New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-05-27

animals which labored by their side; that they
were not admitted by their owners to any share
Of political power in the States where they re
| sided that they could not, therefore, with pro
priety, be entrusted, by any participation il
power, with the rights of freemen; that, il
short, they should be regarded as propertq
not as persons.
| 1t was then answered, that in the States no
burdened with this species of inhabitants tn
general principle of the Confederation was, t.
apportion representatives among the States ac
cording to inhabitants; that if the Southern
States choose to give their slaves the privilege
of voting, or placed them on the footing OF bound
servants, they would be entitled to representa-
ton according to their full numbers; and that
the refusal to their slaves of that privilege was
like the qualification of property required in
some of the States, mere municipal regulation
with which the Union had no concern.
| Thus reasoned the trainers of the Constitu-
ton They thought wisely. that slaves were to
be partly as property, and partly as persons
and that it would be unjust to condemn THEN
owners to taxation without some indemnity,
They therefore compromised their conflicting
opinions; they agreed to consider that three
| fifths of this species of property should enter
into the computation of representatives.
s'The first thing objected to is that clause
which allows representation for three ,ffthS Of
the negroes. Much has been said of the impro-
priety of representing men who have no will Of
| their own Whether this be reasoning or decla
nation, will not presume to say. 1t is the I'M
r - - +1,o
have good part of their population, as nell as
property, in blacks The regulation complained
of was one result of the spirit Of accommodate
ton lehich gOceTned the Convention and with
out this indulgence, no Union could possibly
have been formed" [See Alexander Hamilton's
speech in the Convention of Newly ork to ratify
the Constitution of the United States, Elliot's
Debates, page 212,l
Messrs. King, Gore, Parsons, and Jones, of
Boston, spoke of the advantage to the Northern
States by the rule of apportionment given to
them as also Judge Dana [See Elliots De-
bates in the Massachusetts, Convention.
On the question of the adoption of these
clauses of the Constitution, the vote stood thus
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Connecticut,
NewYork, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia.
gatively-NewJersey Delaware. [See ,
vol. Madison's State Papers
Mr.. Patterson, Of NewJersey, remarked, /" He
could regard slaves in no other light but as
property"
Mr.. Rufus King, OF Massachusetts, said
= That eleven out of thirteen States had agreed
to consider slaves in the apportionment of taxa
ton"
Let us now consider the light in which slaves
have been received by Congress in levying
direct tax.
The acts of Congress relating to the assess
ment of lands, etc., and slaves, have been g An
act for the valuation of lands and dwelling
houses, and the enumeration of slaves within
the United States July 9, 1885, CHI 20; can
act to amend an act entitled an act to provide
for the valuation Of lands and dwelling houses.
and the enumeration of slaves within the United
States" February IS, 1899, CHI, 20; An act
supplementary to an act entitled an act to pro.
vide for the valuation of lands and dwelling
houses, and the enumeration Of slaves within
the United States January 2, 1900 en- 8 ;
90 An act to provide for completing the valua-
ton of lands and dwelling houses, and the emu
meration of Slaves in South Carolina, and for
other purposes January 80, 1906, CHI H.
We will now advert to the act of 1918 impos-
ing direct tax The 9TH section of the act
reads as follows {. That whenever a direct
tax shall be laid by the authority of the United
States, the same shall be assessed and laid ON
the value of all lands, lots of ground, with i'm
dWeiiiHg houses and slareS, which
several articles subject to taxation, shall lie
enumerated and valued by the respective as
SCISSORS at the rate each Of them is lcorM IA
money"
Could Congress have employed words more
emphatic, more infinitely descriptive, to signify
that slave was private property, than are con-
tanned in the above section Is there any dis
tinction made in it betleeea lands and siaUes
Each is liable 10 be tdred, the tax is to be
assessed on the value of each and the value to
be estimated by the north Of each IN money.
Again let us advert to the 9th section Of
the same act, and this idea is still more strongly
expressed-is depicted in still more glowing
colors. tWhere any tax, as aforesaid, shall
have remained unpaid for the term of one
yShls as uiOl SSdlut tAt COllCCtOE III inc Cldlt
where the property lies and who shall have
been designated by the Secretary, as aforesaid,
having first advertised the same for ninety DAYS
in at least one newspaper in the State shall
proceed to sell at public sale, so much of said
property as may be necessary to satisfy the tax
lue thereon, together with an addition of twenty
per cent, thereto If the property advertised
'or sale cannot be sold for the amount due
thereon, with the aforesaid additions, the col
ector shall purchase the same in bebaifof He
United States for the amount aforesaid"
Now, here Congress not only expressly admits
hat a slave is property, but directs the coilec-
or to parchaSe the slave in their behalf, if he |
5 not bid up to the value of the tax imposed |
nd thereby becomes a stakeholder The Con
ress of the United States, by the adoption Of |
bis act, acknowledges, in the plainest and |
trongest language, that it will not only tog |
iaceS, or other property, hut that it will pur-
base and sell them.
On the passage of the hill it was determined |
n the afiirmatiye-yeas y. Those who voted in |
he affirmative from the on-slayeholding States I
re Chase, Of Vermont Condit of New Jer
ey; German, Of New York; Gore, Of Massa,
busetts Howell, Of Rhode Island; King, of |
lew York. Lacock, Of Pennsylvania Morrow
Ohio; Yarnum, Of Massachusetts,. Robinson