Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1857-03-28
tn. March 81 Despetisna.

Ills impossible to exaggerate the Importance
Of tho recent decision Of the Supreme COURT
The grounds and methods Of tkat decision we
have exposed elsewhere; and We now turn from
them to contemplate the great fact which it es-
tablishes-the fact that Slavery is National; and
that, until that remote period whom different
Judges sitting in the same Court, shall reverse
this wicked and false Judgment. the Constitution
of the United States is nothing better than the
bulwark of inhumanity and oppression. .Te
1t is most true that this decision il bad law !;
that it is based oa false historical premises and
wrong interpretations of the Constitution; that
it does not 1T all represent the legal or judicial
opinion of the Nation that it is merely South.
ern sophism clothed with the dignity Of our high
est Court. Nevertheless there It ia, the final 40.
ton Of the National Judiciary, established by
the founders Of the Republic TO interpret the
Constitution, and to embody the ultimate legal
conclusions Of the whole peOpls-an action pro-
claiming that in the view of tho Consultation
slaves are property. The inference 10 plain. II
slaves are recognized ~ property by the Con.
stisution, Of course no local or State law can
either prevent property being carried through an
individual State Or Territory, or forbid its be-
ing held as such wherever its owner may choose
to hold it. This is all iuvolved in the present
decision; butlstAs 'iagle case draw from the
Court an oihcisf judgment that slaves can bo held
and protected under National law, and We shall
see men buying slaves for the New York market
There will be no legal power to prevent it. At
this moment, indeed, any wealthy New York job
Der can put in his next orders. "Send me a ne
gro cook, at the lowest market value! Boy me
waiter Balance my account with two cham
bermaids and truckman !D Excepting the IN
reference of the Underground Railroad and the
chance of loss, there win be nothing to stop tits
But then these underhanded efforts for stealing
property must of course, be checked by our Po-
lice. .c~t.'i VI - ntJsa n
Mr.. Matsell will have no, more right to allow
gentlemen's servants to be spirited away by bur-
glarious abolitiOLists than genrlemen's spoons
They are property under even stronger pledges of
security than mere lifeless chattels. The whole
power OF the State-the military, the Courts and
Governor of the State of New YOrk-will neces.
sarily be sworn to protect each New York slave.
owner from the robbery or burglary of his negro.
1t they are not sufficient, why then the United
States Army and Navy can be called on to guard
that singular species of property which alone of
all property the Constitution of the United States
has especially recognized. Slaves can be kept in
Boston Mr.. Toombs can call the roll of his chat.
tells on the slope of Bunker Hill; auctions of
black men may be held in front of Faneuil Hall !;
and the slave ship, protected by the guns of Uni
Plymouth Rock. The free hills of Vermont, the
lakes of Maine, the valleys of Connecticut, the
city where the ancient Oak of Liberty has wise
ly fallen, may be traversed by the gangs of the
negro-d driver and enriched by the legitimate COM
merce Of the slave-pen. Are we told that public
opinion can prevent this ? What can public OBI.
mon do against the Supreme Court and all the
power of the United States? Shall not citizen
of this Union have the right to take and hold his
property, his horses, his oxen, his dogs, his ne
groes, wherever it seems to him good?
Another most pregnant change is wrought by
this decision, in respect of the Northern people.
We have been accustomed to regard Slavery as a
local matter tor which we were in no wise res.
ponsible. As we have been used to say, it be.
loDged to the Southern States alone, and they
must answer for it before the world. We can
say this no more. Now, wherever the stars and
stripes wave, they protect Slavery and represent
Slavery. The black and cursed stain is thick on
our hands also. From Maine to the Pacifce, over
all future copqucsts and annexations, wherever
in the islands of Western seas, or in the South
American Continent, or in the Mexican Gulf, the
flag of the Union, by just means or unjust, shall
be planted, there it plants the curse, and tears,
and blood, and unpaid tot! of this ssnsttution.''
The Star of Freedom and the stripes of bondage
are henceforth one. American Republicanisln
and American Slavery are for the future synony-
nous. This, then, is the final fruit. In this all
the labors of our statesmen, the blood Of our he
roes, the lifelong cares and tolls of our fore.
fathers, the aspirations of our scholars the pray.
ers of good men, have finally ended! America
the slave.breeder and slaye.holder IN " Tr;.