The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1856-12-10

ss""' W" shiS l'oiHtl SJ'Sioss pi"|COh
tzis to act m the very spirit of liberty, i,
IL at oifcc ch .rg3l with aiming to extend
slave Hoo: into all the new territories of
tic Unite! State
Of course theae imputat,ons Oh the in
tentioaS of Congress in this respect, con
cciscd az they We're in preia lice, AMI dis
sa,lsinatet: ia passion, are utterly destitute
Of any Justification in the nature of things,
al tcoatrary to all the fdaiimAnta! doe
trues, ,aal principles of civil liberty aai
enlightenment
Wa;le therefore, in general, the peorlr
OF the northarn States have never. ut any
tia1e, arroyltci for the fe leril y1vcrnm n,
the power to interfere dire,ely with tn
domestic condition Of persons in the south
oru States, but on the contrary have dis.
syowcd all such intentions, and have shruuk
from Conspicuous a!liiation with those few
whs pursue their fan.tical objects avow-
0dly through the contemplated means ot
Revolutionary change Of the government
and with acceptance of the necessary con
seqieaces-a civil AMI servle war -yel
many citizens have Suffered themselves 10
he drawn into one evanescent political
Issue of agitation after another. apper
tainilZ to the same set of opinions aud
which snbsid.d as rapidly as they arose
when it came to be seen, as it uniformly V
did, that they were incompatible with tn"
colapacts OF the Constitution and the ex
istence Of the Union. Thus when tn"
acts of some of the States to nulify tn.
existing extradition law imposed upon
Congress the duty of passing Il new ona,
the country was invited by agitators to
enter into party organization for it's repeal;
bat that agitation speedily ceased by rea
son of the impracticahility of its object
So, when the statute restriction upon the
institution Of New States, bv geograph-
icaI line had been repealed, the country
was urged to demand it's restoration, and
that project q so died almost with its birth.
Then follow d the era of. alarm from th
North against imputed Southern encroach
ments; which cry sprang in reality from
the spirit Of revolutionary attack ON tn
domestic institutions of the South, and
alters troubled existence of few months
has been rcbuked by the voice of patri
0tc people.
on this last agitation, one lamentabl
feature was, that it was carried OH at tn
immediate expense Of the peace and hap
iliDess of ths people of the territory Of
Kansas. That was made the battle field
not SO much Of opposing factions or in
teyests within itself, as of the conaictine
passions of the whole people of the Uni
ted States Revolutionary disorder ii
Kansas had its origin in projects of inter
seption deliberately arranged by certain
members of that Congress, which enacted
q law for the organization Of that Terrific
IT. And when propaganda colonial.
tiea Of Kansas had thus been undertaken
in one section Of the Union, for the sys-
tematie promotion of its peculiar riews OF
policy, there ensued. as matter of cours
o counter action with opposite views, i,
Other sections of the Uaiou.
ia consequence of these and other il
ci,ients, many acts of disorder it is una.
njable, have been perpetrated in kanss
to the occasional interruption, rather th.,
the permanent sus. .'eusiun OF regular gov
ernment Aggressive and ia,Sa repr'
hensible incursoass iato the TerriIor
were ualertakeA-bo,h, in the \ orth ans
South, and enterei-it on its northern iIoj
der by the way Of IsSa. Us well as on til
eastern by waysof Missouri; and there has
existed within it4a state of inSIrrcr'!,t
against the coasti u.ed au shnriii-s, ii, t
withoat coun,epaaea from incon,i,lera.
persons in each Of the great sections q!
the. Uaion Bat the d;lfirulsies in h
Territory have been extravsgantly exa2
gsra,ed for purposes of political agiia'i"
elsewhere. Tie number and gravity ot
the acts Of violence have been magni;i
psstly by statements entirely untrue, ~
psrtly hy reiterated accounts of he sal
Fums-soE facts. Thus the territory ha
been seemingly filled with violence, wiz
the whole amount of such acts his a.,
been gyrates than whatoecasonaliy PASS
before. US in single cities to the regret 4
oil good -eitizcns, but without being "a
gsrdedfas of general or permanent poli'
ioal consequence.
Imputed irregularities in the eleciio''
had dia Kansas like occasional irregularitit :
Of the same description in the Safe,
vefe beyond the sphere of action of It's
Executive. Bat incidents of actual vi"
1epee or of organized obstruction of la"
yertinaciously renewed from time to tm'
have beea met as they occurred. by sn'
means as were available, and as the cir
cumsaances required: aud nothing of III
character remains TO affect the geufr:
peace of the Uuion. The at.smpt of
part of the Inhabitants of the Territor,
to erect o revolutionary government.
though seduously encouraged and supple
with pecuniary aid from active agents o
disorder in some Of the States, has com
pIetcly failed. Bodies Of armed men
foreign to the T-rritory, have been pre-
vented from ent ring OF compelled l.
leave il. Pr, dat,ry bands, engaged il
acts of, rapine under cover OF the exisiin:
,,oi;,; ;;saI ,lisfuri,ances have been arreSict