Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-12-25
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Senators and REPRESENTATIVES, in Concrcss:

one year ago, ut the meeting of Congress-
we have much reason for gratitude to that
Almighty Providence, which has never
failed to interpose for our relief, at the
most critical periods of our history. One
year ago, the sectional strife between the
North and the South on the dangerous
subject OF slavery, had again become so
intense as to threaten the peace and pcrpc-
tulty OF the coufcdcracy. The application
for the admission of Kansas as IA State into
the Inion fostcrcd this unhappy agitation,
and brought the whole subject once more
before Congress 1t was the desire of cv
cry patriot that such measures of legislation
might be adopted, as would remove the cx-
element from the States, and continc it to
the Territory where it lcgtimatcly belong
cd. Much has pccu done, am happy to
say, towards theaccomplshmcnt of this OBJ
jcct, during the last session of Congress.
The Supreme Court of the United Statcs
had previously decided, that all American
citizens have an equal right to take into the
Territories, whatever is held as property un-
der the laws of any of the States and to
hold such property there under the guard
ianship of the Federal Constitution, so LONG
us the territorial condition shall remain.
This Is now a wcll.eStablishcd position.
and the proceedings ofthc last session were
alone wanting to give it practical effect. -
The principle has been recognised, in some
form or other, by an almost luminous vote
OF both houses OF Congress, that Terrific
ry has right to come iuto the Union either
ms free or slave State according to the
will of majority of its people. The Just
equality of all States has thus been vndi-
Gated, and a fruitful source of dangerous
disscnsion among them has been removed.
Whilst such has been the beneficial ten
dency of your legislative proceedings out
side OF Kansas, their influence has nowhere
been so happy as within that Territory it.
self. Left to manage and control its own
affairs In ITS own way, without the pressure
OF external Influence, the revolutionary To
pcka organization and all resistance to the
territorial government established by Con
grcss have been finally abandoned. AS a
natural consequence, that fine Territory
now appears to be tranquil and prosperous.
and lsattractingandncrcasing thousands of
Immigrants to make it their happy home
The past unfortunate experience of Kan
sas has enforced the lesson so often alrca-
dy taught, that resistance to lawful author
Ity, under our form of government, cannot
fail in the end to prove disastrous to It's
authors. Had the people of the Territory
yielded obedience to the laws enacted by
their Legislature, it would at the present
moment have contained large additional
population of Industrious and cntcrprisinc
. citizens, who. have been deferred from en-
tSRSSttssgs ttYDordcrs by the existence of civil
strife and organized rebellion.
1t was the resistance to riyhtful authori.
ty 9pj& the pcrscvcring attcmps to establish
pekat Constitution, which caused the pco-
pie Of N1fS1sas to commit the grave error
of refusing to vote for delegates to the con
rcnGhn TO frame constitution, under law
not ,IgiR1d to be fair and Just in its provis-
iona VI his refusal to vote has been the
proFsa Source Of all the evils which have
followeV&. In their hostility to the terrific
rial goI'crnmcnt, they disrcgarded the prin
ciplee, absolutely essential to the working of
ouFH prm of government, that majority of
thoSYc who votc-not the majority who may
IeR 1ain at home, from whatever cause
- lust decide the result of an election. For
TINS reason, seeking to take advantage of
their own error they denied the authority
of the convention thus elected to frame a
constitution.
The convention, notwithstanding, pro.
-Ueeded to adopt a constitution uncxccption-
able in its general features, and providing
for the submission of the slavery question
to vote of the people, which, in my opin-
ion, they were bound to do, under the Kan
sas and Nebraska act. This was the all
important question which had alone con
vulsed the Territory; and yet the oppo-
ncntS of the lawful government, persisting
in their first error, refraincd from cxcrci-
sing their right to vote, and preferred that
slavery should continue, rather than sur
render their revolutionary Topeka organ
ization.
A wiser and better spirit seemed to pre-
vail before the first Monday of January
last, when an election was held under the
constitution. a majority of the people
then voted for governor and other State
officers, for member of Congress, and
members of the State legislature This
election was warmly contested by t two
political parties in Kansas, and greater
vote was poled than at any previous cleo
lion. A large majority of the members of
the legislature elect belonged to that party
which had previously refused to vote
The anti-slavery party were thus placed in
the ascendant and the political power o'
the State was in their own hands. Had
Congress admitted Kansas into the Union