New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-12-17

"due process OF law In the STATE Oh 4fe"- olN
he is a kdnapper, liable TO imprisonment toy ten
years in the State prison, ii be seize any man as
q Slave lcHh0at laltH authority
The provision having thus recit=d it's conditions,
contains two meadGory clauses The first Is, That
no State hall pass any law oradop any regulation
by which the Fugitive Slage shall be discharged
from such service or laBOr. ANY slrE law OF reg
NATION would be unconstitutional. Here IL IS very
plain that the provision addresses itself 10 the
State and restricts lis legislative power within
the limits specified. To comply With It, all that
is necessary is to do nothing-to keep Oil from
the statute book any law or regulation c0utem-
plating tile discharge 1.-THE fugitive ltdemauds no
Dostlre action on the part OF the State to prevent
the fugitive slave from coming within is territory.
1t does not assume that the State are bound To
know ,rh0 are fugitiges from slavery. The duty
enioiued upon the State IS merely P7SSlrs one.
The second clause requires that the fugitive
shall be delivered up, in the circumstances
specified. The provision commands the delivery,
bat does not in cypress words point oql the pro
cess or the agency There beng no description
of the process in the provision itself, the general
doctrine that no person shall be deprived OF lite,
liberty property, rth0W d1e process d st'r IN
doubtedlv becomes the rule applicable to this
case This rule moreover, is to be taken in the
usual sense affixed to it in the Constitution, as
we'll rs ng-standing usage. 1t includes trial
! by Jury This ia what the phrase means in the
practice of this country. As to the agency Of this
delivery it is manifest that no party other than
the STAG is here in the renotest sense, brought
! to view We intend to look at this question
with some care in the sequel. Tie whole pro.
vision is On its face a compact between the States.
| the one agreeing with the other and with all,
! that in no State into which the Slave may flee
| shall he be discharged from service or labor but
that. into whatever State he goes, being there
identified & Slave Icy the laws OF the State
from which he escaped, he shall be delivered up
| Tl,, Of Cod.
cral Government is not here referred to by the
remotest hint. Not q sentence or syllable ap-
pears bestowing any power on Congress IN the
| premises TIE only agency that is even suggest
ed is that of the State into which the Slave has
made his escape. The provision is not grant of
power to any legislative body 1t is merely a
limitation of State power IN one respect, and the
imposition Of an obligation upon the same power
in another respect Thus we read the Constitu-
ton in regard to fugitive slaves.
H. It's LEGAL Unsatisfactory is in itself a
thing so odious, so contrary to the first principles
OF Justice, that tcan have no existence or defense
at common law Nothing but express Statutes or
provisions an support it for an hour Hence 1t is
general principle that as soon as the slave pas
ses beyond the localaW Of his bondage, his chains
melt away. From that moment he becomes tree,
the curse Of Slavery notbeing permitted to follow
him from one civil community to another, without
| express provision. Property IN man IS contrary
international law that independent nations should
deliver the one to the other, tugltlves from Sla.
very. BY the law OF nations emancipation occurs
the instant the victim passes beyond The local law
of Slavery and this general fact shows the judg-
ment of mankind in regard to Slavery
Now it is plain that this clause of the Constltu-
! ton was designed to obviate the action OF this
! lust and equitable principle. The thirteen States
! composing the Federal Republic were independ-
| ent sovereigntieg in some OF which Slavery was
al OIL, cII0c Tn
| disappear. Had there been no special provision
| for the capture Of slaves, the general rule would
have been the law OF these sovereisntics. The
| necessity for such provision IS founded IN the
| existence of Slavery and the general sentiment
of nations against it. 1t confesses the dsiayor of
mankind To ask for it is substantial indlct-
ment OF guilt at the bar of the civilized world 1t
was inserted in the Federal Constitution to make
an exception to general rule OF human justice
as reluctant concession for the sake of Union on
! account Of the existing liberation of Slavery III
some of the States, and the legal and unsuTender.
! ed right OF property vested by the laws of those
! States in the individual Stakeholder. 1t was not
| Endorsement Of Slavery, or a commitment OF
the Constitution, or its trainers, the people, to
| the principles OF this institution. 1t did not
template its extension or perpetuity. 1t was not
| designed to 2cetd such an unnatural system, as
permanent feature, upon the political fabric OF
this country Of this we have conclusive evil
dence in the fact, that the very age which pro-
duceu tle CohsttullOn provided lOr tuc tOOllIlOu
of the slave trade then the fruitful source of
Slavery in the fact that this same age, by the
ordinance of 1897 excluded Slavery forever ftom
all the Territory then in possession of the Union;
and equally in the fact, that the distinguished men
of those times were publicly committed against
Slavery and viewed it as OF briet duration-not
dreaming OF its extension che inch beyond its
then present limits Within those limits it was
tolerated by the laws of the respective States;
within the same the STAKEHOLDER held an unsur-
rendered right Of property which the Federal
Convention could neither reach nor abrogate. He
claimed seme security for his slave property
against the laws OF general Justice and locomo:
ton; and in these crcums tances it was accorded
to him by the anomalous provision of the Consti-
tuition bd1e concession is the very utmost that
can be made of this-a decnatnre to interfere
with the legal rights of Slavery where it existed.
Men opposed to Slavery and perfectly conscious
of its repugnance to the fundamental principles OF
our Government did consent that the Slave
holder might on the soil of freedom reclaim his
slave property This they did for the sake OF
Union, COUGHING that consent in such language as
to imply no approval of Slavery no Endorsement
of the doctrine of property in man. The con
cession, though really made, is on its face an I'M
parchment of Slavery. 1t stands out as a mourn
ful exception to the general sense of the civilized
world HUMAN RIGHTS