"Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That when any person held to service or labor in any State or Territory, or in the District of Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such service or labor shall be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may apply to any court of record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record to be made of the matters so proved, and also a general description of the person so escaping, with such convenient certainty as may be; and a transcript of such record, authenticated by the attestation of the clerk and of the seal of the said court, being produced in any other State, Territory, or district in which the person so escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner, or other officer authorized by the law of the United States to cause persons escaping from service or labor to be delivered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor of the person escaping is due to the party in such record mentioned. And upon the production by the said party of other and further evidence if necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition to what is contained in the said record of the identity of the person escaping, he or she shall be delivered up to the claimant. And the said court, commissioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act to grant certificates to claimants of fugitives, shall, upon the production of the record and other evidences aforesaid, grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any such person identified and proved to be owing service or labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory from which he escaped: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring the production of a transcript of such record as evidence as aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be heard and determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in law.
"Approved, September 18, 1850."—Statutes at Large, ix. 462-465.
Act of 1850. Resolutions.
32. McLanahan's resolution against repeal of the law of 1850.
1851, Jan. 13. Mr. McLanahan moved that the rules be suspended to enable him to introduce the following resolution, viz., "Resolved, That it would be inexpedient and improper to repeal the law passed at the last session of Congress, entitled 'An act to amend, and supplementary to, the act entitled An act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters,' approved Feb. 12, 1793." House refused to suspend the rules.—House Journal, 31 Cong. 2 Sess., 139; Cong. Globe, 31 Cong. 2 Sess., 226.
33. Clay's resolution on the Shadrach case, Boston. [§ [51.]]
1851, Feb. 17. Mr. Clay submitted the following resolution, which lies over one day: "Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to lay before the Senate, if not incompatible with the public interest, any information he may possess in regard to an alleged recent case of a forcible resistance to the execution of the laws of the United States in the city of Boston, and to communicate to the Senate under the above condition what means he has adopted to meet the occurrence, and whether, in his opinion, any additional legislation is necessary to meet the exigency of the case, and to more rigorously execute existing laws." Resolution adopted.—Senate Journal, 31 Cong. 2 Sess., 187; Cong. Globe, 31 Cong. 2 Sess., 580.
34. Bright's bill explanatory of law of 1850.
1851, Feb. 10. Mr. Bright obtained leave to bring in a bill (458) explanatory of the act approved 18th September in the year 1850, entitled, "An Act to amend, and supplemental to, the act entitled, 'An Act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters,'" approved Feb. 12, 1793, which was read twice, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.—Senate Journal, 32 Cong. 1 Sess., 162.
The bill is in the following terms: "Be it enacted, etc., that all action and causes of action, and all proceedings instituted and to be instituted, for any violation of the provisions of said act respecting fugitives from justice and persons escaping from the service of their masters, approved the 12th February, 1793, may be instituted and prosecuted to final judgment and execution as if the said act of Sept. 18, 1850, had not been passed."—Cong. Globe, 31 Cong. 2 Sess., 492.