Marshall County Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1855-1859, 1859-01-13
GOVERNORS MESSAGE

manded your immediate attention, and de-
terred, until the present, any recommends
tions except those which should be presen-
ted to you at the time when the Constitu-
ton of the State required that you should
assemble as the Representatives of the
people.
On the 9th of March, 1859. an act was
approved, entitled can Act to authorize
the formation of companies for the detcc.
ton and apprehension of horse thieves and
other felons, and defining thei. powers"
Under this law associations have been
formed that have arrested and punished
individuals without bringing them for tri-
al before tie ordinary and legal tribunals
OF the State. 1t is better that every per-
con charged with violation Of the law
should be arraigned before and tried by the
courts of justice. 1 recommend to you
the repeal of that law. There would be
no necessity at any time for honest men to
form associations for the purpose of arrest
ing and Furnishing criminals, if the State
and counties made sufficient allowance
to indemnify their police officers in areest-
ing and bringing to trial those who VIOLA
ted the law. You can not expect that the
sberiffs and other police officers will de-
vote their time and expend their money
to bring those who violate the law before
the tribunals ofjustice. unless they receive
reasonable compensation. While this
class of officers are unpaid, we may ex-
pect that an indignant people, vino have
been outraged by criminals, will disregard
the law, and punish without authority
those whom they believe have done wrong.
Section 2 of Article a of the Constitu-
ton of the United States requires that ga
person charged in any State with treason,
felony or other crime. who shall flee from
justice, and be found in another State from
which he fled, be delivered up to be re-
moved to the State having jurisdiction of
the crime
During nv term of service / have de-
clined 10 surrender to the authorities of
other States those persons who are char
ged with offenses which, at the time of the
establishment of the Constitution of the
United States. were misdemeanors.
Since the adoption of this section of the
Constitution, several of States have SO
changed their laws that many offenses
which were then msdemeanors are now
declared felonies The authors of this
section, evidently, in providing for the sur
render of fugitives from justice, intended
to include those only who are charged with
crime and not those who were charged with
1t was pot their intention
to require of State that one of her cti-
zens should be surrendered to another
State, when he was simply charged with
that which was then misdemcanor, altho'
a State making such demand, should. by
her law, declare that what was then mis-
demeanor, is now felony. For instance,
when the constitution was adopted, an as
sault and battery was well known offensc
and legally defined misdemeanor. No
State bad a right to change the character
of that offense from misdemeanor to a
felony, and upon person being so charged
with such alledged felony, escaping from
the State of his residence to another State,
require of the authorities Of that State his
return. Without any such provision in
the Constitution, each State would be at
liberty to surrender or not any person with
in her borders charged with an offense.-
There being no act of the Legislature di
recting that person should be delivered
up. l have considered the Constitution of
the United States as alone controlling the
of fugitives from Justice
The citizens of the State are deeply in
teres.ed in the preservation of the public
records. Hitherto there has been no safe
for them. The officers of the
State have been compelled to rem. rooms
in which to place the records. 1t is i'm
possible in this city to secure the use of
rooms that are safe against accident or
crime. II many of the counties are will
ing TO make large expenditures in the erec-
ton of buildings for the preservation of
their records, am satisfied that the State
can. with far greater propriety, provide
building for similar purpose. The de-
of the records Of the State woul1
entail upon her citizens lasting conflicts
concerning the rights of property. The
expense of the litigation which would arise
from their destruction would far exceed
any expense in the erection of building
suitable to accommodate all the officers Of
State. suggest to you, therefore, the
of erecting at an early day, upon
some of the public grounds, building
the Judges of the Supreme Court
md the officers of State may be enabled to
preserve the public records.
The Trustees of the Wabash and Erie
Canal reported 10 me, in Dec 1857, the
of chat work. The report for the
7ear 1865 will be laid before you atan ear
y day, which will inform you as to its
present condition. l regretted to see, in
heir report of 1857, that its revenues were
greatly diminished land lam informed that
turing the past year there has been no i'm
,rovement. 1t is. indeed. feared that the
evehres will prove wholly inadequate to
eep tn. Canal in repair. and that by them
lone it can hot be maintained. 1 am fur
her informed thai the bondholders are un-
Wiling to sustain the work by any other
means than these derived rom its reven-
les. having already invested cne-haif OF
he entire debt of the State in the wo.k IT.
elf, besides advancing 100000 for rs
II n