Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-05-25
CLEVELAND, WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY Is, 1859

wow AfN az tllNat W no arc ltdON ana
solved TO resist when all other means lail-when
your rights are tramped into the dusi- when
the yoke Is fixed upon your necks-and when
the heel Of oppression crashes your very life
Out--all those who are thus ready TO resist the
enforcement Of this infamous Fugitive Slave
Law-speak out 1.-THE roar which now arose
from thousands of voices was dcalcuiug
would have this voice sound 10 the mouth Of
The cannon, and ] would have it rcsound over
every hill, through every vale, by every wind.
ing stream and rushing river | would have it
go roaring in every free mountain wind which
rocks your forests until all the world shall
hear Cheers.
And now let me say to the Democrats, if
there are any here, / want TO say to them, that
so long as / have lie aud health will use all
my influence and all legal means to conflict and
oppose the execution OF this law--and when
all such means fail, then SO long as ] have
strength to raise and WELD an arm, SO long will
resist unto death, AID will work and pray for
liberty with my latest breath.
Deaienlng and prolonged applause aud cheers
showed the interest taken by the vast audience
IN the remarks Of Mr.. GIDDlNGs.
The following resolutions were then present
ed aud read by JoHN Coon, Esq, chairman Of
the Committee ON Resolutions, and adopted by
laundering vote.
DECLARATION.
This Assembly of the Peopl1 Of the State Of
Ohio, holding
That next to our duty 10 the Supreme BE.
ing, is our obligation to preserve our free msti-
tutons and our civil liberties;
That the greatest tyrants have been those
whose titles have been least questioned;
That every violation Of the constitution
should-be watched with Jealousy and resented
with spirit
That the history of every free people has
shown the impossibilitY OF cordial compli.
aDce with laws which neither cmJody nor ex-
ecute the public will;
That the enforcement of such laws against
an unwilling people, is productive only OF evils
threatening public order aud the stabiltyof gov
crnmcntal Institutions And holding further
more,
That the history Of the government of the
United States as recently administered is u
history of repeated injuries and usurpauons,
all having, in direct object the Authorization
OF this continent by the diffusion and cstab.
lishmeut Of slavery aud the restriction and
limitation Of freedom, thus reversing tho an
cicnt policyof the founders OF tile Republic,
which looked to the extinction OF slaoIy and
the extension of liberty; aud
That the Drcd Scott decision, reversing all
I
been the bulwarE of personal liberty, yields lis
legitimate fruits in the recent atrocities COM
mittcd in the heart ofthc Western Reserve, and
calls upon US for new Efforts and new sacrifices
for constitutional liberty do, therefore publish
and DECLARE,
Ist That the several States composing the
United States of America, are not united on
the principle of unlimited submission to their
general government, but that by compact, un-
der the style and title of a constitution for the
United States and of amendments thereto
they constituted general government for spe-
cial purposes, and delegated to that government
certain definite powers, reseryng eacu Stutc for
ITSELF the residuury mass of right to their own
sell govern onti aud that whensoever the gem
eral government assumes undelcgated powers,
its acts are unauthortativo, void, and of no
force and being void, can derive no validity
from mere judicial interpretation; that to this
compact each State aoceded as State, and is
an integral party; that this government, created
by this compact, was not mado the exclusive
OF fuaI Judge of the extent of the powers del
cputed to ITSELF since that would have made
its discretion, aud not the constitution the meas
ure OF its powers but that, as IN all other cases
of compact between parties having no common
Judge, each party has an cqual right TO Judge
for itself, as well Of infractIons, az of the mode
and measure Of redress.
I'd That the law commonly known as the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, was, in the opin-
ion OF this assembly, passed by Congress in the
exercise OF powers improperly assumed and
had itbcen presented as AN original question to
q wise and impartial court, must have been
held i'm conflict with the constitutions and
therefore, rOm.
81 That one ofthe most alarming symptoms
OF dcgeueracy In the general Government, is
the plant subseneucy Of the Supreme Court
of the United States to the objects OF party
politics, thus greatly diminishing that public
ouhdencc in the judiciary so essential to rood
order that the cXlcnt to which the Supreme
Court has thus compromised its character
renders it incumbent upon the people TO con
slider what measures are necessary to restore
that tribunal TO its ancient estate
4th That in the opinion of this assembly,
an amendment Of the federal judiciary system Is
indspensahly necessary, 80 that the sovereign
ty OF the States may be respected, and indyid-
uals guarded from oppression As a means TO
this end, it is strongly recommended that the
life tenure of Judges be abolished, and that the
judicial office he limited to a term of years
that Congrcssso remodel the judicial circuits
that majority of citizens Of the United States
shall have majority of the Justices Of the Su-
preme Court.
9th That the recent proceedings of the
! Federal Court for this District in producing the
! conviction Of porsons indicted under the pro
| visions of the Fugitive Slave Law, by the en-
! ployment of the most disgmceiul paIlizan
! means, is without parallel even in the modern
| history of dcspotlsmi that the victims of that
| Court, now incarccracd IN yonder prison, con
ycted or accused of humanity to man." are
entitled to, and we hereby tender TO them, our
] tsarlttl
siTectual, we hereby recommend
That a fund be raised TO be called The Fund
! Of Liberty; aud TO the end that every Repub
lean on the Reserve may share la accumula-
ting that fund, that the contributions be limited
10 OHe dollar each, the same TO be collected un.
der the direction Of the several Republican
County Central Committees of the Resrrye ;
that three commissioners be appointed by this
assembly. 10 be called Commissioners of the
Libcrfy Fund, who shall receive said fund, dis.
burse It for the objects named, and account
therefor by periodical publications until their
duties are performed applying any surplus
10 the advancement of RepubiicaHism aad
Liberty.
9th. That our fellow citizens of Lorain Co ,
who are now in Jail waiting the pleasure Of the
o. $. District Judge, for their trial, are entitled
TO their liberty, aud must have it, pcacaby aud
| conformity with the rules Of law
In pursuit Of this end it is
ResOiped, That Joshua r. Giddings, of Ash
tabula County, Herman Garfield, Of Medina
County and Robert r. Paine, Of Cuyahoga
County, be constituted Committee to sue out
the writ of llaboas Corpus in behalf of said
prisoners without unnecessary delay, and that
they address the application at their discretion
to any Judicial officer Of the State Of Ohio,
having power TO grant the writ.
7th That the chief reliance Of freedom IN