Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1852-1852, 1852-11-26

give up the prisoner reven if aiwiit of Habeas
Corpus had been granted. y Inconsilered that
the "Act of ls442 entitled aAn Act more effect
uay TO prevent negroes and other persons Of
color from entering into the State, and for other
purposes, made it my duty TODD so.a Z
On the 10Th of May, Reuben Roberts; a color
ed seaman, a pativefof Nassau, arrived in the
steamer, Clyde, from Baracoa The Sheriff oil !
Charleston in conformity with slIe. laws of the
State, which has BEEN in force since S23; ar
res .ed and lodged him in the district jail, wllere
he was Detained until the .2ethof May ,ewhen the
Clyde being ready to sail Roberts was put on
board, and sailed the sametlay.ss SaBs
On the 9th of June agWrit in 7Tfespass, for
Assault and False Imprisonment, from the Fed
era Court, was served upon Sheriff Y ates, lay
ing the damage at $4,000. .Bias69 ssissifa
The Act of 1914, II takeit, was intended to :
prevent all interference on the part iof any pow
er on the face ofthe earth tile execution Of
this police regulation, which is soessential 10 the
peace and safety of our community. Had thes
legislature which passed it ever dreamed that
the Sheriff was to be subjected to, ,thetaanoyance :
of being dragged before the Federal Court fors
doing his duty underJa law Of.the State am
sure it would have provided for his! protection
As no such provision has beenrmade torso unex
pected contingency. recommend that you SO
amend this Act of 1874, thatit may meet any
case thatlmay arise. al aj as 4iiSE
1t is certainly wrong to tolerate thisti tinterfer-
ence with the laws enacted for the protection Of
our institution. Ia the general distribution Of
power between the Federal and State Govern
ments, the right to make their own police regu-s I
lations was clearly reserved to the States. In
fact il is nothing more nor less! than the right
of selfpreseryation- right which is above all I
Constitutions, and above all laws, and one which .
never was, nor ,neyerlwill be, abandoned by a
peoI lie who are, worthy to be free. 1t isaa right
whicb7has never yetbeen attempted tobe, denied
to any people, except to u.s. isift5
The omplaint against this law is very strange,
and the attempt to bring US in conflict with the
General Government on account of it, is still
more remarkable, when, so far from Its being at
variance with laws ofthe u. S. it is only requi-
ring the State authorities to enforce an act OF
Congress approved February 18th, 1903, entitled
an Act to prevent the importation Of certain per-
sons into certain States, where by the laws there
Of their importation is prohibited = see ID sto-
rvs Laws U. s., page $50. BY referring to
this Act you will see that the plaintiFin the ac-
ton alluded to, was prohibited by it from enter
ing into this State. Il deem unnecessary, how
ever, 10 enter fully into the argument. If any
doubt should be entertained byyou, as to its con-
stitutionalty, j beg leave refer to the able
opinion of tile Hon. j. McP Pherson Berien, de-
livered at the time he was Attorney General of
the United States, which herewith send you.
ea On the subject of the modi6cationof this law,
l. am free to say, that when. Her B. Majesty's
Government, throughiss Consul, made atrespect-.
full request to our Legislature TO that effect, was
anxious that it should be made. Its was with
pleasure that transmitted hrs first cofnnunica.
tion to the last Legislature. Iwould have made
recommendation of its modification "a special
point in my first Message, but that thought it
indecate to do so, as the matter was already
before the legislature, and committees had been
appointed to report upon it. Anotherreason for
excited state of party. politics, which might have
precluded the possibility Of a calm consideration
Of the subject. But for the proceedings institu-
ted in the premises, Iwoud even now, recon-
mend amodifcation of the law so as to require
Captains Of vessels to conine their colored sea-
men to their vessels, and to enttheir landing
under heavy, penalties, for whilcI think theState
has perfect right to pass whatever laws on this
subject it may deem necessary for its safety, yet
the spirit Of the age requires, that while they
should be so formed as to be adequate toour pro-
lection, they should be at the same time as little
offensive as possible to other nations, with whom
we have friendly relations. .,1.s-. ,s,zT
Rut since an attempt has been made to defy
our laws, and bring us in conflict with the Federal
Government, on a subject upon which We are so
justly sensitive, our own selfrespect demands that
we should not abate one jot or title Of that law,
which was enacted 10 protect US from the infq-
ence of ignorant incendaries. -, - ]
1t gives me pleasure to inform you that the
Railroads of our State are rapidly progressing:
The Columbia and Charlotte Railroad, and the
Kings Mountain Road, are completed. Although
heavy damages were sustained by the Greenyille
Railroad from the late freshet, they will soon be
repaired, and under the energetic management
of its President and Directors, will ere long be
completed. The Manchester Road is also pro-
crossing rapidly. Already do we see the: potent
effects of these Reads in developing the resources
of the State, and springng into life the energies
of the people. The prosperity which follows in :
their track is no longer problematical. Living
witnesses Of it are all around u.s. Yetthis grand
system. which is to bring wealth and prosperity
okxr,h, ~,