The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1856-08-19

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posed TO the repeal of the Missouri Compro-
mise; to the policy of the present Admins
tration; TO the extension of slavery into free
Territory; in favor of the admission of Kan
sas as a Free State; of restoring the action
of the Federal Government to the principles
of Washington and Jefferson; and for the
purpose of presenting candidates for the Off
ces of President and Vice President, do
l. Resolye, That the maintainance of the
principles promulgated in the declaration of
Independence and embodied in the Federal
Constitution, are essential to the preservation
of our Republican Institutions, and that the
Federal Constitution, the rights of the States,
and the Union of the States shall be preserv-
ed.
2. Resolycd, That with our Republican
fathers we hold it to be a selfevident truth,
that all men are endowed with the unalien-
able right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, and that the primary object and
ulterior design of our Federal Government
were to secure those rights TO all persons
within its exclusive Jurisdiction; that as our
Republican fathers, when they had abolished
Slavery in all our National Territory, ordain-
ed that no person should be deprived Of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of
law, it becomes our duty TO maintain this
provision of the Constitution against all at
tempts to violate it for the purpose Of estab-
fishing Slavery in the United States by posi-
tive legislation, prohibiting lis existence or
ity of Congress, of Territorial Legislature,
of any individuals, 30 give legal assistance TO
Slavery in any Territory in the United States,
while the present Constitution shall be main
tanned.
8. Resolved, That the Constitution confers
upon Congress sovereign power over the Ter
ritories of the United States for their govern
ment and that in the exercise Of this power,
it is both the right and the duty of Congress
to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics
of barbarism-Poygamy and Slavery.
4. Resolced That while the Constitution
Of the United States was ordained and es-
tabished by the people in order TO ''form a
more perfect union, establish justice, indure
domestic tranquility, provide for the COM
mon defence, and secure the blessings of lib
erty," and contains ample provisions for The
protection Of the life, liberty and property
of every citizen, the dearest constitutional
rights of the people of Kansas have been
Their Territory has been invaded by an
armed force.
Spurious and pretended Legislative, Judi
cal aud Executive officers have been set over
them, by whose usurped authority, sustained
by the military power Of the Government,
tyannical and unconstitutional laws have
been enacted and enforced
The rights of the people TO keep aud bear
arms have been infrnged;
Test oaths of an extraordinary and entang-
ling nature have imposed as condition of
exercising the right of suffrage and holding
office;
The right of accused persons TO speedy
and public trial by an impartial jury has been
denied;
The right of the people 10 be secure in
their persons, houses, papers and effects a.
gainst unreasonable searches and seizures has
been violated;
They have been deprived of life, liberty
and property, without due process of law;
That the freedom of speech and Of the
press has been abridged;
The right TO choose their representatives
has been made of no effect.
Murders, robberies, and arson have been
instituted and encouraged, and the offenders
have been allowed to go unpunished;
That all these things have been done with
the knowledge, sanction and procurement Of
the present Administration, and that for this
high crime against the Constitution, the Un-
ion and humanity, we arraign the Admins
tration, the President, his advisers, agents,
supporters, apologists and accessories either
before or after Che facts-before the country
and before the world; and it is our fixed pur-
pose to bring the actual perpetrators of these
atrocious outrages, and their accomplices TO
sure and condign punishment hereafter.
s. Resolved, That Kansas should be i'm
mediately admitted as State of the Union,
with her present Free Constitution, as at
once the most effectual way of securing to
her citizens the enjoyment of the rights and
privileges to which they are entitled and of
ending the civil strife now raging in her Ter
ritory.
@. Resolved, That the highwayman's plea
"might makes right" embodied in the Os
tend Circular, was in every respect unworthy
of American diplomacy, and would bring
shame and dishonor upon any Government
of people that gave it their sanction;
4. Resolqed, That Railroad to the Pa
ciic Ocean by the most central and practical
route is mperatively demanded by the inter
ests of the whole country, and chat the Fed
eral Government ought to render immediate
and efficient aid in its construction, and as an
auxiliry thereto, the immediate construction
of an emgrant rout on the line of the rail-
road.
8. Resolved That appropriations by Con-
gress for the improvement of rivers and har-
bors, of national character, are required
for the accommodation and security of our
existing commerce, authorized by the Con-
stitution, and justified by the obligation of
Government to protect the lives and property
| Of its citizens.
o. Resolced, That we invite the utilization
and co operation of the men Of all parties,
however differing from us in other respects,
in support of the principles herein declared,
and believing that the spirit Of our institu-
tions as we'll as the Constitution Of our own