The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-11-22
The Presidents Answer.

he ITeSluenl, through HIS CecreIaTy
of State, Mr. Marcy, has replied to the
letter of Gov. GRIsiEs, of Iowa, asking
the formers interference to prevent vio
lence in Kansas, and to clear the Missou-
ri river of pirates To Kansas settler
the answer is heart-sickening, as we had
begun to hope that the President had
seen the folly of his past action, and
designed to change it for the better
But there is no hope! The President
is welded to his idol-party, and
whether he wrecks the Union, or the
happiness of every settler in Kansas,
he is determined on pursuing the bad
policy his advisers have marked out
We hoped that, as the temptation to
trucking to the behests of slavery were
removed, he would show himself a
MAN. But he cannot show that charac-
teristic which he does not possess. Read
Secretary Marey's diplomatic cores
pondence -
s'The state of affairs in Kansas is to
be regretted deeply by all American
citizens: The Presidents not less sem
sitive than you are as to the rights of
the citizens of Kansas. His power,
however, is only Executive, and that
which he is sworn to execute. 1t there
fore becomes his duty to see that the
laws are faithfully executed He has
no power to disregard, amend, or set
aside laws, as unjust or unconstitution-
al i; for to do SO would be to invest him
with the law-making power, to make
him not the President of a Republic,
but the absolute Monarch of the coun-
try, position to which the President
does not aspire.
"The President hitherto has been,
and now is, using all the means in his
power to suppress outrages in Kansas
upon private rights, and to sustain and
enforce law and order. The difficulties
in Kansas have mainly arisen from a
spirit of rebellion against the consti-
tuted authorities, and determination
to resist all authority and all law,
which, by its general dissemination has
subverted civil government and render
ed the law powerless, and by destroy
ing the power of the law has opened a
general field for rapine, murder, and
the whole catalogue of crimes to be COM
mitted with impunity, and to go unre-
dressed.
1.-The President has taken every eff
fectiye measure to secure to the citizens
of Kansas domestic tranquility and Sc
curity against foreign aggression. The
suppression of insurrectionary move
ments is within his power, but he cannot
and s0M not attempt to control traitors to
their country. He wW protect auith the
national arm all soho are disposed to
gather around the standard Of tie Lar
and o5ey Its 6ehests. The President,
conscious ofhaving performed his whole
duty. is at loss to know by what au-
thority your Excellency claims to ar
raign him. or to call upon him for an ex-
PLANTATION.
The New York Tribune well says in
reply -
"Here the champion of New York
Democracy coolly assumes the essential
point-namely, that the acts of that
congregation of ruffians at Shawnee
Missisn are laws though ne knows
it is established by incontrovertible
proof that they were elected by more
than FIRE thousand armed residents of
Missouri invading their Territory for
this express purpose, driving the citi-
zens of Kansas from the polls, or
swamping their votes by foreign bal
lots, and turning the sacred right of
suffrage into a mockery and a snare.
Right well does Gov Marcy k7aosc that
these are the essential facts-he has no
more doubt of it than of his own exis-
tenee-he knows that this usurping
BODY had no right to meet at Shawnee
Mission as a Legislature of Kansas
knows that the Gov. Breeder utterly
refused to acknowledge or sanction any
of their acts-yet he coolly assumes
that their acts are :. laws talks of en-
forcing law and ORDER" accuses the
Free State men of "a spirit Of rebellion
against the Constituted authorities and
.stigmatIses them as traitors to their
country" Z"
~ JoHs HUrcmSsoS Esq. of this
city, wasin EllenyilIe n. Y s6ev weeks
ago. and spoke on Kansas matters.