The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-27
THE RETURNING BOARD IN THE GUS
TOM-HOUsE.
Arc Uncle sans Houses Exempt from
search warrants

the same question Us 10 sanctuary 1Or VII
1aify, stolen goods, etc, that arose when tn
Auditors books were supposed TO BIO hidde
Iii the Custom-H House, and what handed yo
then is fully applicable now. viii you publis
1t and lot our authorities see tbat-to say th
Jea6t-there is no flaming sword In the hand
Or an angel ut the door Of The Custom-Ho1se
as there was at the gate Of Eden.
Yours, respectfully. b. ). SAGE
It has seemed to me, from the first, that thu
stolen or missing books and papers should bt
sought for under search warrants. wherever
they are suspected to BIO.
What usurpatory Legislation and so-callet
Federal Jurisprudence there may be opposed
to searching Federal stables, farrieres, butch
cries, postOfIioes lighthouses, coal yards
try boxes, cemeteries, tenements, vacant lots
dumping grounds, public lands, depots, water
closets, navy yards, forts arsenals, etc,
know not, but / am satisfied there ought to
be no hndrancc toa sheriff executing search
warrant In the sacred premises and presence
Of Collector King on Marshal Wharton him
self.
have, at present, Mr.. Editor, neither time
nor inclination to look into modern Federal
statutes Jurisprudence orders, opinions, etc,
dutfully do it. "Dutifully," say, for there
never was time when this class, 30 capable
Of defending civil liberty, could be more influ-
entail. ! only aim here to open the subject by
Southern Magazine Of January, 1876 on the
refuge and safety which Kellogg and his red
banded co-conspirators found In the Custom
House from an outraged and enTaged COM
some. conservative lawyers and presses that
they had escaped virtually, to foreign soil
Again, at Louisville, Ky, not long ago the
superintendent Of some Federal hospital, or
asylum, declared his building and belongings
I'd be exempt from the jurisdiction of any
kfata nfliift ur officer
And now comes Collector King, and seems
to say to Attorney General Ogden: "The very
respectable organization you represent Is on
titled to my highest consideration; fer its
constitution, as was explained by the great
AxpOunder Lincoln, but ] cannot let you
como In and take these boxes, or examine
them, unless Secretary Sherman permits as
he may not. You must watch at the door till
Pitkin moves them, as he may do, and then
grab. He may not move them for o year or
two, but YOU must wait, and perhaps not get
them ut ALL"
gentlemen TO the following extracts, which
may be Of some weight: Respectfully,
Act No. 157 Of 1876, oeding to the United
E States jurisdiction over the sites OF Forts
jackson, st. Philip, Pike and Wood, Bat
terry Bienvenu, Tower Dupre, etc.
Provided, al,rays That the. cession and
Jurisdiction aforesaid are granted upon the
express condition that this commonwealth
shall retain Q concurrent Jurisdiction with
TIE United . States n and Eyer Eyer the sad
and such criminal process as may issue ul-
der the authority Of this commonwealth,
against any person or persons charged with
crime committed without the said tracts Of
land, may be executed therein, in the same
way and manner Us though this cession and
consent had not been made and granted. = y"
lin authorizing Federal jurisdiction over
The site OF the Custom House, l doubt not
the State was equally prudent TO prevent it
becoming O. den OF thieves and q safe hiding
place OF plunder.l
Judge Story, commenting on the grant OF
exclusive Legislation over government sites
{art. /, sec. 81 says:
"A great variety Of oesslOns have been made
by the States under this power; and geDer-
nlly there has been reservation Of the right
To serve oil State process civil and criminal,
upon persons found therein. This reservation
has not been thought at all inconsistent
With the provisions Fl the constitution Tor the
PLACES are not capable Of being made sanctu-
tllary for fugitiyes to exempt them from acts
dome within and cognizable by the. States to
The Law ON the subject.
Isouthern Magazinel
The recent flight of person claiming TO be
the Governor OF Louisiana, to the New Or
leans Custom-H House, where be took sanctuary
while awaiting the aid Of the President and
the comments OF the press on this singular
hegira, have opened q question OF great mo-
Snent, on the nature and bearings Of which we
should have not hastily formed notions, but
deliberate convictions. A portion Of the press
has asserted the strange proposition that
this fight to the Custom House was IL fight
into foreign territory" and that while there
'as .he was no more In the State Of Louisiana
than Don Carlos would be 10 Spain If he sought
Chancellor Kent italicises the following
compendious declaration: The State gov
ernments have no jurisdiction In places
coded to tho United States When q person
Vi in custom-house, he Is not bound by the
laws of the State, because he Is not within the
State; and for the same reason. when there,
he cannot exercise any civil or political privi-
leges under the laws o. the State"
So, according to this authority, we can
OF, In other words, indulge in the luxury Of
foreign travel by simply going to the post
Office on custom house.
To go abroad on legal fiction Is about as
noyel and unsatisfactory as II Is to have the
soil rand jurisdiction Of Louisiana bespeckled
with as many patches of foreign territory as
Uncle Sam may acquire and use for custom
house, p0stofice or war purposes; and beg
leave to offer against the theory protest and
q few scraps Of food for future thought on the
the leisure nor the mood for elaborate discus
sion, and as the sword Is now and here more
potent than reason
The association Of States called the United
States acquires and holds property in a State,
us will be seen, say In New York or LOUISE
ana, Just an any other proprietor does; and
appears In court to sue, and, II 1t choose, be
sued, just as any other person does; and, in
deed, as TO these matters, Uncle Sam In bis
great white palace has no advantage over
Uncle Tom LII his iowly cabin.
Before the union of States was, the separate
States were; and the former, with the consti-
tuition ofgovernment, must have sprung from
the creative and deegating will OF the latter.
4, New York declares lsee her constitution, ar
ticle /, section III: 'rhe people Of this State,
hi their right Of sovereignty, are deemed to
possess the original and ultimate property In
and to all lands within the jurisdiction of this
State
h Judge Kent Inv. Com. 424l states the Ameri-
can law and doctrine on this subject as fol-
lows: The State steps in place Of the feudal
lord, by virtue Of its sovereignty, as the origi-
nal and ultimate proprietor OF all the lands
III ~ 49, ....ls