The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-11-22

"ne.e ne VIII hnd Court proper with its con.
comitants, erier, clerk, jury, marshal. &c.
where may be found seal, minutes. entries
records, &C.; IN short, he must reosrt to the
proper court 81 Record for relief in such case
anu oy cdp'aS, too-not by ha6eas corpus
inS matter OF enticement, then, we see, fur.
nlshes no subject-matter for judge Kana,e ur;,
OF ha6eos corpus to Mr.. Williamson. e;tbar ~
term time or in vacation of term. in the Dis,
tnct Court proper or in chambers of the Judpe
We 60 onward, therefore, in our search for sinh.
Ject-matter to warrant this extraordinary use N
the ha6eds corpus!
Again: 1t hath been said that Wheeler and
all shareholders, by the law of nations. have the
rlght Oh transit of their human property throuob
territory where Slavery is unknown or disallow.
eo. mis- Is false saying, which we have not
time now, and space here, to discuss. But what
~ were true, as put forth by this Judge in
one OF his late opinions? Is the abandonment
OF wheeler, by his slaves, in free territory, sub
]ectmatter, under that grave Code of tie Ma.
mons, Tor the writ sent forth by him to Mr.. VII.
hanson greeting? The little, narrow. ont. of
court proceeding Of Judge Kane, "solitarv and
alone, without crier, without clerk. without
jury, without book of record for Judgment. seems
not to correspond with the magnitude and i'm.
portance of SO dignifed question; nor. indeed
does Judge kane's chambers, however lum;.
nous, by the lights which burn and beam and
radlate within its sacred penetralia-lights an.
Pearing, nevertheless, to be of the farthing can.
ole capacity, only rendering darkness visible -
the more dlstinctly-seem to be the fittest 70.
rnm ior the settlement of the question concern
ing the rights of human chattels an traasit,t.
We tear much that the circumstances of this
case, and the character of the tribunal, will not
embolden the privileged stakeholder to avail
himself OF the wisdom of Judge Kane, lately
put forth IN their behalf If guided by proper
counsel, the stakeholder. we think, in such case
as that of Wheeler, will choose other writ than
hd6eas corpus, tits use heretofore has been n
free men, not to enslave them)-will choose
another forum than a District Judges cham.
bers-wiil look well to see that he has subject
matter, ground of complaint, and that. too.
lodged IN such place and in such form, that
Me 2ud'c'at po'oer IS capable Of acting upon it,
as Judge Story hath expressed it. This transit
doctrine, IT true, will not warrant ha6eas corps.
IL calls Tor other remedy, and elsewhere-an
acttOn In CoWt--in any aspect of the affair
In our search among the categories of COM
plant, causes OF action, and grounds of appli-
cation, with the facts connected with the Wheel
err slaves, Tor the subjectmatter to warrant this
h06eds corpus, we are unable to find any: and
we challenge the discovery of any, among the
code OF nations, their conventions, or the com.
mon law-the Constitutions of States. their bills
OF rights, or their legislative enactments! We
will proceed no further in our search it will be
in vain to seek for subject matter where there
is none-there can be none. We stop here.
We leave our challenge for whomsoever it NAV
concern.
III. The District J'Sdge neoer had jurisdic-
ton Of tie person Of Mr.. Williamson agder tAe
habeas corpus.
This proposition is but the corollary of that
already examined. If what precedes be true
we are saved time in the proof of this for what
did not call for the remedy which the hdbeas
corpus writ was designed to be, but left the
wrong or injury to be redressed in a Court of
Record, it constituting " case" for such Court
alone, within the meaning of the Conititution,
and furnishing no warrant for its issue, William
son was not bound to heed its mandate any more
than If it had been issued by his Honor John
Doe! 1t WAS at his option to seek the Judge at
his chambers, or at any appointed place in the
writ, or to remain absent; to make a return to
1t, or not at his pleasure. Suppose he had cho.
sen to remain away, and the Judge had before
him the evidence of its due service upon him ;
or, take the matter as it occurred-he chooses
to go at the time and to the place nominated in
the writ. What of itY Has the Judge iuris.
diction of his person, so as to punish him for
any cause? In the one case, if he obtained
jurisdiction of the subject matter-if the COM
plant before him came within the province of
his powers-he might attach him, and thus
compel his presence, and, unless he gave suli-
cient excuse, might pc punished for the con-
tempt. IN the other case, he need not be at
tached; being in Court, he may be committed
for the contempt summarily; but in either case
would it not behoove a Judge to be careful Of
his own conduct, so as not to expose himself to
liability in the law to mark vel and carefully
digest the question whether he may NEEDLE
with the person, till he has before him iurisdic-
tional matter? In the small courts, what JUS
tice Of the peace is not careful not to issae eye
cutIon against property OF person, till jurisdic
ton of the subject-matter is had by him,
although the defendant may have come into
Court and submitted to trial? Suppose the
justice to try the subject of title to land, thing
outside of his limits; the defendant coming in
to Court on summons, not Directing to his ju-
risdiction, and en- consenting to it, would the
judgment be good, the execution be harm
less, commitment to Jail for contempt of Court
during the trial be safe for his Honor? Does
consent confer jurisdiction VIII neglect to
plead 1t in respect to the person help the tres
passer? Now, the Courts of the United States
are limited in their jurisdiction. Outside of
their limits, the judges thereof are as feeble in
power as is the humblest justice Of the peace
when beyond his statutory boundaries.
We forbear further inquiry or remark under
this division of the subject, leaving the reader
to examine the quotations which follow, to see
whether the Wheeler slave affair constituted
such a "case," under the Constitution, as to
warrant h06eas corpus by Judge out of Court,
or give jurisdiction in any manner, short OF an
action in some Federal Court
1.-THE judicial department is authorized TO
exercise jurisdiction to the full extent of the
Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United
States, whenever any question respecting them
shall assume such form that the judicial
power is CAPABLE Of acting upon it. When it
has assumed such form, it then becomes
case; and then, and not till then, the judicial
power attaches to it. A case then, in the sense
of this clause of the Constitution, arises, when
some subject, touching the Constitution, laws,
or treaties of the United States, is submitted to
the Courts by party, who asserts his rights
in the form prescribed by law. In other words,
a case is a suH in law or equity instituted ac-
cording to the regular course Of judicial pro-
ceedings.
Eases ARISES under the Constitution, as con-
tradistinguished from those arising under the
laws of the United States, are such as arise
from the powers conferred, or privileges grant
ed, or rights claimed, or protection secured, or
prohibitions contained, in the Constitution it
self, independent of any particular statute en-
actment. Many cases of this sort may easily
be enumerated. Thus, if citizen of one State
should be denied the privileges of citizen in
another; if State should coin money, or make
paper money tender; if person, tried for q
crime against the United States, should be de-
MED trial by jury, or a trial in the State
where the crime is charged to be committed
if person, held to labor or service in one