Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-04-23


loudly alleged by the emigrant aid, or
abolition party but Mr. Douglas tells us
that Governor Reeder "having adjudged
them to have been duly elected, accord
lingly granted them certificates Of cleo
tion," &c.
Soon after this Governor Reeder was
removed and Mr. Douglas notes the fact
that, "a few dayS after Governor Reeder
dissolved his official relations with the
Legislature" the incipient step was taken
in the Topeka movement to form a revolu
tionary State government. He shows that
their first open declaration was, that "the
people of Kansas Territory have been
since its settlement, and now are, without
any law-making power" He traces them
through their various steps of attempted
observation-disclosures that they had organized
a secret military legion-had pledged
themselves to "make Kansas free State
where backed by powerful corpora
ton, with capital of five millions of dol
lars, invested in houses and lands, in
merchandise and mills, in cannon and
rifles, in powder and ead'-and that they
decided on "repudiating the laws, and
overthrowing the Territorial government
in defiance of the authority of Congress. "
1t will be we'll remembered what noisy
boasts they made of the efficacy of their
Sharp's rifles. Such are the men who have
failed to vote in the elections determining
the constitution with which Kansas applies
for admission into the Union-and have
chosen to draw these facts from the state
ments of one whom the opposition to ad
mission will hardly question. Many of
those men, l learn, are foreigners, Germans
and others, who have not been naturalized,
who are not entitled to a vote, and who
know as little of the principles of our
constitution as they do Of the virtues of
law and order. But they were not the
less noisy followers of Lane and Topeka.
This revolutionary Topeka movement has
been kept up till within the last few weeks.
On the eve of the lawful election of dele
gates to the Lecompton convention, it
came near producing civil war and Gov
eanor Walker fastened dispatch to the
State Department, announcing that "the
most alarming movement proceeds from
the assembling, on the 9th of June, Of
the so called Topeka Legislature with a
view to the enactment of an entire code
of laws, and predicting that such result
"would lead to inevitable and disastrous
collisions" Soon after the election of
delegates to the convention, we find Gov
ernor Walker writing to General Harvey
to send him regiment of dragons to put
down rebellion at Lawrence, 'involving
an open defiance of the laws, and the es-
Enlistment of an insurgent government
in that city" The next day the Governor
informs the Secretary of State, that this
was "the beginning of plan to organize
instruction throughout the Territory.
? few days after, II was found, says Gov. Wal
ker, that General Lane was organizing, under the
sanction of the Topeka convention, "the whole
so-called free-State party into volunteers" and
"taking the names of all who refused enrolment"
with view "to terriiy the free-State conserva-
tives into submission as is "proved by recent
atrocities committed OH such men by Topekates."
Again, just on the event of the assembling OF the
convention at Lecompton to frame State const-
tuition, Governor Walker informed the State De.
partment that "General Lane and his staff every
where deny the authority of the Territorial laws,
and counsel total disregard OF these enacmen ts %
And again, Immediately before the vote was TO be
taken to determine whether the constitution should
recognize or ignore slavery acting Governor STAN
ton wrote to the Secretary of State that he chad
become satisfied that the election ordered by the
convention could not eo conducted without coll
lison and bloodshed
Thus il is apparent that regular system of DIS
order, REBEL lion, and terror was attempted 10 be
kept up during the whole time the constitution
was In the process Of adoption. Those turbulent
men would not vote themselves. and endeavord to
deter others from voting What guarantee, then,
have we, that they would now VOTE II forty op-
portunities were given theml l. for one, confess
that do not feel the slightest disposition to
humor such men. The fact should be borne in
mind that the Lecompton constitution Is the work
Of those who have ever been true to the properly
constituted authorities of the Government, while
those who have stood aloof have all the time en-.
deavored to resist the law by force and volenc e.
Is suth fact of no momentl
But, say the opponents of the bill, "frauds"
have been peTpetrated in accomplishing the adop-
, ton of this constitution | think this a mistake.
do not ihat the charge has been sustained
by evidence entitled to respect. Gentlemen should
not lend with the constitution frauds in cleo
tons having no connection with the constitution.
} The charge in this case is based upon the bare
assertion Of partizans OF the lawvoaiing faction
in Kansas, aud there Is an absence of proof TO
sustain he assertion. Two men, Messrs Bah
cock and DeZler, who Lad no official connection
with the returns, and who offer no proof OF what
they allegs, state that there spurious votes
given on the Dist Of December, when the ques-
ton taken upon the slavery clause. And
thereupon the outcry is raised that there were
frauds 1t is we'll known that even II what they
say was true. still! large majority Of the lega
votes At the election east in favor of retain
. ing the slavery clause But | cannot permit my
judgment TO he infueDced by this unsupported
: statement of Messrs Babcock and Dezler; there
is strong rcumstanlal evidence against it, in the
fact that the pro-saveIy vote the occasion was
actually smaller thay il few days after ia
the election of State officers. In the elections
last fall, for Territorial Legislature, there is
, evidence Of fraud and there appears to have been
a. L. Ia IL Al
of January. But these elections. IL must be
remembered, had no connection whatever with the
adoption of the constitutions and in the latter
6 ease, particularly there to believe that
the frauds likely to have been committed
on one side the other. II is curious TO OBJ
serve how ready certain gentlemen are TO believe
any charge Of fraud against the law-abding men
Of the Territory, and how slow they are to soc the