The Yazoo Democrat., 1860-03-03


act of 1850: t. E
But, although we think it unnecessary to dis
cuss these questions, yet, as they have been de-
cided by tLe State court, and before us on the
record, and we are not willing to he msunder-
Stood it is proper to say that, in the Judgment
of this court the act of Congress commonly called
the fugitive slave law, is, in all its provisions
fully authorized by the Constitution of the United
States. Ibid page 52G
Such is the judgment of the whole court.
No honest man denies, or even questions, its
soundness or its purity. 1t is the sole abb
ter created by the Constitution of our eoun-
try to decide upon the private rights of the
people of one State against the people of an
other State. The highest judicial tribunal
of Wisconsin refuses to obey this decision;
the State sustains them, and has the audaci-
ty to send Senators here to look honest men
in the face and prate about union. Their
lnscnsiblity to shame excites more of our
pity than our contempt. Mr.. President,
hold in my hand copies and abstracts of
laws and resolutions of nine States of this
Union, all of which have been adopted with
the direct intent to abrogate and aunul this
plain provision of the Constitution. These
laws were passed by the aboltionists, now
called the republican party of the United
States They are all plain, direct, undenia-
BILE violations of the oaths which the men
who passed them took TO support the Con-
stitutiou of the United States. A i Of them
display the scienter, the corrupt knowledge
of those that passed them, of the crimes they
were committing Their very efforts to hide,
to conceal their purpose, demonstrate :heir
criminal intent. | shall not detain the Sen
ate with reading this sad catalogue; but l
shall comment on the most atrocious Of
these laws and annex abstracts Of them to
my printed Speech with references to enable
the reader to investigate this humiating
record of depravity.
Their objects are sometimes sought to be
accomplished by resolutions proclaiming a
"higher Law" as the guide to plant judicial
Interpretation. In other cases they are
sought to be accomplished by haJeas corpus
acts, by writs of ndpddmuS, intended to
transfer cases from the judgement of honest
men TO the decisions of republicans; but the
bolder criminals have squarely met the ques-
tion and annulled the Constitution by means
of what are called personal liberty acts.
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa-
chusetts. Rhode Island, Connecticut, Michi>
gan, Wisconsin, and Iowa, have all sought
to accomplish these results in the one or
the other of the modes which have describ-
ed. The State of Maine, by section SO,
chapter so, of Revised Code, fines every
honest man in her limits who regards his
/ obligation to the Federal compact, and holds
State Office under her, 81 900, or imprisons
him not less than ono year, for maintaining,
or attempting to maintain this provision of
the Constitution. No person in Maine can
enter upon the discharge of any Office, civil
or military, who does not take an oath to
support the Constitution of the United States
If be chooses to regard the obligations of
his oath and the duties of good citizen, he
is fined 81 600, or put in prison. Maine of
fers to her ofiiceehoders, in the discharge of
national obligations, the alternative of per-
Jury or prison. | never beard Of a repub,
lican in the State who accepted the latter al>
tentative.
/ Massachusetts, commenced her career of
crime as early as March "a, 1913, and has
continued it up to 1858 InfdeIity to the
federal compact is the rule of conduct of her
public men Of the republican party; and
open, shameless disregard of their oaths to
support the Constitution, as far as the fugi
tive,slave law is concerned, is their best
passport to popular favor. New Hampshire
frees every fugitive from labor who may es,
cape into her borders, unless the act of re-
camation be done by some officer of the
United States or other person Ia the execu-
ton of any legal process, The Constitution
says she shall not. Her public men swear
they will support the constitution. BY her
legislation she would imprison any one of
her Southern "brethren" five years for pass
ing through her borders accompanied by his
body servant; yet am considered rash,
violent man, disuuioust, for not accepting
! such people as my bretbron. (see laws of
5 New Hampshire, chapter 1856, June session
!, 1850 The people of Vermont would seize
my servant, under similar circumstances.
aud the State pledges its whole power to de
t fend him. Michigan would imprison any
3 Southern man by her laws for passing thro'
her territory with his domestic servant.
5 She has been otherwise extremely active in
| her legislation to subvert the Constitution
Rhode Island has offered her oficers-civil
and military-the same alternatives allowed
f them by Maine-to-wit; perjury or prison.
t Connecticut has passed characteristic laws
D under the fraudulent preteuee of preventing
kidnapping She fines all persons $4,000
and imprisons them five years for failing, in
their suit, to recover their slave property
G and takes good care, by her rules of evidence
and the tribunals before whom she attempts
to bring them, that they shall fail
Mr., FOSTER VIII the senator permit
me to ask him a'question
: Mr.. TOOMBS Certainly
Mr.. FOSTER. The senator has alluded
!, to the State Of Connecticut ] Should be
j, obliged to him if he would point cut the act
} Of the State of Connecticut which be claims
to be unconstitutional. I ask it merely
! that may have my attention drawn to it.
Mr.. TOOMBS. | will. In Connecticut.