The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1857-09-15
MR. BUcHANANs LETTER.

sors in Connecticut. who have undertaken
to lecture him for ing a stand in ia. or
of the rights of all the States. In the
South, MIR Buchanan is accused by the
enemies of democracy with favoring free
soilism; in the North he is siandered and
prosecuted as a friend of the slave driver.
We alluded to this letter last week, and
now publish it that all may have an oppor-
tunity of reading it:
WASHINGTON CITY, Aug. Is, 1857.
Gentlemen On my recent return to this
city, after fortnight's absence, your me-
mortal, without date, was placed in my
hands, through the agency of Mr.. Horatio
King. of the Post Office Department, to
tinguished source whence it proceeds, as
well as its peculiar character, have deem
ed it proper to depart from my general rule
in such cases, and to give it an answer.
You first assert that 6 the fundamental
principle of the Constitution of the United
States and of our political institutions is
that the people shall make their own laws
and elect their own rulers" 1ou then ex-
press your grief and establishment that L
should have violated this principle, and,
through Gov. Walker, have employed an
army, one purpose Of which is to force the
people Of Kansas TO obey ta,cs not their o'cn'
nor of The United States, but laws which it
is notorious. and established upon evidence,
they never made, and rulers they never
elected" And as a corollary from the
foregoing, you represent that L am ''openly
held up and proclaimed, to the great dero-
CATION of our national character, as violat-
ing in its most essential particulars the
solemn oath which the President has taken
to support the Constitution Of his Union.''
These are heavy charges proceeding from
gentlemen of your high character, and, if
well founded, ought to consign my name to
infamy. But in proportion to their gravi-
ty, common justice, to say nothing of Chris
tan charity, required that before making
them you should have clearly ascertained
that they were we'll founded. If not, they
will rebound with whitening condemnation
upon their authors. Have you performed
this preliminary duty towards the man who,
however unworthy, is the Chief Magistrate
of your country? If so, either you or I
are laboring under strange delusion.-
Should this prove to be your case, it will
present a memorable example of the truth
that political prejudice is blind even to the
plainest and most palpable historical facts.
To these facts let us refer.
When I entered upon the duties of the
Presidential office, on the 4th of March last,
what was the condition of Kansas! This
Territory had been organized under the
act of Congress of Both May, 1854, and the
government in all its branches was in full
operation. A governor, secretary of the
Territory, chief justice, two associate justi
ces, a marshall and district attorney, had
been appointed by my predecessor, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate,
and were all engaged in dIscharging their
respective duties. A code of laws had been
the judiciary were employed in expounding
and carrying these laws into effect. 1t is
quite true that q controversy had previous
ly arisen respecting the validity of the ell
ection of members Of the Territorial legis-
lature and of tie laws passed by them, but
at the time 1 entered upon my official duties,
Congress had recognised this Legislature in
different forms and different enactments.-
i a. to T., Of
representatives., ander Territorial law, had
just completed his term of service on the
day previous tC my inauguration In fact,
| found the government of Kansas as well
established as that of any other Territory
Under these circumstances, what was my
duty! Was it not to sustain the govern
ment! to protect it from the violence of
lawless men, who were determined to either
rule or ruin ? To prevent it from being
overturned by force I'm the language of
the Constitution, to stake care that the laws
be faithfully executed - 1t was for this
purpose, and this alone, that ordered a
military force 70 Kansas, to act as posse
comitatus in aiding the civil magistrate to
carry the laws into execution.
The condition of the Territory at the
time, which l need not portray, rendered
this precaution absolutely necessary. In
this state of affairs, would | not have been
Justly condemned had left the marshal and
other officers of a like character impotent to
execute the process and judgments of courts
of justice established by Congress or by the
Territorial Legislature under its express
authority, and thus have suffered the gov
eminent itself to become an object of con-
tempt in the eyes of the people! And yet
this is what you designate as forcing ''the
| people of Kansas to obey laws not their own,
nor of the United States;" and for which
you have denounced me as having violated
my solemn oath. | ask, what else could
have done, or ought to have done ? Would
you have desired that should abandon the
Territorial government, sanctioned as it had
been by Congress, to illegal violence, and
thus renew the scenes of civil war and blood