Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-10-20

fugitive slave.-provided that that this power b.
exercised under the sanction Of The United State
Courts; but it is not obligatory upon any stat,
10 suffer its oNn magistrates to exercise tn
same power.
: The law ,f Congress Of 1893 coners the sam,
power upon state magistrates as that given {,
Judges OF The United . a'es Courts and upol
That statute the court says, that their magistrate
may, II they choose. exercise the authority thu
: conferred. "unIes, prohibited hv state ltrsla
ton THIS decision Is at present the law uf .h,
land, and the danger is, iha, among our grca
number OF magistrates, some may DC found WHIT
are not we'll Informed as to their duty, and ma,
act unadvisedy, and thus, upon false claim
consign some unfortunate being forever to hope
less saycry,-for from the decision OF the mag
lsrate there IS no appeal
therefore recommend 10 the legislature tc
pass law prohibiting all magistrates, acting
under the authority of this state, from taking
cognizancc Of or acting under, the act Of Com
gress passed the 18th July, 1893, relating to fu
gilve slaves, or any other law that may be pas
sed of similar import This would seem from
the aforesaid decis n t, be perfectly consttu-
the court, by the language before quoted. By
such an act, the evil consequences Of the decis.
ion may in some degree be ni,igated.
also recommend law prohibiting all oxe-
cutive officers of the state from arresng, or de.
tanning in Jail. any person WHO is claimed as a
| fugitive slave; believing this to be proper
mode ul exhibiting the determination of this
state To do no act, which she may constitutional.
ly omit to do, to countcnance the institution of
slavery. The commonwealth of Massachusetts
has recently passed such a law, and the exam
! pie is believed TO be worthy OF imitation. Ii the
passing OF the statute proposed shall incident
| 10 and e
! slaves, may we not well excalm in its defence,
| in tic language OF the sage of eo-"s.iall
distressed humanity find no asylum -
| There are strong reasons for anticipating that
an attempt will very sooI be made to annex the
Republic Of Texas TO tie United States, as well
Tor the purpose OF creating perpetual market
slaves, az, from that large territory, TO carve
out slave states enough to give preponderan-
Cy IN the Union to the slave power Ii such an
attempt shall succeed. then woe beides our I'M
happy country. Who then can hope that the
wrath Of Heaven can be longer restrained =!
have spoken perhaps loo freely upon this
exciting subject; but at The capitol of Vermont,
unlike that at Washington, there is liberty OF
speech upon all public topics.
In our expenditure tn, utmost economy that
is consistent with the maintaining and promo.
ton o. tn, public interests, should be constant
" practised The JUS; medium between pars-
mony and extravaganza, IN pubic transactions,
i. is not ALWAYS easy to discover, and it is to be
found only by he good sense Of those who make
the laws and this was one reason why our
Constitution declares that the House OF Repre-
scnla,ives, which originates all appropriation
bills, shall consist of men INST noted for wis
dom, as well as virtue. In this state, where
the only permanent source Of revenue is direct
taxation, pro!usencss Of the peoples money
should be carefully avoided.
1t appears by the Report Of the Auditor in the
Treasury, that the State School Fund amounts
to s200,234 95, and that of this sum sl73,l5,
is duc to the fund from the state, and the re.
manning y525,0S0 95 is due from individuals on
loans In one view, the state is in debt in the
first sum; aud in another view, it is creditor
in the last sum. The Auditor Of Accounts has
given very co2ent reasons why the debt of the
state to the fund ought to be cancelled and #
those reasons appear TO the General Assembly,
as they do to Inc, convincing aud unanswerable,
the debt will, as the fund is under the control Of
the stale, be cancelled.
That Tariff of duties upon importa'ions,
Sufficient TO supply all the reasonable wants OF
the National Government, and shaped with
substantive and bona fds intention to give ade-
quate protection to home industry, is absolutely
necessary for the true Independence and pros
perily of the country, is believed to he a iunda-
mental political truth, which ought on all sulia-
bic occasions to be proclaimed 1t is doctrine.
too, which should be put forth in no ambiguous
terms, but ought distinctly to embrace the idea
OF protection for the sake of protection, that thus
| there nav be but two sides 10 the question: and
no cover for hypocrisy on either.
The last Congress found that the sliding scale
of the Compromise Act had descended so low
tina, the revenue was no, sufficient to support
! the Government that the low rate of duties
had caused excessive importatons of foreign
goods, aud consequently immense indebtedness
and large remlttances Of specie abroad, while at
home the results were, great injuay TO our man.
ufacures, as well as to those who furnish mate
rials, labor and subsistence, and an almost uni
versal depression Of the business Of the country.
In this state OF things the majority of that Con.
gress undertook to enact a new, and it was he.
ed, better Tariff; and after the strong opposi.
ton Of tho great body Of the minority, and with
The reluctant votes Of small number of that
minority, the present Tariff was passed. AL
though it is but about year since its passage,
its operation has already been most beneficial
Business is now uncommonly active in the com
mercial cities; the important manufactures are
} in lively operation; the demand for the grea,
staple of our slate is revived, and the price has
|, somewhat increased; and it is believed that i
opponents in the next Congress, the business o
the country will be in permanent state Of pros
perity, and, consequently, our agricultural pro-
auctions in good demand.
If, as has been aledged, it shall turn out tina
| the protection afforded to every interest, excep
+ that which is peculiarly our own, is too high
: while the protection to that is inadequate, it il
r surely consoatory to reflect, that the portion o
the people, from whom this complaint arises
may control the majority in the next Congress
, and may add, reasonable to expect, that ma
p jorlty will raise tho duty on wool to the neces
g sary point The correctness of this expectation
Q however, time will determine.
q 1t should be remembered that the presen
= Tariff was not secured without great sacrifice
Q The oyerweening opinions Of the President, an
is the opposition OF the minority in Congress com
l. PEELED the postponement, and perhaps the fina
y loss, of the distribution of the proceeds of tn
Of sales of the public lands among the severa
t. states. TO which they have just right. Th
j. vas done, est the want OF a sufficient revenu
n should oblige Congress to pass Tariff hight
n protective; thus inliicting upon the states
IT double njury-the loss OF their portion of til
As money accruing from the sales of the publ
l. = of la,,; a.. IN,