Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-01-05

all the rights affecting life, liberty audi
property. = There are also the questions Of
State debts, Of banks and paper money,
and whether they shall be permitted Or
prohibited. AS all free government, as
stated by MrsJ Jefferson, depends upon the
..consent Of. the governed, +, how can it'd
known whether the people, would assent 70
the Constitutions unless it he submitted to
their vote for ratification or rejectiol?-I
But if acqniescence can be presumed in]
any case surely it cannot bs IN that Of
Kansas, where so many of the delegates
violated their, pledge 10 submit the Con!
stitution itself to q vote of the people;
where the delegates who signed the Com
stitution represented scarcely one tenth Of
the people. and where nearly operhAlf of
I the cppntiss Of the, TerEitpFyswsre dls3da
ffanchised, and that by no, fault Of theirs,
and did not and could not give a single vote
at the election Of delegates to the Conyen-
ton, Ibave heretofore discussed the SUBJ
ject mainly on the question that Conven-
tions, are not sovereign, and cannot right
| fully make State Constitution without its
submission to a vote Of the people for rati-
! 6cation or rejection. Yet, surely, even
those who differ with me on this point
must concede, especially under the Kan
sas- Nebraska act, it is only such Conven-
tons can be called sovereign as have been
| truly elected by the people, and represent
| them well. On reference, however, 10 my
address of the 18th of September last, on
the day qualification question, copy Of
which was Immediately transmitted to you
for the Information of the President and
Cabinet, it is evident that the Lecompton
Convention was not such body. d That
Convention had vital, not technical, defects
in the very substance Of its organization
under the Territorial law, which could
only be cured, in my judgment, as set forth
in my inaugural and other addresses, by
submission Of the Constitution for the rati.
fication Of the people. On reference to
4 the Territorial law under which the Con-
vention was assembled, thirty-four regu!
larly organized counties were named as
election districts for delegates to the Con-
vention. In each and all Of these coun-
ties it was required by law that census
be taken, also the voters registered, aud
when this was completed the delegates to
the Convention should be apportioned ac
cordingly. In nineteen Of these counties
there was no census, and therefore there
could be. no such apportionment there Of
delegates upon such census, Andin fifteen
of these counties there was, no registry OIL
voters. These fifteen counties, including
many of the oldest organized counties ir
the Territory, were entirely disfranc hised
and did not give, (by no fault Of theil
Y own, and could not give a solitary yot,
> for the delegates to the Convention. TIKI:
result was superinduced by, the. fact tha
the Territorial Legislature appointed al
the Sheriffs and Probate Judges in all these
> counties, to whom was assigned the duty
by law of making this census and registry
:. These officers were political partisans, dis
senting from the views and opinions o.
the people of these counties, as was proved
: by the election in October last. Thes,
: officers, from want of funds, as they al
leged, Neglected or refused to take an,
census, or make any registry in these coun
ties, and therefore they were, entirely dis
> franchised, and could not and did not Civ,
; a single vote at the election for delegates
to the Constitutional Convention. ,AnC
here wish to call attention to distinction
which will appear in my inaugural address
: in reference to those counties where tn,
voters were fairly registered, and did no
vote. In such counties where full anC
| free opportunity was given to register ant
vote, they did not choose to exercise
such privilege. The question is very
different from these counties where thel,
was no census or registry, and no yot
, was given, or could be given, howeve
anxious the people might be to participate
in the election of delegates to the Conven
ton. Nor could it be said these countie
y acquiesced. for. wherever they endeavored
: by subsequent census or registry of thei
: own, to supply this defect, occasioned b,
previous neglect of the Territorial officers
: the delegates thus chosen were rejected b,
the Convention. g sas.,iv ssaai an7I
r Irepeat that, in nineteen counties out o
thirty -four, there was no census In IF
teen counties out of thirty four there wa
d no registry, and not a solitary vote wa
s given, oreould be given, for Delegates Il
e 1.-THE Convention in any one of these counties
q Surely, then, it cannot be said that such
I Convention chosen by scarcely more thai
! one!tenth Of the present voters of Kansas
I represented the people of that Territory
and couldrigh1y impose a Constitution
11'upon them without their consent. Thes
! nineteen counties. in which there was NJ
census, constituted smajority ofthe coun
a ties of the Territory, and these fifteen coun
ties in which there was no registry gave
r much lager vote at the October election
+ even with the six months qualification
r than the whole vote givento the Becomptol
. Constitution on the nth Of November last
IF, then, sovereignty can be delegated
and the Convention as such are sovereign
$ which | deny, surely II must be only il
such cases AS when such Conventions af
r chosen by the people. which We have seel
wassn not the case as regsrdsl the late lie
q compton Convention. 1t was for this ant
other reasons that in my inaugural ant
other addresses insisted that the Constr
: tHtion should be submitted to the peopl
E by the Convention, us the only means O