Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-03-26

\ certain letter written by the late Governor of Kan
ass upon the occasion of his resignation vi ouice'
He Gays that
.S,yere;pniy makes consi il n;ors: HAT sovereignty
r. ss excluiv-ly with III. psnr!- IL rGci State; ina
soyerejgny cannot hn delr.nied that il is ina!rnH
BILE, indivisibIe, unit iurninbi- of partition.
Now, sir admit AL thai; hut | viii mol concedt |
far moment, because sovereignty is nalienabr, TINT
acts Of sovereignty cGnnn; be exercised through some
nahum ORGANISM or representative agency: far |
from IT, think that the celebrated letter to which
refer affords remarkable instance OF how really
able man. when sustaining heresy, may entangle |
and overthrow himself 10 The inaaes OF MS own meta
physics. Robert }. Walker declares:
lit will not be denied that sovereiEnly Is me only
power that can make State constitution, anu tiat II
rests exclusively with the people; anu u 70 uni-ha
BILE, and cannot BIZ delegated, rs have shown, then
it can only bs exercised by the people thenselVet.
Aud again. in reference to the Constitution OF the
United States he says:
Zach State acted for eef alone IN acceding % the
Articles Of Confederation in E'S. anu eac' o'" ".
acted for itself alone in framing and ratty'ug each
for iisshs Constitution Of the United States Sover
eighty them with us rests exclusively with the people
Of each State.
Here sir IN assumes that each State adopted the
Constitution of the United States for ITSELF and that
the Constitution OF the United States being 80 adopt
ed has become the Constitution OF each particular
State Yet he seems not 10 have borne in m!nh that
that very fact upsss his whole theory Sir, the Con
stitution Of thu United States is not to day binding III
Union else the doctrine is erroneous, That 1t re-
quires the people in their primary capacity to ray
it, Why, sir, the Constitution of the United States
was framed bya Convention, and ratified by ConVen
tons and Legislatures in the several States not III
any ore case it referred TO direct vote Of what
Sir. Walker caIls the sovereign people.
Sir, TO declare war and to make peace-are they
not acts OF sovereignty And are they not done by
| representative agencies Why may not CDnstitu-
ton bs formed in like manner Mr.. Chairman,
great deal Of confusion exists in the public mind in re
lation 10 tho question, who are the people in whom
the sovereignty resides accord with the doctrine
of Robert j. Walker, aud cay resides in the masses
Every man and every citizen who has rights and
power in the community, is part Of the sovereign
mass. All Of the citizens together constitute the
original fountain and source OF all power 10 com
muni,y. They are the sovereignty Now, sir If sove
regnty is unit and udiyisible the whole sovereign
mass mus; act together. Ii one citizen ba wanting
the unity ID broken and the sovereignty destroyed
1t is clear them that il sovereignty resides in the
mass and is ndiyislble it cannot be carried out into
| acts without. medium, organism or representa-.
tive agency, AZ the free mind cannot act except
through the agency of the body. This results from
the fact that il is impossible to get all the cti.
together in consentsneous action. If this sove.
reignty is n unit can majority exercise that sove.
reignty Those who do not act with the insj ori;y
have a part of the sovereignty in themselves, and
their dissent breaks the unity.
wish now to inquire upon what principal the ma
jority acts for community, and Whist results from
that iact7 say that the majority does not act for the
community upon any principle of natural right. Let
liz suppose that the whol. frame work OF Govern
ment could, by some mighty convnsion, be struck
from existence in any State of the Union: what
would follow! a primary meeting OF the people
would be held, To put into operation rude siruc
ture of government. Would all the p5ope assem-
BILE? BY no means. That is always impossible. A
great many would stay away, and those who stayed
away would have part of the sovereignty in them
selves But according TO the principle declared by
Governor Walker, those who came would he the re-
representatives. Of those who stayed away. Each man
who should attend the primary meeting would repre-
cent his absent neighbour and family; and upon the
principle Of repressn s;ion, that primary m-eiing
could act for the whole. Ii the community left with
out government should consist of hundred thou.
sand people, not more than eighty thousand could
assemble in primary mseting. How would they act!
The eighty tn ousand would not agree upon all ques
TONS perhaps upon any question; and from neces-
city. majority would control their decisions, unless
different rule were agreed on. Then ioriy-one thou.
sand being the majority OF the eighty thousand,
would speak for the whole community. Upon
what principle OF natural right undivided
reignty, ask, can forty .one thousand declare The
opinion OF one hundred thousand Again, take the
case of the voters Of community. Upon what prin.
ciple do they act for the whole Ara they the sOva
reign mass No, sir, 10y no means. Take the case Of
Kansas itself; and, allowing that there one hun
dred thousand people in that Territory, then say that
IN. Constitution ia 10 be submitted to the VOTERS
According 10 statistics the number of vot. would
bs about one fifth OF the entire mass. Take the cen
aus of 1870 to 1850, and then the vote at the inter
vening and succeeding Presidential election, and you
will find that the rarely, il ever, more than
one.ffih of the entire number OF the people. Then.
If there were one hundred thousand people in Kansas
the number Of voters might have been IA high rs
twenty thousand OF that twenty thousand q ma
iority would control, and eleven thousand would con
stituts that majority. Now. ask upon what princi
oil. of natural right or Of ndivisibla soversigny can
Eleven thousand voters declare tho voice Of one hun
dred Thousand people They are the organ'sm
| preventative agency merely, through which the
! whos body speaks, just rs convention 10 the mouth
| piece of the people.
| Chief Justice fancy, in giving the opinion Of the
| Court in the Dred Scott case, says
| Undoubtedly, psrsnn may be q citi2en--tha Is a
member Of the community who form the sovereignty
although he 5rclses share ct the political pow
err and is incspaci;ated from holding particular of
fees Women and minors, who form part of the
political family, cannot vote and when property
qualification il required to vote hold particular
office, thoss who have no: the necessary qualities
lions cannot vors or hold the Office, yet they CHI
| zens."
There are number Of the citiz ans in every com.
munity who constitute part Of the body politlcwh
have portion of the sovereignty in themselve4 but
who are not allowed TO vote. The vDier3ihen, only
present the people. They not, IN fact, the cove
reign people. SO show the universally OF the re-
preventative principle. primary meeting az usual
~ constituted, is a representative agency. a con
ventiOn ia representative agency. The voters are
! a representative agency and any question ha'geen
them il a question between different representative
agencies. Each one speaks the voice OF the people
in its sphere ust the a-nt when acting within ms
mower spaaks the voice Of hia principal Talk ahont
sppealing from the convention to the sovereign pee
pie! say, If you appeal 10 the voters, yon only ap
peal from representation To another Representa-
lion. Perhaps broader. perhaps better hut s'''l re-
preventative agency you deny the voice nj one or.
! ganism through which the people speak, and take
the voice of another organism. When there % no law
to determine who sba! declare the voice q the pea
ple the people are a law unto themseve'' ana necea
| sity and circumstances dstsrTine. When you have
an organized society, the Law declares who shall
speak tor the people in each particular case.
| Now apply these principles 10 tue Gaze nf hansas.
| Who authorized 10 speak the voice OF the people
| of Kansas in relation 10 the Constitution! Tho con
vention and the convention only. Sir, thu conven.
| ton was the organism through which sovereignty
spoke. Tts voice was the voice Of the people; The
| Constitution of tn. United States, framed, IA have
sad by convention, and ratified in each Stale ey
| conventions nevertheless announces itself ~ The ac'
| Of the people. In iis preamble IT says: we. IN.
people Of the United States, &c. SC, no ordaln and
| establish this Constitution" So IN hanshs, the
convention was merely tie mouth through which ths
people we're presumed ia law TO spea:. The Hons'i
tuition adopted by them therefore, the act "i the
people. You may think that another agency would
have been better, but you cannot properly interfere
| for this is that which was spoken when we SAID that
We would "eave the people thereof tof ksnsasl per
fecty free to form and regulate their domestic insti'
| tutions in their own way
have not undertaken To inquire whether me Leg
issturs which called this convention was legally
authorized Legislature. ] do not think it is necassa
ry to stop to argue that question. do not believe
any lawyer in this House will. Upon legal principles
deny the proposition. Though the first J legislature
NAV have beer! elected originally by fraud. Tas the
government Dr. farL0 and was never sol ssde ny any
competent authority. We are bouEd 10 reioGni.et
acts The whole Jurisprudence Of Kansas res'2 upon The
legality of the aat Legislatures the ona Of Ghrh
took the serse Of the people whether there ahnuld be
NTH mi he mi her n
calling the convention Mr. Walker himself told
them that all the usages and rights Of the people OF
Kan.as hung upon the legality Of the Legislature OF
! Kansas. He says;
az that Legislature wac Invalid then we are with.
out lay or order in Kanses-wthOu. town, city. or
county organization all legal and Judicial ransac-
tons ara void. all t-u null, end anarchy reign'
throughout borders