Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1856-06-24

tors in that meeting might be Indicted, tried, and
punished'-and he expressed astoniBhment that
sa self-created meeting, convened for criminal
object, had dared to present to this Goyenmentl
an act Of fheirs, and 10 expect that we are to re-
ceiye this irregular and criminal act us fulfil
ment of the condition which we had presented
for the admission OF the StateW-lbid., p. 299. |
No stronger words have been employed against
Kansas.
But the single question on which all the pro-
ceedings then hinged, and which is as pertinent
in the case Of Kansas as in the case Of Michigan,
was thus put by Mr.. Morris, Of 0hio--- Ibido p.
2t5)---"Will Congress recognize as valid, con-
lstitutional, and obligatory without the color OF
law of Michigan to sustain it, an act done by
the People of that State in their primary assem-
blies, and acknowledge that act as obligatory on
the constituted authorities and Legislature of the
Slater" This question, thus distinctly presents
ed, was answered in debate by able Senators,
among whom were MI. Benton and Mr. King
But there was one person, who hassince enjoyed
much public confidence, and has left many me
MORALS of an industrious career in the Senate
and in diplomatic life, James Buchanan, who
rendered himself conspicuous BY the ability and
ardor with which, against all assaults; he upheld
the cause Of the popular Convention, which was
50 strongly denounced, and the entire conformity
Of its proceedings with the genius Of American
Institutions. His speeches on that occasion con-
tain an unanswerable argument at all points,
MUTATo NoMINE, for the immediate admission OF
Kansas under her present Constitution; nor -
| there anything by which he is now distinguished
that will rebound so truly to his iane---if he on
lly continues true tothem. But the question was
emphatically answered in the Senate by the final
vote on the passage ofthe Bill, where we find %
yeas to only 10 nays. In the House of Repre-
sentatives, after debate, the question was an
swered in the same way, BY a vote OF 148 yeas 70
/ SO nays; and among the yeas is again the name Of
Franklin Pierce, Representative from New
Hampshre.
Thus, in that day, by such triumphant votes
did the cause of Kansas prevail in the name oi
Michigan A popular Convention called abso'
lutcly without authority, and containing dele
gates from a portion only of the population
called, too, in opposition to constituted authori
ties, and in derogation of another Convention
!, assembled under the forms Of law --stigmatEet
J as caucus and criminal meeting, whose au
: thors were liable to indictment, trial, and pun
, shment---was, after ample debate, recognized
by Congress as valid, and Michigan now hold
} her place in the Union, and her Senators sit OF
this floor, by virtue of that act. Sir, if Michigan
is legitimate, Kansas cannot be illegitimate.---
You bastardize Michigan when you refuse tc
Again, ! say, do you require precedent2
: give it to you. But will not stake this caus,
1 on any precedent. L plant it firmly on the fun
d damental principle of American Institutions, a
embodied in the declaration of Independence
t by which Government is recognized as derlvin
, its just powers only from the consent OF the gov
e erned, who may alter or abolish it when it be
e comes destructive of their rights In the debat
n on the Nebraska Bill, at the overthrow Of tn
: Prohibition of Slavery the Declaration of Inde
n pendence was denounced as "self-eyident lie'
;, 1t is only by similar audacity that the funda
mental principle, which sustains the proceed
II ngs in Kansas, can be assaied. Nay more
y you must dsown the Declaration of Independ
!, ence, and adopt the Circular of the Holy Ali
It ance, which declares that "useful and necessar
;. changes in legislation and in the administrator
It of States ought only to emanate from the fire.
e will and the intelligent and wel-weghed convic
e ton of those whom God has rendered responsi
d bic for power" Face to face, put the princi
!, pie of the Declaration of Independence and tn
i principle of the Holy Alliance, and bid theI
VI grapple! "The one places the remedy in tn
e hands which FEEL the disorder; the other place
2, the remedy in the hands which CAUSE the disol
a der;" and when l thus truthfully characteriz
e them, but adopt sententious phrase from tn
sr Debates in the Virginia Convention on the adoT
n ton of the Federal Constitution. Elliot
If Debates, l07--Mr. Corbin.) And now thes
Y, two principles; embodied in the rival propos
le tlons Of the Senator from New York and the Ser
s. ator from IlliReis, taust grappe con thistaoer.
y,l Statesmen and judges, publicists aRd author
al with names of authority in American history, e
yel pouse end vindcate the American principle
l. Hand in hand they now stand around Kansa
as and feel this new State lean on them for supper
he OF these content myself with adducing two oi
by ly, both from slaveholdng Virginia. in days wht
eS Human Rights were not without support in tn
ne State. Listen to the language of st. Geort
en- Tucker, the distinguished commentator upt
he Blackstone, uttered from the bench in lud
Id cial opinion:
he "The power of convening the legal AsseI
NJ blies, or the ordinary constitutional Legislatul
We resided solely in the Executive. They cou
to neither be chosen without writs issued by its
he thority, nor assemble, when chosen, but und
the same authority. The Conventions, on l.
re contrary, were chosen and assembled, either
IS pursuance of recommendations from Congre
,th or from their own bodies, or by the discretion
ire common consent of the people. Theywere he
re- even whilst legal Assembly existed. Witn'
N the Convention held in Richmond, in Marc
l775; after which period. the legal consttutlC
by al Assembly was convened in Williamsburg,
eg- the Governor, Lord Dunmore, Ye
M constitutional dependence on the British Govei
of ment was never denied until the succeeding MI
eld The Convention, then, was not the ordinary Ii
IS. sature of Virginia. 1t was the body of the pc
pie, impelled to assemble from sense of co
ed mon danger, consulting for the common got
IS, and acting in all things for the common safet,
led ---(l Virginia Cases, 70 II, Hamper VS.. Haw
le- ins.
the Listen to the language Of James Madison:
lis- "That in all great changes Of established 6
eminent, forms ought to give way to substan
tie, that argid adherence in such cases to the fol
in would render nominal and nugatory the ira
lar cendent and precious right of the people
the abolish or alter their Government, as to th
IN. shall seem most likely to effect their safely
on, happiness Nor can il have been forg
)n- ten that no little i'll timed scruples, no zeal
Act adhering to ordinary forms, were anywhere Sc
the except in those who wished to indulge un
INST these masks their secret enmity to the substal
ent contended for."-- The Federalist, No. 40.)
MI Proceedings thus sustained, am unwilling
ate call revolutionary, although this term has
,g, sanction of the Senator from New York. III
Of are founded on an unquestionable Ameri
lio, right, declared with Independence, confirmed
for the blood of the fathers, and expounded by
trots, which cannot be impeached without
lni- pairing the liberties OF all. On this head
ion language Of Mr. Buchanan Il. ropfy 10 3f.
heir houn, is explicit:
rth. ''Does the Senator [Mr. Caihounl conte
no then, that If, in one Of the States Of this Uni
for the Government be so orgaAiEedas to utterly
To stroy the right equal representation there is
that mode Of obtaining redress but bv nm act of