Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1856-11-06
SECRETARY MARCY OK KAN
SAS AFFAIRS

lEEE9 AZ AIMS
ANSWER TO TUE APPEAL OF THE aovElSoR OF IOWA
To HIS Eesslleneg James ". Grimes, Gorsrao1
| Your letter of date August so, addressed tt
the President, has been referred by him to this
Idepartment, with instructions to reply as fol
Ilows.-The President regrets that yeu should
s'haye been receiving letters, memorials and afh-
,layits from former citizens of Iowa in Kansas
for a whole year, alleging that they are not pro
tetted by the Emitted States officers in the enjoy
miRt of their liberty and property That yetr
1 exeelsencv should be subjected to such an an
noyaEee is the more painful when we consider
that you have no power to grant redress.
Thestate Of affairs in Kansas Is TO be regret
ted deeply by all American citizens. The Pres
ideht Is not les sensitive than you are to the
rights of the citizens IN Kansas His power,
however, Is only executive, and that which he
|. is sworn TO execute. 1t therefore becomes his
duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed
I He has no power TO disregard, amend, or set
aside laws, as unjust or unconstitutional; for 70
do 50 would be to invest him with the law-ma-
I king poweT-to make hin an absolute and irres-
ponsible poRer-to make him not the President
of republic, but the absolute monarch of the
country position to which the President does
| not aspire.
The President hitherto has been, and now is,
using all the means in his power to suppress
/ outrages in Kansas upon private rights, and to
7 otiStdlIl efllOTCClaW 1ilt
culties in Kansas have mainly arisen from a
spirit of rebellion against the constituted au-
/ thorities, and determination to resist all au-
| tiIoFity and all law; which by its general dis
semInation has subverted civil government and
rendered the law powerless, and by destroying
the power of the law has opened general field
| for rapine, murder and the whole catalogue Of
crimes to be committed with inpunity and to
go unredresscd-
The President has taken every effective inca
surS to secure to the citizens of Kansas dones-
/ tic tranquility and security against foreign ag-
| erosion. The suppression OF insurrectionary
movements Is within his power, but he cannot
and viii not attempt to control traitors to their
country. He will protect with the national arm
all who are disposed to gather around the stand
ard of the law, and to obey its behests. The
President, conscious of having done his whole
| duty, is at n loss to know by what authority
your excellency claims to arraign hin, or call
upon him for an explanation.
] assuming that the general government has
failed to perform its duty you assert ''that it is
manifestly the right of each of the states to
adopt measures TO protect its former citizens y
You demand, again and again, protection but
conclude with what seems to be the burden OF
all grfefs-not demand for protection to citi-
zens in Kansas but demand that the military
force on the line of emigration be Dispersed
The President cannot CRAFTY you in this matter.
He will not permit armed invasion from Nilsson
1 ri, Iowa, or any other force. Peaceful immigra-
| ton he never does and never will interrupt.
The President is not disposed to except to the
style of your address when you say to him.
"As the executive of Iowa, / demand, for her
citizens in Kansas, protection in the enjoyment
of their property, their liberty and their politi
cal rights; but would suggest to your excellen-
cy that such language implies right to enforce
obedience and the power to compel it. Neither
of these are entrusted to your excellency, and
the President therefore pardons to your zeal
what could not be forgiven to your good breed
ling
In conclusion you propose the following is
sue: I'm the event of a Noncompliance in my
view case will clearly have arisen within the
principle laid down by afr. Madison in the Vir-
GINA resolutions of 1T9S, when it VIII be the
duty of the States to interfere to arrest the pro-
gress of the evils in that territory"
Is 1t not strange that n Governor, with such
limited powers as are conceded by the Constitu-
ton of the United States and conferred by the
constitution of upon you should everso es-
innate himself? The doctrine that the Executive
OF iowa can protest her citizens beyond its bor-
dcrs, OF that he has any authority beyond the
| limits of his STATE, is absurdiry. The Con-
stitution defines the rights of all citizens of
Iowa going TO Kansas or elsewhere. They can
not carry there the laws or the protection Of
Iowa, any more than citizen of slave State
can carry his slaves and hold them there
| When he goes to Kansas, the constitution guar
antees to him the protection of the laws of Kan
sas, and all the rights which the citizens ther.
enioy-Art. i, Sec. ?, Constitution of the Uni
ted States.
The President believing that little reflection
will convince your excellency that your jurisdic-
ton of the citizens Of Iowa is confined to limits
of your own state, still feels solictous lest your
excellency become excited and attempt some
Quixotic redress for the real or fancied wrongs
of citizens of Iowa in Kansas, and therefore in
vites your attention to this clause in the const-
tuition. Art l, sec. TO- ssNo state shall, with
out the consent Of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of
peace, enter into any agreement or compact
with another state, or with foreign Power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in
such imminent danger as viii not admit of de-
lay"
Under this restriction of the Constitution, the
President hopes that you will not undertake any
rash or ill-considered enterprise of q waTlike
character without the limits Of your own state,
but that you viii lend the influence of your ex-
ample and your counsel to maintain law and or
der in accordance with the Constitutions, and
that you will become an efficient aid to him in
faithfully discharging the sworn duties of his of
flee, With high consideration, remain your
obedient servant.
VIZ L, MARCY, Secretary of State.
To JAS. w. GmNEs, Governor of Iowa
MINNEsoTA.-The St Louis Republican has
returns of the late election for members Of the
territorial Legislature, which we condense as
follows:
OauntIp. Dsr M.