Authority of General Saxton. in the South to the country, and to those who might ultimately become entitled to enjoy it, by making the property productive and valuable by continued cultivation; and, further, to employ to the best advantage, under suitable rules and regulations, the industry of those (principally persons who had formerly been slaves) who might be found connected with the plantations, with a view at once to the personal and social well being of those persons, and the general welfare of the country and nation. Such were the objects (wise and beneficent objects they were) which the Government sought to accomplish in assigning this officer to duty in the department of the South. To carry out these objects, he was authorized to "exercise all sanitary and police powers" that might be necessary for the health and security of the persons under his charge, to imprison all disorderly, disobedient, or dangerous persons, or exclude them from the limits of his operations. For cases of need or destitution, he was directed to issue such portions of the army rations and such articles of clothing as might be suitable to the habits and wants of the persons supplied. And, finally, the Department expressed the expectation that by encouraging industry, skill in the cultivation of the necessaries of life, and general self-improvement, he would, as far as possible, promote the real well being of all persons under his supervision. No authority could be more specific and special, both in respect to the subjects over which it was to be exercised, and the means to be employed in carrying out the objects of his appointment, than that conferred upon General Saxtou when he was assigned to duty, under the order of June, 16, 1862, in the department of the South. His attention was expressly directed to be confined to two subjects, namely, the plantations heretofore occupied by rebels, and the inhabitants remaining thereon within the department. With respect to the plantations in question, he was directed to make rules and regulations for their cultivation. With respect to the inhabitants remaining upon Authority of General Saxton. them, he was directed to provide rules and regulations for their protection, employment, and government. We know historically the fact that the Government conferred the authority upon General Saxton chiefly with reference to the negro population of the South, and that the order under consideration has special reference to the employment, protection, and government of the former slaves of rebel landowners. The order expressly conferred on him certain powers; but all of them were intended to be exercisable toward the accomplishment of the special objects of his mission. Such, for example, are the incidental powers of instituting sanitary and police regulations necessary for the health and security of the peculiar population placed under his supervision, the power of imprisoning disorderly and other dangerous persons, and of excluding them, if needs be, from the limits of his operations. These powers would have been exercisable by him without special authority, as incidental to the more general power, conferred by the Department, of protecting the population over whom he was. placed by the Government. There are certain other powers given which probably required, in order to their valid exercise, special enumeration, that would not have been implied from the general character and scope of the order in question. Such, for example, is the power of issuing rations and providing clothing to the destitute portions of the population, and of distributing medical and ordnance supplies among the people under his protection. Such, also, is the power, conferred expressly in the order, of acting upon the decisions of courts-martial called for the trial of persons not in military service, and of controlling the actions of the provost marshals, so far as the persons placed under his supervision might be concerned. Without this provision in the order, General Saxton would have had no authority to revise or act in any manner upon the decisions of courts-martial in the case of persons not in the military service. In other words, he would not have Authority of General Saxton. been competent to control the course even of military justice in criminal cases in the limits of the department of the South; and yet, in the face of this provision, which by its very form entirely excludes the idea of any such general judicial authority as is claimed, being intended to be conferred by the Government, it is pretended that this subordinate officer may lawfully, by force of the order in question, exercise that highest and most sovereign function of government-the function of administering, through agents of his own appointment, civil justice between all citizens of the United States whose persons or property may be found within the limits of the department of the South. Again, the order reads: "It is expressly understood that, so far as the persons and purposes herein specified are concerned, your action will be independent of that of the other military authorities of the department, and in all other cases subordinate only to the major general commanding." I have indicated pretty clearly, as I believe, who are the persons and what are the purposes specified in the order. With respect to them he was directed to act independently of the other military officers in the department. In respect to all other matters, General Saxton was expressly subordinated to the major general commanding. Clearly, then, if any officer in the department was authorized to establish courts of justice to decide civil controversies between citizens of the United States temporarily in the limits of the department, that officer was not General Saxton. He was, as has been shown, but the special agent of the Government to execute certain specific measures touching the welfare of a peculiar class of people whom the fortunes of war had placed under our protection; and in that capacity he was entitled to exercise all powers expressly conferred, and all such powers as were reasonably to be implied from those expressly named. Any exercise of authority beyond the scope of such express and implied powers, without the sphere of the subjects with which he was expected and entitled to deal, was a Authority of General Saxton. mere act of usurpation, and therefore void. He was not in the position of a general of high rank, at the head of an invading army, in the midst of an enemy's country, distant from the seat of his government, who carries with him, in virtue of his office, a large measure of the authority which resides with the commander-in-chief, whether King or President, whose lawful powers, unless deprived by the supreme authority, have no limit any more than those of the government he represents-who, after he has conquered, has the right, because it is his duty, to govern, pendente bello, the people who are subjected to his control in any manner and through any agencies most convenient to himself, and most conducive to the interests of the gov ernment he represents. General Saxton carried with him to the department of the South no other and greater power than that specially conferred upon him by the Government with reference to the accomplishment of the particular objects sought to be attained; and any argument in favor of his right to exercise the power in question, based upon supposed precedents in our history-what was done by American commanders in California and New Mexico, in times of hostilityutterly fails for want of any, even the slightest, analogy between the cases. Let me say, in conclusion, that I discover in this delegation of authority nothing which, in my judgment, can be appealed to as affording the slightest foundation for the valid exercise of judicial power by any one under General Saxton's appointment, in cases cognizable by the civil courts known to the law of the land, over the citizens of the United States, not belonging to the class of persons described in the order, who may come or be found within the limits of the department of the South. The power to appoint a person with such authority has certainly not been conferred in express terms, and it is not, in any respect, necessary to carry into execution any of the express powers enumerated in the order. As it is not pretended that either of the parties to the Allotment Checks. proceedings instituted before "Judge A. D. Smith," under the authority of General Saxton, belonged to the class of persons, according to my view, as heretofore expressed, over whom that officer was placed in charge, and as the institution of those proceedings had not the remotest relation to the persons and purposes specified in the aforesaid order, as I interpret it, I am of opinion that the judgment attempted to be rendered in those proceedings is a nullity, and that it does not determine and cannot affect the rights of any person. I am, sir, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, JAMES SPEED. Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy. ALLOTMENT CHECKS The United States is legally bound to pay the allotment checks or drafts issued by army paymasters under the act of December 24, 1861, in the hands of bona fide holders, without regard to the fact that such paymasters have not placed in the hands of the drawee sufficient funds to meet the drafts. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: I have the honor to say, in acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, that I am very clearly of opinion that the United States is legally bound to pay the allotment checks or drafts issued by paymasters pursuant to the act of December 24, 1861, (12 Stats., 331,) in the hands of regular and bona fide holders of them, without regard to the circumstances that the paymasters who issued the said drafts may be in default to the Government, and that they have not placed in the hands of the drawee, the Assistant Treasurer of the United States at New York, sufficient funds to meet such drafts. The United States is legally as much bound to pay such drafts |