Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1861-01-10
Remarkable Debate.

~ Uemocrdtic United States Senators,
WItt9h and Douglas. A...s-s 4
On Tuesday of last week there was re-
niarkable debate in the United States SEN
ate, that is worthy of notice. Iverson, of
Georgia, uttered disrinioh TRADE, in which
he said, among other things. y
we e'know weil'that no slave has ever been
claimed under it tthe Fugitive Slave Law
from the Northern States, except under cir
cumstances of the greatest difficulty and dan
ger to the owner, and sometimes even atten-
ded with the loss of life
Now, sir, do | charge the failure Of the
execution of the laws upon the personal lib
erty bills Of which so much complaint has
been made? No, sir, they have never ope-
rated to prevent the execution Of the fugi-
tive slave law. As said the other day, it
has been mob law, and mob law will always
exist, and will always produce these results,
as long as the Union and slavery last to-
gether. li't sFlH.sr. l0 2WptFH iar1,
Mr.. Pugh, the Democratic Senator from
Ohio, WAS fired up and said 'ii s..'
The Senator told us that the fugitive slave
law was executed by force Of arms in the
Northern States How many times has it
ever been executed by force of arms? 1li
Mr.. Iverson. Many times. ni .aas
Mr. Pugh. Never in the State that l
have the honor in part to represent. Hail
Mr.. Iversoni Was it not in the case Of
Burns? .'-nEelnoJ s.i % A.a
Mr. Pugh. That is one. The Senator
said it was only executed by force of arms.
Why, sir, l live on the border of slavehold-
ing and non-slaveholding States, and tell
him it is executed every day, or nearly every
day. 1t is so common an occurrence that il
does not even collect mob of six men tc
look at it. 1t is constant operation.
Then, we are told that there are mobs. -
How many? There never was but one moi
in the State which l have the honor to rep
resent, and that was in the Northern por
ton Of it, and those very men were indicted
and fined and imprisoned; and when they
were brought before five Republican judges
claiming that their Imprisonment was lille
gal, those judges remanded them to prison
But the Senator says that while we have
!. disorderly persons who are interfering with
the re-capture of the slaves, the great bod,
Of the community stand quietly by, or lool
on with derison. Why, sir, any community
may have mob, any community may have
its laws violated suddenly and without no
tice; but j tell the Senator that, 80 far al
the North-W Western States are concerned
there never has been an occasion when tn,
great body of the community stood by anC
allowed any such outrage as that-never.-
: Instead Of giving real grievances to stand up
on, it is by this invention of history it is b,
this assertion of things us facts which or,
!, not facts; it is by declaring, as the Senate
from Georgia has done, that the people o
the Northern States have set on foot som,
! policy in regard to the institution of SLAYER,
: in the Southern States, that all this vas
cloud Of passion and Misrepresentation il
raised in both extremes of the country.
Now, sir, do notbelieve that ninety MIN
hundredths of the men who voted for Mr.
Lincoln thought anything about the subjec
OF slavery in the States, or had any policy OF
: the subject. They were opposed to the in
PRODUCTION Of slavery into the Territories
they were in favor of general division of tn
offices and plumber. Many of them wante,
: protection to iron, and do not know wha
all but most of them were animated by
thorough hatred Of the Democratic party
But as for any policy in their minds bearin,
upon the institutions Of the Southern State
> l believe this day, if the question was put il
any shape, that even in New England tho
y | cannot speak for her--in every State of tn,
: North-there is large majority Of the peo
: pie who are opposed to any interferenc'
whatever. NJ t,r s3ab ,-sn-li.
Senator Douglas said orE as
! suppose the Fugitive Slave Law is en-
= forced with as much fidelity us that in rcgart
: to the African slave trade. But, sir, / con
! fess it is not enforced as faithfully as wisl
it was, or as it ought to be. While max,
this declaration l am compelled to say tina
q nine-tenths of the complaints on that sub
: ject are unfounded. Where there is sectiona
strife and excitement there seems to be
proneness on the part of the newspaper pres
in both sections, to collect and give ever,
fact which would inhame the passions ant
prejudices Of one section against the other
: In that way, partial and unfair statements
Of facts are given, which makes each section
act under an apprehension of tho other. :
Now, sir, as faras Illinois is concerned, l an
9 prepared to say that in nineteen cases out o.
twenty where fugitive slave enters Illinois
he is arrested and returned without any, ju
dicial process whatever. y y -
| think therefore, there islittle ground Of
complaint, so far as the section of the country
in which l live is spoueerned yet know thai
the Southern people are induced to believe
that if slave getsIinto the North no is gone
forever. They are apt to think so because
the cases of actual returns are never pub
lished, and only the exceptional cases of res
cue come to the knowledge of the people.