Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1856-03-21

iul argument and the ballot The bill was
mn invitation to 4 contest. 1t threw open
the Territory to two hostile parties, and in
! viting both to come in and struggle for the
establishment Of their own favorite systems.
1 The first to answer this invitation, as q mat
] tel of course, were those Of both parties
most thoroughly devoted to their own pecu-
Ii:r views, and the result was, that at the
first election the friends and foes of slavery
found themselves confronted; each party
deeply exasperated against the other not
only by recent events but by the rooted
/ prejudices of their whole lives What
could be expected from such a collsion?-
And what Is to be thought of the legislation
which has wantonly and without cause inyi-
ted and provoked a contest Of this descrip-
( ton between the friends and foes of slavery
| in Kansas "a contest in which the com
batants have the sympathy of their respec-
tive sections, and in which every blow that
is struck vibrates from one end of the eoun-
try to the other. 1t would be mid term
to call such Legislation folly 1t is in the
highest degree criminal, and its authors de-
serve the infamy with attaches to those who
wantonly cause enmity between, and put at
hazard the peace Of a country.
If the principle of squatter sovereignty is
to prevail, and the Congress IS to abdict its
powers in favor of the few who shall be first
in the race to reach the Territories, or leave
their fate to be determined by such contest
as we now witness in Kansas what is to pro
vent the North from demanding the appli-
cation of the principle to the District of Co
lu1nbia, where the institution Of slavery ex-
lists under the laws of Maryland, and not by
the will Of the people in the Districts VIII
the South thank the orginators and inyen-
tors Of this pernieious doctrine when it
shall be applied to plague them at the very
seat of governments VIII the valorous
fre-eaters of Virginia and Maryland, who
now look with such calm indifference upon
the trouble and injury which this bill has
inflicted upon Missouri, remain unmoyed
when the hideous phantom of squatter SOW
ereignty raises its head in the District Of
Columbia, menacing, their own borders2-
When
'eThis handed justice
cOmmends the ingredients Of our poisoned ehslies
To our lips"
We shall find it mingled with the bitterness
of death.
1t is, beyond all doubt or denial, that the
very men to whose influence and exertions
the passage of the Nebraska bill is due,
have already practically repudiated it and
trampled it under foot. The same House
fof Representatives which enacted the law,
received Mr.. Whitefeld as a delegate from
the Territory, who was elected by non-resi-
dents who not only voted in violation of the
law, but, but who prevented by violence, the.
actual settlers, who alone were entitled to
votes from the exercising their franchise
Mr.. Atehison, who really originated the law,
has several times invaded the Territory, in
person, and by brutal violence trampled
upon the law and robbed the actual settlers
of their rights under it. His accomplices
in the scheme to pass the bill, have been
his accOmpliees in its violation, for they
have become his apologists from one end
of the country to the other. And the Pres
ident, who by his advocacy and approval Of
the repeal of the Compromise forfeited his
solemn pledge given to the country to dis
countenance the agitation of the slavery
question, has witnessed for more than a
year repeated violations, by Atchison and
others, of the law which he had sworn to
see executed, and has not raised a finger
nor opened his mouth to prevent it. But
on the contrary, he witnessed the invasion
of the Territory and the ususpation of its
government and remained unmoyed
until code Of laws were enacted by the
usurpers which DISTINGUISHED all who differ
cd with them in opinion. And then, and
not until then, the President interfered to
confirm the usurpation by maintaining the
laws which take the right Of suffrage from
all who favor the formation of free State
thus openly and officially stultifying him
self, and frustrating the principle which he
pretends alone to adore. What honest
man would take Mr.. Pieree's place, if COM
PEELED to take Mr.. Pierce's character along
with it
The difference between Atchisen and his
accompIices, is the difference between the
bold brigand and the skulking assass A.
! He boldly ayowed his object and bos sted
/ Of the violence he used in its accomplish
ment-they concealed their object and de-
ny that any violence was used. The follow
ing extract from a speech delivered BY Mr..
Atchison, on the 4th Of February 1856, at
Platte City, will show that he at least is
free from the sin of insineerity, and that he
seorns the mean articles and falsehoods re-
sorted to BY hisaccompliccs. He says, speak
ing of the proposition to organize the Ter
ritory:
"But meetings were held, resolutions
were passed declaring it was your wish to
open that Territory, and !, being truo
Democrat, promised to 90 for it on one con,
dition, and that was, the Missouri Compro-
mise, so-called-the Missouri Restoration,
properly ealled-be repealed. I addressed
the people here in this Court House, at
Parksville, at Westport, in fact all over the
State, and told them that if the Compro-
mise was repealed, I would go for bill to
organize the Territory, and in a speech at
Independence, that unless that restoration
was repealed, l would see them damned
before l would go for it. That was the
English of il"
Speaking of the first election under the
law of squatter sovereignty, hesays:
%When the first election came off told
YOU to 90 and vote. You did so and beat