Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1850-05-24

[Concluded rom fis.st PAGE ]

OF uttNCulty anu OlNtSiOit WINCH IiHS ititSSl
: out of the Territorial acquisitions fron
Mexico will, it is hoped. be adjusted, o
placed in n train of satisfactory adjust
ment The committee, availing themsel
YES of the arduous and valuable labors o.
the conmittee on Territories, report biz
herewith annexed, (marked a, embrace
ing those three measures, the passage oi
which uniting them together. they recon,
mend to the Senate.
The committee will now proceed to the
consideration of, and to report upon, the
subject of persons owing service or labor
in one State escaping into another The
text Of the Constitution is quite clear:
"No person held to labor or service in
one Dtatc, under the laws thereof, esca
ping into another, shall, in consequence
of any law or regulation therein, be dis
charged from such service or labor but
shalt be delivered up on the claim of the
party to whom such service or labor may
be due" Nothing can be more explicit
than this languagc-nothing more mani
fest than the right to demand, and The
obligation to deliver up to the claimant,
any such fugitive. And the Constitution
addresses itself alike to the States COM
posing the Union and to the General Gov
crnment. IT. indeed, there were any diff
ference In the duty to enforce this por-
ton of the Constitution between the
States aud the Federal Government, is IL
more clear that it is that of the former
than of the latter: But ii is the duty of
both. 1t is now well known and incon-
testable that citizens in slaveholding
States encounter the greatest difficulty i'll
obtaining the benefit of this provision of
the Constitution. The attempt to recap
turc fugitive is almost always subject
Of great irritation md excitement, and Of
ten leads to most unplcasanct, if not peri
lous collisions. An owner of n sclave it's
quite notorious, cannot pursue his proper
ty, for the purpose of its recovery, in
some of the States, without imminent
personal hazard. This is a dcplo'nble
state Of things which ought to be rene,
died. The law of 1893 mas been found
wholly Intellectual, and iequiers more
stringent cnactmcnts. There is, especial
ly deficiency in the number of public
func tionaries authorised to afford aid in
the seizure and arrest of fugitivcs. Va
rious States have declined to afford aid
and CO.. cooperation in the surrender of fugi-
tives from labor, rs the committee believe,
irom a misconception of their duty ari-
sing under the constitution of the United
States. 1t is true hat decision OF the
Supreme Court of the United States has
given countenance to them in Withholding
their assistance. But the committee can
not but believe that the intention of the
Supreme Court has been misunderstood.
They cannot but think that the Court
merely meant that laws of the several
States which created obstacles in the
way of the recovery of fug''ives were
not authorised by the Constitution, and
not that State laws affording facilities in
the recovery of fugitiyes were forbidden
by that instrument.
The non slaveholdng States, whatever
sympathies any Of their citizens may feel
for persons who escape from other states,
cannot discharge themselves from an OBJ
lination te enforce the Constitution OF the
United states. All parts of the instru
ment being dependent upon, and conncc-
ted with each other, ought to be fairly
and Justly enforced. If some states may
seek to exonerate themselves from one
portion of the Constitution, other states
may endeavor to cvade the performance
of other portions of it; and thus the In
strument, in some of its most important
provisions, might become imperative and
invalid.
But, whatever may be the conduct o
individual states, the duty Of the Genera
Government is perfectly clear. The duty
is to amend the existing law, and to pro
vi Ic an effectual remedy for the recovery
of fugitives from service or labor. In de
vi>ing such remedy, Congress ough
whilst on one hand securing to the own
cr the fair restoration of his property, cf
fectually to guard, on the other, agains
any abuses IN the application fthat rem
edy.
In all cases of the arrest, within
state, of persons charged with offences
in all cases of the pursuit of fugitive
from one state TO another state; i
all cases OF extradition provided for b
treaties between foreign powers the pro
ceeding uniformly is summary 1t ha