True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1858-01-06

dents message; ana tue structures from
the pens Of the abIest writers. but we have
read nothing TO equal the article in
the Allanuc Month y; we therefore com.
mend i to the careful perusal Of our rea>
dera; em f
7 But for the terms in which Tie Prssi-
dent has disposed Of his third topic. = the
Kansas difficulty,-ws can scarcely char.
actcrize their disngenuousness and mean.
ness. We have already spoken Of the OBJ
ject Of this part Of the document as afro
cious,-and we repeat the word, as the
most be6,iing tha, could be used That
object is nothing less than an attempt to
cover the enormous frauds which have
marked the proceedings oflhe Pro-Slavery
agents ip Kansas, from their initiation,
with,a varnish Of smooth and plausible pre-
texts. Adroitly taking up the question
at the point which it had reached when
bis own administration began, he leaves
cut Of view all the antecedent crimes,
treacheries, and tricks by which the peo-
pie Of the Territory had been led into
civil war. and thus assumes that the late
I4ecompton Convention, was a legitimate
Convention, and that the Constitution
framed by il Tor said to have been framed
by it,--for there is no official report of
the instrument as yeti was framed In pur-.
spance Of proper authority or law. He
does not tell US that the Territorial legis.
lature which called this Convention was
a usurping legislature, brought together,
as the Congressional records show, by an
invading horde from a neighboring State;
he does not tell US, that, even ifit had,
been a properly constituted body in itself,
il had no right to call Convention for
the purpose Of superceeding the Terrific
rial organization he does not tell us that
the Convention, as assembled, represen-
ted but one.tenlh of the legal voters of
the Territory as assembled, represented
but one.tenth of the legal voters Of the
Territory nor does he seem to regard
the fact, that the other nine tenths Of The
people were virtually disfranchised by
that Convention, so far as their right to
determine the provisions of their organic
law is concerned, as at all vital and i'm
portant fact By miserable juggle, wor'
thy Of the frequenters of the gambling
house or the race.course, the people ol
Kansas have been nominally allowed tc
decide the question Of Slavery, and that
permission, according to Mr.. Buchanan,
fulfIs and completes all that he ever
meant, by the promise Of popular sover
eighty! ., Ia
Now this may be all that the President
and his party ever meant by that phrase
but it is not all that their words expressed
or the country expected. In the course
OF the last three or four years, and by a
series of high handed measures, the es'
tablished principles Of The Federal Gov,
eminent, in regard 10 its management ol
the Territories, principles sanctioned by
every administration from Washington's
, down 10 Filmore's, Shave been overru'ed
for the sake of new doctrine, which goes
by the name of Popular So yereigny.-
The most sacred and binding compacts
of former years were annulled to make
way for it; and the judicial department
Of the government was violently hauled
from lis sacred retreat. into the political
arena, 10 give a gratuitous coup-de' grace
10 the old opinions and the apparent sane
ton Of law to the new dogma, so that
, Popular Sovereignty might reign triumph
ant in the Territories. AT the convention
uf tie party which nominated Mr. Bu'
chanan as candidate for his present Of
6ce,--"a celebrated occasion" as he call:
? 1.-THE members affirmed in the mos
emphatic manner the right Of the people
of all the Territories, including Kansas
to form their own Constitutions as they
pleased, under the single condition tha
, it should be republican. Mr.. Buchanan
reiterated tina, assertion in his inaugura
address, and in subsequent communlca
tions. When he appointed Mr.. Rober
J. Walker Governor Of the Territory, h'
r instructed him 10 assure the people tha
they should be guaranteed against al
fraud or violence" when they should b.
. called upon "lo vote for or against tn
!. Constitution which would be submi:le'
to them," so that there might be "a fai
expression of the popular will" Nothini
b.. in short, could have been .slearer, NOR
). direct, more frequently repeated, that'h
asseverations of the "Democratic Party,
r made through its official representatives
d ils newspapers, and its orators,--to th
!, effect, tha, its only object, in its Kansa
q policy, was TO secure ''lhe great principl
/. of Popular Sovereignty" On the strengt
of these assurances alone, it was enable
!. to achieve It's hard. won victory in tn
i last Presidential campaign. Mr.. Buchar
:, an owes his position to them, as is repea
edly admitted by Mr.. Douglas in b
;. speech of December 9th lasl,7-and III
/. whole nation, having discussed and battle
,e and voted on the principle, acquiesced,
Z i, is accustomed to do after an election
; in the ascendency Of the victors; Itpr'
q, pared itself to see the application Of II
"A principle which had been announced an
re defended ss so important and wise.
s, Under these pledges and promise
y, what has been the performance : A Col
IN vpntion, for which, inasmuch as itw'
Of illegally called by an illegal body, lare
lis proportion Of the citizens Of Kansas ref
sed 10 vote. frames Constitution, in Il
b. interest and according TO the conviction
a, Of the slenderest minority Of the peopl'
il. Il incorporates in that ConnstiIutiOa ar