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the state in which the person accused is found, would
be treasonable, felonious or criminal, by the laws of that
State; that no law of New-York, at this time recognised,
no statute admitted, that one man could be the property of
another, or that one man could be stolen from another; and
that consequently the laws of Virginia, making the stealing
of a slave felony, did not constitute a crime within the mean-
ing of the constitution. "
Your committee have bestowed much reflection on this
subject, with the anxious desire to arrive at a proper con-
struction of the law that must regulate intercourse among
the States of the union, in all cases of demand like the pre-
sent. The subject is of the greatest importance at the pre-
sent time, and especially to the State of Maryland. Her
geographical position adds interest to ordinary questions
affecting the relations of master and slave; but when in a
great controversy like the present, she finds a State where
this institution does not exist, denying the right of property
in slaves, and refusing to surrender for punishment those
who have outraged that right, we should not hesitate
to make common cause with the southern members of the
union in vindicating our claims, and resisting such attacks
upon our domestic policy. We would not voluntarily in-
terfere in disputes between our sister States, but being
called upon by the State of Virginia to add our opinion to
the weight of hers, in a friendly and respectful remon-
strance against what we believe to be a violation of her pri-
vileges by New York, we hope it may not be considered
unkind, if Maryland obeys the promptings of a common
duty, in the assertion of a common right. It would be un-
becoming in the Legislature to indulge in censure, or to
impute unjust motives towards the executive of New York.
Acting under a sense of our responsibility, we cannot deny
to him the right of judging of the obligations of his station.
Believing that his course was induced by a sense of duty,
and that the same motive may effect a change in his ac-
tion, your committee cannot but hope that an interchange
of opinions among the other States will serve to convince
him that New York stands alone in the position she has
assumed.
It has been the practice of civilized nations to surrender
for trial offenders against the laws of others. It is unim-
portant to know whether this has been done in virtue of an
acknowledged perfect right on the one side to demand, and
of an obligation on the other to deliver, or whether it has
been founded on comity among nations; in either view of
the question, the ground taken by New-York cannot be
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