Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1873-10-09

en- bishops played an important part in
English history; the recoil against the
government, created by the verdict Of
the jury. developed an opinion, born of
hlngled reason and passion, which at
length drove James the Second from
the throne. 1t was government
prosecution, and it brought in a new
line of kings.
The decision in the Dred Scott case
was foreshadowcd in the inaugural
message of President Buchanan; it
was hailed by him as the voice of su-
thority that was to settle for ever the
vexed question Of slavery or freedom
II the territories of the Union.
Let us recall the situation ever
since the Missouri compromise of 1920
fol- more than a generation, slavery
had been prohibited in the territories
OF the Union. by law of Congress,
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty
minutes. BY a mad act of folly and
ambition, this statute, whose validity
was not previously questioned, was re-
pealed in 1854, when the territories of
Kansas and Nebraska were organized.
The repeal reopened great debate,
and brought in fierce conflict, q de.
bate on the rights and merits of slave
y throughout the Union, and a con.
hlct on the territory of Kansas TO Sc
core the organization of the new State.
ms controversy was going on with
great heat and passion when this re-
narkabie cause was heard, and when
Mr.. Buchanan was sworn into office.
| III was not fictitious case the facts
were real; but the question as TO the
jurisdiction of the United States Cir
cut Court was argued in st. Louis in
April, 1854, while the question of the
repeal of the Missouri compromise was
pending before Congress.
On review the cause was twice argu-
ed. 1t was capable OF being decided
on the ground that the Courts O: the
United States had no jurisdiction, or
on the ground that the laws Of Mis-.
sourl, from which state the appeal
came, were controlling and conclusive.
But because one of the parties plaintiff
was born above the line of thirty-six
deg. 30 min., it seemed 10 give the on.
poftunIty to discuss and decide on the
validity of the act of Congress pr O.
hlbitIng slavery north of that line, and
consequently upon the right TO hold
slaves in all the territories of the
Union.
The court had no sympathy with the
enslaved people. \ majority of the
judges came forward, beyond the is.
sues presented, to uphold and main
tain the institution in its utmost rigor.
lhey decided first on the question of /
jurisdiction, that a negro man could
not brInS 4 stnL IN the lUu6,Ht .,latt;s /
Circuit Court against the citizen of an |
other State. that he could not be /
treated as citizen because he was re. |
garded by the trainers OF the Consti- /
tution AS having no rights, and no lot /
or part IN the body of the people not /
even 50 good status As n private cor |
poration, mere creature of the law |
has and second, that while Congress
may organize and make all ncedful |
rules and laws for the government OF a |
territory. 1t could not exclude slavery /
or legally establish the famous Nilsson
ri compromise of 1920; and that the
people OF territory were equally
without power 10 act upon the subject,
because the Constitution carried or re-
coSnlzed the institution as already ex-
istlng in all the territories. From such
skllful combination of negative con.
cilslons, with one daring affirmative,
the Inference was easy that Scott could
not acquire his freedom by beng TAX
en- into the territoric line OF thirty six
deg, thirty mia, and that his oldest
child born above that line was never
theless a slave
We do not question the personal in
tegrity or good faith of these judges.
Without being aware of il, they were
being carried forward on a mighty cur
rent of opinion; in truth, as in theory,
they delivered an impersonal opinion;
they declared the law as they had been
trained and educated to apprehend it.
The dissenting judges did the same
thing; coming to an exactly opposite
conclusion. Perhaps no decision ever
pronounced in America shows more
clearly the animus, or what Moptes-
quieu calls the spirit of the law mean
lng thereby the natural drift and pur.
Iose Of the law-creating mind in
state or nation.
IL Is now only sixteen years since
the decision was pronounced and it
sands there in the nineteenth volume
o Howard's Reports as obsolete and
dead as the slave code Of Rome: the
record Of ii Aas been blotted out with
tie blood of civil war, and on its
page has been written the new law of
equal rights for all men.
There are two considerations bear
irg upon the decision which perhaps
oght not to be overlooked; one re-
laes to citizenship, and the other to
tie merits and defects of written
an therefore inhexible Constitution,
tom the earliest times the term citi
"a has carried with it the notion of
pivilege. During its early history the
ciizens Of Rome constituted q real ar
isocracy. Following out the law of
tr development, the rights of citizen.
alp were at length extended to the
bdy of the people, to other commu-
tiles, and even to distant towns and
istant cities. We find the word con-
eying a similar sense In modern
mes. 1t flashes out in the French
evolution, a name of such potential
harm that it ends, after q while, in a
tizen king. No one stops to inquire
recisely what rights belong to him as
citizen. We all assume without de-
ate 1--WE have been educated up to
tat point), that whoever has the right
I vote and own the soil he cultivates
ia citizen and yet we all know that
awoman and a child is compassed
aout with the rights Of citizenship.
| The cOnsp0uencas hOvinU from, |