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Show 424 APPENDIX. D •. That if a slave so brought into a free Sta of lu master while in said . t t . c tc escapes from the custody . a e, the no-ht of th ls not a question arisinr:r under tl _c- • e ma ter to reclaim him la 'S tl t" le constitutwn of t1 U . d "· lC'reof; a judge of the U .t d S le mte tatcs or the . 111 e ta tes ca t · co;~nus dn·ected to l . . nno Is::;ue a writ of /, b one w 10 It Is alleo·ed w· 1 h ta Nls slave from the master comm a· ~ It l olds the posses ·ion of the b e!"o re said judge. ' an m oo- lum to pro d uce the body of the slave 10. That the uistrict court of the . of Peunsyl vania has no . .· d' . Umtcd States for the eastern district . J lllls ICtion beca zens of different States and tl1at use. a controversy is between citi- 1e ga1 cnsc, a controvers' y b t a .p roceedi ng b )' 1;z abeas corpus is in no 11. That tl e ween pnvate parties. ' le power of the several court . summary punishment for cont s of the Umted States to inflict cou ·t · empt of court in d · b · l ' IS expressly confined to ISO eymg a ·writ of tl1<' 12 cases of dis b l . . That ·where it appea. f· o ec Jence to "lawful" writs d' b . rs lom the re ·u 1 . ISO eymg a writ of habeas CO'r?JUS h' 1 COl t lat the conviction was for to i s th · .1. • w 1c 1 writ the h ue, e conviction is coram no . l' court ave no jurisdiction For these reasons I d n Jztc. tee, and void. th . o most respectfull b e Judgment of the majority f y, utmost earnestly, dissent from 0 my brethren r f · e usmg the writ applied for. No. v. How Passrno're nr·zz· . n t tamson was .fin al ly dt.s charged PrevwtL ly to the ap l' . . ' P ICatJOll on \V'll' court of Pennsylvania J 1 utmson's behalf to th , ane J ohnsou tl c supreme ;ere claimed as slaves by \VheelCl: h: d le woman who, and her two sons ew York, and had nlade an affid·' .• t appeared before Judge Culver o ~ do d ' •l.Vlt th~t th 1 m an that of her chiluren hn.cl . . , e p an of claiminc:r her frc('- was throt r:r} 1 ' ongmatcd ent'. 1 . 0 . lo l lcr means that ,V.ll' . ue y With herself; thn t it des1rc j tl I J::unson was . d . b . n lat behalf; and that all h I . d nu e acqumntcd wi1h her oat' was. t o assure her and her l e. l,t done ' ,· tfte r conn. ng on bo·lrd thn fre t · c annan t t} t 1 ' " f c, o advise her to lca~e the boat u 1~ s le and her children were rom clctainino- 1 , , ' ' an to mterfcre t o . ~ ler. 1 he same facts she o prevent \Vhccler pen court m PhiladcliJhia Oll th . had afterwards testified to . • ' e tnal fo . m men who had assisted her to escape. I assault and riot of the colored APPEXDIX. 425 After tho failure of the application to the supreme court of Pennsylvania, certain persons, indignant at thi::; refusal of justice anu at the continuation of Williamson's false jmprisonmcnt, but acting wholly iuclependcntly of him, induceu Ja.ne Johnson to prc::;cnt a petition to J ttdge K ane, setting forth all the above fact , and praying that as the writ of habeas corpus obtaineu by \Vheeler under pretence of delivering her from imprisonment and detention had been obtained without h er privity or consent, and on false pretcnees, the writ and all the proceeuings nndC'f it might be quashed. After argument upon the question of allowing thii::i petition to be filed, Judge Kane delivered a long and Yery elaborate opinion, embraci11g three principal topics. lie began with a very elaborate eulogy upon the writ of habeas corpus, coming with a very singular grace from a. judge who had prostituted that writ to so vile a u sc, Yiz. : an attempted kidnapping and the false imprisonment for a pretended contempt of the man who ha.u encom ·aged and assisted Jane Johnson to vindicate her rights nnuer the laws of Pennsylvania. Next followed J uugc K ane's version of his proceeu.ings in committing '\Villiamson, and an attempt to vindicate himself therein; anu to which succeeded a very labored effort at enforcing. his favoritr uoctrinc, on which his " ·hole proceeding had been based, that slavcholuen~ have a right to transport their laves through Pennsylvania. lie refused to receive the petition of Jane Johnson, or to pay any attention to its suggc tions, on the following grounds: "The very name of the person who authenticates the paper ii::i a stranger to any proceeding that is or has been before me. She asks no judieial action for herself, and docs not profess to have any right to solicit action on behalf of another. On the contrary, her counsel have told me expressly that :Mr. '\ViDiamson has not sanctioned her application. She has therefore no status whatever in this court." After the delivery of this opinion a little episode followed, evidently got up with a view to relieve Judge Kane from a part of the odium under which he was laboring, of which episode the following account was given in the newspaper reports of the proceeding:- "On the conclusion of the uelivery of this opinion, John Cadwallader, (a member of the bar, but not engaged in thii::i cas ,) in order to remove a false impression from the public mind, said, from his recoll ction of tho circumstances attending tho commitment of Pas~:;rnore '\Villiamson, a. proposition was made to amend tho return to the writ, ·when Juuge Kane replied:-' I will not receive an amendment now, but will be prepar d to receive it when the record has been completed.' |
