Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-24
A Notable Slavery Coincidence.

1T shall be lawful for any person possess
Ing any negro or mulatto over the age OF
fifteen years and owing service as a slave
to bring the said negro or mulatto into
this territory" There Is something nota-
BILE in the date Of this code. 1t was passed
twenty years after the famous ordinance
forbiddlng slavery, and on the 18th day OF
September, Just fifty-ffve yeefs to the day,
before the battle of Antietam, on the results
Of which an Illinois President decided to
Issue the emancipation proclamation. His
words, according to Carpenter. were that
II General Lees army was driven back
from Maryland he would crown the result
by a declaration Of freedom to the slaves.
The monument in the national cemetery at
Antfetam bears conspicuously on its pedes-
tai the words. September IT." that being
the day of the enactment Of the slave code
in the old Indiana territory, OF which ILL.,
nois Is now a part-an interesting COIN
cidence.
The same code provided In section that
eff any negro or mulatto removed into this
territory as aforesaid shall refuse to serve
his or her owner as aforesaid 1t shall or
may be lawful for such person, within sixty
days thereof, to remove the said negro or
muIatto to any place which by the laws Of
the United States such owner or
possessor may be authorized to remove the
same" Children born in that territory of
parent owing service or labor by inden-
ture were required to serve the master or
mistress Of such parent until they reached
the age of thirty. II males. and of twenty
eight. If females. Other giimpses of the
social conditions Of the times are reflected
in these laws, but those relating to slavery
are perhaps OF the greatest historical inter-
est. Much of them have, to be sure, been
reprinted elsewhere, but there Is a lifelong
touch in the musty volumes themselves
which adds to their value to the historical
student.
Their contents, In whatever form recall
II ne ~, h tic
Fall" that the laws of nation form the
most instructive portion of It's history, and
of Priestley that one of the greatest imper-
fections of historians in general Is their
ical writer's are swinging far away from
this error in their devotion to laboratory
method o. research, and for such purposes
books like these are invaluable. The largest
existing assembage of American books of
this kind is the Charlemagne Tower collec-
ton Of American colonial laws in the His
ever. although costing $4,000, covers in the
main only the colonial period and has al
most nothing Of value concerning the vast
and interesting territory west Of the Allie
ghenies. which has now become the seat Of
power In the American empire.
Three Governments In Illinois.
This collection Of books. Just acquired by
the Chicago Historical Society at q large
cost contains all the contemporaneousiy
printed laws (aside from one missing vol
urne) Of the three governments Of which
the area Of the present state Of Illinois was
a part prior to Its admission to the Union.
It first belonged to the Northwest Territory,
comprising all the region north Of the Ohio
and west Of Pennsylvania. and extending
to the Mississippi and line drawn north
ward from its headwaters to the interna-
tional boundary. This region, organized by
the famous ordinance Of 1871, passed by the
old Congress shortly before the adoption Of
the Constitution. was first ruled by gov
formed legislative body Of four members
These men constituted the legislative, exec
utive and judicial branches Of the govern
ment until 1799. when the territory had q
sufficient population to justify the election
OF a general assembly. OF the bo0lxs Of
laws printed during this period the first two
were brought out in Philadelphia by the
official printers OF the United States, since
there was no press In the Northwest Terri
tory. It was not until 1796 that a press was
established at Cincinnati, and later at
Chillieothe, the capital OF the territory,
where the laws were printed as they were
made.
In 1900 Congress passed an act DIVIDING
tho Northwest Territory by q line about
where thu present western boundary Of
Ohio lies and continuing northward through
the lower peninsula Of Michigan to The
Canadian boundary. This new western sec
ton was called the Indiana territory. There
was no printing press within Its limits at
the beginning. and 20 its FIRST book Of laws
was printed at Frankfort. KY, the most
convenient place. but BY the time second