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J. W. & W.s. JONES. AUGUSTA, Ga. THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL 2, 1840. 1 Voi., IV._No.3<t~
Tilt CIIRSOICLE ANDSENTINKL
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CHRONICLE AND SENTINEL.
AUGUSTA.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 1.
The Boundary Question.
In this morning’s paper will be found the cor
respondence between the English Minister, Mr.
Fox, and the Secretary of Slate, to which we al
luded yesterday, and which has given rise to so
many rumours of war between the two coun
tries. For ourselves, however, wo entertain no
fears of a war, between England and America,
for this contemptible strip of poor forest land.
There is too great a community of interests exist
ing between the people of the two nations to coun
tenance a resort to arms on the part of their rulers.
Her Majesty’s Government has quite too much to
attend to at home, in the protection of her India
possessions, in watching the movements of the
Emperor of all the Russias, and in her present re
lations with the Celestial Empire, to think for a
moment of jeopardising her possessions in North
America,by an open ruplurejwilh this government.
Although we are quite satisfied that the admin
istration would not be at all displeased to get up
a difficulty, which would serve to direct the alien"
tion of the people, now being so generally arous
ed, from its corruptions and intrigues.
The following very sensible article, on this
subject, is from Hell’s London Messenger:
The affair of the American Boundary ques
tion, appears to us a very insignificant affair; a
mere case for commissioners, who, for the sake
of keeping their respective salaries, and from that
unlucky quality «Inch always characterises all
business to be settled by paper references, will
possibly keep the matter in dispute for another
twenty years. The main point is, that both
countries are alke unwilling to quarrel for this
most worthless object; the whole province of
New Brunswick not being worth the cost of a
single British frigate.(so far as it biings any thing
into the English exchequer. No one will accuse
ns of belonging to the utilitarian philosooy of
the dav ; but things of this kind are really cases
of profit and loss, and arc best decided by
the plain question put to ourselves—what
is this boundary really worth, and what would
it cost us in the event, of an American war
to maintain ill The boundaiy is nearly worth
less, and the average erst of a war of three
years would be at least ten millions a year,
or thirty millions in the whole. Upon this point,
therefore, we think the apprehension of war to
be utterly chimerical.
Franking Privilege.
The Van Buren presses are quite in ccstacies
at one or two communications which have re
cently appeared in the Globe, from citizens who
have received circulars and news papers from
members of Congress, who were unknown to
them, bearing their franks. These Editors have
forgotten that the practice of franking the Globe>
was adopted by Gen. Jackson during his admin
istration, and in the excess of his anxiety, to give
currency to its depraved sentiments, he franked
one to the Hon. John W. Womack, of the Ala
bama Legislature, for which he received in return
one of the most scorching and indignant letters
we ever recollect to have read.
The following account of the recnit Whig
victory in Mobile, we copy from the Advertiser
of that city:
Charter Election—Official Returns.
POII MAVOII.
E. Hall, (Whig) J. B. Hogan, (Loco)
North Ward 257 167
Middle “ 144 53
South “ 268 fBS
West “ 243 217
912 722
Whig mnj. 190
run AMIERXEX.
North Ward,
Whigs. Locofoco’s.
John U. Blocher, 261 R. L. WaUins, 163
James Baltic, 256 Jeremiah Austfll, 161
Middle Ward.
J. I'. Mcßride, 139 Charles Cullen, 74
Lewis Guerin jeer, 135
West Ward.
John Fowler, 263 Jo eph Cain, 219
Dabney Palmer, 235 Percy Walker, 201
South Ward.
George Wragg, 257 Hue'll Munrne, 290
Thomas Bobe, 240 J. W. Ashton, 286
Those in italics are elected.
The entire Whig ticket for Common Council
was elected as given yesterday, by an average
majority of 144 votes.
All that the locofocos have saved out of scvcti
fceti municipal officers, aie, the two Aldermen
in the South Ward• Is not this a Waterloo de
feat! And when we compare it with the result
last year, it seems almost incredible. One year
ago the Locofocos carried their Mayor, hv a ma
jority of 352—five out of eight Aldermen, and
their entire ticket for Common Council. The
average Whig majority in the North Ward for
Aldermen, was then three; this year average
Whig majority 97! In the Middle Ward, last
year, average Whig majoiity 40—this year 63.
In the West Ward, last year, the Locofocos elect
ed both Aldermen, liy an average majority of
197, this year the the (aides are turned, and the
Whigs have both Aldermen, by an average ma
jority of 38 votes! And in the South Ward,
the Locofoco majori'y of last year was 212,
which was reduced on Monday last to 40 !
Showing a clear Whig gain in the city, during
the last twelve months, of five iicmihkd and
twenty-five votis! It we take the Mayor’s
election as a test, the Whig gain will' be five
: HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE ! !
H “Go it while you're young,” as the old bache
lor said to the squalling child.
} —-
New \ nnc, March 26.
Hark Burlington Burnt at Ska. —On
the 17th inst. in lat. 40j, lon. 3444, the packet
ship St. James, Copt. Sehor, which arrived here
yesterday from London, descried a sail to the W.
S. W. distant 6or 8 miles. The weather was
moderate and hazy. At 1 o’clock, P. M. made
her out to be a bark, with signals of distress.—
Stood foi her immediately, and at 3 30spoke her.
She proved to lie the Burlington, Capt. Hallet, of
Boston, 32 days from New Orleans, for Havre,
then on fire, having been struck by lightning on
the 10th inst. Got all hands, 15 in number, and
some provisions, on board, and made sale Irom
her with all possible despatch. In 15 minutes af
ter, the lire burst out, and she was all in flames.
At 8 P. M. the main and mizen masts fell, and
at 10 she suddenly disappeared. The bark had
1553 bales of cotton on board.
To the Senate of the United States.
I transmit to the Senate, herewith, copies of
official notes which have passed between the
Secretary of Stale and British Minister, since my
last message, on the subj ;ct of r 'solutions of the
17th of January. M. VANBUREN.
Washinbton, 26th March, 1840.
Mr. Fox to Mr. Forsyth.
Washington, March 13, 1840.
The undersigned, her Brittannic Majesty’s
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten
tiary, has been instructed by his Government to
make the following communication to the Secre
tary of Stale of United States, in nforcnce to the
boundary negotiation, and the affairs of the
disputed territory.
Her Majesty’s Government have had under
their consideration the official note addressed to
the undersigned by the Secretary of State, on the
24th of last December, in reply to a note from the
undersigned of the 2d of November preceding, in
which the undersigned protested, in the name of
his Government, against the system of aggression
pursued by the people of the Stale of Maine within
the disputed territory, to the prejudice of the rights
of Great Britain, and in manifest violation of the
provisional agreement entered into between the
authorities of the two countries at the beginning
of the last year.
Her Majesty’s Government have also had their
attention directed to the public message trasmitted
by the Governor of Maine to the Legislature of
the State, on the 3d of January of the present
year.
Upon a consideration of the statements con
tained in these two official documents, her Ma
jesty’sGovermnent regret to find that the principal
acts of encroachment which were denounced and
complained of on the part of Great Britan, so far
from being either disproved, or discontinued, or
satisfactorily explained by the authorities of the
State of Maine, are, on the contrary, persisted in,
and publicly avowed.
Her Majesty’s Government have consequently
instructed the undersigned once more formally to
protest against those acts of encroachment and
aggression.
Her Majesty’s Government claim and expect
from the good faith of the Government of the
Untied States, that the people of Maine shall re
place themselves in the situation in which they
stood before the agreement of last year was sign
ed—that they shall therefore retire from the val
ley of St. John, and confine themselves to the val
ley of the Aroostook ; that they shall occupy that
valley in a temporary manner only, for the pur
pose, as agreed upon, of preventing depredations;
and they shall not construct fortifications, nor
make roads or permanent settlements.
Until this he done by the people of the State
of Maine, and so long as that people shall persist
in the present system of aggression, her Majesty’s
Government will feel it their duly to make such
military arrangements as may be required for the
protection of her Majesty’s rights. And her Ma
jesty’s Government deem it right to declare that
if the result of the unjustifiable proceedings of
the State of Maine should be collision between
her Majesty’s troops and the people of that Slate,
the responsibility of all the consequences that
may ensue therefrom, be they what they may,
well rest with the people and Government of the
United Slates.
■‘The undersigned has been instructed to add to
this communication, that her Majesty’s Govern
ment are only waiting for the detailed report of
the British commissioners recently employed to
survey the disputed teiritory, which report, it was
believed, would be completed and delivered to her
Majesty’s Government by the end of the present
month, in order to transmit to the Government of
the United Slates a reply to their last proposal
upon the subject of the boundary negotiation.”
The undersigned avails himself of this occa
sion to renew to the Secretary of State of the
the United Stales the assurance of his distin
guished consideration. H. S. FOX.
Mr. Forsyth to Mr. Fox.
Department of State,
Washington, March 25, 1840.
The undersigned, Secretary of Slate of the
United Stales, acknowledges to have received Mr.
Fox’s communication of the 13th instant, in re
ference to the boundary negotiation and the af
fairs of the disputed territory. The information
given in the closing part of it, that a reply to the
first proposition of the U. Slates upon the sub
ject of the boundary may be expected in a short
time, is highly gratifying to the President, who
has, however, given directions to the undersign
ed in making this acknowledgment, to accompa
ny it with the expression of his profound regret
that Mr. Fox’s note is in no other respect satis
factory.
After the arrangements which, in the begin
ning of last year, were entered into on the part
of the two Governments with regard to the oc
cupation of the disputed territory, the President
had indulged the hope that the causes of ini'u
tion which had grown out of this blanch of ihe
subject could have been removed. Relying on
the disposition of Maine to co-opeiale with the
Federal Government in all that could lead to a
pacific adjustment of the principal question, the
President felt confident that his determination to
maintain order and peace on the border would be
fully carried out. He looked upon all apprehen
sions of designs by the people of Maine to take
possession of the territory, as without adequate
foundation ; deeming it improbable than on the
eve of an amicable adjustment of the question,
any portion of the American people would, with
out cause and without object, jeopard the success
of the negotiation and endanger the peace of the
country. A troublesome, irritating, and compar
atively unimportant, because subordinate, sub
jecl, being thus disposed of, the President hoped
that the parties would be left free at once to dis
cuss and finally adjust the principal question. In
this he has been disappointed. While the pro
ceedings of her Majesty’s Government at borne,
have been attended witii unlookcit for delays, its j
attention has been diverted from the great sub
ject in controversy by repealed complaint*, impu
ting to a portion of the people ol the United
Slates designs to violate the engagements of their
Government; designs which have never been
entertained and which Mr. Fox knows would re
ceive no countenance irom this Government.
It is to be regretted, that at this late hour, so
much misapprehension still exists on the side of
the British Government, us to the object and ob
vious meaning of the existing arrangements res
pecting the disputed territory. The ili success
which apjiears to have attended the efforts made
by the undersigned to convey, through Mr. Fox
to her Majesty’s Government, more correct im
pressions respecting them, calls for a recurrence
to the subject, and a brief review of the corres
pondence which has grown out of it, may tend
to remove the erroneous views which prevail, os
to the manner which the terms of the arrange
ments referred to have been observed.
As Mr. Fox bad no authority to make any
agreement respecting Ihe exercise of jurisdiction
over the disputed territory, that between him and
the undersigned, of the 27th of February, 1839,
had for its object some provisional arrangement
for the restoration and preservation of peace in
the Territory. To accomplish this object, it pro
vided that her Majesty’s officers should not seek
to expel, by military force, the armed party which
had been sent by Maine in the district bordering
on the Restook river; and that, on the other
hand, the Government of Maine would volunta
rily, and without needless delay, withdraw beyond
the bounds of the disputed territory any armed
force then within them. Besides this, the ar
rangement had other objects—the dispersion of
notorious trespassers, and the protection of public
property from depredation. In case future neces
sity should arise for this, the operation was to be
conducted by concert, jointly or separately, ac
cording to agreement between the Government of
Maine and New Brunswick.
In this last mentioned respect, the agreement
looked to some further arrangement between
Maine and New Brunswick, Through the agen
cy of Gen. Scott, one was agreed to, on the 23d
and 25th of March following, by which Sir John
Harvey bound himself not to seek, without re
newed instructions to that effect from his Govern
ment, to take military possession of the Territo
ry, or to repel from it by military force the armed
civil posse, or the troops of Maine. On the part
of Maine, it was agreed by her Governor that no
attempt should be made without renewed instruc
tions from the Legislature, to disturb by arms the
• province of New Brunswick in the possession
of the Madawaska settlements, or intttfiupi >lic
usual communications between that and the up
per provinces. As to possession and jurisdiction,
they were to remain unchanged, each party hold
ing, in fact, possession of part of the disputed
Territory, but each denying the right of the oth
er to do so. With that understanding, Maine
was, without unnecessary delay, to|withdraw her
military force, leaving only, under a land agent, a
small civil posse, armed or unarmed, to protect
the timber recently cut, and to prevent further
depredations.
In the complaints of infractions of tho agree
ments of the slate of Maine, addressed to the
undersigned, Mr. Fox has assumed two positions
which are not authorized by the levins of those
agreements: Ist. achniting the right of Maine to
maintain a civil uossc in tho disputed territory
for the purposes stated in the agreement, he does
so with the restriction that the action of the pos
se was to he confined within certain limits; and
2d, by making the advance of the Maine posse
into the valley of tho Upper St. John, the ground
ot his complaint of encroachment upon the Muil
awaska settlement, he assumes to extend the lim
its of that settlement beyond those it occupied at
the date of the agreement.
The United Stales cannot acquiesce in either
of these positions.
In the first place, nothing is found in the agree
ment subscribed to by Governor Fairfield and
Sir John Harvey, defining any limits in the dis
puted territory within which the operations of the
civil posse of Maine were to bo circumscribed.
The task of preserving the timber recently cut,
and of preventing further depredations within the
disputed territory, was assigned to the. Stale of
Maine after her military force should have been
withdrawn from it; and it was to bo accom
plished by a civil posse, armed or unarmed,which
waste continue in the territory, and to operate in
every part of it where its Jagcncy might he re
quired to protect the timber already cut, and pre
vent further depredations, without any limitation
whatever, or any restrictions, except such as might
be construed into an attempt to disturb by arms
the Province of New Brunswick in her posses
sion of the Madawaska settlement, or interrupt
the usual communication between the Piovinces.
It is thus in the exercise of a legitimate right,
and in the conscientious discharge of an obliga
tion imposed upon her by a solemn compact, that
the State of Maine has done those acts which
have given rise to complaints no ade
quate cause is perceived. Tne undersigned feels
confident that when those acts shall have been
considered by her Majesty’s Government at home
as explained in his note to Mr. Fox, of the 24th
of December last, and in connection with the
foregoing remarks, they will no longer be viewed
as calculated to excite the apprehensions of her
Majesty’s Government that the faith of existing
arrangements is to be broken on the part of the
United Stales.
With regard to the second position assumed
by Mr. Fox. that the advance of the Maine posse
along the val cy of the Restook to the mouth of
Fish River, and into the valley of the Upper St.
John, is at variance with the terms and spirit of
(lie agreements —the undersigned must observe
that if at variance with any of their provisions, it
could only lie with those which secure her Ma
jesty’s Province of New Brunswick against any
attempt to disturb tho possession of the Mada
waska settlement, and to interrupt tho usual com
munications between N. Brunswick and Ihe Up
per Provinces. The agreement could only have
reference to the Madawaska settlements as con
fined within their actual limits at the time it was
subscribed. The undersinged, in his note of the
241 h of December last, stated the reasons why
the mouth of Fish River and the valley of the
St. John through which it passes, could in no
proper sense be considered as embraced in the
Madawaska settlements. Were the U.Statesto ad
mit the pretension set up on the part of Great
Britain, to give to the Madawaska settlements
a degree of constructive extension that might,
at this time, suit the purposes of her Majesty’s
colonial authorities, those settlements soon might
be made, with like justice, to embrace any por
tions of tbedisputed territory ; and the right giv
en to the Province of New Brunswick to occupy
them temporarily special purpose might, by
inference quite as plausible, give the jurisdiction
exercised by her Majesty’s authorities an extent
which would render the present state of the ques
tio.i, so long as it could be maintained,equivalent
to a decision on the merits of the whole centro
vcisy in favor of Great Britain.
If the small settlements at Madawaska on the
i north side of the St. Johns means the whole val
ley of that river—if a boom across the Fish riv
er, and a station of a small posse on the south
side of the St. Johns at the month of Fish river ;
is a disturbance of that settlement, which istwen- j
ty-livc miles below, within the meaning of the
agreeamenf, it is difficult to conceive that there
arc any limitations to the pretensions of her Ma
-1 jesty’s Government under it, or how the State of
Maine could exercise the preventive power with
regard to trespassers, which was, on her part, the
great object of tho temporary arrangements.—
The movements of British troops, lately witness'
cd in the disputed territory, and the erection of
military works for their protection and accommo
dation, of which authentic information, recently
received at the Department of State, has been
communicated to Mr. Fox, impart a still graver
aspect to the matter immediately under consider
ation. The tact ol those military operations es
tablished beyond a doubt, left unexplained, or
unsatisfactorily accounted for,by Mr. Fox’s note
ot tho 7th instant, continues an abiding cause of
complaint on the part of the United Stales against
her Majesty’s colonial agents, ns inconsistent with
arrangements whose main object was to divest a
question, already sufficiently perplexed and com
plicated, from such embarrassments as those with
which the proceedings of the Britisli authorities
fail to surround it.
If, as Mr. Fox must admit, the objects of the
late agreements were the removal of all military
force xml the preserration of the property from
further spoliations, leaving the possession and ju
risdiction us they stood before the Stale of Maine
found itself compelled to act against the trespas
sers, the I’resident cannot but consider that the
conduct ol tiic American local authorities strong
ly and most favorably contrasts with that of the
colonial authorities of her Majesty’s Government.
While the one, promptly withdrawing its milita
ry force, has confined itself to the use of the
small posse, armed as agreed upon, and has
done no act not necessary to the accomplishment
of tho conventional object, every measure taken
or indicated by the other party, is essentially mil
itary in its character, and can he justified only by
a well founded apprehension that hostilities must
ensue.
With such feelings and convictions, tho Presi
dent could not sec, without painful surprise, the
attempt ot Mr. Fox, under instructions from his
Government, to give to tho existing stale of things
a character not warranted by the friendly dispo
sition ot tho United States or tho conduct of the
authorities and people of Maine; much more is he
surprised to find it alleged as a ground for
strengthening a military force and preparing for
? hostile collision with the unarmed inhabitants
of a fr'endly State, pursuing, within their own
borders, their peaceful occupations, or exerting
themselves in compliance with their agreements
to protect the property in dispute from unauthor
ized spoliation.
The President wishes that he could dispel the
fear that those dark forebodings can be realized.
Unless her Majesty’s Government shall forthwith
arrest all military interference in the question—
unless it shall apply to the subject more deter
mined efforts than have hitherto been made to
bring the dispute to a certain and pacific adjust
ment, the misfortunes predicted by Mr. Fox in
the name of his Government, may most unfortu
nately happen. But no apprehension of the con
sequences alluded to by Mr. Fox can be permit
ted to divert the Government and people of the
United States from the performance of their duly
to the State of Maine. That duty is ns simple
as it is imperative, The construction which is
given by her to the treaty of 1783 has been, again
and again, and in Ihe most solemn manner, as
serted also by the Federal Government, and must
be maintained, unless Maine freely consents to a
new boundary, or unless that construction of the
treaty is found to be erroneous by the decision of
a disinterested and independent tribunal,selected
by the parties for its final adjustment. The
President, on assuming the duties of his station,
avowed his determination, all other means of ne
gotiation failing, to submit a proposition to the
Government of Great Britain to refer the decis
ion of the question once more to a third party.
In all the subsequent steps which have lioen ta
ken upon the subject by bis direction, he has been
actuated by the same spirit. Neither bis dispo
sition in the matter, norhis opinion as to the pro
priety of that course, has undergone any change.
Should the fulfilment of his wishes be defeated
either by an unwillingness on the part of her Ma
jesty’s Government to meet the offer of the Uni
ted States in the spirit in which it is made, or
from adverse circumstances of any description,
the President will, in any event, derive great sat
isfaction from the consciousness that no effort on
his part has been spared to bring the question to
an amicable conclusion, and that lliere has been
nothing in the conduct either of the Governments
and people of the United Slates, or of the State
of Maine, to justify the employment of her Mu
jesty’s forces as indicated by Mr. Fox’s letter.
The President cannot, under such circumstances,
apprehend that the responsibility for any eonse
quenccs which may unhappily ensue, will, by the
just judgment of an impartial world, he imputed
to the United Stales.
The undersigned avails himself, &c. &c. &c.
To the Hon. 11. S. Fox, &c.
Mr. Fox to Mr. Forsyth.
Washinbton, March 20, 1840.
The undersigned, her Britannic Majesty’s En
voy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
has hud the honor to receive the official nolo of
yesterday’s date, addressed to him by Mr. For
syth, Secretary of State of the United States, in
reply to a note dated the 13th inst. wherein the
undersigned, in conformity with instructions re
ceived irom his Government, had anew formally
protested against the acts of encroachment and
aggression which arc still persisted in by armed
bands in the employment of tho State of Maine
within certain portions of the disputed territory.
It will he the duly of the undersigned imnic- !
diately to transmit Mr. Forsyth’s note to Iter Ma- 1
jesty’s Government in England; and until the !
statements and propositions which it contains ,
shall have received the due consideration of her
Majesty’s Government, the undersigned will not 1
deem it right to adil any further reply thereto, :
excepting to refer to, and to repeat, us he now
formally and distinctly does, the several decima
tions which it has from time to time been his duty :
to make to the Government of the United States i
with reference to the existing posture of affairs
in the disputed territory, and to record his opinion
that an inflexible adherence to the resolutions
that have been announced by her Majesty’s Gev- ;
eminent, t for the defence of her Majesty's Govern
ment the only means of protecting those rights
from being in a continually aggravated maimer j
encroached upon and violated,
The undersigned avails himself of this occa- |
sion to renew to the Secretary of State of the ,
United Stales, the assurance of his distinguished I
consideration. JJ; S. FOX,
i’he Hon. John Forsyth, &c. &c.
After some discussion the correspondence was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations |
and 10,000 copies ordered to bo printed.
Ciianre.—When the poet, or philosopher, or
moralist, or whatever he was, wrote tho sentence
“1 Ids is a world of change," the hanks had not
suspended.— Pic. j
i Letter from Hon. Mark A. Cooper to Go
i veruor McDonald.
■ t Wasiiinoton, 20th March, 1840.
■ To his Exr'y. Charles J. McDonald,
‘ Governor of Ihe Slate of Georgia:
—I had the honor to receive your commu
nication of the Bth inst., covering the preamble
and resolutions of our Legislature, approved tho
1 24th of December last. These have been for
■ warded to us pursuant to instructions of the Le
gislature. They contain a request that their rc
-1 presentedves hero would endeavor “to have the
' act of Congress, passed on the 12th February,
1793, to carry into effect the second section of the
4th article of the Constitution of the United
States, so amended as to authorize the demand
' of a fugitive, in the cases contemplated, to he
made upon the Circuit J udge of the United States
1 having jurisdiction in the State wherein such fu
‘ gilivo may bo found. 2dly. To require said
1 Judge,” thereupon to issue his warrant, directed
* to the Marshal of the United States in such State,
1 requiring him to arrest the person therein named.
* 3dly. To require said Marshal “forthwith to
execute the same, ithly. To make it obligatory
on said District Judge to surrender tho fugitive
so charged and demanded, to the Executive of
the State or Territory where the offence is alleged
to have been committed.” A respect at all times
duo to tho opinions and arts of the Legislature
ot tho State wo represent, has commanded from
1 me that careful and diligent examination of the
subject, which its gravity demands.
The evils, which the proposed amendments are
designed to remedy, exist in the following state
of tacts. In May, 1837, a slave named Attieus,
1 the property of James and Henry Sagurs.ofSa
-1 vannah, Georgia, was conveyed from Georgia to
1 Maine, by Daniel Philbrook and Edward Kclle
ran, citizens of Maine. Tho former was Muster,
the latter. Mate, of the schooner Boston. This
vessel had recently entered tho port of Savannah.
On tho 10th June, of that year, James Sagurs,
on his oath, applied for and obtained from a ma
gistrate of Chatham county, Georgia, a warrant
for the arrest of Philbrook and Kelleran, charged
1 with “a felony under tho laws of Georgia;” to
' wit, that of inveigling, stealing, taking and carry
ing away without the limits of tho Slate ol'Geor
-1 gia, the slave Attieus. On this warrant, a re
' turn of “not to he found in tho county of Chat
ham,” was made.
On the 21st of this month, Governor Schley,
’ of Georgia, demanded of Governor Dunlap, of
1 the State of Maine, tho persons of Philbrook and
> Kelleran, charged with the said offence, as fugi
* lives from the justice of Georgia. A ropy of Ibe
affidavit, warrant and return thereon, accompani
ed Ibis demand.
! The demand was made by virtue of that clause
of the constitution, to enforce which, federal le
gislation is called for. It reads thus:
“A person charged in any State with treason,
felony or other crime, who shall flee from justice,
and be found in another Stale, shall, on demand
of the Executive authority of die Stale from
which he fled, bo delivered up, to be rem ived to
the State having jurisdiction of the crime.”—2 d
sec. 4/h art.
To this demand, Governor Dunlap replied, do
! dining to cause these fugitives to be delivered up.
This act of his was, in December, 1837,declared,
! by the Legislature of Georgia, to he “dangerous
* to the rights of the people of Georgia, and direct
-1 ly and clearly in violation of the plain letter of
(he constitution; that, the State of Georgia be
-1 come a party to the Federal Constitution, no less
1 for the protection of her own, than the common
! , rights and interests of all; and that when these
[ ends a'e defeated, she is released from the obli
gations of Hint compact; and it has heroine her
right and her duly to provide protection for her
people in her own way."
The same resolutions directed the finding of an
indictmen', which should become the foundation
of a renewed demand of those fugitives—which
demand being again refused, should make it the
duty of I bn Governor of Georgia to transmit those
resolutions to the Legislature of each State, and
to the Senators and Representatives in Congress.
They also declarer, that if the Legislature of
Maine, at their next session thereafter, should
“ neglect to redress the grievances complained of,
then that the Executive of Geojgiu announce the
same by proclamation, and cull a convention ol
tho people to take into consideration the state of
the Commonwealth of Georgia, and devise the
course of her future policy, and provide all neces
sary safeguards for the protection of the rights of
her people.”
On tho 7th February, 1838, an indicimem
against Philbrook and Kelleran, charging them
with a felony, was verified by a Grand Jury of
Chatham county, Georgia. On the 2711 iof
April thereafter, Governor Gilmer, the successor
of Governor Schley, made a demand on Gover
nor Kent, the successor of Governor Dunlap. A
copy of the indictment, and of the proceedings
it was founded on, accompanied this demand.
On the 25th of June, Governor Kent declined
to deliver up the fugitives, so demanded by virtue
of the Constitution and laws of the Union.
On the 19th of August, 1839, Governor Gil
rner addressed Governor Fairfield, the successor
of Governor Kent, desiring to know the course
Maine had adopted on the subject of the rcsolu
, | lions of the Legislature of Georgia. He receiv
i ed for answer, that their Legislature deemed it
j inexpedient to legislate on the subject, since it
i belonged to their Executive department.
In 1793, Congress passed a law, declaring by
whom, on whom, and in what manner. a fugitive
from justice, under the 2d sec. 4th article of the
United Stairs Constitution, should he demanded,
in these words to-wit :
“That whenever the Executive authority of
any Stale in the Union, or of cither of the Tcr
; ritories, North, West or South of the river Ohio,
I shall demand any person as a fugitive from jus
tice, of the Executive authority of any such
State or Territory, to which such person shall
have fled, and shall moreover produce the copy of
; an indictment found, or an affidavit made before
a magistrate of any Stale or Territory us afore
said, charging the person so demanded with hav
ing committed treason, felonv, or other crime,
certified as authentic by the Governor or chief
magistrate of the State or Territory from which
| the person so charged fled, ii shall be the duty of
the Executive authority of the State or Territory
to which such person shall have fled, to cause
j him or her tube arrested and surrendered, and no
tice of the arrest to be given to the Executive
authority making such demand, or to the agent
I of such authority appointed to receive the fugi
j live to be delivered to such agent when tic shall
I appear.”
By the laws of Georgia, feloniously taking and
carrying away a slave is a crime, punished by
I confinement at hard labor in the Penitentiary.
I Under this stale of facts, the evil we arc under
! seems to be this: That the property of the peo
ple of Georgia may be stolen and carried to a sis
ter Slate with impunity ; That the authorities of
the Stale to which the thief shall flee, will pro
tect him ugasnst pursuit, and against the justice
of Georgia, in the fare of the Constitution.
The law of 1793 has been strictly pursued.—
i If that could give virtue or validity to the de-
mands of the Governor of Georgia, then was none
wanted. Still it appears, the law is disregarded,
and the Constitution of the country violated.
Arc obligations weak? And
have they ceased to be a rule of duty ? Or is
the law of 1793 defective in such particulars as
are susceptible of amendments rendering it inc£
ficient ?
The law is defective in this : It is merely de
claratory, carrying no sanction with it. It pre
scribes a duty on an Executive of a Slate, which
Congress has not power to do. It is therefore
nugatory—not binding on a State, and cannot be
made so by an act of this Government. So has
the Governor of Maine considered it. This
would be true of any law that might be attempt
ed on tho subject. Could those who passed that
law have been ignorant that all laws imposing
duties, or commanding an act to be done, are nu
gatory or inefficient without a sanction ? Why
then did they not direct what should be done
with a State whoso Governor might refuse?
The only answer is, that they then held, what
we now believe, that a Stale cannot be coerced,
in a case where she exercises the right of judging.
But your Excellency and the Legislature think
there is an amendment, which this Government
is competent to enact, that would be efficient, or
might remedy the evil. On this subject I have
the misfortune to differ with your Excellency and
the Legislature, in such sort as that duty to those
I represent, and to the supreme law I am sworn
to support, requires me to decline presenting the
resolutions, or attempting to procure the propo
sed amendments.
You say that the third resolution, “if earned
out by an act of the federal legislature, will de
prive the authorities of any Stale of tho power
ol refusing to surrender a fugitive upon dcm. nd
because tho act charged upon him as a crime may
not bo recognised as a crime in a State or Terri
tory to which he may have lied.”
The principle here assumed by your Excellen
cy. is one I cannot net on, believing, as I do, that
Congress cannot deprive the Stales of any pow
er they may have. This stipulation in the 2d
sec. 4th art. of the Constitution, is nothing more
than an agreement lietween tho Slate, evidenced
by the solemn forms of the federal compact; and
ns a result of oor form of government, the federal
power has no authority to enforce it, or punish
its violation. Its execution rests with the States,
and will be observed with fidelity,or broken with
indifference, according ns tho Stale called on may
feel or disregard the obligations of her constitu
tional engagements. In the case before us, Maine
seems not to fee I, but to disregard her obliga
tions. I his, if other parties to tfie compact were
not interested, would probably lend to hostilities,
being just cause for war between nations With
us the effect is the same, unless averted, should
the people of our State refuse to submit to this
denial of their right of property.
Assuming that the evil arises from a defect of
the law of 1793, you propose to alter it so as to
require the “ demand” to be made on the judicial
officers of this Government, instead of being made
on the officers of the State. To enforce the “ de
livery," you propose to use the Judge’s warrant
in the bands of the U. S. Marshal. And by the
3d resolution, on which you place so much rcli
uncc, it is proposed, “to make it obligatory on the
said District Judge to surrender” the fugitive
In doing this, you must provide that, in his
judgment, it is right he should be surrendered
(or thinking he ought) that the Supreme Court
shall not overrule him; and that the State would
first sin render the man to him, or (refusing) that
the President and Congress would give the army
and navy to command him into his custody All
these provisos involve important principles, most
ol which we disavow. Yet they are distinctly
couched in the policy of tho preamble and reso
lutjons.
Upon what do (hey go ? Evidently on these
grounds : I hut Congress may give to the Fed
eral Judges jurisdiction over this subject. 2dly.
J hat the State to be acted on, will submit 3dly
If she refuse, that the Federal Government will
drive her to it.
By the preamble it is maintained: That this
2d sec. 4tb art. is a “ conventional” agreement
between the States; That the “ Sovereign Stab s,”
gave to the Federal Government “ all the pow
ers necessary and proper,” to regulutc their “ in
tercourse ; J hut the pursuit and arrest of a
“ fugitive from justice,” is a part of that inter
course ; And that it is “necessary and proper”
that the federal Government should have the
power to do what you propose to ask them to do.
rom thcHc position#, in then asserted tho exis
tence of such power, and we are thereupon re
quested to invoke its aid.
This inference of “powers,” by what is deem
ed “necessary and proper.” when no power is
specified or enumerated, is at variance with the
idea of limited and delegated “ powers.” It is
therefore repudiated,
I cannot conceive that tho “intercourse” to be
regulated by this Government, between the “Sov
creign Slates,” can properly be alleged to refer to
the demand of a lugitivo from justice, guilty of
treason’ for example. 'Fl,is would bo mere
sovereignty in its most essential point
Tins “conventional” agreement is required by
the terms of H, to be carried out by the States, or
their authorities. They have the right to say
who those authorities shall be, and under their
sense ol •!,ligation and duly, t„ judge when at,
alleged fugitive shall bo delivered.
By the Constitution, no juiisdiction is given
to the federal Courts over this subject. By a
law of Congress you cannot give it; and if you
could, it would not bo desirable.
This jurisdiction cannot be ’inferred from the
specification in regard to controversies between
Slates, “since it is to prevent a controversy that
you would give this power to the Federal Judge,
and thereby deprive the State of the power to re
luse, Controversies like this are not wuhir, tho
meaning of the Constitution.
I he protection of iho citizen is first due from
the State; and to her his allegiance is priraauly
to be paid. Any law changing this iclation, un
provided lor by the Constitution, is void
In making it "obligatory" on a Circuit Judge
to have the lugitivo surrendered, on a demand
made ofhirn by the Executive of a State or Ter
ritory, is it not perceived that you bring that Go
verninent politically in collision with one State
at the instance of another ? Was this ever con-’
templated ? Give the Judge the power i.eces,a
ry to luliil his obligations, and do you not sub
jugate the Slate? Without that power, is not
the law us metlicient as it now is? When no
resistance could be made to the Federal Court it
is notto be supposed the State would refuse’to
deliver at the demand of a Stale.
But by giving this power to the Circuit Judge
thus to deprive a State ofthe power to refuse, you
necessarily give him tho power to decide adverse
to the demand. Can you suppose lhat he who
is educated into all the prejudices and sympathisa
ol those around him, residing in the community
of your adversaries, sharing their bounty and
partaking daily of their hospitality, possibly’call
cd to office from party considerations— could fail
to he influenced, by the same arguments, mo
lives, and incentives, vvluch have induced Ut«