Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-04-25
KANSAS A SLAVE STATE.


States arc still bent on embarrassing the af
fair of this territory. They are now ex'
horting the free State men there to refrain
from voting at the ensuing election for
delegates to a convention to frame con-
stitution. They declare that four.ff,hs oi
the inhabitants of the territory desire to
makeit free State; but they must not vote;
for that would be recognizing the author
ity OF the bogus legislature, and the bogus
laws. At the same time they give their
opinion that the convention will be pro-
slavery, the constitution pro-slavery, and
that the territory will be admitted into the
Union as o slave State. Accc ording to
their own showing this result will follow
the conduct that they now advise. If the
free State men sboald vote, the territory
would become free tate for, as they
claim, they have a majority Of four fold.-
The bare statement of the case will convict
the authors of such movements of dishon-
esty. They may pretend to be acting on
principle; but the world will ask how it is
that men who propose themselves to act
without law to accomplish their purposes,
refuse to act under law, bogus or not,
when thereby their end mayb be accomplish.
ed, and otherwise it cannot be.
Those who propose to raise men and
money to carry by force their purposes,
will hardly get credit for scruplos of con
science in such case. One of two con
clusions the rest Of mankind will come to
either the shriekers don't believe they have
majority Of the legal voters in the terri
tory, and are therefore afraid to try their
strength and expose their weakness, or they
want Kansas to become slave State to
verify their predictions, and make use of
the fact for party purposes If they all
vote and are out-voted, then it will be said
that Kansas was made slave State by the
residents of the territory and it cannot be
complained of~with good grace. If the
free State men-four to one, they say-re-
fuse to vote, alleging that they were dis
franchised, it will be the basis for good
deal of shrieking.
They complain of the disadvantages
they labor under, as they have no officers
of the election. That may be true. 1t is
not likely that man would be appointed
to execute q law who denied its validity
and openly outlawed himself. Let them
show that they intend to submit TO law,
before they complain that they have no
hand in its execution. If they will not
vote, and openly proclaim it; nor ack.
nowledge the legality Of the vote after it is
cast, it is absurd to make the excuse that
they have not been chosen to superintend
the voting. If placed in such position,
they could have easily defeated the whole
election by refusing to act.
They no W make their own wrongs The
excuse for still greater wrongs. If the
question were one of temporary inconveni-
ence, or pecuniary loss, mere matter of
expediency, refusing to vote might be a
matter of insignifcanee but it involves
the great question over which they have
been shrieking for years. The vote is,
perhaps, to settle the. question for years, or
forever OF the condition Of Kansas as q
slave or free State and they deliberately
determine it shall be the former,
We have no objections at all. Let them
stay at home and let the slave State mer
do the voting; but when the result is ac
oomplished, let US hear o more shriekins
or croaking about it. They need not tel
the world that they have four to one OF the
7oters, and that they nevertheless would
not vote. The conclusion will be tha
they didn't desire free State that score
tiy they preferred slave State bat being
not willing SO to vete themselves, they de.
termined to let others do what they wanted
done, And no doubt this is about the
fact. Some of the free State men want
slaves some are Indifferent; some wan,
it that they may make political capital out
oft, and there are but few Of the shrek
ers lefs who will make the effort to have &
free State. 1t is not in American blood t.
surrender an object that the mass desire t.
accomplish to the discretion of few
The majority have their way if they wisi
it there has been no exception heretofore
and none IS to be expected, 1t is idle t.
set up the pretense of iOrbearance, when al
object is to be gained that four to one, two
to one, or even majority hoyeyer small
arc deeply interested in.