Newspapers / Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.) / March 7, 1850, edition 1 / Page 1
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T A'. J year.Tio Dou..as-payable in ripWl7not paid W .drance. Two dollar. of Itoe. HHicnmuut. JMf' Jillbe charged . iY eta , " . . i, insertion 4i titf'i' LVfca aJveniae tW the year. J," Jitora must br post paid. Jill. CLAY'S for the first, and 25 cts. J Court orders charged ! ' - all. ratra A liberal aeuuc- SPEECH. iM SENATE Feb. 5. Slarery Qucstlpn.-TIr. Clay1 Conipromiiet, (COMTIKCCD.) WsdnesiIay. Febrakry O, 1850. beinc aooui 10 proceea to ; . I . - '" , ' ' J -; 'j BRUNER & JAMES, II . Kl?! "t ' "T ( NEW SERIES . . f ( KEIf A CHECK UPOS ALL roul $ . .fc-.- ff' ' Do THI, AHD LrBERTT IS SArt." cittori 4- Proprietors. Rcwks. I f , Ceii'i Httm... ( VOLUME VI NUMBER 43. SALISBURY, N.1 C, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1850. I.Mpralion of thri special order, be 5ie resolujionssubmlUea by Mr. Clay, xuNGlJM. Irabvei sir, that the IlnceUyticbA8 ffranled to. the au- ; vr stercjay, d.unng the r-marks of i enato' irpm ivinmcKy? ue exienuea Udii vy a temJ)orary suspension she stood bound by it. Nor can the cred itors complain, for another reason. Tc,xs has all the resources-whicb she bad wien an independent power, with the excepi icn of the duties receivable in her ports u ion foreign imports, and she is exempted fijojn certain charges, expenditures and resr of sihilities which she would have had to en counter if she had remained a separate and independent Power; for exampje, she would have hid to provide for a cer tain amount of naval force and for a ce'r tain amount perhaps of military force1. In order to protect herself against Mexicb'br against any foreign enemy whatever. But oy ner annexat JjiVrolfS to day. A joung and gallant faike this, I supposi wjll be ready to I IlrflrJ this prylege atbnce. LLaughter.J f A'fiarolina had not anticipated me. she becam J"vTe,madc;the motion myself. ges, and Tbi'VlCB PRESlDEfST. It is moved may be applicable to the payment of jher ,t roles jO me oenaie ue suspended, ueois, inose only excepted which are ne Hfc o adtni the ladies from the lobbies cessary to the support and maintenance one which reauires of the Government of Texas ' ' With this explanation unon that naft of . . . . ' r the suhject, 1 pass to the consideration of the next resolution in the series vvhicb I have had the honor to submit, and which relates, if J am not mistaken, to this Dis trict. " Resolved, That it is inexpedient to abol- cjession having been made in order to cre ate a suitable seat of government ought to be the leading and controlling idea with Congress in the exercise of this power. A ii : A . . . mm ii js noi necessarj , in order to render it a proper and suitable slat of govern ment for the United States! that slaverv should be abolished within the limits of the ten miles square. And inasmuch as at the time of the cession when, in a spi- rii vi generosity, immeaiateiy alter tne formation of this constitution when all was peace, and harmony, and concord when brotherly affection land fraternal feeling Prevailed throughout this whole iOn tO the United States Union When tVlMrvlnnrf nrirt Virtrlnift in e liberated from all these char- a mnmpni nf nomnu imnni of course, her entire revenues feelings of high regard towards the mem. 1 a . t. l it ia nour.. s i 1 r -i . t ti j f..F0OTIw A single remark, Mr. pre idrnt. . llbis motion addresses itself r)ti)rily tdb gallantr of the body, but j i:t ieose-4(J justice. hjThe' ladies were J'niltW yfMerday, and participated in Je ntlcllectuM banquet then spread for ii. Thtsy were all dismissed before the ;&$MoKed,iitnd 1 insist upon it that, in icef justice, they should be admitted to :c4c Continuation of the speech of the tjitor from ? Kent uckyL TteICrllESlDNT. keiit no objection, and; the cfnsiuereu as adopted.. Uadics were accord ngly admitted to it jrivilcged seats, arid to ladies the cir tulvllTylwas exclusively devoted.") r bers of this Union, chose ?to make this grant, neither party cojuld have suspected that, at some distant future period, upon the agitation of this unfortunate suhject, their generous grant Without equivalent was to be turned against them, and that the sword was to be uplified, as it were, in their bosoms, to strike at their own hearts: thus this implied faith, this honorable ob ligation, this necessity and propriety of The Chair motion will m CLAyl. Mr. Wesident, if there be iuth s vast assemblage of beauty, grace, ilfZanoe, add intelligence, any who have jauic herr tinder an expectation that the iiitnble. individual who now addresses you Htm .to attempt Any display, any use of inD tious language, any extraordinary ornahirnt or? decoration of speech, they II I V Aa : . I ' P . m will M uiteny uisappointed. i ne season I 1 i .WW j , of ifle year.' and my OjWn season of life, both admonish me to abstain frmn the use pf iiy;'sucl ornaments ; but above all, r. rresidejnt, the awful subject upon tbicp it Is my duty to jiddress the Senate indlbc courur- forbids my saying any tiini buCMhHt pertains strictly to that suct; and. my Sole desire is to make "Jin seriousness, soberness, and plain ness understood by yop and by those who dinl proper 'to listen to me. yesterday, the adjournment of ;he senate took place, at that stage of the 1 isci ssiori of? the resolutions which I had jubn itted Avtlch related to Texas and her lur J&ry, ii thought I had concluded the who c subject ; but I was reminded by a frier 4 that perhaps I Wns not Mufliciently tip icilon a single point, and that is, the rrfofcia of Texas and the Government of m L.tates, and that portion of the debt ofuias (or which I think a responsibility eiisfi bn the part of the United States. ii was saiu uiai pernaps u migm De :aderstood, in regard to the proposed jnnt of three millions, or whatever may ie tne sum when ascertained, to Texas in snsiJerajlqn of the surrender of her title aXi wMeJtico this side of the Ilio Grande, we granted nothing that we merely iucUrged jan obligation which existed ;pon theGoyernment-if the United States icoijequence of the Appropriation of the pcrts recpivable in the ports of Texas 'bill t she was an independent Power. ita hat is not my understanding, Mr. PftsdentJ As between Texaand the Init ;d Stajes, the obligation on the part 3t Texas, tbj pax her portion of the debt ffctred toJis complete and unqualified. ish slavery, in the District of Columbia, whilst that institution continues to exist in the-State of Maryland, without the con - i : ;. sent of that State, without the consent of the people of the District, and without just, compensation to the owners of slaves within the District. Mr. President, an objection at the mo ment was made tbthis resolution, by some honorable Senator on the other side of the body, that it did not contain an assertion of the unconstitutionality of the exercise of the power of abolition. I said then.las I have uniformly'rnaintained in thisbjody, as I contended for in 1838, and everhacve done, i hat the power to abolish slailry within the District of Columbia has been vested in Congress by language too cltjar and explicit to admit, in my judgment, of any rational doubt whatever. Whatiir, is the language of the constitution ! t iTo exercise exclusive legislatidti, in all cases! whatsoever, over j such district (not ex ceeding ten miles square) as may, bylces sion of particular States and the accept ance of Congress,; become the seat of fhe Government of the United States." Now. sir. Congress, by this grant of powejr is invested with all legislation whatsoever over this Dist rfct. Not only is it invented. but it is exclusively invested with all ;le oat the obligation of any constitutional re strict ion J such as is contained in the a mendmebt to which I efer without that, upon tbef principles of eternal justice it self we bught not tojdeprive those who have property in slaves, in this District, of their ipropertv without compensating them for! their. full value. Why, sir, no one of the European powers. Great Brit ain, France, or any other of the powers which undertook to abolish slavery in their respective colonies, have ever ven tured to do it without making compensa tion! They were. under no obligation a risirjg out of any written or other consti tution tOvdo it, but under the obligation to which all men ought to bow with hom agethat obligation, of eternal justice, which declares that no man ought to be deprived of bis property without a full and just 1 compensation for its value. 1 know it' has been argued that the clause of the constitution which requires com pensation for property taken by the public Lfor its use, would not apply to the case of the abolition of slavery in the District, because the property is not taken for the use of the public.' Literally, perhaps, it would not be taken for the use of the pub lic; but it would be taken in considera tion of a policy and purpose adopted by the public, as one which it was deemed expedient to carry into full effect and op eration : and, by a liberal interpretation keeping in constant vikw the great object of cession. These were considerations whrch in 1838 governed me, as they now influence me, in submitting the reasons which I have submitted to your consider ation. Now, as then, I do hot think Con gress bught e ver, as an honorable body, of the clause, it ought to be so far regard acting bona fide in good faith, and accord ing to the nature and; purposes and ob jects of the cession at the time it was made and, looking at the condition of the ceding States at the time. Congress cannot, without the forfeiture of all those obligations of honor wjhichimen of honor and nations of honor respect as much as if found literally in so many words in the bond itself Congress cannot interfere slavery in this Dis- with the institution of trict without violation of all these obli gat tons, not in my opinion less sacred and ess binding than if inserted mtheconsti lutional instrument itself. Well, sir, what does the resolution pro pose f i he resolution neither athrms nor disaffirms the constitutionality of .the ex ercise of the power of abolition in this District. It is silent upon the subject. It says it is inexpedient to do it but upon certain conditions. And what are these considerations ? - Wbyi first that the State of Maryland shall give its consent: in ed as taken for the use of the public, at the instance of the public, as to demand compensation to the extent of the value of the property. If this is not a restriction as to the power of Congress over the sub ject of slavery in tbej District, then the power of Congress stands unrestricted, and -that would not be a better condition for the slaveholder in the District than to assume the restriction contained in the amendment I say it; would be unrestric ted by constitutional operation or injunc tion. The great restrictions resulting trom the obligations of justice would remain, and they are sufficient to exact from Con gress the duty of ascertaining, prior to the abolition of slavery, tpe value of the pro perty in slaves in the District, and of ma king full, fair, and just compensation for that property. Well, Mr. President, I said yesterday there was not a resolution, except the first, (which contained no concession by either party.) that did not either contain some liiufaere i&Jas between these two par ties, (no obligation on the part of the Unir d States to pay one dollar of the debt of mav the contrary, oy an. express SimilAtion art the resolutions of admission. Usldrclarfed and provided that in no e- entJdo the United States become liable 'chargediwith any portion of the debtor Mb liries oflTexas. It is not. therefore. kr kfty responsibility .'which exists to the hik bf Tias on thepartof the Govern nt 6t the United States, that 1 think (idsion oulrht to be inade for that debt. httSn'rk tliiftir At htu.'n those two Pn eg, ihej fespohsibility on the part of is complete to j pay the debt, and fr i is no responsibility on the part of le JfiitedlSlates to payj one cent. But ijkrfc is a third party,! who was no party gislation whatsoever over the Distrit Can we conceive ot human language rhore broad and comprehensive than that which invests a legislative body with exclusive power, in all cases whatsoever, of legisla tion over a given district of territory! or country 7 Let me ask, sir, is there any power to abolish slavery in this District ? Let me suppose, in addition to what I;sug gested the other day, that slavery had been abolished in Maryland and Virginia -let me add to it the supposition thkj it was abolished in all the States in theUn- ion, is there any power then to abbttsl slavery within the District of Columbia, or is slavery planted here to all eternity without the possibility of the exercise!! o any legislative power for its abolition? It cannot be invested in Maryland! be cause the power with which Congress is invested is exclusive. Maryland, there fore is excluded, and so all the other States of the Union are excluded. It is here! or it is nowhere. ' ' 11 This was the view which I took fin 1838, and I think there is nothing ia the resolution which I offered on that Occa sion incompatible with the view whiqh I now present, and which this resolution contains. Whilst 1 admitted the power tio exist in Congress, and exclusivey in Congress, to legislate in all cases whajso 4ver, consequently in the case of thelabo- lition of slavery within this District, if it on it is con- deemed it proper to do so, I admitted that occasion, as I contend now. that a power which Congress cannot, in science and good faith, exercise whilst the institution of slavery continues withi; State ot Maryland. I he case, sir, good deal altered now from what it n lithe is a was Sen- tne annexation whatever that is to ,4y,!lhe qrdllor of Texas, who advanced tHe rrtftnivi'ftri ih fpiirh nf solemn nledires by,Te)las to hiijn to reimburse the 'WVli hvitliA n'nArortriittmn of the duties r -j m.v "i" w. ivedon foreign irnnorts : and he. and i i . ii - ! e ! party to twelve years ago, when the resolution! tri which 1 allude was adopted by the ate. Upon that occasion Virginia! Maryland both were concerned in tnelfXf ercise of the power ; buV the retroj?es sion of that portion of the District which lies south ot the rotomac, Virginia jpe came no more interested in the question of the abolition of slavery within thf ires idue of the District than any other slave holding State in the Union is interested in its abolition. The question now is con fined to Maryland. I said on that ocea- . . i . I I.-; ' whom we are sion, that, although tne grant of powerits W WniCb 1 ' CUllipirir, iiu tuiiiiicurii'ja tuc n,iu u other words, that the State of Maryland mutual concession by! the Wo parties, or shall release the Uniteld States from the obligation of the implied faith which I contend is connected with the act of ces sioh by Maryland to the United States. Well, sir, if Maryland, the only State now that ceded any portion of the territory which remains to us, gives to us her full consent ; in other woifds, if she releases Congress from all obligations growing out of the cession with regard to sla very I consider it is removing one of the obstacles to the exercise oflthe power if it were deemed expedient to exercise the power. But it is removing only one of them. There are two other conditions which are inserted in this resolution; The first is the1 consent of the people of the District. ; Mr. President, the condition of the peo ple of this District is Anomalous. It is a condition in violation of the great princi pled which lie at the bottom of our own free institutions, and all. free institutions, because it is the case of a people who are acted upon by legislative authority, and taxed by legislative authority, without having any voice or representation in the taxing or legislative body. J The Govern ment of the United States,! in respect to the people of this District, is a tyranny, an absolute UovernmCnt not exercised, tyrannically or arbitralily ; but ft is in the nature of all arbitrary poWer, because, if I were to give a definition of arbitrary power, 1 would say that it is that power which is exercised by j an authority over a people who have no voice, no represen tation in the assembly whose edicts or laws go forth to act upon the unrepresen ted people to whom I have referred, Well, sir; that being their condition, and this question of the abolition of slavery affect ing them in alt the relations which we cab imagine of prosperity, society, com fort, peace, and happiness 1 have requir ed as another condition, upon which alone this nower should be exercised, tne con sent of the people of the District. But, sir. I have not stopped there. This reso lution requires still another and a third condition, and that isL that slavery shall nnit h abolished within the District of Columbia, although Maryland consents, although the people of the District them Knives consent, without the third condition of making compensation to the owners of thie slaves within tne uisirici. oir, u is wnai oasis in is Uhd. 'arWorrtinn to I the vinu 1 nrci.i.i r .ki 1 nholish slaverv within the District. Vet it immaterial to me upon ... " "inmru o inn, au rv,i. nui v " --v , j -7 , , i beth AmA: - rT....A.mn a mtWa ws h. inimr wnicn never couiu nave en- onngaiioit iu cmihucw '" i-rM., i 1 ruuuia ul m. Ana l.uiii main mat , o . - n t . 1 o . . . .... I , . jr . . . t -liJi L . U :k..atAit ht- th nirthnritv 01 tereu into tne conceniion 01 maryiana or t woo iuv uu imcinitu j Virgrnia that slavery would be abolished here whilst slavery continued to ex stj in either of those two ceding States. I say, moreover, wht the grant of poweritself indicates, that, although exclusive epi lation in allcases whatsoever over the District was invested i'n Congress within Jave thelrtinHadrittl from th nnh. ! the ten miles square, it was to make it jndsheld by Teias, and what other the seat of government of the U. States. ource she have applicable to the i That was the great, prominent, substan tnebt of these debts with more effect tial object of the grant, arid that, in exer- . ; 1 1110 em froNition 1$ made only for a particular jj'fjum ofthe debt, leaying the residue of , 1&C debt Urinrovidd l! for hv the Govern- of ttej United States, because, in so rs Wj may extinguish any portion of 2! Texas tinder which she is jboUridjiri so far fwill it contribute to lie ?; ".jthf. ntire debt, including the ; cising all the powers with which wjej iare died portion as vtPell .as the unpledgf ! invested, complete and full as theyjlmay n, was obligatory upon her, and be, yet the great purpose that ot the Congress is placed. There is a clause in the Constitution of thth United States, in one of the amendments to the constitution, which declares that ro private property K1I h faken for Dublic use without just compensation being rbade to the owner of the property. Well, I IbinK, in a jusi anu jiberal interpretation c f thai clause.' We are restrained from taking thebropertyf the people of the District, in slaves, on con siderations of any public policy, or tor any conceivable or imaginable Use of the pub lic, without a full and fair compensation td the people of this District: But; with- did not contain concessions altogether from the North to the South. Now, with respect to the resolution under consideration. The North has contended that the power exists under the constitution to abol ish slarery. The South, I am aware, has opposed it, and most, at least a great portion of the South, have contended for the opposite construction. What does the resolution do? It asks of both parties to forbear urging their respective opinions, the one to the exclusion of the other, but it concedes to the South all that the South it appears to me, upon this subject ought in reason to demand, in so far as it re. quires such conditions as amount to an abso. lute security for property fn slaves in the Dis trict ; such conditions as will prohaly make the existence ofslavery within the District coeval and co.eitiensive with its existence in any of the States out of and beyond the District. But, sir, the second clause of this resolution provides Mhat it is expedient to prohibit with in the District the trade in slaves brought into it from States or places beyond the limits of the District, either to be sold therein as merchant dise or to be transported 'o other markets." Well, Mr President, if the concessipn be made that Congress has the power of legislation, and exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever bow can it be doubted that Congress has au thority to prohibit what is called the slave trade in the District of Columbia? Sir, my inter Dretation ef the constitution is this : that, with ...... regard to all parts ot it which operate upon me States, Congress can exercise no power which is not granted power. That is the rule tor the action of Congress in relation to its legis lation upon the States, but in relation to its leg islation upon this District the reverse, l taice 11 to be the true rule that Congress has all power over the District which is not prohibited by some part of the constitution of the U. Slates; in other ' words, that Congress has a power within the District equivalent to, and co exten- Bivo with, the nower which anv State itself possesses within its own limits. Well, sir does any body doubt the power and the right of any slaveholding States in this Union to for bid the introduction, as merchandise, of slaves within their limits. Why, sir, almost every slaveholding State in the Union basexerciseo its power lo prohibit the introduction of slavery as merchandise. It was in the constitution of my own State ; and, notwithstanding all the ex citement and agitation open the subject of slave ry which occurred during the past year in the State of Kentucky, the same principle is incorpo rated in the new constitution. It is in the consti tution,! know, of Mississippi. That State phobib its the introduction of slaves within its limits as a . a merchandise. I believe it to be in tne consn tution or in the laws of Maryland in the laws of Virginia in the laws of most of the slave hnMin Stales It is true that the policy of the different slaveholding States upon this subject has somewhat vacillated they sometimes a dopted it ind sometimei excluded it-but there has been no diversity of opinion, no departure from the great principlel that every one of them has the piwer and authority to prohibit the in troduction of slaves vriillin their respective lim its if they choose to exWcise it. Well, then, sir, I really do not tbiiik that this resolution. which proposes to abolsn thai iraoe, ougm iu be considered as a concession by either class of the Slates to ibe other class. I think it should be regarded as a common object, ac ceptable to' both,' and conformable to the wish- es and feelings of loih ; and yet. ir, in these tiroes of fearful and alarming excitement in these times when every nighi that I go to sleep and am awoke up in the morning, it is with the apprehension of some neve and fearful tidings of ibis agitating subject-1 have seen in the act of a neighboring State, amongst the various contingencies which are enumerated, upon the happening of any one of which delegate are to be sent to the famous Convention which is to assemble at Nashville in June next, that a mongst other substantive ground for the ap pointment of delegates to that Convention ol delegates from the State to which I refer one is,' that if Congress abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia, that shall be cause for a Convention ; in other words, it is cause for considering whether this Union ought to be dissolved or not. Is it possible to portray a greater extent of extravagance to which men may be carried by the indulgence of their pas sions ? Sir, the power exists ; the duty, in my opin ion, exists; and there has been no time as 1 may say, in language coincident with that used by the honorable Senator from Alabama there has been no time in my public life w hen I was not willing to concur in the aloiition of the slave trade in this District. I was willing to have done it when -Virginia's portion of the District was retroceded. that lying south of the Potomac. There is still less ground for objec tion to doing it now. when the District is limi ted to the portion this side of the Potomac, and when the motive or reason for concentrating slaves heie in & depot, for the purpose of trans portation to distant foreign markets, is lessened with the diminution of the District, by the retro cession of that portion to Virginia. Why should slave-traders, who buy their slaves in Maryland or Virginia, come here with their slaves in order to transport them to New Orleans or other Southern markets ? Why not transport them from the Stales in which they are purchased? Why are the feelings of citizens here outraged by the scenes exhibited and the corteges which pass along our avenues of manacled human beings, not collected in our own District, not collected at all in our own neighborhood, but brought from distant parts of neighboring States? Why should they be out raged? And who i there, that has a heart, that does not contemplate a spectacle of that kind with horror and indignation ? Why should they be outraged by a scene so inexcusable and detestable as this ? Sir, it is no concession. I repeat, from one class of Slates nor from the other. It is an object in which both of them, it seems to me, should heartily unite, and in which the one side as much as the other should rejoice in adopting, inasmuch as it lessens one of the causes of in quietude and dissatisfaction which is connected with this District. Abolish the slave-trade in this District; reassert the doctrine of the re solution of 1838, that by an implied assent on the pari of Congress slavery ought not to be abolished in the District of Columbia whilst ii remains in the Slate of Maryland ; reassert the principle of that resolution, and adopt the other healing measures or similar healing measures for I am not attached to any ihing that is the production of my own band, if any - ... Alt thinghetter should be offered by any body else adopt the other healing measures which are proposed, and which are required by the dis tracted condition of the country, and I venture to say that, as we have had peace and quiet for the last thirty years, since the termination of the Missouri controversy, we shall have, in all human probability, peace for a longer period to come upon this unhappy subject of slavery. The next resolution is : "That more effectual provision ought to be made by law, according lo the requirement of the constitution, for the restitution and delivery of ner sons bound to service or labor in any State who may escape into any other oiaie or ter ritory in the Union." Now, Mr. President, upon that subject, I go with him who goes farthest in the interpreta tion of that clause in the constitution. In my humble opinion, sir, it is a requirement by ihe Constitution of the United States which is nol limited in its operation to the Congress of ihe United States, but extends to every Mate in me Union and to the officers of every State in the Union ; and I go one step further, it extends to every man in the Union, and devolves upon them all an obligation to assist in the recovery of a fugitive from labor who lakes refuge in or escapes into one of the free Slates. And, sir, I ihtnk 1 can maintain all this by a fair inter pretation of the constitution. It provides "That no person held to service or labor in one Slate under the laws thereof, escaping in to another, shall, in consequence of any law o regulation therein, be discharged from such sen vice or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." It will Ue observed, Mr. President, that this In the constitution is not amongst the .uuu claim of ibe party to whom such aemce or la bor may"Ve due. As has been already remark, ed, in the course of the debate upon the bill up on this subject winch Is now pending, tbcUq. guage used in regard to fugitives from criminal offences and fugitives from labor is precisely the same. The fugitive from justice is .to pis delivered up, and to be remured to the Stats having jurisdiction ; the fugitive from labor 1 to be delivered up oa claiu of the party 10 whom such service i dye. Well, has it ever been contended 011 ibe pari of any Stale that she is not hound to surrender a fugitive from justice upon demand of the Stale from wbick he fled? I believe not. There bare been some exceptions to the performance of this du ty, but they have not denied the general right ; and if they have refused in an instance to give up ibe person demanded, it has been upon o.n9 technical or legal ground, not at all question, ing the general right, to have the fugitive sur rendered, or the obligation to deliver bim up as intended by the constitution. , t I think, then, Mr. President, that with regard 10 ine true interpretation 01 tois provision 01 me constitution there can le no doubt. It impos es an obligation upon all the States, free or slaveholding ; it imposes an obligation upon all officers of Government, State or Federal ; and, I will add, upon all the people of the Uni ted States, under particular circumstances, to assist in the surrender and recovery of a fugi tive slave from bis master. There has been confusion, and, I think, some misconception on this subject, in consequence) of a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. I think that a decision hai been entirely misapprehended. There U vast difference between imposing impediments and affording facilities for the recovery of fugi tive slaves. The Supreme Court of the Uni ted States has only decided thai all laws ofim! pediment are unconstitutional. I know there are some general expressions in the opinion 9 which I have referred the case of Maryland against rennsylvania that seem to import otby erwise ; but I think, when you come attentive ly to read the whole opinion, and the opintonj pronounced by all the judges, especially if yotf lake the trouble of doing what I have done, t converse with them as lo what their real mean ing was, you will find that the whole extent of the authority which they intended to establish was, that any laws of impediment enacted.bj the States were laws lhat were forbidden bjV the provision of the constitution lo which 1 re fer ; that the General Government had no right, by an act of the Congress of the United States to impose obligations upon State officers not imposed by the authority of their own const it tion and laws. It is impossible the decision could have been otherwise. It would hare been perfectly extrajudicial. The court had no ' right to decide the question whether the laws of facility were or were not unconstitutional. The only question before the court was the law of impediment passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania ; and ifibey had gone beyond the case before them, and undertaken to decide npon a case not before them, or a principle which was not fairly comprehended within the case before them, it would be what the lawyer! term an obUer dictum, and is not binding either on the court itself or any other tribunal. I say it was not possible that, with the case before ihe court, of a law for giving facility to the holder of the slave to recover Jiis proper again, it was utterly impossible thai any tribunal should pronounce a decision that such aid and assis tance redendered by the authority of the State under this provision of the constitution of the United States, is unconstitutional and void. The court has not said so, or if they bad said so, (hey have transcended their authority, and gone beyond the case which was before them. Laws passed by States, in order to assist the General Government, so far from being laws repugnant to the constitution, would every where be re- garded as laws carrying out, enforcing, aud ful filling the constitutional duties which are crea ted by that instrument. Why, sir, as well might it be contended that if Congress were to declare war and no one will doubt that the power to declare war is. ves ted exclusively in Congress ; no State has the right to do it no one will contend serioukly, I apprehend, lhat after ibe declaration of war it would be unconstitutional on the part of any of the Slates to assist in the vigorous and ef fective prosecution of that war ; and yet it would be just as constitutional to lend their aid to the successful and glorious termination of the war in which we might be embarked, as it would be to assist in the performance of a high duty which addresses itself to all the Slates and all the people of all the States. Mr. President, I do ihink that that whole class of legislation beginning in the Northern Stales and extending to some ot the Western States, by which obstructions aud impediments : have been thrown in the way of the recovery ft a of fugiiire slaves, is unconstitutional, and has originated in a spirit which I trust will correct itself when those States come calmly to consid er the nature and extent of the federal obliga tions. Of all the Slates in this Union, unless it be Virgiuia, the Slate of which I am a resi dent sufliirs most by the escape of theirislaves to adjoining States. I have very little doubt, indeed, that the extent of loss lo the State of Kentucky, in consequence of the escape of her slaves, is greater, at least in proportion to the total number of slaves which are held in Vir ginia. I know full well, and so does ibe hon orable Senator from Ohio know, lhat it is at the utmost hazard, aud insecurity to life iiself, that a Kentuckiau can cros tho liver and go into the interior lo take back bis fugitive slave lo the place from whence be fled. RecenUy enumerated powers granted .0 Congress, for, if ' respectable h t V A lu0A i V f might could legislate to that had been the case, it urtred thai Congress alone carry it into effect ; but it is one of ihe general , IT L . I powers, or one ol the general rtgms secureu by this constitutional instrument, and it address es itself lo all who are bound by ihe constitu. lion of the United States. Now, sir, the offi cers of the General Government are bound lo take an oath lo support the constitution of the United States. All the officers are required by the constitution to take an oath to support the constitution of the United Sta'es ; and all men who love their country and are obedient to its laws, are bound to assist in the execu tion of those laws, whether they are fundamen tal or derivative. I do not say lhat a private ;nt;.Lrt..l m Hound to make the tour of bis State in order to assist an owner of a slave to ! recover bis property, but I do say if -be is pre i sent when the owner of a slave is about to as i sert bis rights and endeavor to obtain posses I sion of his property, every man present, wbeth ! er be be an officer of the General Government I or the State Government, or a private idi- ual, is bound to assist, if men are ound at all lo assist in the execution of the laws of their j country. Now what is ibis provision ? Il is hit such fugitives shall be delivered up on m tyl .- III ft citizens. INol having vuitea umo ai mi, uu. Covington, on ihe opposite side of the river, a little slave of bis escaped over to Cincinnati.- He pursued it ; be found il in the house in which il was concealed ; he look it out, and it was rescued by the violence and force of a negro mob from bis possession, the jM.lice of the city standing by, and either unwilling r unable l afford the assistance which was'reqiiite to en. able him to recover bis property. Upon ibis subject I do think lhat we have iust and serious cause of complaint against the J ..... r r icm: free States. 1 inK they uu in mimiing great obligation, and the failure is precisely up on one of those subjects which in its nature is the most irritating and inflaming to those who lire iu the slave States. , 4So, sir, I think It is a matk of no good neighborhood, of no" kindness, of no courtesy, tha"a man living in a slave State cannot now, with any sort of aaleiy, travel in the free Stales with bis servants, although he has no purpose whatever of stopping there longer than a short time. And on this whole subject, sir, how has the legislation of ibe Iree States altered for the i worse within the course ol the last twenty or thirty years ? Why, sir, most of those Statet ii ? 1 Li 31 , 1 3f ' . I t 5 V -A I IT 1 i H 1 . 1-- ' on.
Carolina Watchman (Salisbury, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 7, 1850, edition 1
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