Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1858-04-08

ears of those who now spurn the will o
the majority, for its truthfulness has los
nothing by age. af s ~
she called,'' says the Congressiona
Globe, "upon gentlemen to BEWARE ho,
they sci at defan:e the wW ofAe people wse
clearly oppressed He did not desire t.
preach revolutionary doctrine, but he wa
really to declare great truth. that histor,
would bear him out in, which was that tn
thunder of Heaven might sometimes l.
heard to roll in the indignant mu,7surs o
an outraged bm free people di.
= "Whcn the peo
pie come to decide upon that question, the,
will tear off aMrample IN the dust tie tech
nicata;es If sjoe iol county court plea Ang
which are thrown around us here for part,
purposes or otherwise. Page 13. = O
j l cannot dismiss this retrospect of wha
used to be Democratic argument in the old
on time, without quoting an extract from
one of the editorials of the Lecompton or
| gan here, the Washington Onion, but ;
fortnight since. and the emphatic and truth
full reply to it from the lips of one of tn,
| Democratic champions Of the debate o
1889. Says the Union, in an article show
ing the perfect Indifference it exhibited tC
what was the will Of the people of Kan
sas:
We do not care raethe.. tie people Tx,
or dislike tie constitution. We are unwil.
ling to talSs any more testimony. The case
has been closed; the judgement entered up
and tn. execution is now in the hands oil
the officers
Sail John b. Weller. in the famous New
Jersey debate, prophctically and Justly
characterizing such sentiments as these:
They his opponents hal always prac-
ticcI upon the principle of the incapasity
of the people to govern themselves-tha,
, the minority should rule. That soas THE
CORNERSTONE OF FEDERALIsN.-Page 10.
| How appropriately, too, does the lan-
guagc Of Governor Weller reply to the
bold avowal of the champion of the Le-
compton constitution in the other branch of
Congress, Mr.. Hammond of South Caro-
lima. who il the famous speech of his JUS
tiici 1.-The rule of the minority" as fol-
lows: -t
'.If this was minority constitution |
do not know that that would be an obiec-
tion to it. Constitutions ere made for
mnorities. Perhaps ninoraes ought to
Aage Me rigato M IKE constitutions, for they
are administered by majoritles'
The brief hour allotted me speeds so rap
idly away that | must hasten to another
branch ofthc discussion. The stronghold,
tn, very citadel, of the supporters of the
Lecompfon constitution is the argument
that the Free State men have thrown away
their opportunity to vindieatc their priuci-
Piles by failing to vote, and have therefore
no right to complain Tp every appeal for
justice to kansas-.o every denunciation of
this great wrong-thc ready answer is,
Why did your friends fail to votc?' 1t
is the key note of every Lccompton speech;
it is the burden of the Presidents mes
aSge;.it is the staple of those editorials, able
but utterly fallacious. with which the gov
crnment organ aboun Is; it is the inspira-
tion of its echoes all over the land. Cab
met officers ask. in their letters to political
conclares, What ] light have those to CON-
plain who did not vote?'' Custom-house
officers join in the melody of this sterotyped
tune; and post-mastcrs, who do not swell
the chorus with cordial aiacrity, fiud their
oiii :ial windpipes suddenly stopped, so
that others may sit in their gates and pro-
claim to the people this fun lamcntal ar
gnmcnt Of Lecomptonism. The answer is.
plain. and shall strive MAKE it thorough.
although it will compel me to show that
the President has either willfully, or, what
is even Worse, ignorantly, misstatel histor-
ical facts. rso MOSS - n
1t is not neciful to speak at much length
of the first important election in the Ter
ritory Of Kansas, on the 30th of March,
lsoo. when the people, under the act, were
called upon to elect their first Legislature.
1t was an election of vital, commanding
Importance. On that body would devolvc
the enactment of an entire civil, criminal,
and miscellaneous code of laws, which
would embody the wishes and protect the
interests Of the pioneer settlers ofthe Ter
ritory. 1t would also be required TO enact
statutes governing future elections, to ap-
point or provide for the election OF the va
rious county anil township officers who
were to assist in putting the machinery of
govcrnmentsin operation; to establish the
counties and county seats; to select a site
for the capital; and, in word, by repre-
tativcs fairly chosen, to concentrate the
popular will into a body, which, in every
free laml, speaks with potential voice. lie /
cause it springs from the hearts and votes
OF the people for whom it aets.r Nccl |
repeat the history ofthat organized invasion
from ncighboring State. as large in num- 4
bers as the army with which Zachary lay
Tor achieved the crowning victory of his life
at Blena Vista; wh;c'l. with all the cqnipaye
and paraphcrnalia Of war. surrounded the !
various polls, drove the actual voters from
their own ballot boxes with violence and
imprecations; forced sunsubservient eloction
Judges to carry ont their will, or. with pis-
tolls at their breasts. gave them five min
utesto die ,orfto y icld their places to their
ssrviceable tools: stutful the ballot-boxes
with nearly five thousan. fraudulent. lille. I
gal. rulfan votes. electing an entire pro-
slavery Legislature. with the exception of
a single representative from distant pre- (
cinet in the interior; and then returned to l
their Missouri homes with drums beating !
anil banners flying exulting over. this un-
paralcllel outrage which they hailed AZ a
victory? Though at the risk of