Page:A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865, Volume I.djvu/430

400 of the Government, extraordinary as well as ordinary, are a sacred trust, to be faithfully executed whenever the public exigency may require. Recognizing the general obligation, we cannot escape from the duty in one case more than in another. And a suspension of the writ when demanded by the public safety is as much a duty as to levy taxes for the support of the Government. If the state of invasion declared by the Constitution to be a proper case for the exercise of this power does not exist in our country now, when can it ever be expected to arise? It is idle to appeal against it to the history of the old Union. That history contains no parallel case. England, whose reverence for the great bill of right is at least as strong as our own, and the stability of whose institutions is the admiration of the world, has repeatedly within the last hundred years resorted to this remedy when only threatened with invasion. It may occasion some clamor, but this will proceed chiefly from the men who have already been too long the active agents of evil. Loyal citizens will not feel danger, and the disloyal must be made to fear it. The very existence of extraordinary powers often renders their exercise unnecessary. To temporize with disloyalty in the midst of war is but to quicken it to the growth of treason. I therefore respectfully recommend that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus be suspended.

 Feb. 3, 1864. To the Senate of the Confederate States. In response to your resolution of the 15th ult., I herewith transmit for your information in executive session a communication from the Secretary of War, relative to the general officers appointed under the act approved October 13, 1862.

 Feb. 5, 1864. To the House of Representatives.

In response to your resolution of the 25th ultimo, I herewith transmit for your information a communication from the Secretary of War, relative to the steps taken to carry out the provisions 