, 1860-02-24
KIRIZEOOu AND LETCHEK.

| From the y. !. Evening Po.t- ]

Governor Le;clt.r, OF Fir.ioia, has sent u
message 10 his Legislature lenouncinx the Cav
eruur Vi Iowa for nfgt-cting to give orders for
the at1est OF one Barclay Cuppic, who is char:,~
I'd with completely ID he lIari,er's Ferry affair.
1t seems That the Gaveg1o. ii Iuwa was not
.usislied with the sutliticncy Of the cotumcuts
On Which the Ttlnisitlon was nsadc, and there
lure declined tn issue his Warrant. The real
r'cstion bctveeE the txo Governors Is this:
Who is to he the judge Us ~ the a"t1icicncy
t;orernur OF the stale who j. tn act in his own
territory and under his own laws, aud in tic
ease Of one of hrs uwn fellow -eitizeus having
ciaiiu On him for protection; or the uo-ernur
Vi nn4hfr :;iste, having different laws and iu-
,ere>ts, aud seekih. TO bring within his reach
.ion Of The E1uattulon Under which alone !: IT,
qui-itinn maj tc maue is article iv., section 2,
Us follows:
"SEc =. The citizens of each Sta'e shall be
entitled to all the privileges und immuni,ies oi
citizens in tue several States.
"a person charge.! III any State with treason.
felnny, or other crime, who >hal hee fruEn JUS
tic, aud he found in another State, shall, on de-
maui of The executive authority Of The State
'tum which lie tied. b. delivered mp, tn b. re-
moved 10 the state having jurisdiction"
llere 1t Is plain That tie right "f reluisit'on
on the one hand, aud tile obi. cation O. deliver
III. up oil the other, pertains to tue States, III
pendent governments. Tie responsibility f.E
making fraudulent or uttoundcd requisition,
OF for nnreasonably refu>in;: to surrender i tu-
..',,ye, rests on the State ~ such Of course,
there is Do pnwer to enforce the execution Of
this clause, Tor there il no tribunal with :uthor
ty to coerce the government of a sovereign
>tate, my more than there is 10 oeufrree The per-
ios,nance OF e similar c'a1se in the Aehbur.
ton treaty betssecn the Uulted States and Grea:
l,.iisin. One government can exercise its OWL
discretion 10 the issuing Of requi>ition, but
the other government las an equal right tn ex
ercisc its discretion ~ to the justice or propr-
cts If delivering lip the persun claiu;ed. .tn.1
ii The two governments ditler, and cannot By
explanations he u,ade to see alike, thtre il IN
end uf the mat&+r. What would lie slough. of
il, if when .h" President os the United States
I'd decided rhnt it was improper to deliver up
the petson charged, Lord lA'merston thout.i
sill insist that the President WIS bnund by
''cInlity" to makc the surrender? Surely. the
American ST irit would rise against the insolcEcc
vi such demand.
The southern states never pretend 10 be gov
| crEel hy any other rule than this. No rtqu,si-
,ltiun from Northern State is treated viii re-
spect whcn tile surrender conflicts with their
avn laws or wlth the policy Of slavery, which
is with them always paramount to all other con.
sderAtions. THIS hus been tried ahu dantiv in
cases Of kidnapping. OF which rtere are many
on record. Tne celebrated Prieg case. lt,w. en-
Pennsylvania and Maryland, originated in this
way. prigs came erer tue line into Adams
county, Fcuns5 5lvania, and without any legal
p, oce3ure carried off u family Of children vino
had been born IN the soil, md were free By the
laws Of Peuns, lyania; but as there WIS some
prete1t that they were slaves ty tie 1asvs Of
| Maryland, having been born Of q mother WHO
hal not been n,anumiited with legal formalitv
tnlshouyh suppos,ng herself free by the ve. bal
declarations ri her loElI,er master, the author
| lies Of MARYLAND refused to deliver hin, Ut on
| the re ,u,sitloa Of the Governor Of Peunsy!va-
~; nld. af er mach nc.oc'at,on. 4 sham case
was made up for the Supreme Court, which
[ sustained the Maryland view.
| Iu e,se between Virginia and New York.
| wh.n Seward was Governor here, u 1equi4tion
was made from Virginia for certain co!ored
ma on charge Of stealing. Tie papers were
| I'LL regular enough. but Governor Seward had
reasoa to believe thut the proceeding was only
/ y trap to recover 4 fuei-'re from slavery. and
the bEluaipg away OF his own body and The poor
rays OF clothing which covered it. Some lime
atierwarb, WHEN (foveruar Seward bad occasion
| to issue Il rr.lu'si'iou on Virginia for a noted
horse thief. the chivalsic Governor Of the Old
Dominion thought he retafiated gforiously by
refusing TO deliver up the thief 4 long cores
pun.!euce eusued, in Mbich Governor Seward
displayed the highest qualities Of coolness,
dignity, drn,ness, and lesal acumeu aud learn
The Governor Of Virginia has the inso1ercc
to charge the Governor Of lows With 4 rioIa.iou
| Of the llws Of Congress Which prescribe the
| method Of delivering. up fu,,tlveS from Justice,
when be must know that II il 4 well settled p~n-
csp:e Of |aw that no acts nf Congress Can corrce
| the otIiriAl action Of any ma ;isttate or other
officers ii the Sta1e ynvernnents-st'!} less can
| III ey bind the Governor Of State, who repre-
| sents the very sovereignty Of the State Itself.
This prsuciple is fully recos nized in the prigg
cas., and Was the basis or prc.e1t Of the Fu2,-
tire Slave act of 1850, which therefore prar:tled
Il species Of cali or commissioners to pes form
,h.. function Of surTendering stayes.
Ii the office Of surren6ering criminals had
| hecn Intended 10 be merely ministerial, to GER
tifr and cauntersj-n the rpqnisltion, it would
hive been left to the subordinate magistrates Of
| the state called upon, or upon the judges, ut
least. who sre tn lie found in every section Of
the state. The very fact that it ,s the Governor
! only who is to be called upon shows that this
surrender was to be an net OF high pEcronutive,
and that it WIS intended to preserve intact the
| separate jurisdictions Of tie states, and not to
allow them to he run together as If they were
| merely: muD1cipal corporations Of one central
government.
II is Ut vital moment, just now, that the Cor
errors iof the free states should stand firp, N
main tainius their state sovereignty because tic
whole tendency Of the federal executive and ju.
dietary is towards centralization and to tramrle
| upon tbe independence Of the states, and The
| shareholders are on the alert to take every al
| vantage for humlistipg The North, so as to keep
us ln the condition OF conquered proyiuces.-
As to the demands Of comfy, there IS not gor-
ernment in the world, having particle Of itide-
pendence which would surrender sub;ec. to be
| tired By foreign Jurisdiction cut Of cuuity to
another country nor even by treaty, unless the
Gaze is one Of clear justice, and is brought with
in the very letter Of the treaty itself.