Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1856-05-02
THE T r y i p r ESS.
BURLINGTON:
FRIDAY MORNING. MAY .. II
Tho sentinel's Position nrnin.


quito used to see threads of pcrycrsion and
mis-statemcnt woven into the texture of the
articles turned out Of the administration
shops, but here is "A fabric Of which the en-
tire cloth, warp and filing is made up Of
them. In one perusal we counted ffly nine
distinct false statements, either direct or i'm
Piled in that one article With careful
scrutiny we presume we could have found
dozen or two more but fifty nine will do for
once. We think Douglas Himself ought to
be satisfied with this effort of his iinitator
IL he is not, we do not see how the Sentinel
can help it. 1t would be hard work for it to
jump beyond its last mark. The closcncss
with which the Sentinel initiates that noted |
individual, both in the boldness of its false |
statements and in the manner of setting them |
/ forth, leads us to suspect that it is looking |
to sec 4" the little giant" the nominee of the
party for the next presidency, anu is getting
itself ready to bow down before now idol of
the modern democracy
1t requires brass, to stand up in open day
/ and assert that the troubles in Kansas are
cietics-that the first aggressive movement
in Kansas was made by - the black repub.
| hcans, that the weapons bestowed at the
New Haven meeting were not given to be used
in self defcncc-that Mr.. Beccher said thew
were to aid lin battcring down or blowing
up the Constitution itself that the repub-
licans stand where the tories Of the reyolu-
1.
Sentinel has it in abundance. The Douglas
mine seems to have given it fresh supply
Any intelligent boy Of ID years in the county
who reads the papers, would laugh in the
face Of the man who should undertake to
stuff him with such gross rlbrications For
Us to take rom to show them up in detail
would be an insult to the good sense and
patience of our readers As for the Sentinel.
it would do it no good for us to do it. The
vice is in its blood, and beyond the reach of
doctor or school master OF course the Sem
tncl did not answer our questions,-not one
Of them. We dld not suppose it would We
have tried before to bring it To a cool and
direct discussion Of the essential doctrines
and practices which come within the scope
Of its windy declarations Of what it calls de-
mocratic principles but to no purpose and
we have succeeded no better in the present
instance.
We asked " dons our nei .hbor wish to see
slavery extended over the free territories ;
Does it think the men Of the free States who
believe slavery to be curse, ought to ac-
SION Does it think the inhabitants of Kan
; sas should sit quietly and allow Missourians
, to make ami administer their laws for
/ them - Very simple questions these-such
as freeman in Vermont ought to find no en-
barrassment in answering directly,--not even
an administration Office holder and journalist.
But the Sentinel rel lies - The Sentinel
stands upon the great principles Of popular
, sovereignty embraced in the Kansas, NeJras-
la act which - leaves the actual settlers and
! bona. file inhabtunts Of each territory per-
, fectly free to form and regulate their institu-
tons in their own way, subject Only to the
constitution Of the United States
Having got of that oracuar stereotyped
phrase, the Sentinel asks - will the Free
Press tell us why the people Of Kansas and
Nebraska should not be allowed to govern
f themselves 30 Astranger to the Sentinel on
ealing that, might expect to find it a strong
advocate of the admission Of Kansas to the
t union with the state constitution which the
peopis Of Kansas hare formcd for HcmScir,S.
lie could not make a greater mistake for it
, says, u begin with, that " no apology can
, be made for the free State movement -
and it denounccs all who favor it in un-
measured terms Of abuse and misrcprescnta-
ton. 1t turns round again, and asks - do
not the editors Of the Free Press advocate
the admission Of Kansas as " free State
with the Topeka constltutiCA and docs not
that constitution provide that long as
Kansas shall be a State, as long as water
, runs and grass grows. no negro, free or slave,
; shall ever live or breathe under that consti,
tutlon' !" The editors of the Free Press an
swer very plainly that they do advocate the
admission of Kansas as "a free State with
, the Topeka Constitution they say fur
Their that that constitution contains no such
pror,sion, either in form or substance, as the
Sentinel implies that it does viz, one pro-
hibiting the residence Of free negroes in the
State. They say too, that they do not sup
pose, when the Sentinel asked the question,
that its editors believed any such provision to
be there. 1t was enough for them that
Douglas had asserted it in the Senate,
Douglas has not kept himself in entire igno-
rance of what the Topeka constitution is,