The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-03-21

piled with. k'
The act of Congress provides that be-.
sides the Executive demand for Die fugi-
tive, there shall be produced 'fbe copy
Of an indictment found, or AM .ffidavit
made before magistrate of any State or
Territory, as aforesaid. charging lhe per-
son 30 demanded with having cpnmitted
treason, felony or other crime ,certiied
as authentic by the Governor, &c., DC,
upon the presentation of which itlecomes
my duty to cause the arrest tol made.
There was not any copy of an ifdctment
found" presented to me, and course
the case rested upon the affidavt
refused the order Of arres( in this
case for the following reasons
lst-The affidavit presented dWas not
made before +" a magistrate" but before
a Notary Public.
2d-Even had the law Recognized an
affidavit made before Notary Public,
the affidavit in this case was notjauthen-
ticated by the Notary's seal.
3d-The affidavit does not show, un-
less it be inferentially, that Coppoe was
in the State of Virginia at the time he
aided and abetted John Brown and
Others" as stated therein.
4th-It did not legally charge him
with commission of '' treason, felony or
other crime"
will consider the first and second
reasons in connection. 1t will not be
pretended that Notary Public, an Off
Ger unknown to the common law, and
equally unknown to the administration o.
justice. and never charged directly o,
Indirectly with any step from first to las,
in the trial of criminal offenses, is ga
magistrate within the meaning of the
term" as used here or elsewhere. The
Governor Of Virginia does not SO pre-
tend, but seeks to avoid the force Of this
objection by citing an act of Congress,
passed September. 1850. He says -
" But the Governor Of Iowa has failed to
see that by an act Of Congress. passed
on the l6th day Of September, 1850. it
is provided that in all cases in which,
under the laws of the United States, oaths
or affirmations. or Acknowledgements may
be taken before any Justice of the Peace
Of any State or Territory. such oaths,
affirmations or Acknowledgements may
hereafter be also taken or made by OF De-
fore any Notary Public duly appoiIted
in any State or Territory This 'ct,
he adds, completely overthrow the
reasons assigned by the Governor of
Iowa. and makes the case SO plan that
argument and illustration can add tothing
to it." 1t is true. had not sen this
act when refused the warrantfor Cop
poc's arrest but if l had sen it. my
action would have been thesame. In
answer to my objection that the seal of
the Notary was not attachedto the affi-
dayit, he says; The Btary before
whom the affidavit was nde. was duly
appointed in pursuance i the laws of
this Commonwealth, (yisinia) and his
signature cas aecompana by a scroll, in |
precise conformity withstablished usage
and the decisions Of lur courts which |
recognize scrolls as SIS .~-t
If the Governor yVirginia has not
:. failed to see" thS act of Congress,
passed September, E5. 1885," he has
certainly failed to ad it. To suppose
that he had read itvould be to suppose
that he had quoted bust so much of said
law as tended to spport the position he
had taken. and suppressed SO much Of it
as showed that ptition to be untenable
"a supposition hich my sense of " COM
ity' forbids my eAertaining for moment.
l supply that pftion Of the law which
he has, Z .hessly through inadvert-
ence, omitteu. The last words quoted
by him, the yo'ds 9 State or Territory"
are in the lav $ printed, followed by
comma, and irimmediate connection fol-
low these wods: land mhen certified
under the had and Official seal Of such
Notary. shal have the same force and
effect. as il AIKEN on made by or before
such iustic or justices of the peace. -
T See 9th q. s. Statutes at large. page
1853 Fom this it appears by express
provision Of the law Of Congress. an aft
dayit mde before Notary Public, shall
have "orce and effect" only when seer
fifed u.der his hand and official SEAL
Now, he affidavit made in this case be.
fore aNotary Public. is not certified un-
der lis hand and official SEAL and re
gre'to be compelled to add that the
of Governor Letcher, that the
81 mature Of the Notary to the affidavit,
"was accompanied by scroll" is Who'll.
4 unfounded in fact. So far is this
rom being correct, that to this docu-
nent received from him and still in my
there is neither seal, nor
croll, nor mark, nor device whatever
Comfy" requires that l shall express
ny belief that in so radical an error of
act. the Governor Of Virginia was mis-
ed by the Information OF others. or by a
memory. rather than BY de-
ire to support his argument by mis-,
representation.
To recapitulate upon these points -
rhe law Of 1898 provides that when in
his class of cases, an affidavit is used,
uch affidavit must be made before a
magistrate" within the meaning Of that
aw, but claims that by the law of 1850.
he law Of 1898 was 80 modified as to
permit the use Of sffidavits made before
Notaries Public. But the same law Of
1850 which modi6es the law OF 1898, |
X xpressly and in terms provides that
,uch an affidavit made before Notary