The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1856-12-11
RAVENNA, THURSDAY, DEC. IL, 1856.


=, sent Executive Of Kansas, and the pruJepc,
J firmness and vigilance of the military off
. GERS on duty there, tranquility has been re
stored without one drop OF blood having bee
shed in its accomplishment by the forces O
the United States.
The restoration of comparative tranquil
ty in that Territory furnishes the mean
OF observing calmly, and approaching Il
their just value, the events which have oc
CURED there, and the discussions ofwhich tn
government Of the Territory has been tn
: subject.
: We perceive that controversy Concerning
its future domestic institutions was ineyita
BILE; that no human prudence, no form o
: legislation, no wisdom on the part of CON
gress, could have prevented this.
IL Is ldle to suppose that the particula
provisions OF their orgaric law were th,
,, cause of agitation, Those provisions we're bu
The occasion, or the prelext of an agitation
which was inherent in the nature Of things
Congress legislated upon the subject in sucl
terms us were most consonant with the prn
clpie oil popular sovereignty which undrrlie,
: our government. II could not have legisIa
ted otherwise without doing violence to an
other great principle Of our institutions, tht
inPrescriptable right of equality Of the sew
eral States.
We perceive, also, that sectional inter
ests and party passions, have been the crea
lmpedments to the salulary operation oftht
organic principles adopted and the chic
cause of the successive Disturbances in Kan
sas. The assumption that, because in the
organization Of the Territories of Nebraska
and Kansas, Congress abstained from i'm 2cs
ing restraints upon them to which certaiI
other Territories had been subject, there.
tore disorders occurred in the latter Terri.
tory, is emphatically contradicted by the fac,
that none have occurred in the former
Those disorders were not the consequence,
IN Kansas, OF the freedom of self govern.
mrnt conceded to that Territory by Congress.
butof nGjuSt interference on the part of
persons not inhabitants of the Territory.-
Such interference, wherever it has exhibited
itself, by acts of insurrectonary character.
or Of obstruction to processes of law, has
been repelled or suppressed, by the means
which the Constitution and the laws place
in the hands OF the Executive.
In those purts Of the United States where.
by reason OF the infamed state of the public
mind, false rumors and misrepresentation
have the greatest currency, it has been as
sumed that it was the duty of the Executive
not only to suppress nsurrectionary muve-
mcnts in Kansas, but also to see to the reg
ulority OF local elections. 1t needs little ar
gument to show that the President has no
such power All government in the United
States rests substantially upon popular cleo
ton. The freedom of elections is liable to
be impaired by the intrusion of unlawful
votes, o the exclusion of lawful ones, by
improper influences, by violence, or by
fraud. But the people OF the United States
are themselves the oil sufficient guardians of
their own rights, and to suppose that they
will not remedy, in duo season, any sucb
incidents of civil freedom, is to SUPPOSE
them to have ceased to be cupable OF self.
government. The President of the United
States has not power to interpose in cleo
tons, to see to their freedom, to canvass
Their votes, or to pass upon their legality
in the Territories any more than in the States.
| he had such power the government might
be republican in form, but it would be n
monarchy in fact; and if he had undertaken
to exercise it in the case Of Kansas. he would
he justly subject to the charge OF usurpation,
and of violation OF the dearest rights of the
people Of the United States.
Unwse laws, equally with Irregularities
at elections, are, in periods Of great excite.
ment, the occasional incidents OF even the
Ireest and best political institutions. BIT
all experience demonstrates that in a coun-
try like ours, where the right of self consli.
tuition exists in the completest form, the 1T.
tempt to remedy unwise legislation by resort
to rcvc cIulion, is totally out of place mas
much as existing legal institutions afford
more prompt and eficacious means for the
redress of wrong.
confidently trust that now, when the
peaceful condition of Kansas affords oppor.
tunity for calm reflection and wise eGisla.
ton, either the legislative assembly of the
Territory, or Congress, vii see that no act
remains on It's statute. book violative of the
provisions Of the Constitution, or subversiye
of the great objects Tor which that was or
dalned and established, and will t4ke all
other Necessary steps to assure to its inhab-
itnnts the enjoyment, without obstruction or
abridgment, of all the constitutional rights,
United States, as contemplated by the or.
ganic law Of the Territory.
Fall Information in relation to rcccft
events in this Territory will be found in the
documents communicated herewith from the
departments Of State and War.
I refer you to the report of the Secretary
ol the Treasury TOR particular information
concerning the financial condition of the
government, and the various branches of the
public service connected with the Treasury
Department.
During the last fiscal year the receipts
from customs were, for the first time, more
than sixty-four million of dollars, and from
all sources, seventy three million nine hun
dred aud eighteen Thousand one hundred and
forty one dollars; which, with the balance
on hand up to the first of July, 1855, made
the total resources of the year to amount to
ninety.two million eight hundred and fty
thousand one hundred and seventeen dollars
The expenditures, nelusling three millions
dollars in execution OF the treaty with Mex
lco, and excluding sums paid on account of
The public debt, amounted to sixty million
one hundred and seventy-two thousand four
hundred and one dollars; and, including the
latter, to seventy two million nine hundred
and forty eight thousand seven hundred and
nineiy.two dollars, the payment on this ac-
count having amounted to twelve million
seven hundred and seventy-six thousand
three hundred and ninety dollars.
On the 4th Of March, 1853, the amount Of
the public debt Was-sixtv. ninn million ono |