Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-04-15

, ,oss i, tbo routine of their progress, oopeutlon
s s~ n"anass or Grievances, to keep and bear
Ior leo.eSs s,o NO soldier quartercd on us against
aiins,W - time of pence, nor in war, but in
our wiz, prescribed by lac; to be secure in
u "srsons, houses. papers and effects, against
VWsonablc searches and seizures, and only
~ no interrupted by warrants issued upon
nrobablc cause, on oath or affirmation, and with
particularly of description; to be exempt from
answering to any charge Of capital or infamous
crime. except made by a grand jury; il out OF
the public service in times Of danger, when We
would be under military discipline, to be
free from more than one trial for the
same offence. and from self elimination;
to have a speedy trial by an impartial
tribunal before the public, with all the aids of
a fair trial; among them compulsory process
| against witnesses TO be confronted with the
accused. assisted by counsel in his defence, and
then, if condemned, the right not to be sub
iected TO excessive fines or unusual punish
mcnts. Uc hare 4 right 10 h0re Jigamy
! babis6e9 from our midst. As much as all
that is, it is not all that is embraced
in tina, word Republican, the full bene-
fits of which. as defined in the instrument
instituting our fedcrativc system, are all
assured to every person in the Common
wealth. All those rights, let it be oh.
served. are not the States Rights; but
they are rights of the individual citizen
whilst it is further the right of every per-
son in the State to invoke its sovereignty to
enforce these rights. These, | say, are not all,
invaluable and essential to Republican Go
vernment as are these. Would it be Htpu6H.
can. that the citizen shall have a voice in the
election of his Representative i'll the Leglsla-
turc, and yet be compcllable in a criminal
prosecution to he Il witness against himself:
Would il be Republican, that he have a vote in
the election of President or Governor, and be
subject to search Of his person or house, without
probable cause. The idea has no place in our
system. that it is only a Representative Go
vernment, as contra distinguished from kingly
or aristocratic Sovereignty. that is siSniiied by
the terms Republican Form of Government
which is guaranteed to each State and OF neccs-
sary consequence to every person in IT.. And
Just so true it is, and just rs clearly true. that the
General Government would fail to fulfil the as
Surance of republican forms Of government to
the people OF a Territory coming as a State
into the Union, if it should fail to secure to
the owner of whatever property already there,
the right with the requisite remedial provi-
sions of law, for appeal TO the courts and III
all respects. to enforce that right against un'
friendly legislation there or clscwhercl to en-
jov his property there in his negroes in kind,
exempt from deprivation of it except by due
process of Laws" or for its price paid for public
, use"
In NV view Of the subject-in the view OF
! the subject urged in these letters, which has
been urged by no one else hitherto, but
which. | trust, yet will be espouSed by the
| Southern press, and by men in authority from
| the South-it matters not whether the slave
owners right Of property was impaired by
legislation by the General Government or
by the Territorial Legislature, the individual
owner is entitled to judicial protection against
it. If the uniriendly legislation proceed from
Congress, the person whose right of property
in his slaves in the Territory is attempted to
bc interrupted bv that legislation, could none
the less have his right Of appeal to the Courts
for relief or redress, than in case such legiSla-
ton cmanated from the Territorial Legislature;
the right of Congress, in the case, TO annul the
Territorial enactment being abdicated. The
right of resort to the Courts is not taken away
from the individual owner Of slaves there, by
virtue of the fact that Congress and the Presi-
dent have renowned, if not denounced, their
constitutional duty to supervise the Territorial
Legislation, and have given it in Kansas in
charge, without hindrance by them, to the
Territorial Legislature. The General Govern.
ment in %relinquishing its duty and transferring
its exercise to the Territorial Legislature, have,
as | have shown, and rs Senator Douglas as
serted and proved, in that debate in the Senate,
on the Odd Feb. 1859, provided, in the Kansas
Act, that where the title TO property in
slaves, or any question of personal freedom.
was the point in issue, the right of appeal to
the Supreme Court should exist without re-
ference to the amount in controversy."-
When such appeal is taken by the master
against unrricndly legislation Of the Territorial
Legislature. as such appeal, in my view, might
be taken By the master against the like legisla-
ton. whether in the form Of the provisions in a
Constitution formed by the Territorial Convcn-
ton and accepted by Congress, or in conformi-
ty Herewith by the ordinary Legislature, after
admission as a State, the master could only re-
" successfully on his personal right Of proper
" as secured by the Federal Constitution, in
%sisting. as in rny view he might insist, hat his
property in his slaves cannot be taken from
him. except in payment Of his debts and in
diScargc Of contracts to which he was a willing
party. or else, only for full price paid for his
property for public Use. PrBLirS.