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The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 2 of 4 By: American Anti-Slavery Society |
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BY The American Anti Slavery Society 1838
No. 5. THE CHATTEL PRINCIPLE THE ABHORRENCE OF JESUS CHRIST AND
THE APOSTLES; OR NO REFUGE FOR AMERICAN SLAVERY IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT. No. 6. NARRATIVE OF JAMES WILLIAMS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE. No. 7. EMANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES. No. 8. CORRESPONDENCE, BETWEEN THE HON. F.H. ELMORE, ONE OF THE
SOUTH CAROLINA DELEGATION IN CONGRESS, AND JAMES G.
BIRNEY, ONE OF THE SECRETARIES OF THE AMERICAN
ANTI SLAVERY SOCIETY. No. 9. LETTER OF GERRIT SMITH, TO HON. HENRY CLAY. No. 10. EMANCIPATION In The WEST INDIES, IN 1838.
NO. 5 THE ANTI SLAVERY EXAMINER THE POWER OF CONGRESS OVER THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE NEW YORK EVENING POST, UNDER THE SIGNATURE
OF "WYTHE."
WITH ADDITIONS BY THE AUTHOR. FOURTH EDITION.
NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN ANTI SLAVERY SOCIETY, No. 143 NASSAU
STREET. 1838. This No. contains 3 1/2 sheets. Postage, under 100 miles, 6 cts. over
100, 10 cts. POWER OF CONGRESS OVER THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. A civilized community presupposes a government of law. If that
government be a republic, its citizens are the sole sources , as well
as the subjects of its power. Its constitution is their bill of
directions to their own agents a grant authorizing the exercise of
certain powers, and prohibiting that of others. In the Constitution of
the United States, whatever else may be obscure, the clause granting
power to Congress over the Federal District may well defy
misconstruction. Art. 1, Sec. 8, Clause 18: "The Congress shall have
power to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever , over
such District." Congress may make laws for the District "in all
cases ," not of all kinds . The grant respects the subjects of
legislation, not the moral nature of the laws. The law making power
every where, is subject to moral restrictions, whether limited by
constitutions or not. No legislature can authorize murder, nor make
honesty penal, nor virtue a crime, nor exact impossibilities. In these
and similar respects, the power of Congress is held in check by
principles existing in the nature of things, not imposed by the
Constitution, but presupposed and assumed by it. The power of Congress
over the District is restricted only by those principles that limit
ordinary legislation, and, in some respects, it has even wider scope. In common with the legislatures of the States, Congress cannot
constitutionally pass ex post facto laws in criminal cases, nor suspend
the writ of habeas corpus, nor pass a bill of attainder, nor abridge the
freedom of speech and of the press, nor invade the right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, nor enact
laws respecting an establishment of religion. These are general
limitations. Congress cannot do these things any where . The exact
import, therefore, of the clause "in all cases whatsoever," is, on all
subjects within the appropriate sphere of legislation . Some
legislatures are restrained by constitutions from the exercise of powers
strictly within the proper sphere of legislation. Congressional power
over the District has no such restraint. It traverses the whole field of
legitimate legislation. All the power which any legislature has within
its own jurisdiction, Congress holds over the District of Columbia. It has been asserted that the clause in question respects merely police
regulations, and that its sole design was to enable Congress to protect
itself against popular tumults. But if the framers of the Constitution
aimed to provide for a single case only, why did they provide for
" all cases whatsoever?" Besides, this clause was opposed in many of
the state conventions, because the grant of power was not restricted to
police regulations alone ... Continue reading book >>
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