Squatter sovereign., 1857-10-24
PROF. sILLIMAN AND OTHERS RE-
PLY TO PRESIDENT BUCHANAN
ON THE KANSAS DIFFICULTIES.

To HIS ExcELLENcy JAMES BUCHANAN,
President Of the United STATES.
In July last, number of citizens Of
Connecticu, addressed to you. as Chief
Magistrate of this nation. Memorial on
the affairs of Kansas. To this you re-
piled. under date of August Is. 1857, in
a ma amer which shows that you tnisunder-
stood, 10 some extent. the ground taken by
the Memorialists. for we would not imputs
to you the intention to misrePresent them.
AS you have thought proper to lag the Me-
moriai and Reply before the public. a large
part Of the Memorialists have conferred
on the subject. and have felt themselves
compelled again to address you. We
would remark then, that the main facts al
legged in that memorial are either passed
ouer ,citho,lf denial, or are explicitly
dvowed an your reply.
These facts are two: First, that the
fundamental principle of the Constitution
of the United States and of our political
institutions is. that the people snail make
Secondly, " that Governor Walker of Kan
sas openly represents and ps9slasisia.s..
lh:: Rsssi e e sss..-- i-sRGe'
= Ftifff6ty1ng tI.ssssg;a- Walker) an army,
one purpose of which is, to force the peo-
pie OF Kansas to obey laws which are not
their own. nor of the United States; but
laws which. it is notorious, and es,ab-
lisi.ed upon evidence, they never made,
and rulers they never elected" As TO
these facts, the material facts alleged by
your Memorialis.s, and which chiefly re-
quire vindication, from you. they say that
they find no denial Of them in your reply
| They do not say that you have attempted
no vi1dicdtioa Of your acts and doings
through Governor Walker; but only that
they can find in your reply no plain or ex.
plicit denial of these facts referred to-not
even what they consider the shadow of a
denial These facts stand in the Memo
rial. then. uncontradicted, by what you
evidently consider a triumphant reply.
Why is this? Are these assertions, on
which the whole subject at issue depends,
uD,rue-and yet no denial of them-not a
word to proue them untrue. Withoul
such denial. what can you expect your Me-
morialists and she country TO believe and
sayz What. but that the facts, which they
lallege, are notorious and undeniable
/ AS to the allegation respecting the fun.
damentai principle of the Constitution
your NfemoEiaiists hope that the time j.
remote when the enlightened citizens o
this country will deny that principle
though party zeal in its infaiuation. may
one day irample it in the dust, when. il
sight of the ruin, Liberty and Religion il
exile will together weep over the desecra
lion.
} Your FORMAL viHDIcArIoS next de
} mands notice.
OF this your Memorisiisss are compeile
, to say that, in their view, il is en,irel
) groundIess and unsatisfactory.
Resting it solely on what you call tn
, plainess and most palpable historical facts.
iyon say that al the time OF your inangurl
: ton. /" you found, in fact. the Goyernmen
of Kansas as well established as iha. {
, any other Territorv." You then asl
was it not my duty to sustain the gov
: ernment-,o prevent II from being ovel
T turned by force; in The language of tfi
: Constitution, to take care that the laws /
I faithfully executed.' ." You ihen add: 81
was for this purpose that ordered mil
[ tary force TO Kansas To act as posse con
E itafus in aiding the civil magistrates
: carry the laws into execution. Here, the
> is the distinct admission and decIsratic
!, on your part. that you ordered milital
: force TO Kansas for the purpose of sustain
y ing its Territorisi gosernulent. and. Of e.
] forcing its Territorial laws. So far, the
o Ia respect to one matter OF fact. you adm
J. the assertion Of your Memorialisis.
8 Your vildidatio1. therefore, rests ups
e the assertion that there was, IN fact, go
5 ernmenf in Kansas-such government
i it was your duty TO sustain. The esse
d tial question, on which the whole contr
d versy turns, Is thus raised-it is simp
this: Vas there a government. or 70
y there iasps. al Kansas. a. just. proper. al
Ie authorized meaning of the icngual
t.s when you entered upon the duties Of 1
le Presidential Office on the 4th Of Mar
le last
Of II this can be proved TO be true. 20
ID MemoriaIis,s will know something viii
Si.ey haze ysr< 81 Learn ff I, 2n