The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-07-07

tatlon. Here IL Is, ID all us terrifying ana Sbu-
peudotts proportions, as find it recorded on the
Journal that / hold IN my hand Listen while 1
read from that Journal short extract:
siF Fitliian then moved to strike ou the 18th section
Of said bill, as follows;
BE IL further enacted, That, when any per-
son shall be imprisoned, aither upon execution or
otherwise, for the non-paYment of fine costs,
or both, it shall be lawinl for the saeritf of the
county to sell out such person servant to any
person within this state, wsO will pay the whole
amount due, foS the shortestperiod of service of
which sale public notice sh;dl be given at least
ten days and, upon such sals being effected, the
sheriff shall give to the purchaser Il certificate
thereof, and deliver over the prisoner 10 him,
from which time the relation between such pur-
chaser and the prisoner shall be that of master
and servant, until the time of ssrvice,exlsires /;
and for injuries done by either remedy shall be
had in the same manner as is may be provided
BY law in case of master and apprentice. But
nothing herein contained shall be construed to
prevent persons being discharged from. impris@n-
ment according to the provisions of the 37th sec
ton of the act 10 which this supplementary, ii it
shall be considered expedent to grant such dis
charge Provided, That the court, in pronounc-
ing upon any person or persons convicted under
this act, or the act to which this is supplemental
~, may direct such person or persons to be de-
tanned in the prison until the fine be paid, or the
person or persons otherwise disposed of agreea-
bly, to the provisions of this act.
&c Which motion was decided in the alfirma-
tive Yeas 20, nays r. and the yeas and nays
being required, those who voted in the a6irma-
tive were
% Messrs. Beasly, Brown, Fithian, Gass, Hes
ton, Jennings, Lucas, Matthews, Mclaughlin,
Mcmillan, NecoInb, Robb, Russell, Scofeld,
Shelby, Spencer, Stone, Swearinger, Thompson,
and Womeldorf-20.
esThose who voted in the negative were
sMessrs. Baldwin, Cole, FooS, Foster, HAIR
RISON, Mclean, Ozwalt, Pollock, Ruggles,
Roberts, Wheeler, and the SpealSer-I2."
Sir, have seen the words ''master and SER
want" as employed in this section, dressed oct in
staring capitals and placed in the foreground of
the picture, that they might attract all eyes by
having assigned to them a sort of guilty proIai-
nency. And what was the object of SO shallow
a device 1t was doubtless to create an impress
sion that this provision was intended to reduce
white men to the condition of negro slaves; not
outstanding the section itself carries its face
an express declaration that their condition was
to be that Of hundreds, not to say thousands, of
other white persons in the State, who had been
might be put to service according to the pro-
visions of existing law.
Who does not know that the relation of f'rnas-
ter and servant" as proposed to be established
by this section, is a relation as ancient and as
well regulated as that of any other recognised
in civil society To go further back, it was
known TO and regulated by the common law
and it has been sanctioned and guarded with
anxious care by the legislation of every State in
the Union, and by none with more PARENTAL soli-
citude for the rights of the servant than in the
State of Ohio
1t will be observed thatth section in question
provides that "for injuries done by either. mas
ter servant remedy shall be had in the same
manner as is or may be provided by law in case
of master and apprentice"
What that remedy was, may be seen by any
one who viii take the trouble to consult Chase's
Statutes, vol, l, PIP. 535-6, in the Library of
Congress, where they will find can act con
corning apprentices aud servants" passed jan
uary n, 1906, which continued in force till re-
pealed by another act ON the same subject, in
1924.
Authority was given, by the first section of
this act, to 'Eoverseers of the POOR" by and with
the consent of justice of the peace, and, also,
to "parents and guardians to put out any
child an apprentice servant" And as the
second section provides remedy for the APP
prentices servant in case of ill treatment,
and as it is the same remedy that a convict sold
out by the sheriff would be entitled to have
against the purchaser of his services for any
abuse, beg leave to read 1t follows:-
Sec. 2. That if any master or mistress shall
be guilty of any misusage, refusal OF necessary
provision clothing, cruelty, or other i'll treat
ment, 50 that said apprentice or servant shall
have just cause to complain-or the said ao-
prentice or servant be guilty of any misdemean-
or, or i'll behavior, or do not perform his or her
duty to his or her easter or mistress, then the
said master or mistress, apprentice servant,
having just cause of complaint, may repair to
any justice OF the peace in the township, who
shall, upon the application by either, issue his
warrant or summons, for bringing said master
or mistress, apprentice or servant, before him,
and take such order or direction between the
said master or mistress, apprentice or servant,
as the equity and justice of the case shall
quire."
A reference to the act just quoted seemed to be
necessary to prove two things very intimately
connected with the charge against Gen. Harri-
son. First, that the terms Fmaster and servant"
which have been made to figure alternately in
italics and large capitals, by way of intimation
that they concealed some mysterious or danger
aus design, are at last very innocent words, and
quite familiar to the statute of my State, from
the earliest period of its Legislation down to the
present time. And, secondly, that prisoners who
might De sold by the sheriff, were amply secured
against III treatment by the humane provisions
of that act
But, sir, this is not all; there was another pro-
vision in the 18th section of the bill, by which
the benefits secured to nsolvent prisoners by the
37th section of the original act, were expressly
reserved
In the ''act for the punishment of certain Of
fences therein specified" passed February IL,
1915, [see Chase's Statutes, I'd vol pages 1894
5-6-7, you will find the 37th section he.e re-
ferred to, and which is as follows:
s'.Sec 81. That when any person shall be con.
fscd in jail for the payment Of any fine and costs
that may be inflicted agrceably to the provisions
Of this act, the county commissioners may, if it
be made to appear to their satisfaction, that the
person SO confined cannot pay such fine and costs,
order the sheriff or jaior of such county to dis
charge such person from imprisonment; and the
Sheriff or jailor, upon receiving such order in
writing, shall discharge such person according
ly: Provided, That the Commissioners MAJ at
any time thereafter order and cause to be issued
an execution against the body, lands, goods or
chattels OF the person so discharged from inn
prisonment, for the amount of such fines and
costs"
1t viii be observed by the curious student of
our penal code, that the punishment prescribed
for the various offences defined in the original
and supplementary acts, such as theft, burglary,
Kill. H..