Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1856-08-02
SPEECH OF
HON. HENRY WILSON.

FNNff~ VI
Constitution and State Government, preparatory to
their admission into the Union equal footing with
the original States and against the motion print the
number Of the amendments offered to the 0il and
the yeas and nays upon them.
Mr. President lis it the intention of sena-
tors to TAKE the vote to- day -" es. - -
Then sir, it is my intention to throw myself
upon the indulgence Of the Senate, even at
this late hour; Tor cannot permit the ques-
ton to PASS from the Senate without replying
to some of the remarks which have fallen from
you, sir, Mr.. Bigler, in the chair, from the
senator from Illinois, Mr.. Douglas, and
from the senator from Georgia, Mr.. Toombs,
who has just taken his seat. The intentions,
objects, and purposes of this darling scheme
to close the contest in Kanzas by crowning
the conquests Of the lawless conquerers OF
that Territory, have been promptly laid open
to the gaze of the public eye. Stnng to the
quick by this prompt exposure OF this gigantic
fraud upon the country, you, sir, and the sem
ators from illinois and Georgia, have INDUCED
in line of remark towards the minority here,
who have batiied your designs by exposing
your objects, that l do not choose to let pass
unnoticed. l regret that you, sir, at this mo-
ment, occupy the chair, as had intended to
speak with some degree of plainness OF the
wanton charge made by you against me, OF
misrepresenting the provisions OF your BILL
There is not the shadow of truth upon which
to base the charge you have made. When
and how have l misrepresented the b'll:-
What provision of the bill have ] misrepre
scented !? Point 1t out, sir ; name it, sir. You
cannot do it, None of your associates can do
it. and you and they know that we have not
misrepresented a single provision of your pet
scheme. Here and now, defy you to point
me to a single provision of your hill that |
have in any way whatever mIsrepresented or
mis- stated AT no time, on no occasion, have
/ ever msrepresented your measure, III any
respect, whatever and the reports Of the de-
bates will fullyssustain this declaration.
The terms of the bill are plain aud clear,
and will be comprehended readily by the Sen
ate and the country. There It is, plain to the
comprehension of any intelligent man III or
out of the Senate. What l have said, and
what believe rehg ousy, is, that the adop-
ton of this bill by this Congress will close the
question, and make Kanzas slave State Of
this Union that it will Gonsummate the law
less violence, commencing on the S0th Of
March, 1855, and now raging almost uncheck-
ed in that Territory.
The provisions Your measure we have not
misrepresented; the present condition of Kan
zas we have not mis- stated. The intentions
of the authors Of this darling scheme of pa
cihcation are to be ascertaned by all eXami-
nation of the terms of the measure, and the
circumstances and condition OF the Territory,
IT, III the present condition of the Territory,
the passage Of the measure will make kanzas
a slaveholding State, you who support the
scheme will be held, i'll the Senate and before
the country, responsible for its legitimate re-
suits. Sir, the Senators from Pennsylvania
and Illinois may vehemently deny the charge;
you may pronounce it unfouHded, as you have
done; but the people will hold your inten-
tons to be to accomplish what your measure
is calculated to ACCOMPLISHING conversion Of
Kanzas into slayeholding Commonwealth.
You of the majority here may protest, you
may deny, you may denounce, but the pract-
cal Judgment Of TIE country pronounees the
intentions of the authors of the bill to be to
make Kanzas a slaveholding State.
The honorable senator from Illinois, who
has led in the Senate, and stands before the
country as the recognized leader in the move
ment for the repeal of the Missouri prohibi-
ton, and for the organization of the Terrific
ry, has been pleased to charge upon us of the
minority, and upon our speeches here he nth the
sFpiired r IN the Territory. Sir, he has no RIGHT
to draw even an inference from any word that
ever dropped from my lips, here or elsewhere,
to justify a charge SO entirely groundless. [
have never heard any senator on this floor ut
ter single sentiment calculated to excite yio-
lence in that Territory by the free State men.
What have the free State men to gain by law
less violence Nothing Peace, law, and
order, are necessary to protect them in the ex-
erclse OF their rights, to protect them in the free
enjoyment of those opinions which we believe
are to make Kanzas free State. The charge
has no foundation-no man here believes it :;
no man in the country believes it it is based
on no act OF ours, in or out of the Senate =
and the senator from Illinois knows the
charge to be as groundless as it is unjust
From the time that the honorable senator IN
troduced the proposition to repeal The Missou-
ri compromise, on the 7th of January, 1854, to
this period, l have paid some little attention
to the affairs of Kanzas, and l profess to know
something of them. In spite of the declare
tons made day, and in spite of the language
used early in the debate by the honorable gen
tleman from Louisiana, Mr.. Benjamin. in
regard to " mendaclous tales " on this floor
concerning Kanzas, l have never uttered
word here on this subject that any senator
dared to contradict. l will take that word
baek-they have contradicted it; but no sem
ator ever condeseended to disprove what have
said, and none ever will.
Sir, what have utter in regard to affairs in
Kanzas, knew TO be true and accurate. l
have friends in Kanzas; there are intelligent
and truthful men there with whom l am in
communication; L know something of their
history aid their struggles; and although tie
country is appalled, by the mass of evidence
presented by the House committee, | say the
report OF that committee does not begin to
come up to the actual truth. There is a rec
ord of lawless violence; there is record of
outrages upon property, liberty, and life; but
there is no record of the agonies which the
people have endured by day and by night
Peaceable men who never held weapon in
their hands in all their lives Christian men
who carry their bibles and their PRAYER books
instead of knives and revolyers, wherever
they go, have been hunted down. They have
suffered agonies untold. The record of their
agonies will never be read by mortal eye the
world will never fully comprehend the atroci-
ties committed in that Territory, OIL the suffer.
ings endured by that people. That day which
shall reveal all things, may reveal the untold
miseries of that people, but the world will
never know how much Of suffering has been
endured in that ll-lated Territory ! will
read an extract from letter, recently received
from friend in that Territory, man of
peaceful life, Of high Intellectual and moral
culture. lie writes -
"The whole truth has not been, and never can
be told. Even your congressional committees
report, astounding as it may be, will not lift the
veil from ue,y many scenes of bloodShed, vio-
len'e, plumber, and oppression. You get the
m I'm features, and many of the details, enough
to damn any people on the face of the earth and
were such outrages committed on American cit
~. II Il L.. = u