Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1856-10-04

nov ahOWed tTlalOy jury IN the Otae 10 whIch ne
has escaped So it has always been under the act Of
1893, aud SO it is under the present law A fugi-
tive from labor is placed upon the very same foot
Ing, under the Constitution, with fugitive from
justice Does a man charged with the commission
OF q crime in Maryland fly into Pennsylvania, he is
delivered up, upon proper evidence, to the authori
ties of the State from which he fed, there to stand
his trial He has no right to demand trial by jul
ry in Pennsylvania. Nay more; under our extra
dition treaties with foreign powers, does man
charged with crime committed in England or
France fly to the United States he is delivered up
to the authorities Of the country from which he fed
without Trial byjury in this country. Precisely the
same is the case in regard to fugitive from labor
Upon satisfactory proof, he is delivered up without
trial by jury. In the Consultation he is
placed upon the very same footing with fngitves
from justice from other States; and by treaty, he is
placed upon the very same footing with fugi-
tivcs from justice from foreign countries
Surely the fugitive slave is not entitled to superior
privileges over the free white man. When he re-
turns to the State from which he escaped hes there
entitled to trial by jury, for the purpose of deci-
ding whether he is freeman. believe every slave
State has made provision by law for such trial
without expense, upon the petition of the slave;
and we have heard it announced from the highest
authority in the Senate of the United States, that
such trials are always conducted in mercy, and with
q rigid regard to the rights of the slave.
Why should an act of Congress cast such re-
"
to say they shall not be trusted with the trial of
the question whether individual is entitled to his
freedom under the laws of the State from which he
has fed?
But to allow the fugitive slave trial by jury in
the State where he is found would, in many in
stances, completely nufy the provisions Of the
Constitution. There are many, fear very many,
in the Northern States who place their conscience
above the Constitution of their country and who
would, as jurors, fugitive slave from serv-
tude against the cearest testimony, thinking, at the
same time, they were doing Gods service. The
cited condition of public feeling in many portions of
the North would disqnalify honest and respectable
men from acting as impartial jurors on such qnes-
ton. Besides the delay, the trouble, and the
pensc of a jury trial at such distance from home,
would, in most cases, prevent the master from pur-
suing his fugitive slave. lie would know that should
he fail to obtain verdict this would be his ruin.-
lie would then be prosecuted with ACTIONS of SLAM
der, OF false Imprisonment and every kind of pros
ecution which ingenuity could devise.
The defeat of the Wmot Proviso, and the pas
sage of the Fugitive Slave Law, are all that the
South have obtained by the Compromise. They
asked for the Missouri Compromise, which it is
known for one was always willing to concede, be-
ievng this would be the most just, equitable and
satisfactory arrangement of the Territorial ques.
ton between the North and the South. But that
has passed away. California has been admitted as
State into the Union, with positive prohibition
of slavery in her Constitutions and whether the
Mexican law aboiishng slavery be in force not,
in the remainder of our Territorial acquisitions,
does any man believe that slavery will ever prevail
among the Moilnons in Utah, or among the inhabt
ants of the wcad hills and Mountain Valleys of
New Mexico. Besides the slave trade has been
abolished in the District of Columbia. What then
of the Compromise practically remains for the
South but this fugitive slave law, passed to carry
out clear constitutional provision! 1t is the only
compensation which they have received for what
they believe to be the great injuries they have sus
tanned. Will they then patiently submit to have
this law repealed, essentially modified, nuifed :?
Before its passage, the Constitution had become, in
regard to fugitive slaves almost dead letter. 1t is
notorious fact that all along the border which sep
arates the free from the slave States, every facility
afforded for the escape of slaves from their
masters. If they could pass the line, their safety
almost certain. They scarcely ever, in
the language Of the Constitution, "delivered up on
the claim of the party to whom such service la
Dor may be due" In many instances, the master |
Or his agent who pursued them was nsuted, assault
ted, beaten, and imprisoned; and few men could be
found bold enough to incur the hazard of such
dangerous undertaking. In this manner the South
people were annually deprived of their proper
ty, guaranteed to them by the Constitution, to the
amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The
Constitution nullified and this law was passed
for the protection of their constitutional rights
w ill they tanely surrender it Let the voice which
speaks in tones of thunder from the United South
answer this question. They will at last, trust and
believe, submit t" all the provisions of the Compro-
mise, provided the Fugitive Slave Law be faithfully
executed in the North; but they will go no further.
All the resolutions even of the Union meetings in
the South speak this language. Future aggressions
must cease the Union will be in imminent danger.
Let us then resolve to put down agitation at the
North the slave question: by the force Of enlght
ened public opinion and faithfully execute the pro-
visions of the fugitive slave law. Should this be
DONE it will eventually extinguish those geographic
cal partips-so dangerous to the Union and much
dreaded by the Father of his Country-which have
sprung into existence it will ameliorate the cond
ton of the slaves by enabling their masters to re-
move the restrictions imposed upon them in self
Defence since the commencement of the present
troubles and will restore the natural and constitu
honal progress of emancipation, which has, in sew
eral States, been arrested by he violence of the alb
olitionists
The Union cannot long endure, if it be bound to-
gcther only by paper bonds. 1t can be firmly cement
ed alone by the affections of the people of the different
States for each other. Would to Heaven that the
spirit OF mutual forbearance and brothery love
which presided at its birth, could once more be re-
stored to bless the land Upon opening volume,
few days since, my eyes caught Resolution of
Convention of the Counties of Maryland assembled
at Annapolis, in June, l774, in consequence of the
passage. by the British Parliament, OF the Boston
Port Bill, which provided for opening a subscrip-
ton " in the several Counties of the Province for
an immediate collection for the relief of the dis
tressed inhabitants of Boston, now cruelty deprived
of the cans of procuring subsistence for them
selves and families by the operation of the said act
for blocking mp their harbor" Would that the spir-
it OF fraternal affection which dictated this noble
resolution and which actuated all the conduct of our
revolutionary fathers, might to bless and re-
animate the bosoms of their descendants! This
would render our Uaion indssoluble. 1t would be
the living soul infnsng itself into the Constitution,
and inspiring it with irresistible energy'