The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-04-07

tD1Dite eecfa, IKE Tue pipie, Suu Ny anu ~, nv
ire rate we sre going on, we may expect the
advent OF soue new political Swedenborg, to
maintain that il is . work not intended ct all
TO be construed in its literal sense, but requires
toe illumiuation Of another seer to enable the
people to understand il.
Senator Douglas in mis- Kansas report dis
closes a new phase of the srcana of that com
pact touching the powers Of Congress over the
Territories and it is this: The authority to ad-
NIT new States conters the incidental power TO
organize Territorial governments. The latter
is regarded as needful preparation for such
admission, and justification of Congress in
acting without special constitutional authority.
In other words, Mr.. Douglas comedies that
there is no direct grant of power in the organic
law, but he deduces it from the DIVISION that
"new States may be admitted by the Congress
into the Union" that body being authorized
"to make all laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into execution the
foregoing powers" that of organizing Terri
torisl governments, as kind Of preparatory
schools species of elementary instruction
and PREPARATION being one Of those laws.
Gen. Cass and Mr.. Douglas, then, start toge-
ther and come out together; bat they reach the
final conclusion by two distinct routes: for
while the latter insists upon the right Of Con-
gress to legslate for the Territories as an Incl
dent of the power to admit new States, he is
equally explicit with the former in denying
the authority Of the federal legislature to i'm
pose any restrictions upon the people which
might not be imposed on their admission into
the Union. 1t is thus seen that the principle
of popular sovereignty is in no sense Impaired
or denied by Mr.. Douglas; on the other hand,
if Congress is limited on the subject to the pro-
vision of the constitution authorizing the al
mission of new States, that body.is cerSain-
~ restricted to the conditions of such
admission, and they refer only to the
form OF government in general sense.
And precisely at this point we encounter diff
culties in receiving Mr.. Douglass theory. He
calls Territorial organizations state Of prepa-
ration, and that is nowhere recognized in the
compact Of union. Absolute equality Of all
the people is the very foundation upon which
the republic rests. The power to admit new
States is complete in itself, Congress being d.
rected only to gee that they are republican in
form; and this is provision made for the pro-
lection Of the members of the federal Union, and
clearly implies that the States to be formed
should not be restricted in the exercise of their
rights Of choosing their own peculiar organiza-
TONS Now, the right to organize Territorial
governments, as claimed by Mr. Douglas, is far
more enlarged than that conveyed to Congress
touching the admission OF new States; for that
body undertakes to prescribe not only the form
Of the organization, but actually appoints its
Congress is made to rest upon the provision Of
the compact noted by Mr.. Douglas, it is time
to consider the present government Of Kansas
az in fact usurpation, in 80 far as it autho-
rizes the appointment and assumes the exercise
Of executive functions in that Territory; for
he asserts the right Of the people to absolute
freedom in all matters relating to the domestic
policy Of the Territories precisely the rights
which appertain to the States of the Union
and he cannot enlarge the powers of the fede-
raj legislature beyond the simple authority to
admit new States.
There is certainly broad difference between
the action Of Congress and the duties Of that
body in reference to the constitution on the
admission of new States, and Its acsloa IL the
establishment of Territorial governments. II
many respects, indeed, the latter is in conflict
with the former; and this conflict is hardly re
moved by the plea that certain preparation Of
the people is necessary to enable them to ey-
ercise the powers Of sovereign State. For the
necessity of such preparation, by Mr.. Douglas
own showing, is dependent upon numbers and
not upon actual qualifications. He signifies his
readiness to receive, for instance, Kansas into
the Union whenever che shall have attained a
certain number of inhabitants, and not when
she shall be prepared" and qualified to ex,
else the powers of an independent State.
When the constitution was adopted, it will
be recollected. there was snong attachment
to the system Of State sovereignty, and
strong prejudice against what was feared as too
great consolidation in the general government.
The history Of France was q noted example Of
the gradual obliteration of the State and the
fatal influence Of the federal system. Indeed
nothing was go much feared as consolidation
and nothing 30 closely guarded as the freedom
Of the people and the sovereignty OF the States;
hence the specific reservation in the organic
law, that "the powers not delegated to the
United States by the constitution, nor pr mi
bited by. it to the States, are reserved to tie
States respectively, or to the people,"
If, then, Mr.. Douglas construction of the
constitution is correct, we are required to take
TIE back track, and leave, for instance, the
people Of Kansas to settle their own matters
in their own way. By it Robinson and his
party have the rightful organization, and Co
vernon Shannon is usurper. We do not OBJ
ject SO much to the manner in which Mr. Doug
les applies his construction as to the princi-
pie involved 10 it, which is the theoretical
abandonment Of the whole doctrine of po-