New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-10-04

t{te N the slaeed slave and If that title depended
upon deeda wills or other documents, they ahouid
have been proved in the ordinary way 'uA'e~'
which reference made 10 an unsntnehIica'eo
copy of will. Moreover, 1t was peceEsa[y W
show that the slave did pot come INTO tn's oIete
with The assent Of his owner; Tor II such pestAn
sion was given. no claim could be made under ths
Constitution. which merely provides that " NO per
son held to service labor 10 one S.ase under the
lava thereof escaping into another shall Ia conee-
nnsncs NJ any law or regulation therein be dls-
charged from auch service or labor, bat shan be
Delivered 20 on CLAIM of the party TO whom such
service OF Dor mey be duo Art T. Sec 2.
The legal presumption In favor OF liberty was
that Hamlet had not escaped but that MS presence
in this State wRs lawful, and 1t was incumbent on
the plaintiff TO rebus that legal presu npton, not by
mere proof OF what the owner SAID on sne suoJecN
but by the best proof that the nature Ell the ase
admits Of For this purpose the owner herself
should have testified that she did not consent 10 the
departure OF her slave. This she mighs have been
allowed TO do from the necessity OF the case al
though interested. Phil Ed. 10 PhH "a
Cocen's Notes l40) 1t ie quite probable that the
owner OF Homlet Gfbe was d slave) gave him per
mission to go into Free State Oh her buainess.
II he did so she could not CAIN him under the
Constitution No enc but the owner herselt could
prove THAI such assent was not given, except by
giving hearsay testimony, which is not admissible
The proceedings being Of q criminal nature, the
evidence cannot consist OF dispositions taken out OF
the presence Of the accused, much less without
notice to him. The new act provides otherwise;
bus the provision is void. Congreas cannot, IN
criminal case, provide that the evidence agRlnIt
the accused shall be taken behind his back, for the
Constitution declares that in criminal prosecutions
the accused shall be confronted with the Wltnesses
against him. This clause Rhould De Construed 30
as to apply to all cases of criminal character
The great object Of the framler Of the 'ae'0 act oas
a. ~ lama of er7i1e a
to enable parties setting claims to persons al
Legged TO be slaves, to make out such claims with.
out any rega TO the rules OF aw which sultors and
prosecutors are bound by in ordinary cases. Hence
authority ID given to E set OF people called Com
1piesioners in the belief that man may be easily
rejected from among them to earn hls tee OF SIC by
summary" adjudicating the claim to be good
one without being particular as to the rules OF evl.
dence And it is TO bo observed that 30 little re-
gard does the act pay to appearances that the
Commissioner Ia to have $40 if he decides that the
defendant in slave, and only SIS it he determines
otherwise.
We have heard good deal about the Star
Chamber" and about Turkish Kadis, bet this afro
cioua enactment authorizes proceedings IN compar-
ison with which those Of the Star Chamber were
req pectabe, and as the Kada aney are the coun-
serparts Of the " Commissioners.
1t ia the duty of the Judges of this 5tsso to de-
4 clare this ACT OF Congress unconstitutional. The
! citjZeDg and Inhabitants OF t0ls stale, WneLnef
foreign or native coored or white, cannot be fully
protected in the enjoyment CT their liberty, il this
law be respected. Many Slaves are white so that
even white persons can be snasched into slavery
under the pretense that they are partly descended
from colored ancestor and there can be no doUb
that many free colored citzenc will be fraudulently
sezed and consigned to Slavery in its worst form
if the Free States submit to this gross uaurpeson
wrong done to the meanest inhabitant Of 6
Country ahoud be resented as an injury to the
whole community, and it is the duty of the Judici
airy TO sustain the Constitution and protect the
people from the operation ct this Turkish enact
ment Whenever an American Kadl is sbout &c
act under the Law, q writ OF haOeas corpus should
be issued and the validity OF the detention by his
authority should be denied
The question as to the Constitutonality of the
law will probably come up at some time or other
on an indictment for homicide, in rescuing the
alleged fugitive and it may also be raised on other
occasions The Commissioner may be sued for as
sault are battery or indicted. The question cannot
be lodged and it 10 believed that even the Supreme
Court composed, though it be, chiefly of Slave
owners will feel itself constrained to say that Con
sress has violated the Constitution in passing thR
Law. Not one Wing from this State voted 70, the
Bill of denominations, and only one New York
| Democrat in the House Rupportedlt. 1t was, more.
over, denounced in the Senate as unconstitutional.
OF course, Mr. pro-Slavery Dickinson, Yves in its
favor but the people and the Representatives Of
this State are opposed to it. 1t is clearly unconSt
.utonal and now it ia for the Judges to perform
their duty.