The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-01-31
VOL. X.


in violation of law, for which / removed him
therefore, he is responsible in a high degrs.
for the difficulties which have sprung up b.
tween the friends and opponents of Slavery"
The truth is, that no one believed at the tim.
that Reeder was removed for the cause ALLEGED
He did not in fact violate the law by the Dur
chase of Indian lands, because he only contrac,.
ed to purchase, on condition of the President,
approval But we have no intention of enter
ing into the defence of Mr. Reeder. Allowin.
him to he guilty, We deny that he was remove
for the cause alleged. The tone of the Ne,
sage proves this. The gracanen of the Pres
dents argument is, that Reeder superinduca5
the difficulties in Kansas, not by speculat;r,
in Indian lands, certainly, but by refusing 70
acquiesce in all the demands of the Atcbiso,.
and Stringfellows. If this is not his offence.
then there was not the slightest occasion +,
enter into the merits of his conduct. Bpt wa
have other evidence to the same effect. in tbs
contemporary exposition given TO the act or
removal by the Presidents leading friends The
Southern newspapers and politicians. general
y, demanded the removal of Recder. on the
ground that he was opposed to the introiuc
ton Of Slavery in Kansas; and when his reno
val took place, they boosted that the Presida,,
had thus evinced his readiness to serve the Il,
terests of the South. Jefferson Davis. Seer.
tary of War, visited his home in Mississip,
some weeks before the announcement of Reed
ers removal was made officially, and he ther-
promised the people in public address tbs
the Abolitionist Reeder should be removed o.,
account of his opposition to Slavery. Ia al
dition to these undeniable facts, we happen to
have before us articles from two leading news.
papers, generally regarded as speaking by an.
thority, which attribute the removal of Reelsr
to his hostility to Slavery. The first is from
the Richmond (Va.) Enquirer, the organ of the
Virginia Democracy-in other words, Of the
National Democracy" The paragraph ap
peared shortly after the removal of Reelrr
The editor says
1t was due to the people of Kansas that
Reeder should be removed. The President acted
wisely and justly in consulting their wishes. bg
removing a man who either misunderstood ar
grossly disregarded his official rights and On
ties. And, moreover, until we see other and
better testimony against Governor Dawson thar
what we find in the columns Of the ldrerfiy,,
we shall have very good reason to believe liz.
the appointment of Dawson was as wise am
proper as was the removal of Reeder. u
course, we would have preferred "a Souther
man: but we are not afraid to trust a Northerr
man who lost his nomination for Congress
because of his vote to repeal the Mssoui
Compromise
"By the way, the President seems to have
won the hatred of all the fanatics of the MORT
by the frmness with which he has resisted Their
vile Vaccinations. His course ought to have
secured for him a need of praise from every
Southern man and every Southern paper. Ills
approval of the Kansas ebraska bill, his en-
torcement of the Fugitive Slave Law in Mas
sachusetts and, more latterly, his removal Of
Reeder from the Governorship of Kansas, prov.
his determination impartially and Justly 10 al
minister the laws, and to secure to the South
all that she is entitled to claim under the Con
stitution of the country. And yet there are
journals, even in Virginia, which affect to doub,
his soundness on the Slavery question, and
which are recklessly bestowing upon him abuse
and ridicule"
So completely conscious is the enquirer tina,
the removal of Reeder was made in obedience
to the demands of the Slave Interest, that the
editor has not condescended to notice the pre-
text Of the Administration, that he had been
guilty of violation of law in Specializing in
Indian lands. The Ereaing Star, of this CITY,
also placed the act of removal upon the same
grounds Of obedience to the Slavery Propa
gandists. The Star is well known to be sem.
official. The editor is on familiar terms will
the President and Cabinet, and prides himsel
upon his devotion TO the powers that be-" an.
the faithfulness with which he reflects the ser.
timents and indicates the real motives who
actuate the Administration. The editor SAYS,
in explaining the removal Of Reeder:
"For reasons not to be considered in a has,y
because they are connected with
every item of the history of the organizatOu
and growth of the Territory of Kansas, a deaf.
lock has occurred between the Representatives
Of the people of that Territory and the Govern.
or. The whole legislative business of the Ter
rltory had been brought to a standstill"
We presume that these facts and avcrmeu,s
Of the Presidents best friends, including mem
Der Of his Cabinet will satisfy every reasonable
man that his Excelency has "paltered in
ioube sense" and made use of a prcteyt Go
cover his guilty participation in the diabolical
scheme Of introducing Slavery into Kansas.
The President skins over the subject Of lie
gal voting as lightly as possible. lie roars the
'uffians " as gently as any sucking dove; and,
instead of giving us a minute history Of the Sc
les Of outrages upon the Kansas ballot boxes,
)erpetrated by Atchison and his hordes of Ms
ourians, we are told, in honeyed phrase, that
angry accusations that illegal votes had been
boiled abounded on all sides, and imputatons
we're made, both Of fraud and violence We
ire then told that all was made right by the
certificates granted by Governor Reeder to q
arge majority of the members Of the Legisla
ure. We shall not undertake the defence Of
Governor Reeder. We believe, however, that
lis explanation of his course on this occasion
) the fact, that while he had abundant reason
o know that majority of the members were
lected by fraud and violence, by Missouri votes,
e had no official evidence TO sustain a decision
o that effect; and such was the reign Of terror
t that time in Kansas, in consequence of the
presence of an overwhelming force of armed
ufiians, that the people Of the Territory were
verawed, and prevented from contesting the
eats of those who we're VIGOROUSLY elected by
he votes of resident Missourians. The sane.
ion of the Governor is not, therefore, final. It
las no binding force whatever upon Congress,
nd unless there are more traitors in that body
han we are willing to believe, the whole Legi~
ature of Kansas, with all its laws, will be ST.
do og