Show OUR REVIEW of the past wd the future of the american negro by D W culp A M M D XIV CLASS legislation the first session of the thirty first congress which enacted the fugitive slave law jaw adjourned on september SOY 30 1848 and one hundred guns were fired in ia the city of washington over the final and complete triumph of henry clay and the other leaders of the whig party and great union saving meetings were held throughout i all sections of the country which denounced all who were in favor of granting freedom to the negro and during that year daniel webster and all the leaders of his party entered into a solemn compact to support no man for president or Vice president of the united states or for senator or representative in congress or member of a state legislature who was not known to be opposed to disturbing their final settlement of the slavery question henry clay of kentucky was the first one to affix his signature to that very remarkable document and it was also signed by a great many of the most prominent men of the free and slave states and of different political parties I 1 we will wih refrain from elaborating upon thi the de desperate measures which were regor resorted ted to by all the courts of last resort in order to compel the people to become reconciled to all a the harsh and oppressive measures of the fugitive slave law but it is sufficient to say that prior to M march 6 1857 chief justice swan of the supreme court co uart of ohio who member ber of the was W an honorable mem pe republican publican party handed down an opinion to the effect that the fugitive slave law was constitutional and all the judges of the supreme e court of indiana of wisconsin Wis consing of pennsylvania and of many man other states throughout the union concurred in th the opinion which was tendered roje d by chief justice tice swan of ohio or on the ath of if march 1857 the the united states as court of I 1 P proclaimed to in the world that the swo negro was waa not in the Poss possession of guay any rights which white men were bound bm to rm reaped liget A great many e micalea dic aleA and de chief justice H B taney lor the decision which was rendered in tile the famous dyed bred scott case but remember that all the they e most associate justices j of that court excepting one ine concurred crewl araa with the cid ju notwithstanding the ers were ctorn and reared north of the mason and bixon line ani and several af bmw alway affiliated with the waca I 1 J ma 11 of it tho ta lu jest hig liest and the gm to amder rett der such in 0 j there then 4 mafit not jot ato jai into cwi geyte it uie hemiy acra of and t lt and x ei kilo lit a M pk Z id b WOO ab 9 IT U x aw ZA common law of england and inasmuch as the chancellor of england had decided that a negro was nothing more than a common piece of merchandise and inasmuch inaam as all judges lawyers and orthodox theologians ans always make splendid wheel horses because they are always in favor of pulling backward and adhering to the old musty and mouldy bouldy traditions of the past therefore the leading and the most moat eminent judges of our land did not experience the slightest compunction whenever they ren dered verdicts which were adverse to the best interests of the negro n for they simply followed in the same footsteps of some of the most prominent and illustrious Wust rious judges of england MOB AND LYNCH LAW in 1780 a large number of citizens of pittsylvania Pitt sylvania county vi virginia ir entered into a combination for the purpose of suppressing trained bands of horse and counterfeiters counterfeit ers whose well concocted schemes had bidden defiance to the ordinary laws of the land and whose success encouraged and emboldened them in their outrages out razes upon the community col wm vv in lynch was called upon to draft the constitution for the combination of citizens and hence mob and lynch law has ever since been the name given to the summary infliction of punishment by private and unauthorized citizens this law continues in force today in all the states throughout the nation and it has become so very popular in certain sections of our republic that even the most fashionable society ladies with their little children in their arms will travel ten or twenty miles in order to witness a ag bee it is an undisputed fact that mob and lynch law flourishes most largely in those states which foster the convict lease system and it is brought brou to bear maina mainly y against the negro we are not opposed to mob and lynch law because the majority of its unfortunate victims which are hurled headlong into eternity I 1 with all their imperfections resting on their heads beads happen to belong to the negro race but we are opposed to it because it is a relic of the dari dark or middle ages and it is not in harmony with our democratic form of government to be continued |