Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1832-05-10

MARrINsBURG. MAY 10, 1872.

VIII IA AOddJ . RoRNA ~ 1H "a
anliaatlon OF the argument OF The recent de-
legate from this county. Ia justice to that
gentleman, whose views upon this part Of
the question have been somewhat misunder
stood and not a little misrepresented, we
have thought proper TO extract that portion
of bis Speech We do so with the more
sheerlulness, as the copy of his speech, pub
lished in this paper, some months since, very
imperfectly presented his views. Our rca-
ders will thus have before them the argument
and the reply and cat judge for themselves.
eSir,I would disdain, upon an occasion Of
this sort, appealing as it does TO the funda
mental principles upon which society is or
gained, to handy with gentlemen, the petty
technicalities of the law. My views are brief
ly these:-they go to the foundation upon
which the social ediice rests. Property is
the creature of civil society The gentle
man from Brunswick. and the gentleman
from Dinwiddie. hold their slaves-not by a
ny law Of nature-not by any patent from
God, as the latter gentleman on yesterday
assumed-but solely by virtue OF the aequies
cence and consent of the society in which
they live. So long as will be tolerated But.
sir, so soon as it does become pernicIous-so
soon as it is ascertaincd TO jeoparcIze the
peace, the happiness, the good order nay.
the very existence of soclety,--iFom that mo
ment, the right by which they hold their
property is gone Society ceases to give It's
consent. The condition upon which they
we've permitted to hold n, is violated their
right ceases This, SIR, is the supreme law
- IN taty ahova and pa p uupupt I'm oil
other Iaws-a law which cannot be question
ed-which will not he denied.
.Let me not be understood as a~ssailing the
legal tenure by which the slave holder claims
his property The law, it is true, has given
TO the. master a right to his slaves-but it is a
right subordinate to the GREAT rights OF the
community -and subject themselves to that
qualification which equally extends to every
description of property, to wit: that it may
he enjoyed so long as it is compas ble with
the public safety-but no longer Ii is by
virtue of the positive enactments Of the state
alone. that slaves are held as property, and
pass in a regular course of distribution If
sa time Mas now arrived, when the public
Interests demand different course Of legis
la.ion, the same power which made them
property, can divest them of that quality
Private rights and individual claims must
yield 10 the overriding and paramount inter
ests Of the common veal
ssWhy. sir, it is even a rule of municipal
law-and | use this merely as an illustration
j of the great principles of socIety-sic utero
f,to, ut aiienum non tedas So hold your pro
perry as not TO injure> the property, still less
the lives and happiness OF your neighbours
And the moment, even in the best regulated
communities, there is in practice a departure
fr0n thIc nrinpinIa You may ahafp fhp mus
ance. 1t may cause loss-but ii is what our
black deferred gentry term, dann,tm Gbsque
injuria-a loss for which the law affords no
remedy.
..Sir. it may be very plausible in our op
ponents TO contend that the time has not yet
arrived, when a resort 10 this great law Of
state necessity can be justified But to as
sert that there does not exist in every com
munity an Inherent, absolute, and nndeniahle
right TO protect itself from destruction, even
by the sacrifice of private property is what
no writer on public law, ever yet dared to
question. 1t is a right superior to all law,
and founded IN the moral justice and physi
cal power OF a community 10 PROSTATE what
ever may endanger its tranquility or exis
tence.
s'But. sir, it is said that society having con-
ferred this property on the slave holder, 1t
cannot nOlo take it from him without an ade
Quaie compensation-by which IS meant full
value. | may be singular in the opinion, but
I defy the legal research of the house to
point me to a principle recognized by the
law, even in the ordinary course of its adJu
dications, where the community pays for pro
perry. which is removed or destroyed be
cause it is a nuisance and found injurious TO
that society. There is, | humhly apprehend,
no such principle. There is no obligation
upon society TO continue your right one mo-
ment after it becomes injurious to the best
interests of society: nor to compensate you
for the loss of that, the deprivation OF which
is demanded by the safety of the state-and
in which general benefit you participate as
members Of the community. Sir, there is to
my mind a manifest distinction between con
demning private property to be applied to
some beneficial public purpose, and condem
ming or removing private property which IS
ascertained to be a positive wrong to socIe-
ty. II is a distinction which pervades The
whole genius of the law; and is founded up
on the idea, that any man who holds proper
ty Injurious TO the peace of that society. al
which he is a member, thereby violates the
condition, upon the observance OF which, his
right TO the property is alone guaranteed
For property of the first class condemned
there ought to be compensation; but for pro
perry OF the latter class, none can be deman
ded upon princlple-none accorded as mat
ter of right, although considerations of poll
o..:4o,,t.o nu of up,apifu--a nJ a COZ