Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1858-01-01
Jl8GR B0gCLiS'S SIPHAGH.

We subjoin the concluding portion Of Judge
Douglas's speech of December 0, upon Kansas
atF,irs, our space not permitting its publication
entire
Sir, deny your right or mine to inquire Of
these people what their objec,ions to that Com
stitutiou arc They have right to Judge for
themselves whether they like or dislike il. Il
is no answer TO tell me that tue GonStuutonis Is
good ore and uccbjectionablf. 1t is not sat-
isflctory to ME to have the President say in
his message that that Constitution is an admi-
rab!e ore, ike all the Constitutions of the new
States that have been recently formed. -
Whether good or bad, whether obnoxious or
not, is none Of my business and none of YOURS.
!, is their business and not ours. | care not
what they have in their Constitution, so that it
suits them. and does not Violate the Constitu-
ton of the United States and the fundamental
principles Of. liberty upon which our ins,itu-
tions rest. am not going 10 argue the Gu ss-
ton whether the banking system established il
that Constitution is wise err unwise Ii says
there shall be no monopolies but there shall be
one bank of discount in til, State, with two
branches. All have to sayi on that point is,
if they want a banking ,ysteb, let them have
II; it they do not want it, letthem prohibit it.
Ii they want a bank with twi branches, be it
So; if they want twenty, it is lone of ny busi-
ness, aud it matters not to mdwhether one Of
them shall be on the north sid ard the Other
on the south side Of the kawl river, or where
they shall be.
While l have no right to e1ect TO be cou-
suited on that point, do holAha; the people
OF Kansas have the right to consulted and
to decide it, and you have no ghtfd! author-
ty to deprive them Of that pripege. 1t is no
Justification, iu my mind, to sa that the pro-
visions for the eligibility for thioffecs OF Cow
eruor and Lieutenant Governcrequirs twenty
years citizenship in the UuiEi States. Ii
men think that no person shola vote or hold
Office until he has been here tw4ty years, they
have a right to think so, and IA majority OF
the people Of Kansas think thato man Of for
eign birth should vote or hold ore unless he
has lived there twenty years; it their right TO
say so, and | have no right to Interfere with
them; it is their business, not me; hut if l
lived there, should not be Iing to have
that provision 10 the Constitutiouswithout be-
ing heard upou the subject, aud Jbwed to re-
cord my protest against it.
have nothing to say about the system OF
taxation, in which they have g9 back, and
resorted to the old exploded sysm tlat we
tried ia Illinois, but abandoned bause we did
not like it. IF they wish to tryit, and get
tired Of it, and abandon it, bo ito; but if
were citizen Of Kansas, would roft by the
experience of Illinois on that subst, and de-
feat it if | could. Yet l have no biecton to
their having it if they want it; it iaheir bus
mess, not mine.
So it is in regard to the free negns They
provide that no free negro shall boermitted
to live in Kansas. | suppose they hHe right
to say so if they choose; but if livI there, |
should want to vote on that question: We, in
Illinois, provide that no more shall cn e there.
We say to the other States, "Take CD of your
own free negroes, and we viii taki care of
ours." But we do not say that thlnegroes
now there shall not be permitted to lie in Il
linos; and think the people Of Kanss ought
to have the right to say whether theywil al !,
low them to live there; and, if thehre not !
going to do SO, how they are to dpose of
,hem.
So you may 90 on with all tho ferent
cllus9s of ihe Contribution They masbe all |
right; they may bo all wrong. That i,bqdes-
tiop Oh which my opinion is worth nothg.-
The opinion Of the wise aud patriuii Dnief |
Magistrate of the United States is nosorth