The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-03-22
President,s Proclamation.

ment OF Executive interference for the
i purpose of putting an end to condition
of things as disgraceful to the ceuatry as
it is perilous to the lives and the Interests
of those most directly concerned i'm it
That the President should interpose the
4 Federal authority in the affairs of Kan
sas, all will admit to be his duty under
the circumstances, and they who have
most severely blamed him for his delay
in doing so are his political opponents,
and especially his opponents on the ques-
ton which has agitated the country since
1 the virtual repeal of the Missouri Com
promise. Nor can exception be Justly
taken in any quarter to the more import
ant positions assumed in the Message.
That those who, either within or with
out the Territory, propose to control its
political organization by force, and those
who combine to resist the execution OF
the Territorial laws should be restrained;
that interference open and armed, in its
affairs by individuals not its citizens, or
secret and indirect by individual States,
is in violation of the Constitution of the
United States that all persons unlawful
ly combining against the constituted au-
thority of the Territory, should be first
commanded, and afterward, If necessary,
compelled to disperse; and that immunity
from violence, and protection to property
and civil and political rights should be
secured to all peaceable and law abiding
inhabitants of the Territory : these prop
ositions, and others which are their COM
plements or their corollaries, must receive,
in the abstract, the sssennt of all except
professional disorganizers.
But still, the Proclamation is as dou-
ble-faced as Janus, as convertible and
as pervertible as an utterance of the Del
phic Oracle. 1t may be honestly read
and understood in directly opposite senses
by men holding opposite opinions, and
its real meaning and value are only to be
determined by comparing it with the po-
litical creed, and measuring it by the in
tentions of the author. Examined thus,
it simply means that the enactments OF
the body generally known as the "bo-
gus" Legislature, are the organic law OF
the Territory, which is to be executed
with impartial justice. That the Emf
grant societies and those who have con-
tributed to the aid of the Free State set
tiers have violated the constitution of
the United Ssates-that the combination
of the real inhabitants of the Territory
to defend themselves against the Border
Ruffians was insurrection-and that the
emigration of settlers from the Free
States for the deliberate purpose of ex-
Guiding slavery from its SOILS an attempt
to determine the future institutions of the
Territory, which amounts to invasive ag-
gression. In brief, the Proclamation
means that the President has determined
upon "the forcible interposition of the
whole power of the General Government"
to protect and aid those who are endeav-
oring to plant slavery in Kansas.
But although this announcement is
made by the chief executive officer of
the Union, the Commander-in- Chief of
the Army of the United States, we do
not believe that it viii be carried out.
President Pierce, though bent on distin-
gushing his administration by some 9TH
er important event than the bombardment
of Greytown. though ready to bid any
price which his position enables him to
those whom he believes to be able to Sc
cure him in it, though willing to be a
tool in the hands of men more unscru-
pulous and more able than himself, will
long withhold his hand from any instru-
ment which directs the muskets of the
United States troops against the citizens
of the United States, who combine only
to resist enactments to which they deny
the character of law, and which, to say
the least, is not yet made clear were not
imposed upon them by foreible viola
ton of their rights as citizens. Th: an
nouncement that civil war had begun in
Kansas, has often been made in the par
donable exaggerations of telegraphic op-
orators and the paragraphs of journals
who strive to keep their readers on full
allowance of excitement diet /; but let the
first United States gun be fred in Kansas
against the steady opponents OF Border
Rufianism, and such civil war would
spring up at its sound as would make
| those stand aghast who called it into ex-
istence. The men of the North, willing
to endure provocation to the last. would
endure no longer, and such wrathful
food would pour into the Territory, as
would sweep troops, and rufians, and
slavery, and every vestige and supporter
of it, away at once and forever.
That the President and his counsellors
do not know this is hardly credible.
They must be aware, that however inter
est or party discipline may influence
Northern men to give them a quasi sup.
port in their attempt to sustain the viola
ton of the Great Compromise, no North.
ern man will do battle with his fellow
citizen for the sake of widening the area
of slavery and then they must be equal.
ly sure that the North, as body, would
| fight TO the death IN such q civil war Al
this Proclamation would seem intended
to provoke. What, then, isithis Proela-
Imstien |? what Is il worth and what Is il
| for 1t is nothing but an adrolt and pit,
| iful bid for so many Southerh votes =
! are necessary to the reelection of Pierce
to the Presidency.-N r Courier aad
Inqairsr.
Il r. Wise men think what they say
fools say what they think.-Fan.