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

ceased 10 DC pebL IL! Tie lii oil0 ~
Wards Island
have the honor 10 be- gentlemen,
with great respect, your obi servant.
JOHN MURRAY CARNOCHAN.
Ner Yo,b, 759 Broadway, Dec. II, 1850
Constitution and Fugitive slaves mo l.
To the Editor Of The Tribune:
With your permission propose to express Oh
opinion through the columns of your paper, on
several points touching the subject indicated by
the above title. A very large number OF slaves
have fed from Southern bondage-some going to
Canada for Freedom and others taking refuge In
the Northern States. The effort to capture them
under the law recently enacted by Congress- is
proving a source of great excitement, not only
among the colored people Of the North but also
all other classes. The peace measure" so called
has sadly failed of its protested object Congress
could hardly have done anything better adapted
to promote agitation, and keep up the excitement
in regard to Slavery If the South mean to make
the North limiting ground for catching slaves
they NAV rest assured of one thing-that is, the
whole subject of Slavery will continue to be All
tated by the people Plain and honest men will
have their own thoughts and if occasionally they
sDeak 0ul, Shareholders must not be surprised
What then is the provision Of the Federal Con-
stitution, on which Siape.c0tching legislation is
sought to be based We have it in the following
passage;
mo person held TO service labor in State under
the laws thereof escuping INTO another shall in conse-
such service or labor bit shall be delivered up on claim Of
the party to whom such service or labor may be due"
l. acct z; clause 8.
This is one of the three dark spots to be found
on the face of the National Charter. Aside from
three it is the most perfect as well as practical
Bill of Human Rights that ever was framed. Let
us then examine five questions properly growing
cut OF this proyision-that is, its Elementary
Causes-its Legal Reason--its Moral Features
its Executive Agency-its Manner of Execu-
ton, AL these are important points
l. IT'S ELEMENTARY CLAUsEs-Such proyi-
sion ought in all justice to be held to the rigid
rules Of Interpretation. 1t is manifestly against
right and freedom as it is inconsistent with the
whole genius of our Republican System, and ought
to be understood as meaning no more than it says'
What then does it say
1t describes a human being in a certain State
"a MAN, and not horse or an OK. He is 'per
son held to service or labor" The word stare
is not Used, because the trainers of the Constitu.
ton would not disgrace the National Charter with
the odious term. They felt sensitive about their
diction. Yet a slave was meant. But for Slave
~ existing under the State governments, no such
feature would have appeared in the Federal Con
stitution 1t is there at the demand Of Slavery
and this only. Much as we regret its existence
we cannot deny facts.
This person must be "held to service or labor
under the laws of one of the States. He is to be
held in STATE. This is the word used 1t does
not mean Territory; neither does it mean the
District OF Columbia it means one of the members
OF the Contederacy-a State, and nothing but
State. The trainers of the provision carefully
guarded against the idea that the holding could
take place under the avs of the Federal Govern
ment. They threw the whole responsibility Of
slayeegislation upon the States.
The person so held must make his ESCAPE
from that State, Escaping" is the word used
This cannot mean less than that he leaves his
master, runs aaray without any consent or concur
renee on the part of the latter From the moment
he touches the soil OF freedom by any other
method than an actual escape from the local law
OF Slavery, he becomes ipS0 facto freeman. The
provision does not authorize masters to carry their
Slaves INTO the free States and then return them
INTO bondage. This strict Interpretation OF the
word escaping has been the general doctrine
Of American Courts on this subject. See Strouds
Sketch OF the Slave Laws, PIP. l65-I74.
Iheperson so held and escaping, is described
as making his escape into "0nother' STATE The
provision IN idea follows the tugltive-Where
From the State in which he is held into another
State. This Is clearly the language of the clause.
state ls the antccedent, to which "another" re.
lefs' The man escaping goes not only from q
state, but 10 state, III order to come within the
description Of the provision. Merely escaping ia
not the idea the place from which and that to
l'hicis are carefully marked and in both instances
1t IS STATE. II the trainers Of the Constitution
intended more, they could easily have said so, by
aiding the phrase I" or any other place under the
jurisdiction OF the General Government" This
they have not done and hence we do not see
that the provision applies 70 cases of Slaves es.
csPns ihto a territory OF into the District of Co
idm0a- l-lther OF these places might be an Asv.
ioln' so lar as the language Of this provision is
concerned. This IS not quilble it is sinD1v
readlng the clause as it is written.
The person SO held and escaping is supposed to
be claimed BY a certain party o. The party 10
whom such service orlabormay be due Whet!i.
= he owes Service morally to dis party is not
the question; but simply whether he owes It le.-
gaii!, under the laws Oh the State from which be
Las escaped. This paltuf the provision necessa.
Fly marked an 1sSts to De tried in some wav. A
Claim IS presented Of course to sonsBo3V and
S0ms%tefe ms claim not al act of violence. but
the DECLARATION OF legal title on the part of the
claimant. IL IS necessarily followed b. legalis.
sue, teStl15 rs yadlty adinvolyiug all the cues
tons 81 Jae5 referred 70 n the provision. Until
tHeSe questions are settled by due process of
laW there IS 10 evidence that the person claim.
ed oy the party claiming IS hedto service or Ia.
nor no evidence that TINS party is the one IN