IKASUREROOM 
 
 COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON FLOWERS 
 MEMORIAL COLLF.CTION 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 DURHAM. N. C 
 
 PRESENTFD BY 
 
 W. W FLOWHRS 
 
CK^* 
 
REPORT ' 
 
 Of Committee appointed to inquire how much of the legishfion of 
 Congress is abrogated hg the secession of tJic State. 
 
 The Committee to whom wn«i assigned the duty of in- 
 quiring how much of the logish\tion of Congress is* ipso 
 facto a^jrogated, so far as this State is concerned, hy the 
 secession of the State from the Federal Union, and how 
 much of it may remain of force notwjtlistanding the act of 
 secession, have given some consideration to tl)e sn1>ject, 
 and respectfully ask leave to suhmit the following Report: 
 
 A thorough examination, in detail, of all the A jts of 
 Congress in force at the time when the State seceded from 
 the Confederacy, would have required much more time aud 
 labor than the Committee were able to command, nor did 
 it appear to them that any such minute investigation wha 
 necessary to the proper performance of the duty with 
 which they were charged. 
 
 Every law of the United States must have been enacted 
 in pursuance and by virtue of some one or more of the 
 powers of Congress expressly enumerated in the Constitu- 
 tion, oMiecessarily implied in some Constitutional obliga- 
 tion imposed on the Government, which it would be unable 
 to discharge without the possession of such power. Tfte 
 nature and object of all the laws passed by the Federal 
 Legislature must correspond essentially with the char.ict^r 
 and design of the powof^ which they were intended to 
 carry into effect. ' 1 consideration of the several 
 
 powers vested by tl tutiou in the Congress of the 
 
 United States may re, enable us to educe some 
 
 general principles which vill serve to determine, by refer- 
 ence to the power in pursuance of which any particular law 
 
was enacted, wlietlier it^ obli<ratorv effect upon the people 
 of Soutli Carolina was annulled hv the withdrawal of the 
 State from the ConlVdi racy, or survives that event. 
 
 Taking: them in the order of their enumeration, the first 
 which presents itsclt is the power "to lay and collect taxes, 
 duties, inipctsts and ix<iscs. to pay the dchts and provide 
 - for the common defence and general welfare of the United 
 Slates." The object of this power was to enahle the Fed- 
 eral Government to draw from the jieoide of the .several 
 States the pecuniary meand necessary for paying the debts 
 of the United States and defraying the expenses incident 
 to the execution of its various function.s. While South 
 Carolina was a member of the Confederacy, assenting to 
 the compact of union as a part of the fundamental law of 
 the State, the people of the State were bound by all laws 
 of the United States, laying duties or other imjtosts con- 
 stitutionally passed and actually in force. The obligation 
 to which they were subject was to contribute towards the 
 sujiptM't of the Federal Ciovernmeiit to the exti-nt and in 
 the manner prescribed by .such laws. Their obligation to 
 }»av was co-existent and conelative with the authority of 
 the Ciovernment to exact and collect the duties or other 
 imiiosts. ]iut when the State withdrew from the Union 
 and retracted its assent to the Constitution, the authority 
 of the Federal Government to collect <luties and other im- 
 posts from her people or within her limits, was revoked, 
 and with the authority to collect, the obligation to pay 
 them was at once extinguished. In other words, all such 
 laws were essentially abrogated by the act of secession. 
 The laws regulating the collection and i)ayment of duties, 
 being merely ancillary to those by which the duties were 
 imjtosed antl depentling entirely for their vitality upon the 
 obligation to ]»ay, and the authority to collect su«li duties, 
 must also be annulled^ by the extinction of the i»<»wer of 
 the Federal (Joverniii''iit ..\-.'i- jb<' iniii,!.- .-umI icrritory c^f 
 the State. 
 
 Next in order is the power "to biuiow money on the 
 credit of tlic United States." Acts of Congress passed in 
 
pursuanoo of this power, are warrants of autliority and 
 histriKtions to certain functionaries of the Federal Govern- 
 Tiient to horrow money for tlie use of the United States, 
 and to issue in their name securities for sucli loans, pledg- 
 ing: the faith of the Confederacy for the payment of the 
 stiimlatcd interest and the ultimate repayment of the prin- 
 cipal. The obligations incurred by such law, and the 
 loans eftected under them, engage only the public faith of 
 the Confederated States. They arc not, properly speaking, 
 legal obligations, for the parties l)0und by them being Sov- 
 ereign States, they cannot be enforced by any legal process. 
 The security of the creditors rests entirely upon the good 
 faith of the States, but a State certainly cannot, by with- 
 drawing from the Confederacy, absolve itself from high 
 moral and political obligations which it liad contracted, in 
 common with the other States, while they were united. 
 
 AVe come now to the power "to regulate commerce with 
 foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the 
 Indian tribes.' 
 
 During the existence of the Federal Union, the Congress 
 of the Tnitcd States was the legislative cu-gau of this State 
 for the regulation of its external commerce. Commerce 
 consists of transactions between individuals concerning 
 private rights and interests ; and in the exercise of its 
 power to regulate the commerce of the people of this State 
 with those of other Nations and States, Congress might 
 have enacted laws affecting the mutual rights and oldiga- 
 tions of indivi<luals in their private relations with eacli 
 otiier. If any such laws had been passed, it does not aj^- 
 pear to the Committee tliat they would lose their obliga- 
 tory force in consequence of the withdrawal of the State 
 from the Union. Being expressions of the public will of 
 the State, promulgated 1)V an agent, duly appointed for 
 tliat purpof^c, the subserpient revocation of the authority of 
 the agent would not, of itself, operate to rescind them. 
 The public will of the State, expressed in the form of law, 
 may remain unchanged, notwithstanding the deposition of 
 the special organ, through whom it was announced Bnt 
 
 P58558 
 
the laws made in pursuance of the power to reprulatc com- 
 iiicTc-c. are not, so fur as tlie researches of tlie Committee 
 have discovered, of tlie character just suggested. They 
 emhrace a great multitude and variety of provisions, desig- 
 uatini; what places shall be ports of entry and delivery; 
 J prescrihing in what vessels goods may be imported, how 
 vessels shall be entered and cleared, what vessels shall be 
 admitted to registry as vessels of the United States, and the 
 terms and conditions on which they shall be so admitted; 
 wliat vessels may be employed in the coasting trade, and 
 many other particulars of the like nature. 
 
 The due observance of all these regulations is provided 
 for by means of tines, penalties and forlV-itures, which, upon 
 their violation, are to accrue to the United States, and for 
 the enforcement of which exclusive jurisdiction is given to 
 the l)istrict Courts of the United States. Our secession 
 from the Union, has swept away both the right of the Uni- 
 ted States to exact these penalties and forfeitures from the 
 peojile of this State, and the only tribunals by which they 
 touhl have been enforced, and if the laws themselves can 
 now be regarded as in any sense remaining unrepealed, they 
 are certainly deprived <»f the sanctions, without which they 
 arc destitute of any practical cfKcacy. 
 
 The power "to establish an uniform rule of naturaliza- 
 tion, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies 
 throughout the United States," follows next in order. Be- 
 fore the Constitution of the United States was established, 
 the naturalization of aliens was under the exclusive control 
 of the several States. Each State treated the subject in its 
 own way. In this State there was no general law making 
 provision for the naturalization of aliens. They were occa- 
 Kionally naturalized, but it was always done by a special 
 Act of the Legislature. The Congress of the United States 
 were empowered by the Constitution " to establish an uni- 
 form rule of naturalization. There is nothing in this lan- 
 guage which can be properly understood to mean that the 
 naturalization of aliens was to be taken out of the hands 
 of the several States. On the contrary, the words seem 
 
rather to imply that aliens were to be naturalized by the 
 several States according to a " uniform rule," to be estab- 
 lished by Congress. If citizenship was to be conferred by 
 many States, each acting for itself independently of the 
 others, it was manifestly proper tliat there should be a uni- 
 form rule of naturalization established by an authority 
 common to them all, but it could scarcely have been neces- 
 sary to provide for a uniform mode of doing what was to 
 be done by the Federal Government alone. The unity of 
 the agent would have been suiBcient to secure uniformity 
 in the mode of action. The purpose of the Constitution 
 appears to have been that Congress should prescribe a rule, 
 by which each State of the Confederacy should be gov- 
 erned in admitting aliens to become its citizens. And it 
 was just and reasonable that the rule of naturalization 
 should be uniform, because by another provision of the 
 Constitution, the citizens of each State were to be entitled 
 to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
 States. But Congress, in legislating under this power, 
 seems from the first to have understood it in a diftcreut 
 sense. Instead of establishing a uniform rule bv which 
 aliens might be made citizens of the several States, they 
 have pres(;ribed a mode in which aliens might become citi- 
 zens of the United States. The earliest Act on the subject 
 was [»assed in March, 1790. It provides " that any alien 
 being a free white person, who shall have resided within 
 the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States 
 for the terni of two years, may be admitted to become a 
 citizen thereof, on application to any common law Court of 
 record, in any one of the States wherein he shall have 
 resided for the tenn of one year at least, and making proof 
 to the satisfaction of such Court that he is a jterson of 
 good character, and taking the oath or affirmation pre- 
 scribed by law, to sujiport the Conetifution of the United 
 States, which oath or affirmation such Court shall adminis- 
 ter; and the Clerk of such Court shall reconl such ai»iilica- 
 tion, and the proceedings thereon, and thereupon such 
 person shall be considered as a citizen of the Uniicd Stales.'' 
 
 P58558 
 
6 
 
 This Act, and all t»tlicr Acts on the same suhjoot, passed 
 prior to the 14th of April, 1802, iiave been repealed, and 
 as the law stood at the time of our secession, it may be 
 stated with sufficient fiihiess and accuracy for the jtresent 
 purpose, as follows: "Any alien being a free white pei*son, 
 may be admitted to bcrome a citizen of the United States, 
 or any ol" them," on certain conditions, which are dift'erent 
 in dift'erent cases. In some cases, it is necessary that the 
 applicant shall have declared on <>ath or aiHrmati(»n, before 
 the Supreme, Superior, District or Circuit Court of some one 
 of the States, or of the territorial districts of the United 
 States, or a Circuit or District Court of the United States, 
 two years at least before his admission, that it was hona fide 
 fiis intention to become a citizen of the Ignited States, and 
 to renounce forever all allci;iance and fidelity to any foreign 
 prince, potentate, State or sovereignty whatever, and j)arti- 
 cularly by name, the prince, potentate. State or sovereignty 
 whereof such alien may at the time be a citi/en (»r subject. 
 In some cases this condition is disjienscd with, but in 
 all it is required that the applicant shall declare on oath or 
 affirmation, that he will suj)port the Constitution of the 
 United States, and that he abjures all allegiance to every 
 foreign sovereignty whate\er. It is not easy to understand 
 what is meant by a citizen of the United States^ uidess it be a 
 citizen of one of the States. Taken in its most literal 
 sense, it would seem to mean a citizen of all the States; 
 but this no man can well be. A citizen of Massachusetts 
 certainly is not a citizen of New York; niucli less of all 
 the other States; yet Congress must be supposed to have 
 regarded a native citizen t)f Massachusetts (piite as much a 
 citizen of the United States as an alicM nalui-ali/ed in that 
 State, aJid surely could n(»t have intended to put the natu- 
 ralized alien ujion a dill'erent footing from that of the 
 native citizen. It is, therefore, reasonable to presume that 
 when they speak of an alien being "admitted to become a 
 citizen of the United States, or any of them," they really 
 mean nothing more or less than being admitted to become 
 a citizen of one of the States. Understood in this aeusej 
 
if tliore wns nothiiiij: in the law itself iiu-onsistent with the 
 present ]K).siti(>n of the State, there would be no reason why 
 it should not continue to be the rule of naturalization, not- 
 withstanding the secession of the State from the Union ; 
 but it is impossible to resist the conclusion, that when the 
 Convention set aside the Constitution of the United States, 
 and withdrew the State from the Union with the other 
 States, they did by that act abrogate a law which makes it 
 one of the necessary conditions on which an alien shall be 
 naturalized as a citizen of the State, that he shall declare 
 on oath that he will support the Constitution of the United 
 States, which is the Constitution of a government foreign 
 to the State, and which no citizen could support consist- 
 ently with his allegiance and fidelity to the State. 
 
 There are now no subsisting Acts of Congress passed in 
 pursuance of the power "to establish uniform laws on the 
 subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States." 
 Such laws have been enacted on several occasions, but they 
 were speedily repealed. 
 
 Next in order is the power "to coin money; regulate the 
 value thereof, and of foreign coin; and fix the standard of 
 weights and measures." 
 
 During the existence of the Union, the Congress of the 
 United States was authorized to coin money for the people 
 of all and each of the States, and to regulate the value of 
 the money so coined, and also that of foreign coins. The 
 money coined in pursuance of that authority, while it was 
 held with the assent of South Carolina, as well as the other 
 States, is still the legal money of the State, and the values 
 fixed upon such coin, and also upon foreign coins, by 
 the laws of the United States, as they were at the time of 
 our secession, continue to be the legal values at which they 
 are to bo paid and received in transactions between individ- 
 uals. There is certainly no reason in the nature of such 
 acts and regulations, why they should expire witli the 
 auth<»rity of the inrcni by whom they were done or jiromul- 
 gated. 
 
 The legislation of Congress on tlie subject of weightJj 
 
8 
 
 and measures, is contined to a provision in one of tlie rev- 
 enue Acts (k'lining the weiglit to be understood by the word 
 "ton," as employed in that Act, and the estubliyhment of a 
 standard of weights, to l)e used at the mint for the regula- 
 tion of the coinage. As both the customs and mint of the 
 United States are now foreign to this State, those regula- 
 tions can have no force here. 
 
 Next follows the power "to provide for the puiiishuiciit 
 of counterfeiting the fcccurities and current coin of the 
 United States." 
 
 Exclusive jurisdiction of offences against all the Acts of 
 Congress passed in pursuance of this power, is vested in 
 the Courts of the United States ; and as there are now no 
 such Courts in thjs State, nor can be any, the laws them- 
 selves are in elFect practically abrogated, liut there is no 
 doubt that to counterfeit the securities or current coin of 
 the United States within this State, is an offence against 
 the State, jiunishable by the common law. 
 
 Thi Vvinr to Establish ]'ost-Oi]kcs and Post-Boat L^—Tha 
 Post-office establishment of the United States is one of the 
 departments of the Government, and the purjiosc of all the 
 laws }iassed in pursuanee of this power, is to organize the 
 department, to direct its ojierations, and to protect it in the 
 exercise of its functions. With the authority of the Gov- 
 ernment, that of the rost-oilice de})artment, and all the 
 legislation on which it dcjicnded for its existence and oi)er- 
 ations, were terminated in South Carolina by the with- 
 drawal of the State from the Union. 
 
 7'A( J^utvcr '■'to Protnoti the Prutjrcss of Science and Useful 
 Art.^, by sccurin<) for liinitid tiincs, to authors and inventors, the 
 exclusive right to ihdr nsjuitirt irriti/if/s and disroveries." — The 
 laws of the United States (Hnicerning coijyright, provide 
 that no person shall be entitled to their benefit, unless he 
 shall, before publication, deposit a printed copy of the title 
 of the book or other work, the exclusive right to which is 
 sought to be secured, in the office of the District Court of 
 the district wherein the author or pro}»rietor resides. A 
 copyright can therefore be obtained only by a person resid- 
 
ing in some district of the United States, so that the law 
 is practically abrogated in this State. The granting of pat- 
 ents for new and useful discoveries, inventions and improve- 
 ments, is assigned to the Commissioner of Patents, whose 
 office is attached to the Department of the Interior, and 
 being a part of the machinery of the Government of the 
 United States, certainly can have no longer any authority 
 to grant patents for this State. 
 
 As to patents and copyrights issued during the existence 
 of the Union, they were granted by the authority of South 
 Carolina as well as the other States, and therefore the par- 
 ties entitled to their benefit have the same exclusive right 
 in this State to their writings or discoveries that they had 
 before the Union was dissolved. The Acts of Congress 
 give original cognizance of suits, controversies and cases 
 arising under the laws relative to patents and copyrights to 
 the Circuit Courts of the United States, but this jurisdiction 
 is not expressly made exclusive, and there seems to be no 
 reason in the nature of things why it sliould be so. Any 
 violation of a patent or copyright having validity and eftect 
 in this State, would be an injury to property for which the 
 party aggrieved might obtain adequate redress in the 
 Courts of the State. 
 
 The Courts of the United States established in this State 
 in pursuance of the power "to constitute tribunals inferior 
 to the Supreme Court," with all the laws by which they 
 were constituted and regulated, were of course set aside by 
 the with<h-awal of the State from the Union, whicli at once 
 deposed the authority of the li'ederal Government over the 
 people and territory of the State in all its departments, and 
 in every form. 
 
 '* To (kjiiic and punish Piracies and Fdonics committal on the 
 Jiigh scaSy and offences o gainst the law of Nations.'' — Exclusive 
 cognizance of offences against all the Acts of CVtngress 
 purjtorting to define and provide punishments for piracies 
 and felonies committed on the high seas, is given to the 
 Courts of the United States, and therefore the Acts them- 
 selves can have no practical efficacy in this State. Except 
 
10 
 
 80 far as piracies and felonies, and other offences committed 
 on tlic ]ug\\ seas may ho deemed offences against the law 
 of nations, there are no Act^ of Congress professing in 
 terms to define and punish offences against the law of 
 nations. Some of the acts define and prescrihe the punish- 
 ment of ofl^ences, which are neither jtiracies nor felonies, 
 nor ofl'cnces against the law of nations, and therefore can- 
 not be referred to this ]>owcr. The authority for these 
 enactments must be found in some other part of the Con- 
 stitution ; either in the power to "regulate commerce," or 
 perhajts in the provision which extends the judicial power 
 "to all cases of admiralty and maritime junsdictitm," 
 regarding them as laws necessary and proper for carrying 
 that power into execution. Such offences are only cog- 
 nizable by the Courts of the United States, and therefore 
 stand upon the same legal footing in this State as those 
 which have been before considered, 
 
 "To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, 
 and make rules concerning captures on land and water." 
 
 The only sul)sisting enactments on either of the subjects 
 of this power, are certain provisions of the laws for the 
 regulation of the Xavy, prescribing in what cases caijtures 
 made by armed vessels of the Ignited States .shall belong 
 wholly to the captors, or be divided between them and the 
 United States, and the projiortions in which prize money 
 shall be distributed among the ofhcers and crews of the 
 vessels making the cajitures; and one of the articles for the 
 government of the Army, which directs, that public stores 
 taken from an enemy, shall be secured for the service 
 of the United States, As these relate exclusivi'ly to estab- 
 lishments now foreign to this State, thiy can have no 
 validity here. 
 
 In the same manner, wc may dispose of all the laws 
 passed in jmrsuance of the sevei'ai jiowers: "To i-aise 
 and support armies," " To provide and maintain a navy," 
 and " To make rules for the government and regulation of 
 the land and naval forces," 
 
 The Acts of Congress, passed by virtue of the power, 
 
11 
 
 "to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the 
 laws of tlie Union, sup[»res8 insurrections, and repel inva- 
 sion," are laws made for the purpose of regulating the 
 manner in which that power should he exercised, and must, 
 therefore, have expired with the power itself, so far as this 
 State is concerned, npon the secession of the State from 
 the Union. 
 
 The power " to provide for organizing, arming and dis- 
 ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them 
 as may be employed in the service of the United States," 
 embraces two distinct objects, as to which, the legislation 
 of Congress may be differently affected, by the withdrawal 
 of the State from the Union, All laws for governing such 
 part of the militia of the State as ma}' be employed in the 
 service of the United States, must necessarily l)e abrogated, 
 because such laws assume and imply the authorit}' of the 
 United States to call into their service and govern the mili- 
 tia of the State, and that authority has been revoked. But 
 laws passed l)y the Congress of the United States, for 
 organizing and disciplining the militia of the State, while 
 they were the constituted organ of the State to legislate for 
 that purpose, may continue to be of force, though the 
 authority of the legislative agent has been annulled, if there 
 is nothing in them inconsistent with the -changed position 
 of the State. 
 
 AVe come now to the power " to exercise exclusive legis- 
 lation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceed- 
 ing ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular 
 States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of 
 the Government of the United States ; and to exercise like 
 authority over all places purchased by the consent of the 
 legislature of the State in which tlic same shall be, for the 
 erection of forts, mairazincs. arsenals. <h><k-yards. and other 
 needful buildings." 
 
 It is needless to consider the legislalion of Congress con- 
 cerning the District of Columbia, because, being necessarily 
 local, and relating to a small territory ceded by another State, 
 
and wholly foreign to this State, it never had. uov could 
 have any effect here. 
 
 But there is the power " to exercise like aut]i()nty, (that 
 is exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever,) over all 
 places purchased hy the consent of the legislature of the 
 State in which the same shall he, for the erection of forts, 
 magazines, &c." 
 
 It docs not appear that this power has ever hcen exercised; 
 at least there are no suhsisting Acts of Congress on the sub- 
 ject. The question then reveiia to the power itself Does 
 it sun'ive the dissolution of the Union in a State which has 
 seceded? The power to exercise exclusive legislation over 
 any particular part of the territory, of either of the States, 
 is derived from and dependent upon the consent of the 
 State. It could not he derived from any other State or 
 States, because it never was theirs, and they had no right 
 or power to grant it. ll is one of the political powers of 
 Congress, delegated bj- the Constitution, operating as tlio 
 act of the State ; it rests upon the same foumlatiou with 
 the other powers, and has the same claim to per[»etuity, 
 and no more. If they may l)e revoked, so may this ; and 
 if this is irrevocable, so arc the otliers. The whole ground 
 upon which the right of a State to secede from the Union 
 is asserted, must be utterly abandoned, or the political 
 power of the Federal Govei-ment over the forts and other 
 military establishments in the State is extinguished, by the 
 act of secession, as well as the other powers. 
 
 It is reduced then, to a (juestion, not of political j)ower, 
 but merely of property. The forts and other military 
 .establishments in the State, are said to be the property of 
 the Federal Government, and they maintain their right, as 
 proprietors, to hold possession of them, without or against 
 the consent of the State. According to the theory of our 
 Federative system, which we have long maintained, and 
 wdiich best comports with reason and the history of the 
 system itself, the authority of the Federal (iovernment in 
 each of the States is founded entirely upon the consent of 
 the people of that State alone, and depends upon their 
 
consent not only for its original cstabli.'^limcnt, but for itr=i 
 continued existence. It is, in fact, a government of the 
 State for certain specific purposes, being also, at the same 
 time, a government of the other States for the same pur- 
 poses, and in each State it is subordinate to the power 
 ironi which it derives and holds its authority, that of the 
 people of the State, just in the same way that their pecu- 
 liar local government is subordinate to their power, and 
 dependent upon their will. One of the trusts confided to it, 
 is that of providing for the military defence of the State ; 
 and, in order to enable it to perform that trust, it is put in 
 possession of certain small portions of the territory of the 
 State, which are the sites of forts and other military estab- 
 lishments. These places are held by the Federal Govern- 
 ment, not for its own benefit, but for that of the State. 
 They are, in fact, public property entrusted to an agent of 
 the State for the use of the State ; and, when the agency is 
 abolished, they revert to the State in the same manner, 
 and for the same reason that public property, in the pos- 
 session of the State Government, would revert to the State 
 if that government were abolished. If they had ever been 
 private property, and had been purchased for a price to- 
 wards which other States had contributed, that might give 
 them an equitalde claim to be reimbursed, which would be 
 a proper sul)ject of negotiation and mutual adjustment; 
 but it could not impair the supremacy of the State over 
 every part of her territory, nor constitute a right in other 
 States to hold any portion of it for pul)lic uses of their own 
 against her consent. But, in this aspect of the (question, 
 there is a remarkable peculiarity connected with the site of 
 the only fort' in the State which is held by persons profes- 
 sing to act under the authority of the government of the 
 United States. It never was the subject of private prop- 
 erty, nor was it purchased by the Federal Government, 
 understanding that word in ite ordinarj^ sense, and that in 
 which it is used in the Constitution. It was part of au 
 open bay or inlet of the sea, and, though shoal, it was 
 alwavs covered with water, even in the lowest state of the 
 
14 
 
 tide. It appertained to tlie public «l(»niain, and if the gov- 
 ernment of the State, charged with tlie general care and 
 control of the public domain, itennitted it to be used by 
 the Federal Government — another public agent, entrusted 
 with the military defence of the State, for the construction 
 of a fort — it is, nevertheless, still a part of the public 
 domain, and all the rights and jiowcrs of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment within the State having been revoked, it cannot 
 be regarded as belonging in any sense to that government. 
 
 The }iower "to make all laws which shall be necessaiy 
 and propter for carrying into execution the foregoing pow- 
 ers," has necessarily been considered in connection with 
 the foregoing powers themselves ; but there remains to be 
 considered that portion of this clause which embraces "all 
 other powers vested by this (Constitution in the government 
 of the United States, or in any dei)artniont or officer 
 thereof." 
 
 The first section of the fourth article of the Constitution 
 declares, that "Full faith and credit shall be given in <'ach 
 State to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of 
 every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, 
 prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and pro- 
 ceedings shall be proved, and the elVeet thereof." 
 
 By this clause of the Constitution, each State bound 
 itself to the others, " to give full faith and credit to their 
 public acts, records and judicial proceedings." The Con- 
 stitution itself and all the obligations it involves, including 
 this, being renounced by the secession of a State from the 
 Union, it would seem that the Acts of Congress, "i»re- 
 scribing the manner in which the public acts, records and 
 judicial proceedings of the other States shall be proved, 
 and the eftect thereof," which are merely regulations as to 
 the form in which the obligation shall be carried into ettect, 
 must be abrogated with the obligation itself. The public 
 acts and records of the United States, and the judicial juo- 
 ceedings of tlie Federal Courts during the existence of the 
 Union, being the acts of a government in which this State 
 participated, are, in effect, the acts of the State, and are 
 
15 
 
 entitled to tlic same respect as if the Union liad not been 
 dissolved. 
 
 The second and third clauses of the second section of 
 the same article, are those which relate to fugitives from 
 justice and fugitive slaves. They are as follows : 
 
 " A person charged in any State with treason, felony or 
 other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in 
 another State, shall, on demand of the Kxccutivc authority 
 of the State from which he fled, be delivered up to be 
 removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime." 
 
 " No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in conse- 
 quence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
 from such service or labor, but shall l)e delivered up, on 
 claim of the party to whom such service or lal)or may be 
 due." 
 
 It has been contended that these clauses are mere stipu- 
 lations on the part of the States with each other, depend- 
 ing for their observance upon the mutual good faith of the 
 parties, and to be enforced against recusants in the same 
 manner as in other cases of contract between sovereign 
 States. But it appears to have been the pervading design 
 of the Constitution, to establish a government common to 
 all tlie States, by which the objects of the confederation 
 might be carried into effect, avoiding and removing, as far 
 as possible, all occasions of discord and dispute between 
 States. The surrender of fugitives from justice, and the 
 restoration of fugitive slaves, were certainly two of the 
 object^expressly provided for by the Constitution, and it is 
 a reasonal)Ie conclusion that they, like the rest, were to be 
 effected through the agency of the common government, 
 rather than left to the caprice and partiality of the separate 
 States; more especially, when it is considered that the 
 States are i»recluded from making war, or using any other 
 effectual means of coercing each other to the fulfilment o{ 
 their mutual engagements. The language is tho same in 
 both cases: "shall be delivered up, witliout dcnignating 
 expressly by whom it is to be done. Congress have Icgis- 
 
16 
 
 lated on botli these sulijccts, thereby a-ssumin^ tliat they 
 were authorized to deal with them. 
 
 With respect to fiiiritivea from justice, it is made tlie 
 duty of the Executive of the State to whidi they may liavc 
 fled, to cause them to be arrested and delivered up, on 
 demand made by the Executive of the State in which the 
 offence is charged to have been committed: while it is 
 made the duty of certain functionaries of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment to deliver up fuijitive slaves. The reason of this 
 dilt'erence is, probably, to be found in the fact, that there 
 may l)e lugitives from the eriminal justice of all the States, 
 and therefore, they are all equally interested in the enforce- 
 ment of the constituti(»nal provision as to them ; but there 
 can be no fu<j:itive slaves from States in which there are 
 no slaves, and they have, therefore, no interest in the ob- 
 servance of the obligation to deliver up such fugitives. 
 But it is obvious that if Congress may, constitutionally, 
 enact laws re(piiring the Executives of the States to deliver 
 up fugitives from justice, they may a fortiori require their 
 own functionaries to do the same thing. 
 
 For the purpose for which we arc considering the ques- 
 tion, it is of no practical importance whether the Constitu- 
 tion intended that fugitives of either description should be 
 delivered up by the authorities of the several States, or by 
 those of the United StiUes. Regarded as an obligation to 
 be fulfilled by the States themselves, it must, as to a seced- 
 ing State, together with ail the other obligations of the 
 Constitution, be extinguished by the act of secession ; and 
 if it be regarded as cue of the powers of the Fedeftil Gov- 
 ernment, it expires, of course, with the Government itself. 
 In either view, the laws intended to curry it into effect, 
 being merely ancillary, cannot survive the obligation or 
 power of which they are accessories. 
 
 The Constitution declares that "all treaties made under 
 the authority of the I'nited States, shall be the supreme 
 law of the land;" and the (piestion is presented, how are 
 treaties made under the authority of the United States, 
 while this State was iu the Union, affected by its dissolu- 
 tion ? 
 
17 
 
 "While Foutli CaiciliiKi was a iiieinhcr of tlie (\)iit((loracv 
 tbe ProHideiit of the United .States, actiiiu^ l>y and witli the 
 fdvice and eoiiseiit of two-thirds of the Senate, was tlic 
 cr^aii and agent of the State for making treaties with for- 
 eign nations. Treaties so made, in tlie name of the United 
 States, were treaties made ])y and for eacli of the States, as 
 well as all the States, and each State was just as much 
 bound hy tliem, and entitled to their benefits, as if they had 
 been made exclusively in behalf of tlie State, and by a 
 government or agent exclusively its own. Treaties bind, 
 not governments merely, but the States of which they arc 
 the organs ; and a State does not, by changing its govern- 
 ment, divest itself of the obligations which it has con- 
 tracted l)y treaty witli other States, nor forfeit tlie obliga- 
 tions which tliey liave assumed towards it. It follows, that 
 treaties between the United States and foreign nations, 
 made during the existence of the Union, are still subsisting 
 treaties between tliis State and those nations, notwithstand- 
 ing the Government of the United States has ceased to be 
 a Government of tlie State. 
 
 The Committee are conscious tliat tliey have performed 
 their task very imperfectly, and, in a manner, signally 
 unequal to the extent and importance of the subject^; but 
 they venture to hope that what they Ijave done will at least 
 serve to furnish some hints, upon which others may here- 
 after improve. 
 
 A. MAZYCK, Clmrman. 
 
 I*