The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-01
THE FAMOUS CASE OF BOOTH.

While all over the nation soldiers
who wore the blue and those who wore
the gray were paying their tributes of
respect to those of their comrades who
had received their final discharge the
Ethical society of Milwaukee made the
leading feature Of it's ceremonies an adj
dress from a man who bore a part in
the great struggle out Of which arose
the war that has given the nation Me-
mortal day. There is fitness in thus
associating cause and effect, the agi-
tator who fought the civil fight for the
liberty of the negro, with the memory
of those who gave up their lives to Sc
cure and perpetuate it. To those who
lived in this Northwest forty-odd years
ago and felt the tense passions that
swept men on to convictions that, a
few years later, made them quick to
shoulder the musket, the name Of Sher-
man NJ. Booth is familiar It is worth
while to refer to the event in which
he became the leading figure, an event
4
courts into direct conflict.
Joshua Glover was claimed as fugi-
tive slave and was arrested in Milwau-
kee in the summer of 1854. Booth, who
treme anti-slavery views found there
little sympathy and general opposition,
formed a party to liberate Glover and
succeeded in taking him from the Gus
arrested and brought before Judge
Smith, Of the state supreme court, and,
after a trial lasting three days, the.
court ordered his discharge on the
ground that the fugitive slave law was
unconstitutional congress having no
authority to legislate on the return Of
a runaway slave, or to determine the
liberties of men, and because it denied
trial by jury. The decision produced
a profound impression over the North,
and well it might, for it set congress
at defiance. An appeal was taken to
the full bench and, while it was pend
ing, Booth was indicted by the federal
grand jury and brought before the late
Justice Miller and held to bail.
Booth sued out a writ of habeas ceI-
pus from the state supreme court,
which, on the hearing, remanded him
to the custody of the marshal on the
ground Of comfy to the federal court
and also heca11So If would not ,cs-1y,oo
that that court would hold the law
constitutional. If the former decision
produced citation among the abolition
lists, this one caused general ar ger,
and was roundly denounced as a back
down to the slave power.
The feeling rose to such a pitch al d
the expressions were so strong that
the marshal feared another rescue
party and accepted bail; and Booth,
sick, worn out with excitement and
confinement, was released to go home
and go very near deaths door with
typhoid fever. In January, 1855, he was
brought to trial before Miller. and nm
der the evidence, was convicted, Miller
refusing to follow the territorial cnurt
in its view Of the constitutionality Of
the law. A fine of 81 900 and the costs
amounting to over $3.50, with imprison-
ment until paid, was the sentence of
the court. Booth Immediately appl;ed
to the state supreme court for a writ
Of habeas corpus, and one was iss,,ed
n tod hot 10
iff. and served upon them. Booth
was to be taken the follow
ing Monday to Madison for the
hearing, and his friends decided to
give him start on the journey that
would be an intimation to the court of
the state Of public sentiment, with the
expectation that it would stiffen the
courts backbone. Milwaukee was a
village then, but over 1000 persons
gathered. Booth and his counsel were
put into the best sleigh in town, drawn
by four gray horses, and the process
sion, with band Of music at its head,
formed behind them and escorted them
to the depot. The crowd increased in
numbers until it numbered over 1900
by the time the cars were reached and
included men from every rank and
class. The trial resulted in an order
for the immediate discharge of Booth
on the same grounds on which Judge
Smith based his decision. This case
put Wisconsin in the same attitude
South Carolina had assumed over thirty
years before, that Of EuiI;sying an act
of congress, but public sentiment had
become so strong in the North by this
time that the United States did not
deem it prudent to assert it's dignity.
----ps-
Have you ever noticed how much dearer