It commits this great question to a magistrate appointed, not by the
President with the consent of the Senate, but by the Court,--holding
office, not during good behavior, but merely during the will of the
Court,--and receiving, not a regular salary, but fees according to each
individual case.
It authorizes judgment on _ex parte_ evidence, by affidavit, without the
sanction of cross-examination.
It denies the writ of _Habeas Corpus_, ever known as the palladium of
the citizen.
Contrary to the declared purposes of the framers of the Constitution, it
sends the fugitive back "at the public expense."
Adding meanness to violation of the Constitution, it bribes the
Commissioner by a double stipend to pronounce against Freedom. If he
dooms a man to Slavery, the reward is ten dollars; but saving him to
Freedom, his dole is five.
The Constitution expressly secures the "free exercise of religion"; but
this Act visits with unrelenting penalties the faithful men and women
who render to the fugitive that countenance, succor, and shelter which
in their conscience "religion" requires; and thus is practical religion
directly assailed.
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