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

STATE oB ONO, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.,
| COLUMBUS, March 8, 1860.
To His EzcelLency, John Letcker,
.r.' Governor Of Virginia
I Sir: I have carefully examined the
acquisitions of your Excellency, and
their accompanying documents. for the
extradition of Owen Brown and Francis
Merriam, charged as being fugitives from
the justice of Virginia and as now being
within this State, and am satisfied that
no sufficient case is presented to author
ize me to issue either of the warrants
asked for The reasons for this con-
clusion are fully set forth in the copy of
the opinion of the Attorney General OF
this State, to whom I submitted the
papers in the case, which I have the
honor to transmit herewith.
With sentiments of high respect,
Your obedient servant,
W. DENNISON.
The opinion of Attorney General VOL
colt is appended, viz:
g. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,
COLUMBUS, o., 7th March, 1860. !
Sir: I have thoroughly considered
the requisition of the Governor of ,Vir-
ginia, made upon you as Governor Of
Ohio, for the extradition Of Francis
Merriam and Owen Brown, which you
have submitted for my opinion.
These cases are essentially alike-the
charges against each Of the persons sub
stantially similar-the annexed docu-
ments of the same general import, and
the requisition as to each in precisely
the same form-so that the disposition
of one is in effect a disposition of the
other. To avoid the endless multiplied
ton of words, shall consider only the
requisition for Francis Merriam.
This requisition begins with a pream-
BILE, reciting that-"W hereas, it appears
by the annexed documents, which are
hereby certified to be authentic, that
Francis Merriam is a fugiye from jus
tice from this State Virginia, charged
with conspiring with slaves to rebel and
make insurrection, and for conspirine
with certain persons to induce slaves to
rebel and make insurrection, and then
proceeds in the ordinary form to ''de,
mand OF the Executive authority of the
State of Ohio, the said Francis Merriam
as fugitive from justice, to be delivered
to NJ. Johnson, who is hereby appointed
agent to receive him on the part of this
Commonwealth. "
These are the parts of the requisitior
itself, material now to be noticed. The
only 'sdocuments annexed are (1) /;
transcript of certain proceedings had be-
fore the Circuit Court of Jefferson coun.
/ ty, Virginia, from which it appears
that an Indictment had been duly pre-
sented against Merriam; (2) copy o
that Indictment, in which he is charged
with the effenses mentioned in the re
QUESTION; (3) an attestation by Rober
J. Brown, Clerk Of that Court, under
its seal, ''that the foregoing is a true
transcript from" Its records; and (4) the
certificate of John Kennedy, "Judge O
the Twelfth judicial Circuit of Virginia
holding a special term of the Circui
Court of Jefferson County," that Rober
J. Brown is clerk of that Court, cane
that this attestation is in due FORM
Upon this state of case, question i.
made concerning your power to issue {
warrant for the surrender of Merriam tt
the authorities of Virginia.
No enactment of this State has clio thee
its Governor with authority to surrender
to another State, fugitives from its jus
tice, seeking refuge here. Whateye,
power he may have in this behalf, mus
be derived from the Constitution of the
United States, and the act of Congress
prospecting fugitives from justice" ap
proved 18th FEBRUARY, 1898, since these
are the only enactments assuming tc
confer this authority, which have force
in Ohio. These are so well known as
to need no recital here. The act ofCon
gress, it is to be noticed, does not seek
to enlarge the power of extradition be
yond the limits imposed upon it by the
Constitution, and any attempt at such
enlargement would be utterly void
Recognizing those limitations, it simply
defines the mode in which the power, al
esta blished by the Constitution, shall bt
, executed. This power, both as to the
condition of it's existence, and the man
ner of its exercises, is of the mostspecia,
and limited nature. By their very terms
no person can be removed from one State
to another, in virtue of these constitu
tional and statutory provisions, excep
in the simultaneous occurrence of three
? distinct conditions. -- ....... ...
l. He must have been charged in an
other State, by Indictment or affidavit
with the commission there Of ''treason
felony or other crime"
: 2. He must have fed from that Stat
to escape its justice, and
8. Demand for his surrender, accom-
panied by an authentic copy of the in
dictment or affidavit on which the de
mand is predicated, must have beer
made of the executive authority of thu
State to which he fed, by the executive
authority of the State from which thu
fight was made.
When these do concurrently happen
the power to deliver results and must b.
executed. Each, however, is in the ma
ture of precedent condition, SO that th'
absence of any one of them is not les
fatal than the absence of all.
These, and not less than these, are tht
Limitations with which the right of ex
tradition has been carefully hedget
about by the Constitution and the act O.
2 Congress. In the very spirit indicated
by these jealous safeguards, the righ
ought always to be exerted. For thi
power-which relegates the citizen t
another Jurisdiction, and deprivcs hin
of that protection which, as genera
} rule, the State owes to every sojourne
within its limits is of so high natur,
as to exact the utmost care in it's appli
cation, even to the prescribed cases
Every one charged with its execution