Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-03-20
NUMBER u

any evidence that Merriam ever fed from
the State of Virginia. True, the pream-
BILE to the Requisition recites thatttsit
appears by the annexed documents that
Merriam is fugitive from justice from
Virginia" but this recital does not ac-
cord with the fact. No fight whatever
is shown by the documents annexed"
These, as previously stated, consist only
of the copy of an indictment found
against Merriam in a Virginia Court,
with such attestation and certifcatezas
was deemed requisite to establish its au-
thentic nature. In all these ''docu-
ments, from the beginning to the end,
there is no word, no letter from which
human ingenuity can draw the vaguest
hint that Merriam had fed from Vir-
ginia. Nay, more, there is nothingEto
show that he was ever within the State,
save the allegationi in the Indictment, that
the offense of which he is accused, was
there committed. Certainly, this is net
conclusively as to the fact of his pres
ence. For this formal ayerment of yelsuc
would equally have been made, Because
essent al to every Indictment, whether
the part borne by Merriam in the alleged
conspiracy had been acted altogether
within, or altogether without, the limits
of the State. In its legal effect this
averment is entirely consistent with the
hypothesis that he has snever been within
the boundaries of Virginia. Granting,
however, that this declaration imports
the actual presence of Merriam at the
place where the commission of the Of
fense is laid, it still remains true that
there is absolutely nothing in the papers
accompanying the requsition to indicate
that he has since fed from or otherwise
left the State. Ifwithin it then, he may,
for ought that appears in these papers,
have continuously bided there up to the
very moment when the requisition was
made, or even until now. Nor is there
anything in the requisition itself which
can supply this defect in its "annexed
documents" as that nowhere AYERS
fight by Merriam. 1t merely refers to
these documents, as giving evidence
of such fight, and does nothing more.
These, as has been seen, do not furnish
any evidence whatever upon that sub
ject, SO that the case stands without even
an allegation of the existence of this W.
tai condition.
But if it should be admitted that the
recital in the requisition is tantamount
to direct assertion that Merriam was,
in the language of that recital,"a fugi-
tive from justice from Virginia" the ad-
mission would avail nothing. That as
&c ola1,k fa
averment that he fed from that State 10
elude its justice It may lead to an in
ference of actual flight, or it may mean
constructive one only. Whether it mean
the one or the. other, it is sufficient to
say that this extraordinary power is not
to be exercised On q surmise or an infer
ence. Beyond this, however, no mere
formal, unsworn allegation of flight, be
it ever so clear and unequiyocal, can be
deemed sufficient. In this, as in alb
other proceedings which affect the right
of personal liberty, every fact on which
the power of removal depends, must be
established by due and satisfactory evi-
dence. The necessity of insisting on
rigid proof of fight will not be doubted
by any one familiar with the fact that in
some of the States, practice has grown
up, Of demanding the surrender, as "fu-
gitives from justice from these States" ,"
of persons who have never been within
their limits, On the legal fiction ofa eonS
structive presence and constructive
flight. It is not known that this prsc1
tice has attained in Virgins, nor is L.
material to inquire, as all acquisitions,
from whatever State, must be governed.
by uniform law. Moreover, while this
custom sufficiently indicates the propri-Y
ETY. of the rule, the rule itself rests on
larger foundations. 1t grows cut Of tho
very nature of the power. The immu-
nifty of the citizen from arrest and exile
would stand on the frailest ground, if,
held subject to the mere unverifed dec
laration of even the highest functienary
in the lan1. 1t is not too much to say
that power so arbitrary can have no
lawful existence in a free Government.
I These considerations, it seems to me,
are entirely decisive. For the reason
that the requisition, with. its annexed
documents, furnished no evidence Of
the fight of Merriam form Virginia, 10
altogether fails, in my judgment, to make
out case which will warrant his extra
dition. Whether this defect can be
cured, is question which addresses
itself solely to the authorities of that
State. Finding one barrier to the exer-
else of the authority invoked by this
requisition, it has not seemed proper to
inquire as to the existence Of any other.
For all present purposes, it is enough to
know that, as the case now stands, the
objection is fatal. Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
G. P. WOLCOTT. !
To THE GOVERNOR. s.ss f..,