The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-09-01
WASHINGTON, ID. G..
DoEs THE CONSTITUTION REQUIRE FREEMEN
TO HUNT FUGITIVE SLAVES

TO HUNT FUGITIVE SLAVES
This is an interesting question, and one ii
which every free citizen is interested Compro
mise politicians and leading jurists have as
sumed an affirmative answer, and on this as
sumption the Fugitive Slave enactment ha
been held to be constitutional, and its enforce
mcnt demanded 1t is time that this view haC
received thorough examination; and If thu
clause in the Constitution does not refer to fu
gitive slaves, but to a different class, who, at
the adoption Of that instrument, lowed ser
vice" then good citizenship does not require :
man TO absolve himself from the common duties
of humanity towards the weak and ignorant
in order to carry it into effect. The moderr
Shylocks Of Slavery have demanded the pound
of flesh but if it is not "in the bond, freemer
arc not obliged to become hunters OF men flee
ing from oppression. We find in the New York
Tribune an examination Of the clause OF the
Constitution referring to persons held to ser
vice or labor in one State escaping into an
other which We copy below, and commend IL
attention. The view herewith presented seems
to US to be Just, humane, and in accordance
with the intentions of its trainers.
THE KIDNAPPING CLAUSE.
As the United States, lngraham, Alberti, x
Co, have again been at work in Philadelphia,
saving the Union, perhaps it will not danger
ously increase the agitation" to inquire how
the United States came TO be the senior in this
partnership how it operates amlcably with
malefactors. in committing the very crime for
which one of them has already suffered in the
uenitentiarvl There is no dispute among de-
cent people about the criminality of tearing
such a man as George Smith alias Bill Fisher,
from his PENNSYLVANIA home and his family.
and consigning him to chattel slavery in Mary
land. whether it be under a master whose veins
purple with the blood Of the Towards, or with
a similar liquid which has "crept through
scoundrels ever since the flood No one jus
titles it, even ON the ground of saving the Union
simply No; it would not do to commit so
mean and revolving crime, even to save the
integrity of this great Republic if it were not
solennly prescribed and en- oined in the funda-
mental law received from the fathers thereof
The creed from which il results that the Uni
ted States must stoop to the inefable degrade
ton Of becoming particeps crlmIniS with such
ruthless villains as Albert is this That the
Constitution, the handiwork Of Washington,
Jefferson, Adams, Wilson, Sherman, Franklin
and other revolutionary peers, solemnly adopt,
ed by the people of these States in Convention
assembled, ordained that the Federal Govern.
ment, in acknowledgement of the right of prop
erty which one man may hold in the body and
soul Of another, shall by its mighty power and
all the machinery of its justice, aid the SlaUe-
hoider in recovering his fugitive daUe, who may
have escaped since the date Of the said COnsti-
tuition into any other State.
This is a very hard curd to swallow, for men
who respect either themselves or their country
Even if the language of the Constitution seem
ed plainly to express it, such men would natu.
rally believe, from their faith in the history Of
their country's heroes, that it must be capable
of more decent Interpretation, reconciling it
to the known principles Of the trainers of the
Constitution. But the language of the Consti-
tuition, it is notorious, does not plainly, nor at
all, express any such thing For the honor OF
the Constitution we love to quote the very
words-hOnorable and pure words as can any.
where be found. They are these:
4" No person held to service or labor in one
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall, in consequence Of any law Oh
regulation therein, be discharged from sucl
service or labor, but shall be delivered up OF
claim Of the party to whom such service or la
Dor may be due"
AS "a question of words, governed by the law
OF English grammar and standard dictionarie,
nothing can be palmer than that this languag
has nothing to do with slaves. By the loya
definitions Of the slave States themselves,
slave is person from whom nothing can j
due" Tie is incapable of giving anything
TO whomsoever else this language may app
1t neither describes slaves nor applies to then
by any force Of its own Nevertheless, by Il
creed aforesaid, it is held to mean slaves nj
we are referred to history for the reason VIII
Let us go to history though the rules of Coz
stitutional Interpretation, sanctioned by II
Supreme Court of the United States, forbid
in cases where the language is plain of itsc
1t must be rich history which could NAL
language 80 perfectly innocent impose the no
rible obligation to commit crime Let us +,
what compact, scaled in blood, what awful $
Ornamental letters for the soul Of the natio
history hangs outside of this harmless stipul
ton, that people shall not be debarred
State legislation from recovering service
labor which might be due to them. IT
story is long and might easily be made tee
Gus; but we shall light on its salient poin
and get its bearings by triangulaton
In the early colonial times, there was n
only slavery such AZ now exists but speci
OF involuntary servitude which does not nc
exist. Hlldreth, in his very valuable Hsto
OF the United States, Vol. |, page 504, und
date OF 1860, SAYS
" lndcntcd service existed, indeed, in all t
American colonies but the cultivation of I
bacco created a special demand for it in V
glnia and Maryland regular trade W
early established in the transport of person
who Tor the sake of a passage to America, 81
Tered themselves to be sold by the master
the vessel, to serve for term of years aft
their arrival. But the embarkation of the
indentod servants was not always yoluntar
sometimes they were entrappcd by infamol
arts, sometimes even kidnapped, and sometm,
sentenced to transportation for political an
other Offences
Again, IN volume ?, page 1913, under date
1880, he says:
The impOrtations of indentcd white person,
called servants, or sometimes 'redemptioners
IN distinction from the negroes who wer,
known as slaves, was still extensively carried
on, especially in the middle colonies. The Co
Ionlal enactmens for keeping these servants in
order, and especially for preventing them from
running away were often very harsh and SC.
yere' ~
The earliest of these enactments which we
ma ON record, is that contained in an agree.
meht OF 'oniederatlon between several of the
New England colonies. dated Nav 10 1919
Osee Hazards State Papers, volume l. page ST.
~ follows.
" 1t IS also agreed, that if any servant run
away IRON hls master, into any other of these
conicderated Jurisdictions, that in such case
upon the certificate of one magistrate in tho
jurisdiction out of which the said servant fled
or upon other due proole, the said servant shall
be delivered either to his master, or any othe
that pursnos and brings such certificate o
prooit'
The servants concerned in this agrcemcn
could not have been negro slaves because u