Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1851-11-20
Report of the majority of the Ju-
dietary Committee, on the Bill
repe aling the Habeas Cor
ms Act" of last session.
qothe House Of Representatives.

Du9 ACt vi iaSt SCSSlOns
7othe House Of Representatives.
The Committee on the Judiciary, t'
whom has been referred House bill No. :
entitled can Act repeating sections five
and six of an act relating TO the writ o
habeas corpus, to persons claimed ms fugi
tive slaves, and The right of trial by jury,
approved Nov 10, 1850" have felt the i'm
portance of giving to this subject full anC
dispassionate consideration, as well on ac
count Of its involving The personal libert,
of class of persons who may at sometlm,
hereafter come within this State, with
view to reside here, or who may happier
temporarily to be within or passing through
IT, as on account of the fact that the act o
the Legislature, passed at its last session, q
portion of which the bill proposes to repeal
has elected much discussion, both within
and without the State.
The apparent object and purpose of the
act, interposlng obstacles in the way of the
execution, within the limits of this State,
of a law of the United States, passed Feb.
IL, 1893. entitled An Act respecting Fn-
gitives from Justice, and persons escaping
from their Masters" and the act IN amend
meni thereof and supplementary thereto, APP
proved Sept. Is, 1850, and the extraordl-
nary extension 1t gives TO the great remedi-
al writ Of habeas corpus, and the novel
modes il provides for the ascerlainmeut of
disputed facts, that arise in its application
TO supposed unlawful restraint were cir
cumstances III themselves well calculated
to excite attention and arouse distrust in
those portions of the conlederacy where the
institution of Slavery is regarded with less
adherence than with US. That animadver-
sion aud even denunciation should follow
was natural, aud to be expected, in a coun-
try where the freedom of speech and of the
press, IN respect to the acts and doings Of
public bodies, whether state or national is
enjoyed without limitation or restraint. 1t
can excite no surprise that the obnoxious
enactment should be misunderstood and
misrepresented There would seem TO be
little use in complaining of this. 1t is more
TO the purpose to examine the act carefully,
and, if il should be found IN any respect in
coniraventlon of the Constitution of the u
nited States, aud the laws enacted in pur-
suance thereof, to repeal such provisions
promptly aud without delay TO do this
ihNblNNo uO odNiiilIt VI al VI ADAdti
pride. On the contrary, it would be an ex-
hibition of true dignity aud genuine patri-
otism, to repair as speedily as possible, any
hasty error in legislation, into which we
may have been inadvertently betrayed. A.
boye all, il is our clearest duty and highest
obligation, whenever we may have, through
an extreme solicitude TO preserve unim-
paired those principles Of civil liberty which
constitute the pride and the boast Of our
State, transcribed the limits of legitimate
state authority.
Your committee do not feel called upon
to ylndlcate the character of our people, Of
our Government, from the imputatiou of
hostility TO the Union of the States--to the
Constitution which binds them together in
our coniederacy-or TO the laws enacted in
conformity to it. They have never, for
moment, entertained the design of placing
themselves IN opposition to either. They
have never couDtenanced or taught nullih-
cation, in any form, or intended TO provoke
it, If their acts and proceedings are, in
any particular, Justly obnoxious to the
charge of doing so, it NAV be presumed to
be the result of haste and inadverlence, aud
no sentiments of false pride can or ought to
restrain them from placing themselves right
before the country at the earliest moment
they have an opportunity Of doing it.
In connection with the bill referred to
your committee, single petition signed by
a few persons, has been referred TO them
aud this prays for repeal, not only of the
two sections embraced in this bill, but of
the three sections Immediately preceding
AS there is nothing in the I'd and ith Sec
tons which il is not constltutionally com
petent for the Legislature of the State TO
enact, and as, from the condition and means
Of that class of persons who are likely TO be
claimed under the acts of Congress referred
TO, II is perhaps proper that the officers of
the State named, should be directed to give
information and to use all lawful means to
insure favorable result when a claim and
arrest are made, your committee, there
fore, do not recommend the repeal of the
said two sections. The 30 section they
deem intimately connected with the fifth
and sixth sections, aud liable To the same OBJ
jectons, and accordingly they propose to
amend said bill by inserting after the word
" section" and before the word 4" five" the
word three" and also by striking out the
word section" Immediately before the
word SIX"
Your committee, after as full an examn-
alton of the subject as circumstances would
permit, have come to the conclusion that
the 9th and 9Th sections of said act are in
direct conflict with the paramount laws of
the United States, If not in terms at least in
their practical consequences, Should The
provisions therein contained be applied and
made eiiectual in any case in which the
proper officers Of the United States should
have IN custody person claimed as fugi-
tive from the service of some person to whom,
by the laws of the State whence he has fed.
such service was due, the two Jurisdictions
would be at once antagonlstical, and moth
ing but superior force could determine the
result. Ii IS IN vain TO say that no alusion
is made either to the United States act of
1893 or TO that Of 1850, and that the act is
equally silent in respect 10 the Circuit orDis-
trlct Judges Of the United States, Counts
sloners, Marshals, or Deputy Marshals. 1t
is by the action of these officers, and only
these, under and pursuant to the laws ofihe
United States, that the legal extradilion of a
fugitive can be effected. When the Sd sec
ton OF the act authorizes the issuing of the
writ OF habeas corpus, upon the application