Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-06-03
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 1859.
THE oBERLIN HABEAs CORPUS.

IN tne appncatlOn Tor the ulScnarge OF BUSH
nell and Langston, convicted of violation of
the Fugitive Slave Law, was announced Mon
day afternoon, all the judges being present
The decision of the majority of the court was
adverse to the application, and the prisoners
were remanded tosuffer the penalties they have
incurred under law which meets with uni
versal execration, and which every humane
man would violate if he could have the oppor-
tunity. The main points of the decision of
Chief Justice Swan, acquiesced in by Judg-
es Scott and Peck, are list, That the of
ten-quoted article of the Constitution re.
lating to fugitives from service or labor,
guarantees to the owner of an escaped
slave the right of reclamation" I'd. That
the rescue of escaped slaves from their owners
is violation of the Constitution, whether the
acts of 1898 and 1850 are constitutional or not.
Sd, That the question in this case is not whe-
Their the Fugitive Slave Law is unconstitutional
or not in its details, but whether Congress has
any power to pass any law whatever for the
reclamation of slaves, and the protection
of their owners from interference. 4th, That
eminent, has, by legislative penalties, vindi-
Gated the Constitutional right of the owner of
slaves against unlawful interference. 9th,
That this right has been recognized by the
several States, Wisconsin not excepted. 9th,
That Judges are restrained by the uniform as
sent and unbroken practice of the Government
from making their own individual opinions the
arbitrary Interpreters of the Constitution, and
finally:
"7 Whatever differences of opinion may
now exist in the public mind as to the power
of Congress to punish rescuers as provided in
the acts of 1898 and 1850, no such vital blow
is given either to constitutional rights or State
sovereignty by Congress thus enacting a law
to punish a violation of the Constitution of
the United States as to demand of this Court
the organization of resistance. If, after more
than sixty years of acquiescence by all de-
partments of the National and State Govern
: ments, in the power of Congress to provide
50 K the punishment of rescuers of escaped
! YES, thai power is to be disregarded and all
which may be passed by Congress on this
Y from henceforth are to be persstently
a and nullifed, the work of revolution
a not be begun by the conservators of
ublic peace
iom this decision, which is elaborated at
At length, Judges Sutliff and Brinkerhoff
4ssented. The opinion of the latter first re-
/fers to radical informalities in the indictments
and AYERS that the Commissioner of the u S.
Circuit Court assumed unwarrantable powers,
and that the warrant on which the alleged
slave was held was a nullity, and, therefore, its
violation was no crime. He then approaches
the main point on which the controversy seems
to depend, and in clear. and luminous
argument establishes that the Act of Con-
gress under which Bushnell and Langston
were indicted and convicted, was upon sub
ject matter in reference to which Congress
has, under the Constitution of the United
States, no legislative power whatever. He
argues in defence of this position, upon the
strict, literal construction of the Constitution
the spirit and intention of its trainers, and
upon the interpretations given it by learned
and accomplished jurists. In the course of his
opinion he uses the following language
"But, it is said, the question is settled, and
our argument comes too late. / deny that it
is settled.
The federal legislature has usurped power
not granted by the Constitution and federal
Judiciary has, through the medium of reason
ings lame hating, contradictory, and of far
fetched implications, derived from unwarrant-
ed assumptions and false history, sanctioned
the usurpation. l deny that the decisions of
usurping party in favor of the validity of its
own assumptions can settle anything. 1t is
true that the courts and legislatures of several
of the States have decided in the same way
rather than of original and independent in
quiry The fact that such jurists as Hornblow-
er, Walworth, and Webster thought on this
subject as | think, shows that the question is
not settled The fact that a majority of my
brethren as | understand them, admit that if
this was new question they would be with
me- and that they yield the strong leanings of
their own minds to the force of the rule of res
GdjudtcGtd alone, proves that this question is
not settled. The truth is, it is not till recently
that the mass of intelligent and inquiring mind
in this country has been brought to bear upon
this question 1t required the enactment and
enforcement of the Fugitive act of 1850, over
riding the most sacred and fundamental guar
antics of the Constitution, and disregarding in
its provisions even the decencies of legislation,
as if for the very purpose of irritation and hui
initiation, and the fine and Imprisonment under
it of iohite men for the exercise of the instinct
i've virtues OF humanity, to awaken general
inquiry. That inquiry is now going forward.
And so surely as the matured conviction of the
mass of intelligent mind in this country must
ultimately control the operations of Govern
ment in all its departments, so surely is this
question not settled When il is settled right,
then ii ,oiH be settled, and not till then"
Meanwhile the prisoners are sent back to
Jail, not because their offence seemed to de-
serve it, but in obedience to a technical con-
struction of the Constitution, doubtful at the
best,to which only bare majority of the court
could be induced to assent Such a decision
will not change the impulse of Indignation
which all high-minded men must feel when
setting aside mere questions of constitutional
law, they remember that these men are rob
bed Of their natural rights for an act COM
mended by the suggestion of the reason and
the instincts of the heart. 1t is burning
shame that, with all our virtue, and all the
lights which are shining upon us, men who
have committed no crime are suffered to lie
in jail for a single hour.
DEATH OF JOSEPH SURGE
The late accounts from England announce
Abe sudden and unexpected death at his resi-