North American. [volume] (Swanton, Vt.) 1839-1841, 1839-08-14

which the Crown IN England does not
rssasess. TIE very thought produces TIE
most chilling sensanous.
And shall Nermoui-fhe genuine He
rnbl,caa State At Nefmont--lesd the way
In 81 dangerous a. erctoschmcGi upon the
f.ereoaal liberty Of the eit7ens; shan
Nermont--in every iinc = whose eons'l-
tuition aud laws something can be found
Guaranteeing the security oi the people
stand foremos, in 50 glazing a violation 81
ihrif dearest privileges; Should this, IN
ferd. prove So. then would the State he
shorn OF her glory. and her people be cal
led 10 mourn over their departed rights.
Then would the very green with which
her mountains are dressed fade and lose
its colour. and the lilies Of her Taliies,
dfoop and perish.
n should be adiudgcd that the Gov
ernnr Of this state has the power 10 sur
render the prisoner. he will have equal au-
thofity 10 deliver over any other person
that nav be demanded by the governor Of
Canada. All will be at the discretion Of
one man. And if this is really considered
4 matter of 4" obligation" he will he as
much bound 10 surrender for one crime as
another. There is no exception as To poll
teal offences. II we once give ear to the
idea that this obligation exists, we shall
be launched upon sea oi trouble. And
shall i, be said that we have forgotten or
repudated the doctrine thpt discretion Is
the law of tyrants, and belongs not to the
genius Of our institution:
And what in that event would he the
situation Of many unfortunate persons who
have sought refuge among ms from the
storms OF political persecution. No one
is authorized 10 say that the governor
would refuse 10 surrender those. And
how could he refuse, If the obligation ex
ISIS which is commended for. Besides, all
that NAV have been concerned in any al
lray. though even in their own defence,
NAV easily be indicted for murder, in the
present state Of things in Canada, or for
some other offence which may not appear
TO be of political character. Those per-
sons have thrown themselves upon the pro-
lection Of our laws, and considered them
selves safe under the provisions To which
have referred And shall they have on
ly the miserable satisfaction of eXclaIming,
- l ne voice Is JdCbU , hOitC, UuL lilC
hands are the hands Of Esau'
As between the several states OF our
Union the surrender OF fugtives from JUS
tice is made a positive duty by the const-
tuition of the United States, and yet Con-
gress deemed it necessary to pass law
regulating the manner in which that duty
should be performed. What an overpow-
cring commentary this is upon the doc
trine contended for, that as between one
Of our states and foreign power, no law
IS necessary. In truth, this alone is con-
elusive in the case.
1t has been said that the practice of
surendering fugitive ielons has long pre-
vailed both in the National and State
Governments, but this is wholly an error.
The National Government has uniformly
refused To surrender, except under jays
treaty, while that was in force. Neither
has there been any such practice in the
State The case Of Griggs, which has
been mentioned, had he been surrendered
by Governor Tichenor, would have
come under jays treaty, then in force US a
law Of the country. But it is now admit
ted that Griggs was not surrendered. 1t
is stated that Governor Butler made an
order Of surrender, but that the person
upon whom it was made could not be
found.
In the year 1926 an application was
made by the Governor of Canada TO me,
as Governor OF this State, for the surren-
der Of two men charged with stealing, and
answered that had no power TO sur
render any man whatever, to foreign
government. Here wish it to be dis
tinct!y understood that do not introduce
or remark upon my own decision as an
authority upon the principle Of the case,
but merely as a fact, to show that if one
order was made for a surrender, refusal
took place in another case; which contra
diction settles no practice. do, however,
contend that the decision made by me
was approved by President Adams, as ap-
pears by Mr.. Cay's letter to me, and
so far we exhibit the documents in that
case as an authority.
Not man, then, not a solitary man,
has been actually surrendered on the part
Of this State. Nor have we seen anything
Of the order said to have been made by
Governor Butler, but take it from hearsay.
1t is true that three or four persons appear
to have been surrendered on the part OF
Canada by virtue Of applications from this
State, but none of those were British sub
ipcts