Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-10-01

OnkkLlNt oept' NVi Aoev'
Judge Ranney, 1 perceive. Is making himself
and hia hearersmerry ovcr the statement, d :.
signed to be very houical and very sarcastic
Uttered, no doubt, with asueering circumhex
Of voice. and &c 'onpauicd with the droliest
looks and gesturos, that there's not boy 10
years old, within ten miles Of Oberlin, who is
not competent to decide upon the unconstiiu
tionality Of the Fugitive Slave law"
Now, for one, am dieposcd - eccept this
very sarcastic remark as plain, unvam
ished statement Of the truth. ! presume the
Judge is correct. Indeed l should pity the
parents Of outll Of fifteen Il, having enjoyed
the common advantages Of the public schools,
he were not competent to decide SO plain case
as that Any Child Of sufficient atta;nments
to be able to read iutelligenty, think, might
safely be trusted with that question. Indeed,
il takesa man Of rare achievements in tho To-
gal profession, especially in the management
of bad causes, to be able 70 doubt It's uucon-
stitutionslity. If am rightly informed, the
Judge himself has only recently attained that
high eminence
The unsophisticated masses read from the
Constitution, "In suits at common law, where
the value in cont, versy shall exceed twenty
d,llars, the right Of Trial by jury shall be pre-.
served" The Fugitive Slnve Law, they find,
delivers one man TO another, as owing service
for life, without jury trial. What other con.
cusion can be arrived at, than that the law Is
unconstitutional for the law itself allows the
claimant thousand dollars damage, if, by any
interference, he lose the service claimed And
will it be denied that it is a suit at common law,
/ when one man sues another for service due
| The Judge may claim that the negro is not a
man, and heuce has no rights under tho Con-
stitution. But The Fugitive Law knows moth
| leg OF negroes; it makes no distinction between
black and whites.
| Again, the Constitution declares that "no
/ person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law" But,
according to the Fugitive Act, a man may be
| adjudged TO owe another service for life, with
out even knowing that he has had trial The
testimony may all be heard, the decision given,
and the certificate made out authorizing the
claimant 10 seize him wherever he may be
found, and remove him to the Etato where he
owes service, without his having been even in
cess of law Judge Ranney may think so,
but an unsophisticated boy OF fifteen never
can,
Those who have never read the Fugitive Act
will conclude that must have misrepresented it
c Telul perusal Of the 10th section of that
act will satisfy them that / am not mistaken
But again, the constitution declares that "the
writ Of habeas corpus shall not be suspended
; unless when in cases Of rebellion OF invasion
the public safety may require it." The Fugi.
tive Act declares that the certificate of the COM
missionSrs ''shall be conclusive of the right o.
the person IN whose favor it is granted to remove
such fugitive TO the State or Territory from
which he escaped, and shall prevent all mole st
alton Of said person by any process issued b.
1 any court, Judge, magistrate or other persoI
whomsoeveT." Does not that suspend the wri
of habeas corpusl and is that constitutional
would rather trust righteous cause with any
sensible boy Of fifteen, be he ten miles or
thousand miles from ObeTlin, than with any
Judge who can make himself believe that th'
, Fugitive Act is constitutional.
On another part of the same subject, Judge
Ranney says in substance DO not remember tLt
} words, white criminals are delivered up with
cut Jury trial, and why should we complain
that black slaves should be delivered up in the
same wayl White men used to be as good ai
negroes, but they aint now a-days." To this
answer, the criminal is delivered up by the
Governor of the State, to have fair trial in the
State having jurisdiction of the offence. Th'
person claimed as owing service is delivered VI
by commissioner, not to haye trial, but Il
} be a slave for life Does the Judge design Il
impose upon the people Of the State or has
he so sophisticated his own mind that he car
s see no difference between these cases Th'
!. slaye to be sure, may sue for his freedom, pro
vided that in Ia d of prejudieed strangers he
can find white man to esPouse his cause; buI
/ then the burden of proof rests on him He il
presumed to be q slave, and must prove his free
' dom, under the most unfavorable circumstances
s It is like delivering an alleged criminal up to b
hanged, and then allowing his friends to sue 70
his release from the bonds of death.
hope the Judge viii grow wiser or better
before he becomes the Governor of the State o
5 Ohio L. II. F.