Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1851-05-10

that such compromises unoer the III
&c of an unwise legislative district are some
times unnecessarily and unavailingly made.
| am, Sir, with great respect
Your humble servant,
VIM H. SEWARD.
TouN A ANDREW, Esq, Secretary of the Com
mittee &C., DC.
TO THE FREEMEN OF KENTUCKY.
9. Coapromise 1.-THE Fugitive Stare Ldw-
Emancipation.
know of no power under the Constitution OF
the United States by which any such thing as
compromise can be made. know no power by
which our legislature can make law binding up
on all future legislatures unless where rights, or
privileges, or mmunities vacated IN individuals,
or corporations or States in consideration OF an
equivalent There is no power in the Legislature
in othencases to control the action of future eglS-
latures. The whole is an usurpauon, whereby IN
dividuaIs presume to be superior to the Consutu-
tion. Laws made in accordance with the Constr
tuition ought to stand or fall their merits, and
be altered or abolished according to the exlgencles
of circumstances and times.
Laws, made in violation of the Constitution, are
null and void, when so declared by the proper
courts; and, until so declared should be executed
by all good men,
The Fugitive slave law is regarded as unconsu-
tutional, because there is power in Congress to
pass laws upon the subject of fugitive slaves at all
Sec g. clause 8, U. S. G. is: ''No person held
10 service or labor in one State under laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall in consequence of any
law or regulation therein be discharged from such
service or labor but shall be delivered up on claim
of the party to whom such service or labor may be
due Sec. specifically names all the powers
granted to Congress-, and gives such additional
power as is necessary to carry into execution the
powers named. Now in all those Is clauses there
is not the slightest alluson to fugitive slaves Ar
ticle 10 of amendments is The powers not dele
gated to the United States by the Constitution nor
prohibited by it to the States, reserved to the
States respectively or to the people" Hence there
is no power slaves in the Constitution what
ever. James Madison and Roger Sherman, the
leaders of the liberal party, mot willing to
allow that man could hold property in men" while
the friends of slavery, on the other hand were
equally opposed to any power over slaves being
vested in the national legislature.
i The power to suppress instructions, 1t is true
touches slavery; but even that would not have been
granted had it not been necessary to the existence
of all governments.
The power over fugitives from service, then, is
one of those powers prohibited to the States, -
entirely negative, and binding the States in their
sovereign capacity. All that the claimant of a
slave ask of the States is that none be allowed
to obstruct the capture of the slave, and all the
to glue redress in of such obstruction, and in
this opinion, it seems that Daniel Webster concur
red up to his late speech in the Senate of the Uni
} ted States.
The attempt to compel the freemen of the North
to become slave characters, and the slavehol-
: ders of the South and North to bear the expense
of bringing back slaves, is not power vested in
the United States. The language is that they be
: ''deIi0ered up, not brought back
FL What ripht has CONGRESS to cOmnel us to nav
for the return of the slave, than to force the
owners of slaves to pay for the return of stray
horse?
On the minor objections to the law-such as re-
fusng trial by jury and testimony in self defence
even where the alleged fugitive is a free mantle
unequal contest of State sovereignty, where juris
dlcton is transferred to the side of the slave States
the questionable right of Congress to give the
power over the liberties of freemen to commission
ers, who not ''inferior courts under the Con
stltutlon-l shall not speak. | only venture to say
that the clause which gives a bride of dou6i
salary to declare against the liberty of the defen
dant claimed as slave, would disgrace any code
of law-the magnitude of its injustice being only
overlooked in the accumulated wrongs and usurpa
tons of slavery
The issue, then, which is attempted to be put BY
eminent persons and parties to the people of Ken
! tucky-to dissolve the Union in case such law i
repealed am ready to meet now and at all times
The passage OF an unjust or unconstitutional Law
= shall not drive me from my allegiance and sub
mission to the American Union, far less shall til
repeal Of such lar forca me into treason and cio
IL acar! am not only for the Union-repeal O
no repeal-but for the Union, slavery or no sla
: very!
While have thus far frankly avowed nv senti
ments upon this incidental question, now declar
for the benefit of all emancipationists who hav
any heart in the cause, that they need not be de
tered from joining the party, on account of m,
= tuttrds,' for while in discussion, shall rang
through all topics, which may add force to argu
ment, or light to just conclurions shall, so ia
as am concerned, make the basis of the party, tn
single issue of emancipation upon the soil, by tn
! insertion into the Constitution clause, that otte
Jfred dag, all persons born IN Kentucky shall B
{ free.
\ And upon that point l hope to be heard o.
the stump, IN every county in the State
ask liberal editors of all parties to give this al
insertion in their papers, for which will be ready
on demand to pay.
+ claim the honor of being ever loyal citize
/ OF the commonwealth. c. M. CLAY.
: JOHN VAN buren, ON THE UNION.
i Again, we are told that the Union of thes
Ska4o