The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-03-01
DEBATE IN TmE sENATE.

portions Of iti
Mr Clay had listened with great pleasure
I o. che Message. H. general tone and firm
resolution % execute the laws will be- haus-
/ iart1Tf to GEery one. llr regretted the
messapc std uDt say the Marshal had been
Dismissed, b1i be- had reason "a believe the
President 10 submitting hr conduct Ut the
/ Marshal o. q scrutiny which will end ln dis
Wi-ssl llr had bcru gut.hed a. witness he
/ general cHerallnn vi the law. ID hal been
rNcrufrd 300 Indiana, under peculiar, difficult
circumstance, tthe surrender Of the white
1 mWtINrsJ also iu Ol+0in repeated iustanr rs.
/ 10 paa eNnrmed iu Pennsylvania, Ia BE- capt.
/ tai, AID 80 Philadelphia, u WIS alfo rNorut-
ed in the great metropolis Of tho luianl New
b York, Il had b"rn every where, rsrept iu
/ ii0stun, Wiurr IL had failed Ou two occasions.
When tho Grrf failure occurred, be- looked
with aukirty lo the HpKt ease, ia order a. srr
/ u the law would nr would not br executed,
and Wls gnaay surprised Goo hear HAT the
. law had brru uftlrd w. . lawlrs- mob, who
eut,r,d thr (uuu House and rescued from
lhr ptilrrr ~ Justice pnrsGu legally In their
|custnly, When hc had ualr allu-iOu a. The
/ blacks, and thrir outrageous conduct Ia thie
matter, be- likewise meant "a include 10 biz
drnuuriali0n the conduct Of th0er, whether
in high or low places, WHO hy their speech
aud advice, Induced, Iced uu and iustigatrd
those poor, deudrd creatures a. this open Vi
olati0n 0i the law, lie expressed the hope
that IL there were defectz in the existing law,
prpysi1h he malr las Whieh tl,ass wls0 itt.
sliFatc, induce, persuade and lead on those
miserable wrriohus a. such acts Of violation,
viii be- iWoGFht Ia condign punishment llc
gave a. tbs supgostluus Of The President his
carncsi suplnrt. aud moved ilal tho H'..--as..
bc referred 20 the Committc on the Judicial
~
Mr. Hale -nid be- wns glad tho message had
been seat in, IL for NO other reason, bccnu-c
IL showed that the President felt hi Admiuis-
tEliiuu had made ilsrlf ridiculous hy the i-.ii-
ING Of the lrn fl1Wliiun, aud the document
just read was uolhiuN more thHn Hhorcd
,--ay a. prove thar ice pur lauaii1u wa niece
r-aN The idea ot the grut Republic uf
the nitcd Ntntf7 calling pu ~ army and nh-
rs 90 assemble and hold thcusclyct In rrndi
noes ~ put down mob composed Of mere
handful ui ncgur., VII. ridiculous iu the ok
TvWc, Hu-ipu hasA population Of 100000.
and within the sound ul the hvll on the old
state House there resided hnlia million Of
people Ia oil lio-lon there we're not Deer
one thousand adult negroes, aud they were
doubtless skulkiug about iu ALLEYS a. avoid
meeting the cuusfablcs, II wa useless IN at
tempt "a magnify this affair into something of
consequence. II WI, 600 absurd. lie CON
sidrrcd the proclamation of the President i'm
proper, ,V,wi.c, impolltic, unnecessary, aud
very weak, Wiq II he would have nothing
~ do,
Mr. Mason (ihc author of the Fugitive
Slave Law remarked that the duty of sur
rendering fugitive from labor and service
va. dui, iuipo,rd 10y thc Constitution, II
was part ol the compact subscribed hy all
or the Stairs forming the l'uion, lie took
L. al.
question whether this law was executed on
not, llr rcgurlcd the law, 90 far ~ it, lrhr-
tirol execution Wi- concerned, y dead letter
llr had lull hrliri in the declaration 1T the
President that hc would execute the law ifhc
could, The President, huwrNcr, bad hroun
wrong n the first Boston case. Whru Crlils,
escaped, the slaves we're lost to their m1stcr,
hrrausc of the cvHsious, prcynricetions and
DELAYS of those whose duty % was 'n enforce
the law and administer Justice. IL was the
duty ut the President immediately 10 have
dismissed tho Marshal. The law, IL 10 was Ia
ba onlor.od, must Be- eYeuuttI With nlurrity.
zeal and certainty. Il must be- executed
With u desire on the part OF he people ,among
whom % b, the law, and without any obstacles
or obstruction, being thrown iu the way ct
it execution ih this ease the party was Az
rested, time was given Ia him, Nurposclv,por.
lnps, Ia make HE defence. There was no
place prepared in the which 10 confnc him
Il being the intention 90 keep him ia the court
room from Friday Ia Tuesday, could his res
cue have been prevented The Laws Of
Massachusetts, prohibit the imprisonment of .
pHryits Uu1Jr tli, law m,thc iaiis ot that
commonwealth lie thought 1t wrong to de.
uouncc the population, or Boston. when bS 4
the laws Of Massachusetts, It is made penal
offence for ANY at that population 10 aid or
ahHt in the arrest or imprisonment of the fu- .
gitve The Senator from Kentucky was
rghl ia dennnncing The -GnllnGL 81 tll@@4.- .44.
gagged in this open resistance, but he should .
have gone one step further and denounced
the State OF Massachusetts, as false Ia her fed
rral obligation. She was false Ia those ohli-
yatiousiur making which she received a Goa
.iaprii.1I', sl,. t-.tv-'-,i-ttv tins compact 10
surrender these ugltvrs and received a con-
.idcration. Her Legislature has boon sitting
'iucc the passage Of this (Fugitivc) law, and
hrsc laws preventing the execution of the
constitution, still stand ON the Statute hook.
The Senator from Massachusetts remarked
hc nthor day that the people of that state
we're law-ahiling, and would noy resist the
EXECUTION of the law. He would nsk the Sen
,tor whether those citizens, by not resisting
orciby the law, were dischargiug their icde-
AZ obligations, To render up mgitlVes from :
ahor or scrviccf If they were, il was keep {
ny the word Of promise 10 the United States, ,
mt a failure in complying with its demands.
When the Senator from Kentucky said the
NV was generally executed, it he meant it
sas executed without resistance, he was cor
Get. But il he intcndcd 10 say it was exc
utcd with alacrity, or in the spirit of the
,tcral compact he mistook the facts. In 7
onclusion, he detailed the circumstances of I,
he Harrisburg Fugitive" ease, where the a,
xprnsu amounted 10 1900 dollars-thus
,aking a2nlaucc in favor of the master OF
so. In the Long case at New York the cX-
cnscs amounted to nearly the value of the O
ave, beside the claimant being subjected to i,
,ycral vcNatious suits. lie respectfully h
allied the attention of the appointing power 6
, the various delays and evasions, and rec
that the least evidence of this q
iould be- the cause for instant removal. o
MIR Cass ioincd with Mr-C Clay in his con
rmnation of the recent proceedings. He
as not defender of the administration, but n
G hal the utmost confidence in believing l.
lat the President would do his duty. Ifthc :.
ws we're defective he would vote to clothe l'