The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1857-10-02


House VI ,Rspresedsat,yss ,asthoritatively
deehfed ,asf the govsrnment OF kAnsAs
was established by The terror Of bowie knives
and revolvers, and that Il had been proved
70 have not . shadow Of authority. And
hero your Memorialists ask whether plain.
or case or stronger evidence can well DO i'm
aginedY When, IL not in such q case, ought
the President 10 denounce government a.
spurious, and 10 refuse to aid or sustain il :?
The lawsof Congress tamplcd in the dust
the invaders from Missouri proved, beyond
q cavil. TO DO the only authors Of this "gov-
ernment lis it not an outrageous wrong
to hold Kansas subject to such usurpation
by q United States army? The fires Of ruf.
h'anism, still burn there smothered in TIE
droar'ness Of their own Oscillation, and
ready to DO rekindled IN their fury. by the
slightest movement tor liberty and right on
the part of the peopla while the echo Of
their suderings ever rings in the ears Of our
national executive.
Let 1t DO remembered, that this govern
ment comes TO tho people of Kansas, not
with the sanction Of gray antiquity; Nor
yet has 1t come from any law Of Congress,
as its true and proper source Nor yet from
the people of the Territory nor yet from
being even fully established. ID is Of recent
origin and formation. Ii dates only from
the imposition Of il by the rufianism from
Missouri, upon the people who abhor and
disown 1t. Every man who has, from the
first, known its eriuenee. has known its or.
igin and its nature. Let il then be taken
rs il Is; rs Is is, in ITS origin and it's nature.
And what IS IL? \ code Of laws oppress-
i've, unjust, cruel, outrageous without .
parallel, created, imposed, by the usurpa-
ton OF rufhains from Missouri. And these
laws, AID this government" without the
least evidence to establish their authority,
but with the most abundant proofs to the
contrary, you are proposing TO sustain and
execute by the United States army! You
speak of "numbers Of lawless men. &C."
abiding evidently to the Topeka Conven-
ton. Be il 50, for the sake Of the argu.
ment but how docs one ''lawless attempt"
to establish a government, justify or palli-
ate another lawles, attempt, for the same
purpose?
Further: In your reply, you seem to
your MemoriS.lists TO concede, IN al its truth
and force, tie principle which they main
tain. Thus you unequivocally and justly
assert that "for portion Of the people oil
Connect cut to undertake to establish a sep
arate " verumcnt, within its chartered limits
for the purpose Of redressing any grievance
real or Imaginary" would DO usurpation,
and add that "such principle, carried into
execution, would destroy all lawful author
ity, and produce universal anarchy" Your
Nemorialists fully subscribe to this doctrine.
But what is the act which you call usurpa.
ton in tho case supposed? What is 1t but
setting up government claiming authority,
and laws demanding execution, which, in
the nature Of the case, can claim no author.
ity and are opposed TO existing authority
| IL YOU would call this .usurpation" in Con-
necticut, if il would destroy all legal au.
tbority and produce universal anarchy"
what is this but the very act which Missou-
ri invaders have perpetrated in kansas?-
There was government in Kansas govern
ment under the Constitution Of the United
States Law was there also, law for the
organization OF government BY Tue PEOPLE
OF TIE TERRITORY. Right. too, was there,
the inviolable right Of the people to make
their own laws aud elect their own rulers
In opposition to that existing government (;
in violation Of that existing law tramp.
ling upon those inherent rights, Missouri
invaders have set upa bloody tyranny, which
has in fact produced anarchy and bloodshed.
also Your Memorialists have nothing to
ask of you, in this matter, but consistency
ofprinciple. Condemn the same conduct in
both cases; put down tho usurpation in
Kansas, and the friends of truth, Of justice,
and Of :he country, would rejoice.
Yoar Memorialists again ask, whether n
case can well be imagined, TO which the
name Of authoritative government could be
applied with more palpable improperly and
untruth. than TO the Territorial government
OF Kansas? Might not even political shame
lesness blush to call 1t by such n name !
Was not the true and only character Of this
government known TO you and the whole
country before your Inauguration, and dur
ing the Presidential Canvas? Did you not
with the full knowledge OF il, accept your
nomination, which you were free to decline.
and thus avoid the responsibility Of eIecut-
ing these neiarious laws; or did you sup
pose that the oath OF Office would exempt
you from this responsibility? You admit
the Constitutional duty Of the President to
stake care that the laws be faithfully exc
cuted." And now, without holding you re-
sponsible for any acts of your Predecessor,
for which YOU are not willing to be respon-
sible and have not fully sanctioned, your
Memorialists would ask, was there no law
to be taken careo of, by preventing we'll
known projected invasion of the political
rights OF the people no law to be taken
care Of afterwards by expelling the invaders
from the Territory-no law TO be taken care
Of in respect to the thetts, the robberies, the
incendiIrism and the murders that were Der.
petrated,-n law to be taken care Of in
the mode Of civil administration adopted by
Federal oticials-no law 10 be taken care of
in not appointing officials whose hands were
rcd with innocent blood, or in removing
bribed and perjured judges-no law to be
taken care OF by securing % the people of
the territory that fundamental right Of the
CONSTITUTIONAL right guarded by an ex-
press law OF Congress-the right "to make
their own laws and elect their own rulers"
mo law to be taken care Of in giving to
Congress information ut least Of the state of
the UniOn, and especially in recommending |
necessary and expedicnt measures for the re
lief Of the people Of Kansas from the injus-
tice, the oppression and the ..barbarities to
which they were subjected? Had then |
Great Britain any such laws 10 take care OF |
in Franco, when the present Emperor was
enthronel there by usurpation. as those
which our goyernment-our Presidcnt-was |
bound TO take care Of in our own Territory |
In utter neglect Of these laws, have you NOT,
with a full knowledge Of the nature Of this
usurpation, its origin, its progress, its viola
ton OF tho Constitution and Of fundamental
rights, its violence, its rapine, its massacrcs,
i,s eonfagration, and lis shame. sustain I'd !
NJ every step its authors and abettes to chs |
hour? Have you not sanctioned such con
duct by placing, or retaining, prominent
leaders therein in official stations?
Again-are the troubles and calamities of
- L.. -. n.