Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1856-03-07

documents has no accurate knowl-
edge, no true conception of the ac-
tual condition of affair in Kansas at
the time covered by them.
The year Of 1854 opened upon n
vast territory, lying in the heart Of
the continent, extending from thirty
six degrees thirty minutes on the
south to the possessions Of the Brit.
ish Queen on the north, from the
borders Of Missouri, Iowa, and Min
nesota on the east, 10 the SUBMITS OF
the Rocky mountains on the wesi.-
Over that territory, larger than the
empire Of Napoleon when, at the
head Of the grand army, he gazed
upon that ocean Of flame that
wrapt the minarets, turrets, and tow
ers Of the ancient capital Of the
Cars, the Republic, on the 9th Of
March, 1920, engraved 10 letters Of
living light the sacred words, Slav-
cry shall tie, and is forever, prohibit
ad p Slavery, with hungry gaze,
glared upon the forest and prairie,
bill and mountain, lake aud river, of
that magnificent region it was for
ever forbidden to enter. Fixing its
gllttcrlng eye upon that paradise,
consecraled by the nation to freedom
and free institutions for all, hallow-
ed forever to free men and free labor,
the slave power, in the person Of the
late President Of the Senate, the
sou! Of these border aggressons, de-
manded that this heritage Of free la
Dor should be opened TO the wither-
ing footsteps of the bondsman. Sir,
with hot haste YOU grasped the do
main of freedom, and flung it TO the
slave propaganda. Sir, your Admin
/ lsirallon, IN answer TO the stern pro-
test of the free laboring men of the
country whose heritage It was, mock
ed them with the delusive promise
that the actual settlers were to shape.
mold, and fashion the institutions OF
Kansas and Nebraska. Sir, two years
have passed, and your squatter SOW
ereignty' is proved a deluson and a
chear. Laws, more inhuman than the
code Of Draco, forced upon the ac-
tual settlers of Kansas by armed in
vading hosts from Missouri, are now
to be enforced by the drogoons of the
United Slates. The constitution,
framed by convention Of the peo-
pie, is spurned from the halls Of
Congress the convention that form
ed i is pronounced spurious by
the Senator from Connecticut F.; and
the people who ratified it are brand
ed as traitors by the Administration
and its subalterns.
BY the theory Of the Kansas Ne
braska act, Mr. President, the actual
/ settlers were to decide the transcend
ent question, whether freedom should
bless or slavery curse the virgin soil
of those vast Territories, lying in the
central regions of the continent -
The sons of the free Slates-of Pur-
itan New England, of the great CEN
trail States, and Of the Northwest
men who call no man master, and
who wish TO make no man a slave,
were invited to plant upon the soil
OF Kansas those institutions that have
blessed beauti6ed, and adorned the
homes OF their childhood. The sons
of the Soulh-lrom regions once
teemlng with the rich fruits of fields
now blasted, blighted, and withered,
by the sweat of untutord aud unre-
wardcd toIl-were invited TO plant,
if they could, the institutions that
had dishonored labor IN their own
native States, upon the unbroken
soil of Kansas. Sir, the people of
the North and the people of the
South had legal and moral right to
go there, when they pleased, how
they pleased, and with whom they
pleased in companies or in single
families under their own direction,
or under the auspices of emigrant
aid societies in the North or the
South.
Sir, the honorable Senator from
Missouri, Mr. Geyer,l in his re-
marks the other day upon the resolu-
lion of inquiry submitted by me,
made the extraordinary declaration
that the disorders which he admits
have existed on the borders, are to
be attributed to az extraordinary or
ganizaton, called an 'emlgrant aid
society the first attempt in the his
toIy of this country to take posses
sion Of an organized Territory, aud
exclude from it the inhabitants OF
other portions of the Union am
amazed that the Senator from Ms
sour should make such declaration
on the floor of the Senate. When,
aad how did the 'emigrant aid So
cIety' attempt TO take possession
Of an organized Territory, and to ex-
clude from II the inhabitants of other
portions Of the Union 2 win the
Senator tell us when that attempt
was made Z win he tell us where
it was made Will he tell US how
it was madeI Here and now chal-
lenge the Senator TO give US one sim
gle fact To sustain the declaration he
has so uujuslly made against men Of
stainless purify. The Senator avows
that men from his Stale have pass
cd over the borders but they have
done so he tells us) 'to protect the
ballot box from the attempt OF arm
ed col0nlsls TO control the elections
there When and how were the
ballot boxes assailed by earned colo
nisis' from the Nnrth | call unnn