Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-03-10

| In view OF this remarkable provision OF TIC con'
stituton. it is not little surprising that ci'im is
lately set up in behalf of federal officers, of
! the lowest grade, of entire immunity from any OBJ
| legation to regard the writ when emanatlng from
state authority, and that jurisdiction of the writ
is partly questioned by inferior ministerial officers.
i even when Issued from the higher judicial tribunal
of sovereign state. However regardless n peo
pie NAV be Of encroachments upon the power tc
which alone they have confded their liberties, il
would seem that such prctention5, from such sour
ces, could hardly fail to invite inquiry In regard
not to the right Of sovereignty originally reserved
but in regard to what yet remains, not yet fit
tered aRay by thcughtess dcquescence on the
one hand, or voluntarily surrender on the other.
\ But it seems to me unnecessary to pursue this
subject further. The whole tenor and scope OF
the federal constitution indicates most clearly that
the State judges, and indeed all State officers were
essential to its maintenance and support, and ac
cordingly the very last clause in the instrument
requires such officers to be bound by oaths or air.
nation to support it. Yet the course of reasoning
sometimes rasorted to in order to ous the judiciary
of jurisdiction of II constitutional question is based
upon the ASSUMPTION that State judges must netes-
sariy be reckless Of such obligation, and that del
ty to official duty is only to be expected from fed
eral officers. But this assumption goes too far.
T 1t is weapon with double edge. The same
hypothesis presupposed that federal judges are
utterly unmindful of the restrictions which the
constitution imposes upon federal power, and that
Jncy are Wiling, sake OI 10
ministed all power both State and national. Nei-
ther assumption is true The earnest desire of all
is to ascertain the true line of duty and to act
! accordingly. That errors upon both sides must
necessarily be committed is only admitting that
the agencies by which each government is admins
tered are human But those who suppose that
error upon the one side or the other must necessa-
rily lead to insurrection, revolution and anarchy
have studied the temper of our people and officers
to little purpose.
Time, reason reflection, discussion, forbear-
ance, patriotism will now, as they have done here
tofore, prove that the wisdom and intelligence
lof the parties interested, and especially of the
ultimate authority will be found competent to
the emergencies which call for their exercise,
and equal to the fortune which may put them to
the test.
agree fully with the cotirse of reasoning of my
brot Ter Crawford upon the secohd branch of this
case, viz: that the record of conviction here re-
turned does not show an offence within the juris-
diction of the federal court, admitting the
act of 1850 to be constitutional; and even on that
ground alone should agree to discharge the prs-
oner. | am permitted, and desired to adopt his
reasoning in that respect, which is so clear and
conclusive that further suggestions would be en-
tirely superhuous. | will only say that whatever
the Congress may have designed blythe 7th sec. of
the act of 1885, such design only be discovered
from the words of the statute. If they failed to
designate the offence they intended to do, their
defect cannot be supplied by any legislation OF a
judicial tribunal. By their own language must
q their enactment be construed, and if their in
f tentions may be thwarted in consequence of
failure accurately to express them, Congress ha
the same power to amend that it had originally t.
enact the statute.
1 have deemed it my duty on this occasion to
express my views on question which l deem vi
tai to the system which our government is
based The foundation of my action is broader
and deeper than the purport of the indict-
ment though that alone would be sufficient for the
present emergency. But the occasion suggests,
, indeed upon the argument have been raised, ques-
tions involving the powers of the Federal and
State Governments, questions not confined to the
particular subject matter the act of 1880 but ques
tions pervadng the entire scope of the two gov
ernments in all their departments, upon other sub
iects which may from time to time arise. And
firmly believing that the benefcont designs of the
Union can only be realized and the union itself
only preserved, by maintaining the indepenpent
sovereignty Of the States intact in all respects,
except where they have clarly delegated power,
and by confnng the Federal Government to the
powers clearly conferred, have felt called Upon
to place my views upon our records, in order that
: may dischai ge my full duty and that my reasons
for the decision to which | have been impelled may
; fully known and not Inexperienced.