The Kansas herald of freedom., 1857-02-07
The Hsfaia Of FREEDOM.
,,xrence, Saturday, Feb. z, 1857
A City Charter.


With the approach of spring, the
..r;val of business, and the heavy emf
,-.t;on which will make its way to
9.wreuce, q grave consideration is
.sented to the consideration of every
ffroperty-holder, of gigantic impor-
..nce Our town now embraces a
,o,ulation ranging between fourteen
and eighteen hundred. This number
!. daily augmented. BY the first of
Ir,e it is believed it viii embrace full
three thousand, or even greater num-
her of inhabitants. We are without
law and there is no restraint upon the
oetiou of individuals, save such as
GOOD society imposes. We have had
had men among us. 1t is but reason
able to suppose that they will return
in large numbers. What shall be
done Shall we continue without Or
vanization ?-without means OF pro-
tsetion?
1t was proposed some time ago to
organize independent of q charter;
but after discussing the subject, it was
very evident we should soon be
brought into collision with the Terri
,oxial authorities, AID the evil which
we were laboring to avert would be
increased.
We cannot get along for any pro-
tracted period without a city organi-
zation of some kind. The streets
need repairing, but there is no one to
look after them. Sidewalks should
he built, but there is no method of
compelling lot-holders to improve the
walks in front of their premises, and,
hence, it is never done. If one man,
more public spirited than his neigh
Dor, engages in making such an i'm
urovement, he has no guaranty that
others will improve their premises.
EncrOachments are already being made
upon the lanes, parks, &c. The forest
trees along the ravine, which the orig
inal projectors of Lawrence wisely
provided should remain sacred from
the yoodman's axe, are fast being cut
away, and soon nothing will remain
on which the eye can rest, save walls
of brick and stone, or prairie and
bluff, unless this interference with
those primeval forest trees is soon
checked.
The springs, too, In the ravine, re-
quire improving. They are on public
grounds, andsshould be REVEALED and
curbed, and fitted for public use.
Measures have been taken several
times to accomplish something in this
direction, but the means raised for
those purposes have proved made
quate; the result is, they remain
pretty much as they were found, and
will so continue until general tax
can be levied and funds raised to make
such improvements as every man Of
common observation knows to be es-
sential for the well-being of the town
Again: Lawrence is composed of 8
large number of wooden structures
Should a fire break out in some locall
tiles, a dozen, and perhaps more
buildings, would be consumed before
Its progress could be stayed. Ever!
property-holder would cheerfully shar
in tax sufficient to purchase fir
engine, if that tax could be properl!
assessed and collected, in an equa
ProRertion, from all the property il
the town. Unoceupied lots should
bear a portion Of the expense as wei
as others. They share in the rise 0
property, and it is but just that the.
should share in making public i'm
provements for the good of all.
The Levee should be graded, an
the streets leading to it widened.--
Bridges should be built across tho ra
vine.
But it is unnecessary to point ou
the numberless improvements whic
can only be made by city organiza
ton. The public demands such a
organization, and it is futile to at
tempt to get along without one. Mo-
law must be the order of the day unit
this end is attained.
The question again recurs "Wha
is to be done ?'' Shall we continue a
we are, and suffer on, as In the past
or shall we erect a little common
wealth of our own, with the power O
ehacting and enforcing our own laws
and thus protect ourselves. familie
and property, from internal violenc
or outside interference
We have no disposition to answe
the above interrogatories. They ar
made every day by our leading busi
ness men, and are answered as eacl
one feels disposed. Leavenworth, To
peka, Quindaro, Wyandot, Manhat
ten, Tecumseh, and some nine othe
free State towns, have applied to. Q
received from the Territorial Legisla
ture, acts of Incorporation. A eharte
incorporating Lawrence was passed
year and a half ago, but has died fo
want of non-user.
Some man who is capable of pene
trating the future, is needed to adyis