Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-03-18

0tner power, Wncn State knOckS at tne 400
for admission, but to inquire if her copstitu
tion is republican.
IF what l have said be correct, then tn
will of the people of Kansas is to be foun(
in the action of her constitutional conven
tion, and it is not safe to look for it anywhere
else 1t is immaterial whether it is the vii
of majority of the people of Kansas now
or not. The convention was, or ought t
have been, elected by majority of the peo
pie of Kansas. A convention, elected il
April, may well frame constitution tha
would not be agreeable to majority of the
people of new State, rapidly filing up, il
the succeeding January and if Legislatures
are to be allowed to Put to vote the acts d
a convention, and have them beaten down by
a subsequent influx of emigrauts, there is nc
fnality. If you were to send back the Le
compton Constitution, and another was to be
framed, In the slow way in which we do pub
lie business here, before it would reach Con
gress, in another year, perhaps the majority
would be turned the other way.
Sir, whenever you 60 outside of the regu'
lar fa1mc of law and constitutions to seek fol
the will Of the people, you are wandering in
wjlderness-a wilderness of thorns. Il
this was a minority constitution do moi
know that that would be an objection to it.
Constitutions arc made for minorities. Per.
haps minorities ought 10 have the right tc
make constitutions, for rthey are administered
by majorities. The Constitution of this
Union was made by minority, and as late
as 1S40, minority had it in their hands,
and could have altered or abolished it; for,
in 1910, six out of the twenty-six States Of
the Union held the numerical majority.
The Senator from Illinois has, upon his
view of the Lecompton constitution and the
present situation of affairs in Kansas, raised
the cry of popular sovereignty. The Sena.
tor from New York, Mr.. Seward yesterday
made himself facetious about it, and called
it "squatter soverei gnty." There is a popu.
lar sovereignty which is the basis of oHr Gov,
ernment, and | am unwilling that the sena'
tor should have tho benefit of uniting squat
ter sovereignty with popular sovereignty
Sir, in all countries and in all time. tbs well
understood that the numerical majority Of
the people could, if they chose, exercise the
sovereignty of the country j but for want Of
Intelligence, aud for want of leaders, they
have never yet been able successfully to com.
bine and form apopular government. They
have often attempted it, but it has always
turned out, instead of apopular sovereignty
populous sovereignty: and demagcgues,
placing themselves upon the movement, have
invariably led them into military despotism
[ think that the popular sovereignty which
the Senator from Illinois would derive from
the acts of his Territorial Legislature, aud
from the information received from partisans
and partisan presses, would lead us directly
into populous sovereignty, and not popular
sovereignty, The first organization of pop
ular sovereignty on proper basis, took place
in this country. The first gun of the Revo
luton was salute to a new organization Of
a popular sovereignty that was embodied in
the Declaration OF Independence, developed
elaborated, and inaugurated forever in ths
Constitution of the United States; and the
true pillars of it were representation and the
ballot. .box-the legal and constitutional bal
lot-box ordained by the people. In the di
vision of power, in distributing the sovereign
powers among the various departments of the
Government, the people retained for them
selves the single power or the balot-box
and great power it was. Through tha
power they were able to control all the de
partments of the Government. 1t was no
for the people to be exercising political powc
in detail it was not for them to be annoyed
with the cares of government; but, from tim'
to time: through the ballot.Dox, TO exert thei
power to control the whole organization, ant
sovereignty remained with them. This il
popular sovereignty, the popular soyercignt.
of legal, constitutional ballot-box; ant
when spoken through that box, the voice o
the people, for all political purposes, is tk
VOICE Of GOD: but when IL i@ outside Of that
| ii l. the voice Of a demon, the doctrine 0
the reign Of terror.
Permit me to say, that in passing I omit
ted to answer a question that the Senate
from Illinois has, believe, repeatedly asked
and that is, what were the legal powers 0
the Territorial Legislature aftcrthc Formation
and ad0psioa OF the I.coompton Constitu
ton? That had nothing to do with til
Territorial Legislature. They moved in to
tally different spheres. The Territorial Leg
islaturc was provisional government, almos
without power, appointed and paid by thi
Government. The Lccompton Constituto
vas the ae: of people, and the Sovercig
act CT people. They moved in difercn
spheres and on different planes, and coul
not come in contact at all without usurpato
on the one part or the other. 1t was nc
competent for the Lccompton Constitutio
to overturn the Territorial government an
set up government in place of it: hccaGYa
that Constitution, urt,i acknowledged b
Congress, was nothing; it was not in being
1t could we'll order the people of Kansas
pass upon it; it could do whatever was nc
cessary to perfect that constitution, but moth
ing beyond that, until Congress had agree
to accept it. In the mean time the terri.:
rial government, : government al interim