The New York Herald Newspaper, April 3, 1852, Page 2

RE-OPENING OF THE ABOLITION AGITATION. ene Sevival of War Against the Fugitive Slave Law. ‘Poe Probable Independent Nomination of General Scott by the Free Soil Whigs, Movements of Senators Seward and Hale, &e., &e., &e. New York Slave Catchers. the New York Tribune, April 2.} ht is buta few weeks since, Mr. Secretary Web- #ter stood up before an audience in this city, and with all due solemnity and impressiveness, declared to the listening thousands that the Ameriean oon- stitution is ‘‘founded on the basis of equal rights— ‘We provisions secure perfect equality and freedom to all; all who live under it are equal—all enjoying the same privileges.” Jet a few facte serve by way of commentary on this lofty oracle :— A black man named Horace Preston, residing in Williamsburg, and earning an honest living by his own work, married toa woman most devotedly at- tached to him, was arrested the other day by a member of our Sixth ward police, named James Martin. The arrest was made on an utterly frivolous pretext; it was charged that he had committed a larceny, that the witnesses against him would be forthcoming; and aecordingly he wae incarcerated until they might be produced. Bot that nothing might oceur to render imperfect this illustration of American equality before the Jaw. and American respect for personal rights, he was hustled into the lock-up of the Sixth ward station in the lower part of the Tombs, not under abe control of the regular warden of that prison, and a there ina manner which might not dis- he justice of Persia or Tartary, but is a foul t lot on New York The offence charged was a bail- able one; ample b: was offered, but it was refused. worst of criminals—a pirate, a murderer, a violator of helpless weman—is allowed to see coun- sel and prepare for his defence; a legal gentleman of the highest respectability, having, atter long search, vered the place ofthis man’s sequestration, went there and demanded to see him as counsel, but was turned away from the door, and was not even allow- od to see the warrant upon which he was immured. Such is the justice in New York meted out, Such is the Sy for personal rights which officers ere exhibit. Such that equality of pri- of the law videges of which Mr. Webster so pompously boasted. But the morrow developed a new phase of the affair. The charge of larceny was laid aside, to The alleged youralaaten by gre place to the charge of slave ft of other people’s property wa the theft of his own person and his own freedo The man was a slave, and had stolen his lib That was all. And, in order to gain time to seize him for this offence, the charge of stealing had been trumped up, and the man had been grabbed and ‘treated worse than if he had been guilty of the most anferna] and unnatural crimes; an where a pile of wood nearly blocked up the entrance, and there the examination was commenced, with no ounce) tpi to protect his rights. Mr. Culver afterwards arrived to undertake his case, but no time was allowed him to consult with the negro, or to examine the papers on which he was held. The alaveowner had rights, but the presumptive freeman none. It secms that the active agents in this foul busi- nets were Policeman Martin and one Richard Bus- toed. a lawyer.of this city. They had tracked out the fugitive, and had: informed’ the man, Rees, ef Baltimore, who claims to be the owner of the negro, that hie chattel was here. and could be caught. They telegraphed to him that the trap was realy, and tat ha must be on the spot to take the prey when it was ensnared. More than this, Bustecd bimeelf, in order to make sure of his reward, volun- tarily went before the Commissioner and made the affidavit on which the man was held asa fugitive slave. Not content with the part ef slaveowner’s counse] and advocate—of itself sufficient, one would suppose, to satisfy an ambition of ordinary seope in the way of meanness and dishonor—he must put himeeif forward as the primary evidence in the pre- mises. And in this affidavit—drawn with his own hand, if we mistake not--he swore to the whole claim of the alleged owner, not as a matterof hear- fay or cpinion, but absolutely, and as of hie own po- sitive kuowledge. And yet it did not appear that he bad, at the time of swearing, any other proof on the subject than the statement of Mr. Rees, that he was the owner of such arunaway. Suppose Rees had claimed (o be the proprietor of any other free- man’ But encugh of such blocdhounds and jackalls of avery. Enough of beings so miserably mean and mhuman as to make a business of seeking out men engaged in honest pursuits, tearing them from heartbroken wives and children, and sending them into bondage. Enough of Martins and Busteeds, ereatures that crawl so low that public contempt cannot reach, nor public disgust and aversion affect them. The spawn of an infamous statute, they do the work for which it has engendered and produced them. But we, who believe in liberty, who talk of its blessings. who descant on the y of its attain- ment, who declaim on the equality’ of rights and universal justice it establishes, ought at lenst to see that these slave catchersdo not succeed in prostitut ing all other laws, and overriding all the barriers of jurtice, in the presecution of their accursed trade Presidential Speculations—The Position of the Whig Party. {From the New York Daily Times.} General Taylor became President 1849. He had been nominated against the wish of the great body of Northern whigs, who dis- Trusted his position on the question of slavery. It was represented by his friends in the Northern Btater, with earnestness and success, that he was not to be numbered among the ge avery ultraists of the South,—that he regarded slavery as an evil --that he would protect with equal and impartial justice, the ri of all sections of the Union, and that he would’ ot veto a bill prohibiting the exten- sion of slavery into the territories, if such a bill should be passed ngress. Active whigs, im every part of the N mn States, advocated the election of General nthe ground that he was far more distinctly pledged to sanction a law excluding slavery from the new territories, than Gen. Cass. Mr. Webster urged his election on these grou And Mr. Fillmore was nominate: Taylor, in y slavery feeling was most It was under such cireums' " ences, that New York and New England votes for General Taylor, and made him ; His advent to office was the signal for a conspira- ey on the part of some of his Southern supporters, to drive him from the position in which the course of the canvass had placed him, and to foree him to to their sectional views. At the first essional caucus after his election, a us urged by Mesers, Toombs, Stephens and Clingman, declaring that the whig party re- nounced and disearded the principle of excluding law from the newly acquired territories. as resisted by Messrs. Brooks, Duer, and othe od a orthern whigs, and it Was rejec se who had offered it then took up @ position of “armed neutrality.” menacing the whi arty with desertion and hostility, unless it i nd abandon for- should assent to their ever the free soil prine of these gentle- men waited upon General Taylor, and informed him very explicitly of their demands, and of their purposes in case those demands should be rejected The President, meantime, pursued a steady, firm, and just course of policy, A very warm contest took place in the distribution of offices throughout the country, and in no State was it warmer than in New York.” On one side were the friends of Mr. Seward— then the only whig Senator from the State—on the other were his opponents. Gen. Taylor made his pointinents with a sincere desire to meet the views of the whole party, without giving any section of it just grounds for displeasure. He placed all the im- portant ¢ especially in this city, in the hands of Mr. Seward's inost determined opponents, and ap- pointed ene marshal and several postmasters in the interior from herp, 8 his friends. The fact that he recognised Senator Seward as a whig at all, aroused the bitter hostility of the small but energetic part which had pre-ordained his destruction. Mr. Fill- more was carefully instructed to believe that the State of New York was not large enough for both, nnd that every act recognizing Mr. Seward as entitled to any influence in the distribution of public patren- age, wae a blow of hostility aimed at him. il) fecling was thus fomented in the whig party ‘The purpoee of the Southern ultraists to force the administration into their views, or break it down, was wed. And the introduction by , afforded opportunity for ite prosecution. Senator who acted with him, demanded ion of California, the enactment of -} ste of the compromise measure undary dispute, and a new Fugitive w should all be regarded and passed as one i binding compact—a compromise be- conflicting claims. President Taylor wax op- © this mode of settling these questions, ag wrong principles, a¢ setting a mis- lent, and as caleulated to aggravate the evils it professed to cure. : Senator Seward opposed Mr. Foote’s whom inst it, ae did more than half the State of New York in the his action the Southe as giving them a new chance of bre qoredt founded up« re essen This wasnot a mere and marked with th Merirn malignity, upon Mr. Seward. v The Prosident was to be driven into an epen repndiation of him and his friends, and nothing was left undone which it was su} tontribute to this result. cumb to these menaces. Instead of sanctioning enforced the withdrawal of its editors, who gave lace to others, Messrs. Bullitt and Sai ad led the assault upon Senator Sewai friends, were succeeded by Mr. Hall, who sought to restore harmony to the party by treating all its sec- tions and mem! The death of Gen. aspect of public affairs. President. The compromise bills were represented as the adopted measures of his administration. The tendency of affairs in the whig ranks was turned x. Hall withdrew from the Republic, and the maligners of Mr. Seward were reinstated. The m him were renewed with fresh vigor and u bitterness. No terms of hatred and ap- robium were too extravagant to be heaped upon im, upon his principles and his friends. He was denounced ag a traitor to the Union, and an enemy of the constitution. Respect for, or support of him, extent, upon personal or d the whole Fillmore becan:e in any degree, or to an political .grounds—any crusade against him, was branded as a fo: rty standing. The whigs of New York, by whom e had been twice elected to the highest office in | their gift, and who had sent him to the federal presentative, were denounced as abolitionists—as partners or tools in the work of sectional agitation; as enemies of the Union and pletters for its destrnetion. And all this had an official sanction. diate organs and representatives of the President led the chase, and his remote supporters echoed the ig State Convention, which was assem- bled for the nomination of State officers, passed the customary resolution of com Senator in Congress; this act sion ef part of the delegates, and to an open rupturo in the whig party. A new conyestion was called— new principles were and his friends were denounced, and for all their doings, the aetors in these proceedings claimed, without contradiction, the direct countenance and authority of the President. The whole patronage of the executive department was thrown into thesame scale. The chief actors in this violent disruption of the whi warded by lucrative and honorable appointments. New organs were established, and old ones re-tuned, for the express purpose of wa; whigs who deelined to join in this appointed to office by. Presiden quired either to use their power for the destruction of Mr. Seward, or to give place to others who would. of this port was brought to The Collector, the the Naval Officer—all the heads of cribed, relentless r would not join in thisinternecine night watchmen—ofiicers of every grade, true whigs, who have always been active cient in party labors, were ejected bec: could not conform to their new Senate as their re pliment to the Whig led to the open seces- Senator Seward party were re- ing war upon those us The whole official pow bear directly upon this point. Sub-Treasurer finally he was | Oy Teena taken before Commissioner Morton, in an out-of-the- way place, near the United States Court Rooms, standard of political The heads of departments at Washington, and finally the President himself, took measures, by removing from office throughout the State, marshals, collectors, postmasters aud others, 1. Tayler was supposed to hi from among Mr. Seward’s political friends: Throughout the administration of Mr. Fillmore y been an active and systematic avor to break down, and eject from’ the whig party, the whig Senator from this State, and all who ld his opinions or his character in ‘ar from making any 1 organs of the exe- and instead of ing it now, they distinctly avow it as entitling them to the confidence and support of the South. ist that the battle has been fought, and it the victory rests with them. 1 y to the fact, that they have extinguished for- the political influence of Mr. them special title to the afection and vot Southern States. This is the view which prevails very generally among the northern whigs, of the policy and ten- dency of the administration of Mr. Fillmore. i velieved tnat he has directed the whole position, and the whole power of his to the political destruction of Mr. Sew- the exclusion from the whig party of all in any degree his sentiments and opin- And those who will consider the facts we ketch, or even given id claims of his or- » that there is al Fillmore will They point exult- have set forth in this hi weight to the representa gans and friends, will readily dant room for presuming t neither ask, nor expect, # full, cordial and enthu- siastic support from the great body of those whom he bas thus branded as abolitionists and traitors. no reason to donbt that the leading whigs of this State will feel bound by the decision of the whig national convention, and’ will do what they can towards securing the election of But they feel, nevertheless, that in case, they will be required to *‘ con- on the part of many which may prove too stubborn for sueeess; that in so large and so closely divided a State, where a few thousand votes will be quite sufficient to turn the seale, it would be wisdom, on the part of the convention, if the welfare and success of the whig party, ler candidly, and to weigh fairly, the cir- cumstances under which they would be compelled to should Mr. Fillmore be fixed Very many of the most sagacious men among them believe, that considerate whigs at the South inust sce abundant reason for thinking that the vote of New Yerk could not be commanded for him. Nor is the force of these considerations limited to The reot of this envenomed hostility to Seward and his friends is their acknowledged and their unwillingness to extend er beyond the bound: That sentiment is the warfare waged against . by the boundaries of that ly in Ohio and in k, and will produce Those worthy men There is, of cour quer prejudices’ the spring of t the eich | enter upon the eanvass upon them for re-elect e dislike of slavery the area of its pow by the constitution. fined to New York; ne it limited, in ite effec It is felt still more stroi New England than in New Y there also the same results. who suppose they have extirpated from the pub- iment to this principle, fall into an error—one which will vitiate all the calcula- success which they may make I » ential nomination is ands, and without special 1e8, they will be allowed to The whige of the North have no desire to upon them, and will all controversy and agitation concerning them they are allowed to do so. of the South refuse thus to allow the subject of to remain untouched—if they insist on thrusting it again into the agitation and issues of a Presidential contest—and if they demand such a nomination as will inevitably renew the agitation, cain throw open all’ the controversies now settled, they ought not to be allowed to do it under any misapprehension of the inevitable They ought to see distinctly that the whig party of the Northern States is not made up of the material which the accomplishment of their pur- poves would require. Ofcourse these considerations will have no weight with those ultraists of the South who are holding a position of “armed neutrality,” for the purpese of selling their services to that’ party which will bid highest for their support. would not be served sident, unless he should be their confederate and tool. And the very fact that a whig eandidate should promise te unite the party, and port of Northern whigs, would alienate them, and drive them inte other alliances. But the great body of the whigs of the South feel that theirs is a nat party; that ite success ean only be prometed by mony and sutual consideratio: 3 can be wise whieh threatens division, imstead of They will ree the wisdom of seleeting a ca’ didate with national views and a national strengt and not from motives either of sectional ambition, or of sectional animosity lie heart all atte tions of part made upon othe reference to t renew the strif If, however, the to receive the sup- al, amd not a secti itive Slave Law tn Massachusetts, Jowing indicates the movoinent in Mas- to this law :— ISLATURE, Manon 27, 1852.-- tev. Mr. Burton. rial committees on the resolutions of , reperted a bill for the further tection of personal liberty, giving jury trial to fugi- tive slaves, as follows :— t further to protect personal liberty 1. The governor, V eachusetts relati Nassacuveetrs 1 and with the advice and nt of the council, shall appoint, in every county, one or more commissioners }earned in the law, whose duty it shall be. in their rosy any person in this State is arrested or seized, or in danger of being arrested or seized as a fugitive slave, on being informed thereof, diligently and faithfully to use all lawful means to protect, defend, and pro- cure the discharge of every such person. See.2. It shall be the duty of the clerks ofcourtsin their respective counties and of any justice of the peace in any county in which any person may be arrested or imprisoned as a fugitive slave, on the petition of any such commissioners or any other per- etting forth that he is informed and believes erson, whore name, if known, shall be ition, ie arrested or imprisoned in the county as a fugitive plave, by ng the territorios, the settlement of spective counties, when wasd and those whigs of the Norw seal of the said justice in the same form and manner, as nearly as may be, as is direeted in the 111th chapter of the Revised Statutes, and said writ shall be returnable forthwith to the Sy Judicial Court, if in session, in the county in which the person claim- ed as a fugitive slave may be when the wyit ia isened, | and if not ¢o in session, before any justice of the | said court. t. See. 3. It shall be the duty of all judicial and | executive officers in this commonwealth in their respective counties, who shall know or have good reason to believe that any peraon in the common- wealth is about to be arrested asa jugitive, forth- with to give notice thereof to some commissioner of speoounty in which the said person resides or may be found. Sec. 4. If when the hearing before any judge in vacation of any writ of corpus, issued in fa- vor of any person claimed as a fugitive slave, he shall not be discharged by thejudge; he may a) from such decision, and claim a trial by jury, which shall be had at the next term of the court in the same county, or at any adjourned session of said court before the next term; and the person so claim- ed as a fugitive may Rive bail to the claimant for his appearance in such sum as the judge shall deem sufficient, not exceeding one thousand dollars, with one or more securities to the satisfaction of the judge; and in default ofsuch bail, he shall be com- | mnitted to the common jail to await the trial. Sec. 6. The court to which such appeal is taken, and any court to which a writ of teal corpus is returnable, in any case under this act, may be, and shall, on application of either party, grant a trial by jury on all questions of fact in issue between the parties. f See. 7. The commissioners shall defray all ex- penses of witnesses, clerks fees, officers fees, and their expenses, which may be incurred in the protec- tion and defence ofany person arrested as a fugitive slave; and the same, together with the reasonable 8 the commissioner, for his services as attor- 1 counsel in the case, shall be paid by the Treasurer, on a warrant to be issued by the Governor. Views from Florida on the§Presidency and Northern Appointments—Letter from Mr. Cabell, Hourk or REPRESENTATIVES, March 20, 1852. My Dear Sim—I have read with interest the article headed ‘The Presidency,” in the State Register of the 13th, which you did me the favor to send me, There is no doubt of the correctness of the opinion expressed in that article, that the course of the anti-Fillmore whigs of New York and other Northern States is calculated to disintegrate the national noe party, The measures and policy of Mr. Fillmore’s ad- ministration, unconnected with questions relating directly or indirectly to the eubject of slavery, have received the unqualified approval of the entire whig party of the country, and his administration has cominanded the respéct and admiration of the great mass of the democratic party. And yet it is said that. ifa candidate for the Presidency, he would lose the vote of the State of “New York by a large majority, while any other whig could easily carry’ the State. This is an extraordinary declaration and startling fact, if true. Yhenever Mr. Fillmore has been before the people of New York, he has proved at least as strong as his own party, and the only Fe of objection to him, and canse of unpepii- larity now, is that he did not violate one of the articles of faith in the creed of the mass of the whigs of New York. He refused to veto acts of Congress, which observant men of all sections ad- mit were essential to the preservation of the peace of the country, to a continuance of good feclin, between the different sections of the Union, an even to the existenee of the government, and which were passed pursuant to the requirements of the Constitution of the United States, and to carry into effect one of its express provisions. Disguise it as you may, the only real causes of hostility to Mr. Fillmore, with his own party, are that he ‘did not veto the Compromise bills, and that he removed from office men, who he was informed, in some cases, were unwilling to execute the laws of the land. Now, sir, if the sectional animosities of your people to the South are euch that an able, honest, patrietie northern man is to be put down by northern men, merely because he has discharged plain, constitu- tional whig duties, there can be no longer any sym- pathy of feeling, or co-operation of action between the parties North and South, and for this you, and not we, will be responsible. A few Northern whig politicians, looking only te expediency or availability, or it may be to benefits to uecrne to themselves from the election of some other whig, are willing to saerifice Mr. Fillmore for s candidate who can get more abolition votes, and enough to elect him. But if the whig convention i o the futal suggestions of these gentlemen, it will be uiterly impossible to maintain a whig paity in the Southern States. The best men of our paity, and the people generally, would and should vepudiate a nomination made from such ons. There will not be found men of re- their reputation on an electoral ticke’ aver of such a candidate,in more than one Southern State which will give large majorities for a whig nomince standing on broad national ground. A nomination made with a view to secure the sup- port of the free soil party, and thus to continue see- tional strife, will be the signal for a dissolution of the whig party. Southern whigs could no longer vet with a party, which would thus be virtuatly re- solved into a free soil faction. The same will be true of the democratic party, should the delegates to the Baltimore Convention make a nomination on like unpatriotic principles. My acquaintance in the non-slayeholding Stat is limited, but I have seen enough of Northern m to feel assured that there is in every State a large class of national mon, who will join the Whigs of the South to prevent so fatal a consummation as the succers of a candidate of either party, who may be nominated because he ean secure the votes of abolitionists, which will not be given to such men as Mr. Fillmore. Never was there 0 general a sentiment in favor ef the election of any man to a political office, as that of the Southern whigs for Mr. Fillmore. With one accord they desire to cast their votes for him, and there are thousands of Southern Union democrats who will cheerfully vote for him, because he has been tried, and in the fearful crisis through whieh we have pacsed, he has proved himself equal to any emergency, a patriot wholly uninfluenced by sec- tional considerations, and a President determined to do justice to all parts of the country, and fearless- ly to execute the law. We make no sectional issues, we do not even wish to vote for a man from our sec- tion of the Union, but with one voice we ask North- ern men to unite with us in the election of a Nerth- em man, not because he has shown any special par- tiality to the South, but simply because he has proved himself a national man, and has done his duty--nothing more--to oll. In conclusion, I will call your attention to a fact which should have effect on those who desire the adoption of political measures more than the elee- tion ef a particular individual. The Sonate of the United States consists ofsixty-two members, ofwhom twenty-four are whigs, fourteen from the Southern States, and but ten, including Mr. Seward, from the North and Northwest. Should the whig convention succeed In sectionalizing the party, by attempting to curry fave yee soilors, and refuse to nomi- with fre nate Mr. Fillmore, or some one else, known by his acts to oce the same national and constitu- tional positien, the whig party, as a party, thus per- vertcd, would and showld cease to exist in the South- ern States. Southern whigs wouldnot al on vinciples for which they have heretofore contended, bat would form uationa! associations, in place of those which such sectional | rty action necessarily dissolves, and I yonture my life there will not be one wan acting with this northern sectional party, call- ing itself whig, whose term expires within four years, returned to the Benate from a Southern State. You cannot hope to secure the Senate, without the aid of Southern votes, for all experience has shown that Northern democrats are skillful in playing for the votes of free so! abolitionists. " This is « consideration deserving the attention of party men, aud may influence their ac- tion, if they disregard higher and noblor footings of patriotiem and nationality. “ ry respectfully, your obedient servant, , Esq. E. C. CaBELL. Our Washington Correspondence, Wasainoton, March 30, 1852. Renewal of the Pugitive Slave Law Axgitation-- The Alarm among the Free Soilers occasioned by Filimore’s Chances at the South--Com. Stockton’ s Speech and Chances for the Presidency, §c. The presentation of a batch of petitions for the repeal of the Fugitive Slave law, in the Senate, on Wednesday, by Mes Seward and Hales, may be nificant feature in the preseut po- sition of the wh elating to its selection of ofa Proridential candidate, Thus far, during the present session, these gentlemen have carefully ab- stained from ating this question. It is well considered as 9 kuown that they have had a large number of these petitions in their possession over since the commence ment of the session, some three er four of which, only, were presented, during the first and second weeks in December. Seward bas heen willing to abetain from further agitation of the slavery ques- tion, provided the Southern whigs would consent to take his candidate, Gen. Scott, without any endorse- ment of the Compromise. Hale's object in suppress- ing the anti-fugitive petttions sent to him, has been gosh ed“ . zy ve petitions on Wednesday, praying for al, and Mr. Hale one, which wore Taiton the tabla, on mo- tion of Mr. Norris, of New Hampshire, by a vote of 33 to LT ae pees argon Seward, ing tl ongress would adopt such measures feces result in the extinction of slavery in the United States, was Salley disposed of by the still more decisive vote of 36 to 6. All this would seem to indicate that the ‘“woolly- head” whig leaders have finally determined to carry out threat, published some weeks since in the New York Tribwne, and endorsed by the Detroit Tribune, that, if the Southern whigs will not take Scott, without the compromise, the Northern woolly-heads willbid them good-bye, and elect him “on their own hook.” The late improvement in Mr. Fill- more’s prospects has evidently waked Mr. Seward up, and we may soon expect to have a full-blast revival of the slave ARlaHODs if ho and his organs can get one cpa for Gen. Becott’s benefit, of course. The late splendid speech of Commodore Stockton, at Trenton, in favor of Webster, the tariff, the fede- ral party, the democratic party, economy, and his great grand children, augurs favorably for his no- mination, by the democrats in Baltimore, in a cer- tain contingency, or the whigs in Philadelphia in a positive contingency. It is believed by many, that if the Baltimore Convention cannot fares upon either of the prominent democratic candidates now spoken of, and Gen. Scott is likely to be dropped by ie whigs, the Commodore would be the most suit- able person to be nominated by both conventions. The Gommodore isa military man, a naval man, and every sort of a man, and is evidently fond of “soup.”? While the General is averse to expressing his Powel opinions, “to the great disgust of the public,” (excepting gant sesanongle) the Com- modore informs us that “his polities do not hang very loosely on hisshoulders.” He is not “‘mealy- mouthed,% he says, either, in going for a protective tariff. Why should he be, since ‘it was always a democratic measure ”’—the first resolution being in- troduced “by Mr. Wilson,” whom no one will doubt was a democrat—a man of eminence and worth—the leader of the democracy in New Jersey? Again, the Commodore assures us that his father was a federalist—that he himself was ‘* brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, in the straitest sects of foderalism,” and that he always has beon a federalist. At the same time, he wants to see the coat brought back “‘to the simplicity andeconomy of the days of Jefferson,” &e., &e. Now, who can doubt, after reading his late speech, that the Commodore is the trump card—the very man to whip ‘old fuss and feathers’ all to pieces with, and give him odds at that? The Jersey blue” combines more of the elements of availability than any other candidate in the field. He goes for a protective tariff, just as easy as he would go a bunting with Mr. Webster; he is a Hamiltonian federalist of the ‘* Gamaliel” school as well asa Jeffersonian democrat, an ‘‘ old fogie” and one of the ‘ young democracy,” half horse and half alli- gator, all at one and the same time. He wouldn't make any bones about coming up the Potomac with a fleet, kicking up ‘‘ a row” generally in the vicinity of Goose Creek, and stepping square into the White House, to the disgust of the present occupant and all other aspirants, without even saying to the sov- ereigns ‘by your leave,” were it not fer considera- tions connected with his “children!” If the com- modore isn’t just the man to give Gen. Scott the worst “fire in the rear” he ever received, where willyoufindone? = * Ole Bull is to give us another concert this week. His sucecess in stirring up the lions, on Friday evening, was most triumphant. Sinee his appear- ance, the spiritual rappings, which had taken lodg- ings somewhere over atthe Navy Yard, are said to have left town. Ole having taken full possession of the field with nothing but cat-gut, horse hair and rosin for @ ‘‘medium.” The editor of the Souwlhern Press relates his experience after this wise:— “Ole Bull played his own composition on that unri- valled instrument—the fiddle. His music transported us to his native mountains—it elevated us to the highest regions of rentiment—nay, it seemed sometimes to be like angels colloquies—for what but such musie as his could be the vernacular of the spirit-land, the universal language of the goul.”” ‘The rumor of the late quarrel in the cabinet is still generally believed, although semi-officially de- nied by the administration organs. The story’ now goes that Secretary Corwin and Postmaster Hall ‘oth wished to apply to Congress to make an ap- p opriation for additional clerks in their depart- ents, but feared that two applications would not be granted. Mr. Corwin insisted on having the cerks, Mr. Hall asserted that he was most in want of them, and the President, being appealed to, de- cided in favor of the latter. The printing of the President’s message and ac- companying documents, ordered at the commence- ment of the present session, would seem to have heen postponed until after the Presidential election, if not indefinitely. Thus far, only the bills, calen- dars and a few short reports of committees, have made their appearance. The delay has already cost the government more than enough to sustain half a dozen well regulated government printing bureaus, (after as Pa proposed by the Heratp,) during a session of Congress. As the work has been performed for a few years past under the con- tract system, it is furnished at so late a period that members will not take the trouble to distribute documents, considering them of about as much value as so many last year’s almanacs. They are, therefore, piled up fora time in the public build- ings, and finally sold by somebody for waste-paper, tothe storekeepers. There is scarcely a store on the avenue which has not at the present moment a full supply. Thisis the way the people’s money goes, under the contract system. A Great Row among the Irish at Lockport. THE MILITARY CALLED OUT—OVER ONE HUNDRED MEN ARRESTED. [From the Lockport Courier. March 30.) The Irish settlement up the canal, was yesterday the scene of another disgraceful row. The Galway men, who have been assaulted on several oceasious by the Mayo men, having their shanties torn down and burned, and their property destroyed, assembled in a large body determined to avenge their wrongs by a fearful retaliation. Having organized them- selves, they proceeded to the homes of their antago- nists and demolished their shanties and property without stint. The men being mostly absent at work, they repaired to where they were, and most shamefully assaulted them with clubs, stones, &¢., wounding several, but none fatally, as we are glad tolearn. Intelligence of these doings having been communicated to Sheriff Clapp, and it bein, also stated that the rioters were in large foree, an prepared to resist the execution of the law; the military were called out, and three bodies of armed men, with the police force of the village, proceeded to the ground, and succeeded in arresting one hundred and seven of the rioters. About eighty were brought down last night at 12 o’clock, and lodged in jail, and the balance were committed this morning. The police officers who went up yester- day arrived there some time in advance of the posse, and upon their appronch a small body of men, whom they knew to be engaged in the disturbance, started and ran for the woods. The officers took after them, but they soon discovered thatit would be impossible to overtake them and turned about, but no sooner had they done so than the retreating men also retraced their steps, and came up brandishin, their cluks, displayed fire-arms, and one of them fir off his gun into the air. The officers expostulated with them and succeeded in keeping them quiet until he arrival of the armed band when they were taken prisoners. We understand that all of the ringlead- ers and the moat troublesome and malicious of the band have been arrested, and it is to be hoped they will be made examples of. Though the party new arrested were not the original instigators of these troubles, still they were acting in violation of the laws and must pay the penalty. The companies who volunteered to aid the civil authorities on this occasion were the Emmett Guards, the Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, and Engine Com The majority of these were detain in the cold, and they deserve much credii heroism and self-sacrifice. It isto be hoped that there will, in fature, be no occasion for another trial of the patriotism of our citizens. The frequent occurrence of these outrages is a disgrace and reproach to our village, and it is the desire of all that the originators of them may be treated with the utimost of the law. Tur New Bar in tr Albany Evening Journal, of the . obstructions to river navigation, in the form of anisland thrown up by the current and ice during the past seacon # to be of a character that calla for prompt and en- action on the part of all interested in the welfare of this city and ite business, ‘The hindrance to naviga- tion appears, upon subtequent examination, to be equal to the first impressions in regard to tt—nnd although a new channel hes been formed, it is not of sufficient ea- pacity to accommodate even the larger class of steamers, much less ordivary tows that are daily dis- from this elty. ‘The regular steamers trips, and for (he several days that has been resumed, a 6 Of nm that the nulrence th n for a number of years, This condition of the river certainly calla for prompt and (ion on the part of all connected with the navi- terete hore or elsewhere, It has heen sug- {—nnd very properly—that a public meeting be upon some course of action by whieh the 'y be removed Supreme Gvurt of the United States. DECEMBER Tuna, 1851. No, 191.—The United : Francis P._ Pereira, ‘adminuttater ef Hanis from the District Court of the United States northern e Unit the istri . " district of Mr. Chief Justiee Taney delivered the opini the Oourt.—This rts to be an appeal mek District Court of nited States for the northern district of Florida. The case brought before the Court is this: —The treaty of 1819, by which Spain ceded Florida to the United States, contains the followin, stialaion, in the ninth article :-— for thesia nanan ants sesaee Satiafaction to be made juries, wi ovens of law, # sete ctie Gem late operat SEG, teat ete ca toner inom n }, Con; passed an act to carry into exe- cution this ‘article af the treaty. The first section of this law authorizes the Judges of the Superior Courte established at St. Augustine and Pensacola, tively, to receive and adjust all claims arising within their respective jurisdictions, agreeably to the provisions of the article of the treaty abvve- mentioned; and the second section provides that, in all cases whore the Judges shall decide in favor of the claimants, the decisions, with the evidence on which they are founded, shall be by the said Judges reported to the Secretary of the Treasury, who, on being satisfied that the same is just and equitable, and within the provisions of the treaty, shall pay the amount thereof to the person or persons in whose favor the same is adjudged. Under this law the Secretary of the Treasury held that it did not apply to injuries suffered from the causes mentioned in the treaty in 1812 and 1813, but to those of a subsequent period.. And, in consequence of this decision, another law was passed in 1834, Sx ae ae ener of the former act to injuries suffered in 1812 and 1813, but limiting the time for present- ing the claims to one year from the passage of the act. This law embraced the claim of the present claimant. He did not, however, presont his claim within the time limited. And in 1819, a special law was passed, authorizing the District Judge of the United States for the northern district of Florida to receive and adjudicate this claim, and that of certain other tds: mentioned in the law, under the act of 1834--the several claims to be settled by the Treasury as in other cases under the said act, Florida ‘had become a State of the Union in 1849, and therefore the iet Judge was substituted in place of the Territorial Officer. Ferriera presented his claim accordingly to the District Judge. who took the testimony offered to support it, and decided that the amount stated in the proceedings was due to him. The District At- torney of the United Bnee ay ed an appeal to this court from this decision, and under that prayer the case has been docketed here as an appeal from the District Court. The only question now before us is whether we have any jurisdiction in the case. And in order to determine that question, we must exam- ine the nature of the proceeding before the District Judge, and the character of the decision from which this ippeal has been taken. The treaty certainly created no tribunal by which these damages were to be adjusted, and gives no authority to any court of justice to inquire into or adjust the amount which the United States were to pay to the respective par- ties who had suffered damage from the causes men- tioned in the treaty. It rested with Congress to provide one according to the treaty stipulation. But when that tribunal was appointed, it derived its whole authority from the law creating it, and not from the treaty ; and Congress had the right to re- gulate its proceedings and limit its power, and to subject its decisions to the control ot an appellate tribupal, if it deemed it advisable to do so. Un- doubtediy Congress was bound to provide such a tribunal as the treaty deseribed. But if they failed to fulfil that promise, it is a question between the United States and Spain. The tribunal created to adjust the claims, cannot change the mode of pro- ceeding or the character in which the law authorizes it to act under any opinion it may entertain that a different mode otf proceeding or a tribunal of a different character would better comport with the provisions of the treaty. Jf it acts at all, it acts under the authority of the law, and must obey the law. The territorial judges, therefore, in adjusting these claims, derived their authority altogetherfrom the laws above mentioned; and their decisions ean be entitled to no higher respect or authority than these laws gave them. They are referred, by the act_ of 1823, to the treaty for the description of the injury which the law re- quires them to adjust, but not to enlarge the power which the law confers, nor to change the character in which the law authorizes them to act. The law of 1823, therefore, and not the stipulat of the treaty, furnishes the rule for the proceedings of the territorial judges, and determines their character; and it is manifest that this power to decide upon the yalidity of these claims is not conferred on them as a judicial function, to he exercised in the ordinary forms of a court of justice. For there is to be no suit; no parties, in the legal acceptation of the term, are to be made; no process to issue; and no one is authorized to appear on behalf of the United States, or to summon witnesses in the case. The proceed- ing is altogether ex parte, and all that the judge is required to do, is to receive the claim when the baie presents and to adjust it upon such evi- lence as he may have before him, or be able him- self to obtain; but neither the evidence, nor his award, are to be filed in the court in which he pre- sides, nor recorded there; but he is required to transmit botn the decision and the evidence upon which he decided to the Secretary of the Treasury; and the claim is to be paid if the Secretary thinks it si and equitable, but not otherwise.” It is a debt from the United States upon the decision of the Secretary, but not upon that of the judge. It is too evident for argument on the subject, that such a tri- bunal is not a judicial one, and that the act of Con- gress did not intend to make it one. The authority conferred on the respective judges was nothing more than that of a commissioner to es certain claims against the United States, and the office of judees and their respective jurisdictions, are referred to in the law, merely asa designation of the persons to whom the authority is confided, and the territorial limits to which it extends. His decision is not the judgment of acourt of justice. It is the award of a commissioner. The act of 1834 calls it an award. And an appeal to this court from such a decision, by such an authority asfrom the judgment of a court of record, would be an anomaly in the history of juris- rudence. Anappeal might as well have been taken rom the awards of the board of commissioners under the Mexican treaty, which were recenily setiled in this city. Nor can we see any ground for objection tothe power of revision and control given to the Secretary of the Treasury. When the UnitedStates consent to submit the adjustment of claims against them to any tribunal, they have a right to prescribe the conditions on which they will pay, and they have the right, therefore, to make the approval of the award by the Secretary of the Treasury one of the conditions on which they would agree to be liable. No claim, therefore, is due from the United States until it is sanctioned by him; and his decisionagainst the claimant for the whole or a part of a claim as allowed by the judge is final and conclusive. It cannot afterwards be disturbed by an appeal to this orany other court, or in any other way, without the authority of an act of Congress. It is said, how- ever, on the part of the claimant, that the treaty requires that the injured parties should have an op- portunity of establishing their claims by process of law; that process of law means a judicial proceeding in a court of justice ; and that the right of super- vision given to the Secretary over the decision of the District Judge, is therefore a vivlation of the treaty. The Court think Ser and that the government of this country is not liable to the re- proach of having broken its faith with Spain. The tribunals established are substantially the same as those usually created where one nation agrees by treaty to pay debts or damages which may be found due to the citizens of another country. This treaty meant nothing more than the tribunal and mode of proceeding ore meet established on such occasions, and well known and well understood when treaty obligations of this description are undertaken. But if it were admitted to be otherwise, it isa question between Spain and that department of the govern- ment which is charged with our foreign relations, and with which the judicial branch has no concern. Certainly, the tribunal which acts under the law of Congress, and derives all of its antho- rity from it, cannot eall in question the va- lidity of its provisions, nor claim absolute and final power for its decisions, when the law, hy virtue of which the decisions are made, declares that they shall not be final, but subordinate to that of the Seeretary of the Treasury, and subject to his re- versal, And if the judicial branch of the govern- ment had the right to look into the construction of the treaty in this respect, and was of opinion thet it required a judicial proceeding, and that the power given to the Secretary was void as in vivlation of the treaty, it woud hardly strengthen the case of the claimant on this appeal: For the proceedings before the judge aro as little judicial in their character as that before the Secretary. And if his decisions are void on that account, the decis ions of the judge are open to the same objections ; and neither the LSet ye nor interest, nor any part of this claim, could be paid at the Treasury; for if thie tribunal is unauthorized, the awards are of no value. The proceeding we are now consider- ing, it is true, did not take place before one of the territorial judges, but before a district judge of the United States. But that circumstance can make no difference, for the act of 1849 authorizes him to receive and adjudicate the claims of the persons mentioned in the act of 1834, and provides that these claims may be settled at the Treasury, as other cases under the said act. It conferred on the Dis- trict Judge, therefore, the same power and the eame eharacter, and imposes on him the same duty, that had been conferred qnd imposed on the ‘Territortal Judges before Florida became ~ State. Ae it was not a judicial function, we do not say that the Judge was bound to perform it. But if he did execute it, the fact that he was a Judge, would not alter the character in which the law autherimed him to act. It woul nov eonvert # the adjustment of a claim as commissioneror auditor of accounts into the judgment of w judicial tribunal. It would seem, indeed, in this case, tia’ tue District Judge acted under the erroneous opinion that he wasoxercising judicial power, and his ven to those a8 much the form of proceedings in a court of justice as was practicable. A ciition in form is filed by the claimant, and tho | idge states in his opinion that the y appeared for the United States, and ar; e case, and prayed an shpeals But the acts of Congress require no petition. The claimant has nothin, do but to present his claim to the Judge, with tho v ‘evidence to support it. The District Atcorney has no right to enter un appearance for the d States #0 as to make them a party to the proveedings, and to duthorise a judgment against them. [t was no doubt his duty as a public offieer, if he kuew of any evidence against the claim, or of uny objection to the evidence produced by the claimant, t the Judge, in order that he might consider it, port it to the Secretary. But the acts of Congress certainly do not authorize him to co ceeding before a commissioner into a j nor to pe an appeal from his awa: court. The question as to {the mob « Judge acts in b case of this 18 not a new one. t arose as jon ZO as 1792, in Hayburi’s case, reported in 2 Dale, 409, The act of 23rd of March, in that year, required the Cireuit Courts of the United States to examine into claims of the officers and soldiers and seamen of the revolution to the pensions granted to invalids by that act, and to determine the amount of pay that would be equivalent to the disability incurred, and to certify their opiuion to the Secretary of War. And it authorized the Secretary, when he had cause to suspect impesition or mistake, to withhold the persia allowed by the court, and to report the case o Congress at its next session. ‘Phe authority was given to the Cirevit Courts; and a question arose whether the power conferred was a uaigial one, which the Circuit Courts, as such, could constitution- ally exercise. The question was not decided in the Supreme Court in the case above mentioned. But the opinions of the Judges of the Cireuit Courts for the districts of New York, Pennsylvania and North Car- olina, are all given ina note to the ease by the re- porter. The Judges in the New York eireuit, compos- ed of Chief Justice Jay, Justice Cushing. and Duane, District Judge, held that the power could ereised by them asa court. But in c the meritorious and benevolent obj they agreed to construe the power them individually as commission the court over from time to time, so to perform the duty in the character of Cian and out of Court. The Judges of tho I Cireuit, consisting of Wilson and Bi the Supreme Court, and Peters, I fused to execute it altogether, upon-t it was conferred on them as a court. judicial power when subject to the rev N nd to adjourn ‘0 enable them sivners, vanin ustices of udge re- cround that was not a n of the Secretary of War. The Judges of the Circuit Court of North Carolina, composed of Iredell, Justice of the Brune Court, and Sitgreaves, District Judge, were of opinion that the Court could not exeeute it as a judicial power, and held it under advisenrent whether they might not construe the act as an ap- pointment of the Judges personally as commission- ers, and enable them to perform the duty in the character of commissioners out of court, as had been agreed on by the Judgas of the New York Circuit. These opinions, it appears, by the report in 2 Dal., were all communicated to the President, and a motion for a mandamus, in Hayburn’s case, at the next term of the Supreme Court would seem to have been made merely for the purpose of having it judicially determined in this Court, whether the Judges, under that law, could constitutionally actin the character of commissioners. For ever sined Judge of the court, which at that time con: of five members, had formally expressed his opinion in writing, that the duty impoeed, when the decision was subject to the revision of Secretary and of Congress, could not be executed by the Court as a judicial power ; and the only question upon which there could have been any ditieratice of opinion was, whether it could not be construed as conferring the power on the Judges personally as commissioners; and if it would bea that construction, there seems to have been no doub; that they might constitutionally exercise it, and Secretary constitutionally revise their deeii F The law, however, was repealed at the next sessitgn of the Legislature, and a different way provided fc the relief of the pensioners, and the question as t/ the construction of the law was not deciaed in the Supreme Court. But the repeal of the set clearly shows that the President ‘and Congress acquiesced in the correctness of the decision that it was not @ judicial power, and that, if exercised, it must be by iy, the Judges as commissioners, and not as a court. This law is the same in pe ciple as the one we are now considering, with this ditference only—that the act of 1792 impozed the duty on the Court co nomine, ind not personally on the Judges. + In the cage be- fore ug, it is imposed upon the Judge; and it appears, | from the note to the case of Hayburn, dist amenorey fthe ig preme Court were of opinion that if the law of 1792 had conferred the poweron the udges, they would have held that it was given te them personally by that description, and would have performed the duty as commissioners, subject to the revision and control of the Secretary and Congress, as provided in the law. Nor have Justices Wilsen, Blair, and Peters, District Judge, dissented from this lett Their communication to the President i silent upon ae But the opinions of the jority of the Judges, embrace distinctly and positive- ly the provisions of the law now before us, and de- clare that under such a iaw, the power was not judi- cial, and could not be exercised as such: but that it would be a personal authority to the Judge, which he might exercise in the character of commissioner, and which mete constitutionally be subjected te, the revision and control of the Seeretary. After the decisions thus mado in 1792, and ac- quiesced in at the timo by the other departments of the government, we think that the question must be regarded as settled, and not now open to contre- versy under the act of 1823. Tudependently of these objections, we are at some loss to understand how this case could legally be transmitted to this court, and certificd as a trans- cript of a record in the Distriet Court. According to the directions of the Act of Congress, the decision of the Judge, and the evidence on which it is found- ed ought to have been transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury. Thoy are not to remain in the District Court, nor to be recorded there. They los gully belong to the office of the Secretary of the, reasury, and not to the Court: and a co) from the clerk of the latter, would not be evi- dence in any court of justice. There is no record of the proceedings in the District Court, of which a a transcript can legally be made and certified; and| consequently there is no transcript now before us that we can recognize as evidence of any proceeding! hafied bah in that court. S Vhe appeal must be dismissed for want of jurisdic. ion. Marine Affairs. Avornen Quick Tair From Citsa.—The clipper ship N. B. Palmer, Capt. Low, arrived, Thursday. from Wham-} poa, in the short space of eighty-four days. We are in- formed the passage home was to be contested between] the Flying Cloud and the Palmer. The arrival of the lat: ter has decided it in her favor by several days, as sh left Whampoa three days after her rival, who has not] yet made her appearance. The Flying Cloud is reported ax having passed Anjier on the 14th of January, one da; previous to the Palmor. Messrs. Westervelt & Macl are the builders of the Palmer; her owners are A. Low & Co. The Flying Cloud was built by Mr. Donaid M’Kay, of East Boston, and owned by Messrs. Grinnell, Mintt & Co. Goon Passacrs.—The packetship Northumberland, Capt. Lord, arrived on Thursday from London, reports maki the passage from Portsmouth in sixteen days. having that port on the 15th of March. Our London shippi papers, however, by the Canada, give the Northumber-| land's departure from Portsmouth on the 13th, thus| making her time eighteen days—a passage, however,| which is but seldom equalled and very seldom beaten, In] addition to this. we are informed that her last two pass- ages (out and home) were made in the short space of thirty days. Inon Vessers or War.—Some experiments at the Washington nayy yard have been made. which would seem to establish the unfitness of ironas a material fo' the hulls of vessels of war. A condemned iron vessel wat procured, an eight inch ehell wae fired at her from a| fifty-six pounder gum, at a distance of three hundred and| fifty yards, ‘The shell went clear through both the sides of the vessel, tearing large ‘d holes, eee Leg than the djameter of the shell, and too jrregular plugxing.) and scattering small and jaczed fragments of iron, which, in an action, would be likely to prove more dangerous to her own crew than the shot an enemy's batt Auother shell fired at her wooden buiwatks made only clean round hole. Naval Intelligence. The following ix a list of the officers of the steamship Lexington, which was at San Francisco, 20th ult.:-- William Radford, Lieut. Commanding; J. Stuart, Act- ing Master; J, C. Hunter, Purser; James Suddards, As- sistant Surggon; Thomas Fillebrown, Dawson Phenix, and G, 8. King, Passod Midshipmen; B. St, Clair Clarke, Captain's Clerk. ‘The following is a list of the officers of tho sloop-of-wan St. Mary’s, which sailed from San Franciseo on the 1st instant, for the East Indies :—George Magruder, Come mander; James 8, Biddie, Lieutenant; Robert B. Wat son, Lieutenant; T. J. Corbin, Act. Lieutenant; A. KB, Wateon, Purser; John J, Abernethy, Surgeon; Homer C, Blake, Act, Master; Geo. R. Graham, Marine Officer; Richard B, Tunstall, i Dulany A. Forrest, Gort in’s Clerk; James A. Green, William H. Ward, Midshipmen; James Wm, B. Fugitt, Sailmaker; James Hutchinson, Gunner; John J. R. West, Act, Boatewait