The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1857-12-16

shall exist in the State Of Kansas except
that the right of property in slaves now
IN the Territory shall in no manner be
interfered with and in that event it Is
made his duty to have the Constitution
thus ratified transmitted to the Congress
OF the United States for the admission of
the State into tho Union. At this cleo
tion every Citizen will have an opportunity
of expressing his opinion by his vote
whether Kansas shall be received into the
Union with or without slavery. and TINS
the exciting question may be peacefully
settled in the very mode required bv the
organic law. The election will be held
under legitimate authority, and if any
portion of the inhabitants shall refuse to
vote, a fair opportunity to do go having
been presented, this will be their ~yolunta-
~ act, and they alone will be responsible
for the consequences. Whether Kansas
shall be a free or slave State must event
uaiiy, under some authority, be decided
by an election, and the question can never
be more clearly or distinctly presented to
the people than it is at the present mo-
ment. Should this opportunity be reject
ed, she may be involved for years in do
mestic discord, and possibly in civil war.
before she can again make up an issue SO
fortunately rendered, and again reach the
point she has already attained. Kansas
has for some years occupied too much
public attention. It is high time this
should be directed to far more important
objects. When once admitted into the
Union, whether with or without slavery,
the excitement beyond her W limits will
speedily pass away, and she will then for
the first time be left as she ought to have
been long sinoe, to manage her own affairs
IN her own way. If her Constitution on
the subject of slavery, or any other SUBJ
Ject, be displeasing to the majority of the
people, no human power can prevent them
from changing it within a brief period.
Under these circumstances it may we'll
be questioned whether the peace and quiet
of the whole country are not of greater
importance than a nero temporary tri-
umph of either of the political parties of
Kansas. Should the Constitution with
out slavery be adopted by the votes of a
majority, the rights of property in slaves
now in She Territory are reserved. The
number of these is very small, but if it were
greater the provision would be equally
just and reasonable. These slaves were
brought into the Territory under the Con-
stitution of the United States, and are
now the property of their masters. This
point has at length been finally decided
by the highest judicial tribunal of the
country. and this on the plain principle
that when a confederacy of sovereign
States acquire a new Territory at their
joint expense, both equality and justice
demand that the citizens of one and all of
them shall have the right to take into it
whatever is recognized as property by the
common Constitution. To have summa-
rily confscated the property in slaves al
ready in the Territory would have been
an act of gross injustice aud contrary to
the practice of the older States of the
Union which have abolished slavery.
A territorial government was establish
ed for Utah by act of Congress approved
the 9th September, 1850, and the consti-
tuition and laws of the United States were
thereby extended over it $50 far as the
same, or any provisions thereof, may be
This act provided for the
by the President, by and
With the advice and consent of the Senate,
of o Governor. who was to be ex=6fhefe1
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, q secre-
tary, three judges of the supreme court, a
marshal, and a district-attorney. Snbse-
gu. MT acts provided for the appointment
of the officers necessary to extend our land
and our Indian system over the Territory.
Young was appointed the first
Governor on the Goth September, 1850,
has held the Office ever since. Whilst
Governor Young has been both Governor
and superintendent of Indian Affairs
this period, he has been at
the anne time the read of the church call
the Latter-Day Saints, and professes
to govern its members and dispose of their
property by direct inspiration and author
ity from the Almighty. His power has
beeu. therefore, absolute over both Church
and State.
The people of Utah almost exclusively
belong to this church, and believing with
q fanatical spirit that he is Governor of
the Territory by Divine appointment, they
his commands as if they were direct
from Heaven. If, therefore,
he.chooses that his Government shall come
into collision with the Government of the
States. the members of the Nor
mon Church will yield implicit obedience
to his will. Unfortunately, existing facts
LCofO OAt III lnAt 6uCu 10 II QG-
Without entering upon a
history of occurrences, it is suf.
icient to say that all the officers of the
United States, judicial and executive, with
The single exception of two Indian agents,
have found it necessary for their own
personal safety to withdraw from the Ter
and there no longer remains any
Government In Utah but the despotism of
Brigham Young. This being the condi-
ion of affairs in the Territory, I could
lot mistake the path of duty. As Chief
Executive Magistrate, I was bound to re-
tore the supremacy of the Constitution
md laws within its limits. In order to
this purpose, I appointed a new
Governor and other Federal officers for
Utah, aud sent with them a military force
or their protection. and to aid as a posse
omttatus, in case of need, in the execu-
ion of the law.
With the religious opinions of the Nor
IONS as long as they remained mere opin-
ons, however deplorabls in themselves
nd revolving to the mora! and religious
of all C~hristendom, I had no
ioht to Interfere Actions alone. when