Year: 1860

State the very act Of scizing and securing slave
by his master, which the Constitution Of thC
United States was designed to justify and up
hod.n ..


Sir, | bow to this decision. Hay
ing sworn, upon taking my seat in thil
Hall, to support the Constitution d
the United States, and finding an ad
Indication of the highest judicial tri
bunal known to our laws, and special
ly charged with the settlement of sucf
questions, declaring q law containing
the same provisions which this section
does, to be unconstitutional and void
| cannot vote for this bill.


Taking advantage of the latitndC
allowed to debate in the committee o
the whole, / desire to call attention t.
that class of legislation which is urg
ed upon us here, and of which the bill
under consideration is a specimen.
find on my desk a Senate Bill of the
same title and purport as the one now
before the committee; also, a bill tc
amend the habeas corpus act, The
last named is simply personal llber
ty bill, and the real design of all these
proposed measures is to obstruct and
embarrass the execution of the fugitive
slave law in Ohio. The'e proposed
enactlnents have already been once
upon the statute book of Ohio, and
their only effect was what | state to be
the purpose OF this re-enactment.


Sir, It's but one poor week since we
extended to our Southern brethren Of
the Legislatures ofKentucky and Ten.
nessee, the hospitalities of the State
Of Ohio. They have broken bread
with us, and we have all without dis.
tinction of party, in the language Of
Gov. Chase, pledged Ohio to be "loy.
al to the Constitution and the Union. "
We have over and over again express,
ed our devotion to our Union Of these
States and our purpose to stand by
the compromises Of the Constitution
While these professions are still ling
ering upon the lips ofgentlemen, why
are we invoked to pass such bills as
these, whose only end is insult to the
South and repudiation of our consti-
tutional obligations. Do gentlemen
mean


To palter with us in q double sense


To keep the word of promise to the car,


And break it to the hope


Arc we ready, as soon as the backs
OF our guests are turned, to give tho
lie to all our promises and protesta.
tions. We have admitted them to the
presence Of our household gods, and
there worshlpped together; shall we,
as they leave our threshold, stab them
in the back2 What excuse will gen
tlemen offer for conduct like this?-
Will they tell our Southern friends
that all that has been said was only
meant in a Pickwickian sense, or that
it was all shere hollow hypocrisy, or
will they tell them that their feelings
offidelity to the constitution were but
the inspiration Of the wine cup, and as
unsubstantial as the bubbles OH its
brim2


Sir, attempts at this kind of legis.
lation are OF recent origin in Otio.-
Years ago, this State made up rec.
ord which exhibited her eager zeal to
do her whole duty as a sovereign
member Of this confederacy. 1t wo'd
be well for US to recnr to the history
Of the legislation of the State twenty
years since. We shall then see more
clearly where we are now drifting. %


Ihave in my hand the 9th volume
Of Ohio Laws, passed in 1S3S-30. /
find on the 3Sth page an act with the
following title and preamble:


IAN act relating TO fugiGves from labor or SER


vice from other States"


WHEREAS, The 90 section of the 4th article of
the Constitution of the United States declares,
that no person held to service or labor in one
State under the laws thereof escaping into anOth-
er, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor
but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to
whom such service or labor may be due; and
whereas, the laws now in force in Ohio are who'll
ly inadequate to the protection pledged by this
provision of the Constitution to the Southern
States Of the Union; aud whe, eas, it is the duty
of those who reapthe largest measure of benefits
conferred by the Constitution to recognize to
their full extent the obligations which that in
strument imposes; and whereas, it is the deliber-
ate conviction of this General Assembly that the
Constitution can only be sustained, as it was
framed, by spirit of just compromise, therefore,
be it cnacted," DC.


No commentary Of mine can add
force to the patriotic sentiments Of
that preamble.


An examination Of the act which
follows will convince any one, that it
was the model alter which the fugi-
give slage law Of 1850, passed by
Congress, was framed.


The act provides that the owner of
a slave escaped from service into this
State, may apply to any justice OF tho
Peace, Mayor, or Judge, for war
rant for the arrest Of such slave, that
the warrant may be served by any
Sheriff or Constable, who shall arrest
and take such slave before any (assc.
ciate) Judge, aud upon the production
Of satisfactory proof that the person go
arrested is slave, and the property
ofthe claimant, the Judge shall give d