The Washington union., 1857-11-22
WASHINGTON CIT
SUNDAY MORNING. NOV. ss,
KANSAS AFFAIRS.

KANSAS AFFAIRS. ,.,,.,. x. 4
The peaceable and satisfactory adjustment OF the
difficulties in which the political affairs Of kAa4ns
have been so long involved has been deaax
even ieopardizsd by extreme and conficd6 I'M
within the Territory, and general msapprsh lisu
of facts which prevails without. The efforts oftse
graphic reporters and the paid correspondents Of the
abolition press have beepeqaly directed TO- dis
semnation Of statements in regard 70 the views, mo-
tives position and action Of the conservative porr
ton Of the Territory which designedly calcu-
lated TO foent discord, prejudices, provoke
infammatory discussions, and to keep in dangerous
agitation extreme in every section OF the Union
Without waiting, and IN many instances not wishing
for correct information the opposition press have
indulged in course of structures the affairs of
Kansas in which their ignorance and malignity were
painfully conspicuous, And, we regret to add, not
few of our political friends have been again and
again sled by giving credit and currency 70 reports
which have reached them through the deceptive
sources from which have 50 long issued those terri
BILE stories about bleeding and outraged Kansas.
II would seem to be the discrimination of the
blackrepubcan press Of the North and East that
the truth and the whole truth, in regard to Kansas
and her people, should be kept from the country
and in this determination we are constrained to ad-
init that no slight aid has been derived from the mis-
apprehensions Of a few of our democratic cotem-
poraries. Acts have been unqualifedly condemned
or unquafedly supported ON the strength of tele-
graphic representations and within a few days we
have had in profnson, sharp and severe criticisms
on the proceedings of convention which had not
at the time been made public and on state of affairs
which had no existence in the wild imagination
of some insane negro-worshipper. Even now the
full record Of these proceedings has not yet been
spread before the country. Enough is known of
them, however to make it certain that on the great
question which alone has given to the Kansas con-
vention deeper interest and higher significance
than have been felt in similar conventions in other
Territories, decision has been made in which the
patriotic citizens of all parts of the Union may readi
ly and properly concur. We have not seen the con
sttution which the convention has adopted, but
take it for granted that its general form and provs
ions it ID not widely dssmilar from the constitutions
of other States, with such variations as the local
condition of Kansas and the ordinary differences of
opinion among may very naturally have
sloucu. 5CucuuC, HoWCNSi, NhiOu pOHttillbr as
we have said, the more interesting features of the
new instrument, has been generally published both
at the North and South; and we do not see,
peat, why patriotic men of all parts of the country
cannot cordially sustainit ,,, 1' ,a,5 5 I.
The great prevailing and mschevous error of the
day is that all political action in Kansas must neces-
sarily be influenced by the extreme views of the ex
treme men Of the Territory on the one side or the
ptherA--that there is conservative element there
strong enough patriotic enough, and democratic
enough to be felt and respected. This error think
has been fully and fairly dspeled by the action of the
late constitutional convention, and the time, be-
lieys, is close at hand when the prudent. con-
eiliatdry, and patriotic spirit evinccd by it's mem
bers at a critical stage Of its proceedings win
be GENERALLY and cordially recognised. Never were
"A body Of men placed in delicate trying,
and responsible situation. Elected by authority Of
the territorial legislature recognised by Congress,
recognised by the President and recognised by their
present governor their legal existence has neverhe
less been fercely and extensively disputed On the
one side denounced as the tools of slavery propa-
gandists and on the other as the willing instruments
of northern fanatics their acts have been canvassed
and their motives criticised sometimes in malig-
nant, sometimes in ignorant but generally in an
unfair and ungenerous spirit In the first place. we
told that they had played the part of revolu-
tionists by setting up provisional government
When the absurdity of this falsehood was demon
strated, we were then informed that the constitution
framed by this convention had no binding force as it
adopted by the votes of twentyeight out of the
sixty members composing that body. The record,
however, shows that the constitution instead of be-
ing the work of minority received the approval of
.fotythree members of the convention or majority
of twentysix. s " gs ..,..su .lra.a sa.a
The charge that the great body of the members of
the convention influenced in their deliberations
by slavery gor anti-slavery predictions is, we
think, emphatically disproved by their votes and
their work. A few of the members on the one
side or the other may possibly have believed
that their extreme views would prevail |; but
the result proudly and conclusively shows that the
action of the majority was governed by that great
principle which underlies the organic act of the
Territory. Several of the members were not pres
ent when the final vote was taken How many ab-
ssnted themselves because they believed the pro-
slavery interest was in the ascendant we know not
but the following letter viii show that one member
at least withdrew from the convention ON the broad