The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-04-30

These are the chief eonstitationsl objestioa1
which the committee bring against the law ba
besides thee, we think Il needlsssly severe y
other particulars against the alleged fugitive
and such a. allow him the smallest shelter. i
provides that if any one shall aid, abst, or a.
sist such person so owing service or labor ~
aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from
such claimant" be shall, for either OF said
offences, be subjected to fine not exceeding
enc thousand dollars, and imprisonment not ex
ceeding six months" and shall moreover for
felt and paw, by way Of civil damages" the
sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive va
lost" Sec. ~ We are astonished at such
penalties denounced against an act OF mercy
which common humanity prompts, and religion
commands.
But, leaving these aud all the previous oil jec'
tons to this law, the committee are OF opinion
that Congress has no constitutional power TO leg
islare ON this matter. The power OF Congress
to make this law, and the previous act OF 1893
are claimed under the following provision OF the
Constitution /" No person held to service or
labor in one State, under the laws thereof es-
Gaping 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 SER
vice or labor is due" Art. iv. u, 49, We
will prefer to put single ambiguity by
whom shall he "be delivered up" Unjust be,
first, by the people acting jointly or severally or,
secondly, by the Slate to which he has csc ped;
or, thirdly, by the federal government The Su-
preme Court have decided in favor OF the federal
government; hut the committee think that this
function of delivering up constitutonally be-
longs to the individual States to which the fug-
tive may have escaped. The COMMITTEES are
happy to have on their side the opinion of so
celebra! ed an expounder OF the Constitution"
rs Mr.. Webster, who says, in his speech OF
March 7, 1867 always thought that the
Constitution addressed itself to the legislatures
of the States, or to the States themselves" 1t
seems to me that the import OF the passage is,
that the State itself shall cause him the fugi
tive] to Ue delivered up
The committee find the same opinion, in a
report made by the committee on the judiciary OF
the house Of representatives OF Massachusetts
in 1897, which says" That no general au-
thority upon the subject of slavery, or upon
subject which shall draw this after it as an Incl
dent, is anywhere given to the general govern
ment." House document, 1897, NO. 81, p. 10.
&C.. ~
Considering this law as unjust in its nature,
wrong in its principle, hostile to the designs OF
all Just human laws; deeming it in the highest
degree unconstitutional, in general and in detail,
we do not hesitate to declare hat we consider
Il an infamous and wicked statute, law not tit
TO be made and not fit to be kept. 1t is dis
grace to the age we live in, repronch to the
nation which glories in the name OF democracy,
and foul shame to the people that processes
religion, whose great practical rule OF conduct
Is, to "do unto others rs we wish them to DO to
u.s."
Your committee lack time, az well rs language,
to express the adherence and loathng which
they feel for this law. Yet ii is the Ian Of The
land, not officially declared unconstitutional
Unconstitutional as we believe it, inhuman and
wicked as it unqnestionably is, ii is stiH lao,
and forcible resistance to it is legal INSIDE
neanor. It's results are most disas 'rous. The
innocent citizens who have fled from slavery and
found home, and reared families among us, are
forced to flee, and TO seek in monarchy an nsy-
uul from the injustice and cruelty of arepubcl
They flee for liberty from America to England
A queens dadem protects Christian men from
the slave-drvers whip, tender women from
masters lust, and new born babes from his thirst
for gold. The STAKEHOLDER profanes the soil of
seeking whom he may devour.
people of our Stat. He is hawk among
doves-a wolf, a hyena, among lambs. 1t is
with deep modification your committee confess,
that persons are found in this city VINO consent
TO sell their professional services TO the base
purpose Of ensaving men--that among them
are found persons whom this commonwealth has
honored with the commission of justice of the
who trample under foot our own
con ittution in their efforts to enforce this wicked
law. We confess we deem it no less a crime
against nature and humanity to enslave fugi-
tive, than to steal n free man. To our judy
ment, the illegal kidnapper on the coast Of At
rca, and the legal man-hunter in Hoston, belong
TO the same class OF felons. They differ, how
ever, specifically, and we think the native spe-
cies FAR orse than the foreign felop, whom all
Christian governments, and our own among the
number have denounced AS a pirate. We say
this advisedy We have studied the action,
have analyzed its motives, and have examined
its excuses. But while We gladly fold the man
tie Of charity over the shame of men whom pow
erty and ignorance conduct to crime. we can find
no palation for the hideous spectacle of citi-
zens Of Massachusetts, and even officers in her
service, in the very city of the Pilgrims seeking
to enslave n man. Let us turn off our eyes
from n spectacle so phastly and disgracefu
The committee deem it important to recall to
the memory of the legislature some Of the re-
solves that have been passed by our predeces-
sors.
On the 9Th Of April, 1899, the legislature
passed resolve, declaring shat it is para
mount duty of Massachusetts to protect her citi-
zens in the enjoyment and exercise of all the
right to which, by virtue of their citizenship,
they are entitled"
On the 23d Of March, 1910, preamble set
ting forth the moral and social as well as the
political and national evils of slavery in the Dis
trict of Columbia, and of the save-trade between
the se,e al States, and the following resolutions
were adopted;
Resoired, That Congress ought to exercise
its acknowledged power in the immediate sup
preston of slavery and the slave trade in the
District of Columbia. And whereas, by the
Constitution Of the United States Congress has
the power to regulate commerce with foreign
nations, and between The several States Of TIE
Union; and whereas domestic slavetradc, as
unjust6abe in principle ms the African slave
trade and scarcely less cruel and inhumain in
practice, il now carried on between the several
States--therefore,
Resolved That the domestic slave.trade be-
tween the several States ought to be abolished