Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1860-08-04

holding any body in slavery. They are held by
mere brute lawless force, and by nothing else.
This clause cannot apply to them.
4. On claim Of the party to whom such service
or labor may be due'-This in it's connection, des.
oribes a person who, under the laws Of a State,
owes TO another person a debt which has been
lawfully contracted under the laws Of the State
relating to contracts.
But nothing can be due from a slave, a chat
tea piece Of 'Properiy.-'Proper,y' is never
Indebted to its 'owner.'-'Chnttels never contract
debts And accordingly the slave code says, "A
slave can make no contract.'-Consequently, moth.
ing can be due from him.
II any person is claimed legally under this
clause, he must be claimed by some one to whom
the service or labor is due And the debt must
be legally proceed. IL must be shown that the per-
son whose service or labor is thus claimed has
contracted a debt, which he has not discharged.
But, when a slave master goes or sends into Nnotb-
or State, for a fugitive, he claims him as a slave
NJ HE property, aud not as a person If he
could succeed; las lie cannot) in sobstantiating
that claim, he would only prove that nothing is,
or can Le due to him r,m the fugitive. and con'
sequently that this clause Of the Constitution
'AhuASo Nv PiONiSiOb " MO DVibb v bPs
Once more. We omitted to say that tho phrase,
held to service and labor in this clause, is q legal
phrase, and is equivalent to the phrase bound to
service 10 the 'apportionmeut clause previously
considered. The two clauses, at thsse points. har.
mOniEo, and mutually throw light upon each
other.
Il. The Constitution does not ask whether the
person for whose rendition it provides is held by
State laws as an apprentice, o slave, o horse, q
,ohattel personal, or as real estate. The only
questions asked are, Is this being a person ? And
tis this persou held to service or labor under the
laws Of the State from which he escaped I If SO,
'the' Constitutional obligation is clear.
2. Held to service or labor Some slaves, says
tho Principia, do not labor. Very well; but those
who do not, are certainly held to seroice, and as
for that, they are held to labor also, and the mas
ter puts them to it according to law whenever be
chooses so to do.
3. A slave can not be held as such under any
law, says the Principia, and therefore. this clause
does not refer to them. To make this argument
of any force, i ia necessary to change the defni-
ton Of the word law, to give it a Specification not
demanded by tho wants Of the people, and which
would be utterly useless except to disprove q fact
'n order to build up a theory.
4. a slave eau make no contracts, consequently
nothing can be due from him. Another false
assumption. Is nothing due in the way OF service
OR labor from the child to the parent, because no
contract has been made? Is nothing due 10 the
way of service or labor from the apprentice to
his master, because be has himself made no con-
tract, having perchance, been indentured contrary
to his wishes and against his remonstranoes2 Is
nothing due in the way of service or labor from
the pauper boy to his master, because he has made
M contract, having been bound out by the guar
dams Of the poori Is nothing due to the State in
the way Of service or labor from the man who
llas been sentenced to the penitentiary for u term
of years, and without the formali;y of a contract
The fact is, these persons and slaves are about
stbe only classes hell to service or labor under
state laws. Freemen who make contracts are not
''held to service or labor by those contracts, and
titcannot be exacted of them-they are simply
held to damages for the non-tulfllment of their
tocntstcts.
The F1rincipia tells its renders that the term
'held to service or labor is equivalent to the term
bound to service in tho upportionment clause
We should think it was n good deal moro than
equivalent-as we'll say that the term fish is equi,
"valeut to whale. The phrase held 10 service or
HNbor,' while it included the slave, also
includes those bound to service for a
'tern of years. The greater of course in,
'cludcs tho lesser-the class embraces the sub
division; Blu. don't call the lesser equivalent to the
greater, or the division equal to the class.