Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation in partnership with the Atlanta History Center.
About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (May 9, 1866)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST. WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAT 9, 1866. TEE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST. By reference to our new terms, it will be seen that the price of the Weekly Constitu tionalist lias been reduced to $3 per annum. Our weekly edition in a mammoth paper, and one of the very best family journals published, containing all the latest news of the day, re views of the markets, and a judicious selection of the daily editorials. Our country triends would do well to give it a liberal support. ASSERT YOUR RIGHTS. Listen to what that sterling sheet, the Mem phis Avalanche, has to say in writing on the general subject of emigration from the South : “ If there ever was a time when a Southern man ought to be at home, at work, watching the interests of his people, contributing to the pul sations of the great popular heart, earnest, ardent, confident, true and firm, that time is now. One ballot now is worth a score of bul lets a little while ago. One strong word that carries with it a flow of influence now, is worth the charge of a brigade. Moral power is in de mand. Thoughts are weapons. Time holds the scale of victory ; and the people of the South, should remain true to themselves, stay at home, tight what remains of this contest at the ballot-box, co-operate as Conservatives with the Conservatives of the North, stand shoulder to shoulder, unit-like, brave, unabashed, and persistent in the -sertion of right— right not because it is right, but as a matter of expediency These latter words are put in italic letter as being particulai ly worthy of attention. There is much talk now about expediency—a yielding to the exigencies of the occasion—a prudent re ticence, and the like, and we are happy to sec that the Avalanche virtually joins with our selves in condemning that mistaken line of ac tion. The old controversy ol the Honest and the Useful—the an honestnm, an utile of the ancients and the schoolmen —is once more up on us, and he who cares for the best welfare of this people will cry aloud without ceasing against this poisonous, time-serving, spigot saving trimmerism. Nothing is to be gained now by speaking with bated breath and in oily phrases. The truth —the sonorous, manly, in dependent truth—should be proclaimed, en forced, and stuck to on every occasion. Histo ry now is making, precedents ure forming, ad missions are being recorded, and it is our tirst sacred duty to see that the same scoun drels who openly oppress us shall not do us, by covert knavery, the yet further damage of mak ing us appear to connive at our own shame, in jury, and loss. Despotism is, for the most part, cowardly, and intelligent despotism is al ways so. This sort of tyranny it is which seeks to place the whole people of America under its cloven feet. It knows its own base ends fully, aud adapts, with fearful cunning, the means, whereby it would work, to those ends. But in so aiming and so striving, it seeks, above all things, to conceal the Veal animus of its pur pose and its efforts. A deliberate and avowed attempt to erect a consolidated oligarchy on the ruins of personal liberty aud political free dom in tliiSjCountry, could not stand for a day against the outbreak of wrath such a revelation would, North and South, awake. But, work ing in secret, daubed over with high sounding phrases, decked, like some poor fallen wo man, lurh deep, with paints and powders, pig ments, patches, and perfume, glittering with gewgaws, and on n blaze with showy tinsel, there is a chance thnt this thing may be foisted upou the general acceptance of tho People— And for this reason it is we are happy to hear this voice of warning come up from Tennes see, and more than happy to add our own tes timony in the matter. Tho people of the South must assert their rights—plant themselves fair and square on the rocks of justice—ask for nothing but what is right—submit to nothing that is wrong—take the. unmistakable position that they are not criminals and will not, so long as the bayonet is not rammed to its shank down their throats, permit themselves so to be called or treated, without a righteous and deep toned demurrer. Taking this position and standing up to it, un flinchingly, they will find that just as Honesty is the best Policy, so Courage can pluck Safety out of Danger. A stout bearing will make in justice abate its pretensions, for injustice bates the light and, even whore strong enough to ac complish its end by open violence, will often, for very cowardice and shame, shrink from a deed it would leap to execute could it do so in obscurity and silence. Stand to your colours, then, men of the South. You did not want to belong to the Federal Union. You had no de sire to be subject to the Federal Constitution and Laws. Against your will and your efforts you were brought Into the one and made sub ordinate to the other. But being in, demand the rights as well as the duties of Unionship— being subject, demand the protection as well as the subordination of the Statutes at Largo and the Federal Compart. No matter if the demand be useless now it very probably will be use less -but still make that demand, on every occa sion, and thus,time after time, throw the onus of denied justice where it belongs. If t> runny is to come don’t help to cloak its villainous deformity by any sort of implied acquiescence—strip it, by protest after protest, trumpet-tongued to the world, of its last rag of raiment, till it stand forth naked and shivering to the scorn o< all humanity. Despotism, like Inst, hates the light—loves the darkness—needs to be pamper ed and robed and incensed with adultatiou— cut it off from the conditions of its rauk luxu rianco and it will wither and shrivel and die. t'nxNOK the Cabinet.— President Johnson, says the New York Herald , is beginning his reconstruction of the party at the wrong end. It is all very well to remove Radi cal postmasters and Chase revenue officers; but these changes will be unimportant unless they are accompanied by the removal of the Radical members of the Cabinet. The way to kill the hydra of Northern rebellion is to chop off its heads, instead of wasting time in trim ming off the little end of its tail. A SMILE FROM FREEDOM. On the issual of the Peace Proclamation it was asserted in this paper, and thereafter steadi ly maintained, that the plain import of that in strument was, among otlur tilings, absolutely to forbid throughout this State of Georoia the infamous practise of arraigning civilians before and trying them by, drum head courts-martial. This position at that time met, —as did also other and cognate views,—a very great aud varied degree of opposition. A general order was issued by the General commandant ol Federal troops in this State to the effect that all persons, not soldiers, then in military custody on charge of crime, should he turned over to civil authority, except where such alleged of fence w;is charged to have been committed against the General Government—thus retaining of course drumhead court martial — alias Mili tary Commission—in full force, since we do not learn that sort of tribunal ever cared especially to try men for violating a municipal ordinance or breaking an act of Assembly, And further more, to confirm this view that drum head court martial was still a lawful power it was added in this same general order that exceptions thereto, 'for trial by military commission ,” would lie specially directed from head quarters —thus re asserting the right of the military, in the sim ple discretion of that power, to make such special case at will. But more than this —for opposition came not by single spies but in battalia—there was brought to our attention a despatch from the War De partment to the Acting Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Georgia —said officer, by the bye, being wholly unknown to the terras of the law organizing said Bureau — which despatch was relied on to prove that the proclamation in view did "not remote martial law." And more still. There came a procla mation from his Excellency, the Governor of tills State, declaring that it was the impression of that distinguished gentleman, from divers representations made him, that martial law was still, maurjre the Presidential manifesto, of force in Georgia aud that “ in case of military ar rest" from head quarters “ interference of Stale Judges, by writ of Habeas Corpus, ” would not be "permitted." And even more yet, for much of the press was against us and, where not openly taking the ground above set forth, very evidently leaned that way. Fully convinced that our interpretation was correct, we never failed on all suitable occasions, to declare and defend it, and are happy to know by an order I Issued by command of the President that we j were right. From the perusal of that order we will not detain our readers, and prior to something fur ther on the general matter, here present it just, verbatim, as it appeared in the National Intelli gencer, said to be the Executive organ, of the 3d inst.; War Pkimrtmknt, 7 Adjutant Gknbkai. 's OrriCE, Washington, May let, 1866. 5 General Orders, No. 26: , ORDER IN RELATION TO TRIALS BY MILI TARY COURTS AND COMMISSIONS. Whereas, some military commanders are embar rassed by doubts as to the operation of the proclamas tlon oftlie President, dated the second day of April, 1866, upon trials by military courts-martial and mili tary commissions, io remove such doubts, it is ordered by the President that— Hereafter, whenever offenses committed by civilians are to t>c tried where civil tribunals are in existence which can try them, their cases are not authorized to be, and will not be, brought before military courts martial or commissions, but will be committed to the proper civil authorities. This osder is not applicable to camp followers, as provided for under the 60th Ar ticle of War, or to contractors and others specified in section 16, act of July 17, 1862, and sections 1 and 2, act of Marcli 2, lSej. Persons and offenses cogniza ble by the Rules and Articles of War, and by the acts of Congress above cited, will contlnnc to be tried and punished by military tribunals, as prescribed bv the Rules and Articles of War and act« of Congres«.’ r ###**#* ,4'y order of the Secretary of War. E. I). Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General. Now this is as plain ns daylight, but, inas much ns power is hard to give up aud, in view of the popular ignorance as to the effect of the acts therein recited, an attempt may possibly bo made to drag up citizens of this State under pretence that their cases arc tlicreuuder com prised, an exposition of said acts, as found in the Statutes at Large, will be essayed. First, then, the sixteenth section of this act of 17th •July, 1862, provides thnt "anyperson who shall contract to furnish supplies of any kind or de scription for the army or navy shall be detmed and taken as a part of the land or naval forces of the Vnited States, for which heshall contract to furnish said supples, and be subject to the rules and regulations for the government of the land and naval forces of the Uniteo States.” — ( Statutes At Large, chap CP., 1861-'63.) This sort of thing wc, of course, believe to he the merest bosh, for, if carried out to its legitimate conclusion, it would subject any shop keeper who should sell a Federal soldier a chew of tobacco to the rigour of military law; but let it pass. The seeoud of the nets referred to. is that approved 2d March. 1863 [ Statutes at Large, Chap. /.XT//, 1862-6’!], whereby, as set forth in the first and second sections thereof, persons in military or naval service making false oaths, returning false vouchers, or guilty generally of fraud, embezzlement, and the like monetary offences, are triable by court martial, even after dismission from service. The 60th Article of War is. of course, exclusively a military matter and reads as follows : “ .-1/7 sutlers and retainers to the camp, and all pel-sons whatsoever serving with the armies of the Cnited States in the feld, though not enlisted sol diers, are to be subjected to orders, according to the rules and discipline of war." So that, iu the light of this exposition, it ap pears that hereafter in this State of Georgia— et ex uno disce omnes —civilians are in no eases whatsoever triable by military tribunal—whether such tribunal content itself with its real name of drum-head court-martial, or strut, like a daw, in the borrowed plumes of that euphu ism, A Military Commission. In saying no cases whatsoever, we mean exactly what is written —by act above quoted (and character ized as of absurdly doubtful validity)—those who contract supplies to Federal forces may be, with some faint colour, so triable: but, this exception made, this desolation of abomina tion touches us not We congratulate our peo ple on that glad announcement. From the first to the last we stood up. as our readers may remember, to proclaim that Babylon had fallen, and now that no eye is so blind that it cannot behold the ruin, we heartily share in that ioy the sight awakens. We said that Habeas Corpus was of force, and the statement was semi-offieiaily denied. But who was right? We said, too, that Martial Law, quoad civi lians, was abolished, and that, in turn, met contraversion. But who, again, was in the right ? We fallowed the Constitution aud it verified us to the letter. No More Dirt Eating.— The people of the Northern States, says the Baltimore Gazette, in vaded tip; South professedly for the purpose of preventing a dissolution of the Union and of upholding the Constilution. Having overcome the South, they now propose to deal with that section as the Goths and Vandals were wont to deal with conquered nations. Congress has ceased to trouble itself about the provisions of the Constitution, the rights of the States or the liberties of the people when it legislates for those who live south of the Potomac. The Reconstruction Committee has determined that they shall only be admitted to political equality with the people of the North when they eon ! sent to humble themselves in the dust and to i abandon the rights and privileges which the j Federal and State Constitutions guarantee I them. They are required to accept an amend j ment to the Federal Constitution which pre ( eludes them from ever passing laws which dis i criminate between the white man and the negro, j and which disfranchises every man, so far as I the Presidential election is concerned, for four I years to come. After they shall have modified 1 their constitutions and laws in accordance with ! the directions of Congress, and have thus sur rendered their most inestimable rights, the I Southern States are to be suffered to send to | Washington such representatives only as can take the test oath. These will, in nine cases | out of ten, be the most dishonest and disrepu i tablemen of their respective districts, for there j arc few decent people in the South who did not encourage or participate in her struggle for in dependence. At the same moment when this proposition to amend the Constitution is sub mitted to the States an act is to be passed by Congress which declares that the vast majority of the most intelligent and influential citizens of the South shall be henceforth “ineligible to office under the Government of the United States.” As the Radical faction is bent upon governing this country after its own absolute fashion, the measures agreed upon by the Re construction Committee are well adapted to secure the end iu view. But we cannot un derstand how the Southern States can be asked or expected to assent to any such terms as the price of their readmission to their former places in the Federal Union. Deprived of their olden rights and prerogatives as States, and compelled to disfranchise and humiliate a vast proportion of their people, the ten or twelve members of the “ Union as it was” would come back only as scourged slaves or captives to swell the triumph of an imperial government. If it is determined that they are to be ruled as sub ugnted provinces they cannot resist the savage decree. But they can refuse to accept self degradation, and we trust the Southern people will spurn indignantly and promptly the mis erable bid offered them for the sale of their birthright. Cotton Seed. —As a matter of great in terest to onr planters we publish the follow ing communication, addressed to the Mont gomery Mail : New Orleans, Jan. 5,1866. Editors Mail: The time is rapidly approach ing when farmers will be preparing to plant cotton, and there is one fact which may not generally be known to them which I wish to draw their attention, and it is this : cotton seed which have lain in the lint, unginned, for twelTe months, will not do to depend upon for planting purposes. The majority of planters know that old seed, which have been ginned tho fall the cotton was picked, are as good, if not better, than new. This is not the case where the seed have lain unginned for a year. The lint extracts or absorbs all the oil (which serves as nutrition to the young plant) from the seed. It does not destroy the germinating property of the seed ; the seed will come up* but the plant will die in ten days. The writer knows one planter who lost two entire stands of cotton last year, and thereby totally failed in a crop. He planted seed which had lain un ginned for twelve months. The seed came up and he had a fiue stand, bnt in about ten days, all died. He planted a second time with the same results. As this is a matter of vital im portance to the planting community, will not the planters let it be known, if sucli has been their experience. Planter. The Aristocracy of Crime. —A Boston cor respondent says shoddy and petroleum now hide their heads before the surpassing luxuri ance of the bogus growth of wealth obtained from burglary—burglary confessed, gloried in, unpunished, and lavishly rewarded. We have in our vicinity two members of this class of wealthy men. One is Charley Adams, the rob ber of the Concord Bank, who, after all the hub bub made over his detection, has settled down for life w ith an independent fortune, on the snug farm which he made the base of his opera tions against the bank-safe, and drives a splen did span, with the bride whom his successful speculation has enabled him to marry within a month past, envied by all her poor and honest neighbors. The other is Horace Auuis, the hero of the still bolder operation, which carried a million and a half of money in broad daylight from the counting-room of a purblind New York broker, aud who has been here within the week, brazen iu the security from arrest which was one of the terms of his bargain, and boasting to the admiring detectives and sport ing men who are hi# familiars, of the cool hun dred thousand which he carries in his pocket as the result of his speculation. Go it Ye Cripples. — A marriage recently took place in South Carolina wherein the bride groom was eighty-eight, the bride fifty-five and the parson eighty-five. It was a runaway match, the parents of the blushing damsel beiugaverse to it. The navigation of the Western rivers is in danger of being impeded by sunken steamers. Forty-four have gone down in Red river alone since last J une. Confederates at New Orleans. —The 1 Local” of the Richmond Examiner has been on a visit to the Crescent City. He says that all the old Confederate leaders and soldiers, as far as possible, have been cared for and com fortably housed. They are never forgotten whenever the loaves and fishes are to be distri ' buted. Beauregard is President of the Jackson railroad. He lives modestly, in a quiet part of the town, loved and esteemed by all, and im mediately surrounded in his house by his two sons, his daughter, and by members of his ex i staff. One of these latter indulges in blowing | the cornet-a-piston, (by no manner of means the | general’s trumpet.) General Beauregard enjoys j excellent health; he is a great boxer, and often, 1 it is said, indulged in the art with his staff offi cers while at Charleston. Like all who have a head on their shoulders, he blames the Confed erate Government for gross incapacity; but it is specially to be remarked that he was scrupu lous in withholding his consent in regard to Jordan’s censure on Mr. Davis, published in the New York Magazine. Longstreet is en gaged iu an exactly opposite species of business to that lately followed by him, being president of a company to insure against the loss oi life, leg or arm. General Hays is sheriff of the city, and Dick Taylor a canal undertaker. Refusing to Bury their own Dead. —The Freedmen’s Bureau for the District of West Tennessee has given notice to the city authori ties of Memphis that the Bureau will no longer relieve the city from the responsibility of bury ing its own colored paupers. The unfortunate negro who is old or infirm now realizes the meaning of the President’s words, “the colored people will soon find out who are their real friends.” As long as Sambo is strong and healthy and able to earn wages, the Bureau is his good friend—he is able to pay charges and to contribute to the luxury of the assistant commissioner; but the poor devil that has been decoyed from a comfortable home, without the pith in his arms to earn his daily bread, is thrust away from the precincts of the Bureau, and liis corpse left upon the wayside like the carcass of an animal, to be buried'by the tardy officers of the corporation. What language would now be more appropriate in the mouth of such a misguided wretch, appealing in vain before the paupered commissioner of freedmen, than that addressed to the robbers by Valeutine, in Shakspeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona:” “My riches are these poor habiliments, Os which if you should here disfurnish me, You take the substance and the sum I have!” [Richmond Whig. The New Associate Justice of the Su preme Court. —We are pleased to learn, as we do, from the columns of a Radical journal, that Mr. Stansberry, after Johnstou surrendered to Sherman, wrote a series of articles to show that on the disbanding of the Southern army, the Confederate States at once resumed their old place and power in the Union. This is exactly what the President teaches in all his messages, and wc are much pleased to be told that the new Associate Justice holds such sound doc trines. The same journal informs us that Mr. Stans berry made a speech in Cincinnati just before the war broke out, in which he argued at length that there could be no war, because the Gov ernment had no authority to use coercion ex cept to enforce the laws, and force eonld not be used until there was an indictment by grand jury, and issue of a warrant and resistance to the call of a marshal for a posse ; and that as the marshals and all other United States officers in the South had resigned, the conditions in which alone force could be used eonld not be fulfilled.— Fredericksburg Ledger. Captain Hunter Davidson Afloat.— Eve rybody around Richmond recollects this gallant Confederate officer—a Norfolk boy, we believe. In the New York Herald of the 29th, a corres pondent in Bordeaux, France, notices the arri val at and stay in that port of an English screw steamer, the Henriette, said to be intended for the Chilean service. She is commanded by Captain Hunter Davidson, an ex-Confederate American officer, who served on the Merrimac in Hampton Road#. The majority of her offi cers have also been engaged in the late Confed erate navy. The vessel was being made ready for sea, and her presence caused a good deal of comment. Finding Out.— President Johnson said not long ago that the colored people would find out after a while who were their true friends. They seem to be doing it already. At the Afri can Methodist Conference, in Washington, “ Bishop Campbell ” said that from bloody Kansas to the Gulf they met,’ opposition from the Northern Methodist Episcopal Church, bnt that the Southern Methodist Church had assist ed them. “ Rev. J. A. Shorter ” said it was a fact that their ministers were aided in the South by the Methodist Church South. The Northern Methodist Church did not aid them, but much oftener they opposed them. Doleful Prophecy.— Mr. Banks, (so-ealled General,) of Massachusetts, —better known as Stonewall Jackson's Commissary—in a speech on the Pacific railroad bill, (defeated a few days sinee in Congress,) broke forth thus: “The tirst railway that wended its sluggish and heavy foot over the Rooky Mountains, with the unearthly harmony of the steam calliope, would chant the requiem of the solid men of Boston until Euelades, the son of earth, should stir in his mighty cavern.” Upon reading this, alas, too many people in this wicked world would cry out, “Let her rip.” Foreigners in Possession.—A correspond ent of an Eastern exchange, writing from St. Louis of the Germans of that city, says: “Statements recently published show that they fill nearly all the lucrative offices in the city. Our tax list shows their avidity to become land owners, and the significant facts that their lan guage is taught in all the public schools, and that clerks unable to speak the language have difficulty in securing situations, are sure indi cations of their present strength and future growth " Georgia Items, The Elections.— ln Bibb count v o „ Vi hittle was elected Judge of the Conm,- o' B and N. H. Bass, Solicitor. m> c °nrt, In Spalding county, A D. NunnaUy and Pin M. Brown are supposed to be the candidates for Judge and Solicitor resnpnu ßß^l In Fulton county B. D. Smith wi *,' Velr Judge and Geo. S. Thomas, Solicitor! 616016(1 Captain M. A. Cochran, commanding p ns , , Macon, has issued an order that all «* ’ at freedmen found in that city on and aft cr of May, be arrested and put to work rZ public streets. Such an order issued ! ? lumbus would have a beneficial effect in re™ ing a very useless population.— Sun. mor ‘ More Enterprise at West Point —t week we adverted briefly to the spirit of ent? 1 prise which seems to have taken entire no»-» sion of our neighbors of West Point In -fas 8 ’ tion to the two cotton factories under for building, a steam corn mill is in operatic aud a fiue steam sawmill will soon be in m°!i’ ation. The passenger bridge which snmS the Chattahoochie river having been the city council, by the active aid and energies of the citizens, will have completed, in a fr 8 months, anew and substantial bridge. [Lagrange Reports. Railroad Connection. —The Columbus m pers are the policy of constructing railroad from some point on the Muscoo-ee road to Thomastou, thence connecting with the Brunswick branch of the Macon & Western railroad, and thus giving a shorter and more direct rou eto Atlanta. The gap to be filled is 2SK r' es of n . ot ver >' grading- We think the project a good one and hone to see it put through. The only way to bring out to the fullest extent, the resources and hidden wealth of any section is to give railroad com munications. This proposition needs no arm ment.— Atlanta Bulletin. ““ Uninted States District Court for Georgia.— lt is with pleasure that we inform our readers and the public generally, that the Hon. Mr. Justice Erskine, of the United States District Court for Georgia, having arrived in this city, the United States Court will be held on Tuesday next the 7th of May. The lawyers ot the State will no doubt receive this an nouncement with peculiar interest, while the people will regard it as another step in the process of reconstruction, and of the re-estab lishment of civil order. [Savannah Republican, 4th. The Georgia Hussars.— Pursuant to a call this old organization held a meeting last even ing at the Exchange Long Room, at which it was determined to revive the associatii ns of past years, and reorganize the company upon a basis which will secure its prosperity. We are sorry that the meeting was not better at tended ; but without doubt the “ Hussars" will revive, and “ E’en in their ashes live their wanted fires.”— lbid. Bold Attempt at Highway Robbbrv.— About ten o’clock on Tuesday night last, as Lieutenant Marshall, of the United States revenue cutter Nansemond, was going along towards his vessel, two negroes suddenly sprang upon him as he was passing a dark alley way, one of them clutching him by the throat, while the other made an attempt to rob him of his watch. The Lieutenant, in this dilemma, struck one of his assailants a blow that prostrated him, and instantly drew his revolver, which unfortunately missed fire, whereupon the rascals made a precipitate flight.— lbid. Gathered to his People.— on yesterday, the remains of Major Thomas H. Clay, a gallant Confederate officer, who died in this city, in the spring of 1864, and which were buried in the cemetery near by, were disinterred, and accom panied by a number of the friends of the de ceased to the depot, from thence were forward ed, by express, to the land of his fathers. A son of the gallant Lieutenant Henry Clay, Jr., who fell upon the plains of Mexico, and a grandson of the immortal sage of Ashland, it is meet that his ashes should mingle with the soil oi that State made illustrious by the name he bore. In the beginning of the war, young Clay, then in the vigor of youth, and the vigor of man hood, thought “Through whom its life-blood tracked its parent lake,” and struck for the honor of his native State, the pride of principle, and the memories clustering around his glorious name. As, in the instance of his father, death came upon him in a strange land—each a sacrifice to the convictions of truth and right—his surviving friends, imitating the example of Kentucky, in removing the father’s remains from the battle-field of Buena Vista, to her own eapitol cemetery, where they sleep in the shadow of a proud monument on whose marble front engraved his deeds glitter in the sunlight of heaven, have resolved that the son shall be placed beside the father in the silent halls of death, whilst “ On Fame’s eternal camping ground, Her silent tents are spread, And glory guards with solemn round, The bivouac of the dead." [Atlanta Intelligencer. Civil Authority Fully Restored, The following order has just been issued by command of the President. It clearly defines the extent of military authority, and restores all the privileges and protection of the law (God be thanked) to all citizens who have no connection with either the army or navy. At length we breathe freely : War Department, ) Adjutant General’s Office, > Washington, May 1, 1866. S [General Orders, No. 26. J Whereas some military commanders are em barrassed by doubts as to the operation of the proclamation of the President, dated the 2d day of April, 1866, upon trials by military courts-martial and military commissions. To remove such doubts, it is ordered by the Presi dent that— Hereafter, whenever offenses committed by civilians are to be tried where civil tribunals are in existence which can try them, their cases are not authorized to be, and will not be, brought before military courts-martial or commissions, but will be committed to the proper civil au thorities. This order is not applicable to camp followers, as provided for under the 60th Arti cle of War, or to contractors and others speci fied in section 16, Act of July 17, 1862, and sec tions 1 aud 2, Act of March 2, 1863. Persons and offenses cognizable by the Rules and Arti cles of War, and by the Acts of Congress above cited, will be continued to be tried and punish ed by military tribunals as prescribed by the Rules of Articles of War and Acts of Congress, hereafter cited, to wit: Sixtieth of the Rules and Articles of War. — All sutlers and retainers to the camp, and ah persons whatsoever serving with the armies of the United States in the field, though not en listed soldiers, are to be subjected to orders, ac cording to the rules and discipline of war. * * * * # ♦ By order of the Secretary of War: . E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General. The Resolutions of ’9B.—The Kentucky papers, says the Richmond Examiner, are ex pending much ink and space on the resolutions of ’9B, as they are called. They must be b3rd run for topics, and we suggest that they devote themselves for awhile to the ten command ments. It is the sheerest nonsense to talk about those resolutions when the Constitution itself is ignored, except as a sort of rack to hang Radical commodities upon. _
