| OCR Text |
Show 264 DE5rOTI51\t it in t he co nstitution; that js only an incident to the right to SPrVicc or labor; and by the express terms of the provision, no delivery is required, and of course no such removal can take place till it is ftrst established that such service or labor is due, and due to the claimant. And, notwi,thstanding what he wrote in his Newburyport Jetter, 1\'lr. W ebster was fully aware of the true character, in this respect, of the c lause in question. 'l'hi.:; abundantly appears from his own draft of a Fugitive Bill in amendment of the act of 179;!, which, by a sort of judicial blindnc,., su~h as ofte~I betrays prevan cators into furnishing cv 1dcnce against themselves, he was led to lay before the senate-for show, however, merely, not for usesome three weeks after the date of his Newburyport letter, aud perhaps as a supplement to it. That draft, he told t he senate, had been prepared early in the session-( and probably it was to go with it that the greater part of his 7th of March speech had also been prcparcd)-in co nference with some of the most eminent members of the profession, a nd especially with "a high judicial authority," [Judge McLean ?J greatly experienced in questions of this kind. 'rhesc eminent advisers had not, indeed, saved the great" expounder of the constitution " from the obvious oversight of co nferring upon commissioners of the United States courts complete judicial authority, including the de· termination upon evidence of "the identity of the [a lleged?] fugitive, the right of the claimant, and the ex iste nce of slavery in the state whence the [alleged?] fugitive [was said to have?] absconded." But wlule thus, for the convenience of the sl ave- hold er~, uncer· emoniously overriding the constitution in a poin~ ~s to which, at least, Mr. W cbster's eminent judtctal adviser might have been expected to be sp?cially vigilant, some attention was still paid to that wstru· ment in another important respect, in which the act of 1850 entirely di.rcgards it. Mr. Webster'• draft of a bill expressly prov ided" that if the [alleged?] fugt· tive shall deuy t hat he owes service or labor to the IN .\MJ::H ICA. 265 claimant under the laws of [a lleged to be?] held and ftth\state where he was as to 1he solemni tie's and a cr eing duly <~autioned shall swear to the same th:om:.eque.nc~s of an oath, shall forthwith summon 'a . con~mi !'SlOner or judge right of the claimant, who ;~;;! ob twelve to try the ~ause according to evidence and t 0 sworn .to. try the judge shall preside at the tri~l and~e com ~msswner or petf'ncy of the proof." ' etermme the com~ That. the Circuit Court com . . by this draft, as well as b tl missioners !hus invested judicial powers, Jacked, it'{ s~~e~~; of 18n0 with high already mentioned the co ft _Important respects expressly required i~ judae 115 1 uttonal qualifications pointed out, to be deni ed. i{;~~et~~eplain, when once vert tbe powers bestowed up th attempt to con- 1850 into a merely extradition~~l a~~o~i the act of ~bought, which O\~es a ll the little plausiblii~a\after- F;~·e:~l 1!'~n~~i~'~t~~,;aljt~l;~position, in, the te~t 1 0r ':;~ f f · · 1 proviSion 10r the Ucliv up o ug1t1ves from labor ou "the claim of th . ery to whom such labor rna b d " . . e party wholly distinct provi siony f c ~e{ w.Jth another and mand of h · ' or c Jvenng up, "on detives" ·h t: ex~cutJve authorities of the state," fugioth · c.taroed, In any state, with treason felony or . ~r cnmes, to be removrd to the state h;vina . ' . <.llcuon of the crime;" a nd secondly to l'k b ·~unsal connection of the two subjects i~ t~e Io~a~CI ·~·ntact of 1793. How the two sub' ects ha ugt tve ~i:,';~~ht i~to ju~taposition in th~ text otfl~~~~n~~it~~ How ~~s een s own already in the preceding section act of t'i9~apyenledllto be also brought together in th~ willie d ' "e 8 la proceed to show,- to do which the bilf 6fu: back to Mr. W cbster's second apology for hi II . &JO, con tamed tn his Newburyport letterbust ~h=gatton tht.hat the bill of 1850 in principle was 0 same mg w1th the act of 179') lowi~!h~i:;;;roy: 1:.~thl\'lr. wt efbs!er's Jette~· gives the folPebruar . e ac o Congress of the 12th of y, 1793, appears to have been well considered 23 ' |
