The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-11-07


citizens Of the United States Thus, the very act Of
acquisition negatives the idea Of the territorys sub
lection 70 the sovereignty Of residents whether c
zens or the savages Adventures who are the pets
Of the red-republican theory.
The next acts we hear of in the history Of the new
Territory relate TO the establishment of land offices
for the sale Of It's lands by the federal government
all reserviDg the right Of eminent domain expressly
to the federal government with reyersion to the
again, is emphatic negaton Of the redrepublican
notion of the absolute individual sovereignty of the
squatter# in the new domain
Whose right there is none 10 dispute
From the centre ell round TO the
The next step we see taken in the progress of the
territory is its organization into territorial govern
ment within prescribed territorial metes and bounds,
By act Of Congress Here again is an emphatic mega
ton of the sovereignty Of the individual squatters
for Congress- of is ocn authority and right prescribes
the form of government and the territorial metea
and bounds of its authority with utter indifference
to the pretensons of its sovereign" occupants.
Moreover il not only delegates in express terms to
the new government the specific powers which it is
authorized TO exercise and to the territorial Legislature
the specific subjects which IL may legisate but it
expressly to itself veto upon all the acts
of this government and Legislature and all powers in
the Territory not expressly delegated to these sub
ordinate tribunals. Thus the squattcr has no voice
in determining the form of the government under
which he lives, the of the territory which is
to limit the new community State which be has
entered the subject-matters of Jurisdiction dele
gated to the new government which is erected over
him by foreign agency. Thus up to this point in
the history of the Territory find that he has had
voice in affairs whatever, except in the election
of members to the territorial Legislature body of
narrowly defined powers, every act of which is sub
ject to congressional Ueto.
Nor indeed, in the organization of some of the
earlier Territories, did the sqnatter enjoy any voice
whatever in selecting legislators. The governor and
his council, composed of the judges of the courts,
all appointed by the federal executive constituting
the Legislature Thus there was not an elective office
in the whole economy of the territorial organiza-
ton.
Here then we have seen an utter and complete
negahon of every shadow of individual sovereignty,
authority and right whatsoever in the squatter from
the time of the territorial purchase through the
whole period of territorial adolescence, up to the
time of the erection of the Territory into State
And even at this eventfu period, and in this final
act which closes the existence of the Territory the
squatter is not the actor, but Congress alone For
Congress- usually by enabling acts" prescribes the
time, place. and circumstances of holding the terri
al f-ou
Notwithstanding the places for taking the polls and
the officers and judges of the election and prescrib
ing the qualification of voters 1t is only after the
framing of that instrument, and its ratification by
the inhabitants Of the Territory that this discretion
of Congress is limited by the constitution for, the
incpient proceedings having been all regular, Con
gress has, then, only discretion to decide whether
the form of government provided for by the oonven-
ton of the proposed States is republican or not If
it be republican, all other proceedings being regu
lar then the sovereignty, not of the squaters ind
vidualIy, but of the new aggregate community. ap
pears for the first time, emitting the new sovereign
State to be acknowledged and recognised by Con-
gross as such, whatever be the organic provisions
incorporated in its constitution
Thus we have explored the source of the dogma
Of squatter sovereignty and, tracing the progress
of each Territory of this Union we have seen that
dogma negatived in every act of it's history. We
have seen that sovereignty in the Territory cannot
come from the individual squatter. We have seen
that it does come from and does reside in, during
every hour of the existence of the Territory diff
ferent antagonistic that is to say from and
III Congress, representing the Union at large under
the federal constitution.
We regard with unspeakable contempt all efforts
to prove that the NebraskaKansas act or any other
territorial act passed by Congress, contains
sentala of this doctrine, gives wink or blink of
countenance to it. 1t has seemed to us that to as
sert that the dogma recognised in any word of that
act is as preposterous to assert that fire is ice or
that black is white.
squaa the popular opprobrouy
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