THE HUNTINGDON GLOBE, A DEMOCRATIC FAMILY JOURNAL, DEVOTED TO LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS, &C.
THE GLOBE.
Circulation—the largest in the county.
gIaJEIVIIIIDOM 2A4
Weattesaay, January . 6, 1858
New Advertisements.
In our advertising columns to-day will be found a State
ment of the affairs of the borough, for the past year, by
the Treasurer and Secretary.—E. McCollum offers cash
for all kinds of marketing.—Notice, by Dr. Houtz.--
Gas Supper, by the ladies.—List of letters remaining in
the Huntingdon, Alexandria, and Coalmont post offices.
A GRAND SUPPER---It will be seen by ref
erence to a card in another column that the
Ladies of St, John's Protestant Episcopal
Church of this place, intend to have prepared
on the evening of Wednesday of nest week,
a grand supper for the public generally.—
Every lady and gentleman having fifty cents
or a dollar to loan at good interest, should
call at the Town llall in good. time. The
Supper and extras will be of the best.
THE BANKS.—A large number of the offi
cers of the country Banks of this State, had
a meeting in Philadelphia last week, and
passed a resolution recommending a resump
tion of specie payments on the Ist of Febru
ary. It is generally believed that the Phila
delphia, and those of the country Banks that
are able, will resume on that day.
The Difference
The last Huntingdon Journal claims that
we have deserted the Democratic and have
stepped upon the Republican platform, .and
that we are now " sustaining the doctrine of
popular sovereignty, as held by the Journal
during its whole career, on the vital princi
ples of Republicanism." If the old man was
possessed of three grains of common sense,
he would not try to make the readers of the
Journal believe that we have gone over to
the Republican platform. We have ever main
tained that the people of the Territories had
the "right to regulate their domestic institu
tions, slavery included, in their own way,"
—the Journal, and its party, insisted that on
the subject of slavery, " the power of Con
gress was supreme." We are where we al
ways have been, with the people, sustaining
those of our party who continue to support
thb Baltimore and Cincinnati platforms, the
declarations of principles which placed in
the Presidential chair "our own Buchanan." ,
But we suspect that the old n:tan of the Jour
nal has discovered that a large majority of
the Republicans in this county, are inclined
to favor the Democratic principle, that the
people of Kansas have the right to regulate
their domestic institutions, including slattry,
in their own way, and would now make them
believe that he has always sustained such
doctrine of popular sovereignty. If the Re
publicans will go with us we will do them
good.
A New Counterfeit Detector.
About the most useful thing that any per
son in business, can have in these times, is a
correct and reliable Counterfeit Detector and
Bank Note List. This want is now to he
supplied. Messrs. T. B. Peterson & Brothers
have just commenced the publication of " PE
TERSON'S PIIILADELPILI.k COUNTERFEIT DETECT
OR AND BANE.' NOTE LIST"—a monthly quarto
publication which contains all the information
that can be obtained in regard to all Counter
feits, Broken Banks, and the rates of discount
on all the Bank Notes of the country. Messrs.
Drexel & Co,, the well known Bankers and
Brokers, of Philadelphia, will supervise it
and make the corrections in each number of
the list, so that it may be perfectly relied on,
while the well known house of E. W. Clark
& Co., Commission Stock and Exchange Bro
kers, will correct the Stock List. Not being
intended to subserve the purpose of any bank
ing house, as most of the Detectors do, it will
be a useful and reliable publication to the
whole business community, and we would
advise all of our readers to remit the price of
one year's subscription to the publishers at
once for it. The price is but ONE DOLLAR a
year. To Clubs, Four copies for $3.00; or
Ten copies for $7.00 ; or Twenty-five copies
for $15.00. Address all orders to T. B. PE
TERSON & BROTIIERS, 306 Chestnut street,
Philadelphia.
FREE SOUTHERN OPINIONS.—The Columbus
(Ga.) Enquirer, in an article published on the
17th, speaking of the manner of voting in
Kansas on the Lecompton Constitution, says :
" This, it will be perceived, is another illus
tration of the old story, "I will take the tur
key and you the buzzard, or yon can take the
buzzard and I the turkey." These "popular
sovereignty" lovers of Lecompton "never
say turkey" once to the people of Kansas, ex
cept on the subject of slavery. The thousand
other questions which may interest the "white
male inhabitants" in the formation of a State,
are treated with contempt ; so far as the real
sovereigns aro concerned. Like young birds,
they are expected. to swallow everything
crammed in their throats, sweet or bitter,
clean or unclean. The Convention says—you
may take the Constitution with or without
slavery, but the Constitution in other partic
ulars, we say you must take, willing or un
willing.
Dar A letter was received on Monday, by
Rev. Murray, of Elizabeth, says the Newark
(N. J.) Mercury, announcing the death of
Rev. Mr. Freeman and wife, who went out
to Indio; in the missionary service some time
since. They were taken prisoners by the na
tives, and after being kept in confinement for
some days, were led out to execution, wading
ankle-deep in, blood. About the scaffold where
they were beheaded, blood had collected in
such quantities as to submerge the several
beads of previous victims, against which they
cturabled as they walked.
The News.
Congress re-assembled on Monday, and
the first business was the calling upon the
President for the instructions to Corn. Pauld
ing in the late capture of Walker the fill--
buster.
The Pennsylvania Legislature met at Har
risburg on yesterday. The outside pressure
is said to be strong.
Henry L. Diffenbacb, Esq., editor of the
Clinton Democrat, has been tendered and has
accepted the position of Deputy Secretary of
State under Gov. Packer. A most excellent
and deserving appointment.
Over fifty murders were committed in New
York city during the year 1857, and only one
execution.
Three days later news from Europe, has
been received by the Niagara, which left
Liverpool on the 19th December. The appa
rent anomaly continues, of consols advan
cing in price, bullion largely increasing 'in
the vaults of the Bank of England, of the
demand for discounts diminishing, and yet,
of commercial failures taking place every
day. There has been a regular stampede
among the purse-proud cotton lords of Man
chester—men who looked down in scorn upon
all who were not wealthy as themselves, and
drew their riches from the miserable and
over-worked factory children. There has
commenced a panic among the woolen manu
facturers of Yorkshire—chiefly located in
Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, Huddersfield and
Wakefield—and some very heavy failures
have already taken place. More were expect
ed. The cause is plain enough. The cloth
and worsted makers, like the cotton-spinners
and calico-weavers, have respectively over
done the business. They have immense quan
tities of manufactured woolen and cotton
stock, for which they cannot reasonably ex
pect to find a sale during the next two or
three years, and they have been supporting
each other by accommodation bills, which
the banks no longer have the means nor the
desire of discounting. It requires little sa
gacity to prophecy that many more failures
will be announced from England before her
trade, commerce, and manufactures can as
sume a healthy tone.
The London Times estimates the failures in
London and provinces, since October at over
£15,000,000 in the metropolis, and £35,000,-
000 in the country. Total about £50,000,-
000 sterling, or about two hundred and. fifty
million dollars.
From Continental Europe the news is more
pleasant than it has lately been. In the
Northern Kingdoms the commercial crisis
was bearing heavily; but at Hamburg, af
fairs seemed to improve. It is curious enough
that though most writers on monetary mat
ters agree that the financial condition of
France is very bad, the panic was over at
Paris sooner than in any other of the great
European capitals, and that the Bank of
France had reduced discounts to its old, es
tablished rate of six per cent. There have
been very few commercial failures in France,
since October last.
It appears by a statement in the Journal
of Commerce that the total imports of dry
goods at New York for the past year is $90,-
534,129, being $2,828,764 less than for the
year 1856, but 525,560,067 more than for 1855,
and $9,691,193 more than the total for 1854.
It is stated that six hundred men left Tex
as for Nicaragua on the 21st instant, and
that one thousand four hundred others are
now in Mobile and New Orleans, awaiting
shipment:
Hear a ProzSlavery Paper in Missouri.
The Boonville (Mo.) Observer of the 16th
ult., speaks of Kansas as follows :
" We were anxious that Kansas should be
made a slave State, by assisting emigration
from the slave States, in going thence, the
only legitimate and practicable way in which
it could be accomplished. We contributed
liberally, as we conceived, to ensure such a
result ; but we always condemned and la
mented the bad management of the pro-slat
ery party in the Territory, who wasted their
resources and injured their reputation in vio
lent efforts to accomplish impossibilities,
which, in the sequel, brought defeat upon
themselves, rejoicing to their enemies, and re
proach upon the cause which they had not
the discrimination and patience to success
fully advocate.
" At this time, when the slave States have
abandoned all rational efforts to make Kan
sas a slave State, by inhabiting it with a pro
slavery population, absurd attempts to make
it such in opposition to the will of a large
majority of its people—after the manner of
the Lecompton Convention, will only unne
cessarily exasperate adverse opinions, making
capital for northern and southern fanatieisms,
which have a common and despicable enjoy
ment in whatever tends to distract and divide
the country. If it is still possible to make
Kansas a slave State, let us take the right and
effectual mode of doing so. But if it is im
possible, it is folly and madness to irritate the
public mind and embarrass the Government
about an impossibility. We have no objec
tion to the admission of Kansas under the
Lecompton Constitution, further than the at
tempt of its authors to carry such a purpose
in defiance of the public sentiment of the peo
ple of the Territory, is generating a spirit of
civil war among its people, and of uneasiness,
mortification, and sorrow to every one who
places a proper estimate upon the unity and
well-being of the confederacy."
rRirA lady in Rahway, N. J., it is stated,
has recently succeeded, after several fruitless
attempts, in establishing her title to a large
amount of real estate in Dayton, Ohio. It is
said to cover all the central part of that town,
and it is rumored that the amount is about
$2,000,000.
)The Texas Legislature has passed a
bill which allows free colored persons who
may desire it, to select masters and become
slaves.
Important Document.
The following is a copy of the concurrent
resolutions unanimously adopted by the Ter
ritorial Legislature of Kansas, on the 23d of
December, remonstrating against the accept
ance by Congress of the Lecompton Consti
tution:
Preamble and joint resolution in relation to
the Constitution framed at Lecompton,
Kansas Territory, on the 7th day of Nov.,
1857.
Whereas a small minority of the people
living in nineteen of the thirty-eight counties
of this Territory, availing themselves of a
law which enabled them to obstruct and de
feat a fair expression of the popular will,
did, by the odious and oppressive application
of the provisions and partisan machinery of
said law, procure the return of the whole
number of the delegates of the Constitu
tional Convention recently assembled at Le
compton.
And 'whereas, by reason of the defective
previsions of said law, in connection with the
neglect and misconduct of the authorities
charged with the execution of the same, the
people living within the remaining nineteen
counties of the Territory were not permitted
to return delegates to said Conventien, were
not recognized in its organization, or in any
other sense heard or felt in its deliberations:
And whereas, it is an axiom in political eth
ics that the peopie cannot be deprived of their
rights by the negligence or misconduct of
public officers:
And whereas, a minority—to wit, twenty
eight only of the sixty members of said Con
vention—have attempted by an unworthy
contrivance to impose upon the whole people
of this Territory a constitution without con
sulting their wishes and against their will:
And whereas the members of said Conven
tion have refused to submit their action for
the approval or disapproval of the voters of
the Territory, and in thus acting have defied
the known will of nine-tenths of the voters
thereof:
And whereas the action of a fragment of
said Convention, representing as they did a
small minority of the voters of the Territory,
repudiates and crushes out the distinctive
principle of the'" Nebraska Kansas act," and
violates and tramples under foot the rights
and the sovereignty of the people :
And whereas, from the foregoing statement
of facts, it clearly appears that "the people
have not been left free to form and regulate
their domestic institutions in their own way,"
but, on the contrary, at every stage in the
anomalous proceedings recited they have been
prevented from so doing:
Be it therefore resolved, by the Governor
and Legislative Assembly of Kansas Terri
tory, that the people of Kansas being oppos
ed to said Constitution, Congress has no right
ful power under it to admit said Territory
into the Union as a State; and the Represen
tatives of said people do hereby, in their
name and. on their behalf, solemnly protest
against such admission.
Resolved, That such action on the part of
Congress would, in the judgment of the
members of this Legislative Assembly, be an
entire abandonment of the doctrine of non
intervention in the affairs of the Territory,
and a substitution in its stead of Congress
ional intervention in behalf of a minority
engaged in a disreputable attempt to defeat
the will and violate the rights of the, ma
jority., y..
Resolved, That the people of Kansas. Ter
ritory claim the right, through a legal_ and
fair expression of the will of a majority of
her citizens, to form and adopt a Constitution
for themselves.
Resolved, That the Governor of this Terri
tory be requested to forward a copy of the
foregoing preamble and resolutions to the
President of the United States, the President
of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and to the delegate in Con
gress from the. Territory.
Official Dispatch from Corn. Paulding
WASIIINGTON, Dec. 29.—The following is
the official letter from Com. Paulding, detail
ing the circumstances of the arrest of Gen.
Walker:
FLAG Slur WABAsn,
Off Aspinwall, Dec. 15, 1857. Jl
SIR—My letter of the 12th instant inform
ed the Department that I had broken up the
camp of Gen. Walker, at Punta Arenas, dis
armed his lawless followers, and sent them to
Norfolk in the Saratoga. The General came
here with me and will take passage in one of
the steamers for New York, where he will
present himself to the Marshal of the Dis
trict.
The department being in possession of all
the facts in relation to Walker's escape with
his followers from the United States, as well
as the letters of Capt. Chathard and General
Walker to me, after he landed at Punta Are
nas, the merits of the whole question will, I
presume, be fully comprehended. I could not
regard Walker and. his followers in any other
light than as outlaws, who had escaped from
the vigilance of the officers of the Govern
ment, and left our shores for the purpose of
rapine and murder, and I saw no other way
to vindicate the law and redeem the honor of
our country than by disarming them and
sending them home.
In doing so, I am sensible of the responsi
bility I have incurred, and confidently' look
to the Government fox my justification. Re
garded in its true light, the case appears to
me a clear one, the points being few and
strong. Gen. Walker came to Point Arenas
from the United States, having, in violation
of the law, set on foot a military organization
to make war upon a people with whom we
are at peace. He landed there with armed
men and munitions of war, in defiance of the
guns of a ship-of-war, placed there to preve'nt
his landing. With nothing to show that he
acted by authority he formed a camp, hoisted.
the Nicarauguan flag, called it the " Head
quarters of the Army of Nicaragua," and
signed himself the Commander-in-Chief.
With this pretension he claimed the right
of a lawful Government over all the persons
and things within sight of his flag. Without
right or without authority he landed forty men
at the mouth of the river Colorado, seized the
fort of Castillo on the San Juan, captured
the steamers and goods of Merchants in
transit to the interior, killed men and made
prisoners of the peaceful inhabitants, send
mg to the harbor.of San Juan del Norte some
thirty or fifty men, women and children, in
the steamer Morgan.. In doing these things
without the_ show of authority they were
guilty of rapine and murder, and must be
regarded as outlaws and pirates. They can
have no claim to be regarded in any other
light. Humanity, as well as law, justice,
and the national honor demanded the disper
sion of these lawless men. The remnant .of
the miserable beings who surrendered at Ri
vas were conveyed iu this ship last summer
to New York, and their sufferings are yet
fresh in the memory of all on board. Be
sides the sufferings that must necessarily be
inflicted . upon an innocent and unoffending
people, these lawless followers of Gen. Walk
er, misguided and deceived into a career of
crime, would doubtless have perished in Cen
tral America, or their mutilated and festering
bodies have been brought back to their friends
at the expense of their country.
?or the above reasons, which appear to my
mind quite sufficient, I have disarmed and
sent to the United States, General William
Walker and his outlawed and piratical fol
lowers, for trial, or for whatever action the
Government, in its wisdom, may think prop
er to pursue.
Captain Ommany, of H. B. M. ship Bruns
wick offered to co-operate with me in remov
ing the party from Point Arenas, but as they
were my countrymen, I deemed it proper to
decline the participation of a foreign flag.
In a letter of December 18th Com. Pauld
ing gives the particulars of the landing of
the marines and seamen at Point Arenas,
under circumstances of great difficulty; yet
everything was done in so seamanlike and
skillful manner, that it was accomplished in
the shortest possible time, and without loss
or accident. To the excellent discipline and
fine bearing of the officers and men he says
he is indebted, in the performance of this
most unpleasant service, for the exemption of
all casualty or accident. There was no one
injured, and no loss of - any kind was sustain
ed. No commanding officer was so support
ed by a body of officers and men in a manner
more highly to command his admiration and
respect.
The Cabinet had the matter before them
to-day. Although the arrest of Gen. Walker
is not strictly justified by the instructions to
Com. Paulding, it is conceived the case is
very much paliated by the circumstances
under which, as explained by him, it was ef
fected,
Gen. Walker will be released from his pres
ent arrest, and it is probable a process will
be commenced to bring him to trial for vio
lation of the neutrality laws.
Captain Engle had a long interview with
the President to-day, and detailed to him all
the circumstances connected with the arrest
of Gen. Walker.
Gen. Walker arrived in this city this even
ing accompanied by Marshal Rynders, and
T. F. Meagher and Malcolm Campball, his
attorneys. lie was received with cheers by
a large concourse of people as he entered his
quarters at Brown's Hotel.
Shortly after Marshal Rynders with Gen.
'Walker repaired to the State Department,
when the former stated to Gen. Cass that he
had received a communication from Commo
dore Paulding saying that he had arrested
Walker for carrying on an unlawful expedi
tion against Nicaragua; that Walker had
promised him upon his honor to surrender
himself to Rynders as Marshal of the South
ern District of New "York, on his arrival in
that city. That Walker had done so, and
that he (Rynders) had accompanied Walker
to Washington to ascertain the views of the
Department.
General Cass replied that the executive
Department did not recognize General Walk
er as a prisoner, and that it was only through
the action of the judiciary he could be law
fully held in custody to answer any charges
which may be brought against him.
Marshal Rynders then informed General
Walker that he had no further authority to
detain him, and both withdrew.
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 28.—The news of the
capture of Gen. Walker, on the soil of Nic
aragua, by a United States officer, was receiv
ed in this city with general indignation. An
announcement of the fact was made to the
audiences at Spaulding & Rodgers' Amphi
theatre, and the St. Charles Theatre, imme
diately on its receipt, and caused great exe
cration.
Calls have been issued for a mass meeting
to be held to-morrow at twelve o'clock, M.,
for the purpose of considering the act.
An intense feeling prevails here in favor of
immediately reinforcing Colonel Anderson,
who holds possession of Fort Castillo.
MOBILE, J an. 3.—A great indignation meet
ing was held here last night. Resolutions
were held censuring the administration for
the seizure of Gen. Walker by Commodore
Paulding, and demanding his restoration and
the repeal of the neutrality laws. A num
ber of prominent Democrats took part in the
meeting.
The Prauds in Kansas on the 21. st
We receive by every mail evidences of the
frauds perpetrated in Kansas at the election
on the 21st of December, when the slavery
clause alone was presented to the popular
vote, and we do not doubt that the Democratic
party in that Territory, who are to a man
against the Lecompton Constitution, have
prepared, and will lay before Congress a de
tailed statement of these frauds. Nor do we
doubt that Mr. BUCK ANAN will rocommend the
rejection of the returns of that election, in
accordance with the spirit of his annual mes
sage. We have already called attention to
the fact, that at two precincts in the county
of Johnston, viz : at Shawnee and Oxford, a
majority of 2,000 votes was thrown for the
slavery clause, and this in the face of the fact
set forth by Gov. WALKER, that the whole
county does not contain more than from three
to four hundred votes!
A Kansas correspondent of the Cincinnati
Enquirer—the Enquirer being one of the
journals in favor of the Lecorripton Constitu
tion—writing under the date of the 21st of
December, the day of the election, employs
the following language:
"Kansas has again been invaded by large
numbers of Missourians—they have voted
here and elsewhere ; the result has been, un
questionably, to give a large nominal vote to
the " Constitution with slavery." That such
has been the case none can deny. Your cor
respondent found in passing last week through
Missouri, the county papers virtually advis
ing the people of Missouri to vote, and the
people talking of doing so. In addition, I
have seen the Missourians come over in large
numbers, have heard them confess that they
voted, have heard others say that they had
been solicited to do so frequently, and that
organization had been effected with reference
to doing so."
Another correspondent, writing from Lea
venworth city, December 23, to the editor of
the Ohio Statesman, the Democratic organ of
From Forney's Press
that State, gives a still more startling
count
of the frauds perpetrated on the 21st % . as fol
lows :
LEAVENWORTJI CITY, Dec. 23 1857.
Enrroas OHIO STATESMAN: The election of
last Monday was a farce. Kansas waoagain
invaded by a large number of Missoikm me ,
and many voted many times. At th4p e i n t
I was a witness of the invasion, and the re
speak what I know. I have to thin ti me
heard only the result at this point andlici e k_
apoo. This place, where fraudulent noting
was to a degree prevented, and competint to
poll 1200 votes, but 256 were polled, of 'mid i
number 220.. were for the " Constitutionwith
Slavery." Free-State men and free;tate
and conservative pro-slavery Democrab
fused to vote. At Kickapoo ten hundrOc and
seventeen votes will be returned. This joint
is notorious for frauds, and cannot legally
poll at any time 400 votes ' - it is almost lima
imously: pro-slavery—near WesternMiss)nri ; -
which is quite a town, and it is clearly a3Cor
tabaed that many voted at least a half d)zerL.
times. I am satisfied that invasion, and
fraud have been permitted all along the.bor-:
der. That Congress will refuse to adi l it,
when the facts are presented, I doubt
The people of Kansas now worship Doulas
—they have almost all interpreted the La m ..
sas-Nebraska bill as he does, and really -el m .,
miserate Bigler, especially as it is knivn i ,:
and will be proven too, that - when in the 'Ter
ritory last summer, in public addresses and'
private conversations, he took the same grould.
At Paoli he followed Governor Walker,
sustained and
m when he took ground infaTor
of the submission of the whole instrument.
Keep up your fight. It is a righteous one—.
In haste, S.
The Voice of an original Su.chanan Man
We copy the following from the Phi'add
phia Press. Forney says the writer is one
of the purest, most consistent, and most de
voted Democrats in this State—a man who
bas always been Mr. BusnANAN's friend, sad
has occupied many important public pod.-
-tions
[Coirespondence of The Press.]
DECEMBER 24, 1857.
"When will wonders cease ?" A few shot
months since, the Democracy , of this country,
East and West, North and south, were uni
ted, as a band of brothers, in battling for th
principles oopular sovereignty, as enuncia•
ted in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, while all
the elements of opposition were arrayed
against that principle: The former maintain- ,
inc , that "the people of the Territories, as
well as the States, had a perfect right to reg
ulate their domestic institutions in their own
way," and the latter affirming that "the pow
er of Congress over the Territories was su
preme."
But now it would seem, according to the I
views of some, that to advocate the sover
eignty of the people, in an unqualified sense,
is to hazard one's position as a Democrat, .
Now I admit that, in the controversy be
tween the Democratic party and those op
posed to them in regard to popular sover
eignty, slavery was the question most promi
nently discussed, and, I suppose, for the ob
vious reason that no one questioned the
right of the people of the Territories to recru-,
late every other "domestic institution." 5.1/'
concurred in the opinion that to the people,
of each rTerritory belongs the absolute pro
vince of regulating their affairs in their own
way, except the institution of slavery ; and
Heat the
i opposition, as before stated, claimed i
was vested. n Congress, exclusively. I sub
mit then, whether it is fair now to claim that
because the slavery issue was the one kept
most prominently before the people, that,
therefore, the Lecompton Convention was not '
bound to submit any other portion of the or
ganic
law to the people of Kansas, than that
relatino. b to slavery. To my mind, the very
fact that the right to regulate every other in
stitution, was, by common consent, lodged.
with the people of each Territory, (and there-.'
fore, not discussed,) is a strong argument in;
favor of the position that the whole Constitu
tion ought to have been submitted to the peo
ple of Kansas. I do not pretend to know how'
it may have been elsewhere, but it is an his-.
torical fact, perfectly familiar to every Penn-; 1
sylvania, politician, that it was the broad;
ground assumed by the Demoera#,a4.o:ty in
1856 of allowing the people, ' 4 rye:.
right of self-government
to carry this State against the Caixist over
powering efforts of the opposition. - Had the
Democratic party, in that fearful struggle,'
when the hopes and fears of the whole coun- :
try were centred on the Keystone State, ta
ken the ground that "the true intent and
meaning" of the Kansas-Nebraska bill was,
that the people of Kansas were to be allowed
to decide for themselves whether slaves should
be brought into the State after its admission
into the Union, but that they should. have no
voice whatever in any other portion .of their
organic law, - what would. have been the re
sult ?
Who can doubt, that it would have been
overwhelming defeat. Even the overtowering
popularity of Mr. Buchanan, could not have
saved us from this calamity.. Why then, let
me ask, should those who maintain that the
people of Kansas should be permitted to pass
upon their whole Constitution, be denounced
as Republicans. Is this the way to convince
them of their error? By what process of rea
soning, can that which was recognized by
all, as genuine radical Democracy, in 1856,
and indeed, made a test of party fidelity, be
now transformed into Republicanism ? Take,
if you please, the case of Senator Douglas.—
Can it be seriously contended that he has
changed his ground ; that he does not occupy
the same position, precisely, that he did
when he first advocated that great domestic
measure—the Kansas-Nebraska bill ? And
yet because that distinguished Senator insists
that the people of Kansas should be allowed
to vote upon their whole Constitution, he is
stigmatized as a Republican. Where is the
evidence of his having changed his ground ?
Why, it is said that the Republicans in Con
gress are advocating the same doctrines, with
Judge Douglas, and therefore he is "giving
aid and comfort to the enemy." Let us test the
soundness of this logic. Suppose, for thi;
sake of illustration, that the Catholic Church
should embrace Protestantism, and advocate
this faith with all the zeal with which its
devotees have hitherto opposed it; would it
be pretended by any one, that because the
Catholics had embraced Protestantism, that
Protestants must, therefore, abandon the faith
of their choice, lest, forsooth, they should be
charged with Catholicism. Such an absurdity
must strike the common sense of every man,
and yet, for my life, I cannot see the distinc
tion between that case and the one under
consideration. In this, I have assumed, that
the ground now occupied by Senator Douglas
is the same that it was in 1854, and has been
ever since. Am I right in this assumption ?
Let us see. The difference between the Dem
ocratic party and their opponents, as I have
attempted to show, was that the former main
tained that the people of the Territories had
the "right to regulate their domestic institu
tions, slavery included, in their own way,"
while the latter insisted that on the subject
of slavery, "the power of Congress was su
preme." Now, if this was the true issue be
tween the contending parties, and if Senator
Douglas is still advocating the sovereignty of
the people, as above set forth, then it follows
that he has'not "gone over to the Republic
ans," as has been alleged, but stands to-day
where he, as well as the whole Democratic
party, stood in 1850. If there has been any
change in public sentiment, which has bro't
Judge Douglas and the Republicans to the
same platform, it is because the latter have
come over to the Democratic doctrine, and
not that Judge D. has gone over to theirs.—
If the Republicans have repented of their fol
ly, in affirming that "the power of Congress
over the Territories is supreme," and are wil
ling to unite with the Democracy in asserting
the supremacy of the people, as enunciated
in the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and re-affirmed
in the Cincinnati platform—is that a good
reason for Democrats to abandon this great
bulwark of their party faith? Surely not.—
An impression is sought to be made, in cer
tain quarters, that those who oppose the ad
mission of Kansas with the Lecompton Con
stitution place themselves in a position of
antagonism to the President of the United
States. Ido not so understand it.
Had that pure and eminent statesman
made a positive recommendation, that Kan
sas should be admitted with the Lecompton
Constitution, without that instrument having
first been submitted for popular approval, it
would have had great weight with me. Such
is my abiding confidence in the wisdom, in
tegrity and patriotism of that great and good
man, that I might well have doubted the cor
rectness of my own opinions, had I found
them to be in antagonism with his. But if I
have rightly interpreted the President's mes
sage, to go no farther back, he makes no spe
cific recommendation in regard to what ac- ,
tion Congress should take in the premises.—
No one who will carefully read that able
State paper, can fail to perceive that the
President would have greatly preferred that
the whole Constitution of Kansas had been
submitted to the people for their adoption or
rejection. What else can be inferred from
his language, when he says, in speaking on
this subject, "I trust, however, that the ex
ample set by the last Congress, requiring
that the Constitution of Minnesota" should
be subject to the approval and ratification of
the people of the proposed State, "may be
followed on future occasions."
"I took it for granted that the Convention
of Kansas would act in accordance with this
example, founded, as it is, on correct princi
ples, and hence my instructions to Gov. •
Walker, in favor of submitting the Constitu
tion to the people, were expressed in general
. and unqualified terms." Who can doubt,
from this emphatic language, that the Presi
dent believed that the whole Constitution
ought to have been submitted to the people
of Kansas? Could words have made this "true
intent and meaning" mole clear? It is true,
as the President says in a subsequent part of
his message, "In the Kansas-Nebraska bill,
however, this requirement, as applicable to
the whole Constitution, had not been insert- `s.
ed, and the Convention were not bound, by
its terms, to submit any other portion of the
instrument to an election, except that which
irelates to the "domestic institution" of slay- •
ery. But does it follow, that because "the
Convention were net bound by the terms of
the organic act to submit anything except
that which relates to slavery to an election,"
that, therefore, they were excusable for hav
ing failed to fulfil the just expectations of the
country, and especially of the Democratic
Tarty, in this respect ? Certainly not. Nor
lo 1 so understand the President. In pre
renting this highly embarrassing question to
Congress, the President, with caracteristic
impartiality and ability, has discussed the
whole subject in all its aspects, and has very
iroperly left himself in that attitude which
will enable him to co-operate with Congress
in whatever Constitutional mode they may
deem most conducive to the peace and qu.
f the country, and the integrity of the Dem
'Leraticparty. Should they pass a bill for the
I.idnxission,29T ,Kansas, with the Lecompton
ifice'' President would doubtless
tpprove,lW,afid if, on the other hand, after
,coking - tiver the whole ground, after
'tad full discussion, Congress should deer)
'lest to pass an "enabling act," and send the
Thole subject back to the people of Kansas,
here is as little doubt that such a bill would
:cceive the sanction of the President. In ap
-roaching the subject in Congress, then, let
ire same spirit of conciliation characterize
'tie debates that is manifest in the message ;
'lt crimination and recrimination, be avoided
a: a deadly enemy to the unity of the Demo
eatia party; let no one assume that he is in
filible, but let each conclude that every
oiler has an equal right with himself to in
tepret the "true intent and meaning" of the
Knaas-Nebraska bill. Let this be done, both
i n Ssongress and through the press, and then,
abve all, let every patriot unite in honorable
aid earnest supplication that the great ruler
o tnations, as well as men, may graciously
T achsafe to overrule the actions of us all
,(tie ruler and the ruled) as that this moment
ois question may be speedily put at rest, no
rare ,to disturb the peace and. harmony of
, oi r beloved country. If I thought that it
wald avail anything towards bringing about
t consummation so devoutly to b wished,"
night state that so far as this locality is
o thaertted, there is entire unanimity on one
m ot, and that is, that the whole Constitution
of Kansas ought to have been submitted- to
th people. All believe that this was, at least,
,i, n9 ti e d, if not expressed, in the organic act.
Ho' far they might be disposed to surrender
the principle to expediency, or (if you choose)
ne.essity, may depend, somewhat, on future
deielopments. I presume there will be a gen
eYa on the part of the Demo
ems, in whatever Congress may do in the
pxo uses. That a love of truth, justice, and
p o riotism may be the controling element, in
a uthat may be said and written on this sub
ic, is the sincere desire of
YOUR FAITIIEUL FRIEND.
631,,„0ne of the plans for building railroads
iri';iirisconsin, has been to induce the farmers
a t eg the route of a road to be built, to mort- ,
g e e their farms to the railroad company,
a t i l then the company sale the mortgag,es
tora ise money, guaranteeing to pay the zn
t e ot and the amount of the mortgage whe3'
d u .. It is said that from 2,000 to 3,00
fascia are thus mortgaged to railroads i
wsconsin, that the railroads cannot pay, ar
to release their farms will strip uhie:tentl
of hem of the hard- earnings of mady Yea-