The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-02-04
NO. $40.

they, by their prowess, had achieved. This WAS
| the second illustration of popular sovere;gntv in
the history of Kansas -
Ii understand the history of the times. I am
not speaking of matters in regard to which there
Is any dispute or controversy About some
things there may have been some doubt. some
| cavll, some controversy; but believe the truth
Of the statement will not be disputed, that at the
! first election In Kansas for members of the Tar
ritorial Legislature the legal voters were forciblv
expelled and illegal voters took possession of the
| ballot-boxes. 1t is wide of my argument to saw
| In how many election precincts this was done.
Ii it was done in one, that is enough for nv ar
! gument | believe it was done in a majority of
| them; but if it was done in one, all that en-
| deavor to maintain is maintained by this argu-
| ment. / believe the fact which have stated
will not be controverted These men elected a
Legislature, and they elected their own friends
as was natural. Having got possession of the
ballot-box, they were not going to elect their an
tagonists. The Legislature came together, and
4 what did they doP How did they carry out
perfect freedom?"
Ii is said now, that the controversy was mar
rowed down to the question whether they should
| have domestic Slavery in Kansas or not. For
| the purpose of my argument, am willing to con-
cede that. How was perfect freedom" illus
trated on that question: The first Legislature
| passed an act making it penal offence, punish
able by imprisonment in the penitentiary, for any
man to deny that it was right to hold slaves there
! This was a glorious chance for "perfect free
dom and " free discussion was it not2 can
imagine an assembly Of the people called togeth-
er, and they are about discussing the question of
what policy shall be inaugurated there, what poll
icy shall be started in their laws; and the great
question: which it is said is the only one that d.
vides them, is brought into consideration and
one man gets up and argues in favor of Slavery
he says that it is right that it is divine insti-
tuition that it is one of those things which can
be proved by the Bible, and by the Constitution
and by every other book that is worth quoting
he delivers an eloquent, able, and forcible speech
demonstrating the propriety, the expediency, the
policy, and the righteousness of Slavery. After
he has set down, having electrified the audience
and convinced their understanding, some man on
the opposite side gets up. He says: "Mr. Pres
ldent, do not believe that Slavery is right" His
antagonist gets up and calls the marshal TO ar
rest him, and put him in custody for he has COM
mitted State prison offence the moment he opens
his mouth, because he has denied that it is right
to hold slaves in Kansas; and that, by your au-
thorlty, by the Federal authority, is declared to
be penitentiary offence.
This Legislature undertake to regulate the right
of suffrage there and they make the right of suf-
frage dependent on the taking of test oath to
support acts which think-as we are now salts
fed a majority of the people of that Territory
hold to be-wrong and abhorrent. But sir they
cannot exercise the poor right not of sovereign,
but Of citizen. They cannot go to the ballot
box and deposit ballot for any officer there un-
til they have taken these odious test oaths That
is the third chapter of popular sovereignty and
perfect freedom in Kansas. think the people
OF Kansas, by their experience thus far, have be-
come convinced that they do not want any more
perfect freedom; but they would like little of
that imperfect kind which the people used to en-
joy before the passage of this act.
The Legislature thus imposed upon them by
the people of Missouri against their will, was i'm
posed by force, and not by fraud exempt them
from that. They were no vulgar rascals that
went over there. 1t was a conquering army.
Having gone over and thus elected a Legislature,
and thus made code of laws which made the
annunciation of the great and eternal principles
OF Liberty penitentiary offence the Government
was set in motion. What was the history of that
Government 0pe of lawless violence. Your
States, summoned together what he called
posse-not from Kansas, but from Missouri, by
his written handbills sent over to Missouri-and
with that posse goes into the city of Lawrence to
execute some process. After the process is exc
cuted, he turns over his posse--he got them to-
gether for very innocent purpose-to Mr.. Sher-
if Jones, and then the law is executed by riiing
the houses of Kansas; robbing them even of the
clothing of females and children the Lawrence
hotel is sacked and plundered, the press taken
and thrown into the river, and the town set on
FIRE; the inhabitants driven from their homes,
houseiess wanderers at midnight, without place
tn lay their heads, and the flames of their burn
ing dwellings literally painting hell on the sky.
These facts, just as notorious as the sun in the
heavens, were perpetrated in Kansas, all known
to YOU sir all known to the President of the
United States; all known to the friends of pop
ular sovereignty and perfect freedom here in this
body, and not single one OF lhem has word
of condemnation for them. If there is one that
lisps a single syllable of blame he pours out
twice as much condemnation upon the victims
as he does upon the perpetrators of this outrage.
Well, sir, we go on. This is but a specimen,
and is not the whole history. l have not time
TO go over the whole of it. second Legislature
is elected under the operation Of these test oaths,
and all these disqual6cations. A second time
the farce of an election is gone over, and that
Legislature that is to be elected is about to take
the initiatory steps for forming State Constitu-
ton; and still, up to the second election, it is
State-prison offence to deny that it is right to
hold slaves in Kansas. "A second election is had
under all these disquali6cations, q second chap
ter of "perfect freedom" and "popular sover-
eigntyl" That Legislature met They took
measures for calling Convention of the people,
and, to their credit be it said, they repealed two
ndefensible of their statutes-the one that made
it criminal offence to deny that it was right to
hold slaves in Kansas and the other imposing
test oaths. Those, believe, were all the altera-
tons that were made. They make provision &C
cording to law for taking the sense of the people
and calling Convention. must hurry over
these particulars. The Convention is called
1t meets in September to frame Constitution.
Was it Constitution that was to be framed and
80 a.
consent, and against their will2 There we're
some factious Abolitionsts and Black Republi-
cans that did undertake to intimate such
thing, that this Convention might form Con-
stitution embodyi9g Slavery in it; and that it
might be forced on the necks of the people by
Federal power and Federal patronage without
their consent. But, sir, when that suggestion
was made, how was it metz 1t was met on the
part of these gentlemen by an indignant denial
had not the pleasure of listening to the speech
made by the honorable Senator from Michigan
Mr.. STUART the other day; but understand
that be embodied in his speech q written pledge,
which the leading gentlemen on that side of the
question published aud signed their names to,
and sent it out to the country, denying the i'm
putation, and pledging themselves that the Con-
stitution that they were about to form should be
submitted to a popular vote.
Under that pledge they were elected; but there
were certain prelimiEies which were to be gone
through with-a census and registry to be ia
ken and made in the various counties-hefore
they were qualified to vote. The Territory OF
Kansas was divided, if am not mistaken, into
thirty-four counties, and we have the authority
of Governor Walker for saying--it has never
been controverted, aud the honorable Senator
from Ohio Mr., PUaH] called upon the President
for information on that fact, which was charged
by Governor Walker, and have never heard it
de ant Of 4H1oa -
counties, steps were not taken by the Govern