CHAPTER XXI POWERS DENIED THE UNITED STATES AND THE AFTER an enumeration of certain powers granted to Congress, we come next to consider those retained by the people. They represent the fruits of centuries of contests which not even the representatives of the people should be privileged to destroy. In like manner, at the time of the formation of the Constitution it was desirable that the general government should be protected from the encroachments of the individual States. Traffic in slaves was general among civilized nations in 1787. It is satisfactory to note, therefore, that a majority of the delegates in the Convention favored the prohibition of the slave trade immediately. All of the States, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina excepted, had already prohibited it. Through fears that the adoption of the Constitution would be endangered, a concession was finally made to these States by a compromise which provided that the slave trade should not be prohibited for a period of twenty years. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. Such a tax was never imposed. It was found that the law of 1807 which was to take effect January 1, 1808, Prohibi tions on the United States. Slave trade prohibited. Article I, clause 1. section 9, Section 9, clause 2. Habeas corpus. Mr. Lincoln and the suspension of the writ. Clause 3. Bill of attainder. Story, On the Constitution, II, 216. and thus carry out the intention of this clause, did not wholly stop the traffic. Congress, therefore, in 1820, declared the slave trade to be piracy punishable with death. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. A writ of habeas corpus is a writ granted by a court commanding an officer to produce before it the body of a prisoner, that the court may inquire into the cause of imprisonment or detention. If after such inquiry, it is found that a person is detained for insufficient cause, he is given his freedom. Congress has been given, by judicial decision, the right to suspend the writ in case of rebellion or invasion, but may grant this right to the President. On April 27, 1861, for the first time in the history of the Nation, President Lincoln ordered the writ suspended between Philadelphia and Washington. Not until March 3, 1863, did Congress legalize this act of the President and authorize him to suspend the writ throughout the United States, during the war, whenever he believed the public safety demanded it. President Lincoln had already authorized its suspension, at different times, over limited areas. In September, 1863, he declared the suspension general throughout the country. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. "Bills of attainder are such special acts of the legislature as inflict capital punishments upon persons supposed to be guilty of high offences, such as treason and felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of proceedings. If an act inflicts a milder degree of punishment than death it is called a bill of pains and penalties." The great abuses under such a law grow out of the fact that persons may be deprived of life, liberty, or property without judicial procedure, and such action would be intolerable in the United States. facto laws. The Supreme Court has given the following definition : "An ex post facto law is one which renders an act pun- Ex post ishable in a manner in which it was not punishable when it was committed. The phrase applies to acts of a criminal nature only. Laws which mitigate the character or punishment of a crime already committed, may not fall within the prohibition, for they are in favor of the citizen."* Story, On the Consti tution, II, 220, 221. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in con- Clause 7. sequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time. It is proper in a government such as ours that the control of the public money should be lodged with the representatives of the people. Through the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury, the people may know from what sources our revenues are derived and for what purposes the money is expended. Care of public money. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; Clause 8. and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state. nobility. An amendment proposed in 1809 provided that anyone who accepted a title of nobility or, without the con- Titles of sent of Congress, a present, office, or emolument from any foreign sovereign or state should cease to be a citizen of the United States and be incapable of holding any office therein. That the spirit of antagonism to a titled citizenship was general is shown by the fact that this amendment passed both Houses of Congress, received the sanction of twelve States, and failed of ratification by only one vote. *Section 9, clause 4, is discussed under National Finances, p. 188. Section 9, clauses 5 and 6, are discussed under Commerce, pp. 197, 198. Gifts from foreign states. Section 10, clause 1. Absolute prohibi It was hoped through the second part of the clause that public officers would be removed from the dangers of bribery by foreign nations. Congress may allow gifts to be accepted by our officials but usually they pass into the control of the government. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal, coin money, tions on the emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin States. The States and money. of con tracts. a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. It is obvious that the power to enter into treaties, alliances, and confederations or to grant letters of marque and reprisal should be confined to the general government alone. Otherwise, there would be constant danger that the individual States might enter into alliances or grant privileges which would tend to destroy the Union. Congress had already been given the power to coin money and regulate its value. Hopeless confusion must ensue were the States to be given like powers. During the colonial and revolutionary periods there were many notable examples of the evils which always followed the issue, by the States, of paper money designed to circulate as a legal tender. When two or more persons enter into a compact "to Obligation do or not to do a particular thing" which is legally binding upon them, no State, may, in any way, modify this agreement. This interpretation was established by the decision in the celebrated Dartmouth College case.* No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay Conditional any imposts or duties on imports or exports except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the * See Magruder, John Marshall, American Statesmen Series, 190–193. Section 10, clause 2. prohibi tions on the States. Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Were the States given power to lay tonnage dues (a tax on ships by the ton according to their carrying capacity), it would interfere with the regulation of commerce by Congress. No justification for the remaining prohibitions is needed, for if these powers were possessed by the States the Union might quickly be destroyed. |