The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1851-10-23

'hcsc JOurnhlh, inc cNracuSe our, quOleu III WIS
mornings Journal Of Commerce, demands that
the clergy, especially those of Syracuse, who
preach against the Fugitive Slave Law, should
he punished for this. equally with those who
| led the rot-in other words, that they should
be hanged. We are TO have victims, not singly,
but by hecatombs the Administration thirsts
for blood. and must have it. not in shallow
draughts but in rivers.
Rnt IL demands too much, Let 1t beware
lest by prosecuting these men for crime who
the public sense will almost unanimously dc
clare that they never committed, IL does no
| furnish them an opportunity TO escape from al
punishment whatever. We do not justify the
conduct of those who were engaged in the riots
mt Chrstiana and Syracuse; we uphold no man
| in forcibe resistance to the ordinance respect
| ing fugitive slaves, detestable as we think it
| but we hold that the attempt on the part of
! Mr. Fillmore's Administration, and its creatures,
TO change the character of these riots from
that which they truly bear-as occasional acts
of resistance to law-and cause them to be re-
garded as acts of war upon the United States,
in order that the punishment may be the more
bloody and involve a greater number of victories
is a proceeding rs much worse than the offence
committed at Christiana and Syracuse, as
murder is worse than manslaughter Let the
Administration bethink itself whetherit is likely
to succeed in this attempt when the juries of
the country come to pronounce upon the inno-
cence or guilt of the accused.
Is there jury in Pennsylvania or New York
which will allow itself at the instance of the
Government or any of its partlsans 40 far to
| forget its common sense rs to say that the
country is OF has been in II state of civil war :
for this in fact is the point in question Trea-
~. ,l.,
ing war against the United States or aiding
those who are at war with them. Observe the
phrase chosen phrase of very particular
meaning leyying war Implying not a
transitory resistance not occasional acts OF
violence or hostility but an armed organization
for outstanding and breaking up by bloOdshed
the authority of the Government within its
rightful sphere
Will any jury in any part of the country
when they come to compare the acts of the ac
cused with the words of the Constitution, say on
oath there has been a war in the country Of
late-a war waged levied, organzed-or any.
thing else than mere outbreak of the popular
feeling against a hated law! In some parts OF
the country, where this law has been put in ex-
ecuton, the people have looked on with a
gloomy and Disconnected acquescence in some,
as in Syracuse, their indignation has overmas-
tered their discretion. and they haze rescued the
prisoners in other cases the free people of that
unfortunate race to which the slaves belong
g---7'-,' ~ joHr .op3 tske5' slaUo -o''
its grasp This very diversity in the manifesto
tons of discomfort with the law, shows that
there is nothing like war in the country, moth
ing like an organized system of hostilites direct
ed against the Government
Those who have resisted the law have made
themselves amenable to the courts for breach of
the peace for unlawful violence, for riot This
is their crime, and for this let them be punish
ed but let there be no straining of the words
of the Constitution and the laws from their fair
and Just meaning in order to make the admin
istratiOn of justice snare for mems lives and a
pretext for cOndemning our fellow-citizens to the
gallows by thousands. If the Federal Admins
tration perseveres in this course, we predict for
it signal and ignominous defeat. It's agents
will find themselves repulsed by the yerdicts OF
the juries and will steal out from the courts in
disappointment and shame
Some stress has been laid, by the journals in
the interest of the Administration on the opin-
ions of English .iIrists as to what constitutes
treason and the words of Judge Chase, of the
United States Court, have been cited interpret
ing the levying of war to mean almost any act
of forcible resistance to the laws, in which more
than one person is engaged We have, for our
part, little regard for such opinions inasmuch
as those who held them manifestly sought by
subtle interpretations to extend the power of
men in authority to ayenge themselves on their
political adyersaries The meaning of the Con-
stitution in regard to treason il so plain to
every mans common sense that it needs no
legal gloss.
As for Judge Chase, his expostions of the
Constitution, which are now quoted with such
Difference, were given by him at the trial Of
John Fries, for his conduct during which, among
other matters of accusation, he was impeached
before the Senate. Fries in 1899, headed 8
successful attempt to rescue thirty prisoners
from the hands of the United States Marshal
who had them in custody for resisting the levy
of an unpopular direct tax. Fries was prose
cuted for treason, and found guilty his com
panions were found guilty of IA high misde
meanOr.
The President pardoned Fries, and thus wise
ly Quoted the public Indignation. On the i'm
parchment of Judge Chase the article which
accused him of arbitrary, oppressive, and I'M
Just y conduct on the trial of Fries, was submit
ted TO the Senate, sixteen members of which
pronounced the Judge guilty, and eighteen gave
a contrary vote so narrowly did he escape pun
ishment From his time--from the time of the
pardon of Fries-a most significant event. from
which the present Administration may well
take lesson-this strained doctrine of treason
has slept till now, when it is revived by Mr..
Fillmore and Mr. Webster. If they choose to
press it, the more boldly and unreservedly they
insist upon it the better we shall be satisfied.