r the new law that power is
_limited_ to the justices of the United States' courts, and to the
commissioners appointed by them, not exceeding, perhaps, on an average,
six or eight persons in each State." So it seems the slave-catchers had
formerly no difficulty in finding a magistrate among hundreds to aid
them, but that now, before they hunt a slave, they must hunt and catch a
United States judge, or a commissioner of six or eight in a whole State.
Truly a hard case, and yet the slaveholders themselves set the very trap
in which they have been caught, and thus it is that, through their
folly, and your generosity in not pointing out to them the blunder they
were committing, the new law is more favorable to the fugitive than the
old one. Surely, Sir, it could not have been more perilous to the young
West Indian judge to meddle with "reasons," than it is for you. Either,
Sir, you voted for the law without reading it, or you have forgotten its
provision. Be assured, the Southern lawyers were as well acquainted as
yourself with the fact, that a few individuals, termed "commissioners,"
had been appointed by the United States courts to perform certain
ministerial acts; and that, as these men were now to be promoted to the
office of slave-catching judges, they would be wholly inadequate in
number to lend efficient aid to the hunters of men. Hence, they inserted
in the third section of the bill, the following enactment, which has
strangely escaped your recollection, viz.:--"And it is further enacted,
that the Circuit Courts of the United States, and the Superior Courts of
_each_ organized Territory of the United States, SHALL from time to time
ENLARGE THE NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS with a view to afford reasonable
facilities to reclaim fugitives from labor, and to the prompt discharge
of the duties imposed by this act." So that, instead of six or eight
commissioners in a State, we are to have as many hundreds, if needed.
Nor is this all. By the second section, the power possessed by the
Circuit Courts to appoint commissioners is for the first time conferred
on the _Territorial_ courts, so that there shall be no lack of
slave-catching judges in Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico. Instead of your
six or eight commissioners in a State, your law contemplates that there
shall be one or more in _each county_; for the fifth section provides,
that, "the better to enable the said commissioners to execute their
duties faithfully and efficiently, ..