The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-12-23

there was no registry, and not o solitary vote
was given, or could be given for delegates TO
the Convention in any Of these counties.
Surely, then 1t cannot be said that such a Com
yeniion, chosen by scarcely more than ONE
tenth OF the present voters Of Kansas, repre-
sented the people Of that Territory, and could
rightly Impose constitution upon them with
out their consent These nineteen counties,
in which there was no census, constituted
majority of the counties Of the Territory and
these fifteen counties, in which there was no
registry, gave much larger vote ut the 0ct0-
Der election, even with the six months qualii-
cation, than the whole vote given to the Le-
compton constitution on the 18th Of Novemy
Der last. IL then, sovereignty can be dele
gated, and the Convention rs such, are SOW
ereign, which 4 deny, surely itamust be only
chosenby the people, which we have seen was
Convention. IL was for this and other reasons
that in my inaugural and other addresses In
sisted that the constitution should be submitted
to the people by the Convention, as the only
means Of curing this vital defect in its organi-
ts i hgoi sasi5ia*i *4 at5s
The power and responsibility being de-
yolved exclusively upon me by the President
Of using the federal army in Kansas to sup
press Instruction the alternative was dis.
tinctly presented to me by questions pro-
pounded at Topeka, Of arresling the revolution
by the slaughter Of the people, or Of prevent
ing ii, together with that civil war which must
have extended throughout the Union, by q
solemn assurance then given, that the right Of
the people to frame their own goverrHnent SO
far as my power extended should DC maintained.
But Tor this u u 2 conceded fact that
the Topeka State government, then assembled
IN legislative session, would have been put in
70 immaculate actual operation, ana that san
gulnaryI collision With the federal army and
civil war must have ensued, extending it's
feared throughout the Cnion EA Y s.t.hs sa'
-&t.f t.it .5.sa~ 5t, 5o +so r.1.
state II as fact based on q long ana IN
innate association with the people OF Kansas,
that an Overwhelming majority OF that people
are opposed TO that instrument, and my letters
state that but one out OF twenty OF the press
OF Kansas sustain It. Some oppose IT because
50 many counties were dlsfranchlsed ana un-i
represented in the Convention; some who are
opposed to paper money, because it authorizes
bank Of enormous capital for KANSAS, nearly
unlimited in its issues and In the denomination
OF its notes from one dollar up and down;
some because Of what they consider Know
Nothing clause, by requiring that the Cover
nor shall have been 9 citizen Of the United
States; some because the elective franchise is
not free, as they cannot vote against tue con-
stitutior but only on the single issue whether
any more slaves may De imported, and then
only upon that issue by voting for the constr
tution TO which they are opposed, and they re-
gard this as but amockery of the elective fran
chise and perilous sporting with the sacred
rights of the people; some oppose 1t because
the constitution distinctly recognizes and adopts
che Oxford fraud in apportioning Legislative
members for johnson county upon the fraudu-
lent and fictitious returns SO falsely called from
in the constitution is aDnorrent W .ue niolai
s1nse =, une psUp.e UppGSI os oon
aant;oes h h. u hse, antbor;ped - ;ss,,e wr;ts
| Of election 70 the regular Territorial or State
| officare NTH TIA. ,s,1al ;udoes. and with the