“And whenever any person claiming to be entitled to the service or labor of any other person shall seek to enforce such claim, he shall, in the first instance, and before any order for the surrender of the person whose service is claimed, establish not only his title to such service, as now provided by law, but also that he is, and has been, during the existing Rebellion, loyal to the Government of the United States.”
I propose to strike out all after the word “before,” in the sixteenth line, down to the word “that,” in the nineteenth line, being these words,—
“any order for the surrender of the person whose service is claimed, establish not only his title to such service, as now provided by law, but also”—
and instead thereof insert—
“proceeding with the trial of his claim, satisfactorily prove”—
so that the sentence will read,—
“he shall, in the first instance, and before proceeding with the trial of his claim, satisfactorily prove that he is, and has been, during the existing Rebellion, loyal to the Government of the United States.”
This language, as I believe, carries out completely the idea of the Senator from Illinois in the measure before us. I think it also carries out the idea of the Senator from Kansas. It gives all proper efficacy to the language of the statute; at the same time it does not compromise any of us, in this age of Christian light, by a new recognition, direct or indirect, of the Fugitive Slave Bill.
Mr. Cowan. How long will that provision last?
Mr. Sumner. As long as this statute lasts.