The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-09-15
The Fatal pay.

me Eat1 Lay.
The fifteenth day of September, the
period when the act of "Barons"-self
styled the Legislative Assembly of Kan
sas-entitled "Ak ACT to punish offenses
against slave property" was to take eff
feet has arrived. We quote TIE follow
ing sections for the benefit of the reader
SEC. 12. If any free person, by
speaking, or by writing, assert or main
tain, Mot persons knre not the right to
hold slaves in this Territory, or shall in
troduce into Kansas, print, publish, write,
circulate. or cause TO be introduced into
this Territory, written, printed. publish
ed, Or circulated in this Territory, any
book, paper, magazine, pamphlet or cir
cuiar, containing any denial Of the right
of persons TO hold slaves in this Terrific
ry, such person shall be deemed guilty
of felony, and punished by Imprisonment
at hard labor for a term of not less than
two years.
SEC. IS. No person who is conscien-
tiously opposed to holding slaves, or who
does not admit the right to hold slaves in
this Territory, shall sit as juror on the
trial for the prosecution for any violation
Of any of the sections of this act.
With full consciousness of the penal
ty that awaits US, and the ooM of Gov.
Shannon that eUery law enacted by the
.Barons" of Kansas shall be enforced to
the letter, We, on the Il 5th day of Sep
tember, 1856, of perfectly sane mind,
and with a full knowledge of the require
ments of the ialc, do ''write, print, pub
lish and circulate in this Territory" a
paper" with the emphatic "denial of
the right of" any "person to hold slaves
in said Territory" any law or enactment
of the Barons of Kansas, oranybody else
to the contrary, notwithstanding.
The Bible-a book held in great re-
pute by some men-copies of which we
have for sale-declares that God COM
manded Moses to proclaim Liberty
throughout all the land, TO ALL the in
habitants thereof" Some people have
been so foolish as to suppose that this in
struetion, if carried ont according to the
intention of the Divine Author, would
conflict with the view of the Barons, and
is virtual denial of the right "to hold
slaves in this Territory" or elsewhere.
We confess that we are one of that num-
Der. and shall take great pleasure in
circulating" the book, although "two
years imprisonment at hard labor" is the
penalty. Paul tells US "not to be entan-
gled again with the yoke of bondage
we have been called unto lib
erty; = all the law is fulfilled in
one word, even in this ''Fhou shalt love
thy neighbor as myself And in this
connection we may quote for the benefit
of our Missouri neighbors. "If ye bite
and devour one another, take heed that
ye be not consumed" We are further
instructed in the same book to ''Remem-
Der those who are in bonds as bound with
them," and to "Cry aloud and spare
not. Loose tie bonds of wick
ness, undo the heavy burdens, and LET
THE OPPRESSED co FREE, and break
euery yoke If we do this we shall un-
doubtediy "deny the right of persons to
hold slaves in Kansas
The Declaration of Independence-a
time -honored document, but now under
bans in Kansas-tells us that .'oH men
are created free and equal" We enun-
eiate, "write, print, and publish that
sentiment, and endorse it to the fullest
extent, although it is virtual "denial of
the right to hold slaves in Kansas" We
shall be happy to circulate that ancient
State paper, and will respectfully recon-
mend soae of the Barons to adopt some
method by which they can get an under
standing of it. Perhaps their neighbors
can acquaint them with its teachings if
they are so unfortunate as not to be able
to read it for themselves, as we are told
is the case with some of their number.
1t is said that .'every person owes SER
rice to the State !" if so the obligation
IS as binding upon us as any one, and if
the wise men of Kansas see fit to doom
US to two years service at hard labor in
the penitentiary for proclaiming great
truth all very well. We have serious
objections, however, to going into Mis-
souri, to render the service-since the
same law making power, for the want of
penitentiary of their own have agreed
TO use that of our sister State-and we
would not, were it not for the fact that
We shall be set to work on the Pacific
Railroad. which IS pOinsing towards Kan
sas.
BY the way, there is an obsolete docu-
nent which formerly was quoted largely
BY statesmen Of small calibcr, known as
the Constitution of the United States,
which declares that Congress shall
make no law abridging the
freedom OF speech or the press, . and as
corollary it was usged that no body de-
irving their authority from Congress
could pass any such law; but modern
statesmen care nothing about that docu-
ment. The ..Barons of Kansas are SUI
9erior to the Constitution and as to the
Declaration Of Independence. or the BIZ
bic, It IS of no account whatever.
In relation to our employment for the
next two years. ne would merely men,
ton Tat making railroad in Missouri
III ~ 4. r