The Kanzas news., 1858-02-20
Secretary Stanton's Address to the
People of the United States.

Secretary Stanton's Address to the
People of the United States.
We find an address to the people of
the United States by Ex-Secretary SIAN
ton, dated Washington, December 99th, in
the Baltimore papers of the 30th. He says
that he has no official information of the
cause of his removal, confesses that when
he first made his appearance in Kanzas, he
had but an imperfect idea of the real state
of facts there. He found large majority
of the people bitterly opposed to the laws.
If a minority of the people only had mani
tested such opposition5 the matter would
not have been so serious, but the opposition
of majority was hard to manage. He says
that when Walker arrived in the Territory:
''It was too late to induce the people to
60 into the June election for delegates to-
the Convention. The registration required
by law had been imperfect in all the coun-
ties, and had been wholly omitted in one
half of them; nor could the people of these
DISTINGUISHED counties vote in any adjacent
county, as has been falsely suggested. In
such of them as subsequently, took a census
or registry of their own, the delegates cho-
sen were not admitted to seats in the Con-
vention."
The Secretary says that he called the
Legislature together 'ste enable the people
to shield themselves from frauds" having
reference to the McGee county and Oxford
precinct frauds, which he pronounces ''noto-
rious, though dishonest people may deny
them" He also says that he wished to give
the people chance to give legal express
ion to their hatred and rejection of the Le-
compton Constitution, ''the instrument
which permitted them the frauds } and was
to be carried on by them" The cOnven-
ing of the Legislature, he says, undoubted-
ly prevented difficulty and secured peace.
The Honorable Ex-Secretary's Address
concludes as follows:
''The measure for which have been un-
Justly condemned has enabled the people of
Kanzas to make known their real will in re-
gard to the Leeompton Constitution. This
affords the Democratic party an opportuni-
ty to defend the trne principles of constitu-
tional liberty, and to save itself from disas.
trous division and utter overthrow. If
Congress will heed the voice of the people
and not force upon them government which
they have rejected by vote of four to one,
the whole country will be satisfied, and
Kanzas will settle her own affairs without
any danger to the Confederacy. The South
ern States, which are supposed to have a
deep interest in the matter, will be saved
from the supreme folly of standing up in
defense of so wicked and dishonest con-
trivance as the Lecompton Constitution
The moral power of their position will not
be weakened by useless defense of wrong,
when it is perfectly certain they viii gain
nothing even by success in the present
attempt.
1.-The extra session of the Kanzas Legis-
lature has done good, also, by giving means
to expose and punish the perpetrators of the
monstrous frauds which have been commit
ted, and doubtless. also, by deterring
others whowould have attempted the
commission of such frauds. It has driven
the guilty miscreants engaged in them to be-
come fugitives from justice, and has rem
dered it impossible for the peace of the
Territory hereafter to be endangered by
similar occurrences.
'.In view of these facts and results, I will
ingly accept the rebuke conveyed in my
peremptory dismissal from Office, but ap-
peal to the deliberate judgment of the peo-
pie, to determine whether I have not chos-
en- the only honorable course which the cir
cumstances allow me to pursue
FRED. p. STANTON