§ 85. The Fugitive Slave Law in the crisis of 1860-61. § 86. Propositions to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. § 87. Propositions to repeal or amend the law. § 88. The question of slaves of rebels. § 89. Slavery attacked in Congress. § 90. Confiscation bills. § 91. Confiscation provisions extended. § 92. Effect of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863). § 93. Fugitives in loyal slave States. § 94. Typical cases. § 95. Question discussed in Congress. § 96. Arrests by civil officers. § 97. Denial of the use of jails in the District of Columbia. § 98. Abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. § 99. Regulations against kidnapping. § 100. Repeal of the Fugitive Slave Acts. § 101. Early propositions to repeal the acts. § 102. Discussion of the repeal bill in the House. § 103. Repeal bills in the Senate. § 104. The repeal act and the thirteenth amendment. § 105. Educating effect of the controversy. =§ 85. The Fugitive Slave Law in the crisis of 1860-61.=--If the number of interesting fugitive slave cases falls off in the latter part of the decade from 1850 to 1860, it is not because the law was better enforced, but because it was little enforced. The continued interference of the friends of the slave had proved that a fugitive could not safely be recovered in Massachusetts, and that no punishment could be secured for those who helped him to his freedom. The personal liberty bills added serious legal obstacles. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin even went so far as to declare the national act of 1850 unconstitutional.[302] In 1859 John Brown, in his Harper's Ferry raid, attempted to establish a centre to which fugitives might flock; and although he was defeated, he had the sympathy of a large number of persons in the North, including some public men. In the violent debates of 1860-61, one of the frequent charges brought by the southern members against the North was its persistent refusal to execute the Fugitive Slave Act, or to permit it to be executed.[303] Even Republican members disclaimed responsibility for their party, and urged that the personal liberty bills should be repealed.[304] Other bolder spirits seized the opportunity to urge a repeal of the act, and in the various compromise propositions introduced were several attempts to modify the existing constitutional provision on the subject.