Congress, in February, 1861, adopted the report of the Committee of
Thirty-three of which Thomas Corwin of Ohio was chairman, which after
reciting "that all attempts on the part of the Legislatures of any of
the states to obstruct or hinder the recovery," of fugitive slaves,
"are in derogation of the constitution ... and dangerous to the peace
of the Union," resolved
"That the several states be respectfully requested to cause their
statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain if any of them are
in conflict with or tend to embarrass or hinder the execution of the
laws of the United States ... for the delivery up of persons held to
labour by the laws of any state and escaping therefrom; and the
Senate and House of Representatives earnestly request that all
enactments having such tendency be forthwith repealed as required by
a just sense of constitutional obligations and by a due regard for
the peace of the Republic."[300]
President Lincoln in his inaugural address, referring to the clause of
the constitution providing for the return of fugitive slaves, and the
contention as to whether the same should be executed by Federal or
state officials, said: "If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be
of little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is
done. And should any one in any case be content that his oath should
go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be
kept?"