The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1857-03-19
NUMBER &c
men in the South have as much powerin
deciding the Presidential question as Jaoe
in the North. How unjust to the South
What monstrous State inequality
Concluded aert aoeek.
IS ITLAWt

~AAO
that is before the people oI EIlis natter, we
design that there shall be no misunder-
standing as to our position on the great
point raised by the Supreme Court in the
bred Scott case. We shall treat, the So
called decision of that Court as an utter
nullity. 1t is not law, and it has no bind
ing force upon either the people or the
Government. It is not an authoritative
Interpretation of the Constitution, nor IS
it, legally, a decision entitled 10 any
weight whatever. 1t is simply dema-
lgogical stump speech from the hustings of
the supreme bench, got up in legal phrase
to suit the necessities of the Buchanan ad-
mlnistration. The Judges of the Supreme
Court have therein simply abandoned the
robe and the ermine.to achieve the task of
framing new platform for the locofoco
party.
Look at the facts in the case. Dred
Scott, an alleged Missouri slave, brings
suit against his claimant, for:his freedom,
upon the ground that. his master, having
voluntarily removed him from Missouri
on to free sol, he thereby ybecamef free. The
Supreme Court decide that Dred Scott is
not citizen Of Missouri or of the United
States, and therefore was not entitled to
bring suit in that Court; hence they dis
miss his suit for want of jurisdiction.
That, then. was the only point for them
to decide, and that decided, there was an
end ofthe case. The suit fell because the
party bringing it had no rights in that
Court. zaa ess
Beyond this legal point the Court had
no power to decide anything, They had
no right to go into the merits of case,
when the case itself was dismissed for
want of jurisdiction. All that follows is
simply extra-judicial and is entitled to be
regarded only as theaunauthorized opin-
ion of so many individuals.
At the time whenC Chief Justice Marshall
was on the bench, he gave it as the opin4
ion of the Court, incidentally, that Con-
gress had full and unlimited powerover the
Territories. This opinion was once cited
in the Senate, to Gen. Cass, as authorita-
tive and conclusive; but Gen. Gass replied
that the opinion was an incidental one,
foreign to the case at issue, and was a
mere obiter dictum-an opinion, but not
law. The Democratic party sustained
Gen. Cass in this view, and from that
day to this has refused to be bound by
Matdecision of the Supreme Court. On
the same ground we object to this decis-
ion. II is mere opinion, delivered in
a case in which the Court admitted it had
no jurisdiction-a mere obiter dictan, de-
void of all legal force or authority. -
But ifthis were not the case, we have
high Democratic authority for disregard
ing all such decisions. Prior to the great
, Bank struggle of 1882, the US. SUI
preme Court had decided national Bank
to be constitutional. Gen. Jackson and
t the Democratic party set this decision
; aside, and pronounced the Bank ata-con-
3 stitutional.s Gen. Jackson utterly refused
E to be guided by the Supreme Court. He
$ had sworn to support the Constitution. he
said, as he understood it, and not as the
Supreme Court understood it. We may
safely plant ourselves upon that ground.
We cannot speak for the Republican
; party; but we feel free to say that it
I. will spurn this decision and, when its day
of triumph comes, as come it will, sweep
into oblivion the base, reckless aad unjust
Judges who have prostituted their high
offices to purposes so vile.
The Constitution was ordained to es-
J, tablish Justice and secure the blessings of
) Liberty to the people and it will be
i worth one struggle, at least, to prevent
it from being thus turned from its high
aims to subserve the lusts of tyranny
) The Constitution was made 6y the peo-
pie and for the people; and to the peo-
pie, the sovereign power in this confede-
: racy. we appeal from this decision
They understand the charter of their
liberties, we hope, full well enough to
rebuke and defeat, at the polls, this effort
to give the whole country up to the do
minion of the slave power Pittsburgh
Gazette. esd o
DEATH OF THE ORIGINAL UNCLE Tom. -
The Indianapolis Journal mentions the
death in that city on Sunday last, Of Tho,
s mas Msgruder. an old negro, aged lot
years. Heis supposed 10 be the one VIII
suggested the name and the leading fea
lures Of the character in Mrs Stoves nov
ell. "Uncle Toms Cabin" This suppo
sitionis based on the coincidence Of nam
and character, and on the fact, says th
Journal, ''that Henry Ward Beecher, dur