rument. I believe the tenor of the decisions at the North has
been to permit the executive upon whom the requisition is made, to
determine whether the offence charged is a crime under the law of the
State to which the person charged has fled. If it is a crime, the
fugitive is delivered up. If not a crime in that sense, he is
discharged. The decisions of the courts have been to the same effect;
whenever the fugitive has been brought upon _habeas corpus_, the
decision has been the same. It is obvious that under this construction
of the Constitution no fugitive will be hereafter returned for an
offence in which the question of slavery is involved. This is only one
of the many evasions of the Constitution which have been practised in
the free States. I deem the amendment very important.

Mr. BRONSON:--The gentleman from Kentucky is entirely mistaken in his
statement of the decisions of the northern courts or northern
governors. The decisions are uniform so far as I know, that where the
offence charged is either a crime at common law, or under the statutes
of the State from which the fugitive has fled, he has been delivered
up.

Mr. CLAY:--Did not the Executive of New York refuse to deliver up a
fugitive on the demand of the Governor of Virginia?

Mr. BRONSON:--In that case I think there was no evidence that the
offence charged was a crime under the statutes of Virginia, and it
certainly was not at common law.

The vote was taken upon Mr. CLAY'S amendment, and resulted as follows:

AYES.--Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Virginia--5.

NOES.--Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, New
Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and
Kansas--16.

And the amendment was rejected.

And on motion, at two o'clock A.M., the Conference adjourned.

EIGHTEENTH DAY.

WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, _February 26th, 1861._

The Conference, pursuant to adjournment, was called to order at eleven
o'clock.

Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. GURLEY.

The PRESIDENT informed the Conference that in consequence of the
length of the Journal of yesterday, the Secretary had not been able to
write it out, and that it would be necessary to omit the reading
thereof this morning.

Mr. McCURDY:--There was a vote taken in the confusion near the close
of the session last evening, in which Connecticut, according to the
minutes