Washington telegraph., 1850-06-05

without prescribing the limits of tn
territory, would leave the work imperfeC
and incomplete, and might expose Ne,
Mexico to serious controversy, if nc
dangerous collision, with the State {
Texas. And most, if not all, the col
siderations which unite in favor of con
bining the bill for the admission of Cal
fornia as State and the territorial bill:
apply TO the boundaryquestion of Texa:
by the union Of the three measures ever
question of Difficulty and division whicl
has arisen out Of tbe territorial acquisition
from Mexico viii, It is hoped, be adjusted
or placed in rain of satisfactory adjust
ment. The committee, availing them
| selves Of TIE arduOus and valuable labor
of the committee on Territories, report ;
bill, embracing those three measures, the
passage of which, uniting them together
they recommend to the Senate.
The committee will now proceed to the
consideration of, and report upon, the
subject of persons owing service or la boz
IN one State escaping into another The
text OF the constitution is quite clear:
No person held to labor or service in one
State uneler the lars thereof escaping
INTO another, shall, in consequence of any
law or regulation therein, be discharged
from such service or labor, but shall be
aeltUered up on the claim of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due.
Nothing can be more explicite than this
language-nothing more manifest 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 composing the
Union, and to the General Government,
If, indeed there were any difference in
the duty to enforce this portion of the
constitution between the States and the
Federal Government, it is more clear
that it is that of the former than of the
latter. But it is the duty of both 1t is
now well known and incontestable that
citizens in s.aveholding States encounter
the greatest difficulty in obtaining the
benefit Of this provision of the constitution.
The attempt TO recapture fugitive is al
most always subject of great irritation
and excitement, and often leads to most
unpleasant, ii not perilous collisions. An
owner of slave, it is quite notorious
cannot pursue his property, for the purpose
of its recovery, in some o! the States
without imminent persona! hazard. Thi:
is deplorabe state of things. which
ougl. TO be reinedied. The law Of f79t
has been found wholly Intellectual, and
requires more stringent enactments.-
There is, especially, a deficiency in the
number of public functionaries authorised
to afford aid in the seizure and arrest o
fugitives. Various States have declined
TO afford aid and cooperation in the sur
render of fugitives from labor, as the
committee believe, from a misconceptioi
Of their duty arising under the Constitu
| ton of the United States 1t is true tha
decision of the Supreme Court of tn,
| United States has given countenance t.
them in Withholding their assistance
| But the committee cannot but believ,
that the intention of the Supreme Cour
| has been misunderstood. They canno
| but think that that court merely mean
! that laws of the several States which
created obstacles in the way of the re
covery of fugitives were not authorised
by the constitution, and not that Stat,
laws ahording facilities in the recover,
of fugitives were forbidden by the in
strunent.
The non-siave States, whatever sym
pathies any of their citizens may feel 70
| persons who escape from other States
cannot discharge themselves from an obi
CATION to enforce the constitution of tn
United States. Ali parts of the instru
ment being dependent upon and connect
ed with each other, ought to be fairl,
and Justly enforced. If some States ma
seek to eXonerate themselves from on
portion of the constitution, other State
may endeavor 10 evaGe the performance
of other portions of it; and thus tile i'll
| strument, in some OF its most importan
provisions, might become imperative ant
| invalid.
But, whatever may be the condnct G
individual States, the duty of the Genera
Government is perfectly clear, Tha
duty is, TO amend the existing law, an
to provide an effectual remedy for the re
covery of fugitives from service or labor
In devising such a remedy, Congress
ought, whilst on the one hand securln!
to the owner the fair restoration of hi
property, effectualiy to guard on th
other, against any abuses in the applica
Iiou of that remedy.
In all cases Of the arrest, within State
of persons charged with offences; in a
cases of the pursuit Of fugitives form jus
tice from one State to another State; i
all cases Of extradition, provided for b
treaties between foreign powers, the pre-
ceeding uniformly is summary. 1t ha
never been thought necessary to apply
in cases Of that kind. the forms and cere
mcnies of final trial. And when tha
trial does take place, it is in the state c
country from which the party has fed, an
not in which he has found refuge, b
the express language of the constitution
whether the fugitive is held TO service G