The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-10-25
Negro Importation.

! TIE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF ILLINOIS NO,
| TO BIZ FURTHER VIOLATED "UNTIL FCRrHEI
ORDERS"
The people inhabiting the great State o.
Illinois have recently been SO fortunate 81
to receive a respite, at the hands of the
Secretary of War, postponing the fur
ther violation of their State Consti
tuition, and the laws enacted in pursuance
thereof, until the pleasure of said Secre
tary shall direct it again to take place; or
to be very accurate, until further orders. y
But it is not proper to arraign any one,
without proper specifications and proofs.
The question then is has the Secretary OF
War countenauced the violation of the
Constitution and laws of the State of II.
linois
The Constitution of this State provides:
"ARrICIE xIv.-The General Assembly
shall, at its first session under the amended
Constitution, pass such laws as will efiec-
tuaily prohibit free persons of color from
emigrating to, and settling in this State,
and to effectualiy prevent the owners of
slaves from bring them into this State for
the purpose Of setting them free"
The act of legislature which carries out
the foregoing provision of the Constitution,
provides:
SEC. l. That if any person or persons
shalI bring, or cause to be brought into
this State any negro cr mulatto slave,
whether said slave is set free or not, shall
be liable to an indictment, and upon con-
viction thereof be fned for every such ne
gro or mulatto a sum not less than one
hundred dollars nor more than five hum
dred dollars, and Imprisonment in the
i.r1 nd
shall stand committed until said find and
costs are paid.
SEC. ,. When an indictment shall be
found against any person or persons who
are not residents of this State, it shall be
the duty Of the court before whom the
said Indictment is pending upon affidavit
being made and filed in said court by the
prosecuting attorney, or any other credible
witness. setting forth the non.residence o:
said defendant, to notify the Governor of
this State, by causing the clerk of said
court to transmit to the office OF the Sec
retary OF State certified copy of said in
dictment and affidavit; and il shall be the
duty Of the Governor, upon the receipt oi
said copies, TO appoint some suitable per-
son TO arrest said defendant or defendants
IN whetever State or county he or they
may be found, and to commit h IN or them
to the lall Of the county in which said in
dictrlent Is pending, there to remain and
answer said indictment and to be other
wise dealt with in accordance with this
act. And II shall be the duty of the Gov
ernor 10 issue all necessary reQuisitions
writs, and papers, 10 the Governor or ether
executive officer OF the state, territory, or
province where such defendant or defen
dants may be found: Pro1.d.d, That this
section shall not be construed so a. 10
affect persons or slaves jona fae travelling
through this state from and TO any other
state in the United States
SEC. ). If any negro or mulatto, bond or
or free, shall hereafter come into this
State, aud remain ten days, with the evil
dent intention OF residing IN the same
every such negro or muiatto shall be
deemed guilty of high misGemeanor, and
for the first offence shall be fined in the
sun, OF fifty dollars, &c, &c.
LAST JuSE the people of this State
adopted the following sections by over
wheiuiipg najorities. The sections read
: follows:
SO. ]. No aeef6 or mulatto shall mi
z.ate 10 or settle in this State, after the
-iopiion Of this Constitution.
S.c >. No negro or mUiatto shall have
The right Of suffrage, or hold any Office in
this State
SIC 3 The General Assembly shall pass
all laws necessary to carry into effect the
provisions of this article.
The majority in favor OF the frs: section
was l04 ,e65. The majority for the second
section was lSO,S5T. The majority for the
third section was lj9,0s0
Mr. Stanton ought, in the first instance.
10 have known what our constitution and
laws provide As Mr. Chandler says, he
is merely the clerk of Mr.. Lincoln, and
this is the State in which Mr.. Lincoln
lived for fourteen years since the adoption
of the Constitution under which We now
live lie knew what our Constitution
provides But even if Mr. Stanton did
not know the provisions of our CoHstitu
tion at first, he was repeatedly advised of
it some time ago. After having been so
advised of it, he directed General TuttIe,
at Cairo, to ship negroes to different parts
of this State at the expense OF the goueTnnsnt
General TGttle about that time telsgrsphed
TO Hr. She.Ean. the Mayor of Chicago, as
follows;
Il have large numbe. of applications
from your city for negro servants. Will
you appoint committee to see that they
are properly put out to work Will send
az soon as committee is appointed, and ]
am notified. Answer"
To which Mayor Sherman replied
" Your proposition to send imported ne.
groes to Chicago to work would be a viola
tion Of the lsws OF this State, and great
injustice to our laboring population. /
cannot give it my sanction by appointing
a committee as you propose, or in any
other xay."
The City Council Of Chicago approved of
the action of the Mayor, by a vote of ii
to g.
Mr.. STANTON no,c directs General futile
as follows:
Brigadier General TUrTLE You will
please send no more contrabands, or per-
sons Of color, to Illinois, until further orders.
E. NJ. STANTON, Sec'y of War.
Why not say until the election in llli-
noia shall have taken place p Why was
the until furthes orders" put in +? If he
had any just right, or legal authority, for
sending negroes here ia violation of our
constitution, why did he stop it? If he
had no such right or authority, why does
he leave it to be supposed that the matter
is only temporarily suspended, to be resum-
ed upon further orders 2
This is getting to be rather serious
matter. Ii Mr.. Lincoln's clerk can suspend
and violate the constitution and laws of
the fourth state in the Union, why can
not he do the same to the first State, and
if thot, why not 70 the whole of the States
The motto upon our coat ofarms and great
seal of the State is, "State Sovereignty
National Union" This motto is only q
bur- ssesque if we have no State sovereignty.
Our Constitution is the highest law of the
State, which we have been accustomed to
uphold and venerate. 1t will be simple
byword of ridicule if it can be violated
with impunity. ~
The last order was evidently issued to
affect the election next month in this
state. Although we have no direct proof