Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1855-08-02

am impeled TO this course by what
believe to be due to myself, to The sanctity of
law, and to the rights and dignity of the peo-
pie of Kanzas. In holding and exercising the
trust reposed in ,ae by the qualified voters
OF the sixth Council District would. be re-
qured to un!te with the body Of men, who
are to ass semble at Pawnee, on the second
of July, as the Legislature of Kanzas; and to
engage with them in making laws to govern
the people Of this Territory. This cannot
do without lending countenance to the au-
thority they assume to exercise. l was
elected to represent the people of the sixth
Council District in the Legislature of Kan
zas. Should offer, in pursuance of that
election, to enter this forthcoming assemblage,
would thereby give, by direct implication,
my ewn sanction, and sanction of those whom
should represent, to the validity of it's preten-
sons; would acknowledge it to be the Legis-
lature to which had aspired, and to which
the people had intended to elect me, when
they cast their sufrages in my favor. This
am FAR from being prepared to do. 1t is
| fact which has travelled the circuit of the
whole civilized world, that this Legislature
has been imposed upon the people of Kan
zas by force of arms. Those who COM
pose it, and those whom they rep 'esent, and
for whom they act, are alien enemies, who
have violently seized the legi sative powers
of this Territory, and now seek to disguise
their tyranny under the form o. constitution
nal enactments. Their Legislature is sub
stantially provincial council, instituted and
ordained by daring and unsci upulous league
in the State OF Missouri, and other parts o.
the South, to govern people whose liberties
they have ruthlessly stricken down. This
! fact has been placed beyond controversy by
. authentic details Of concerted operations,
: looking to this end and of overwhe lining vio-
lence, at the recent elections, unparalleled
in all our political history. The straightfor-
, ward integrity exhibited by your excelency,
: from the commencement your official career,
and the unfnching disposition to maintain
: the rights of the, people evincce your in
I setting aside without hesi,ancy, the elections
: in all the districts where contests were made,
, in the requisite legal form, have been such
: as compel me to believe that, lad the evidence
Y Of the entire outrage perpetrated upon the
people, in the election of this Legislature,
t been put before you in the shape of legal
s testimony, your Excelency would not have
d hesitated moment in tuking the same action
t with reference to the remaining election die
tricts; and thus, getting the authority of your
9 office, as you have already done you personal
and private infue against the audacious
y usurpaton. Under these circumstances, ii
j. would be either fraudulent or pusill aninoas
. in me to respect this as the Legislature of
e Kanzas. ! am not willing to do it. What
o ever the timorous or the tme-serving may
g suggest or advise, shall do pothing of the
kind. Instead Of recognizing this as the Le-
gslature of Kanzas, and participate in its pro-
i ceedings as such, utterly repudiate and re-
8 probate it, as derogatory to the respectaoili,y
e OF popular government, and insulting to the
1t virtue and intelligence of the age.
e As an individual citizen of Kanzas, am
i Furthermore free to say 10 your Excellency,
o representing, as you do the imper ial authority
: of the Federal Government in This land, that,
S while am entirely disposed to pay all res
S poets to the lawfully constituted authorities,
: l am yet not willing, whatever power may
command it, to bend my neck, like satisfied
!. and gentle slave to the yoke OF foreign ty-
e rants. To do so would prove me recreant to
y all the lessons of heroism or of duty ever
= learned am so unfortunate as to have been
|. trained to come crude notions of human
If rights-some ruch notions as those for which,
l. in ages past, our foolish ancestry perled
e their lives on revolutionary fields. And
!. however wide spread may be the dsrepute
d into which those puerile falacies have fallen
o in these sterling and enlightened times, | am
+ still bound to Withstand their violations, in my
uwn person, to the last extremity of jus. re-
:. sistance. Simply as citizen and man,
1t shall, therefore, yield no submission to this
G alien Legislature: On the contrary, am
,. ready to set its assumed authority at defiance;
e and shall be prompt to spurL and trample un-
1t der my feet its insolent enactments, when
e ever they conflict with my rights or inclina-
s tions.
y Very respectfully yours,
l. MF. CONWAY.
I, Pawnee, X. r., June 3Oth, 1855.
q The Free State men, who were so illegally
and unceremonously throwLI out Of the Legis-
IS lature to make place for the men that were
elected by the Missouri invaders, have sent
l. in their PROTEST 1t is as follows.
The undersigned, members Of the House Of
% Representatives, of the Legislature Of Kanzas
ri Territory, earnestly and emphatically protest
l. against the action Of this House in the adop-
Or ton of the repor It of majority of the COM
re mittee on Credentials, by which we are ex-
ct cluded from our seat, and disabled from the
to performance of a high public duty, imposed
't upon US by our constituents, and the supreme
m law OF the land.
st We protest against this action, because it
g is gross and pal ,able violation OF the organic
ia aot Of the Territory, expelled from their seats,
5, persons declared by the Governor to have
II been "duly elected" the only description OF
y persons recognized by, or known to the organ.
o ic act as members of the Legislature. and in
e Producing persons of an entirely different de-
g scr ption to ill their places, thus vitiating the
" legality of its existence, and depriving its
n enactmenls of any binding force or authority
d whatever.
s We respectfully request, as an act OF sim
e pie justice to US by which our positions may
: be distinctly understood by the country and