The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-10-18

a rapid settlement Of free laborers and farmers
in Kansas, bona tide settlers, so that, taking
their stand on "the principle of the BILL" they
might battle the Propaganda, who cared nothing
about its principle.
The societies, after all, operated to limited
extent, the larger amount of emigration from
the free States being of individuals, going " in
of their own accord"
These proceedings, the President, in his De-
fence, classes with the armed interference by
Missourians with the rights of settlers, and the
fraudulent voting Of Missouri residents; and
he has the hardihood to insinuate that they are
illegal" for he says, abe has not and he
will not, lend any countenance to any illegal
proceeding, whether it originate in Missouri
or Massachusetts,, which has for its object the
defeat of the great principle of allowing the
inhabitants of Kansas to give an unbiased and
free judgment upon the question whether Sla-
very shall or shall not exist in the Territory"
That partisan newspapers, whose vocation
it is to make the worse appear the better rea-
son, and confound all distinctions of right and
wrong, should attempt to excuse an enor-
nous Injustice, by ibelling its victims, is to
be expected; but such conduct in President
of the United States is beyond the reach of all
ordinary terms Of Reproduction.
The only other part of the Defence in which
the President attempts to justify himself is
that in which he labors to show how unjust are
the complaints against him, for not interfering
to prevent the fraud and violence alleged to
have been committed in Kansas
ave have seen the remark made again and
again by partisan opponents of the President
that he is responsible for the violations of the
right of suffrage in Kansas; that he ought to
have prevented it; and that he ought still to
interfere for the punishment of the offenders /;
but we have seen no attempt to specify the
manner in which the President could have in
terfered to prevent the evils, nor in which he
could now interfere, nor upon what clause in
the law or the Constitution he could find au-
thority to interfere. We know that under the
Constitution the President is commander of
the army, but we know, too, that he is not
thereby empowered to employ the army for any
other than a purpose specified by law. The
Advertiser deals in the language generally
used by the fault-fnders on this subject, but
upon examination it will be seen to be entirely
which the President is advised to pursue We
venture to affirm that he stands ready and
anxious to exert the full power vested in him
by the Constitution and law, to secure to the
people OF Kansas the free and unrestricted right
to carry out the Kansas law in its true spirit
We doubt not he would be obliged to some of
the astute fault-finders, to point him to the an.
thorlty under which he can do. more than he
has long since done. 1t is idle to tell him that
he must discard all sympathy with Atchison
and his crew he never had any sympathy
with anybody who sought or desired, either d.
rectly or indirectly, to interfere with the free
right OF suffrage by the Kansas people. 1t is
useless to call on him to sustain the people
of Kansas in the exercise of the rights guaran-
tied to them,' without showing in what way he
can sustain them more effectually than here
tofore. He has exhausted all the authority
known to him in the effort to have the law for
organizing Kansas faithfully executed"
Let us see whether he is so impotent, as he
pretends to be. When the Fugitive Slave Act
was said to be obstructed in its operation, did
not the President issue Proclamation, warn
ing evildisposed persons, calling upon good
citizens to maintain the law, and denouncing
penalties against law-breakers? Did he not
put the army and navy of the United States in
motion to enforce its execution? Were not
dispatches sent to the Marshal and Prosecu-
ting Attorney, to use prompt and vigorous eff
forts against offenders? Why all this exer
ton OF Federal Power? Because, the law,
said to be resisted, was a Federal Statute, and
by the Constitution the President is bound to
" take care that the lacs be faithfully executed"
What is the Kansas n ebraska Act but q Fed
eral law, and, when resisted, when its plain
provisions are attempted to be counteracted by
an organized conspiracy, how is it that the
President is not bound to ".ake care that it be
faithfully executed" Why may he instruct
Marshals and Attorneys, issue Proclamations,
put the army and navy in motioyOs, zen one
Federal law is seriously INSTRUCTED, and have
no power to interfere, when another is still
more seriously obstructed?
The truth is, he not only failed to use his
power to support the law, but fagrantly used
it to support the law-breakers ? He knew that
Senator Atchison was the head of the conspr-
acy to convert Kansas into Slave Territory
that Messrs. Whitfield and Stringfellow were
his chief associates-that the ,Sguatter Sorey-
eign and Weston Argus, open partisans of
Notification, libellers of the free States. advo-
Gates of mob-violence and the invasion of Kan
sas, were their special organs Will he ex-
plain, then, to the country, why he elected Mr..
Benton's friends from Office, in Missouri, and
appointed instead the creatures of Mr.. Atchi
son, thereby giving the latter the ascendency ?
Why he reappointed Mr.. Whitfield, Indian
Agent2 Why he gave the Government print
ing to the argus and the Squatter Sovereign
Will he tell us, why he appointed a majority of
the Judges of the Territory from that class of
shareholders who deny that Slavery is local in
its character, and assert that it is recognised
and protected by the Federal Constitution in
all Federal Territory, thus deciding, in ad- |
vance, the question of Slavery for Kansas, so
far as the Courts could determine it? Will
he tell US, why he appointed, in the place of
Governor Reeder, Wilson Shannon, man
whose first act was cordial recognition of the |
spurious Legislature of Missouri, elected by
Atchison men, and one of whose first declara- |
tons was, that che was in favor of Slavery in
Kansas ?"
Ah-the record of the President is black
one: not only has he refused to use his power
in behalf of the actual settlers in Kansas, he |
has used it against them not only has he de-
clined to see that the laws be faithfully execu-
ted, he has aided and abetted the men who de-
liberately violated them. His Defence is dis
statement, sOphistical in argument,
libellous on the free States, an insult to COM