Third. The sentence of
a commission is not to be executed without being approved by the
commander, if it affects life or liberty, and a sentence of death must
be approved by the President. This applies to cases in which there has
been a trial and sentence. I take it to be clear, under this bill, that
the military commander may condemn to death without even the form of a
trial by a military commission, so that the life of the condemned may
depend upon the will of two men instead of one.
It is plain that the authority here given to the military officer
amounts to absolute despotism. But to make it still more unendurable,
the bill provides that it may be delegated to as many subordinates as he
chooses to appoint, for it declares that he shall "punish or cause to be
punished." Such a power has not been wielded by any monarch in England
for more than five hundred years. In all that time no people who speak
the English language have borne such servitude. It reduces the whole
population of the ten States--all persons, of every color, sex, and
condition, and every stranger within their limits--to the most abject
and degrading slavery.
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