The Feliciana Democrat., 1859-05-07
Ole felitiana 9emotrat.
From the Missssippan.
THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE

THE migration or importation Of such per-
IONS as any of the States now existing shall
thing proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress- prior to the year 1908, hn. II
tax, or duty may be imposed not exceeding
ten dollars for each person"
This is the only section, or sentence in the
constitution, which alndes to this trade.
Under this clause, Congress has assumed
the power to legislate, commencing in 1907,
and running up to 1920, when the trade was
made piracy. We deny any such power in
Congress
Up to the formation Of the constitution each
colony. or State, possessed and exercised the
right to import Africans. If they have not
relinquished the right by that instrument, they
still possess it. Congress can take nothing,
except what is expressly granted, or what is
absolutely necessary to carry out an express
grant. In the above section, it is strongly IN
dicated, that after 1908, Congress should have
the power to prohibit such migration and
Importation" but as that is n mere inference
and no express grant is given, we hold they
cannot do more, than levy n tax or duty Of
ten dollars upon each person imported
If the convention intended to invest Con
gress, with the power, how easily it would hnv
been to say SO in express language.
10 onr mind, then, the proposition is most
clear that the right to import Africans, orig
nay belonging to the States, and not having
been delegated to the United Stutes hy the
constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States
it is reserved to the States respectively or to
the people, and as u necessary corollary any
Of the States may now import Africans, sub.
.ject to q tax or duty" by the Government
Nor deferred in the expression of
this opinion. by the fact, that the Courts have
decided differently. No human tribunal is
perfect; and Judges are but men. New lights
are being shed every day, around even con
sttutional questions. When this question was
adudcated, it was new, and many Of the states
men of the South not only acqnesced in, bn'
desired it settled in the way it was Slavery
was then thought to be not only moral, but
political evil and the African slave trade,
crying sin. Under such circumstances. il is
not strange that the courts should have
taken a latitudei in construction, not warranted
by the constitution, and which they would ut
terly refuse now.
The States of this Union. cannot consent to
part with their rights, npon the assumptions of
Congress. or the doctrines Of the Courts, crea.
.tures o. their own making
Upon the preservation of these rights, de.
pends the liberty of the people, and the exis.
tence and purity of the Government. Let them
be tamely surrendered, and the constantly ac
circulating power at Washington, will soon
make this consolidated, and desnotc Govern
ment with all the elements of evil and none
> of the qualities of good.
At this critical jnncturc, when the power of
the Government is likely to pass into the hands
e. Il. 4 Il
add, villainous Black Republican majority
ready to plant its heavy heel, upon every thing
Southern, it behooves the States to watch with
double vigilance ard care, all their original
rights and powers. Take it for granted, how.
ever, that Congress has jurisdiction of this sub.
ject, by what right do they make the offence
piracy
Piracy sos well defined, as any crime known
TO criminal law; not only by common consent
photographers, common law, the statutes of
all nations, but also by The laws of nations
1t is robbery upon the high seas" and hence,
pirate is considered "an enemy TO mankind" !"
BY what sort ofreasoning. or legerdeman, can
Congress declare the purchasing Of an African
in Africa or kidnapping negro on the coast
OF Africa, or the sale of an African OIL the
high seas, or the landing of an African in any
of our ports, with the intention to make slave
Of him, Piracy?
AS legislative body, Congress can do moth.
no exeept what iecitirnate1y belongs to it as
such Whenever the fundamental law express.
ly authorizes an act, it can be done, and snch
other acts, as necessarily grow out of such
power.
A proposition selfevidently absurd, cannot
be made good sense, or logical, by act of Con.
gress.
Suppose Congress were to pass law, de-
clarlng black was white, and white was black,
or that two and two make five. or that mon
key was endowed with reason, or that larceny
was murder, does any one believe snch law
would be legitimate or effcctual? 1t would
be considered not only n dead letter but ridi
culous And why? Because such matters are
not within the scope of legislative functions.
and jurisdiction.
The very organism of that body the pur-
pose for which it was constituted, the rules Of
common sense which govern nll legitimate
bodies, as well as their usage, prohibit Con-
gress from doing that which does not apper
tain to its duties
Apply these principles to the act of Con