Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-02-25

the Lecompton Constitution, it was right
not to give them q chance to do SO. But if the
Constitution for any reason did not please them,
they had right to reject it; nothing is 50 fac
tious as a minority attempting to rule a ma
jority.
1t is said that they should be punished for
not going to the polls at the bidding of men
who were believed to be disposed to defraud
them. They went to the polls the first moment
that they were satisfied of any chance of fair
return, even though suffering under great disad-
vantage in the apportionmento of representatives.
: 1t is said the people of Kansas, once admit
ted into the Union, may change their Constitu-
ton. If this is dishonesty said, will not use
the language which would properly describe the
proposition. If, as it is to be presumed, it is
honestly said, and | am sure it is honestly said
by the President, then why give to the men OF
Kansas reversionary right where they have a
right of possession? Why do wrong, simply
that wrong may be undone? If this is all that
is intended, if there lies nothing beyond this, if
there are no indications of wish to perpex the
national councils, and 50 to pave the way for a
change of the national policy for disunion, then
mischief has been done wantonly and gratuit-
ously; the country is convulsed by its public
authorities, for an issue as ludicrous as it is
wrong. 1t was hardly worth the while to shat
ter the Democratic party for anything paltry
But while it is admitted that the submission of
Constitution to the people is the correct prin-
clple, it is said that fourteen States would be
displeased if this correct principle were to be
followed out. Now the South, in the organic
act for Kansas, obtained all that it asked for,
and the main Aresult has been exactly what
Southern mrfrforCsaw. The South has nothing
whatever to gain by the adoption of the LIE
compton Constitution. 1t presents no question
of practical advantage to the South, and it can
not be pretended that the admission of Kansas
under it will carry any advantage for the South.
As question on the score of expediency it does
nothing but injury to the South; the issue pre-
scented as a Southern one, is untimely and mis-
taken, unwise, and anything but national.
And would it wound any at the South less to
have the people of Kansas, as soon as the Cen
eral Government is out of the way, undo all
that has been done? Is it not more respectful
to the South to state the case manfully and
temperately, and rely on Southern maguanimity
and sense of justice?
Again, it is said the Union is in danger; the
Union is to be dissolved There is no present
danger to the Union. The sufferers Of wrong
in Kansas have been almost all Northern men ;
and the North has no wish to desert, or dissolve,
or weaken the Union
But it is urged the men of Kansas are in re-
bellion. The imposition of loathsome and re-
jected constitution it an odd remedy for pre-
tended rebellion, which, as far as | know, has
no precedent, except in King George and the
British Parliament in IVA. If GOV. Walker
found discontents there, the promise Of equity
which he made in the name Of the President,
quelled rebellion by means of the ballot box.
The waves never rise unless the wind blows
If the menace of the Lecompton Constitution
seemed likely to excite disturbances, Gov. Stan
ton, to his honor be it said, lulled the rising
commotion, not by calling in the army of the
United States, but by peaceably convoking the
| legal Legislature of the country.
! There is now no instruction in Kansas there
| is no rebellion there Cease to dispute the I'M
questionable right of the majority, and the star
| of peace will rise serenely, the storm will be
hushed, and the waves subside. The Govern
ment will not find rebellion there let it not
provoke one.
| And what a contrast between governor of a
Territory restoring peace through the represen-
tatives of a people, and an officer of the Gen
eral Government, calling himself President OF
| Il Convention, taking an escort from the army
Of the United States to make his entry into the
| the capital of Kansas amid the murmurs of its
people.
If to the question between the Lecompton
Constitution and the people of Kansas we apply
the test of principle, we find that the enforce
ment Of that Constitution will be an act of pow
er against right; of the army against the peo-
pie; of force against reason; Of usurpation
against the rightful will of majority. 1t will
be u violation of the fundamental principle OF
| free government, which is government by con-
sent. 1t is directly at war with Democracy,
whose cardinal point is the power of the people
The supporters of the Lecompton Constitution
have not one square inch of Democratic ground
| to stand upon. "A constitution for its validity
needs the concurrence of the majority of the
people, either silently by general acquiescence
or by an appeal to the polls Shall full and I'M
| doubted evidence be required for deed of a
foot of land or a gift by will of a shilling?-
Shall a merchant or banker have power to stop
payment of check fraudulently held, and shall
the people have no power to stop their servants
from sequestering their rights Shall the most
insignificant treaty of Minister Plenipoten-
tiary want validity till it is ratified? And shall
the highest treaty of the people with themselves
be made in corner by their servants without
their assent? Is form everything and substance
nothing? Is appearance everything and truth
and right and reality nothing?
| There is not precedent for enforcing Con-
stituton against the consent of the people. The
principle of popular ratification is sanctioned in
| the Minnesota act.
| The President in his annual Message emphat-
cally declares that the example of submitting
a Constitution to the people is founded on a cor.
( rect principle SO that his instructions to Gov
Walker on that subject were properly expressed
in unqualified terms.
Again, Congress has power to admit States
but no power whatever to make Constitution
for State; still less to impose on a State Con
stitution which its majority of people loatht
and reject. The tendency to Capitalization O
power in the General Government is rapid anC
dangerous. We protest against its further in
crease and against its present excess. The truC
basis of political organization between all part
Of the Union was, from the beginning, tn,
rights of the States, and that basis offers for tn,
future, as it has for the past, the most perfec
guaranty for security and Union.
| ltChicno luucb tOliC liOtu liiS ptuplt vi tu
United States. They in their strength mus
remedy the existing evil, by distinct expression
of their will. 4Sa-saoment is fraught will
dangers, which the adoption of the Lccomptol
Constitution would only aggravate.
A departure from the principles on which
q government rests, is an evidence of its decay
The violation of the principle of popular SOY
, ereignty wastes the life-blood of the Republic
Again In q popular Government, where thu
rulers are but servants, anarchy steps in whel
principle is forgotten, and expediency is mad
the guide
Again The concentration of power in tn
hands Of Convention like that of Lecompton
is not an American idea. 1t is borrowed iron
those republics Of Europe which were not capa
BILE of existing long, for the very reason tina
power was so concentrated. 1t is derived iron
the worst examples of the worst periods of rev
olutionary France, when minorities usurpe'