, 1860-12-06


;. It is only Of latcyears, and since the dis
unionists per se. have sought for pretcxt
to carry out their purpose: that objections
have been raised against these Personal
Liberty Bills. The decision Of the Supreme
Court Of the United States in tie case OF
Prigg VS.. The State Of Pennsylvania, clear
ly recognized two principles which appear
to lie at tic basis Of all such State laws.
I. That the Legislation Of Congress in TO-
lation TO the rendition Of fugitive slaves,
not only superseded all State legislation up
on the same subject, but "by Necessary i'm
plication prohibited it" [6ee II Petess, page
GIL q That the State Legislatures may
prohibit all State officers from aiding in the
execution Of the Fugitive Slave Law. [Sec
lG Peters, page o22] And this last point
seems 10 carry with it the right Of the Statcs
TO withhold tho use Of their jails for
the confinement and safc-keeping Of fugi-
tives. st all events, these Personal Liber-
.y Bills were recognized in their ear
lier history as in perfect accord
with the above named decision of the SUI
preme Court, and tie South acquicsccd in
:acm without word Of protest. So much
for the history Of these laws and Of the sup
posed constitutional right Of tho States TO
enact them
:. But it is now said that they nre ltn-
constitutional. The President, in bis last
Message, goes even further than this, an,l
asserts that they arc Null and Void" If
the President is right, he eplaccs his po1iti-
c:tl friends in the attitude Of fattempting the
disruption Of the Union on account Of mere
nullity. But suppose the laws to be unconsti-
tutional, as is now claimcd-is secession the
remedy? The South can certainly trust
tllismattcr to tile decision Of the Supreme
Court as it is at present constituted. And
if the Supreme Court decide against the
constitutionality Of the Personal Liberty
Bills, no one Of the States in which they
exist will attempt thereafter 10 enforce
them.
i. But it is further said that they arc in
tic nature Of nullifying laws-that they
practically defeat the execution of the Flu
gItivc Slave Law. How? Has not the
Federal Government the ability to execute
law Of Congress, unless it can have the
corporation Of State officers and the use
Of State prisons? To assume TINT such Is
the fiIct is, to say the very least, poor
compliment to tho efficiency of OUT Gov
e7nment But admit that it is SOS seccs-
sion the remedy: South Carelina once at
tempted to nullify the laws Of Congress;
but General Jackson, with the aid Of Con-
grcss, soon brought the refractory State to
Terms Cannot the Executive and Con-
gress do the same NOW with respect to any
free State that may attempt notification
Nay, in the fact Of their greater loyalty to
the Union, is il not reasonable to infer
that tho free States would much more
readily abandon the ground Of notification,
inresponsc TO the demands Of the constituted
authorities, than would any of those South
crn States which, have been so long rcstiye
within the Union, and solicitous for pre-
text to get out oft.
5. But if these laws arc neither uncon-
stitutional, nor Of the nature Of nullifying
cnactments, then, according to all received
notions Of the doctrine Of State rights,
the States which have adopted them llayc
all indcfeasible right to maintain them; and
it is gross impertinencc, IN unjustidab'c
breach of State comfy, and in dcrogation
Of popular sovereignty, for any other State
to ask their repeal With the citizens Of
the States which have placed these laws
upon their Statute-books, it is mere qucs-
ton Of choice anu expedicncy whether
taey retain them or not Il is their bust
ness, and theirs alone, and they would he
unworthy of freedom if they tolerated any
outside interference.
6. That they may be offensive to some of
tie people Of the South is probably true.
There is class there who, like the Irish
man at Donnybrook Fair who begged
some one to tread upon his coat-tail, arc
exceedingly anxious TO haYe offence given
them. But 1t cannot be that the slayehold-
Ing States generally regard these laws in
any suci, light. If they did, we should
have heard Of it long ago. They would
have complained as soon as the offence had
been given. Nor should We now find upon
the statute-books Of some Of the slaycho1d-
ing States just as stringent Personal Liber-
II Bills IS the most Offensive" of those
complained Of by the sccessionists. yir
ginia has Personal Liberty Bill which, if
taken as pattern by the free States, would
add much to the stringency of their present
laws But admit that they are " offensive"
to the South-what then? Is the fact that
one State cnacts law which is offensive"
TO another State, sufficient ground :or
the latter to seccde from the Union? II
this doctrine be admitted, the free States
ought to have seeded long ago. There
arc fif(ecn States Of this Union by whose
laws men and women and their posteritv
forever, are compelled to hopeless lifelong
bondage, than which nothing can be more
abhorrcnt or " offensive" 10 the people Of
the free States Nevertheless the latter
have bowed to the doctrine of State soy
crcignty, and have never once assigned
these offensive laws rs justification for Sc
cession. Il remained for the Seccssionists
to topromulgate doctrine which, if lived up
to rigidly, would at once explode our con.
federacy and forever prevent any two Of
the States from uniting again under COM
mon government.
Such are the conclusions to which an
analysis Of this subject must inevitably lead.
The whole thing is the result of an after
thought-a mere trumped-up prete1t for
contemplated treason and for new demands
upon Northern seryility. We do not pre-.
sumo TO pronounce upon the constitution
ality or the cxpedicncy Of these laws. It
is not necessary that We should. Illinois has
not adopted them, nor has she the right or
the desire to interfere with those States
that have As constituent member Of
this Con1ederacy, it Is enough for her to
know, that if any Of the States have been
wronged, they have full and complete
remedy under the Constitution and within
the Union. Let those remedies be applied
It there Is the least occasion for them; if |
there is not, let the Scccssionis!s either hold
their peace, or hare the manliness to nut
their nftio1 r1rAor fhn tina <,r,,,rJ Tnx