The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-06-28


Constitutions NJ the Unt-d Sintes
Could greater freedom ba riveh tna people
tran is granted by these words H'w can an,
que p-rv, r, lang iane "a, I" say TINT there is
Congressional interference h"re? The Consti
tuition - fke onfy restriction the only check
upon the legislative viii. The provisions fol
the primary organization Of these Terri,orie:
may, IL is trIe, squirt towards =" congressional
Interference. but ecken organized, thea III,
iegis'"tire ,o,l. of ne people, expressed
,hrongh their Representatives, becomes the
snpre,.e ian, il tina, will is consistent with tn,
Cons,.lu ION Of The United STATS
cuc more ol elton has hen raised tn thi:
bill by sontharn a<pir,n's for the Presidency
whi.h it may mo- be out o. place here tn M
ton. That is, that the nrEaniZrinn at hes.
Territories ,nterfens Anh .ssolemn treaty It ~
la'iors With vasi. us lad an tribes : a mos
complete answer hnaevrr, To This obj Il
found N III bill i'srls. The last provIso TO tn,
frs section Is IN these words:
Provided further, Tina, nothing in this nc
contained shall b. construed 20 impair th" ri.h
Of person or properly now p raining I" the
Indians in said Territory, so long as such right:
shall remain unextnguisiled BY treaty between
the United States and such Indians, or to incf"d'
any territory nhich by treaty ,cith any Isdi"r
tribe is not irithouf The consent of Said trthe, {,
DC tncfpaed ritkin the territorial limits or }ai as
diction of any State or Ttrritorg; but all sucf
territory sh,li be eAc"p ed ont of The boundaries
aud constitute no part of the Territory of Ne
hraska, until said tribe shall signify their S. n
to the President If the United ,tat.s 10 bt
includrd wi hin the said Territory If Nebraska
or To affect The anthory If The Government o
the United States t. make any regulation. re
spec ing such Indians ti.cIr lands, pr 'pcriv, 81
other rights, by treaty, law. or ether wise, which
il would have been mpeient to the Govern
men to make il this act had never passed
TIE nineteenth section has, uef6at,m, III
same pruviso in regard To Kansas.
Ag,in, the bill -foreus prapo 'es to!leave The
question o. slavery 10 the people that shall b.
resident in said Territories Ace You afraid t.
trust .hen Do YOU fear that they will not
like ynu, do whai is t. their best interest
ask northern mn whl oppose this bill If they
have not, one and all, some brother, sister. sor
or fii nd, who purpn ses EN- grating tmher! |
so, do they fear Ia trust that relative or friend
Are not all 6r0iaers, and on earh for the
good OF each olher or are we strangers, witt
selfish feelings alone to control our aciions
"Squat'er sovereignty" is iauntingly used al
a rm of rrprnach. Who, but our brothers
sons, aud friends, are squatters?-bone of ou
bone and flesh of oar flesh. Born in the same
State with ourselves, are their rights less dea
= oneht their volition to be less potent thar
ours?
But let me pass on 20 the PHYSICAL cHARAc
TER of the country. Nebraska and Kansas
according TO the boundaries proposed, include
tract of country extending from latitude 81
deg 30 min. to latitude 40 deg and E ON abou
longitude 96 deg w. to the Rocky Moun'a aims
That, however, which it is the more immediate
a., l,,.o DtaSa
consists Of section of the western slope o
the Missouri valley, lying betr cen 36 deg. 81
min. and 43 deg 30 min, extending seven de
grees, or nearly FIVE hundred miles in width
from north to south, and stretching equa
distance west across the great plains to The
Rocky Mountains. This tract will be suffi
ent in territorial size to form two large States
to be divided, as the bill proposes, by the for
tieth parallel of latitude. Each will be watered
by stream Of Tie same name, both considera-
BILE in size, but neither of great Importance fo
navigation. The soil, like that Ct Iowa ant
Missouri, is, to the extent of one half of eacl
Territory, dark mould or loan mixed with
sufficient quantity of sand to render it the mos
easy Of culture, and the most productive to the
agrculturst Nebraska is particularly adapted
to the growth Of wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley
and potatoes, and to he raising of cattle anc
sheep. Kansas viii produce tobacco, hemp
and cotton, in addition The uplands are dry
rolling, rich prairie, and the bottoms produce :
sufficient supply of timber for building and
fencing ] refer 10 the eastern portion of each
Territory, the portions that will be. immediately
settled, and which viii constitute the heart Of
the future States of Nebraska and Kansas
Coal, lin abundance) iron, gypsum and lead
are prominent among the minerals. Perhaps
neither wi equal Iowa or Missouri in popula-
ton, yet both will surpass any of the Atlantic
States in agricultural society
Politically, Nebraska has had no existence,
except in laws which govern the savage, OF
those conventional regulations which control
the trapper, the hunter, and the Indian trader.
Parts of Kansas, occupied by the partially civ
ized Indians, have, to come extent, partook
of the benefits Of crude political organization,
bu, neither has been the recipient of those bes-
sings which follow in the train Of the Anglo
Saxon emigrant; for, until the free white races
of the North become the possessors of the
there are node upon which the Ameri-
can law can have efftct-none to be governed
BY that code which springs up, mushroom like,
on the settlement OF any country protected by
tn" ample folds of the "s,ars and stripes.
For where there are none to be governed, there
can be no law, no government, no political in
siitu ions Of any kind.
s What constitutes State
Not hg h-raised bafflement, labored mound
Thick wall, nor moafed gate:
Nor cities tair, with spires and turrets crowned:
Not bays and broad armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride.
Not starred and spanged courts,
Where low bowed baseness watts perfume to pride.
No! MEN hgh-mind men!
Men who their duty know,
But know their rights and knowing dare maintain,
Prevent the long aimed blow,
Aud crush the tyrant when they burst the chain
These constitute State"
Like these Territories, so, to a great extent,
vas the situation Of all new coun,ries-sllterri.
Dries Of the United Sia.es-all provinces and
stands discovered and held by other Govern
ncnts. Until settlements became sufficiently
numerous to render necessary some rules for
he protection of the relative rights of The sett
er, no municipal law or domestic regulation
ouid have any fnree. There could be no law
'ntil there was suhject-matter for the law 10
ct upon and give it Vitality. To whom, ask,
n the country now to be organized, could the
ighth section of the &C, of 1920 applys If
Q the Indians, Qhe only inhabitants until re.
ently,) then have they totally disregarded it;
Or slavery has been recognized by hem, and
many Of the tribes now hold slaves. They
ave enjoyed "sqnaiter sovereignty" in ITS
n!lest inca ming. And who, let me inquire,
an make laws for the white popul, tion now
here, aud hereafter to sel,le' Who but those |
, be governed by the restraints and restrictions
law can frame laws that will be app! cable to
ne subjects to b. gcverned' With your
noWiedIe oil other laipns, CO Id you frame
Tvs that would appropriate to the social, moral
nd physical condition Of French,nan of a
'urk Pa Circassian?-or an Egyptian Could
gu make laws locally applicable, None but
lose who understand the necessities for laws
IN frame them. The enactment Of The /" Mis-
'ur; restriction was made at time when th..
'un;ry now to be proposed into Territories
as destitute o. a population acquainted with
vized law. Upon whom, then, could that
w operate. Upon none, certainly; and, hence,
was kind Of prophetic tato, and not con-
Itutional or practical enactment. Ii virtually
Us: That neither those of that generation,
'r We of this. shall be permitted 10 regulate
II own ms itutions; and our CHI ldren, and our
iiidrers children, unto the third and fourth
'nera,ion, must also be deprived Of that right,
IS lcgis!atng to'erer, "a fnaity,' at least
far as words can make one. It assumes 10
more sacred t.lan the Constitution i'self, and
unlike that instrument, unalterahle for
er; yes, FOREVER" and ever, +
| have spoken of the .srolitical past" What.
me now ask, is to be the s'p"liicsl future
this unry. These Territories, if organ
ID, sciH, yea, must, become non slavehodn
ates, with population and political pros 1
rity second 10 but few in the Union | say .
Il slavehoding States, and say so because
experience in the se;ilemen Mt of new coun