Opus 2017-162: Why Remember

As I was thinking about Memorial Day I asked myself, “Why is it important to remember those who have died to protect our freedom?”  My roving mind dredged up a phrase that I recognized from the Gettysburg Address.  Let me offer it up as a worthy way to focus on this day.

                           Lincoln's Address at Gettysburg
                                               1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.  We are met on a great battle field of that war.  We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.  It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground.  The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The phrase that came to mind?  “..that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...”  When we don’t take seriously the battle we are still in, we surrender the victories and make the deaths of millions in vain.

Remember.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-116: Cornerstone Considerations: CUSA, Suspending Habeas Corpus, Part 2 of 3

It makes sense that in a time of extreme emergency, when delay can mean disaster, you have a means of streamlining the process of law enforcement.  The Roman Republic had the provision to appoint an absolute dictator for one year when a crisis threatened.  Power was absolute but the time was limited.  Eventually this was perverted and manipulated.  Julius Caesar was murdered because he wanted to become dictator for life.  They took their laws seriously in those day.

That is why it is listed in Article I of the Constitution.  Emergencies happen.  Even in the Bill of Rights, designed to limit government power, we see this in Amendment V.

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public danger;...”

The specific phrase “suspension of habeas corpus” is only in Article I of the Constitution.  That Article lists the powers of congress, not the president.  Lincoln was aware of this and went through channels.  He had the authorization of Congress

“Whereas a rebellion was existing on the third day of March, 1863, which rebellion is still existing; and: Whereas by a statute which was approved on that day it was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled that during the present insurrection the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States or any part thereof;...”  Lincoln, Abraham.  The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 6: 1862-1863, Amazon Free Edition, Loc. 4431-51.

Why would this worry me today?  We live in a nation based on Common Law.  This comes from England.  In this system the law means what the judges say it means, not what it says.  The result is that precedent is king.  When we look at justification to reach beyond what has been understood by the masses we look for old rulings.  As in decisions by our Supreme Court, the application is in the reasoning and precedent rather than the exact action taken.  It is when you read Lincoln’s other writings that you find reason to worry.  In a letter dated June 12, 1863 to Erastus Corning and Others he explains his reasoning.

“By the third resolution the meeting indicate their opinion that military arrests may be constitutional in localities where rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitutional in localities where rebellion or insurrection does not actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall not be made ‘outside of the lines of necessary military occupation and the scenes of insurrection.’ Inasmuch, however, as the Constitution itself makes no such distinction, I am unable to believe that there is any such constitutional distinction. I concede that the class of arrests complained of can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require them; and I insist that in such cases - they are constitutional wherever the public safety does require them, as well in places to which they may prevent the rebellion extending, as in those where it may be already prevailing; as well where they may restrain mischievous interference with the raising and supplying of armies to suppress the rebellion as where the rebellion may actually be;...”  Lincoln, Abraham.  The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 6: 1862-1863, Amazon Free Edition, Loc. 3529-36.

Common law means that the Judiciary can ignore the words and intent of the law.  This gives the president, not just the judges, the justification to ignore the will of congress and the people.  That means the future is murky indeed. 

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-115: Cornerstone Considerations: CUSA, Suspending Habeas Corpus, Part 1 of 3

Most people will put Abraham Lincoln at or near the top when they make a list of the great presidents of the United States.  If there is anything that makes some hesitate it involves actions like the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus.  The writ of habeas corpus is a right that has come down to us in the evolution of democracy in England.

In the battle between the plow and the crown, the rulers had all the cards.  The deck was stacked.  It was hard for a peasant with a pitchfork made of iron to stand up against a knight clad in chain mail, swinging a steel sword and riding a huge horse.  Add to that the jails belonged to the king.  If they did not like you all they had to do was kill you or lock you up until you died.

The response to this began to develop with the writ of habeas corpus.  We know it was part of the Magna Carta of 1215.  I have heard different translations of the phrase but they come out to something like “produce the body.”  In application it meant that the accuser or law enforcer was required to bring the prisoner out on demand and explain why he was being locked up.  If this was not done in a timely manner, the prisoner was to be set free.  If an impartial judge thought the evidence was flaky, the prisoner was to be set free.  It was designed to protect against the flagrant abuses of a culture based on muscles and swords.

The protections and rights of this concept are expanded in our Bill of Rights, Amendments IV, V and VI.  This involves warrants, due process, probable cause, jury of our peers and so forth.   It is the foundation of much of our liberty because it protects us from an aggressive government that wants to lock us up and throw away the key just because they don’t like us.  It is a bulwark against tyranny.

The Constitution gives an exception to this protection.

Article I, Section 9, “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it.”

This is the only place in the Constitution that we find the term.  It was the source of Lincoln’s action.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-69: Post Office: Some Things Never Change

We have been hearing rumblings for quite some time that the post office is going to do away with Saturday delivery.  I will miss it but it will not rock my world.  I am more concerned about the trend than the current practice.  Less service for higher prices is not a good indication of the future.  The bigger issue we keep hearing about are the deficits run up by the Post Office, year after year while the competition is making profits.  I thought a little historical context might be interesting. 

One of my reading projects is to read through the writing of Abraham Lincoln which are available for download from Project Gutenberg.  I am currently in volume 6.  I came across this little tidbit in “Lincoln’s Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.”  If you don’t like long quotes, just read the last sentence to get the point.

“It gives me pleasure to report a decided improvement in the financial condition of the Post-Office Department as compared with several preceding years. The receipts for the fiscal year 1861 amounted to $8,349,296.40, which embraced the revenue from all the States of the Union for three quarters of that year. Notwithstanding the cessation of revenue from the so-called seceded States during the last fiscal year, the increase of the correspondence of the loyal States has been sufficient to produce a revenue during the same year of $8,299,820.90, being only $50,000 less than was derived from all the States of the Union during the previous year. The expenditures show a still more favorable result. The amount expended in 1861 was $13,606,759.11. For the last year the amount has been reduced to $11,125,364.13, showing a decrease of about $2,481,000 in the expenditures as compared with the preceding year, and about $3,750,000 as compared with the fiscal year 1860. The deficiency in the department for the previous year was $4,551,966.98.”

I am too lazy to do the research but this would indicate that the Post Office has a long history of running a deficit.  Four Million Dollars in 1862 was a lot of money.  It is still a lot of money for me but if you use an Inflation Calculator you find that the current value would be around $103, 431,000.  That is still not what is being projected but you get the point.  I would guess that the Post Office has never paid for itself.

I am not sure I have a problem with that.  While I support allowing private companies to compete, I think there is a place for a government subsidized postal system.  I can see how this could be important for national security.  And of course the final point would be that it is specifically mentioned in the Constitution, Article I, Section 8, that “The Congress shall have power ...To establish post offices and post roads;...”

That doesn’t automatically mean it should be subsidized, but it does mean that the Founding Fathers felt the mail was within the sphere of the government.

The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 6: 1862-1863.  Project Gutenberg.   Loc. 2238-45.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-125, We Have Met the Enemy

Most people will agree that times are hard.  What we might disagree on are the areas of greatest concern.  What we definitely disagree on is how to fix the problems.  The Progressives (aka Liberals, socialists, left wingers, or Democrats) believe that America is in decline and that decline is a good thing because they believe we have been a cancer on the earth.  Many would agree that the danger of society falling apart is upon us.  We see violence and unemployment.  We hear the Chinese sabers rattling.  We are concerned about Iranian nuclear ambitions.  The One World Government is being advanced by the Treaty of the Seas and one about the Rights of the Child.  Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration are buying into international treaties that want to disarm American citizens.

The storm clouds are all around us.  Abraham Lincoln gives us a word for the day.

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer:  If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

His point is a good one.  We do not need to fear any foreign power.  We do not need to come unglued by the problems of the rest of the world.  Our way of life is strong and resilient.  But that is true only as long as we are a “nation of freemen.” 

The question is, “Are we still a nation of freemen?”  When you hear about half of all Americans getting some check from the Federal Government you wonder.  When you see the growing entitlement programs and welfare expectations you begin to doubt.  The danger is here and it is among us.  I believe it was the cartoon Pogo that came up with the phrase, “We have met the enemy, and it is us.”

The wisdom of history is available if we will listen.

Lincoln, Abraham.  “Opposition to Mob-Rule, Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1837.”  The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 1: 1832-1843.  Amazon Free Edition.  Kindle Loc. 1482-84.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-121, The Cycle of Politics

It is almost like Abraham Lincoln was a prophet.  Or is it just that some things never change.  Here he is laying into the Democratic party.  Keep in mind that he is not a Republican yet because the party has not come together to fight against slavery.

“I know that the great volcano at Washington, aroused and directed by the evil spirit that reigns there, is belching forth the lava of political corruption in a current broad and deep, which is sweeping with frightful velocity over the whole length and breadth of the land, bidding fair to leave unscathed no green spot or living thing; while on its bosom are riding, like demons on the waves of hell, the imps of that evil spirit, and fiendishly taunting all those who dare resist its destroying course with the hopelessness of their effort; and, knowing this, I cannot deny that all may be swept away. Broken by it I, too, may be; bow to it I never will.”

If this does not describe the process of destroying the country that is going on today, I don’t know what does. 

Two points.

First, the country survived.  When this was written the Mexican American War was still in the future.  The Civil War was still 27 years away.  Things are going to get worse.  Then they are going to get worse again.  We have Bleeding Kansas to look forward to.  The nation survived.  Let us hope and pray that we can survive even Barak Obama.

Second, who are these people that claim that the country is more divided now than any time in the past?  Have they read any history at all?  Division and difference of opinion are the bed-rock of a free society.  Agreement and conformity are the picture of a totalitarian state.  People are not inclined to agree on everything but we can be taught to respect the rights of others.

So things may look bad but the lesson of history, and Abraham Lincoln, is that we can survive.

Lincoln, Abraham.  “Speech on National Bank in the Hall of the House of Representatives, Springfield, Illinois, December 20, 1839.”  The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 1: 1832-1843.  Amazon Free Edition.  Kindle Loc. 2063-68.

homo unius libri

Opus 2012-117, A Previously Unknown Quotation from Abraham Lincoln

I have begun to read the Writings of Abraham Lincoln.  They were free in the Kindle Store of Amazon.  I downloaded all seven volumes.  I am almost finished with the first volume.  As I was reading, Lincoln was criticizing the actions of the Democratic Party.  This what in 1839, long before the Republicans came on the scene but even then he was speaking as a prophet.  Here are the words of Abraham Lincoln.

“The party now attempt to throw Barry off, and to avoid the responsibility of his sins.”

Now this is totally out of context.  The Barry spoken of was not the president.  In spite of that it seemed to fit our present situation so I thought I would share it with you.

Lincoln, Abraham.  “Speech on National Bank in the Hall of the House of Representatives, Springfield, Illinois, December 20, 1839.”  The Writings of Abraham Lincoln - Volume 1: 1832-1843.  Amazon Free Edition.  Kindle Loc. 2033.

homo unius libri