Weekly Council Bluffs bugle. (Council Bluffs, Iowa) 1857-1860, 1858-01-13
Tl 0REAT sEEeA
SENATOR DOUGLAS.
DeRemce OF Popular @@weR@&MRa~
~ and The vVaaA 0a saae M@s
s@RxGy.
n sRNATE DECEMRER 0sn, 1857.
IeeseLupkn.l

knkie9 30 ne people They nrst 20 0sl
aa6 sake 3 Constitution. Then thsg
make i achsduIe, In which they provide
that tAs ConstiEntioa, on the 2lst Of De
Eeanhsr---sha presenN month--shaH 0a
sabmistea 30 ali the bosa Sds inhabitants
of tAa Tarrianry on that day, Tor shslT
free acceptance OF rejection, in the fol-
llawlng rsaanar, 10 wlG; thns acknowI-
sdging thai they were bound 70 sa6mia
ii to the will Of the people, coneeding
that they had no right 70 put Il into ep-
eration wiihous submitting IL o the pso-
pie; providing In the iRAEERmens that II
shuala take eject from and a1ts1 the
date ii iss FsasAOaaions aad moi h@4cEs
showing that the Constitution derives its
vitality, in their estimation, not from the
aathoEity Of the Convention, but from
that vote of the people 20 which ii was to
bs submitted for their free acceptance or
rejection. How is il to be submitted
Il shall b@submitted in this form Soon
ssitatiau wlth Slavery, Or Constitution
With no Slavery All men must vote
for the sonstitnaon, whether they like il
or not, ia oxdes 10 be permitted to vote
for or against slavery, Thus Consti-
tution made hy . Convention thai had
/ authority 10 assemble and petition for q
redress of grievances, but not 10 estabv
! hsh aovsrnment--aC G institution made
under q nj edge Of honor that il should
be submitted to the epeople before il took
effect Constitution which provides, On
its fass, that is shail have no validity
except what il derives fran such submis-
sions-is submitted TO the people q an
election where all men aEe at liberty 70
come forward freely, without hindrancs,
and vote for it, but no man is permitted
to .esord vote against it. That would
| be as faiR an election as some OF the an-
emies Of Napoleon attributed to him
when he was elected First Consul, He eis
said 10 have called out his troops ard had
them reviewed by his efheors with 6
speech, patriotic &nd fair in its profess
iona, in which he said to them, "Now,
my soldiers, yoa are to 20 90 the election
and vote frcely-just as you please. If
you Toto for Napoleon, all is we'll vote
against him, and you are to be instantly
shot" That was a fair election. Laugh
teri This election is to be equally fair.
All men in favor Of the Constitution may
vote for it---an men against il shall not
vote at oil. Why not Iet@them vote G
gainst it? / presume sou have asked
many a man that question. Lhaye asked
a very large number Of the gentlemen who
framed the Constitution, quite a number
q delegates, and still larger number
of persons who arc their friends, and
have resolved the same answer from ey-
cry one Of them. never Eaaeiyed aay
othey answer, and presume Us Beye7
shall get any other UHswer, Nhat -
that; They say If they allowed a mega
tive vote, the Constitution would have
been voted down by an overwhelming ma-
jority, and hence Ehefeliows SHALL not be
allowed 90 vote at all. daughter
biF. President, that may be true. Il is
40 part Of my purpose to deny thg prop
osIElon that that Constitution would have
bssa voted down If submitted to the peo-
pie. believe il would have been voted
down by majority Of / to /. am in
formed BY men we'll posted tlaTa-pem-
ocrats-that it would be voted down By
IL to some say by D. to /. But is it
Il good reason why you should declare it
in force, without being submitted ID tbs
people, merely because it would have
been voted down by 5 TO / II you had
submitted is? What does that prove?
Does il not show uRdeniahlE that an over
whelming ms j0EiSy Of the people Of Kan
sas ase dnalteFabLy opposed to that Con-
stituGion2 VIII sou force it on them a.
gainst their viii simply because they
would have voted it down il you had con-
suited them. If you viii are you going
10 force ii upon them under the plea Of
leaving them perfectly free to form and
regulate their domestic institutions in
their owu way? Is that the mode in
which | au called upon TO carry out the
principle Of self government and popu-
lar sovereignty In the Territorlss-to
force Constitution on the people against
thsir viii, in opposition to their protest
with knowledge Of the fast, and then
TO assIgns aA 9 reason fJE nay tyranny,
thaa they w0uld be sbstinAt8 and so pre-
var4s al TO vots down the CoustitutioR
il rad given them an opportunity 70 be
consulted about it? Sir, deny your
right or mine to inquire Of these people
what their objections to that Constita
ton are. They have right to judge for
themselves whether they like or dislike
ii. Ii is no answer TO tell nae that the
Constitution is q good oDe and unobjec-
tiouablss IL Is not satisfactory to me 30
have the President say in his message
that that Constitution ID an admirable
one, like ell the Constitutions Of she new
States that have been recently formed,
Whether good or bad, whether obnoxious
or not, is none Of my business and none
Of yours. 1t is their business, aad not
ours. care not what they have in their
Constitution, so that il suits them, and
does nOE violate the Constitution OF the
United States and the fundamental prin-
ciples Of liberty upon which our institu-
tious rest. am not going 10 argue the
question whether the banking system es-
tablished in that Constitution Is wise or
unwise. II says there shall be no mo-
nepolies. bat there shall be one bank Of
issue In the State, With sWo branches
All have to say on that point is, if they
want Banking system, lot ttthen1 have ii
if they do not want 1t, lat them prohibit
it, IL they want bank with two bran
ches, be il SO; if they want twenty, Il is
none Of my business; and ID matters not
to zns WHISTLER one Of them shall be on the
north side. and tne other ON che south
side Of khe Kaw river, or whore they
shall be. While have no right 10 ex~'
peet to be consulted On thst poiut, do
hold thai the people Of Kansas have the
right TO be consulted and to decide it,
and you hare NO rightfal authority To
deprive them Of that privilege. Il Is no
justification, In my mind, % say that the
provisions for the eligibility for the Of
bees Of Governor sud Lieutenant Gov
aTBoE require swsHty years citizenship
to the Umafed States.
Tfmsn thiak that no person should vote
or held oEkee until be haa been here twaa
ty years, they have right to think 80
and If the majogisy Of the people of Kan
saa shink that no man OF foreign birth
should vote sE hold of6Ss, anless be has
lived shara swsaty years, il IL their right
j 10 say so, ana hAys no right to inter
fere with them; ii is shsiF business, not
mfne; but Il lived there, / should not
be willing to hare that provision in the
CoRatisaEion without being heard upon
ths subject, and SLOWED TO record my
! protest against II. hare nothing to sag
ahona thesg syatakn of tAxaiioHs in which
| they have gone bask and rssorted 70 the
old expioded system that we tried in IL
| iinoiss but abandoned because We did
met liks IL. lie thsy visa 70 try Il and
gss tired of IL and abandon IL Be II 80 ;
6us IL wses q eiaiEan of kansas 1 would
pFoa4 by the sxpsrianpe og Illinois. on
tAaa suhisct, Maa dsfaas ii III oonld.--
Yet ! havs 20 objsesion q thsis having \