The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1858-04-01

of State Government. It
IS now proved iDcoDtestably, BY iegalev-
idenoe. taken on oath before Legislative
Committees, fiat in four precincts only
in Kansas, where more than three thou
sand votes we're pretended toEhase been
given, tha; four tiiths of the whole were
entirels fictitious, 4and~thst~ the returns
we're forged and fraudulent. No man
can or dare deny this tesdmons. From an
intimate and personal knowledge of each
and every one Of these precincts, | know
that this testimony is true; and yet We
are asked to sanction q Constitution based
upon crimes like these. Would We not
become accompiiccs-of thesc crimes'if we
should aid in the establishments Of Gov
ernmept based upon themli IF success
can be achieved by these and kindred at.
rocities, and the high sanction of Con-
gress can be obtained for them, do we not
open forever thetfood gates of ,ice and
Republics are based upon
public virtue, and when this is subserted
the vital spark Of liberty will have been
-ex,inguisbed. The parchme Mt upon which
the Constitution is written may still re.
main. but the life.gising principles of
popular freedom aand of public virtue
will have gone forever. '--r ssaagss si#
But although the justice of the priDci'
pies for which we contend may be ad-
mitted by our adyers aries. yetit is con.
tended that it is expedient to disregard
them now iu Kansas. The sanction OF
crimes and injustice can never be expe.
dient. We should never do wrong. in
the hope, perhaps vain and illusory, that
it may be hereafter corrected We should
do always what is right aud just, in all
our acts. whether public or priv ate, and
leave the result in the hands of the over
ruling Providence, who can never give
his sanction or ultimate success to crimes
or injustice. The Territorial Lei gi,lature
of Kansas is now in the hand Of the ma
jority of her people. The control was
obtained in October last, in; an election
in which both parties participated, and
freely measured their strength. Let the
Leoompton Constitution be dcfe ated, and
the Territorial. Goyernment, 20 dong a,
it exbists, will be, conducted 4 in peace and
quiet, until it is superseded by a Con,ti
tuition legally framed under call OF. th'
Territorial Legislature, ratified by th,
people, and adopted by Con sress, all o
which may now be done in atfcw weeks
or months, and the great doctrine ofpop
ular sovereignty haze been yiudieated.-
But force this Constitution upon the peo
pie of Kansas now, against their will
and no mortal vision can penetrate th,
dark abyss in which lay hidden the deeI
disasters now menacing Kansas our coun
try. | cannot take this dark leap int
such vortex of crime and uncertainty
If the people of Kansas submit, never
theless the damning truth willstill remail
that the State would have been forcet
into the Union against the will of he
people. She would enter the Union no
as the peer and equal of her co.sover
eighties, but she would be driven into tt
Union. disgraced by the chains of an u
surping minority, and covered all owe
with shame and degradation. The yer,
parchment on which her Constitution wa
written would be stained by crimes aDt
forseries. The signet Of the people woult
never have been affixed to the instrumen
but in its place vile counterfeit woult
have been substituted, there to remail
forever upon our and her archieyes as Z
perpetual record of her disgrace and o
our injustice. The thirty second star o
our heretofore glorious constellation would
not have risen above the horizon 10 all
the brightness of new, born liberty, bu
it would come in sborn of its lustre, ant
casting its darkeping shadows over th,
receding glories of the Republic. Tb,
fatal example never could be erased. W,
could never recall the past; We could nev
er retrace our footsteps. But onward
still onward, aud downward, our move
ments would be toward the destiny which
must ever attend outrage. crimes, and in
justise. And why should We, encounter
these dreadful hazardsi What is unjus
can never be expedieut. Expediency
has been the plea of tyrauts in every age
and country. 1t has placed and retain
ed the crown upon the monarch's brow
1t has governed the world by swords and
bayonets. 1t has covered the earth will
violence, fraud, and injustice. May my
country avoid the retributive penaltie.
which, in the righteous providence of God
sooner or later are sure to follow the per.
petration Of wrong or,iDjustice Let u.
do what is right, and we may look with
assured confidence to a speedy and hap.
py exit from all our difficulties. Let the
great principle Of State aud popular SOW.
ereignty bo maintained, and they will
carry Us safely through oil our Difficult.
ties, strengthened and purified by all the
trials through which We shall have pass.
ed, standing out bright example Of pub
lie virtue and Intelligence, and still re.
commencing by an augmented moral
power our institutions for adoption to
progressive and enfranchised humanity
The Democracy of Ohio present now a
proud example for imitation nv her sis