Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-06-26

Opculil9 lile uOOT lO me EOteS UI tHt IuhdueES
: by an unconstitutional shibboleth, excludin.
F, from The polls the mass of actual settlers
, and by making the franchise depend upon
] petty tax only, admitting to the polls til,
mass of borderers from Missouri. Thus, By
, tyrannical forethought, the Usurpaton no
on y fortified all that it did, but assumed
Se!f-perpetuating energy.
Thus was the Crime co1summated.-
) Slavery now stands erect, clanking its chain:
on the Territory of Kansas, surrounded by
code of death, and irampling upon all cher
, ished liberties, whether of speech, the press
the bar, the trial by jury. or the electoral
franchise. And, sir, all this has been done
{ not merely to introduce wrong which in
itself IS denial OF all rights, and iE dread
of which mother has lately taken the life
OF her offspring; not merely, as has been
sometimes said, to protect Slavery in Mis-
souri,, since it is futile for this State to com
plain of Freedom ON the side of Kansas,
when $fced IN exists without complaint on
the side of Iowa, and also on the side of Hi
nois; but it has been done for the sake of
political power, in order to bring Two new
slavehoiding Senators upon this floor, and
thus to forli(y in the National Government
The desperate chances ofa waning Oligarchy
As the ship, voyiging on pleasant summer
seas, is assailed by pirate crew, and robbed
! for the sake of its doubluonS and dollars
SO is this beautiful Territory now assailed in
its peace and prosperity, and robbed, in order
TO wrest its political power to the side of
Slavery. Even now the black flag of the
land pirates from Missouri waves at thu. mast
head in their laws you hear the pirate yell,
and see the flash of the pirate knife; while,
| incredible to relate. the President, gather
ing the Slave Power al his back, teslifes a
pirate sympathy.
Sir, all this was done in the name of Pop
ular Sovereignty. And this is the close of
the tragedy. Popular Sovereignty, which.
when truly understood. is a fountain OF just
power, has ended in Popular Slavery; not
merely in The subsection OF the unhappy Al
rican race, but OF this proud Caucasian blood.
which you boast. The profession with which
you began, of Az by The People, has been
lost in the wretched reality of Notaihg for
decetful name plighted faith was broken,
and an ancient Landmarks for Freedom WAS
overturned, now lifts itself before us, like
Sin, in the terrible picture of Milton,
That seemed woman to the waist and iair,
But ended leu! III many u scliY told
Vo!uminous and vast, serpent armed
With mortal ST ing; about her middle round
cry ut Eeil-uunds never celSlag barkei
WI 10 iIrll1 ron
A hldeCu> peak yet when they list, would creep,
ii aught disturbed their nulse, into her womb,
And kennel tlIie, yeI there sill Ua hed aud hJwltd
Within, unseen
The image is complete at all points; and,
with this exposure, take my leave of the
Crime against Kansas.
II. Emerging from all the blachness Of
this Crime, in which we seem TO have been
lost, as in savage wood, and turning our
backs upon it, as upon desolation and dca h, /
from which, while others have suffered, We
have escaped, 1 cDTp HU-v 10 HE tTJTU- T
GIEs which the Crime has found. Sir, well
may you s:art at the suggestion that such !
series of wrongs, 50 clearly proved by vari- |
ous testimony, so openly confessed by the
wrong-doers. and so widely recognised
throughout the country, should find Apollo /
gies. But the partisan spirit, now, as in
other days, heitates at nothing. the great |
Crimes of history have never been without
Apu gies. The massacre of St. Bartholo- !
new, which you now instinctiveiy condemn,
was, at the time, applauded in high quarters,
and even commemorated by PapaI medal, !
which may still be procured at Rome; as !
the Crime against Kansas. which is hardly !
less comp cuous in dreadful eminence has
been shielded on this floor by eX:enuiting
words, and even by Presidential message,
which, like the Papal medal. can never be
forgotten in considering the madness und
perverSty uf men.
Sir, the Crime cannot be denied The |
President himself has admitted 'illegal and
reprehensible" conduct. Il" such conclusion
he was compel He'd by irresistible evidence;
but what he mildly describes | openly ar
raj IN. Senators may affect to put 1t aside
bv u sneer: or to reason it away by figures;
or to explain it by a theory, such as desPer
ate invention has produced on tn 5 floor, that
the Assassins and Thugs of Missouri were
in reality citizens of Kansas; but all these
Efforts, so far as made, are only tokens o!
the weakness of the cause, while TO the
original Crime they add another offence o.
false testimony against innocent and suffer-
ing men. But the Apologies for the Crime
are worse than the efforts at denial. In
cruelty and heartIcssness they identity their
authors with the great transgression.
They are four in number. and fonr-!old in
character The first is the Apology tyrGn-
nical; the second. the Apology imlectie; the
third, the Apology absurd: the fourth. The
Apology Infamous. THIS is all. Tyranny
imbecity, absurdiry, and infamy, all unite
to dance, ike the wierd sisters, about this
Crime.
The Apology tgrann'cal is founded on
the mistaken act Of Governor Reeder, in
aulhenticating the Usurping Legislature, by
which it is asserted that, whatever may have
been the actual force or fraud in its election.
the people of Kansas are etlectualy conclu-
ded, and the whole proceeding is placed un-
der the forma. sanction of law. According
to this as sumption, complaint is now in vain,
and it only remains that Congress should
sit and hearken to it, without correcting the
wrong, as the ancient tyrant listened and
granted no redress to the human means that
issued from the heated brazen ball, which
subtle cruelty had devised. Thi' | call the
Apology of technicality inspired oy tyranny.
The facts on this head are few and plain.
Governor ReeGer, after allowing only five
DAYS for objections to the returns--a space
Of time unreasonably briet in that extensive
Territory-dec!ared a majority of the men,
bers of the Council and Of the House of
Representatives "duly elected" withheld
certificates from certain others, because of
sati- factory proof that they were not duly
elected, and appointed day for new cleo
tons to supply these vacancies. jiterwards,
by formal message, he recognised the LHgis-
lature as a legal body, and when he vetoed
their act of adjournment to the ncighborhood
,,f Missouri hp did IL .implv on the ground |