the appointment of the officers, to command their militia, when employed in' the service of the Confederacy, is a mere nullity whenev er Congres chooses to enact that it shall lie a nullity. Again, if Congress has power to raise its armies by conscription, it has the power to discriminate and say whom it will first call. If it may com- pell all between IS and 35 years of age, by conscription to enter its armies,as it has lately done, from 35 to 45 ; and if it has this power, it has the power to take all between 16 and 60. The same power ot discrimination authorizes it tc limit its tiperations, and take only those between 25 and 30, or take any particular class of individuals it may designate. Aud it must be borne in mind that the power to raise armies is as unlimited in Congress, in times of the most profound peace, as it is in the mi<lst of the most devastating war. If Congress possesses the power to raise armies by conscription, it follows that it may disband the State Governments whenever it chooses to consider them as evil, ns it may compel every Exec utive in every State in the Confederacy, every member 4>f the Legislature of every State, every Judge of every court in every State,every militia officer anti every other State officer,to enter the armies of the Confederacy in limes of peace or war, as privates under officers appointed by the President; and may provide that the arrnie6 shall be recruit ed by other State officers as fast as they are appointed by the Stales. Admit the power of conscription claimed for Congress by its advocates, and there is no escape from the position that Con gress possesses this power over the States. It may be said, however, that the case supposed is an extreme one, and that while Congress may possess the power to destroy the State governments, it wojld never exercise it. If it pos sesses the power, its exercise depends upon the will of Congress, which might be influenced by ambition, interest or caprice. Admit the power, and 1 ex ercise ih: functions of the Executive office of this State, you hold your seals as members of the Getieral Assembly, and our Judges perform their judicial duties, by the grace and special favor of Congress, and not as matter of right by virtue of the inherent sovereignty of a great State, whose people, in the man ner provided by the Constitution, have invested us for the constitutional period, with the right to exercise these func tions. For my views upon this question somewhat more in detail, and for the strongest reasons which can be given on the other side to sustain this extra ordinary pretension of power in Con gress, l beg leave to retier you to the correspondence between President Da vis and myself, upon this question; a copy of which is herewith transmitted to each branch of the General Assem bly. In my letters to the President, will also be foun<l the reasons which induc ed me to resist the execution of the conscription Act of 16th April last, so far as it related to the officers necessary Jo the maintenance of the government ot this State. It may be*proper that I remark, that my first letter to the Pres ided upon this question, in which I notify him that I will resist interference with the legislative, executive or judi cial departments of the government of the State, though dated the 22d of April, as it was expected to go by the mail of that day, was prepaied on the previous day, which was the day the exemption Act was passed by Congress in secret session; of the passage of which I had no knowledge, nor had I ever heard that such & bill was pending when the letter was prepared. The question has frequently been asked, why I did not resist the opera tion ot the Act upon the privates as well as the officers of the rnililia of the State. But for the extreme emergency in which the country was at the time place<i by the neglect of the Confeder ate Government to make requisition upon the State for troops, to fill the places of the twelve months men at an earlier day, and the fact that the con scription Act by the repeal of all other acts which the Ptesident had been au thorized to raise troops, placed it out of his power, for the time, to accept them under the constitutional mode, I I should have had no hesitation in take- ing this course. But having entered my protest against the constitutionali ty of the Act, and Congress having re pealed all other act* lor raising troops, I thought it beston account of the great public peril, to throw the least possible obstructions, consistent with the mainte nance oftbeUovermnentof the State, io the way of the Condfedrate Govetn ment in its preparations for our defense. I, therefore, at the expenseof public cen- •ure which l saw I must incur by making the distinction between officers and privates, determined to content myself

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Southern recorder. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1820-1872, November 18, 1862, Image 1