Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1858-12-11

- A0'N'I W WNNNu \ law INHA ANNN'NNNf ~
the admission Of the State on % equal foot
ing with the original states, but 'Supon the
fandamental condition psecedent' Chat ANA
jority Of the people thereof, at an election TO
be held for that purpose, should, in place Of
the very large grants Of public lands which
they had demanded upon the ordinance, &C
cept such grants as had been made TO Min
nesota and other new States. Under this
act, should a majority reject the proposition
offered them, ait shall be deemed and held
that the people of Kansas do not desire ad
mission into the Union with said constitu-
ton under the conditions set forth ia said
proposition" In that event the act author
ICES the people Of the territory to elect dele
gates to form constitution and State gov
ernment for themselves, whenever, and
not before, II IS ascertained by q census, du-
ly and legally taken, that the population OF
said territory equals or exceeds the ratio OF
representation required for member Of the
House Of Representatives of tho Congress
Of the United States" The delegates thus
assembled "shan first determine by a,vote
whether It is the wish of the people of the
proposed state to be admitted into the Un-
ion at that time, and, If SO, shall proceed TO
form constitution, and take all necessary
steps for the establishment of a state gov
ernment in conformity with the federal con
sttution." After this constitution shall
have been formed, Congress carrying out
the principles of popular sovereignty and
non-interyention, have left the mode and
manner Of its approval or ratification by the
people Of the proposed state" to be "pres-
cribed by law" and they shall then be ad-
mtted into the Union as q State under such
constitution thus fairly and legally made,
with or without slavery, as said constitution
may prescribe"
An election was held throughout Kansas,
in pursuance of the provisions Of this act on
the second day Of August last, and it resu t
ed in the rejection, by large majority, Of
the proposition submitted to the people by
Congress. This being the case, they are
now authorized to form another constitution,
preparatory to admission into the Union,
but not until their number, as ascertalned
bv a census, shall equal or exceed the ratio
required to elect member of the House of
Representatives.
1t is not probable in the present state of
the case, that third constitution can be
lawfully formed and presented to Congress
by Kansas, before its population shall have
reached the designated number. Nor is it
to be presumed that, after their sad expert
euce in resisting the Territorial laws, they
will attempt to adopt a Constitution in ex-
press violation of the provisions of ian act of
fba of 1919
much of the time Of Congress was occupied
on the question of admitting Kansas under
the Topeka Constitution. Again, nearly
the whole Of the last session was devoted to
the question of its admission under the Le-
compton constitution. Surely it is not un-
reasonable to require the people of Kansas
to wait before making third attempt, until
the number of their inhabitants shall amount
to ninety three thousand four hundred "a
twenty. During this brief period, the har
mony of the States, as well as the great bu
siness interests of the country, demand that
the people of the Union shall not for third
time be conyulsed by another agitation on
the Kansas question. BY waiting short
time, and acting in obedience to law, Kan
sas will glide into the Union without the
slightest impediment. s
This excellent provision, which Congress
has applied to Kansas, ought to be extend
ed and rendered applicable to all territories
which may hereafter seek admission into the
Union. Whilst Congress possesses the un-
doubted power of admitting a new state in
to the Union, however small may be the
number Of inhabitants, yet this power ought
not in my opinion, to be exercised before
the population shall amount to the ratio re-
quired by the act for the admission of Kan
sas. Had this been previously the rule, the
f, . try would have escaped all the evils and
hr.sfortunes to which it has been exposed by
the Kansas question.
OF course, it would be unjust to give this
rule retrospective application, and exclude
a state which, acting upon the past practice
of the Government, has already formed its
constitution, elected its legislature aud other
officers, and is now prepared to enter the
Union. The rule ought to be adopted,
whether we consider its bearing upon the
people ofthe territories, or upon the people
Of the existing States. Many of the serious
dissensions which have prevailed in Con
gress and throughout the country, would
have been avoided bad this rule been estab-
lshed at an earlier period of the govern
ment. Immediately upon the formation of
a new territory, people from different states
and from foreign countries rush into il, for
the laudable purpose of improving their con-
dtion. Their first duty to themselves is to
open and cultivate farms, to constructrosds,
to establish schools, to erect places of relig-
ious worship, and to devote their energies
generally to reclaim the wilderness and to
lay the foundations of fourishing and pros
porous commonwealth. II, in this incipi-
ent condition, with population of few
thousand, they should prematurey enter
the Union, they are oppressed by the burden
of state taxation, and the means necessary
for the improvement of the territoryand the
advancement of their own interests, are thus
diverted to very different purposes.
The federal government has ever been a
liberal parent tD the territories, cal gene
rous contributor to the useful enterprises of
the early settlers. 1t has paid the expenses
Of their governments and legislative assem-
bles out Of the common treasury, and thus
relieved them from heavy charge. Under
these circumstances nothing can be better
calculated to retard their material progress