Bradford reporter. (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, April 15, 1858, Image 1
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 territorial government is established by it cannot be superseded by any oth ; vertimeii6 without the assent of Congress.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.]