Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1859-12-29

tno lhtlBuhRe OF tne hnnsaH ana Nohrnaka nci
they "shall be received into the Union with o
without slavery, as their constitution may pre-
scribe at the time Of their admission" Thi
sound principle has happily been recognized
ia some form OF other by on almost uuanimou
vote Of both houses Of the late Congress.
All lawful means at my command have beer
employed, and shall continue TO be employed
TO execute the laws against the African slave.
trade. After most careful and rigorous px
animation Of our coasts aud q thorough nves-
tigation OF the subject, we have not been able q
discover that any slaves haye been imported
INTO The United States except the cargo by the
lWanderer, numbering between three and fouI
hundred, Those engaged IN this unlawful en-
terprise have been vigorously prosecuted bui
not with rs much success as their crimes dc
served A number Of them are still under pros
ecution.
Our history proves that the Fathers of the
Republic, in advance Of oil other nations,
condemned the African slave trade. Ii
was, notwithstanding, deemed expedient by
the lrnmers of the Con nstitution, TO deprive
Congress of the power to prohibit 'the mi-
grafton or Importation of such persons as
any Of the States now existing shall think
proper to admit "prior to tho year one
thousand eight hundred and eight"
1t will be seen that this restriction on
]
States only as might think proper to .admit
the Importation ofslaves. Ii did not extend
to other States or to the trade carried on
abroad. Accordingly, we find that as early
as the 23d Of March, 1894, Congress passed
an act imposing severe penalties and punr
ishments upon citizens and residents of the
United States who should engage in this
trade between foreign nations The provis-
ions of this act were extended and enforced
by the act of 10th May, 1900.
Again The States themselves had a
clear right to waive the constitutional priyi.
| lege intended for their benefit, and to pro-
hibit by their own laws this trade at any
time they thought proper previous TO 1905.
Several of them exercised this right before
that period, and among them some contain
ing the greatest number of slaves This
gave to Congress the immediate power to
act in regard to all such States, because
they themselves had removed the constitu-
tional barrier Congress accordingly passed
an act on the 2Sth OF February, 1903, ito
prevent the importation of certain persons
into certain States where, by the laws there,
OF, their admission is prohibited In this
manner the importation of African slaves
into the United States was, to great extent,
prohibited some years in advance of 1903.
As the year 1903 approached, Congress
determined not to suffer this trade to exist
even for single day after they had the
power to 0bolish it. On the ~ March,
1907, they passed an net to take effect "lrom
and after the lst of January, 1905" pro
hibiting the importation of African slaves
into the United States. This was followed
by subsequent acts of n similar character,
to which l need not especially refer Such
were the principles and such the practice of
our ancestors more than fifty years ago in
regard to the African slave trade
IL did not occur 10 the reYered patriots
who had been delegates to the convention,
and afterwards became members of Con-
gress, that in passing these laws they had vio'
lated the Constitution which they had
framed with so much care and deliberation.
Ihoy supposed that TO prohibit Congress,
IN express terms, from exercising specified
power before an appointed day, necessarily
involved the right to exercise this pOwer
alter that day had arrived.
II this were not The case, the trainers of the
Constitution had expended much labor in
vain. Had they imagined that Congress would
possess no power 10 prohibit the trade either
before or after 1893, they would not have taken
so much care TO protect the States against the
exercise Of this power before that period
Nay. more, they would not have attached such
vast Importance to this provision as 70 have
excluded 1t from the possibility Of future re-
peal or amendment, to which other portions
OF the Constitution were exposed 1t would,
then, have been wholly unnecessary to engraft
on the fifth article of the Constitution, pre-,
scribing ths mode of It's own future amends
ment, the provsO, chat no amendment which
may be made prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight shall in any manner
affect the provision in the Constitution secn-
ring to the States the right to admit the impor
tation OF African slaves previous to that Pc
Rod.
According to the adverse construction, the
clause itself. on which so much care and dis>
cussion had been employed by the members Of
the convention, was an absolute nullily from
the beginning, and all that has since been done
under 1t mere usurpation.
1t was well and wise to confer this power on
Congress, because, had il been left to the States
it's efficient exercise would have been impossis
BILE. In that event any State could have etfec-
tually continued the trade not only for itself,
but for all the other slave States, though ne
yer so much against their will And why9-
Because African slaves when once brought
within the limits Of any one State, in accord>
anee with its laws. cannot practically be ex-
eluded from any other Slate where slavery ex-
ly passed laws prohibiting the importation of
slaves, these laws would have failed OF effect
for want OF naval force TO capture the slayes
and to guard the coasts. Such force no State
can employ in time of peace without the con-
sent Of Congress
These acts Of Congress. 1t is believed, have,
with very rare and insignificant exceptions, ac
complishsd their purpose. For a period Of
more than half a century there has been no
perceptble addition to the number Of our do
nestle slaves. During this period their ad-
vaneement in civilization has far surpassed
that OF any other portion Of the African race
The light and the blessings Of Christianity
have been extended 10 them, aud both their |
moral and physical condition has been greatly |
improved.
Re-open the trade and & would bo difficult to
determine whether the effect would be more dele
terous on the interests OF tho master or on those
Of the native born slave. OF tho evils to tho mas
ter, the one most TO be dreaded would bo the in
PRODUCTION Of Wild, heathen, and ignorant barba- |
rians among the sober, orderly aud quiet slaves,
whose ancestors have been on the soil for several
generations This might tend to barbari1e, demor- |
alize, and exasPerate the whole mass, and produce
most doploTable Consequence.
The effect upon tho existing slave would, i'll
possible, be still more deploTable. At present he /
Is treated with kindness and humanity He is |
well led, woll clothed, and not over worked His |
condition is incomparably batter than that Of the
coolies which modern nations Of high Civilization |
have employed as substitute for African slaves |
Both the philantropby and the self,inter-
est Of the master have combined TO produce
this bumane result But let this trade be
reOpened, and what will be the eifect2 The
same to considerable extent as on neigh
boring inland-the only spot now on earth
where the African slave trade is openly toll
kaA a. -, I.E