New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-05-16
FUGITIVE SLAVES.
Address Of Hon. William Jay

vgfl
tor, we have witnessed many rich and p-ec.o1s
s.crifces. bnsely and ANONYMOUSLY offered On the
- 20 buman bondage. One oi the mDstrem8rka-
n ;ds,,s in this competition IL the pied e given
-. ,bo senator from Massachusetts - vote ior new
f.cl;tie, in catching AID restoring u ,hei prison
house. such of bis innocent fellow men AMI fellow
countrvmen IS had through the providence OF I'D
escaped from H. Ill =:
% he bonored with the support Of D lnisl Ws3ster,
aIlovv me 70 INQUIRE whence Congress derives the
power TO lecisste ON the SUBJECT
Tic nouer Of the Federal Government is ! lited
bv the explicit declaration The powers not dele
GATED TO the United States, nor prohibited - To,
S,a,es are reserved o. the States respectively, or
10 the people" Hence il Congress possess the
pover 70 line and imprison us for not hunting il-
eve Slave or for ealing him from hs hultsrs,
such power is defeated in the Constitution. Now
what are the terms in which this power is dele
gated Only the following: " No person he'd %
service or labor ia State under the laws there
Of escaping into another, shall in Consequence OF
any law o. regulation therein, be discharged from
such service or labor bat shall b. delivered up On
claim OF the party TO whom such service or
labor may be due" Second Section, Article
~ Not another syllable in reference 10 t1-
eitiyc slaves is 20 be found in the Con9tltl
ton. Ifthese few lines delegated Congress tbs
power TO fine and imprsJn me Tor not loIniag IN
save-hunt, equally does it delegate the power 70
hang every individual in this room guilty Of the
same crime. Let Us analyze this delegation Of
power. First. we are told in substance, that
fuoitive slave shall not be emancpated by the
laws of the State into which he fees la tis dec.
laration find restriction on the power OF the
States but no grant Of power to Congress Next
we are told he shall ne deitUerefg w mere IS he
10 be delivered upl Of course, IN the State 10
which he has fed and OF the beneitoi whose Anti
Slavery laws he is deprived. And does this IN
junction 10 deliver up rest upon Congress = the
fugitive in their possession The delivery being
enioined by the Constitution, must be formal
legal delivery made by authority and TINS IS eYi-
dent from the condition OF the delivery. To whom
is the delivery to be made To any claimant
No but to the one to whom the fugitive owes ser
vice by the laws OF the State from which he fed.
OF course, there must be a judicial investigation,
and the delivery must be in consequence OF 4
Judgment rendered Now here g power to be ex-
ercised and duty to be performed by some
agency What agencyl In the whole clause
there is not an aluson to the Federal Government,
no delegation Of power 10 Congress, no duty I'M
posed on Congress. We have seen that power
not delegated to Congress, and not prohibited %
the States. is reserved by the Constitution 70 the
States. Here is power TO be exercised, bat It IS
not giyea to Congress 1t IS not prohibited To the
states, therefore it is reserved 70 the States. The
STATES then, are required by the Constitution y
cause fugitive slaves to be delivered up 70 their
owners but the mode of doing this is very proper
" left TO the authority of each State.
In this same article anotherdeiivery is eD;Jiaed,
viz: "a person charged ia any state WIKI treason.
felony or other crime who shall fee from justice
or be found in another State. shall, on demand OF
the Executive authority OF the State from which no
fed, be deirclcd MP, 20 be removed t. the Sta5G
having Jurisdiction OF the crime" Thus the fue.
tive slave and the fugitive felon is each TO be delv.
cred up. The language being identical, the power
to deliver up must also be the same. Now mark
how the expOundeIs Of the Consultation are gov
erned in their conjunction o. it by "the tiuct1rs
of a skim" There has never been a question that
the poWcr 20 surrender lOus is II zen 10 the Stotes
alone. These eions are frtie rascals, ami are de-
hyered mp by the Governor Of a State on inl d1cu-
meDtary evidence that they nave been iesaAy
charged with crime, that 49, indicted by Grand
Jury. But the fugitive slave is an innocent ard
oppressed H1ck man, and the Supreme Court have
virtually decided. in the case OF Pnyg, that TIE
words shall be delivered up mean may BE-
seized by the master and carried oil by ionce, VIII
out cgal process, without proof o tite and without
the know edge or consent the STATE auth0ri5es.'
They have moreover decided that these same
words convey power to Congress to pass laws 10
assist the master in catching his slave, aud pro
hibitiOn to the States 10 pass similar laws
This decision has practically proved inconveaient
to the slave catcher by depdyng him Of the aid fr
merry granted by State laws aud state OhceTs
hence the new law % be supported by NJ WE
STIR.
Let rs now listen to some important confessions
from Mr.. Mason who introduced the bill, and from
Mr.. Webster who is to vote for it.
SAYS Mr.. Mason, I" In my reading OF those
clauses Of the Consultation tor extraditi1n OF iua-
tives of both classes, advance the confident opia
ion that it deyOves upon the STATES the dlty OF
providing by law both for their capture aud Iely5
iva duty admit as civilians term il, OF impcr.
- laxk
higher obg ation in fact than it could be Cno ced
BY legal sanction" So Mr. Mason understands the
Constitution as imposing upon the States the obi
cation 10 surrender both fugitive ielons and flsi-
tive slaves And the States themselves so under
stood aud performed the obligation, TIL tneSlpreme
Court told them it was none OF their business. MI
Webster is as frank rs Mr.. Mason. 81 have al
WAYS thought that the Constitution addressed Itself
to the Legislatures OF the States themselves or to
the States themselves IL SAYS those persons
escaping into other States shall be delivered up,
aud confess have always beol OF opinion that
that an injunction upon the States themselves.
1t is said that person escaping into another State
and becoming therefore within the jurisdiction of
that State shall be delivered up. 1t seems
to me that the plain import Of the passage
is that the State ITSELF in obedience 10 the injlnc
ton of the Constitution, shall cause him 70 be de-
livered up. This IS my Judgment and | always
entertained II, and | entertain it now" 10 con-
frmaton Of this judgment Mr.. Webster might
have remarked thGt in this same 4th Art. still
another obligation is imposed upon the States, viz:
Full faith and credit shall be given in each State
to the public acts records and judicial proceedings
Of every other State" Now does this injunction
convey grant OF power to Congress 20 dictate 10
our Courts how such acts shall be verified! Most
certainly not, and therefore it is added. Aud the
Congress may BY general laws prescribe the man
per in which such acts, records aud Proceedings
shall be formed, and the effect thereof" But with
regard to the two other obligations imposed on the
States in this Article the delivery of fugitive fe
ons and Slaves DO power Of any sort or kind is
delegated TO Congress. How, then, can Messrs.
Mason and Webster assume power which they
acknowledge Is not given by the Constitution Be
eanse the decision Of the Supreme Court sets aside
their private judgments, and that decision has be.
come thus far the Constitution. But this new
Constitution gives the Stakeholder right 10 seize