576 



PERSONAL LIBERTY LAWS. 



sioner, or by other satisfactory testimony, duly taken 

 and certified by some Court, Magistrate, Justice of the 

 Peace, or othe'r legal officer authorized to administer 

 an oath, and take depositions under the laws of the 

 State or Territory from which such person o\ying ser- 

 vice or labor may have escaped, with a certificate of 

 such magistracy, or other authority, as aforesaid, with 

 the seal of the proper Court or officer thereto attached, 

 which seal shall be sufficient to establish the compe- 

 tency of the proof, and with proof, also by affidavit, of 

 the identity of the person whose service or labor is 

 claimed to be due, as aforesaid, that the person so ar- 

 rested, does in fact owe service or labor to the person 

 or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Terri- 

 tory from which such fugitive may have escaped as 

 aforesaid, and that said person escaped, to make out 

 and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent, or at- 

 torney, a certificate setting forth the substantial facts 

 as to the service or labor due from sucli fugitive to the 

 claimant, and of his or her escape from the State 

 or Territory in which such service or labor was due, 

 to the State or Territory in which he or she was ar- 

 rested, with authority to such claimant, or his or her 

 agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and re- 

 straint, as may be necessary under the circumstances 

 of the case, to take and remove such fugitive person 

 back to the State or Territory whence he or she may 

 have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing 

 under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fu- 

 gitive be admitted in evidence ; and the certificates in 

 this and the first section mentioned, shall be conclusive 

 of the right of the person or persons in whose favor 

 granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Ter- 

 ritory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all 

 molestation of such person or persons, by any process 

 issued by any Court, Judge, Magistrate, or other per- 

 son whomsoever. 



The Personal Liberty Laws passed for the 

 purpose of diminishing the most objectionable 

 features of the fugitive slave law, were regarded 

 by a portion of the people in the slaveholding 

 States as operating in such a manner as to in- 

 fringe their rights under the Constitution. This 

 was one of the instances brought forward to 

 prove the aggression of the Northern States 

 upon the rights of the Southern States, and to 

 that extent was urged as one ground for the 

 justification of the act of secession. Conse- 

 quently unusual attention was attracted to the 

 Liberty Laws during the former part of the 

 year. The views of the Governors of many 

 Northern States, expressed at that time, furnish 

 the plainest indication of the views of the 

 Northern people respecting them, and of the 

 justice of the charge of aggression from this 

 cause. Governor Morgan, of the State of New 

 York, in his Message to the Legislature in Jan- 

 uary, 1861, expressed the following views : 



" The Supreme Court of the United States, 

 in the case of Prigg against the Commonwealth 

 of Pennsylvania, decided that, all State laws, 

 even though subordinate to the Federal enact- 

 ment, and favorable to the extradition of fugi- 

 tives, were inconsistent with the Constitution 

 of the United States, and therefore void ; and 

 so this statute of our State, which granted a 

 trial by jury, became ineffective. It has been 

 universally held to be obsolete by all our com- 

 mentators and all our public authorities, al- 

 though now improperly classed among what 

 are technically called " personal liberty laws," 

 and made occasion for exciting jealousies and 



discontents. I therefore recommend its re- 

 peal. 



"In this connection, and while disavowing 

 any disposition to interfere with what exclu- 

 sively pertains to the individual States, and in 

 a spirit of fraternal kindness, I would respect- 

 fully invite ah 1 those States which have upon 

 their statute-books any laws of this character, 

 conflicting with the Federal Constitution, to 

 repeal them at the earliest opportunity ; not 

 upon condition that a more equitable fugitive 

 slave law be passed, nor upon any other condi- 

 tion, but relying for the proper modification of 

 this enactment upon the justice and wisdom of 

 the Federal authorities. Let the Free States 

 fulfil all the obligations of the Federal Consti- 

 tution and laws ; then, with propriety, they may 

 exact like obedience from all the other States." 



The Governor of Maine, Israel Washburn, 

 Jr., at the same time addressed the Legislature 

 of that State as follows : 



" As a general thing, I believe they (the per- 

 sonal liberty laws of the Free States) were in- 

 tended in perfect good faith to accomplish two 

 legitimate purposes : first, to prevent the kid- 

 napping or illegal removal of free persons from 

 the States ; and, secondly, to bring their action 

 into entire harmony with the line of constitu- 

 tional power and obligation as laid down by 

 the Supreme Court of the United States in the 

 case of Prigg vs. The State of Pennsylvania. So 

 far as this has been the case, and where the 

 legislation of the State has not in fact tran- 

 scended these limits, there can be no just cause 

 of exception to what has been done. But if, 

 passing this boundary, laws have been enacted 

 which are in violation of the Constitution of 

 the United States, or of any constitutional law 

 of Congress, although they may be mere waste 

 paper and void, and would be so declared by 

 our courts, they ought not to remain on the 

 statute-books." 



In the State of Massachusetts, Governor 

 Banks, then about to retire from office, thus ad- 

 dressed the Legislature : 



" I cannot but regard the maintenance of a 

 statute, whether constitutional or not, which is 

 so unnecessary to the public service, and so 

 detrimental to the public peace, as an unexcus- 

 able public wrong. I hope, by common con- 

 sent, it may be removed from the statute-book, 

 and such guarantee as constitutional freedom 

 demands be sought in new legislation." 



In Pennsylvania, Governor Packer, also 

 about to retire from office, thus presented his 

 views : 



" The people of Pennsylvania are devoted to 

 the Union. They will follow its stars and its 

 stripes through every peril. But before assum- 

 ing the high responsibilities now dimly fore- 

 shadowed, it is their solemn duty to remove 

 every just cause of complaint against them- 

 selves, so that they may stand before high 

 Heaven and the civilized world without fear 

 and without reproach, ready to devote their 

 lives and their fortunes to the support of the 



