Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-04-16

Isl OF March, 1891. should be held in servi-
tude longer than iii the age Of twenty-five
years, "but such child al the age aforesaid
shall be free"
To fix the meaning Of a word in the Con.
%stitution Of thirteen United Statea. it Is fair
70 consult the laws Of all. But if we open
The Statute Books Of any of them, we shall
hnd the word used almost every year in con-
iradistinction from slaves and Of course
more frequently the further South We 20 in
our search. Indeed it is ludicrous to say OF
the Legislation of thirteen States, all IF uhich
had held sdoss til ,ciiAja screen years. and
fpehe IF tchich still hOd them, that they did
not use the word 'frre" to distinguish those
persons not slaves. They could not have fra
med their Statutes without the use of such a
word.
With these facts we leave the reader tc
rate at its true value this assertion of Mr..
Spooner's as TO the use Of the word ''free,''
in the public documents and Constitutions
of these States, in his sense and NO oTHeR.
But let US look again at the clause itself
and see, from the context, whether we car,
without making nonsense Of the whole, all
low the word Stree" to have any meaning
but the one usually given it, i. e. not ensla-
we'd. For il IS a rule alike Of law and com.
ilpb VIE Ntlh Ia Nlndhtlo DC ouIlOStN
TO mean something. and that any construc-
ton which makes words superauons or in
significant, or the Whole clause foolish. is
not to be admitted. And Mr.. Spoontr him.
self allows, Up. Co. as above quoted. that the
wicked meaning must be adopted if the 10Th
er parts of the instrument (the context) re-
quire it.
LIST. "By adding 10 the whole number of
F-,n ,r.a ,-ol.I.z- H.. |
vice for a term Of years, and excluding In
dams not taxed, three-ffths of all other per-
sons"
So says the Constitution. If "free per-
sons" is taken 10 mean persons at liberty
persons not bound to servitude, we see at
once the propriety Of the law-makers giving
an express direction to include. among such,
those bound to service for a term of years ~
only, if they wished so TO distinguish their
case. Had this been omitted. some might
have argued that strictly speaking such were
not free persons. Hence the necessity of this
special direction. But on Mr.. Spooner's in
depreciation of "free PERSONS" meaning all
native born citizens, where is the necessity Of
giving any such directionl Nobody ever
dreamt that being bound apprentice destroy
ed a mans citizenship! They would natn-
/ ldllN HdNCO Cth IllNIhlCu hiIOll 400 IfCC pCf
sons without any special direction. The care.
fds-inseTtion of this parenihesis proves tina
Mr.. Spooner's notion was not in the mind oil
the writer.
Cd. Again: "excluding Indians not tax.
ed" Chief Justice Marshall says (12 Whea-
ton 49, that:
1t is a rule Of Interpretation 10 which all
assent that the exception Of a particular thing
from rnparal ,.-or1o ,rnvac Yhat in tho opin
ion of the lawgiver, the thing excepted would
ton not been made" and that this is %"appli-
cable TO the Constitution"
Apply this rule and it proves our construc-
tion correct, and Mr.. Spooner's unsound.-
With our view of the meaning Of free per-
%sons," Indians being persons, and also free,
(not enslaved, } would naturally be included
unless, as here, there was special directions
given TO exclude them. But on Mr.. Spoon
er's hypothesis why insert any caution when
there was no danger OF mistake A few ci-
vilized Indians had Joined the whites, and
been tared, and were sometimes considered to
resemble citizens, though that is still a dis
puted point. But it had never entered the
widest Imagination to consider the rowing,
uniared tribes as native citizens of the States,
| any hi'h nv" hbS h"CllOlo vi NV
Rocky Mountains would be considered cili
zens of the United States. This again show:
his view to be incorrect. (See Judge Mar
shall's in the Cherokee Nation .. Georgia 5
Peters |, allowing that Indians are foreign
ers, aliens.)
Sd. "Other persons" Mr.. Spooner define
10 be aliens and "Indians not taxed" Thes
last cannot be included, because LIST. Tn
, grammatical construction of the sentence FOL
bids it. They are to be " other" than FIRE,
= other than those "Gound 10 s~errice," and oil
er than Indians. ID. According TO the wei
known rule Of law which bids us interpr
doubtful clauses in any law by referring
e the same words in other laws of the san
nation on The same subject, (see Kent | &c
Lord Mansfield l Burr. 447, Blackstone
,. 60, note. Dwarris 600, Bacon's Alb. ST
tute,) we must construe this by the old r
solve from which it is copied, passed by Il
Continental Congress, 18th April, 1888, tn
''eXpenses should be paid by the sever
States in proportion to the whole number
q white and other free inabilants, of every az
sex, and condition, including those bound
u servltude for a term Of years. and lhree-ftll
oil all other persons ercePt Indians not payin
" taxes in each State. (Story Comm. ?. II2,
Sd. Why should States agree to pay direc
taxes for even three-fflhs of those from whol
they were not themselves getting any tax {
gain? The sam reason-that they wer
not taxed-which excluded Indians from III
= list of " free PERSONS" would exclude Their
also from the three-fflh portion Of The basis
s If this be so, then, 4th. Aliens are the onl,
n ones left TO be included among "other pei
%sons," on Mr.. Spooner's plan. Now her
: never get was a Stale uhich took account 2
aliens in firing lis basis Of representations
Again, the reason why three-hfths only of
certain class was allowed to be reckoned wa
evidently because it was supposed that elias
would be ~unequaAy distributed through tn
n Union, and a portion Of it only was reckon
$ ed TO restore the balance. If Of this elias
a whichever il wss) all the States had ha
;, equal portions, it would manifestly be indi
trent whether all Of il was counted OF noa'