The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-12-18

less interests of the country, demand ~.
he people of the Union shall moi r., .SA
'hird time be convulsed BY another s,;.. '
ion on the Kansas question. By waitinr &.
Tor short time, and acting in obedisncs
70 law, Kansas will glide into the Un;oo
without the slightest impediment
This excellent provision, which Con-
yress has applied to Kansas, ought To !.
and rendered applicable To i,
Territories which may hereafter seeI a.
nilsson into the Union.
While Congress possessed the undouh,
ed power of admitting a new State int.
the Union, however small may BE- tSs
number of its inhabitants, yet this povs,
ought not, in my opinion, to be exercisss
before the population shall amount to III
ratio required by the act for the adm;s
sion of Kansas. Had this been previously
the rule, the country would have escanaS
all the evils and misfortunes to which !,
has been exposed by the Kansas DUES
ton.
or course, it would be unjust to riv.
this rule retrospective application. ana
exclude State which, acting upon tbs
past practices of the Government has Al.
ready formed its constitution, elected 4,
Legislature and other officers, and is now
prepared to enter the Union.
The rule ought to be adopted, whetbs,
we consider its bearing on the people Of
the Territories or upon the people Of the
existing States. Many of the serious dis.
sensions which have prevailed in Congres,
and throughout the country, would have
been avoided had this rule been establish.
ed at an earlier period Of the government
Immediately upon the formation Of
new Territory, people from different States
and foreign countries rush into it for the
laudable purpose Of improving their con.
dition. Their first duty to themselves il
to open and cultivate farms, to construct
roads, to establish schools, to erect places
of religious worship, and to devote their
energies generally to reclaim the wilder.
ness and to lay the foundation of flour.
ishing and prosperous commonwealth.
If, in this incipient condition, with
population of few thousand, they should
prematurely enter the Union, they ara
oppressed by the burden of State taxation,
and the means necessary for the improve.
ment of the Territory, and the advance.
ment of their own interests, are thus d.
verted to very different purposes.
The Federal Government has ever been
liberal parent to the Territories, and
generous contributor to the useful enter
prises of the early settlers. 1t has paid
the expenses of their governments and
Legislative Assemblies out Of the common
treasury, and thus relieved them from
heavy charge.
Under these circumstances nothing can
be better calculated to retard their mate.
rial progress than to divert them from
.heir useful employments, by prematurely
exciting angry political contests among
themselves for the benefits of aspiring
leaders. 1t is surely no hardship for EN-.
bryo Governors, Senators and members Of
Congress, to wait until the number Of in.
habitants shall equal those of single
Congressional district. They surely ought
not to be permitted to rush into the Union
with population less than one half Of
several of the largest counties in the int.
rior of some of the States. This was the
condition of Kansas when it made appli.
cation to be admitted under the Topeks
Constitution. Besides, it requires some
time to render the mass of population
collected in new territory at all hetero-
geneous, and to unite them on anything
like a fixed policy. Establish the rule,
and all will look forward TO It and govern
themselves.
But Justice to the people Of the several
States requires that this rule should DO
established by Congress. Each State Is
entitled to two Senators and ct least one
Representative in Congress. Should the
people of the States fail to elect Vice
President, the power devolves upon the
Senate to select this officer from the two
highest candidates on the lis:. In caseo
the death Of the President the Vice Presi-
dent thus elected by the Senate, becomes
President of the United States. On all
questions of legislation the Senators from
the smallest States Of the Union have an
equal vote with those from the largest
The same may be said in regard to the
ratification of treaties and Of Executive
3 appointments. All this has worked ad-
|, mirably by practice, while it conforms in
principle with the character Of govern.
4 ment instituted by sovereign States.
T presume no American citizen would desirt
the slightest change in the arrangement
Still, is it not unjust and unequal to the
existing States TO invest some forty or fiity
: thousand people, collected in q Territory
7 with the attributes of sovereignty, and
place them ON an equal footing with
D Virginia and New York in the Senate o.
the United States?
t For these reasons / earnestly recon-
g mend the passage Of general act, which
: shall provide that upon the application. o.
q a Territorial Legislature, declaring tina
: the Territory contains number OF lnhse
D itants, which if in State, would entitl'
Q them to elect q member Of Couges, ]
o shall be the duty of the President to caus
r a census of the inhabitants to be taken
t and if found sufficient, then by the term
of this act to authorize them to process
; ain their own way" to frame State Con
stitution preparatory to admission int
Q the Union. also recommend that q
s appropriation may be made to enable th
s President to take census Of the peopl
q of Kansas.
: Tho balance of this interesting story
/ equalling sixteen columns Of the Htrdi
g of Freedom, will be found in the Wash
t ton Union, and kindred papers, to whicl
q the reader is referred.-ED.l