The daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1863-1864, 1864-06-04
The IrgueIles Case.

kldnapptuS VI So'' N>''''t11 -0Tl ~ ~.
transportation to Cuba in defiance OF the
laws Of the United States and in violation
of all the precedents in our history. Inc
u,b;ect is called up again by the transsmls'
sion to the Senate on last Wednesday, bY
the Presidsnl, all the papers relatiVetothe
case together with an explanatory letter
from Secretary SEWARD, The Secretary
saws. .there being no treaty of extradlfion
batween the United States and Spain, nor
any act of Congress directing how fusitiVes
from Justice in the Spanish donations shall
be delivered up, the extradition in the
AReuRLLr. case is understood by the State
Department to have been made in virtue Of
the law of nations and the Constitution Oh
the United States" aumus tt s.,f
What sanction the Secretary can find IN
the Constitution of the United States for
the arrest and abduction of a peaceable
foreigner who had only resided few days
.upoa our shores, is utterly beyond our
comprehension. That instrument has never
heretofore been considered an extradition
treaty, treaty of amity and commerce
with foreign nations, OF anything OF that
kind, and the assumption that it justifies
the surrender of refugees to their enemies
and pursuers belonging to foreign powers
is new and startling, to say the least. 1t
is only in these days when it is held oy
the President that measures otherwise un-
constitutional may become lawful" that
& such an idea can be entertained for q
moment or seriously put forth. The people
of the United States know too we'll the scope
aud provisions of that instrument which
constitutes the bond of the nation and the
charter of their liberties, to be satisfied by
such an explanation or to acquit their au-
thorities Of a grave offense upon such an
absurd plea. The most diligent student OF
the Constitution will fail to find anything,
either in its spirit or it's terms, to Justify
the crime which has been committed on the
person of Col. ARGuELLTs and. through
him, upon three fourths Of the foreign pop
latiou in our midst.
Neither is the plea that the surrender
was made lin virtue of the law Of nations
worthy of m ore serious consideration. 1t
is well known by all who have read even
an elementary book upon international law
that the right Of extradition Of criminals
rests upon treaty alone. This has been ffe
qpently decided by the best author
tiles 4 and, especially, are our Amer
lean jurists clear and emphatic in this
opinion. !, Chancellor KESr, whose COM
snentaries upon international law con
titute the text book or the American
student say explicitly; She United States
have no Jurisdiction ia such cases, except I'm.
der atredty provision" That we have no
such treaty with Spain is admitted by Sec
uretary SEWARD in the extract from his let
ter which we have quoted above. 1t mat
tiers not what may be the crime with which
the fugitive, is charged, once landed upon
our shores he is safe, unless an extradition
treaty exists under whose provisions be
may be surrendered to his former soyer-
eign And even when the delivery ofcrim
iuais is thus agreed upon, it is never done
except spon complaint made under oath,
legal warrant for his srrest, and examinas
ton before magistrate, to the end that
the evidence of his criminahty may be
heard and considered. In the ARGUELLEs
case all this was wanting. He was seized
upon mandate from the Executive, with
out legal warrant, without treaty stipula.
lions, without judicial hearing or examina-
tion, hurried oh by stealth and surrendered
to the Spanish authorities.
If the President of the United States can
do these things without indignant rebuke,
what foreign resident in our midst is safe.
Suppose that the English minister should
call for the arrest and delivery to the Brit.
ish authorities Of Gen. T. F. MEAeER, the
precedent Of the ARGuELLEs case would 20
far to justify his surrender. DR.. LIEBER
CARL SCHURz, Gen. SIGEL and hosts of
others who have won honor and wealth in
our country are liable at any hour to be
seized, in obedience to a mandate from
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and hurried of to be
come occupants of bastile in the old
world. The doctrine is full of danger to
: those who. have sought an asylum and a
home under the protection Of our flag; and
the native born American who remembers
the thrill of pride with which the action of
Capt, INGRAM inrescuiog KHzTAl re NJ Aus.
TRAN catches was greeted, and who gloried
in the defiant front our nation was wont to
hold towards all the despots Of Europe,
olushes to know that in these latter days
we have fallen so low as to abandon OUR