The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1860-12-13
From the very nature Of his ofice and
Re hi.vh ru. n. ~ ;b;i;,;,s h., ,,,,. .,.,oos,,

FROM tue very hatufe OF DIS once an
its high responsibilities he must nccess;
ri'y be conservative. The stern duty ,
nd "inistcri"g the vast and co,npl cate
' c"uncis of this government aff ,rdS j
itself II guarantee that he will not att. m Z
: any violations Of II clear Constitution;
: right. After all he is no more than til
Chief Executive officer of the Govern
,Drnt. His province il not to make, b.,
execute it's laws, y d it is a re,narkabl
fact in our history that, notwith>tandin
the repeated efforts "f the a":i Ia cr
putty, no single act has ever passed Coz,
srrss, unle~s we may possibly exc pit n,
Missouri Compromise. inpairing in Il,
slightest degree the right. of the Snut
t" their property IN slaves And it ma
ais" De observed, judging from pr''~cn
in''icati""s, that u" p liability exists q
!. the passage Of such an act by ,nnj"rir
. of b"th Houses either in the present :,
next COn.rrss. Sur,iy under ih.-e cir
cumS' "ces We ought to BE- resirainr,
frxi" present action by tie prcccpt .
Him who spake as never ,,nn spoke
that, "sufficicnt unto the day is the cvi
thereof The day Of evil may never
come unless We shall rnshly bring il mp
on ourselves. 1t is alleged AZ one cause
for '.tt. late seccs>i"n that the South
ern Stat - are denied equal rights wi:
the other States in the common ter, ito
ri's. But Ivy Whist authority are these
denied! Mt by Congress, which ha.
never passed, aud l believe never will
pass, any act to exclude slavery from,
these 'crrit"ries /; and certainly not b
the Supreme Court which has solemn !
decided that slaves nre property, and.
like all other property, trc owners have
right to take them int the common,
territories and hold them there under
the protection of the Constitution. L.
tar then as Conyress is cu,icernrd, t.
obi ction Is not to anything they have
already done, but to whit they may d"
hereafter 1t will surely b. admitted
that this apprehension of future dan, r
Is no good reason tor al Immediate lii
solution of the Union.
1t is true that the Territorial Leg:
ture OF Kansas, On the sd Ut February,
lS6O, passed in great haste T.. , act over
the veto OF the Governor, de ing tina.
slavery is, and shall b. forever pr,n'bit.
ed IN the territory Such an act, how
ever, plainly violating the rights Of prop
er'y secured by the Constitution, W, E
surely BE- declared void by the Judiciary
whenever it shall BE- presented IN l,g Il
form Only three days after my inau.
uration, the Supreme Court of the United
States solemn aLjudg, that this power
did not exist in rerr,t"riaI Legislature.
Yet such has been the factivu, temper of
the times, that the correctness If this
decision has been extensively inpn.,r
before the people, aud the question Ii
gwen rise to angry political conflict
hhrYHasth9Uq hrHesst tAG SS"a"rS Those who
lar assemblies. would if they could, IN,
vest Territorial Legislatures with power
to annul the sacred rights OF pro oerty--
This power Congress is expressly forbid
den hy the Federal Constitution to exer
else Every State Legislature IN the
Union is forbidden by its own Const'tu-
ton to exercise 1t. 1t cannot be ex'r-
cised in any State, except by the pn"ple
in their highest sovereign cap'c'ty. when
framing or amending their State C'">h.
tuition. In like manner, it can only b"
exercised by the people "f the Territory
represented ia IA convention ot delegates
for the purpose Of framinga constitution,
predatory to admission as Il State into the
| Union Then. aud not until the", ar
! they invested with power to decide tn"
question whrther slavery shall or shall ~"
exist within their limits. THIS Is an act
of sovereign authority. aud not Of sub"
diuate territorial legislation. W're IT
otherwise. then indeed would the qn,'
ty nf the States in the Territories hc
stroyed. and the rights "f pr"p'r'y y
slaves would dep"",l. not up" the =nn
an,res Of the Constitution. but up j" th
shifting m.jori,irs Ut ~" irr">p'">l"'
territorial l-yisltnre Such II d ,:tri"v
from its intrinsic u suundnr>s. ca '''"'
hong influence any 1T eur people. mnc
less G N it afford a yn rea-m fr III
dissolution Of the u ,i-n. Tae IN"
D .lp,b!e vinlation~ OF Constitutional d"'
which haye yet besn n'ttsd :'n>l''
in the acts uf different State l. '-'>l,tnr'"
to defeat the "x-cuti"n "f the Flu .''iv
Slave L,w. II on .ht t. b rhn,' nbrr"t
however, that for these acts neither To"
yrcss nor any President Ca" b. j",u!
held resp msible havin: been p,s>',l il
viol.,ion Of the F.dr,aI C.'nstiin'i""
they are thrresore null aud v.il "
the Courts. b tn State aud .Naf'""al To-
E.-e -i...... si.A a.asin.n has ari>.,i. hay
from the beginning declared the Fn.'
tiv. 81. ~ Law :" bc c ms:itu'inr,i II
single exception j. that "f State C""'
in WISCONSIN, AID this h Is nm ""y b -
reversed by the pr"p,r spp 'la'e r'bu
+ nal. but has met with such 'iversal r"l
rob,ti.n that there can be u" d''ger fro
il as 4 precedent. The validity VI ,ni
law has been established. over and ~
again BY the Supreme Court Of the Tn
ted States with perfect u"animi'y l.
) founded upon an express provisi"n Of til
|, Constitution, requiring that fugitis
slaves VII" escap' fr,n service {" n""''
, er. shall be delivered mp To their M
ters. Without this provision. i Is Il ".
known historical fact that tie Cn-tt'
. ton itself could never have been ad'pte
q hy the Convention. In "ne form ar =,
= other under the acts Of 1893 or iS5
: both being suhs, an.ially the same. II
. Fugitive Slave L,w has b~"" the law
the land from the days Of Washington
the present "emen' Here. then. n cl,-