M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-02-23
REMARKS OF MR., WOODS.
OF LICKING,
OF LICKING,
In the House OfRepres entatives, Feb. 1,
1860.

1860.
The House being in Committee O
the Whole on House Bill No. 17:-
"To prevent slaveholding and kid
mapping in Ohio" pending motion
to strike out all after the enactinl
clause, Mr.. Woods said:
Mr.. CHA1RMAN:-After a careful
examination of this bill | think this
motion ought to prevail. | am op
posed TO the bill as a whole and to its
several sections; and will proceed az
briefly as | can to state my objections
The first section provides, "that (ey
'eept in the punishment Of crimt) eve
ry person whose loot presses this soil
or whose lungs breathe the air OF Ohio
is and shall be free" Without stop
ping to pass any criticism on the at.
tempt at eloquence in the language ot
this section, | have to say that il con.
fers no new rights nor does it enforce
any old ones with any new sanctions
The constitution of Ohio, in language
much more appropriate, in time hon.
ored and well understood form OF
words, which has found a place in all
the free State constitutions as well as
in the ordinance OF 1881, declares that
except in the punishment of crime
there shall be neither slavery nor in.
voluntary servitnde in Ohio. What
new force can this section give to that
provision Of our organic actl If we
re enact one section ofour bill ofrights
why not re.enact them all 1t has
been stated on this floor that the right
OF trial by jury was imperilled. II
we allow this section to stand, why
not also say that the right to trial by
jury shall not be inviolate. Sir, this
section is a mere rhetorical flourish,
OF no utility whatever, unless it be to
reassure the saints that slavery does
not exist in Ohio. | respectfully re-
ter their agitated minds to the 9th
section ofour bill ofrights and express
.Aa hope that their nerves may be gui-
eted thereby
The second section CT the bill PRO.
vides, "that if any person shall hold Oh
control another against his will as a
slave, or shall bring into this State
any person as a slave, Except for the
purpose and intent Of mauumission)
such person so offending shall be gull
ty of slaveholding, and upon convic-
tion thereof shall be imprisoned i'll the
county Jail not less than three nor
more than six months, aud shall be
fined not less than three nor more than
five hundred dollars.
The first clause Of this section, il
its language is true exponent Of its
meaning, makes it an offense punish
able by fine and Imprisonment for a
citizen OF Ohio, to own and held q
slave in the State of Kentucky. This,
! take it, however, is not the design
OF the author of the bill. The object
OF the section, is to prohibit the own.
er from passing through the State
with his slave, or from bringing him
into the State and holding him here
on temporary visits OF business OF
pleasure. have oeen told that during
the late excursion ofthe Legislatures Of
Kentucky and Tennessee to this city,
some of our Southern guests brought
with them their slave servants. The
object of this bill is to punish such
gentlemen, should We ever again ex-
tend our hospitalitics to them, with a
fine of not less than two hundred dol
lars, and an Imprisonment Of not less
than thrcemonthsin one of our salu-
brious county jaik. What sore dis
tresa it must be to the philanthropic
gentlemane ewho introduced this bill,
that by the delay in its passage so
good an opportunity was lost to test
its workings and at the same time
visit with condign punishmens the
guests whom our invitation ha6 Sc
ducsd upon our soil.
But, sir, | hold in my land very