IjJLUIt PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA:
fnornino, ftpril 15, 1858.
KANSAS —THE LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION.
SPEECH
OF
10X. (J. A. GROW ,
In the House of Representatives,
MARCH 25, 1858.
} [R GROW said :
n v the third section of the fourth article of
'Constitution, it is provided that " new
•ps may be admitted by the Congress into
Union."' Under that clause eighteen
'■•fs have been added to the Union siuceits
Ration : thirteen with and five without an
t'of Congress authorizing the formation of
sate government. But in every applica
whether with or without an enabling act,
• first and most important question for the
-mination of Congress is, whether the con
htion presented embodies in its essential
bres the will of the people to be affected
t If it does not, then it should be reject- i
| no matter what the authority or mode of
formation. The people of a Territory have
leright, like any other portion of the Ameri
jo people, under the first clause of the amend
,r,!sto the Constitution, to petition the go
rmment at all times, and it is iu the discre
te power of Congress to grant their pray
i - not. The application of a people for ad-
U)n as a State is, in all cases, in the nature
ipetition. An enabling act is not, there
re absolutely necessary for the people of a
-tory before they can proceed to form a
lotion and State government, in order
apply for admission into the Union. Yet
. territorial government is established by
it cannot be superseded by any oth
; vertimeii6 without the assent of Congress.
• not, however, material whether that as
t: be given before or after the action ot the
be of the Territory.
; .ike this occasion, in passing, to express
r ligations to my colleague, [Mr. Phii,
! for the notice and importance which he
I.i bed to my views on this point, expressed
I :ie in the last Congress. As he quoted
n with approval, I am rejoiced to know
f be and iiis political associates still ad
j: to one doctrine of the Jackson democra
i mil 1 hope that they may yet return to
I? principles and teachings of Jefferson and
lefathers of American democracy, from which
Itiiin the last few years, they have so widely
riyed.
The great question which presents itself in
D case is, does the constitution meet the
i: of the people who are to be affected by
|! That has been the first and the control
b question in the action of Congress on eve-
[ application for a new State in the history
hie government. In the case of Michigan,
h came here against the forms prescribed
r her action ; yet Congress took the will of
people, and set aside all formalities,
h the case upon which we are now called .
h't, we have only the form of a constitu
h presented by one man, and the argument
v President in its favor; while the peo- j
f Kansas, who are to be affected by it, !
•est against admission into the Union un-,
H: in every form by which they can make
pr will known.
I The entire history of the Lecompton consti- i
rw proves that a large majority of the peo-.
I Kansas are opposed to it. The evidence
i'-is fact, in the possession of the House, is |
remonstrance of its citizens laid upon your ,
the protest of the State officers elected
• r this constitution, also of the delegate ou
r floor; the resolutions of the legislative as- !
pbly, and the vote of the people on the 4th
•l&nnary. In all the reliable information i
" the Territory there is but one opinion ex- j
""'-d af to the opposition of the people to ,
■ constitution. Governor Walker, in his
'• er to General Cass, says :
1 -Ute it as a fact, hosed on a long and intimate asso
■n with the people of Kansas, that an overwhelming
■ r ' .' iif that people are opposed to that, instrument;
! _- ay letters state that but one out of twenty of the
Kansas sustain it." * * * * "Indeed, dis
■' as we may to ourselves under the influence of the
v ' fti'itement, the facts will demonstrate that any
|Vr ' '-v. Congress to force this constitution upon the j
, " f Kansas will be an effort to substitute the will
' s-mall minority tor that of an overwhelming majori
-1 of Kansas.''
'"vernor Stanton corroborates this state
and adds :
• an only be maintained by the arms of the federal
r'T'Tr"' forcing the constitution upon the people
' . r declared will, and against every principle of
anUm, democracy, right, and justice.
T'f State officers elected on the 4th of
jfiirv l as t, under this constitution, protest
' following language :
' the officers elected tinder said constitution, do
'"•pcrtfuiiy an( j earnestly pray your (honorable bo
. Mto admit Kansas into the Union under said con
, -'/".and thus force upon au unwilling people an 0r
...a * a cain-t their express will, and in violation of
• P ri "cipli' of popular government."
a ' s o have the resolutions of the legisla
- Assembly of the Territory, passed ou the
1 °f January, declaring
. !; lat people of Kansas being opposed to said enn
„ .'M ongress has no rightful power under it to ad-
Territory into the Union as a State, and we, the
: ''Stives of said people, do hereby, in their uame,
iv, . behalf, solemnly protest against such ad
-ofi the Inst day of its session the legis-
passed, uuanimously, the following re
fi.jdn hereby, for the/asf time, solemnly protest
, . Joe admission of Kansas into tbe Union under the
hiifiel const 'tution ; that we hurl back, with scorn,
bt l,„ e " ar ge contained in the message of the Presi
■" ■ o "' n P*nying the Lecompton constitution, to the
L- r A the freemen of Kansas are a lawless people ;
ttojH '!t K,n the justice of our cause, we do hereby
K,>i' v 'he people we represent, solemnly pledge
h ea 'h other, to our friends in Congress and in
1 th & ! ir livesour Untunes, and our sacred honors,
n ( ort .. T '-ecompton constitution and government by
U Jr j.,,, arras > necessary ; that, in this periloas hour
we appeal to the civilized world for the
n ev rv 'lv! ur llos >tirn, and call upon the friends of free
iii.rc nPre to array themselves against the last aot
in t he Kangafc driuna ." "*
i j have protested in every form
'• 'o the organism of our government.—
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
And last of all they protested at the ballot
box, with orer ten thousand voices. On the
4th of January last, a vote was ordered to be
taken for and against this constitution by the
legislature, w'iiich is recognized as valid by all
parties in the Territory, and by the President,
in declaring to Governor Denver that the peo
ple muFt be protected in voting for or against
the constitution on that day. Almost eleven
thousand voters protested then against that
constitution, as not embodying their will. On
the 21st of December, the vote was only six
thousand five hundred and twenty-six, half of
which has been proven fraudulent by the in
vestigating committee ordered by the legisla
ture ; so that not more than three thousand
legal votes were cast on the proposition then
submitted, leaving a majority of from seven
to eight thousand against this constitution.—
Yet we are asked to it into the organic
law of the people, and to institute under it a
State government of officers elected by fraud.
We are asked to cast aside the vote of the
people on the 4th ot January, because they ;
did not vote at the preceding elections.
That election, it is said, was illegal, though
it is not denied that it expressed the popular
will ; but that the people could not vote on
their constitution at any other election than
the one fixed by the delegates to the conven
tion. It was the same legislative power that
fixed the election of the 4th of January that
called the convention with the exception that
the legislature that fixed the election derived
its power from the people, while the one that
called the convention was a usurpation. Put
treating them both as valid, the last one had
as much power as the first, and was the legis
lative power of the Territory, and must con
tinue to be till it is superseded by some gov
ernment, with the consent of Congress. Until
that time it has full legislative power to enact,
repeal, or modify any existing laws of the Ter
ritory ; and if the Lecompton convention pre
vents that, then, in the language of the Presi- j
dent, it would be rebellion ; for the territorial
government would be superseded without the
consent of Congress. Why does he not send
his army to put down this constitution and its
supporters, as he did to put down the Topeka
party on the 4th of July, 1856 ? If the terri
torial legislature does not possess the legisla
tive power of the Territory, then the people
have parted with their sovereignty, irrevoca
bly, for four months, or until the action of
Congress upon this constitution. If so, they
could as well part with it forever, and thus ,
your reason would subvert all the maxims or
our system of government. The time and
mode of voting on the 4th of January was es
tablished by the legislative authority of the
Territory, an authority as valid and as legal
as was the same authority in calling the con
vention.
It is argued that though this constitution
does not embody the will of the people, yet i
they must submit to it because they did not,
vote before its formation, though they did af-,
terwards. It is a new and a strange doctrine
that the people of this country, who are the ;
depositaries of the sovereignty of the govern
ment, huve not the right to vote upon the ,
same subject to-morrow because they refuse to .
go to the polls to day. It is one of the rights j
of American citizens to absent themselves from
elections if they choose ; and I grant you that:
when all have the privilege of voting, those
who do not vote must submit to the action of
those who do. But when the majority do vote,
where is the reason for turning a deaf ear to i
their voiee ? If the people withhold their ;
votes at a primary election, does that deprive
them of the right to vote upon the great qnes-;
tion of what shall be their fundamental law ? j
They did vote on the 4th of January ; and
why disregard the will of the people fully ex
pressed at the ballot-box ? This is not a ques
tion of whether the minority shall control the
State because the minority have not voted ;
for in this case they went to the polls and did
vote. But yon say they shall not vote to-day,
because they refused to vote yesterday. That |
is a matter which does not concern jou. The
people themselves are the ones to decide under
what circumstances they will vote, or withhold
their votes. They voted at the first election
held in that Territory, at which a fair expres
sion of the public will could be given.
At the election for the call of a convention,
the test oaths were upon the statute-books of;
Kansas, which would disfranchise all who would
not submit to degradation ; all the tests and
laws which were declared by General Cass, in
the Senate, to be a " disgrace to the age and
the country." Senator Bayard said they were
" shocking to the moral sense and Senator
Wellcr that they were " infamous in their
character," " in violation of the Constitution,"
and " revolting to every feeling of humanity."
Mr. Clayton denounced them as " unjust, ini
quitous, oppressive and infamous laws."
These test laws were thus denounced upon
the floor of the Senate of the United States
by men who could not be charged with fauati
cisrn. No one, then, could vote on the call for
the convention who was not ready to submit
to those test oaths ; and but 2,670 votes were
polled for the convention, though the dele
gate to Congress, at the same election, receiv
ed 4,276. These test oaths were repealed,
it is true, before the election of delegates ; but
in the election of delegates half of the counties
were disfranchised, and that, too, by no fault
of theirs. Fifteen of the counties were entirely
disfranchised, and four others partially. Gov
ernor Walker, in his letter to General Cass
of the 15th December, 1857, says :
" In nineteen of these counties there was no census,
and therefore there could be no such apportionment there
of delegates, based upon such census. And in fifteen of
these counties there was no registry of voters. These fif
teen counties, including many of the oldest organized
counties of the Territory, were entirely disfranchised, and
did not give and (by no fault of their own) could not give
a solitary vote for delegates to the convention." * *
" In fifteen counties out of thirty-four, there was no
registry, and not a solitary vote was given or could be
given for delegates to the convention in any of these coun
ties.
Governor Stanton, in corroboration of this
statement, in his address to the pcaple of the
United States, says :
" The registration required by lsw had been imperfect
in all the counties, and nad l>een wholly omitted in one
half of them ; nor could the people of these disfranchis-
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
Ed counties in any adjacent county, as has been falsely
suggested."
But it has been urged by the advocates of
Lecompton that the disfranchisement of these
coun ties was the fault of the voters themselves
in not being registered ; that after the census
was taken, an opportunity was given for cor
recting the list. But how correct a list were
there is none ? and the voters who were dis
franchised had no opportunity to put them
selves upon the list, for no registry was made,
and no correction could be made until there
was a registry.
Mr. Ci.emens. I wish to ask the gentleman
if the law does not require that the list shall
I be posted up in a conspicuous place in each
county, in order to give the people the right
and power before the proper authorities to have
their names inserted ? And in addition to
that, did not, in four of these counties, your
party interpose every obstacle against takiug
the census, and interfere with the officers
whose duty it was to take the census ?
Mr. Grow. Can you correct a list until it
is made ? The law requires a copy of the
lists to be posted, then they could be corrected.
I will read the law which required the census
and registration, passed 19th February, 1857,
which provides that a census shall be taken by
the sheriffs of the several counties : and in case
there shall be no sheriff, then by the probate
judge of the courts ; and in case of vacancy
in the office of both sheriff and probate judge,
the governor to appoint some competent resi
dent of said county. The duty of the census
taker is thus prescribed by the third section of
this law :
" It shall he the duty of the sheriff, probate judge, or
person appointed by the governor as herein provided, in
each county or election district, on or before the loth day
ol April next, to tile iu the office of the probate judge for
such county or election district a full and complete, lint of
all the qualified voters resident in his said county or elec
tion district on the Ist day of April, 1K57, which list
shall exhibit, in a fair and legible hand, the names of all
such legal voters."
And in the fifth section it is provided that
" Said probate judge shall remain in session each day,
Sundays excepted, from the time of receiving said re
turns, until the first day of May next, at such place as
shall lie most convenient to the inhabitants of the county
or election district: and proceed to the inspection of said
returns, and hear, correct, and finally determine, accord
ing to the facts, without unreasonable delay,all questions
concerning the umissiim of any person from said returns,
or the improper insertion of any names on said returns,
and other questions affecting the integrity or fidelity of
said returns ; and for this purpose shall have power to
administer oaths and examine witnesses*, and compel
their attendance iu such manner as the judge may deem
necessary."
Now,unless a return was made by the census
taker to the probate judge, there would he no
list to correct, and of course, there was no way
for the voter to be registered, and if not reg
istered he could not vote. Nineteen of these
counties which were disfranchised gave a vote
on the 4th of January, as certified to by Gen.
Denver, of one thousand six hundred and
twenty-four against this constitution.
Mr. Ci.emhxs. As the gentleman from Penn
sylvania is making a fair argument, I desire to
ask another question. I put it to the gentle
man from Pennsylvania whether, every coun
ty in which a vote was not taken, or in which
a registry was not made, the obstacles against
taking a vote and making a registry did not
come exclusively from the free State party of
Kansas ?
Mr. Grow. Xo, sir, not to my knoweledge;
and in fifteen of these counties which were to
tally disfranchised tiie people of these counties
were no way in fault for no census being tak
en by the officers required by law to do it ;
and if there was none taken, then they could
not vote, as I have shown. The people of some
of them, Andrson county in particular, peti
tioned the governor, stating that no census
had been taken, and asking what they should
do. He answered that he had no power to reme
dy the omission, but advised them to go on
and elect delegates, and that the convention
would undoubtedly receive them. In Ander
son they did elect delegates, but the conven
tion did not receive them.
Under the pretended submission the 21st of
December, there was 110 opportunity for an
expression of opinion on the constitution ; for
nothing could be voted 011 suve the future im
portation of slaves, and that only by swearing
to support the constitution itself, if adopted.
Even if they did that, they could only vote ou
the slavery cause that permitted future trans
portation of slaves, with 110 power whatevtr
to vote slavery out. For if everybody voted
against what was called the " slavery clause,"
there still remains the clause against which
nobody was allowed to vote, viz : " that the
rights of property in holding slaves, now in this
Territory, shall in no manner be interfered
with. " This was not submitted ; and to make
it perpetual, another clause, not submitted pro
vides that by no future " revising, altering, or
amending of the constitution" shall " altera
tion be made to affect the rght of property iu
the ownership of slaves."
But I pass on, having shown conclusively
from the record that the people Kansas never
had, until the 4th of January last, a fair op
portunity to be beard upon the formation of
this constitution, either in calling the conven
tion, or in the election of delegates. The only
time they could vote fairly was on the 4th of
January, and yet gentlemen upon this floor in
sist that because they did not vote before, their
votes then are of no consequence.
Why did they not vote before ? First, on
account of the test oaths at the time the ques
tion of the convention was voted on. Xext,
when the delegates to that convention were
elected, more than half of the counties were
eutirely disfranchised ; and there were a large
number of the free State party in the other
counties who could not vote. Yet it is asked
why, under this state of things, they did not
go to the polls and vote. These facts would
be a sufficient reason of themselves for their
abstaining from voting ; but in addition they
were assured that they would have an oppor
tunity to vote ou the constitution itself. They
had a right to expect it by every considera
tion of fairness and justice, whether they voted
for delegates or not. In the State which I
have the honor, in part to represent, should
the question be submitted whether a constitu
tional convention should be called or not, I
may stay from the polls when that question is
submitted ; but when the constitution is fram
ed, aud I desire to vote on it, where is the
justice under our system of government of ex
cluding me from voting npon it ? Gentlemen
have quoted precedents to show that it is not
necessary to have a vote on the constitution.
We have been told that the constitutions of
New Jersey and other States were never sub
mitted ; and that, therefore, there is uo need
of submitbug a constitution to the vote of any
people.
The gentleman from Rhode Island on my
left, [Mr. Braytox,] represents a State, which
for nearly two centuries, had a charter from
Charles the Secoud as its constitution, and it
never was voted on by the people, and for over
three-quarters of a century after the Declara
tion of Independence it coutiuued to be the or
ganic law of Rhode Island ; and the argument
is, that that being so, there is no need of the
people of Kansas voting on their constitution.
New Jersey never voted on her constitution ;
therefore, say these precedent finders, why
should the people of Kansas be allowed to vote
on theirs ? If each of the States of the Union !
had to-day a constitution that was never sub
mitted to a vote of the people, but was acqui
esced in, framed by the delegates, would that
be any reason why, when there are two great
parties in a State, differing on fundamental
principles, and as to their proposed organic
law, a majority of the people ought to be de
prived of the chance of voting upon it ? We j
often pass laws here by one vote, or no vote I
at all,because there is no difference of sentiment :
on it, but is that any reason why we should ,
not have a chance to vote when we do differ ?
When there is a general acquiescence by a peo
ple in a constitution, then it is of uo conse
quence whether it be submitted or not ; but
when a portion of the people demand that it
shall be submitted, are they to We told that
they are not to exercise the right of votinir on !
it, because some other people did not wish to j
vote on theirs ?
There is no precedent for a constitution being .
put in force, in this country anywhere, without t
a submission to a vote of the people, if any
considerable portion of them desired it, or if
there was any great diversity of sentitueut as
to its essential provisions. That in such a
ease it is not necessary to submit the constitu- j
tion to a vote, is a doctrine asserted for the
first time in our history on this constitution.
What is the difference in a law being pass
ed for a people by a despot, or by nominal re
presentatives, whose acts are beyond the su
pervision of the constituency ?
If such a doctrine is to be established in the I
politics of this country, we may well ask, are
we upon the banks of the Danube and Bospho
rus, or on soil drenched by martyr blood in its
consecration to freedom ? The disregard of the
people, in the refusal to submit their organic
law for their approval, if they desire it, is to j
me, a despotism equally odious with that of
Austria, or any other tyranny.
The people of Kansas had a right to expect
that the constitution of the Lecompton conven
tion would be submitted for approval or rejec
tion, not only by every consideration of justice
and the universally recognized maxims of free
government, but by the pledges of all who
were supposed to have any control over the
matter.
How could the popular will be so well as
certained as by an election ? In no other way
arc you sure of embodying it, for tho reason
which the President, in his annual message,
states why a constitution should be submitted :
"The election of delegates to a convention must neces
sarily take place in separate districts. From this cause
it may readily happen, as has often been the oase, that a
majority of the people of a State or Territory are on one
side of a question, whilst a majority >f the" representa
tives from the several districts into which it is divided
may he upon the other side. This arises from the fact
that in s<,uio districts delegates may he elected hy small
majorities, whilst in others those of different sentiments
may receive majorities sufficiently great.not only to over
come the votes given for the former, but to leave a large
majority of Hie whole people in direct opposition to a
majority of the delegates. Besides, our history proves
that influences may lie brought to bear on tbe represen
tative sufficiently powerful to induce hiiu to disregard
the will of his constituents."
The Washington Union of 7th of Ju1y,1857,
held the same views as to the duty and pro
priety of the constitution of a people being
submitted to a vote if desired :
" Under these circumstances, there can be no such
thing as ascertaining clearly and without doubt,the will
of the people iu any way, except hy their own direct ex
pression of it at the polls, A constitution riot subjected
to that test, no matter what it contains, will never be ac
knowledged by its oppouents to be anything but a
fraud." * *
| "We do most devoutly believe that. trilcss the consti
. til tion of Kansas lie submitted to a direct vote of tbe peo
' pie. the unhappy controversy which has heretofore raged
in that Territory, will be prolonged for an indefinite time
to come."
Governor Walker, everywhere in Kansas,
i pledged his honor, by the approval, as he told
the people, of the President and his Cabinet,
that the constitution should be submitted. In
his inaugural to the people of Kansas, after
quoting his instructions from the President,
he says :
" I repeat then, as my clear conviction, that unless tbe
convention submit the constitution to a direct vote of all
the actual resident settlers of Kansas, and the election Lie
fairly and justly conducted, the constitution will be and
ought to be rejected by Congress."
Without stopping for further reference to
his inaugural, in which he is most emphatic on
! this point, I read from a speech of his deliver
jed at Topeka, on the Bth of June, 1857, and
| published in the Topeka Statesman of the 9th :
" At the next election in October, when you elect the
: territorial legislatnre, you can repeal these laws ; and
{ yon can, also, by a majority of your own votes adaptor
! reject the constitution presented for your consideration
I next fall. Can yon not peaeeabl3* decide this question iu
I the mode pointed out by the act of Congress, if yon, as
I you can and will, have a full opportunity of recording
j your vote ? [A voice. " How are we to get it You
icdl get it by the convention submitting the constitution to
the vote of the whole peojile. [A voice. " Who is to elect
i the convention ? Tnat is a grand question."] Gentle
men, it is a comparatively small point by whom the con
; stitution is submitted. Uon't let ns run away after shad
ows. The f. reat substantial point ie this : IVill the whole
1 people of Kansas next fall, by a fair election, impartially
; and fairly conducted by impartial judges, have an oppor
tunity to decide, for themselves what shall be their form of
fwernment, and what shall be their social institutions I
say they will; but Igo a step further. [ A voice " Have
! you the jiower ?"] If I have .rot the power to bring it
! about, if the convention will not do it, I will join you in
' lawtul opposition to their proceedings. {Cries of "Good!"
."Good! We hold you to your progjise. Nothing can
1 be asked fairer than that."]
These promises were given in the most au
thoritative forms; first, on the geueral doc
trine of free Governments, that the people
shall have an opportunity to pass on their or
gariic law ; and next they had the posi
tive pledges of the men who had authority to
give those pledges. And yet, Judas-like, they
were betrayed by a kiss. Governor Walker,
in his letter to General Cass, of December 15,
1857, says :
" In truth. I had to choose between that arreting in
siii rection, at whatever cost of American blood, by the fed
eral army, or to prevent the terrible catastrophe, as I
did, by my pledges to the people of tbe exertion ot all my
power to obtain a fair election, and the submission of the
Constitution to the vote of the people for ratification or re
jection * * * * " Not a drop of blood has been shed
by the federal troops in Kansas during my Administra
tion. But insurrection and civil war extending, 1 fear,
throughout the country, were alone prevented by the
course pursued by me ou those occasions ; and the whole
people, abandoning revolutionary violence, were induced
by me to go for the first time into a general and peace
ful election."
Here, Mr. Chairman, wore these rebels—
these men whom the President arraigns before
the country as opposed to all law and order,
and all forms of civil government; who, when
your civil officer proclaimed to them that they
| shall have a fair chance to vote, and that they
would not be cheated out of their rights by
fraud and violence, as they had before in the
whole history of Kansas, said that they asked
nothing fairer than that; and they went to
the polls holding your executive officer to the
his word ; which, had he been permitted by
the President to keep, there would have been
now no disturbance in Kansas.
The government told them that they would
have the privilege of going to the polls and
voting for or against the constitution ; yet that
right was denied them ; and you insist now
on consummating the wrong.
These men whom the President has ar
raigned as traitors and rebels, anil therefore
not to have the rights of freemen, were quiet
ed by the simple declaration that they should j
have justice. All opposition eases then, and ,
hey follow the course marked out by Gov. j
Walker to pacify Kansas. You could have
'pacified Kansas in live minutes, at any time
within the last four years, by securing to her*
people a ballot-box free from fraud and vio- !
leuce. It was all they asked. I will read
yon from the despatches that came to the
President, to show that he falsifies the truth '
of history when he charges these men with re- i
belliou and treason. They have done what
American freemen, true to the blood that runs
in their veins, and true to the great heritage ;
which they received from their ancestors, |
should do. They would never submit to a
usurpation of their political rigiits. They be- i
lieve in the motto of Thomas Jefferson, that
" resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." j
The President cannot find on record an in- j
stance of the people of Kansas ever resisting
the laws of the United States. They simply i
refused to support the territorial organization, i
They said, " we will have nothing to do with
it ; you may go on and administer it as you
please ; we pay no attention to it, but offer no
forcible resistance."
Governor Shannon, in his dispatch to the
President of April 11, 1856. speaks of the To
peka legislature, says :
" The legislative action ot this body mainly pros- |
pectire in its character, and looks forward to the nil mis- !
siu of Kansas into the Union as a State, or to Jiilure j
legislation before their enactments are to be enforced as '
law."
Governor Geary, in his farewell to tho peo- !
pie of Kansas, bears the following testimony
as to the character of his people :
" The great body of the actual citizens are conserva- i
tive, law-abiding and peace-loving men, disposed r..tlier ;
to make sacrifices for conciliation and consequent peace, 1
than to insist tor their entire rights, should the general
good thereby be caused to suffer."
What was the character of the government
in Kansas that the President says would have
been long since overturned, if he had not main
tained it with the army of the United States ?
Gov. Geary, in his despatch to Mr. Marey,
Septembers, 1856, (Executive Documents,
third session thirty-fourth Congress, volume I,
part 1, page 88,) says :
" I find that I have not simjdy to contend against bands
of armed ruffians and brigands, whose sole aim and end
is assassination and robbcrv. infatuated adherents and
advocates of confiicting political sentiments and local in
stitutions .and evil disposed persons, a tu.ited I y i ile- ire to
obtain elevated positions, but worst of all, against the
influence of men who have been placed in authority, and
have employed ull the destructive agents around them
to promote their own personal interests at the sacrifice of
every just, honorable, and lawful consideration. I have
barely time to give yon a brief statement of faets as I find
I them. The town of Leavenworth is now in the hands of
armed men who having lieen enrolled as militia, perpetrate
outrages of the most atrocious character, under sha-iou- of
authority from the territorial government. Within a few
days these men have robbed and driven from their houses
unoffending citizens ; have tired upon and killed others
in their own dwellings, and stolen horses and property
nnder the pretence of employing them in the public ser
vice. Tbey have seized persons who had committed tio
offense, and after stripping them of all their valuables,
placed them on steamers, and sent them out o!' the Ter
tory."
"In isolated or country places no man's life is safe.— i
The roads are tilled with armed robln rs, and murders, for
mere plunder, are of a daily occurrence. Almost every
farm-house is deserted, and no traveller has the termerity
to venture upon the highway without an escort."
Same document, page 72, Lieutenant Mcin
tosh, of the first cavalry, writes Woodseu,
acting govcruor at the time, that—
•' It is a notorious fact that Mime of the band who orig
inally came into this Territory with Colonel Ituford have
committed gross outrages, and I can say with certainty
that there are still small parties of his men now in the
Territory acting in the most lawless manner." * *
* * " Great complaints are constantly made to
me of the stoppage of wagons and men on the road, and
in a great many instances robberies have been commit
ted : ?
These men arc some of the peaceable emi
grants that went from the South, each present
ed by a clergyman of the Palmetto State with a
bible instead of a Sharpe's rifle.
Same document, page 106, Governor Geary,
in a despatch to Mr. Marcy, September 16,
1856, says :
" The whu'c country was evidently i.nfested with armed
bands of marauders wno set all law at defiance, and tra
veiled from place to place, assailing villages, sacking and
burning houses, destroying crops, maltreating womcu and
children, driving off and stealing cattle and horses, and
murdering harmless men in their own dwellings and on
the public highways." * * * * " Whilst
engaged in making preparation for tho foregoing expedi
tion, several messengers reached me from Lawrence, an
nouncing that a powertul army was marching upon that
• place, it being the muin body of the militia called into
service by the proclamation of Secretary tfoodsem, when
acting governor." * * * * "Twenty-wv
en hundred men, under command of Generals Hcrsheil,
Reid, Atchinson. Richardson. Stringfellow, Ac,., were en
camped on the Wsrkarue*. about fonr miles from Law
rence, esgersnd determined to exterminate that place an!
I all its inhabitaaUi."
VOI,. XVIII. —:xo. 45.
1 Governor Geary, in his message to the legis
lature*, says :
" There i* not a nimble officer in the Territory amenable
to the people or to the jjovernOr : all having been ap
pointed by the legislature and holding their offleen until
IH/17. Thi-t system of depriving the people of the just
exercise ofTight-. raunot l>e too strongly condemned.
Governor Geary, in liis farewell to the peo
ple of Kansas, gives the following picture of
its condition :
" 1 reached Kansas and'entered upon the discharge of
my official duties in the most gloomy hour of her history.
Desolation am) ruin reigned ou every h.ad. Homes and
firesides were deserted. The smoke ot burning dwellings
darkened the atmosphere. Women and children, driven
from their habitations, wandered over the prairies and
through the woodlands, or sought refuge and protection
among the Indiau tribes."
While such was the condition of Kansas,
and these wrongs were perpetrated by the ac
quiescence, if not instigation, of the adminis
tration, its supporters in Pennsylvania called
upon the voters in the following language. I
read from a handbill for a democratic meeting,
| at Mifllinburg, Sep. 27, lSoti :
" Democrats! Whigs I Republicans ! turn out and
learn the fact that it is the Democratic party that is la
boring tor freedom lor Kansas, the assertions of opposi
orators to the contrary notwithstrudiug."
Four Governors have returned from the
Territory, all telling the same story to the
American people ; that is, that the lights of
the people of Kansas have 1 eon trampled in the
dust-, the ballot-box violated, their houses
burned, their presses destroyed, their public
buildings battered down by United States
cannon under the direction of United States
officers ; yet in the face of the unanimous
voice of these men who have been upon the
ground, seen witlj there own eyes, and heard
vv th there ow.i ears, the President and his td le
rerents iusist that they know best what is the
condition of Kausas and the will of its peo
ple.
Why should this great fraud upon the rights
of a people be cousnmraated ? What reason
can tliero be, what overshadowing necessity
exists, for so great a violation of the principles
of free government. The only reason urged
by its advocates for sustaining so glaring frauds
upon popular rights is, that it will give |>eace
to Kansas, and end the agitations of
the country.
Peace is the siren song that has ever pro
ceeded the perpetration of every new ontrago
upon the sentiments of the north, and tho
rights and interests of free labor. On the 4th
of March, 1853, from the steps of yonder por
tico, the President congratulated the country
that " the agitation of the slavery question
was at rest/' The troubled Waters of past
political dissensions had subsided, and not a
ripple disturbed the surface. The ark of our
covenant reposed on dry ground, and the dove
had found a resting place. Every foot of ter
ritory then owned by the federal government
was fixed in its character of slave or free, by
by some law which Mr. Webster, in his delu
sion. thought to be irrepealable. And under
the then existing judicial decisions nnd consti
tutional constructions it was all fixed for free
dom. No note of discord jarred on the uni
versal harmony The patriot was congratulat
ing himself that the era of good feeling and
brotherhood had at Inst dawned upon his coun
try. What disturbed this unruffled calm, and
again broke up the fountains of the deep ?
On the 30th of May, 1854, five hundred
thousand square miles of this territory, once
consecrated to freedom forever by solemn act
of our fathers, was opened to the spread of the
institutions of human bondage. The passage
of the bill at the dead hour of the night, was
heralded from this Capitol by the boom of can
non, since echoed from the plains of Kansas
in the sighs of its widows and orphans, and
the wail of its fhartyrs to freedom. In order
to drown these cries, and, if possible, to stifle
the awakened sense of justice, and the excited
sympathies of the humane heart, we are now
called upon to perj>etrate still another great
outrage upon the rights of this people.
Peace among a brave people is not the fruit
of injustice, nor does agitation cense by the
perpetration of wrong. For a third of a cen
tury the advocates of slavery, while exercising
unrestricted speech in its defence, have strug
gled to prevent all discussion against it. In
the south penal statutes, mob law, and brute
force ; in the north by dispersing assemblages
of peaceable citizens, pelting their lecturers,
burning their halls, and destroying their pres
ses. In this forum of the people, by finality
resolves, on all laws for the benefit of slavery,
not, however, to effect those in behalf of free
dom, and by attempts to stifle the great con
stitutional right of the people at all times to
pet tion their government. Yet, despite threat*,
mob law, and finality resolves, the discussion
goes on, and will continue to, so long as right
and wrong, justice anil injust, humanity and
inhumanity, shall struggle for supremacy in the
affairs of men.
The President makes the same excuse for
his treatment of Kansas that tyrants ever em
ploy in justification of their cruelty and wrong.
That is, that the injured and oppressed, be
cause they will m t kiss the hand that smites,
are rebels and traitors ; and the wrong-doer,
while perverting the truth and suppressing the
facts of history, strives, with hard words, to
heap obloquy and reproach u|oii the character
and motives of men in every way the equal, if
not the superior, of the traducer.
All the wrongs of Kansas are sustained by
the administration, because tln v were perpctr&t
ed andcr the forms of law. Justice and right
seem to lie of less consequence than forms and
precedents. The crudest tyranny on the face
of ilie earth rests on forms of law where it
exists.
The bloodiest pages in the draina of man's
existence have been written under the color of
law, and too often in the name of justice and
liberty. The Jew crucified the Saviour be
cause he was a fanatic, and stirred up dissen
sions among the people. The luw-and-order
conservatism of the middle ages ostracised
Luther as a heretic because, while exposing the
corruptions of the church and the reigning dyu
astises he proclaimed to the people the great
truths first taught on the sea shore, and along
the hillsides of Judea. The Gruth of the for
ert cantons of Switzerland, planning at th%
I [SEE rocF.rn PACE.]