Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1857-07-17

whether il be for or against Slavery, will
lnally triumph, though IL may be after
iears Of strife, disastrous to the best inter
,sts Of the country, ard dangerous MS II may
70, TO tho peace and safety Of the whole
Union.
Again: This movement Of the Territori-
Il authorities 10 form a Constitution is
made, not in tho regular way, in pursuance
of an enabling and authorizing act OF Con-
rress, but in the mcre motion Of the Terri
Iorial Legislature itself Nay, il has been
begun and carried on in the teeth Of re-
fusal by Congress TO pass such "a act. This
iregularity is not fatal. There are other
cases in which It was overlooked. But 1t
can be waived only in consideration Of the
fact that the people have expressed their
will in unmistakable language. II we dis
pense with the legal forms of proceeding
We must have the substance.
We think for these reasons, that Gov.
Walker, in advocating submission Of the
Constitution to vote Of the people, acted
with wisdom and justice, and followed tho
only line Of policy which promises to settle
this vexed question either rightly or satisfac-
torily. In this respect at least he has donc
nothing worthy Of death or bonds.
But who arc the peoplel What shall be
the qualifications Of voter on the Consti-
tuition when it comes to be submitted9 We
answer that this is for the Convention to
settle. Those who think that the Conven-
ton might declare the Constitution in full
force by virtue of their own will, can hard
ly deny that they might append to it con-
dition requiring it to be first approved by
the people. If they can do this, they can
also say what classes of people shall be
counted as being part of tho people. The
Convention that formed the Federal Con-
stitution exercised this power when they re-
ferred it to their constituents tho States
and prescribed that their appreciation should
be given or withheld by State Conventions.
The Constitution of Virginia was submitted
to the votes of men enfranchised by the
Convention for the first time. OF course
the Kansas Convention will see that every
proper guard is thrown around the legal
voter, and that his bona fde intention to
remain in the Territory is tested by pre-
vious residence Of sufficient length. We
should say that the qualifications required
to mako legal voter under the Constitu-
tiun ought to entitle an inhabitant to vote
npon it-for or against its adoption.
But there is another accusation against
the Governor of Kansas. He has argued
the Free State side of the question. We
quote all that part of the inaugural on which
this charge is based. Here it is:
"And let me ask you, what possible good
has been accomplished by agitating in Con-
gress and in presidential conflicts the Slave
cry question? Has it cmancipated q sim
gle slave or improved their condition? Has
il made a single State free where Slavery
otherwise would have existed? Has it ac-
celerated the disappearance of Slavery from
the moro northern of the slave holding
States, or accomplished any practical good
whatcverl No, my fellow-citizens, nothing
but unmitigated evil has already ensued,
with disasters still more fearful impending
for the future, as consequence of this agi-
tation.
"Thcre is law more powerful than the
Legislation of man--more potent than pas
sion or prejudice-that must ultimately de-
termine the location of Slavery in this coun-
try; it is the isothermal line; the law of the
thermometer, of latitude or altitude, reg,l-
lating climate, labor and productions, and,
as consequence, profit und loss. Thus,
even upon tho mountain heights Of the trop-
les Slavery can no moro exist than in north
ern lati,udes, because it is Improbable, be-
| ing unsuited to the constitution Of the sable
race transplanted here from the equatorial
heats of Africa. Why is it that in the
Union Slavery recedes from the North and
progresses Southl Is it this same great
climatic law now operating for or against
Slavery in KansasG If, on the elevated
plains of Kansas, stretching to the base ot
our American Alps-thc Rocky Mountains
I-and including their eastern crest crown
cd with perpetual snow, from which SWEEP
over her open prairies those chilling blasts
reducing the average range of the ther
mometer here to temperature nearly as Low
as that of New England, should rende
Slavery improbable here, because unsuitcC
to the tropical constitution Of the negr'
race, the law above referred to must ulti
matcly determine that question here, anC
can bo no more controlled by the legisla
ton of man than any other moral or ply
steal law of the Almighty. Especial,
must this law operate with irresistible fore
; in this country, where the number of slave
is limited, and cannot be increased by i'm
portaton, where many millions of acres G
r sugar and cotton lands are still uncultivated
: and, from the ever-augmenting demand
exceeding the supply, the price of thos'
, great staples has nearly doubled, demanding
, vastly moro slave labor for their production
"If, from the operation of these causes
Slavery should not exist here, trust it b
no means follows, that Kansas should be
t come a State controlled by the treason an
fanaticism of Abolition. She has, in an
event, certain constitutional duties TO pc
( form to her sister States, and especially I
to her immediate neighbor-the slaveholC
= ing State Of Missouri. Through that grei
i State, by rivers aud railroads. must flow
}. great extent our trade and intercourse, OIL
: imports and exports. Our entire easter
: front is upon her border; from Missou
: come great number of her citizens; eve
: the farms of the two Statcs are cut by tn
n line of State boundary, part in Kansas, pal
r in Missouri; her citizens meet US in dali
y Intercourse and that Kansas should becou
It hostile to Missouri, an asylum for her fug
It tive slaves, or a propagandist Of Abolition