Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-09-18

Sc conttt6tuS III ,aldinS tne Civil u4eSsSItesSS
20 carry the laws into execution. az.
EJ The condition, Of the Territory at the
thine. which Isneed not portray, rendered
this pfecaetion absclutely necessarys In
Ithis sstate of affairs, would u not have
Been Justly condemned had l left the
marshal and other officers Ola like chass
'Erracter impotent to1execute the process
and judgments of courtssof justice estab-
lished BY Congress. or, by the territorial
| legislature under its express authority.
and thus have suffered the government
titselfto.become object of contempt IN
the eyes of the people? And yet this is
Observation-Disclosures forcing s.the peeS
pie of Kansas 70 obey laws not theirsown,
,for III the United States; ( ! AM. Tor doing
Which you have denounced me as having
Violated my sole mn OATH, ask, what
else could u have done. or fought + } to
have dons2. Would you haze desired
That I should abandon The, territorial goy-i
srpment, sal. sarcti oned :ass 1t had been: BY
Congress, to Illegal violence o and thus re
sneR, the scenessof .ciyil war and bleed
shed which every, patriot in the .couptEy
had deplored? This would, indeed, haye
been to violate my oath of Office, and to
fix a .damning blot on the character zof
my, administ ration. lss.s,1, sd; !9y9 asdt
I most cheerfully admit thatthe neces-
sity for sending a, military force to Kan
sas 10 aid in the execution Of the civil
law reflects no credit upon the character
of our country But let the blame; fall
upon the heads Of the guilty. Where did
this necessity arise? A portion ofatho
people Of Kansas. unwilling to trust to
the ballot box-the certain American
remedy for the redress of all grievances
undertook to create an independent
government for themselves. Had this at
tempt proved successful, it would, Of
course, have subverted the existing goy-
eminent, prescribed and recognised by
Congress, and substituted revolutionary
government in its stead. This was ?.
usurpation Of the same character as it
would be for portion of the people OF
Connecticut to undertake 10 establish a
separate government within its chartered
limits for the purpose of redressing any
grievance. real or imaginary, Of which
they might have complained against the
legitimate State government. Such a
principle, If carried into execution. would
destroy all lawful authority and produce
universal anarchy.
l ought to specify more particularly a
condition Of affairs. which have embrace
ed only in general terms, requiring the
presence OF military force in Kansas
The Congress of the United States had
most wisely declared it to be "the true
intent and meaning of this act (the act
organizing the Territory not to legislate
slavery into any Territory or State. nor
to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the
people thereof perfectly free to form and
regulate their domestic institutions in
their own way, subject only to the Con-
stituGon of the United States" AS a
natural consequence, Congress has also
prescribed by the same act that when the
Territory OF Kansas shall be admitted as
Stale it "shall be received into the
Union, with or without slavery, as their
constitution may prescribe at the time Of
their admission ...- ....
Slavery existed at that period, and still
exists in Kansas, under the constitution Of
the United States. This point has at last
been finally decided by the highest tribu'
nal known to our laws. How it could ev-
er have been seriously doubted is a mys'
! terry. If confederation OF sovereign
States acquire new Territory at the ex'
pense of their common blood and treas
ure, surely one set Of the partners can
have no right to exclude the other from
its enjoyment by prohibiting them from
taking into it whatsoever is recognised to
be property by the common constitution.
But when the people-the bona tGle resi-
dents of such Territory-proceed 10
frame State constitution. then it is their
right to decide the important question for
themselves whether they will continue,
modify. or abolish slavery. To them,
and to them alone. does this question be-
long, free from all foreign Interference
In the opinion of the territorial legisla-
ture of Kansas, the time had arrived for
entering the Union, and they accordingly
passed a law to elect delegates for the
purpose of framing State constitution.
This law was fair and just in its provis.
ions. It conferred the right of suffrage
on 'every bona fde inhabitant of the ter
ritory;" and, for the purpose of prevent
ing fraud, and the intrusion of citizens of
near or distant States, most properly con-
fined this right to those who had resided
therein three months previous to the cleo
ton. Here a fair opportunity was pres
sented for all the qualified resident citi-
zers of the Territory. to whatever organ,
ization they might have previously be-
longed, to participate in the election, and
to expires their opinions al the ballot box
on the subject of slavery. But numbers
of lawless men still continued 10 resist
the regular territorial government. They
refused either to be registered or to vote;
and the members Of the convention were
elected legally and properly. without
their Intervention