Washington telegraph., 1856-07-02

III tue notch-potch which was being served
up by the political stewards at Porkopolis :?
Were we aware of the juggle by which the
kansas- Nebraska men were to be laid on
the shelf. and Nebraska-Kansas man sub.
stItuted for them? We attacked principle
and you parade juggle and accuse us Of hav-
ing warred against that. You seeing
the Abolition nature Of the doctrine,
which, three weeks since, you unqualiGediy
endorsed, made public, in your fear and
shame. you take refuge under the Cousti-
tutional ramparts built up by your oppo-
nents; and just as unblushiDgly as you make
groundless charges. you appropriate doc
trines to yourselves of whose nature you
knew nothing under the canopy. of heaven,
until taught BY the opponents you revile
You say, on the 9th of June. 1856: s:Now,
sirs. understand us" (-.Noe, sirs, an
derstand as" indeed.9
Now sirs understand us; we say that un-
til the Inhabitants of Kansas form State
Constitution the sovereignty remains In res
ervation for them, to be exercised by them
at the proper time. and it cannot be exercised
So as to prohibit slavery while the country is
In territorial State
On the 10th of June, A. D. 1856, you
said concerning squatter sovereignty
1.-The measure is no new oue-it is demo-
cratlc-it is Inherent In the people aud re-
sides solely IN them, to be exercised legally
and constitutionally, asnder a proper terri
to/iaL bill or State constitution
Did you ever know what you were talking
about. or do you know now Or did sou
express your real sentiments on the 10th
of June, aud did, between that date and
the 24th. the Richmond Enquirer whip you
into the traces? Or do you express your
real sentiments on the 24th aud did you
sag what you said on the 10Th because you
thought the Cincinnati convention would
nominate Douglas or Pierce
As to your queries as TO our opinions
concerning the nature of Popular Sover-
eighty, you can find them in the Platform
of the party of which we are members
And we commend 10 your perusal the fol-
lowing article. from the American Organ.
Au Reroir.' Messrs. Editors of the Hemp
stead Democrat
The Richmond Enquirer and ''squatter
Sovereignty"
The Richmond Enquirer is enveloped
in difficulties on the questions of ':Squat-
ter Sovereignty" and the construction OF
the 9TH section of the American platform
We intimated, a, few days ago, that the
Enquirer would be obliged to do one of
two things, either back out from its de-
nunciations of ''Squatter Sovereignty"
or Withdraw from the support of Forney,
Pierce, and Company Instead of re-
tracing Its denunciations of "Squatter
Sovereignty" OF Withdrawing its support
from the Forney and Pierce dynasty, that
press now boldly assumes that there is no
'sSquatter Sovereignty" in the Kansas
Nebraska bill, or if there be any, the
American party. through its National
Council, have adopted precisely the same
principle in the seventh section of Its
platform. Now it seems to us, and we
will endeavor to make it appear to others,
that the Enquirer misunderstands. what
is meant by ''Squatter Sovereignty" and
also that 1t misinterprets the 7th section
of the American Platform In the use
of the phrase ''Squatter Sovereignty"
he l.f of ~ Il h,
terpreted literally, because Sovereignty
does not reside in the people, nor in those
"citizens of the United States who may
inhabit Territory
The word sovereignty, as used in this
phrase, can only be construed to mean
that political po,Oer which those who ex-
ercise the free suffrage can enjoy, in any
of the organized Territories The prefix
squatter is well understood to mean that
class of persons who settle on the public
lands without title, or, in other words,
the temporary occupants of the public
lands, without reference to the question
whether they are ''citizens of the United
States or not. The plain meaning of
the term "Squatter Sovereignty then, is
JoJOu " a AONoiOSoANO>A'
mass of human beings, without restriction
as to suffrage qualification, by residence
for a stated term, and by naturalization
in the case of aliens. The residents of
an organized Territory, whether aliens OF
''cltizens of the United States" cannot
be sovereign until, in due form, they have
become State with the consent of Con-
gress- Eo Instant that they are admit
ted as a State, their sovereignty CON-
mences. Until that moment they are un-
der the control of Congress. This we
take to bs sound doctrine. But what is
the meaning of the explanatory clause
of the Kansas-Nebraska act? 1t reads
| thus:
''It being the true intent and meaning
of this act, not to legislate slavery into
any Territory or State, nor to exclude it
therefrom, but to leave the people thereof
perfectly free to form and regulate their
domestic institutions in their own way,
subject only to the Constitution of the Z.