Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1851-07-03
The Fugitive Slave Law.


It ia an opinion. entertained by many,
that the Fugitive Slave Law is constitution
al, and that therefore every one who has
taken the oath to support the Constitution
is bound, by his oath, to support that law.
tits another opinion, entertained also by
many, that the law is violation OF the
Constitution, and therefore that every man,
who has taken the oath aforesaid, is bound
BY that oath. to dlsobey, or resist, the law.
| For resistance to an unconstitutional law
is supporting the constitution, and nothing
else.
The tenth amendment of the Constltu-
ton is in these words
"The powers not delegated to United States
by the constitution, nor prohibited by it 10 the
States, are reserved to the states respectively, or
to tine people,"
In no par; Of the constitution can be
found any delegation of power to Congress
to pass such law. ! ask the farmer, the
mechanic, the merchant, the divine, the
lawyer, to read every word of that instru-
ment, seeking carefully as he reads, for the
section, clause or word which seems to del
egate the power, and say to himself-lf OH
reflection he can say--I have found it and
here it is. He would probably pause the
longest at the third clause of the second
section of the fourth article, which says
"No person held to service or labor in one
state under the laws thereof, escaping into an
other, shall, in consequence of any law or regu-
Iation 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"
But if he reasons while he peruses, he
will say 10 himself-This clause contains
no word nor phrase deegating power to
Congress; it bears no resemblance to the
clauses in the eighth section of the first ar
tlcIe, by which numerous powers of Iegis-
Iation are specifically and clearly granted
to Congress, nor to any other clause or
phrase by which power is delegated if the
trainers of the constitution intended to del
egate power by this clause, they would
have made their intent plain here as else
where. That the Convention had the
states in view is clear from the fact that
state regulations were then in force for de-
iverng up runaway apprehension the
whole tenor of the clause and from their
well known unwillingness to allow Con
gress to interfere in the internal affairs OF a
state. 1t may be construed to impose q
duty on the states to exercise, aCith due re-
gard to the rights and liberty Of their OWn
citizens, the power reserved to them or il
may be deemed to be Iav,-a part of the
"supremc law of the land giving to the
claimant right to institute an action tt
recover the possession Of person, as vel
as of horse certainly i delegates NJ
"power" to Congress.
The clause in question belongs to tn,
same class as the first clause in the sam
second section of the fourth article, whicI
says
"The citizens of each state shall be entitIe
to all the privileges aud immunites of citizen
in the several states"
And a state, which should neglect t
pass law for the delivery of runaways
proved in constitutional way to owe sci
vice or labor, or should pass an act diI
charging such runaway from service or i;
Dor, would disregard its constitutional dut
certainly not more than South Carolina ha
violated hers, by denying to citizens c
Massachusetts d" the privileges and immu
mites of citizens within her limits.
The exercise of usurped power shout
be resisted at the threshold, for the sufficien
reason, if there be no other, that the pow
err is usurped But it is not indiferen
whether Congress, or the States, have tn
right to enact a law, if one be necessary
prescribing the mode of trial, the tribunal
the kind and effect of testimony, &c. 1
state legislature, while aiming to fulfil ii
constitutional obligation, would feel NOR,
solicitous than Congress to take care of tn
rights and liberty of its own people, of thi
the trainers of the constitution, and tn,
people of that day, were we'll aware, AM
therefore delegated to Congress no powe
on the subject.
This is no new construction of the con
stitution; eminent lawyers, Mr.. Webste
among them, have SO construed it.
The age of martyrdom, by fire and faggot
has passed If the ennobling spirit of tina
age still animated the bosoms of men, tn,
fugitive slave law would be disobeyed. and
the penalty, which rational, or ambitious, Oh
tlmld Judges impose, be submitted to,-In
dependent Democrat.