Squatter sovereign., 1857-02-03

4 - =
were a, no time more than twenty miles
from them, before midnight of the day on
which his Exceiiency admits that he learn
ed the intended attacks Nay. further, sir.
/ will ask how it was that Lane and the
larger part of his force escaped. They
we're here, sir, when the Governor arrived
at Leavenwor.h--they wefe-here o. the
I12th of-September. Lane himself vas in
command insthe fight al Hickory point on
the l3si;, and they never left this section
of. country until General Hciskell's force
came up. Why were they not ca ptured.
sirs Why wss no attempt made iostake
them until they were beyond pursuit -
These are questions. sir. which the law
and order men of this Territory have
right to ask; and until they are s:atisfacto-
rilY answered, conjecture must supply the
place of information, and distrust attend
his Exceilency's1 eousse. / see then, sir.
no reason for lauding Gov. Geary. can
hot join inthe paeans which are sung in
his praise. / cannot hail him as the Sa-
! vior and Preserver of this land-and cam
not consent that tins paper shalt goforth
/ from this House confirming and endorsing
i his claim TO those titles. HE the Savior
and Preserrer of this Territory. Why.
i sir, he neglected his duty-he pos, s,poned
! and procraslnaied. for what reason / will
no, presume to say. until our. enemies had
i time TO make good their escape ;. he did
i nothing at ali BAT disperse the militia, and
will this House s.ultify itself by according
to him the high praise which he claims
i | la pc not, sir; cannot believe that ii
4 will
i HAD hoped, sir that some allnsion would
have beensmade IN this Report to the ee-
!. ident suspicion with which his Excelency
;, greets Us. / vas not prepared, sir, for
4 those solemn n5jurations TO support the
Constitution and the Organic Act in wi.ici
! the message a bounds even to overaowing.
! | cannot account fer them, sir. Does his
| Ex'lcy mean 10 intimate that this House, a;
its last session, entirely disregarded them;
or does he think he is addressing an assem-
+ | bly, Of traitors and rerjurers, who will vic.
late their oaths of Office, and trample upon
those great charters OF our liberties. Does
he forget, sir, that our lorclatLers Tough,
side by side with his, for the liberties
which we now enjoys If he does. sir, lei
. him take care lest he find that we are
more familiar Wit. il than me is. His course
sir. since lie assumed the functions of bis
: office, has not been such as to give him q
: right to address such admonitions to us
D He has not shown SO intimate an aequain-
: tance II, or SO sincere and earnest a
: desire 10 make it his rule of action, as tc
!, entitle him to make such exhoitations tc
!; us. i feel, sir. that he has affrontcd this
House, and every member of it, BY those
, aljurations. We came here. sir. 10 do oul
duty, and he has no right to presume t!la,
4 we will not do it. He should have met US
, sir, with az open, manly confidence in oul
) integrity, not with suspicion and diist1~.ss.
Then, sir, we might have reposed conf.
RI denee in Iiitn. Can we.do so now, Sir
!, Can we trust man who distrusts us-vhe
meets US with admonitions that ought to be
made only to traitorsz I opine not, sir.
sl With regard to the slave laws, shall
simply express the opinion that the arga-
ment is not brought out as clearly OF as
i forcibly as L could wisi-nor is sufficient
, stress laid upon the necessity for such laws
in orderto carry out one Of the grea, prin-
ciples of our Organic 4Act-that the Ter
! ftory should be thrown open 10 the people
. of all sections, who should alike be pro-
/ tected in their persons and property, until
they give their final decision upon the
i. character of their domestic institutions.
But these points lave been SO well and
ably defended .lready. that shall not tres
pass upon the. patience Of this committee
by dwelling upon them. -@ ~
4 As to the last passage OF that Report.
sir, must express my sastonlshment and
modification at hearin 6 members of the
Committee say that it refers to acts done
i by our party last sumner. Since the ter
mination of our difficulties, runlors had
i cached me of ou.rages committed by small
parties of abolitienists lii the Southern
i portions of the Territory, w1o, il was said,
i had assumed tie name OF our party in or
der that their crimes might be attributed
to US, and disgrace brought upon the pros
slavery men. | supposed, sir, that the
q clause referred 10 those persons, and WIS
surprised that The mater was dismissed
with mere expression Of regret. thought
sir, that the wre.ches should have been de-
nounced. and their true character exposed
l--,he foul stain which they had attempted
10 throw upon our party should have been
washed away. and our good refute restored
beyond the shadow OF a suspicion But,
sir, canaot express The shame and sor-
rnFy f..lt WHEN I bear1 GenIleIneD say