The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-04-17
The following is Governor Ireland's
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, !
.A. IL IA 1901

AuoO1u, n pm IL, 1OOt.
To His FXcellency, S. d. McEnery. Governor
OF Louisiana, Baton Rouge, La:
SIR:-I have the honor to acknowl-
edge the receipt of your communica-
ton of April 5.
l received your telegram asking me to
order the sheriff of kaufman county
to hold the prisoner Clarke until your
day before been placed in possession
of the requisition of the governor of
Texas on the governor of Louisiana
for the return of the fugitive Carroll,
with the Endorsement of your refusal
to surrender him, and, of course, felt
keenly what had my reason to believe
was an INTENTIONAL disrespect to Texas
and her constituted authorizes. /
could not then and do not now under
tanyd how the non-existence of the
RIM p charged against Carroll in the
rim hnai court of Louisiana as an
lie khse could have the slightest bear
e !, on the question at issue. This
$ one of your reasons; the other, to-
t: that no affidavit accompanied
requisition showing That the fugi-
Ne was wanted in Texas for legiti-
mate purposes was so extraordinary
that the insult was felt to me a gross
one. 1t matters not whether the re-
quirement was an executive regula-
ton or statutory, it was no less I'M
friendly and illegal. If such a statute
exists in your state (and do not doubt
its existence because you say it
is on your books it is and
must be so held by all counts utterly
void. The provision of the federal
constitution article 4, section 2, is ga
person charged in any state with
treason, felony or other crime who
shall flee from justice and be found in
another state from which he fled be
delivered upto be removed to the state
having jurisdiction of the crime"
makes it federal question, and while
the states may legislate- in aid of the
provision quotad they can not impede
clog or regulate. To admit the
grower to regulate would allow them
to so regulate as to completely OBJ
struct the rendition of fugitives. The
hesitation of the executive of Vir-
ginia in 1871 to surrender a fugitive
superinduced the act of congress of
1893, which requires the executive of
the state in which the fugi-
tive is found upon presentation
of a copy of an indictment or affidavit,
together with the requisition from
the governor of the state having cog
ninance of the crime, to surrender the
fugitive. Judge Story, in Craig VS..
Commonwealth, says: mot a doubt
has been breathed upon the constitu-
tionality of this part of the act, and
every executive in the union has con-
stantly acted upon and admitted its
validity.
"The fact that the offense charged
against the fugitive is unknown to the
laws of the state where found has been
urged as a reason for refusing the sur
render, but in every instance where
it has been made judicial question
it has been ruled the other way"
And Hurd, on habeaS corpus, says:
"The true construction of this section
appears to be that it embraces all such
acts as are made criminal by the laws
o. the state where they are perpe-
trated.
The founders of the republic looked
to the future. They adopted princi-
Piles of justice and comfy which they
deemed adequate to regulate the con-
duct of the states towards each other
for all time. The extradition of fpgi-
tives from justice is one of them. If
designed as rule of government or
fundamental law, it should reach to
and control all notifications of the
subject matter comprehended in its
terms. Hurd, COB. Speaking of the
formation of this clause of the con-
stitution Mr.. Hurd says: "Did any
state anticipate that any other state
would ever become so barbarouS as to
enact criminal laws so bloody and in
human as to cause Shudder at the
demand to surrender up guilty fu-
gitive for trial and punishment, or
that any Que would become so debased
or transcendental as to repeal all
criminal laws, and thus offer a secure
retreat to all criminals in the land
Page GOA. In other words, did they
not confide in each others sense of
| jvstice, and did they not agree in
order to insure domestic tranquility,
promote the general welfare,
etc, not only to tolerate
one another's peculiarities in adj
ministering premature Justice,
but also to assist therein as to deny
protection to fugitive offenders. Page
604.
Your Excellency is pleased to re-
| cite, as authority for your action In
refusing to extradite, the rule in New
York. No state in this Union has SC
often changed her laws by judicial
| construction or Is a more unsafe
guide in such matters as New York
While she has had able statesmen and
iurists she has also had others thai
could be well described by other ad
jectives. The rule there was las
down in a fugitive slave case and the
governor of that state, following thu
. teachings of that learned statesman
w. II. Seward, said there was highe
law. This occurred in 1889, and Chan
cellor Kent says that the governor o
New York was wrong, and that 9Th
requisition of the governor of Virgi
/ MIA should have been honored." Is
Kent, page 81. Note.
Il Ihs supreme court of Ney
York at one time said: at Is imms
, terial to consider what is the natur
: of the claim against the prisone
, | for we have only to consider if it b
a crime according to the laws of th
J state from which the party is allege
} to be fugitive" Georgia said the sam