The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-12-24
WASHINGTON. ID. G..
LETTER OF HON. ROBERT J. WALKER,
Resigning the Office Of Governor Of Kansas.
WASHINGTON CITY, Dec. Is, 1851.

WASHINGTON CRY, Dec. Is, 1851.
Hon. Leacis Cass, Secretary of State:
SIR: I resign the Office of Governor of the
Territory of Kansas.
/ have been most reluctantly forced 10 this
conclusion, after anxious and careful consider
alton of my duty to the country, to the people
of Kansas, 10 the President of the United States,
and to myself
The grounds assumed by the President in
bis late message to Congress, and in recent
instructions in connection with the events now
transporting here and in Kansas, sdmonish me
that, as Governor of that Territory, it will no
longer be In my power to preserve the peace or
promote the public welfare.
At the earnest solicitation of the President
after repeated refusals, 1.-THE last being IL wri-
ting,) l finally accepted this Office. upon his
letter showing the dangers and difficulties of
the Kansas question, and the necessity of my
undertaking the task of adjustment. Under
these circumstances, notwithstanding the great
sacrifices TO me, personal, political, and pecu-
MARY, felt that could no more refuse such a
call from my country, through her Chief Msgis-
trate, than the soldier in battle WHO is ordered
n command forlorn hope.
i accepted, however, on the express condi-
ton that | should advocate the submission of
the Constitution to the vote Of the people for
ratification or rejection.
These views were clearly understood by the
President and al bis Cabinet They were dis
tinctly set forth in my letter of acceptance of
this Office of the 26th of March last, and reiter-
ated in my inaugural address of the 9th of May
last. as follows:
Indeed / cannot doubt that the Convention,
after having framed State Constitution, will
submit il for ratification or reieC ton by major
itv IF the then ual bona fde resident settlers
of Kansas.
"Wnn these views, well known TO the Presi-
dent and Cabinet, and approved by them, / &C
cepted the appointment OF Governor of Kansas.
Ny instructions from the President, through
the Secretary Of State, under date of the Both
of March LAST, sustain the regular Legislature
of the Territory in assembling a Contention
10 form Constitution;' and they express the
opinion of the President, that 'sohen such
Constitution shall be submitted TO the people Of
the Territory, they must be protected an the er-
eTcise Of their RIGHT of rOtins FOR or AGAINST
that Instrument; and the fair expression Of the
popular aciH must not be interrupted 6y fraud
or violence
repeat, then, as my clear conviction, that
unless the Convention submit the Constitution
TO the vote of all the actual resident settlers of
Kansas, and the election be fairly and Justly
conducted, the Constitution will be, and ought
10 be, rejected by Congress"
This inaugural most distinctly asserted that
twas not the question of Slavery merely, which
/ believed TO be of little practical Importance
then, In Its application to Kansas but the en-.
tire Constitution, which should be submitted to
the people for ratification or rejection. These
were my words on that subject in my inaugu-
raj 4" IL is not merely shall Slavery exist in or
disappear from Kansas, but shall the great
principles of self government and State sover.
L. IL D IL
inaugural, proceed further to say, that the peo-
pie may, by a subsequent vote, defeat the
ratification of the Constitution" / designate
this as great constitutional right" and add,
"that the Convention is the servant and not tie
master of the people"
In my official despatch to you of the I'd June
last, copy of that inaugural address was
transmitted to you, for the further information
of the President and his Cabinet. No excep-
ton was ever taken to any portion of that ad-
dress; on the contrary, it is distinctly admitted
by the President In his message, with COM
mendable frankness, that my instructions in
favor of the submission of the Constitution to
the vote of the people were general and un-
qualified" By that inaugural and subsequent
address, was pledged to the people of Kansas
to oppose by all lawful means" the adoption
of any Constitution which was not fairly and
fully submitted to their vote, for ratification or
rejection. These pledges Ilcannot recall or
violate without personal dishonor, and the
abandonment of fundamental principles; and
therefore it is impossible for me to support
what is called the Lecompton Constitution, be-
cause it is no. submitted to vote of the people
for ratification or rejection.
have ever uniformly maintained the prin-
ciple, that sovereignty is vested exclusively in
the people of each State, and that it performs
its first and highest function in forming State
Government and State Constitution. This high
est act of sovereignty, in my judgment, can
only be performed By the people themselves,
and cannot be delegated to Conventions or
other intermediate bodies. II Is
Indeed, the whole doctrine Of the sovereignty
of Conventions, distinct from that of the peo-
pls-of conventional or delegated sovereignty,
as a-distinguished from State or popular
sovereieDty--hss ever been discarded by me,
and was never heard of, to my knowledge, du.
ring the great canvass CT 1856. Indeed, this
is the great principle Of State rights and State
sovereignty maintained in the Virginia snd
kentucky resolutions of 1889, sustained by
the people in the great political revolution OF
1900, and embraced in that amendment to the
Federal Constitution adopted under the auspices
of Mr.. Jefferson, declaring that "the powers
not delegated to the United States by the Con.
stitution, prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved TO the States, respectively, or to the
p,ople."
The reservation to The States" is as sepa
rate States in exercising the powers granted
by their State Constitutions, and the reserva-
ton to the people" is to the people of the
several States admitted or inchoate in exerci.
sing their sovereign right of framing or amend
ing their State Constitution.
This view was set forth in my printed ad.
dress delivered at Natchez, Mississippi, in Jan.
uary 1888, against notification, which speech
received the complimentary sanction of the
great and good Madison, the principal founder
of our Constitution, as shown by the letter oil
Hon. Charles J. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, as
published in the Globe, at Washington, in 1886.
What adds much to the force of this opinion
is the statement then made by Mr.. Madison,
that these were also the views of Mr.. Jefferson.
By this clause of the Federal Constitution, the
sovereignty of the people of each State is clear
ly reserved, and especially their own exclus We
sovereign right to form in all its entirety their
own State Constitution.
shall not enter fully into the argument Of
this question at this period, but will merely
state that this is the position have ever occu
pied and my reasons for entertaining this
opinion are clearly and distinctly set forth in q
printed pamphlet published over my signature,
on the 18th June, 1856, and then extensively
circulated, from which / quote as follows:
"Under our confederate system, sovereignty
Is that highest political power which, at Its
pleasure, creates Governments and delegates
authority to them. Sovereignty grasts powers,
but not sovereign powers; otherwise, it Nigh,
extinguish itself by making the creature of its
will the equal or superior of Its creator. Sow
ereignty makes Constitutions, and through them
astahli shes Governmental 1t delecates certain