The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1866-02-07
5t'af assdisE I'll q For the Standard.
REPORT OF FREEDMEN. 9aki

|, MEssRs. EprToRs There seems to be
misapprehension by Mr. Phillips and other
distinguished gentlemen Of the House of
Commons, of the important and proper con-
structiop of sections 6 and Z, Of the bill re-
ported TO the General Assembly by the COM
mission appointed by the Convention 49,
think understand it, having had some
reason to be acquainted with the objects OF
these two sections. Bsssc
The 9th section refers to irregular marriage
celebrated in due form; and is intended to
embrace class of cases of this kind, which
existed to small extent in the State. There
ever have been shareholders, whose religious
scruples were troubled at the want of cere-
mony in the cohabitation, as man and wife
of slaves, and some of them caused the mar
nages between slaves undertheir control, to be
performed in due and legal form by min
lister. In most, perhaps in all cases. there was
no license from the Clerks of Courts. g
In many of these cases the parties were
| living together as man and wife when they
were emancipated In Others, one of the
parties was dead, leaving issue born during
the marriage ms n Ees M
| Now the case of such formal marriage eel
ebrated according to law, was different from
| the informal marriages between slaves by
their own consent with the assent of their
masters. The Supreme Court had declared,
that these latter were utterly void and had no
sanction of the law to support them; hold
ing that all marriages in the State, eacept in
the mode prescribed by laae were cOid.
/ The committee were of opinion that the
formally celebrated marriages of slaves,
though they might have been broken up by
a separation forced by their masters, were
| merely roiddJle, and if never broken up, were
proper subjects of ratification Upon the
ratification of any act merely Q. ida6le, all the
consequences follow, as if the act had been
valid from the beginning 1t is usual, how
ever, to declare the consequences, or the most
| important Of them, in the enactment Hence,
section six declares the children born ofsuch
| marriages legitimate. gsas n
| But in regard to the combinations of
slaves, as man and wife, by their consent and
| the assent Of their masters, the committee
| thought that such combinations were utterly
roid, as marriages. They deemed it right,
however, that it should be declared that the
parties were married, if they should continue
such association and cohabitation to future
| day, without any further formality. This
would legalize, for the future, their .cohabi-
tatlon and exempt them from indictment for
| lewd and lascivious cohabitation. 1hissection
scoula create, not ratifythe marriage relation.
| The reason why the committee did not
provide for the legitimation of the offspring
of such cohabitation in section Z, as they had
done for those born of irregular and roidaLle
marriages in section 6, was that they did not
believe the Legislature had the power to leg
itimate directly any bastard child being
forbidden by the Constitution-Art. 1, Sec
4, clause 4" to legitimate any person not born
in MwtuJ acedlOck." ..srt
The committee, therefore, while they
thought that the General Assembly might
create marriage upon a certain state of
things, did not believe, that that body coul
legitimate bastard; and there recommend
that the legitimation should be referred to
the Convention. The ordinance introduced
into that body provided for legitimation.
s.ss D. NJ. NJ.