3323. FUGITIVES, Protection of.—
The
laws of this country take no notice of crimes
committed out of their jurisdiction. The
most atrocious offender coming within their
pale, is received by them as an innocent man,
and they have authorized no one to seize or
deliver him. The evil of protecting malefactors
of every dye is sensibly felt here, as in
other countries; but until a reformation of
the criminal codes of most nations, to deliver
fugitives from them, would be to become
their accomplices; the former, therefore, is
viewed as the lesser evil.—
To Edmond Charles Genet.
Ford ed., vi, 426.
(Pa.,
Sep. 1793)
