The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

SLAVE.

Mr. HALIBURTON wished to ask the Under Secretary
of State for the Colonies, for information as to the extradi-
tion of the American slave, Anderson, now in custody in
Canada, and if he would lay upon the table copies of all
correspondence that had passed in relation thereto between
the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor in
Canada, and for all orders issued thereupon. He wished
to ask for information respecting the extradition case
lately under their notice, which excited such great
attention, and naturally so, from the sympathy all
must have for a man in the position of Anderson. It
would be in the recollection of the house that Anderson,
being an inhabitant of the state of Missouri, in the United
States, took the life of a white man, likewise an inhabi-
tant of.that country, who endeavoured to capture him. The
slave, having done this, succeeded in making his escape
into Canada, but the relatives of the deceased man having
sought him out, apprehended him under a law of the pro-
, vine, in accordance with certain provisions of a treaty
between this country and the United States. Under this
law he was tried before the Judges of the Court in Canada ;
and—that he may not be misunderstood, or in a case which
• excited so much feeling, misrepresented—he desired to say
that ho offered no opinion whatever on the act of Ander-
, son, whether it was murder, manslaughter, or justifiable
homicide. Neither did he say whether the man was rightly
or wrongly convicted in Canada, for in this he had nothing
to say for the rights of Missouri, or Canada, but to assert
that a violation of the rights of the people of Canada took
place during the adjudication of the case and before its final
termination. An application was made in the Court of
Queen's Bench in this country to bring him out of gaol in
, Canada, and have him brought to England, and the case
; regularly entered into. Now, in his opinion, there had been
some singular features attending that trial in the Queen's
I Bench; and here again he begged to observe that he would
make no remark disrespectful or derogatory to the judges
of that court, whose learning, great ability, and imparti-
ality, entitled them to command the respect of all. (Hear,
hear.) He believed the country ought to be proud of such
a court, and any remark of his to their disparagement
would only recoil upon himself. But though they were
men of great learning, they were not infallible, and appeals
from their decisions had been made over and over again to
the House of Lords, by which they were reversed. Now
in the case of Anderson, they evidently thought they were
adjudicating on the terms of the treaty within their own
jurisdiction. If such were the case one would suppose
some reference ought to have been made to the law
officers of the Crown as to the nature of the applica-
tion, and that the Attorney-General, with that great
leaning, ability, and impartiality, which he brought
before every tribunal, would have been present.
But instead of that, the application was made on behalf of
a private party, and on the affidavit of a man with an
unpronouncable name, whom ho believed to be a Pole, the
case was put as a simple one of habeas corpus, and several
precedents were cited, not at all applicable to the subject.
This writ was issued t(”he jailor of the prison where the
man was confined, as`avell as to the Governor-General of
Canada He (Mr. Haliburton) believed that if the Attorney-
General had made the application, the decision would not
have been what it was; but at all events it was one which
created the greatest consternation among the people of the
province. They complained, and in his opinion they were
right, of a gross violation of their constitutional rights.
No doubt the Court founded their adjudication on the
treaty, hut the highest authorities in Canada denied the
right of this country to bind them by a treaty. They had
a judicature of their own, and a Legislature. They had a
Court of Appeal, and the only way to set the Judges right
was by an appeal in this country from their decision to her
Majesty in council. That was the lawful and constitutional
mode of appealing in Canada, but the idea of scaling out a
writ to take a man out of the country, and from under the
jurisdiction of its courts, at the command of the Queen's
Bench in this country, was preposterous. The indepen-
dence of the country was totally gone, and the constitu-
tional rights of the people invaded, He wished for his
bo
ewena
upsaer, t tahf et
epr r oaclelc, d iint g s hadwou ldn o beenber
ye o
ud
nuicbtled in
gillegally;
the
officer to go out with his writ, and to receive such an
answer as he would undoubtedly get. He will come home
with his writ again just as he went out, and it was on that
account he felt sorry for the irregular proceedings which
had been adopted. The fact was, that people in this
country knew there was such a place as Canada, but that
was all. It was just like his knowing Guernsey and Jersey
but not Sark, because ho never had been there. It was said
the Duke of Newcastle, as Colonial Minister, sent out an
order, but he should like to know by what authority he did
so, and it was for that reason he wished to see the corre-
spondence laid on the table. The noble duke was in
Canada last summer and saw the noble reception and heart-
' felt enthusiasm with which the Prince of Wales was
greeted, and he must know that such a people were not
those -who:would put up with a slight or an insult. With
respect to this extradition, he wished, in conclusion, to
know whether the opinion of the Crown officers had been
taken; and also, whether all papers and correspondence
referring to it would be laid upon the table of the house ?
Mr. CHICHL'STER FORTESCUE said the house
would not expect him to follow the hon. and learned gen-
tleman into all the subjects upon which ho had touched in
his speech. With reference to the conduct of the Duke of
Newcastle, in his dealings with the Orangemen, ho was
glad to learn from the hon. member that an opportunity
would be given to his noble friend to justify himself in
another place. But the hon. gentleman had spoken to-
night in a tone of complaint which he trusted would not
be echoed in Canada, with reference to the efforts made for
procuring to the fugitive Anderson the full and fair con-
firmation of his rights. The hon. member alleged that
two invasions of Canadian rights had taken place; but that
was a mistake. He did net conceive it to be his duty on
the present occasion to enter into any discussion with re-
ference to the propriety of the Court of Queen's Bench
issuing a writ of habeas corpus ; and if they had power to
do se, whether such ought to be the state of the law.
The action of the Government in the matter simply
amounted to this :—A despatch was sent to the acting
Governor-General in Canada, instructing him to
be guided in his action by his Canadian law
advisers. The other alleged invasion consisted in this—
that his noble friend the Duke of Newcastle, with a promp-
tiotnudseewwahsicihnfohremheadd doubtanfoewdays
the country appreciated—
(hear, hear)—dispatched those instructions of which the
h
ago by the noble lord at the
head of the Government, It was a mistake to suppose that
the effects of the judgment in the Canadian Court was the
giving up of Anderson to the United States authorities, for
it only sent him back to prison. It was not within the pro-
vince of any court in Canada to deliver up a person to a
foreign state, as Chief Justice Robinson himself admitted.
Hence it was that Anderson could only be surrendered by a
warrant under the hand and seal of the Governor-General,
and it was with a knowledge of that fact that his noble
friend had thought it necessary to send those instructions
to the Governor-General of Canada which had been com •