The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-05-05
souatter Sovereignty.

Not very long since we published
some exhortaticRs addressed by southern
journals to the shareholders. insfigating
them to spend money freely in carrying
the elections In the territory of Kansas.
The advice seems to have been taken. An
army of voters went over the frontier of
Kansas, distributed itselfin detachnents
among the different districts, obtained
the victory, elected the pro-slavery can
didates to the Legislature, and came
home again in triumph.
A paragraph in another part of this
sheet describes the return of a portion OF
the mercenaries In this service to their
own State They came back like con-
quering army to old Rome; their return
to the town of Independence was tri-
umphal entry.
There are two things to be inferred
from the result of the Kansas election
achieved by such means. One is the
profound respect which the friends of the
Nebraska act entertain for the doctrine
/ of popular sovereignty. While it was
yet under discussion, the doctrine of its
friends was that the inhabitants of the
territory ought, even while the settle
ment was vet in its most incomplete and
rudimental state, to determine for them
selves what Institutions they would tole
rate and whether they would allow the
existence of slavery or not. Not even
Congress, it was contended, ought to
interfere in any question of Legislation
for the territory. This doctrine was as
serted in speeches on the floor of Con-
gress, presented by the newspapers in
every form of argument, proclaimed at
public meetings, and embodied in reso-
Iutions adopted by committees. The in
slant the bill was passed, these very men
resolved that the inhabitants of the terri
tory should not settle the question of
slavery for themselves, nor even elect
their own territorial officers. They
swarmed over the boundary of Kansas,
elected delegate to Congress from the
territory, and then returned to Missouri.
a second election took place few days
since !; the friends of slavery made sec
ond incursion into the. territory, won
another triumph, and returned to cele-
brate it in Missouri. Never did any
party make more scandalous haste to
convict itselfof hypocrisy and give the
lie to pretences which it had just uttered
and the echo of which had scarcely yet
died away. The pretext of popular SOW
ereignty was only used to get rid of the
prohibition of slavery in the territory as
soon as it has served its purpose, it is
discarded and sent after the prohibition.
The second inference from these pro-
ceedings is, that the friends of the Ne
braska bill, even while supporting it by
the argument that it could never possi-
bly, carry slavery into any part of the ter
ritories, cherished the design of making
Kansas perforce slave State. The pas
sage of the bill was the signal for an or
ganized attempt to seize upon the terri
tory for slavery. Their pioneers were
first on the ground the first public meet
ings held in Kansas passed pro-slayery
resolutions. The execution of their
scheme has never been allowed mo-
ment's pause. They have their journals
established In the territory; their mer-
cenaries, recruited in Missouri, went
over and carried the election in their
favor, and have now carried the second
against the wishes and feelings of the
actual and permanent inhabitants. Every
circumstance in the history of Kansas,
since it became territory, points clearly
to an original intention, on the part of
those who brought forward and support
ed the Nebraska bill, to make it eventu-
ally slave State, Kansas, New Mexico,
and the new State which they designed
to erect out of southern California, were
to form barrier of slave States, complet-
ing the belt across our continent, to the
south of which slavery was to propagate
itself into security toward the isthmus of
Central America.-N y EUe. Post.