The Kanzas news., 1857-06-20
eovrRaoa ReBrEsoHs nEssAaMr. 81
FsElosc Cgiaas Of tie Seaaie

! You are arnin convened together at the expfrs-
ton of the recess taken by you IN January last.
You meet under circumstances scarcely less diff
euit, and less embarrassing than have chzrac-
terized the prez5ous meetings of this Legislature.
But your duties under the Constitution are plain
aud the necessity for action imperative. As the
Representatives of the people you are here to do
the work for which they selected You. The Bit
ter experience of the past has brought nothing
with It that could relieve you of your responsible
ity- Every step in that experience has shown the
necessity for you to do your work, and that you
with caImness, wisdom and deterniEation pre-
pare those bulwarks on which the people NAV rest
their Constitutional rights as American citizens
and keep the State Government in readiness for
admission into the Union.
AS it becomes nv duty to recommend such
measures as l may deem expedient for your action
and TO communicate you the condition of affairs
in the State, shall endeaYor briefly to do so-
Since sent nay message to YOU when you first
convened in March, 1856, many important and
startling events have marked and disturbed the
current of affairs. The horrors of actual warfare
have existed in midst. Towns and cities
have been sacked and burned, and our citizens
have been brutaliy murdered on the highways
and in their homes. hostile enemy on our east
ern borders has poured IN predatory band after
band, and army after army, with the design of
harassing our citizens and completing the sabiu-
CATION they had begun The General Govern
ment which still assumes the power OF protection
over US, has baselv used that power as the screen
under which It has rendered aid and comfort TO
our enemies, and strengthened the hands of those
foreign invaders who sill pretend to hold the no.
litieal power of the people, that they usurped:
Nor have your labors, OF your persons been exs
empt Lawless arrests have been made of your
number, and also of executive officers, BY men.
who, although they possessed some power ard In
many instances held positions in connection with
the Federal Courts acted with irregulaFity and In
defiance of even the rules which they professed TO
respect. A large and necessary portion of the Ia
bors of your Codifying Committees, was DESTROY
Of 4
May 1856, when that place was pillagcd and par
tally burned by mob brought there by Uni
ted States Marshal. When your bodies met ptIr-
suant to adjournment, in July last, Your assem-
blage was interfered with and broken up by a
large force of United States troops who drove you
hence in gross violation of those constitutional
rights which it their duty to have protected
When you again convened in January last, at
your regular session, Your proceedings were again
interfered with by Deputy Marshal, and many
of Your number arrested. l do not propose en-
tering into a minute detail of ali he unhappy oc-
currences that have marked the past YEAR. occur
rences which have stamped page of iI,famy on
the history of the country. Let refer sou to
the comprehensive address prepared by a Com
mittee of the Convention that assembled in this
place on the 10Th of March last for those partic-
ulars, an enumeration of which would absorb too
much of your time. Suffice it to say, that owing
to these causes, the State government is not vet
fully organized and waits In urgent necessity
for the completion of your work.
The period for which You were elected is draw
inc to a close No provision for taking the cen
sus has been made, and election law adopted
Without these your function in the government
will expire, and with it the power of Reproducing
it. l cannot think that you will, in any contin-
gency, incur the reproach of leaving helpless the
people who trusted you or of compelling them to
recur through original action TO their primary
power for those needed steps which it is your du-
ty to supply. In my message, sent to you in
March, 1856, enumerated the outlines of the leg
II, h.,
and adopt Let me respectfully refer you to that
document for those details.
There is subject of great moment for our
present and future prosperity. The public lands
IN our midst still belong to the general govern
ment. To secure these lands, or all of them that
can be obtained, is n matter to which we should
devote no ordinary attention The policy hither-
to adopted towards other States gives us Just
grounds to look to Congress for grant of all the
public lands in our midst To your enterprise
and enduranc its value be traced and TO YOU it
rightfully belongs. The sale of much of our most
valuable lands for the behoof of Indians gives us
additional claim on the government for the re-
mainder. Surely the general government will
not seek to make speculation the bones and
sinews of the struggling pioneers who seek to add
another State to the confedeFacy. Let respect
fully urge upon the assembled wisdom of Con-
gress our claims before the government has passed
Its title to all the valuable portions into the hands
of spectators. No donation should by its terms
conflict with the claim of a squatter on the soil
q
ernment still exists in Kanzas. While the pop
uar branch of Congress has accepted our appiica-
ton, for admission to the Union, the Senate has
still withheld its approval. In this isolated con-
dition our rights as American citizens, under the
Constitution, and our inherent rights as men re-
main to Gov. Walker, recently sent amongst
us by the Federal Government, in the capacity of
Territorial Governor, in his inaugural has truly
said:
at is the people of Kanzas Who in forming
20 he
on which they will enter the Union. Congress
cannot compel the people of Territory to enter
the Union State, change without their con-
sent, the Constitution framed by the people
Congress may, it Is true, for Constitutional reasons
refuse admission, but the State alone in forming
her Constitution can prescribe the terms on which
she viii enter the Union. The power of the reo-
pie f the Territory in forming State Constitu-
ton of vital importance especially in the
States carved out fof the public domain. Nearly
all of the lands of Kanzas public lands and
much of them are occupied by Indian tribes
These lands are the property OF the Federal Gov
ernment, but their right is ercIasiuelg that of a
proprietor carrying with it political power
The doctrine here enunciated is only what has
been established by precedent, and reiterated time
and again. In it we have 3 right TO form State
Constitution, and, of necessity the complete State
organization for which its specific terms must pro-
vide As Congress has neither the right to frame
Constitution for TO s'ehangev the same, Ii
Just be apparent 70 all that they have no power
TO destroy 1t when created. Gov. Walker goes even
further than this. and further than we have ever
yet proposed going; for he says that ssthe Stste
alone, IN forming her Constitutions can prescribe
the terms on which she viii enter the Union =
clearly lying that she may ezser the Union or
not Under these circumstances il il clesrlv an
parent that the Federal Government has onfr sent
Gov. Walker as Territorial officer to Kanzas be-
cause ve have hitherto failed, or been unable te
completes the organization we have begun In the
absence Of the full and vital powers of govern
Inent adopted BY the people, this Is merely an
endeayor to earry out the implied prrtecfion--
What renders this more unhappy is he fact fksf
the federal authorities have never yet been able -
afford US such protection, and as there is no terri
toE1ai law here, recognized by the people as suck
consideration the necessities of the neope b-,t
beyond tliati Is your duty to act with prompt