The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-04-26

great and glorious se~in which they
are engaged. to peril all for such poor
qualification such an event as last night
can afford to an eyil-minded man. Such
a course can receive no sympathy from
.this people. and they will cat themselves
off from all responsibility for the deed.
The doer of the deed may have been
citizen of this town. or he may not. lie
may have done it from personal motives
or political enmity. However thatsmay
be, it is still an assassination. am not
here to justify Mr.. Jones. or his course
during the past winter. when by his Ill
viii towards the people here, bis alleged
lnisrepresentasions to Gov. Shannon. he
brought upon you force likely to des-
/ troy you. / am not here to justify the
motives that induced him to come here
on Saturday, and of doing what he did
on Sunday last, of bringing yesterday
those United States troops here, and his
arrest of your citizens | condemn as
heartily as any other man in this meet
ing all his proceedings, from first to last.
Yet l feel revolted and shocked at the
event of last night. and deem that the
perpetratof Of that assassination is de-
serving punishment. l do not hold that
any man should consider he had right
to roam about this community and take
the life ofany one secretly and by assas-
sination, whom he deems to have improp-
erly taken from him any of his rights
and privileges. If such state of soci-
| ETY. is brought about here, we may as
well leave the country, for We would
soon be in state of barb2rism which
would render this Territory vast plain
of anarchy, confusion and bloodshed.
If the man who committed this deed
supposed he could so redress political
wrongs, he did not understand his obli-
cations to society, to the Free State par
ty; he did not know the creed of his
own party, the position they have taken
before the people of the United States,
the broad and solid foundation upon
which it has maintained itself up to this
time. Last September the Free State
party of this Territory took position
which exists now unaltered and unmodi-'
fed. In the report and resolutions they
adopted, lines distinct and unmistakable
are drawn. The future course OF the
party was indicated in some resolutions
which will read.
He then read some resolutions adopt
ed by the convention of September last
at Big Springs
Such was the doctrine set forth by the
Free State party. that they would never
submit to the laws of the Territory as a
permanent institution, but would set
themselves about obtaining remedies for
the purpose of getting rid of them, that
the bailot-box and the courts and all
peaceful remedies should be resorted to-.
and after those remedies had been ex-
hausted, and they had no choice but 10
sit down ,nder these laws permanently,
or resist them by force, they would re-
sist them withoutregard to consequences.
The people of this Town have been going
en- quietly, refusing to recognize the ter
ritorial authorities, avoiding conflict
with the authorities of the United States,
which must be destructive, thus keeping
precisely in the right path, and in a po-
sition where your friends at home and
abroad sIld defend and justify you.
The courts have been sought, and am
sorry to say that little hope of redress
is to be found there. The sheriffs of the
counties are partizans, carefully selected
for their work, and they select the jurors
who are partizans. The conduct of any
of these judy and the lengths they
are disposed to go for the purpose of
pleasing their own friends, needs no COM
ment from me. You all know what took
place in the case of McCrea. Thus has
been demonstrated that the courts of this
Territory are hopeless place in which TO
obtain anything like law or justice.
We have appealed to another tribunal,
the ballot box, and have gone to the as
sembled representatives of the nation.
You sent me there as your representative,
to go to the bar of that great tribunal,
and there, in the face of the entire nation,
10 ask for that justice we could not obtain
from any other tribunal, and which we
have declared we are as yet unwilling to
take into our own hands. That appeal
is yet pending, is untried, and upon it
there has been no decision. A commit
tee of the representatives of the nation is
now among you, upon the very spot
where these outrages have been perpetra-
tied. They can examine the very forti-
! ications erected here in the dead of win
ter for the defence of your rights. They
can 60 where your ballot-boxes have been
rified and your polls invaded; to the
very spots stained by the blood of your
friends, murdered upon the altar of slav-
cry. They can go through your entire
Territory, and hear your complaints, and
report the facts to the representatives. of
the nation, where justice must be done.
In the midst of this progress. where ev-
erything was going on smoothly, peace
ably and satisfactorily. and all good cit
izens were congratulating themselves
upon the Successful progress of this ap-
/ neal. the hand OF Soma naai;eios.s, 49,
Isane, eyil-disposed individual undertakes
/ to throw down this supersGfacture we
have so carefully built up, and mar our
entire prospects by this unjustiiable and
atrocious act. Ii the man who struck
that blow did tito help our cause. be must
have been blind and insane in his reason
ings, and ignorant of the very FIRST idea
iof the position and character of the Free
State cause. He must bear the conse-