The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-12-11


ects on the people Of Kansas, whether &c
tided one way or the other. should hav
kndled such flame of excitement through
out the conntry' This reflection may prov
b be lesson of wisdom and Of warning fo
, our future guidance. Practically consider
. ed, the question is simply whstber the pee
Ile Of that territory should first come int
the Union and then change any provisions
10 their constitution not agreeable to them
selves, or accomplish the very same objec
by remaining out Of the Union ana framing
another constitutiin in accordance with theil
will? In either case the result would be
precisely the same. The only difference in
point of fact is, that the object would have
been much sooner attained, and the pacifi
cation Of Kansas more speedily effected, had
1t been admitted as State during the last
session Of Congress.
Ny recommendation, hswevsr, for the i'm
mediate admission Of Kansas, failed to meet
the appreciation Of Congress. They deem.
cd It wiser =. adopt q different neAsa.o fer
ewn part, should have been willing to yield
my assent to almost any constitutional mea-
sure to accomplish this object /, therefore
cordially acquiescsd in what has been called
the English Compromise, and approved the
" Act for the admission Of the State Of Kan
sas into the Union, upon the terms therein
prescribed
Under the ordinance which accompanied
the Lecompton Constitution, the people of
Kansas claimed double the quantity Of pub
lic laads for the support Of common schools
which had ever been previously granted to
any State upon entering the Union; and al
80 tae alternate sections Of land for twslve
miles on each side Of two railroads, propss-
ed to oe constructed from the northern to
the southern boundary, and from the east
ern 10 the western boundary Of the Stale.
Congress seeAing the,c CLAIMS Uayessrna-
bic, provided, By the act Of Nay Z, ls58, %
which have Just referred, for the admission
Of the State on ah equal footing with the
original States, but "2pon tie fundamental
condition precele ht that a majority 6! the
people thereof, at an e,ecti5n TO be held for
that purpose, sqtuls, in place Of tie very
large grants of public lands which they had
dsmaHded under The ordinance, except such
grants as had bee o made to Minnesota and
other new States. Under this set, saoad a
majority reject III + proposition offered them
" it shall be deem ed and held that the peo-
pie Of Kansas de pot desire admission into
the Union with s4id constitution under the
conditions set fort in SAID proposition" In
that event the act authorizes the people of
the territory 20 dect delegates TO form .
constitution and i tate government for them
selves, whenever, and not before. !; Is az
certained BY census, duly and legally tax
en-, that the population OF saie territory
equals or cxceedi the ratio Of representa-
ton required for 4he House OF representa-
tives Of the Conr1e.s Of the United States
TIE delegates thts assembled "shsll frst
determine hp vtte whether il is the wish
of the people Of the proposed State to he
admitted into The Union a, tina, time and
if so, shall proceed TO form constitution
and take all neces ssary steps for tie estsb-
lishmont Of 3 Statk government IN coniern-
ity with the fedtral constitution After
this constitution shall have been formed
Congress, carrying gu: the principles Of
popular sovereignty and uon-interveatioa.
have lcft {" the mode and manner Of its a2-
pro-al o. ratification by the people OF tEe
proposed State" to be '.prcscri bed bv ,aw,"
and the- shall then be admit d iato the
Union as State under such constitution as
fairly snj legally made, with or without
slavery, as the said constitution NAV pre-
crbe'
An election was held throughout Kansas,
in pursuante OF the provisions of tns act,
on the second day OF August last and il
resulted IN :he rejection, by large maj lori
ty, of the proposition submitted to the peo-
pie by Congress. This being the csse they
are now authorized TO form another sonsti-
tutlon, preparatory 10 admission into the
l nion, bu; net until their number as xscer-
taip.6 by a census, shall equal or exceed
the ratio required to elect member TO the
House cf Re resentatyes.
Ii is not probable, in the present state of
the case, that third constitution can be
lawfully framed and presented to Congress
by Kansas, before the population shall have
reached the esignsted number. Nor is it
to be presumed that, after their sad expe-
riencs u resisting the territorial laws, they
will attempt to adopt = constitution in ex-
press violation of the provisions Of an act
Of Congress. During the session Of 1856,
much Of the time ef Congress was occupied
on the question of admitting Kansas under
the Topeka constitution. Again, nearly the
whe whole OF last session was devoted to
the question cf its admission under the Le-
Surely it IS not unreasonable
TO require the people Of Kansas to wait be-
fore making third attempt, until tho num-
ber of their inhabitants shall amount to
nir ETY. three thousand four hundred and
twenty. During this br.s period, tne har-
nony of the States, as well as the great eu-
siness interest Of the country, sdemand that
the people Of the Union shall not, for the
third time, he conTulsed by another sgita
ton on the Kansas question. BY waiting
short time, and acting in Obedenre to law,
kansas Will glide into the Union without
any impediment.
This excellent provision, which Congress
have applied to Kansas, ought to be extend
ed, and rendered applicable to all territories
which may hereafter seek admission nte
The Union.
While Congress possessed the undoubted
power of admitting a new State into the L.
aion, however small may be the number of
ts inhabitants, yet this power ought not, in
my opinion, to be exercised before the po-
oulation shall amount to the ratio required
oy the act for the admission Of Kansas
Had this been previously the rule, the coun-
ry would have escaped all the evils and mis-.
or:unes to which it has been exposed by the
Kansas question.
OF course, it would be unjust to give this
'ule Retrospective application, and exclude
state which, acting upon the past practice
# the government, has already formed its
elected its legislature and eth
n officers, and is now prepared to enter the
Jnion.
The rule ought to be adopted, whether ~e
consider us bearing on tne PeoPie oi tuc tei-
itores or upon the people Of the existing
states. Mny of the serious dssensions (
which have prevailed in Congress and thro'- (
,ut the country would have been avoided,
lad this rule been established at an carly I
,eriod of the government. (
Immediately upon the formation af new
crritory, people from different states and {
rom foreign countries rush into it, for the
audable purpose of improving their eondi-
ion. Their first duty to themselves is, to
,pen and cultivate farms, to construct roads,
o establish schools, to erect places of religi-
,us worship, and to devote their energies se-
,erally to reclaim the wilderness and to lay