Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1866-04-19
'Trumbull's Speech.
consiuaea fr.pa First rage.

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Concluded frspa First PAGE,
other person, shall, 10 any way or manner,
apply or attempt to apply the provision Of
said statute to any colored person in this
department."
Adequate remedy can be provided with
cut s~ssailing the independence Of the ju-
dietary. says the President and here we
have samples Of that adequate remedy
which is to take the designated cases from
the courts. and imprison the judges if they
disobey orders.
Again, sir, let me refer to another order
issued under presidential authority, dated
hesdqusrters department of South Carolina,
Charleston, January II, 1866, and issued by
Major General Sictles. 1t is a very signif-
cant order:
aAnhws she'll he applicable alike TO all tbs inhabi-
tauis."
That is the very thing that is in this bill.
[ wonder it did not occur TO the President.
when he approved this order, that Gypsies
and Uhiness might be protected by it.
mo person shall I've held incompetent to sue, make
complaint, Or to testify because OF color or caste"
Agsir, sir:
"ro ,eaure the same equal justice and personal lib
cry to tha IRE odnen os 20 other inhabItants, no penal
tiss OF PHrishmests different from those to which all
other 'eFSons are suie9sVie, shall be imposed OF feed
neODlE.N
A injuries 10 the person or property committed by
orupoh freed persons shall be punished in the l1unner
provided by he laws Of south Carolina Tor like injuries
10 the 'arson. or property OF ctizels thsreot"
Ard in a subsequent order issued by Gen.
eral sickles, on the 4th of March, it is pro.
videa-
"Suprrisr and cireui, provost courts will continne in
operation as heretofore, add shall have, as against any
snd all clTu coGrts' exclusive jUrisdicti N in all Eases
where itesErcn aud other persons Of color ar, directly
or INDIRECTLY concerned, until such persons shall be adj
mittedto the STATE courts as parties aud witnesses, with
sous
Wbv. sir, here are the very provisions of
this bill embodied in military orders issued
undr presidential authority. And yet the
President tells us there is no necessity for
this bill.
The President objected to the third Sec
ton Of the bill that it gives the district
courts exclusive jurisdiction Of all crimes
and ~offenscs committed against the act.
We'll, sir, that is no new thing. The Uni
ted States courts have always had j%uris1ic.
tien Of crimes and ofenses committed
against United States laws. But it further,
as he insists, gives jurisdiction to all cases
affecting persons Disseminated against, as
provided in the first and second sections of
the bill; and by a strained construction the
President seeks TO divest State courts, not
only Of jurisdiction Of the particular case
where q party is Disseminated against, but
Of oil cases affecting him or which might
affect him. This is not the meaning of the
section. have already shown, in com
menting on the second section of the bill,
that no person is liable to its penalties ex.
cept the one Who does an act which is made
penal that is, d~eprives another Of some
right that he is entitled to, or subjects hin,
to some punishment that he ought not to
bear.
So in reference to this third section, the
jurisdiction is given to the Federal courts OF
a case affecting the person that is discrimi-
mated against. Now, he is not necessarily
discrininated against, because there may be
a custom in the community discriminating
against him, nor because a Legislature may
have passed a statute discriminating against
him; that statute is Of no validity If it ,omes
in conflict with a statute OF the United
States; aud it is not 10 DO presumed that
any judge of State court would hold that
ss:stute Of a State discriminating against
aperson oU account of color was valid when
there was o statute of the United States
with which it was indirect conflict, and the
cass would not therefore rise in which a
party was Disseminated against until it was
tested, and then II the discrimination was
held valid he would have a right to remove
it to q Federal court-or. if undertaking to
anforce his right in a State court he was
denied that right, then he could go into the
Federal court; but it by no means follows
that every person would have a right in the
first instance TO go to tho Federal court
b c!g,e there was on the statute book OF
the State a law discriminating against him,
tn presumption being that the judge of
the court. when he came to net upon the
Gaze, you'd, 10 obedience to the paramount
law Of the United, States. hold the State
statute 10 be invalid.
If it he necessary in order to protect the
freedman in his rights that he should have
authority to go into the Federal courts in all
cases where a custom prevails in a State, or
where there is g statute. law of the State
discriminating against him, | think we have
the authority to confer that jurisdiction
under the secon& clause of tho constitutional
I'm ,ndneut, which authorizes Congress to
enforce by appropriate legislation the arti.
81" declaring that "heither slavery nor in
' lntary seryitude, except as a punishment
4 r erin Q whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted, shall exist within the Uni
ted States or 10 any place subject to their
jurisdiotion. That clause authorizes us
70 do whatever is necessary to protect the
freedman in his liberty. The faith Of the
nation is bound to do that; and if it cannot
DO uOue Without, WOulu nave authority 10
allow him to como to the Federal courts in
all casss.
The President objects to tho fourth, fifth,
sixth, and seventh sections Of the bill DO.
cause Of the numerous officers aud agents who
are authorized to be employed in its execu-
ton. will net take up the time ofthe Senate
10 examining these various objections in de-
tail. This is the character ofall Of Them
But, sir. oil those provisions of the bill are
copied from the statute of 1850, known M
the " fugitive slave act, " for which Andrew
johnson voted. That act has been repeat
eddy held by the courts to be constitutional.
know some object to using its machinery
even in the interests Of freedom. But Il
was because Of the uses and purposes to
which that act was implied. that it was in-
famous. When you come to use the same
machinery, not for the purpose Of reducing
to bondage and keeping in slavery human
beings. but for the purpose Of CELEBRATING and
protecting them, il is u very different thing.
Is well might our brave soldiers, when they
routed the rebel armies, have objected to
using in the country's cause the weapon
Aksat - "