The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1857-1858, 1857-12-23

70 talk u lis Leosap ~ OH sitisn = ~
isy! Il shs $500 opoooh Irpu which boJos0
read. Nj. Bncbanan sea11sked -
..The Senator from Oeio, III. Esinxb hss
contended that ths secoaa Michigau convention
bad no power 70 ascent, because the Rrse coa-
veusion which vas held had refased. ii
..Nr. Ewing said he bad asked whether, u the
srst convention had assented to the condition
proposed By the act Of Congress, there would
have been any objection 70 this assent because
Il had been called By virtue Of IN ct q the ~
gisAture.
could have been contended that this set 81 the
Legislature had vitiatsd the subsequent proceed.
ines Of the convention. Although il vas mot
necessary 70 give them validity, yet i wod not
destroy them. Ii could neither make the case
That was the opinion Of Mr. Buchanan IN re-
gard to the authority Of Territorial Legislature
possessing all the powers under the organic act
which the Kansas Territorial Legislature pos
sessed 10 cali convention 70 form constita.
ton Now, sir, undertake TO say that this Le.
CON pton Convention was not legitimate con-
vention; that it possessed no authority whatev-
er, and that all lis enactments which il has I'M
dertaken to carry into effect, such Is ordering
an election to be supervised by its president are
void that every act which it has attempted to
establish over the people Of Kansas without
their subsequent ratification 10, in ths language
of Mr. Buchanan, . usurpation, and no man 10
bound to submit 70 it. II the convention SUBJ
init their proceedings to the action Of the peo-
pie, and the people endorse them, that might
give them validity but without such indorse.
ment they do not have any binding force, be-
cause they do mot emanate from . legitimate
source. s1 4 Is
There 10 one other point In regard to this Kan
sas matter to which desire to allude. The
President speaks Of the submission Of the slave.
~ question to the people of Kansas in the man.
ner in which it 10 submitted-bus imperfectly At
the most-as q fair carrying out ofthe principle
Of the Kansas Nebraska bill. That bill has been
held up before the country a. establishing the
great principle Of sef-government; az establish
ing the principle for WHICH our fathers fought to
secure our independence--thep principle Of allow
ing the people to regulate their domestic insitu-
tons in their own way; and what does it amount
to, according to Nj. Buchanan! Il amounts
simply to giving the free white people Of Kansas
right to determine the condition Of few ne
groes hereafter to be brought into the State
and nothing more. The condition of those now
there cannot be touched. To this has the great
principle OF selfg0veTnment now come, accord :
ing TO the recognized exponent of the party
which inauguratcd the Kansas act The free
people OF Kansas have no right, under the Lee
compton Constitution, to determine on the or
ganc law under which they shall live. They
have no right to deter inc the institutions for
the governments Of white men--nosa ut all They
cannot determine what sort OF q legislature they
shall have, OF how MANY members it shall con.
sist, what the qualifications tor membership shall
be. They cannot pass ON the right OF suffrage.
They cannot determine AS to the creation Of
banks, other corporations, and thousand other
things which are put into the constitutions
by the people in all our States, for the govern
ment OF free white men; but they may deter.
mine what shall be the condition Of few ne.
groes, hereafter to be introduced; and that 10
the great principle Of popular sovereignty &C.
cordng to the message!
Il shall have occasion at some future time to
speak more at length in regard to this docu.
ment Ny only object in rising now was to
meet the assumption, not founded - conceive
in correct law, that the convention which as
eembied under the authority Of the Territorial
Legislature was legitimate convention. II was
not as good convention as the one which met
at Topeka, because that convention did emanate
from portion Of the people at least whereas
the Lecompton Convention emanated, as in
sist, from q set Of usurpers.