The Ottawa free trader., 1860-10-13

er Oh earth. lie Is great Slayeholde
that has a thousand slaves, but if this la,
: Is a true exponent Of the Constitution
TINS government ordained for justice an,
liberty, holds four millions of slaves.
No, sir, no! for the honor of the f,
; Tiers OF my country, ! appeal from til,
bloody slaveholdins statute to the lbert,
loving constitution. While these father?
lived, State after State, in carrying out til.
spirit OF the constitution, put an end L
the dreadful system The great Washing
ton, in his last will and testament, carried
out the spirit of the constitution. But
sir, the law under which you may sen
tence me- violates both the letter and the
spirit of the constitution have a word
to say upon the articles of the constitution
which it is claimed the fugitive slave law
is designed to carry out. "Noperson held
to service or labor III one State under the
laws thereof, escaping into another shall
IN consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service
Of labor, but shall be delivered up. oAz1hs
claim of the party 10 whom such service
or labor is due"
That is the provision that it is claimed
transforms the government into a mon
ster OF iniquity. | have read over and
over that article, Interpreted by all laws Of
language known TO a plain man. How
these three or four lines can transform this
government, ordained 10 secure Justice.
| INTO a mean tool to aid the plunderers OF
I cradles, the destroyer OF homes, the ra-
vishers Of women, and the oppressors of
men, to carry on their hellish worh-how
1t can do this thing, | cannot see That
article binds the several States separately
/ not 10 pass a certain law, bat whore in II
| do we find a fugitive slave law? Where
/ DO YOU find q commissioner! Where do
you find that the government is to hunt
! UP and return at Its own expense a slave
/ that fees from hi. cruel and bloody ma
; ter? Where in those lines j, the authority
! TO compel me TO be i partakcr iii the
crimes of the rnan-stealeg2 The general
| government Is not once mentioned, but
| the States in their separate sovcreigntics
are named But, sir this article expressly
provides that the party making tie claim
( shall have owed him service or labor due
I from the party claimed. II Jim Grey
! owed service or labor. or money. to Phil
! lips, | am the last man in the world 10
! raise my voice or hand 10 prevent Phillips
/ or any man from obtaining their dues
! What ! would grant 10 the devil himself
/ ! would not withhold even from the slave
I holder-his due
/ Jim Gray claims that lie docs not owe
! Phillips days worl, or a dollar Of money
Phillips claims that he owes him every
day s-work that has been deposited in lIs
bones and snews: yea. the toll Of hi, body
and mind both, till death shall eud the
period OF stipulated toll Here Is ques-
ton for legal examination and judicial
discussion. Does the man Gray owe this
man Phillips anything? The Constitution
is very clear and very plain IN pointing
out the way this question = 10 lie settled.
Article provides that 10 person shall
be deprived Of life, liberty, or property
without due process Of law. That Jim
Gray Is a person. i admitted on all hands
Phillips admits it; the bioodLouuls, mar
shais and attorneys that hun, him, say he
Is 4 person--a person held TO service The
amount IN dispute is the libeIt, and life.
long toll OF a man Just entering into the
full maturity Of manhood A great ques-
tion lies between these men But Grav,
standing on soil covered by this Constitu-
ton, cannot be robbed of liberty. or the
wages OF his toll, only by due process Of
law.
Article - says, expressly. in suit at
common law, when the value in conJrover-
~ shall exceed twenty dollars. theri.ht of
trial by jury shall he preserved Here,
sir, is case involving the question Of Il
bcrty and hundreds of dollars Of money.
The law, sir under which appear before
you, overrldes these plain provisions, and
commits this whole question to one man.
and offers him bribe to tram pie right AID
liberty under foot ! know, sir, il may be
said Jim Gray was a slave. and not entitled
to these humane provisions. Had he ne
yer worn the chain of the opprc5sor. nor
felt the lash Of the bloody task master
had he been born in Canada, or anywhere
else on the clobe-had he bce II n citizen of
one of the States OF this Union, and nevs,
been enslaved, it would have been all the
same. His liberty would have been .trick-
en- down, and he been given TO the party
claiming his lifelong toll, and your Com
missioner would have pocketed the bribe
offered by this law fer doing such crime
against humanity and the plainest provi-
sions Of the Constitution.
No, sir,-in Court of the United States,
while the Constitution provides for trial by
jury, | ought not to be sentenced for rails
| ing my hand to rescue fellow man from
a mob that would strip him of his liberty
| and lifelong toll without due process Of
law, without trial by jury. Sir, this law
| tramples so tlagrantly upon the spirit and
| letter Of the Constitution, that | ought not
| TO be sentenced.
| Before passing from the Constitutional
| objections to this law would call the at
ten;ion of your Honor to the partiality of
the law, which is so at variance with the
designs of the fathers in organizing this
| government No man can read the Con
stistution-in which tho word slave cannot
| be found; from which the idea that a man
could be reduced to a thing. and held as
1 f,ll1 vol Lodi
/ say can read that Constitution, and
come to the conclusion that slavery was to
be .tostered, guaranteed and p, otcctcd far be-
yond everything else in the country Ad-
NIT that Jim Gray was Phillips property,
how comes it that that particular property
| is more sacred than any other property :?
Phillips horse escaped from him, and is
| found in distant State, but the President
of the United States, and every depart
! ment of Government, is not put on the
track until the horse is found, and then
return him to Phillips stable, and then
pay the whole bill from the nations treas
ury No sir But his slave escapes-he
runs away and, for some reason, his
property i'll man is so much more
holy and sacred, that the whole Govern
ment is bound to take the track and hunt
the poor, painting fugitive down. and carry
him back to his chains and bondage at the
Governments expense.
Sir, under Constitution unstained by
the word slave, We have law magniiying
slave property above all other property in
the nation-a law giving it guarantees that
no other property could possibly obtain
Sir, the partiality of this law is SO great,
that it stands opposed to Constitution
that guarantees equal justice and protec-
ton to all.
John G. Fee is driven out of his Ken
tucky home, and robbed Of the fruits of
his lifelong toll. There is no power to Sc
cure him his home, or protect him in his
rights of property or opinion. But had
slave escaped, the Government, under this