The plain truth was that, in a condition faintly contemplated in the
Constitution, many things not permitted by the Constitution must be done
to preserve the Constitution. The present crisis had been very scantily
and vaguely provided for by "the fathers." The instant that action
became necessary to save the Union under the Constitution, it was
perfectly obvious that the Constitution must be stretched, transcended,
and most liberally interlined, in a fashion which would furnish annoying
arguments to the disaffected. The President looked over the situation,
and decided, in the proverbial phrase, to take the bull by the horns;
that which clearly ought to be done he would do, law or no law, doubt
or no doubt. He would have faith that the people would sustain him; and
that the courts and the lawyers, among whose functions it is to see to
it that laws and statutes do not interfere too seriously with the
convenience of the community, would arrive, in what subtle and
roundabout way they might choose, at the conclusion that whatever must
be done might be done. These learned gentlemen did their duty, and
developed the "war powers" under the Constitution in a manner equally
ingenious, comical, and sensible. But the fundamental basis was, that
necessity knows no law; every man in the country knew this, but the
well-intentioned denied it, as matter of policy, while the
ill-intentioned made such use of the opportunities thus afforded to them
as might have been expected.
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