Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-05-20

fore we take the vote on this bill, frankly
to state The objections | have to it. The
bill does substantially submit the Lecomp-
ton constitution to a vote of the people of
Kansas, notwithstanding the declaration of
my friend from Georgia, (Mr. StePhens0
and notwithstanding the declarations which
have been made in another place, that in
the drafting of this bill there was an at
tempt to preserve the principle OF non-sub-
miss ion. If you were To put to the people
of Kansas the proposition that the moon
was made OF green cheese, and say to them
they might fo!e the question Of admission
,cish that proposition, and if they voted in
the affirmative on that proposition. they
should be admitted under the Lecompton
constitutions; but if they voted in the mega
tive on that proposition. the Lecompton
constitution should be considered dead, It
does not require any very severe logic to
deduce the conclusion that, in fact, they had
an opportunity, through an immGterial prop
o~siti0a, to vote on the question of admiss-
ion.
But | object to the manner of submission.
7, seems to save the pulses Of gentlemen
here al the expense of the history of the
country, and at the expense of the sense
of the people of Kansas. You require them
to vote for the rejection of this proposition,
which IS immaterial in itself, and to conceal
the fact that they are uoting agains. the L.
compton constitution. Why take this course!
VIVA. motive have you to-day, except that,
BY ihe manner of this proposition, you seek
to conceal from the country that you, who
vault so high haze, in fact, come doDn?
To another branch of that report | am de-
termiDedly opposed, because it presents a
condition that is degrading to the people Of
The North. | ask the people of the South
to hear me. We o. the slaveholding States
are in this chamber in a minority OF fifty
Suppose that this Lecompton constitution,
instead of Introducing a slave State, intro
duced a free State, and tina: the majority OF
the representatives of this country had sent
that constitution back with this immaterial
proposition attached to 1t, saying to the
people of Kansas, Take these lands, and
you can come in as a free State; but if you
attempt TO come here with a slave State
constitution, you must Come ''under a legal
census" showing ninety-three thousa nd in
habitants: come here with q slave consiitu-
ton, and you must show regular paTerS;"-
would not my fellow-citizens of the slave
holding States have rejected such a Propo-
sition with Indignation and scerni By what
sort of ethics, in this council of equals, can
,"o urbo ora laOi,i .tipp for al soctiopc or
tempt to propose one thing to the North
which we would consider ourselves insulred
BY if proposed to the South! Sir. the men
who send me here do not send me here to
play the s~ect;ona list, they do not send me
here as a steward to seshou much / car Get
for the sLaue States, and how much l can Drest
from the free States.
Whenever they want to degrade me to
that position, | shall be here no longer
| have learned in the school of morals in
which | was raised, that, among equals, it
is not fair and proper to propose what you
would not be willing to accept; and, as a
Southern man-no, not as a Southern man,
for | never claimed to be a Southern man
but as a Western man, as a citizen be-
icnging to that section o. the country
which has a minority, by representation,
upon this floor, | am unwilling to lay dowr.
a rule of action which in its sequences Of
lers nothing but sackcloth and ashes to my
people.
And when you men of the South apply
this rule to The North, how can you, when
the next case arises in this country of u
similar nature, resist the application of the
same rule? With what face will you stand
up and complain Of any inequality which
nav be attempted to be enforced upon you
by a majority of The representatives. of this
country! They will refer you to your own
act, your own vote, as having established
the precedent. What opportunity would
you have to escape from the consequence OF
this act!
Gentlemen hug a delusion to their bos-
oms when they suppose that under this
bill, animated by a desire to have this grant
of land, or to acquire immediate political
position the people of Kansas will be in
duced TO accept this proposition, and that
we shall then have a summers sea before
uo' 4hiS 70 q ohoCl uSIUSlOns hdUSdS Will
reject this proposition. If you are prudent
men, reason with me upon the supposition
of its rejection, and look then to the conse-
quences which are to flow from that fact.
What will those consequence es be! Ev-
cry free State in this Union will at once
arouse Itself to repeal the disabling part of
this Uery bill. All the %sluices of that per-
nicious agitation which has flowed over
this country like lava for years past, will
be re-opened. Repeal" will be the sh ib-
boleth of party in the next election of the
North. The free States wi i'll say to you, in
April Kansas had population enough to be
a slave State; in December following she
has population enough 10 he a iree State
So help me God! i'll were a Northern man
| should feel it my duty TO open that direct
attack. would feel that you had attached
a condition to the passage of this measure
which degraded me from that equality
about which you know we have talked so
much, and upon which we have insisted 50
strictly. And until that equality was re-
stored, ] should exert myself, were | a Nor
thern man, up to the full point of my capac-
ity to have it restored by all legitimate
means.
What will be the next effect, This
House will, in the next Congress, be filled
by men sent here to rectify this wrong, and
the South will be compelled to accede to
that demand or TO resist. Her pride may be
wounded, her sensibilities are to be affect
ed; and then the next movement of those