The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-03-24

preme law Of the land, and deduces that 1t
made alp the people Of the United States
citizens of the United States, and therefore they
could never afterwards be made slaves by the
State governments. From this he advances
irresistibly to the deduction that negroes a.
well as whites are eligible to the Presidency,
and Of course to every other Office; that the
habeas corpus denies the right of property in
man and that the guaranty to every State
of republican form of government Is
guaranty against slavery.
Separate chapters are devoted, with skilful
and powerful argument, to show that the inten-
tions Of the convention that made the consti.
tuition, the practice of the government, and the
understanding of the people, from the moment
OF its adoption to the present day, are "of no
legal consequence to FIX the legal meaning of
the constitutions" and that any court ofjusticc.
following the established and only rules Of
evidence, would get them aside, If 1t did not
throw them out with contempt These points
being Established, Mr.. Spooner proceeds to
argue, that under the constitution the children
of slaves were, nevertheless, to be free, by
right Of personal liberty is secured by habeas
corpus; and hence the power of the general
government over slavery, and the necessity of
using this power for its abolition. On these
premises logically fortified in every way, he
plants his final dictum, that at is the consti-
tutional duty Of Congress to establish courts, if
need be, in every county, and to,onship, eren,
,ohere there are slares to be liberated; to provide
attorneys TO bring The cases before the courts; and
to keep a standing military force, If need be, to
sustain the proceedings" -
It may be argued that Mr.. Spooner starts
with fallacy-the very one which the French
communists start from, and logically deduce
that all property is theft fallacy that is no
contradiction in numberless instances, with
laws that have stood ever since men began to
live in communities; fallacy that make socie-
ty the slave Of legal definitions of the words,
and not Of the spirit Of constitutions; fallacy
that reduces us to the savage state, when every
man asserted his natural rights and the only
arbiter was the will and power of the strongest.
But we should not and cannot close our eyes
to the fact that this fallacy has pervaded a
great and powerful political party in this coun
try; that the impulse of this>party is along the
path of argument so logically and conclusively
laid down for it by Mr.. Spooner; that the
leaders are all proclaiming it, some in greater
and some in lesser stage of development;
and that in it we have the key for the newborn
love of the fanatic abolitionists for the const-
%,,ts nc Co ND - fho ~ fho
Senate to reorgapize the federal courts, and of
the constantly reiterated declarations of him
self and his followers, that they desire to do
nothing that is not legal and constitutional. 1t
is in the hold which this fallacy has taken Of
powerful party that the impending danger lies,
which threatens to involve this Union in uni
versal revolution, bloodshed and ruin. -
The WASHINGTON HEIGHTS JOB IN THE LEors-
LAruRE.-The bill for street opening at Wash
ington Heights was passed yesterday in the
Senate. Senator Murphy, We perceive, pro-
posed to place the name Of Mr.. Bennett on the
commission, and Senator Spinola that Of Mr.
Hudson-something which neither of these gen.
temen had any authority to do; and if this is all
Senator'S Murphy and Spinola know about
their duties as legislators, they had better re-
sign their seats, return to New York, and learn
something about correct and intelligent legis-
lation.
With reference to this law, and the petition
upon which it assumes to be based, we have
spoken before The petition is an absurdity,
and in itself contradiction of the law. A
few property owners ask for the appointment
of committee or commission to do nothing
for several years to come. If this is all they
want, why don't they not do it without any
authority from the Legislature or anywhere
else? The law itself is full of mischief and
litigation, and will lead to endless suits about
the title of real estate in that vicinity.
We all know what the character of Albany
legislation for this city is; and we have
bright remembrance Of certain great moral
law passed some time ago, and known as the
Excise law, which was enacted for the avowed
purpose of granting licenses for the sale of
liquors, regulating the drinking saloons, and
correcting the morals Of the poor. Well, we
were startled the other day by the statement of
one of the Excise Commissioners, that the sole
result of this law was to get up multitude of
pettifogging suits, numbering thousands; that
the only use to which it has ever been applied
was to create cases for small lawyers who
could not get them elsewhere. And thus this
law to settle the rights OF property at Wash
ipgton Heights and around that neighborhood
will have the effect Of creating q host Of suits
NJ ;ntorp,;n ohlo lop0fh uhich rrav cort;n,a g.,
years. Mischief and endless litigation are in
the head and tail and body of it.
If, with these lights before them, the House
persist in following the example of the Senate
and pass the law, we hope that Gov. Morgan
will have the wisdom and frmness to veto it, at
Ill ha1a 40