Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1857-12-24

f,om nv country through her Chief Mag:s-
.rotp than soldier in battle who is ordered
- tbe command of forlorn hope
JooYpted, hOaoerey, on the cypress condition
.iot si0aM adrocate the Submission Of the Con-
.ifntion to the rote Of The people for ratification
- rsjectiOn These views were clearly under
stood by the President and all his cabinet
T1ev we're distinctly set forth in my letter on
n,r NV acceptance Of this Office, Of the 26th of
March last, and reiterated in my inaugural ad
dress of the 9th of May last. as follows
:. Indeed, cannot doubt that the Conven-
+;on. after having framed State Constitution
,ilI submit it for ratification or rejection by
majority of the then actual, bona tide resident
cpttIers of Kansas"
With these views, we'll known to the President
and his Cabinet, and approved by them, ac-
cepted the appointment of Governor of Kansas.
nv Instructions from the President, through
the Secretary of State, under date 30th March
last sustain the regular Legislature of the
Territory in assembling q Convention to form
a Constitution, and they express the opinion of
the President, that
When such Convention shall be submit
tel to the people of the Territory, they mus
bp protected in the exercise of their right of
voting for or against that instrument, and the
fair expression of the popular will must not be
Interrupted by fraud and violence | repeat,
then, as my clear conviction, that unless the
Convention submit the Constitution to the vote
\ Of all the actual resident settlers of Kansas,
and the election be fairly and Justly conducted
the Constitution will be and ought to be re-
iected by Congress"
This inaugural most distinctly asserted that
Il It was not question of Slavery merely, which
\ believe to he of little practical Importance
then its application to Kansas but of the en-
tire Constitution which should be submitted to
Z the people for ratification or rejection. These
we're my words on that subject in my inaugu-
raI
" 1t is not merely shall Slavery exist in or
disappear from Kansas, but shall the great
principles OF selfgOvernment and State SoVer-
eighty be maintained or subverted"
In that inaugural | proceed further to say,
the people may by a subsequent vote defeat
. The ratification of the Constitution" | dcsig-
y nate this ' a great Constitutional right" and
add that the Convention is the servant and
net the master OF the people" In my official
Dispatch to you Of the , | June last, copy Of
that inaugural address was transmitted to you
for the further information OF the President
and his Cabinet. No exception was ever tax
n to any portion Of that address On the
contrary, it was distinctly admitted by the
. President in his message, with c0mmendable
!-ankness, that my instructisns in favor Of a
.qbmission Of the Constitution to a vote Of the
people, were " general aud unqualiiied.' BY
that inaugural and subsequent address, |
was pledged to the people of Kansas to oppose
q ly all lawful means, the adoption Of any Con-
situtiOn which was not fairly and fully submit
4 tel TO their vote for ratification or rejection
These pledges cannot recall or violate with
ont personal dishenor and the abandonment Of
1aiamental principles, and therefore it is i'm
o,>be fer me to support what is called the
lecompton Constitution, because it is not sub
United TO vote Of the people for ratification
cr rejection. | have ever uniformly maintain
ed the principle that sovereignty is vested ex-
cIasyey in the people of each State, and that
performs it first and highest function in form
iDE State Government and State Constitu
ton. This highest act of sovereignty, ia my
Judgment, can only be performed by the peo-
PIE themselves, and cannot be Ge' gated to
| Conventions or other intermediate bodies:
Yet surely even those who differ with ne on
lis point must concede, especially under the
Kansas Nebraska bill, it is only such Conven-
\ toa. can De called sovereign as have been tru-
y elected by the people, and represent their
T.a On reference, however, to my address
o' the Sept l6 last, on the day of the qnaIili,
ca'.on question, a copy of which was mmdiate-
y transmitted to You for the information of
ro President and Cabinet, it is evident that
VI tle Leconpton Convention was not such
es.t)ly. That Convention had vital, not tech
ia defects in the very substance Of its organi-
za.On under the Territorial law, which could
oa.y be cured, in my Judgment, as set forth in
o7 inaugural aud other addresses, by submis-
S2n Of the Constitution for the ratification of
le people. On reference to tae Territorial
1F under which the Convention was assem-
pea, thirty four regularly organized counties
were named as election districts for delegates
% the Convention In each and all these
vas required by law that a census be taken
aM the voters registered and when this was
mpcte the delegates to the Convention should
app0rtioned accordingly. In nineteen of
'se counties there was no census, and there
!Fe there could be not such appointment there
delegates upon such census. And in fifteen
| these counties there was no registry of vo-
F:S These fifteen counties, including many
Tie Oldest organized counties in the Terrific,
In were distinctly dsfranchised and did not
vi e., by no fault Of their own, could not give
N solitary vote for the delegates to the Con
,'auon This result Supernduced by the fact
t'al the Territorial Legislature appointed all
t.e >herffS and Probate judges in all these
,'anics, to whom was assigned the duty by
,S ~ oT making this census and registry These
t.eers were political partisans, dissenting
III "A the views and opinions of the people Of
ISe counties, as was approved by the election
NJ october last. These officers, from want OF