Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-03-01

c0UNTY IniT9E HOUSE or fREPRE8ENTA
lives, FRs 20. 1851 1si
HOUSE OF REPRE'ESrATvEs
~ fo LIB. 26. 1861.
Hon. W. G. MooaE,-A Dear Siy,--Tne under.
signed request for publication cbpy Of your
remarks delivered In the House to-day.
! JAMES GAMBLE eEoR7E MCCONNELL,
| HENhY i. UI KEY, JOIN WEStODTT.
R.hUrOHBs0N. ll WILLIAM PARR.
WM.RLECKER. JOSEPH JONAS.
WILLIAM ~ SUP. 3; 3; g; e. nSsoao iSnsS Sw. ,tER'
WIS WOODS. N.A.DEv1RE.
| %. HU9Hgs. J.. 8. REIslN GER.
in. FELLOWS. !. ", SHAW. ~
WIN. JONES o. P0WBRs ~
| A. PRAROE. DENNIS oGLB. q.
REMARKs or MR MOORE.
The House having under consideration House
bill No $50, by Mr. Shaw--a bill to prevent
giving aid to fugitive slaves--Mr Moore said:
| Mr. .SPRARsas THE bill urder consideration is
designed to aid In the execution Of the fugitive
slave law, and proposes to punish by imprison-
ment in the penitentary, for term Of not more
than three years nor lees than one wear, any
person who knowingly shall aid or assist fugi.
tive In escaping from his master. Although
not entirely satisfied with some of It's provis-
ions, yet believing, as / do, that so long as we
consent to live In a confederacy Of States united
under q common constitution, that it is not only
the duty of every citizen to comply with the de-.
mands Of thst constitution, but Likewise to yield
obedience to all enactments Of the general gov
eminent for the purpose of carrying ont in good
faith all It's provisions, am willing to vote for
this bill. Were we living under different con.
stitution, one not recognizing slavery nor guar
anteeing to the citizens of the slaveholding
States their right of property in slaves, should
not support 1t, for !, lin common with my Dem
ocratic brethren of the North, am opposed to
slavery, as is demonstrated in our framing and
supporting the free constitutions and laws under
which we live. But the slavehodiDg States on.
ly consented to union under this guarante e,
and now to repudiate It would be a breach Of
implied faith no less criminal than the holding
of slaves. II was an institution that existed In
all the colonies, and at the adoption of the con-
stitution In twelve Of the thirteen States. II
was one for which the colonies themselves were
not entirely responsible. 1t had been forced
upon them by the mother country, and constitu
ted one of the griev ances complained of In the
Declaration Of Independence.
In q confederacy composed OF free and slave
States, it, was obvious this kind OF property
would not be secure without positive guarantee,
and the trainers Of the constitution, to insure it
for all time, engrafted in that instrument the
following clause: ono person held TO service
or labor in one State, under the laws thereof,
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of
any Law or regulation therein, be discharged
from such service or labor, but shall be deliver.
ed upon claim Of the party to whom such service
or labor may be DUE" This clause constituted
one OF the compromises of the constitution, and
without it or some similar provision, there
could have been no union; and as the right Of
property in slaves was thus one Of the corner
stones in the foundation of this Government, II
is obvious the whole structure must totter and
fall by Its removal. But as IL required Law
the more perfectly to carry out this provision
andl reduce the principle to practice, curin(
Washington's administration, In 1893, a law wal
passed known as the fugitive slave law of tina
date. TEis law, although not entirely satisfactory
to the whole people, was nevertheless lived u[
to for over halt a century, during which time
the States went on together In peace and har.
moDy, till 1t was at length ascertained that
abuses were growing up under the law, and in
1850 it was amended. l-.,..s I'M.
One of the principal defects In the law Of
| '93 consisted in the absence of q provision re-
curing the master to identify his slave-all
that 1t demanded was to offer proof to the mag
strate, either by oral testimony or affidavit that
the person seized owed service or labor to the
person claiming him, and the certificate Of the
Judge or magistrate constituted o sufficient
warrant for removing him to the State from
whence he was alleged to have fed. But the
amended law of 1850 throws additional protec-
ton around the fugitive. 1t compels the mas
ter to furnish satisfactory proof Of his identity.
IL not only requires him to establish the fact
that he lost slaye-that the slave owed him
service or labor which was due, but also to
prove that the apprehended fugitive is the iden-
tical slave that escaped from him, and 1t Is not
until this further proof is satisfactorily estab.
lshed that he can reclaim and take him back
Thus, while the Law Of 1850 throws protec-
ting aois around the free colored citizen,
which The former did not, It at the same time
levies On additional burthen Of proof upon the
STAKEHOLDER, yet still guaranteeing to him bis
rights under the constitution. And now, the
question of to-day Is, Shall We In Onio continue
10 respect those rights; and manifest that re-
spect BY voting for the present bill, or come
other Of similar import that proposes honestly
to protect tbem7 Were we living in different
age, or surrounded by oifferent class OF citl-
xeus, do not know that there would be any
pressing necessities for the passage OF the pres
ent bill, Our ancestors for over half century
In peace aud prosperity faithfully carried out the
reauiremen OF the old law OF ,93, and incul-
Gated the doctrine that it was the duty of every
American citizen 70 bow before the majesty Of
the law.
But the present Is different age, and while
the masses OF the people slill venerate the su
premacy of law, there 10, ,pevertheless, class OF
discontented spirits who, blind to tue beacons
that have lit our fathers onward in their path
Of glory, and stumbling over barriers by which
they have been stayed, With one foo, upon the
laws and the other upon the Constitution, rails,
their voice and proclaim "higher law" undeI
whose superior sanction all tt4tutory enact.
ments Inconsistent with it's sybiline and oracu.
lar teachings, are trampled under foot; and un
derground railroads organized for stealing ant
running of deluded slaves, and when efforts ar,
made for their recapture, have no cornpuncticn
In at once resorting to the violence Of q mob
It is for the especial benefit Of this class Of oul
citizens that II ask for the passage Of this bill
Mr.. Speaker, it is no fancful deluaion, bu
the alarming fact Is before us tnat there IL {
class, large and toOuld be respectable class o
citizens, not only in our own commonwealth
north, who have no sympatbies clustering arount
the poor white man, but on the contrary, a grow
ing disrelsh for all his interests, bis hopes ant
his rewards, and whose minds are carried awe,
in the exercise Of an unbounded philanthropy
! towards the negro. This false philanthropy ha
Its development In the anti slavery sentiment o
the north, and its fruits have only been evil ant
that continually. il has trampled the Law unde
. foot, and long been carrying ona system Of free
booting upon the border States. j, has deflel
the virgin soil Of neighboring territory will
blood and carnage. IL enacted the horrid sceue
at Harper's Ferry. Il has divided our churches
| and Ia laboring at this moment to rend asunde
| this magnificent Union, around which cluster