The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-05-29

authority TO speak Tor them.
Now, sir, the whole of this proposition
amounts to this it is saying to the people
of Kansas, you may vote for the Lecomp-
ton constitution, but if you do not have
that, you shall have nothing. We are
calling upon the people of Kansas to sci
on the great question of forming theil
constitutional forming, ratifying, or put
ting in operation, if you please. by their
votes, the constitution of their State gov
eminent. It is fundamental, it is the first
great principle of self-goyernment. Now
you call upon that people to act On that
subject. and do you secure to them esen
what was promised in the Cincinnati
platform ? Its pledge was, that in form
ing State constitution the people should
be left perfectly free to mould their insti-
tutions in their own way. Now, the
people of Kansas are called upon to take
action about the adoption of constitu-
ton, to pass vote which shall put that
constitution in force, or reject it; and are
they left free +? They are trammeled up
to that one single act, whether they will
have the Lecompton constitution or have
nothing. They are not left free to form
any constitution they want. to shape any
constitution as they may desire it to be,
in relation to any of their institutions. In
short, the vote seems to be very much
like the case of Napoleon Ill, who
allowed the people of France to vote, not
whether you will have an emperor, not
who will you have as emperor, but will
you have me for emperor that is all.
Mr.. President, l wish now to say few
words in regard to the views presented by
the honorable Senator from Virginia.
What was the trouble with that bill He
says that bill merely declared, in relation
to the ordinance, that we did not ratify it E;
that we disclaimed it, and did not provide
for the state of things that would result if
the people of Kansas should not agree to
this condition on which they were to be
admitted !; and, therefore, this bill goes on
to provide for that contingency. Well,
sir, if the bill which the Senate passed
was obnoxious to that difficulty, why, on
earth, did they pass it at all !? If it was
an objection that you ought to make pro-
vision for the contingency of the people
in convention, or By their own votes,
refusing to ratify the amended ordinance
which you submitted to them on condition
that they should not have the ordinance
which the convention had made? The
Senator from Virginia says the difficulty
is in regard to the ordinance proposing
the terms on which the State shall agree
to forego the right of taxing public lands,
if it has that right, and the grants in con-
sideration of which it will yield that right.
He says, that is matter on which the
State should pass, as people, by them
selves, or by their delegates and that,
until they do that, you cannot admit them
as State, unless they have themselves
delegated that power to their own con-
vention. Then, l ask, how came the
Senate to pass the original bill, by which
they jumped over all objections of that
kind ? say this is different thing, and
inconsistent with that bill in that respect.
But the truth is, all that amounted to
nothing, for the ordinance is no part of
the constitution. They claim certaiu
grants of land. If we receive them under
.heir constitution, without disclaiming the
ordinance, we make the grants; but the
bill passed by the Senate provided that
they should be admitted on condition that
the ordinance should be of no effect, and
further provided that nothing contained
in the bill should exclude them from
claiming what had been granted to Min
nesota, (which is what is now offered, } or
prevent Congress from making grants
whenever it chose. Was not that left
right ? l see no objection to that part of
the bill there never was any objection
made to that on this side Of the Chamber,
l believe. Neither the people there nor
anywhere else made any objection toit on
that ground. No. sir, this is mere device.
There has never been any issue of that
kind made in any quarter, by any man, or
by any paper in Kansas, here, or else
where. tits altogether an afterthought,
device cooked up for this occasion.
The honorable Senator from Virginia
claims that this very proposition does that
which weuld settle this controversy, as he
thinks. Well, then, he must think they
are going to adopt the Lecompton consti-
tuition, suppose; but he hardly intimates
that. He hardly believes they will do
that. What then? It will leave Kansas
in territorial condition, and then, he
says, we shall have guarantee of peace
for three, four, five, or six years. Wherein
is that guarantee of peace? May not and
will not, the same controversy continue in
Kansas as heretofore ? Shall we have
taken any step to cure it? Not az all.
Will they not continue to call conventions
and ask for admission into the Union
whenever they please Certainly; /; but
oh, it is said we have provided here that
they shall not be admitted until they
have the proper number. That, however,
does not prevent Congress from admitting
them, nor prevent them from asking
for admission. Every bone of contention,
every apple of discord, every point of diff
ficulty which has ever agitated Kansas or
the country on this subject, remains, and
will remain until they are admitted as a
State. 1t is vain to suppose that we
are going to localize the quarrel now, any
more than we have succeeded in doing so
heretofore. The people of this Union, in
all parts of it, particularly in the North
and South, have taken too deep an inter-
est in the question involved, to permit it
to go On without their participating in it,
in interest at least. They viii partaSe in
it. Hence this proposed bill viii leave,
and il does leave, at any rate in one result
all the difficulties open to perpetual agi-
tation.
Mr. President, disguise this matter as
we may. there's one fact of which think
we must be morally convinced that the
Lecompton Constitution is abhorrent to
the views and the feelings and opinions
of large majority Of the people of Kar-
sas. l doubt whether man can be found
who viii question that fact. The very
message which the President of the Uni
ted States has sent to Us on the snbject
imports that. He says that the people oi
Kansas were so strangely attached to the
Topeka Constitution that it was OF 10 use
to submit to them any other, for they
would reject it and Il was not submitted