The Evansville daily journal., 1857-09-29
rhe Rejoinder OF the Presidents Letter.

The New Haven Men orialsts have pub
lished a rejoinder Of Mr.. Buehanan's Kansas
letter, in which they give the President some
severe hits. With the pro-slavery doctrines
AS the memorialists denominate them-the |
writers do not concern themselves. They |
leave them for the judgement of the country.
They say:
.'You have introduced several topics into
vour reoly-as that of slavery, the decision
of the Supreme Co rt in the case Of Drcd
Scott, with others. on which your memoralists
have said nothing in their memorial, and on
which they intend to say nothing now. ex-
cept to express their dissent from your opin-
IONS"
The memoralists reassert their original al
legation, insisting that the truth of them has
not been seriously controverted, viz:
First. 'that 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 Secondly. 'that Gov. Walker of
Kansas. openly represents and proclams that
| the President of the United States is employ
| ing through him w alker an army, one pur-
pose of which is to force the people of Kan
sas to obey laws which are not their own. nor
| of the United States but laws which it Is
notorious, and established upon evidence
| they never made and rulers they
never elected. As to these two facts, the
material facts alleged by your memorialists
and which chiefly require vIndication from
you, they say, that they find no denial of
them in youYJeply.' They do not say that
| you have attempted no vindication of your
acts and doings through Gov. Walker but
only, that they can fni in your reply no PLAIN
or explicit denial of the facts referred to-not
even what they consider the shadow Of de-
NAL"
They next expose the fallacy Of Mr.. Bu-
chanan's attempt at Standardization, on the
groun! that he found on his Inauguration,
government already established, which his
official oath compelled him to sustain. 4
paragraph or two will show how this part Of
the subject is handled:
That general principle may be thus stated :
When rules OF action. claiming TO oe valid
laws, present on the first aspect evidence that
they proceed from rightful law-making
power, it is the duty of the people and exc
cutors OF law to recognize them as authOri-
tative. To this as u general principle, your
memoralists subscribe.
1T is the only means Of giving prac-
teal authority to law, and OF preventing
violence and anarchy nor do they yield to
any man or class of men higher estimate Of
r its importance, or u frmer determination to
adopt and defend it. than themselves cherish.
But to say that all governments and all laws
claiming to bc valid, must be recognised. exc
cuted and obcyed as such, is IA preposterous
as to deny the general principle itself. To
mistake the general rule for an universal
rule, the conditional for an unconditional
| principle, must lead TO false reasoning and
TO practical conclusions OF the most danger
ous character. This. in the view of your
memoralis:s, who believe that none arc too
wise or good to err. is what you (they trust
Inadvertently have DONE"
They deny that eherc is any analogy be-
tween this case and that of foreign de faaO
Government. The President was net bound
to recognize Territorial Government merely
. because it was .'established"-if known to
have no rightful authority, his duty was quite
, the reverse. This bogus Government was
cl>arly usurpation
Your memoralists urge therefore, that the
2 so-called government of Kansas can claim no
sanction from the Act of Congress. The
evidence was all against it (; evidence known
to the whole civilized world, apparent on the
, very face Of the transaction, and which must
have challenged your attention long before
! Won had taken the oat. of oihce. The very
: fact that the so-cslled government required
support from the Federal Executive, was the
: strongest evidence that it did not come from
the people. and had no lawful authority
This shows. at once. that this government
was not in the lowest sense, what you cal
il an established government - for it show:
5. that it was not and could not bc established
% without a United States army and therefor.
! the army was sent. not IA you pretend. tC
J. sustain an established government" but fol
: the purpose of establishing what was no
le cs.ablished-a government Of rutfian au'
E. thority.
d Nor could You have been ignorant tha
- the House of Representatives had sent
special Committee of Investigation to tn,
;! Territory, and thus acknowledged and con.
N tirmed the propriety of strict inquiry iat
N this rery case. On the report of that com
Vi mittee, the House of Representatives authori
is tatively declared that the government o
II Kansas was established by the terror o
Il bowie-knives and revolvers, and that it .laC
* been proved to have not shadow OF au
Sc thority. And here your memoralists asl
- whether palmer case or stronger eyidenc,
- can well be imagined! When. if not in sucl
&c a case, ought the President to enounce
government It's spurious, and to refuse to aio
st or sustain its The laws of Congress tram
III pied in the dust-the invaders from Missouri
proved. beyond u cavil. to be the only author
Of this ..government"-is it not an outrage
i. Gus wrong to hold Kansas subject to sucl
usurpation by United States army Tn
u fires of rutfanIsm still burn there, smothere,
Of in the dreariness of their own desolation. an,
ready to be rekindl.d in their fury by th'
IL slightest movement for liberty and right oil
e the part OF the people; while the echo of thei
sntferings ever rings In the cars OF our natio
~ nal Executive"
rH-The Terre Uaute Express relates til