Democratic banner., 1849-07-02
"UNrrED We SrAND-DlvIDED We FALL."

~N0 Sst~aA fASSSCo " SOISIOCI Tx OACSIS VI
that spirit of discord, which it reused up
between the two sections. It first disclos-
ed itself in the North, by hostility to that
portion of the constitution which provides
for the delivering up of fugitive slaves
In its progress it led to the adoption of hos
tile acts, intended to render it of non effect,
and with so much success that it may be re-
garded now as practically expunged from
the constitution. How this has been eff
|fected will be next explained.
After a careful examination, truth con-
strains US to say, that it has been by a clear
and palpable evasion of the constitution
1t is impossible for any provision to be more
free from ambiguity or doubted. 1t is in
the following words: "No person held to
service, or labor, in one State, under the
laws thereof, escaping into another State,
shall, in consequence of any law or regula-
ton therein, be discharged from such ser
vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on
claim Of the party to whom such service or
labor may be DUE" All is clear. There
is not an uncertain or equivocal word to be
found in the whole provision. What shall
not be done, and what shall be done, are
fully and explicitly set forth. The former
provides that the fugitive slave shall not be
discharged from his service by any Jaw or
regulation Of the State wherein heis found !;
and the latter, that he shall be delivered up
on claim of his owner.
We do not deem it necessary to under
stake to refute the sophistry and subter-
fuge by which so plain a provision Of the
constitution has been evaded, and, in eff
feet, annulled. It constitutes an essential
part Of the constitutional compact and of
course Of the supreme law of the land
As snch it is binding on all the federal and
State governments, the States and the indi-
viduals composing them. The sacred obi
cation Of compact, and the solemn %injunc-
ton Of the supreme law, which legislators
and judges, both federal and State, are
bound by oath to support, all unite to en-
force its fulfllment, according to its plain
meaning and true intent. What that mean
ing and intent are, there was no diversity
Of opinion in the better days Of the repub-
lie, prior to 1919. Congress- State Legs
latures, State and federal judges and magis-
~strates, and people, all Spontaneously placed
the same Interpretation on it. During that
period none interposed i~mpediments in the
way of the master seeking to recover his
fugitive slave nor did any deny his right
to have every proper facility to enforce his
claim to have him delivered up. 1t was
then nearly as easy to recover ona found in
a northern State, as one found in a neigh
boring southern State. But this has passed
away, and the provision is defunct.
When we take into consideration the i'm
portance and clearness of this provision,
the evasion by which it has been set aside
may be fairly regarded as one Of the most
fatal blows ever received by the South and
the Union. This cannot be more concisely
and correctly stated than it has been by two
Of the learned judges of the Supreme Court
of the United States. In one of his decis.
ions* Judge Story said: "Historically it is
well known that the object of this clause
was to secure to the citizens of the slave
holding States the complete right and title
of the Union, into which they might escape,
from the State wherein they were held in
servitude." "The full recognition Of this
right and title was indispensable to the Sc
curity Of this species of property in all the
slavsholding States, and, indeed, was so vi
tai to the preservation Of their interests and
institutions, that it cannot be doubted that
it constituted fundamental article, without
the adoption of which the Union would not
have been formed Its true design was to
guard against the doctrines and principles
prevalent in the non-slaveholding States,
BY preventing, or abolishing the rights Of
the OWNERS of slaves"
Again. "The clause was therefore oil
la - A. Ar aofok,, ard co0V-