Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian., 1858-12-18

,, the people of Kansas. whether decided on
70 way or the other, should have kindled such
flame of excitement throughout the country
= This reflection NAV prove to be a lesson {
wisdom and Of warning for our future guild
ance Practically considered, the question /
e simply whether tho people of that Territor.
$ should first come into the Union and thel
! : change any provision Of their constitution no
! agreeable to themselves, or accomplish tn
y very :, me object by remaining out the Uniol
II and r. mi lg another constitution III accord
: acce wln their will. ., In either case the resul
!. = would be precisely the same. The only dif
), ference in point of fact is, that the objec
4 would have been much sooner attained, ant
the pacification of Kansas more speedily ef
: fected. had it been admitted as State durin:
= the last session Of Congress.
= NV recommendation however, for the i'm
mediate admissiOnOf Kansas failed to meet tht
appreciation of Congress. They deemed il
, wiser to adopt different measure for the set
: tlenent of the question. For my own part
. | should have been willing to yield my assent
to almost any constitutional measure to ac
complish this object. l, therefore, cordially
acquiesced in what has been called the Eng
lish Compromise, and approved the "act fol
the admission of the State of Kansas into the
Union," upon the terms therein prescribed
Under the ordinance which accompanied
the Lecompton Constitution, the people Of
Kansas had claimed double the quantity OF
public lands for the support of common
schools which had ever been previously grant
ed to any State upon entering the Union, and
also the alternate sections Of land Tor twelve
miles on each side of the two railroads pro-
posed to be constructed from the northern to
the southern boundary, and from the eastern
to the western boundary of the State. Con-
greSS, dceming these claims unreasonable,
provided, by the act of May 4, 1888, to
which have Just referred, for the admission
of the State on an equal footing with the orr
gnal States, but upon the fundamental
condition precedent" that majority 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 under the ordinance, accept such
grants as had been made to Minnesota and
other new States Under this act, should
majority reject the proposition offered them
it shall be deemed and held that the people
of Kansas do not desire admission into the
Union with said constitution under the condi-
tons set forth in said proposition" In that
event the act authorizes the people OF the Ter
ritory to elect delegates to form a constitution
and State government for themselves, when
ever, and not before it is ascertained by
census, duly and legally taken, that the pOpu-
latiOn of said Territory equals or exceeds the
ratio of representation required for member
of the House of Representatives of the Con-
gress of the United States" The delegates
thus assembled shall first determine by a
vote whether it is the wish of the people Of
the proposed State to be admitted into the
Union at that time, and, if so, shall proceed
| to form constitution, and take all necessary
steps for the establishment of State gov
ernmcnt in conformity with the federal con-
| stitutiOn" After this constitution shall have
been formed, Congress, carrying out the plln-
| ciplcs of popular sovereignty and nOn-inter
| ventiOn, have left 8" the mode and manner Of
its approval or ratification by the people of
| tie proposed State" to be "prescribcd by
law" and they shall then be admitted into
the Union as 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, y,
the second day of August last, and it resulted
in the rejection, by a large majority, OF the
proposition submitted to the people by Con-
grcss. This being the case, they are now
| authorised to form anaher Constitution, pre-
paratorv to admission into the Unon but not
until ,ncir number as ascertained by CEN
sus, shall equal or exceed the ratio required
| to -lect member Of the House of Represen-
tatives.
1t is not probable, in the present state of
the case that u third constitution can be law
fully framed and presented to Congress by
Kansas, before its population shall have
reached the designated number. Nor is it to
he presumed that, after their sad experience
in resisting the Territorial laws, they will at
tempt to adopt constitution in express vio-
lation of the provisions of an act of Congress.
/ During the session of 1855, much of the time
of Congress was occupied on the question OF
admitting Congress unlct the Topeka COnsti-
tuition Again, nearly the whole Of the last
session was devoted to the question OF its ad-
mission under the Lcconpton Constitution.
Surely, it is not unreasonable to require the
people of Kansas to wait before making a
third attempt, until the number of their i'll
habitants shall amount to 93,420. During
this brief period, the harmony of the States,
as well as the great business interests of the
country, demand that the people of the Union
shall not for third time be convulsed by
another agitation of the Kansas question. BY
waiting for short time and acting in obedi-
dience to law, Kansas will glide into the Un-
ion without the slightest impeachment.
This excellent provision, which Congress
has applied to Kansas, ought to be extended
and rendered applicable to all Territories
which may hereafter seek admission.
Whilst Congress possesses the undoubted
power of admitting new State into the
Union, however small may be the number OF
| = IL - in
my opinion, to be exercised before the pOpu-
lation shall amount to the ratio required by
the act for the admission of Kansas. Had
this been previously the rule, the country
would have escaped all the evils and misfor-
tunes to which it has been exposed by the
Kansas question. Dr- - So e.
OF course it would be unjust to give this
rule retrospective application, and exclude
State which, acting upon the past practice
of the government, has already formed its
constitution, elected its legislative and Other
: officers, and is now prepared to enter the
Union. -s- t..-r
The rule ought to be adopted, whether We
consider its bearing on the people OF the Ter
ritorics or upon the people of the existing
States. Many of the serious dissensions which
have prevailed in Congress and Throughout
the country, would have been avoided, hat
:, this rule been established at an earlier periot
of the government. t'- .sf g
n Immediately upon the formation of new
D Territory, people from the different States
and from foreign countries, rush into it for tn
/ laudablc purpose of improving their condi
I ton. Their first duty to themselves is t.
+ open and cultivate farms, to construct roads
o to establish schools, to erect palaces of reli
gious worship, and to devote their energie
i generally to reclaim the wilderness and to la.
. the foundations of iourishing and prosper
9 GUS commonwealth. If in this incipient con
. dition, with population of few thousand
. they should prematurely, enter the Union
: they are oppressed by the burden of Stat
! taxation and the means necessary for the i'm
. provement of the Territory and the advance
. ment of their own Interests are thus diverte'
e to very different purposes. ..
nv haa