Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1856-12-10
VOL. 3.--N0. II.

OF course. these imputations on the lnten-
I tion OF Congress in this respect, conceived as
/ they were in prejudice and disseminated IN
! passion. are utterly destitute OF any IustlIca-
tion in the nature of things, and contrary TO al
! the fundamental doctrines of civil liberty and
self-government.
The argument of those who advocate the
enactment of new laws Of restriction, and con-
denim the repeal of old ones, in effect AYERS
that their particular views OF government nave
no self-extending or self-suStaIning power Q,
their own. and will go nowhere unless forced
Lv act of Congress- And if Congress do but
pause for a moment. in the policy OF stern CO.
ercion; II it venture to try the experiment OF
leaving men to judge for themselves what IN
stitutioEs will best suit them; If Il be not
strained up to perpetual legiStive exertion on
this point; if Congress proceed TO act thus IN
the very spirit of liberty, it is at once charged
with aiming to extend slave Labor into all the
new Territories of the United States
While, therefore, in general, the people OF
the y orthern States have never, at any time,
arrogatcd for the federal government the pow
cr to interfere directly with the domestic con-
dition of persons in the Southean States, bat
on the contrary have dIsayowed all such lnten-
tions. and have shrunk from conspicuous ami
iatioD with those Jew who pursue their ianati-
cal objects avowedy through the contefnpla-
ted means OF revolutionary change OF the gov
eTHmeIt, and with acceptance OF the necessa-
~ Cons.aucnces-a civil and seryife war-yet
many citizens have suffered themselves TO De
drawn into one eYanescent political issue oil
agitation after another, apperialnlng 10 the
same set Of opinions, and which subsideo as
rhpily as they arose when II came TO be seen,
as il uniformly did, that they were incompat-
ible with the compacts OF the ConItltutlon anu
the existence of the Union. Thus, when the
acts of some of the States to nuiiliy the extra,
dition law imposed upon Congress the duty OF
passing new one, the country was invited
BY agitators to enter into party organization
for its repeal; hut that agitation speedily cea-
sed by reason Of the impracticability OF lis Oh
jcct. So, when the statute restriction upon
the institutions of new States. bya geosraphi-
cal line, had been repealed, the country was
urged 10 demand It's rg.toration, and tie pro-
ject died almost with its birth Then follow
ed the cry of alarm from the North against
/ imputed Southern encroachments; which cry
| sprang in reality from the spirit ofrevoiution-
| AIRY attack on the domestic institutions OF the
/ South. and. after a troubled existence OF o
! few months, has been rebuked by the voice Oh
| patriotic people
! OF this last agitation. one lamentable feat
ure was. that it was carried or at the immedl-
ate expense of the peace asd happiness OF the
] people of the Territory OF Kansas. That was
made the battle field, not so much of opposing
factions OF interests within itself as OF the con-
! flicting passions of the whole people OF the
! United States. Revolutionary disorder IN
tion, deliberately arranged by certain mem
| bers of that Congress which enacted the law
| for the organization of the Territory. ana
when propagandist colonization Of kansas had
! TINS been undertaken in one section ol 'ns
Union, for the systematic promotion oil hs
/ views of policy, there cnsued. as a matter OF
course, a counteractiOn with opposite VIEWS
| in other sections of the Union.
| In consequence of these and other incidents
many acts of disorder, ii is understood, haVo
| been perpetrated in Kansas, TO The occasionsi
| Interruption. rather than the permanent sus-
| pension, of regular government Aggressive
aud most repTehcnsihle incursions INTO inc
! Territory were undertaken, both IN the \ orth
and in the South. and entered in on its nor
thern border by the way of Iowa. as well as on
| the eastern by way of Missouri ana there mas
! existed within il state OF lnSurTectloh aealns'
the constituted authorities, not without couh-
tenance from inconsderate persons IN each OF
| the great sections of the Union. But the Ill
faculties in that Territory have been extraVa.
| gantiy exaggerated for purposes OF poitlcai
| agitations elsewhere.
| The number aud gravity of the acts OF vio-
lence have been maguided partly by state
ments entirely untrue, and partly 10y reltera-
ted accounts Of the SAINT rumorS or iacts--
Thus the Territory has been seemingly niieo
with extreme violence, when the whole a.
mount of such acts has not been greater than
| what occasionally passes before us IN single
1
without being regarded as Of general OF per-
manent political consequence.
Imputed irregularities in the ciections haa
| in Kansas Ike occasional irregularities oil Ihs
same description in the States, were beyond
the sphere o; action OF the Executive bnt
incidents of actual violence OF organized OBJ
s;ruction Of law, pertinaciously renewed from
time to time, have been met as they occurred,
10y such means as were available and as the
circumstances required, and nothing OF this
character now remains to Tffect the general
peace of the Union. The attempt of part OF
the inhabitants ofthe Territory TO erect rev.
outionary government, tho2gh sedulously en-
ceuragcd and supplied with pecuniary sia
from active agents of disorder in some of inc
States, has completely failed Bodies OF arm
ed men, foreign to the Territory. have been
presented from entering or compelled to
leave it. Predatory bands, engaged in sets
of rapine, under cover of the existing poiiu-
cal disturbances, have been arrested or disPer-
sed. And every well disposed person is nc"
enabled once more to devote himself IN peace
to the pursuits of prosperous industry, lot ths
prosecution of which he undertooN 10 partt-
cin,tn il, the settlement of the Territory.
II affords me unmingled satisfaction thus to
announce the peaceful condition OF things in
Kansas, especially considering the means to
which it was necessary to have recourse for
the attainment OF the end, namely, the en-
ployment of part of the military force of the
United States. The Withdrawal of that force
from its proper duty of defending the country
against foreign foes or the sayages of the irou-
tier, to employ it for the suppression of do
mestic insarrection, is, when the exigency oc-
ours, a matter Of the most earnest solicitude-
On this occasion of imperative necessity .f
has been done with the best results, ana my
satisfaction in the attainment OF such results
by such means is greatly enhanced by the con-