Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-06-17

Sufficient power was committed to you, ane
you must use it,
i obedience to the laws and consequent
security of the citizens of Kansas, are primar,
objects You must repress lawless violence
in the Territory, in whatever form it may mani
fest itself"
| Obviously 1t was the Presidents desire, as il
was his duty, if practicable "to have the pro-
cess in the hands of the Marshal quietly ex
ecuted." In ordinary times, when peace and
tranquility prevail, the employment of the
posse comitdtus, as the power of the country is
technically termed, to assist an officer in sup
pressing riot or executing any legal precept
which is forcibly opposed, is preferable to a
resort to military force. The vindcation OF
the law acquires moral force and sanction
from the rallying of the citizens to its support,
which is salutary and conservative in its re-
straing influences; and there is a just jealousy
of military interposition in civil matters, which
free governments are wisely careful to respect.
But in times Of great popular excitement and
of tumult verging upon condition of civil
war, the legal authority is called upon, not
alone for maintenance of its sovereignty, but
equally in obedience to the promptings of hui
manity and the precepts of Divine benevo-
ence, to use all the means at its command to
repress violence, and to restrain the effusion Of
blood and the rapacity of plumber. And espe-
cially in our own complicated political struc-
ture, should local turbulence chance to rise to
so desperate pitch of audacity and peril, is
it competent and proper for the supreme ma
tional power to interpose the military arm be.
tween the combatants. Because the Central
Government, taking its measures at a point
remote from the scene of strife, and beyond
the sphere of that excitement which is insepa-
rable from the field of action, may be supposed
to exercise its power rather as an arbiter than
a partisan, and in the interests Of peace, Of
justice, and the general good while the local
authorities, hover honest and inGexible, are
liable to the influences Of sympathy and ex-
posed to the imputation of bias. Conside-
rations OF this character, no doubt, governed
the national Executive in the instructions re-
ferred toin the above quoted despatch, and which
are described as having specified an instru-
mentality, whose employment would have en-
ablcd the Kansas authorities to dispense with
a civil posse in the execution of the Territorial
laws. 1t is not the fault of the Administration,
therefore, that anyacolhsion has already occur
red 1t was clearly in contemplation of the
President, that the orders issued should give
the Marshal such necessary military support in
the service OF process, as would overawe resist
ance and exact quiet submission to the majesty
of the law. Lawless violence in whatever form
was to be repressed, whether emanating from
a proslavery or freesoil faction. "Obedi-
ence to the laws, and the consequent security
of the citizens Of Kansas" are the declared
primary objects" Preliminary to any action
to be taken for the redress of grievances, whe-
ther upon one side or the other, the predomi-
nance of law and the peace and order of society
were to be restored and established. This is
eminently the policy that sound discretion, true
patriotism, and elevated considerations Of duty,
point out and require to be prosecuted. And
now that the instructions tending to this end
have been renewed and explained it may be
hoped that the country will soon cease to be
agitated with accounts of the organization and
equipment Of military colonies for emigration
to Kansas, and with the actual resonance of
civil war upon our frontier. plains. There is
no occasion for the arming of peaceful colo
nists, nor for sending to the Territorial inhabi-
tants warlike munitions and supplies. The
Government of the country promises ample
protection to the industrious settler, and there
is no danger that he will be molested while he
renders obedience to the law and abstains from
provoking and inviting strife. If the laws are
ii
has the remedy of repeal or modification in the
prescribed and usual way; and if, in the mean
time, impatient of their operation, he has only
to withdraw from the jurisdiction. There is
no sufficient reason for violent resistance to the
law, in any present sufferings of the people from
its expressions; and in view of the evils result
ing from a state of anarchy and lawless violence,
acquiescence. for the moment in its benests,
would seem to be commended by every consid-
Grafton of self interest and Of wise expedi-
ency. Investigations instituted by Congress
are in progress, the result of which may be
expected to exhibit the nature and extent of
the grievances which have given rise to the
dissatisfaction and fomented the troubles pre-.
yaiiug in Kansas. In view of the facts thereby
developed, the National Legislature win be
enabled to Judge, whether its interpositon is
required for the recti6caton Of wrong, and the
establishment and maintenance Of equal laws,
rights and privileges, and of the great princi-
Piles Of liberty incident to the republican polity
and guaranteed by the Constitution Of the coun,
try; or whether the attainment of those objects
may be safely left to the development Of local
action That they will specially be secured in
Difference to the popular will, and that the in
stituions Of Kansas will be conformed to the
predominant sentiment of its inhabitants, is
inevitable nor can that consummation, so
"devoutly to be wished" become essentially
retarded or precipitated, through any further
employment Of extraordinary and exceptions.
BILE means by outside sympathisers with either
faction.
Aid for Kansas.
The efforts which are successfully making in
different places to raise funds for the Free