Year: 1861

ArL. q. congress Snail nave no power 10 lioulUlJ
OF hinder the transportation Of slaves from one
State to another, or to Territory in which slaves
are permitted by law TO be held; whether the
transportation be by land, navigablc rivers, or by
sea.


Art. 8. Congress shall have power to provide by
law, and 1t shall be its duty SO TO provide that the
United States shall pay to the owner who shall ap-
ply for it, the full value of his fugitive slave in all
cases where the marshal other officers whose du-
ty it was to arrest said fugitive prevented from
doing so by violence or intimidation; or when.a
ter arrest said fugitive was rescued by force and
the owner thereby prevented or obstructed in the
pursuit of his remedy for the recovery of his said
fugitive slave under the said clause of the Constu-
ton and the laws made in pursuance thereof. And
in all cases where the United States shall pay for
such fugitive they shall have the right in their own
name to sue the county in which said violence or
intimidation or rescue was committed, and to re-
cover from il with interest and damages the amount
paid by them for said fugitive slave. And the said
county, after it has paid said amount to the United
States may for its indemnity, sue and recover from
the wrong-doers or rescuers by whom the owner
was prevented from the recovery of his fugitive
slave in like manner as the owner himself might
have sued and recovered.


Art 6. No further amendment Of the Constitution
shall affect the ve preceding articles nor the third
paragraph of the second section Of the first article
Of the Constitution, nor the third paragraph of the
said section of the fourth article of said Constitu-
ton and no amendment shall be made to the
Constitution which will authorize or give to Con-
gess any power to abolish interfere with slavery
in any of the States by whose laws it is or may be
allowed or permitted.


And whereas also, besides the causes Of dissenson
embraced in the foregoing amendments proposed to
the Constitution of the United States, there are
others which come within the jurisdiction OF Con-
gress and may be remedied by its legislative pow
er; and whereas it is the desire of Congress- as far
as its power will extend, to remove all just cause
for the popular discomfort and agitation which now
dsturbs the peace of the country and threatens the
stability of its institutions; therefore,


Resolred de-. That the laws now in force for the
recovery of fugitive slaves are in strict pursuance
of the plain and mandatory provisions of the Con
stitution and have been sanctioned as valid anC
constitutional by the Judgment of the Supreme
Court of the United States. That the slave-holding
Sates are entitled to the faithful observance anC
execution Of those laws and that they ought mo-
TO be repealed OF so modified or changed as to i'm
pair their efficiency, and that laws ought tobe made
for the punishment of those who attempt, by res
cue of the slave or other Illegal means, to hinde
or defeat the due execution of said laws


q That all State laws which conflict with the fu
stive slave acts of Congress, or any other consttu
tional act of Congress- which in their operation
impede, hinder, or delay the free course and du
execution of any of said acts are null and void b,
the plain provisions of the Constitution OF the Uni
ted,States Yet those State laws, void as they are
have given color to practices and led to consequen
ces which have obstructed the due administration
and execution of acts of Congress, and especial.
the acts for the delivery of fugitive slaves and hav
thereby contributed much to the discord and com
motion prevailing. Congress, therefore, in tn
present perilous juncture does not deem it impro
per respectfully and earnestly to recommend the re
peal of these laws to the said States which have en-
acted them, or such legislative corrections or expa
nations of them as may prevent their being use
or perverted to such mischcvous purposes.


3. That the act of September IS, 1850 common
ly called the fugitive slave law, ought to be S
amended as to make the fee of the commissioner
mentioned in The eighth section Of the act, equa
in amount to the cases decided by him, whethe
his decision he in favor of or against the claimants
And to avoid msconstructon, the last clause of tn
fifth section Of said act which authorizes the pei
son holding n warrant for the arrest or detention
a fugitive slave to summon to his aid the poS'
comitahrs, and which declares it to be the duty Z
all good citizens to assist him in its execution ongt
to be so amended as expressly to limit the author
ty and duty to cases in which there shall be resi-
tancc or danger of resistance or rescue.


4. That the laws for the suppression of the A
rican slave trade, and especially those prohibitin
the mportation~Of slaves, ought TO be made etfet
tual and ought to be thoroughly executed, and a
further enacments necessary for those ends ought
be promptly made.