Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-04-28

violation of the Constitution of the Unite
States is the very least of its defects.
violates your constitution and mine 1t viz
lates every dictate of humanity. 1t violate
every sense of right, every sense of decency
speak III no passion. ana not going t
/, try to prove this or illustrate it, | ask
from long established conviction. | ask an
candid man to read it and look at its provis
ions, and point out its parallel i'll iniquity o.
the statute-books anywhere. But monstrou
as it is, it has been executed throughout al
the States of this Union wherever they hav
tried to execute it. 1t has been executed i
Wisconsin, executed in Massachusetts,, exc
cuted in New York, executed in Ohio. On
OF the last acts of the late President of tn
| United States was to pardon a citizen of Wis
+! consin who then lay in Jail for violation o
one of the provisions of the fugitive slaY,
| law of 1850.
The Senator who made this statement seem
ed to complain of the people of the North be
cause they had not discharged the duty which
as he says, and which others say, the Consti
tuition imposed upon them for returnin:
fugitiVes from labor.
Mr.. SALISBURY. If the Senator will al
low me moment, as he seems to be quoting
from what he supposes to be some remarks
that made, and as [ have copy Of those
| remarks before me, | will read to him lust
| one sentence of what / did say:
90 Had political aholitionists refrained from in.
| termeddling Nth the just rights of the South il
regard to slavery there would have been no seoes.
| sionists."
| The fugitive slave law was not mentioned
| in that connection.
7
| understood them to fall from the Senator; but
certainly accept the correction, Neverthe-
| less, | think the argument has frequently been
mad e by others. do not propose to 60 into
any discussion of the merits of that fugitive
| slave law. | simply state the fact here that
| that law was executed. Infamous as it was in
its provisions,i it was executed. | will say here
| that the Constitution ought to be INDICATED
| by single word. 1t imposes no duty upon
you or upon me to return any fugitive from
| labor. 1t commands you not to interfere with
| the owner who comes to take him, but it does
| not tell you to take him back, nor furnish the
owner any aid whatever in taking him back,
| But you have seen the whole power of the
United States employed in the rendition of
fugitives from slavery under the law of 1850
| your Navy employed and your Treasury de.
pleted to pay the expenses of taking back
persons who have escaped from slavery. |
| declare, sir, if slavery had been that sacred
fire which used to be kept burning in the
temple of Vesta at Rome, and we had been
| the virgins who guarded it, our vigilance
could not have been greater than it has been
over the slaves of southern masters, That is
the fact l do not brag of it. state it.
JOHN BROWN
A few years ago man by the name of
| John Brown, with, | think twenty-one 9th
ers made little expedition into the State of
Virginia for some purpose or other. ASH
| understood from him, his purpose was to give
| freedom to a few slaves, or to a good MANY
| slaves, in the State of Virginia, in violation
of the law Of that State. He failed in that
enterprise. He and his twenty-one compatri-
OTIS were arrested. They were thrown into
jail. They were indicted, think, for trea-
son against the State of Virginia. Theywere
tried, one after the other; and | believe ev-
cry man of them was hung. They were con-
| vlcted OF treason; and so, suppose, | am
estopped legally from denying that they did
commit treason, estopped by the verdict of
| the jury, or by the judgment of that court
Nevertheless, will say they did not intend
to commit treason. They meant to leave the
government of Virginia just as it was They
which the laws of Virginia recognized as
property, away from that State. But they
did not mean to overthrow or assail the SOW
ereignty of the State.
am not justifying John Browns raid, but
l am telling you what happened when that
raid was made. They were arrested, as [
have stated. They were tried in their COURTS
well enough They were found guilty. do
not complain of that at all. The executioner
proceeded to hang them-very well it was
The exercise of the right of Virginia. But
this is what | wish to call attention to- You
say we Of the North have not been true to
our constitutional obligations. There was a
little petty raid. Admit that the motive was
just as bad as human motive can be and that
the purposes Of the men engaged in it were
as bad as human purpose can be. And what
happened? You saw the Governor of Ohio
and the Governor of New York and the Gov
ernor Of Pennsylvania, those three great
States, tender to the State of Virginia the
militia force of those several States to aid
the Commonwealth Of Virginia to hang John
Brown and his twenty-one compatriots Can
you tell US we are not faithful to our obliga-
tiOns under the Constitution to this institu-
ton of slavery when three great Northern
loyal States actually volunteered to furnish
militia force to help to hang twenty-five men
who made an attack on the institution of sa-
very? Do you tell US after that that we
have not been true to our obligations under
the Constitution plead the general issue.
We are faithful. We are too faithful.
| am not justifying John Brown; am not
condemning Virginia for hanging J ohm Brown
but l would rather have been hung when
John Brown was than to have been the Gov
ernor that hung him; and am rather inclin-
ed to think, if | were permitted to choose, |
would rather have been hung with Brown
than to have been one of the Governors who
offered the militia force of their States to
help execute those men.
Sir, if they had really committed treason
against Virginia, not connected with the sub
Ject of slavery, if John Brown and his TWEEN
ty-one men had actually gone down to depose
Henry a. Wise or whoever was Governor of
Virginia, and abolish its legislature and take
possession of its government, if they had
gone there for the palpable work of treason,
genuine treason, and the Governors of those
States had volunteered to help hang the men,
what would you have said of them? Would
you not have said it was unutterably shame
less to muster the military force Of those
great States to aid another state to execute
justice upon twenty-five culprits? | do not
speak of it now to complain Of those States ;
but | speak Of it as an answer to the assertion
here that we did not come up to the require
ments of the Constitution; that we as polit-
ical communities, did less than the Constitu-
ton demanded at our hands in defense of this
southern slavery.
want to remind you Of another thing that
happened in this same connection. There
was an investigation instituted here in the
Senate about this raid. There was man,
my namesake, living in the city of Boston.
| have known of him as all Senators have