The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-04-20

3aided three months in the Territory
You remit this constitution by tn
House amendment to body of eleetor
I more contracted and less liberal, no
only than the constitution itself pro
4 vides, but less liberal and more marrow
than the people of Kansas, through thei
Legislature, provided in the election o
delegates that formed the constitution
and that is popular sovereignty, that Ii
&remitting the constitution back to ascer
kain if it be the act and deed of th,
opnielY You first define the people
Il you pick out csrtain N zen you -eEffen.
ehise some and disfranchise others; you
pick your tribunal; you pack our jury
and then you talk about true verdict
/ And that is done by Congress, aud done
in defiance of the constitution of Kan
sas, and in defiance of the win of the
people of Kansas, as expressed in the
act under which this convention was
elected and ssembled.
Isit to secure the rejection of the
constitution No man can pretend that
it is to try the question over again no
man can pretend ths t it is renting the
co stitution to the tribunal whence it
originated. say tits packing the jury
for the purpose of having the constitu-
tion rejected; 1 do not say that is the
purpose of those who voted for it, but I
say it is the inevitable consequence of
the amendment.
Again, sir, the people of Kansas,
speaking through their delegates 10 this
convention, thought it eminently proper
that this great vexed question which had
disturbed the Territory for four years,
which had disturbed the whole Union for
four years-that this great question in
reference to which the whole legislation
of the organic act of May 80, 1854, was
supposed to afford complete settlement
= should be separated out of the body
of the constitution aud put to separate
veto. How isit with this amendment ?
You require every. anti slavery man, per
force, to vote against the constitution !;
and that, too, in defiance of the mode of
submission provided in the constitution.
Any man who is willing to vote for the
whole Of this constitution, except the
seventh article. is compelled by the
House amendment to vote against the
whole of it. He does not have an op-
portuuity to vote for or against the
whole constitution. This is the work of
the gentlsmen who complain of the vote
on the 2lst of December. They said no
man could then vote for or against the
seventh article unless he voted for the
constitution I say that. under this
House amendment, no man can vote for
or against the seventh article unless
he votes against the whole constitution,
the thing is impossible; and therefore 1
say the amendment is framed in such a
manner, whatever the purposes of its
authors, that it mnst inevitably secure
the rejection of this constitution.
Then, why not reject it at once p
Why travel around all this path Why
pursue this s;nuous track? Come to
the question. If you say it is not the
will of the people; if you claim the
right to go behind all the forms through
which the people can speak, and reject
the constitution reject it let US have
an end of it, and let us see whether
there is no other method by which we
can bring Kansas into the Union bui
do not let US play fast and loose. Dc
not let us prefess to submit this coDsti
tuition IS the ordeal of fair vote, wbe1
tLo vote itselfis SO arranged thatit mus
must inevitably be rejected. It woulc
be rejected anyhow under the circum
stances; because of the alternative
of this bill. If you had put the ter
commandments to a vote under TIL,
bill they would be rejected; and why
The alternative is given in the House
| bill, that, if this constitution is rejected
then there shall bs-aaetksf>c >conventio
aud every man in the Territory of Kan
sas, in all the counties. who is an aspi
rant for membership In the new conyen
tion ana we know that there are always
about twenty candidats for every Office tc
which one man can possibly be elected
all this body of candidates; all the outs
who are always more than the ins, art
interested to defeat the constitution, il
order to take the chances of being elected
to new convention, and in order-to. take
the chances of being elected to the Leg
| islature, aud to the State offices, which
may be elective under the new constitu
tion.
I do not understand it to be pretend
cd in this amendment, as the Senate
] from Illinois said, that the Lecomptol
constitution is not the act and deed 0
the people. That is not pretended; bu
it is said that:
ssInasmuch as it is greatly disputed
4 whether the constitution framed at LIE
compton, on the 9TH dav of Noyembe
last, and now pending before Congress
was fairly made or expresses the will O
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