Weekly Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1853-1861, 1855-05-17

after the constitution was adopted was there
fore designed merely To render effective the
guaranty of the constitution itself and a course
Of decisions since, In the courts of the States
and general government, has for halt a cen.
tury exhibited great uniformity in favor of
the validity rs we'll rs eNpodlcncy of tho act.
5 Serg. Il Il. 50; . Johns g.. Il Wcnd. at1.
50T; Pick. IL: Baldw. c. c. 32G. I NASH.
G.. G.. 500; Is Pick. 2l5
While the compromises of the constitution
exist, il is impossible to do Justice to their-te
qurements, or fulfil the duty incumbent ON
us towards all the members OF the Union s,,.
der its provisions without sustaining such
enactments as those of the statute If 1893.
We do not propose to review at length
the reasoning ON which this act has been tro-
nounced constitutional. IN Of Nv provisions
have been found necessary to protect private
rights, under the clause in the constitution re-.
ating to this subject. aud 10 execute the ia.
ties imposed ON the general government tn AID
by legislation in enforcing every constitution.
al provision, whether in favor Of itsef or
others. This grows out of the positioit AMI
nature of such a government, and is ~ mpe,.
alive on it in cases not enumerated, especially
in respect to such legislation, rs i'm others
That this act of Congress, then, is n0tp.
pugnant a. the constitution, must be consil-
cred as among the settled adiudications offlas
court.
The argument of Salmon z. Chase in tbs
case has been his bread and meat and house
rent and political fame. In fact, it is9hB
capital stock in trade. He has repeated ita
hundred times; it has come up in shape
as numerous but not half so beautiful Is the
the pea in the Kaleidoscope, and yet nothing
but pea. 1t was once our misfortune to
hear one of his proteges Chen judee n a
neighboring State) reproducing it and de
claring that the decision of Judge STohg in
the Pngg case was "to say the least, asEeS
table to that jurist".-the insignifea y
of the hour warmed into life by thelegal
labors of STORY, aud yet, with the pertness of
the fly on the wheel, insolently crtRizing
the great luminary of the law.
But it is idle to argue with an abolition
sheet, like the journal, on legal question
connected with slavery. What does the
Journal care for the judiciary or its decisions?
We are ready to abide by the judgment of
the Supreme Court, and if that tribenal pro-
nounees the existing Fugitive Slave Law un-
constitutional, we should be most prompt to
retract all we have said in its favor, andto ex-
press our exceeding regret thatit was ever ex-
ecuted in even the imperfect and ineffi-
cient manner which has been allowed by the
spirit of the community in the free sntes.-
Will the Journal sustain the action of the Jul
dietary We do not ask for information; we
put the interrogatory as a joke. We krow
that it will not. Next winter the Supreme
Court, in the case from Wisconsin and some
| Others now before it, will determine the con-
stitutionalitv of the present law. We pro-
claim in advance our readiness tosustain their
decision VIII the Journal do the same
We predict that in imitation of the New York
Tribune, it will howl vituperation against the
Judiciary, propose elections by the people,
and compare judges to post-masters, removal
bic by the executive.
Yes the spirit of fanaticism mas already
reached that point of insane destructiveness,
when respectable papers are anxious to ami
hilate a coordinate branch of the govern
ment, and convert the well-balaneed republ-
canism of America into the unbrilled license
Of Athenian democracy which gave the poi
sOned cup to Socrates, or into the still more
| ferocious equality of the French Convention
which guillotined Madame Roland. An in
dependent Judiciary is the bulwark of free
dom, because it is the guardian and pro-
tector of our laws. This bulwark the Aboli-
ton maniacs would destroy
But why this hue and cry in favor of Jury
trial Is it to secure faithful performance
of the covenants of the Constitution. or is il
TO nullify, and destroy them? The Adolf
tionsts know that in the twelve men they
will always have chance, in the present con-
ditioR of public feeling, to find one or more
who will disregard their oaths and never CON
sent, under any circumstances, to remand &
fugitive slave. This is what they desire, the
practical abrogation of the Constitutional
guaranty If the law were altered, and 4
jury should actually send fugitive into
slavery, such jury would be squibed at and
squirted at by every Freesoil paper in tn,
State. We think it very likely they would
he burnt in effegy, and compared to the men
who acquitted WARD.
To do disagreeable duty under such pop.
ular odium, would require more moral cour.
age than could be expected from erery on,
of twelve men indiscriminately selected
The Journal and its party know that very
we'll Hence the clamor about jury trials.
A vast deal of twaddle has been writer
and spoken by much greater and wiser mer
than our neighbors or ourselves, on trial by
jury as the bulwark of our liberties, &c.
A jury trial, that is a trial by equals and
neighbors was no doubt great protection tC
an English yoeman in the days of Baronia
oppression and insolence. But in this coun
try of equal laws and equal men It's, in the
individual opinion of the writer, an eifetC
institution, and in nine cases out of ten, the
tool of talented and influential lawyers
This sentiment, however, is merely the per
sonal view of the writer, and in uttering it, HI
of course speaks for himself and no one else
The TRIBUNE AND TINES CONTROVERSY
: The war of words between the editions OF thu
New York Tribune and the Times has Gale,
forth the following 'first-rate notice. from tn
Boston Post
"The battle between the Tribune and tn,
lines in New York has been getting 'werr,
savage Ever since the Times raymond
became lieutenant governor, and the 7iTbln'
Greeley was left tenant of his musty sane
tum IN Nassau street instead of getting evel
, a nomination for the gubernatoriaI Vllair tn
Tribune has hated the Times and insisted, il
many ways, that the Times is a little villain.