The Washington union., 1858-03-02
ROBERT j. WALKER BEFORE AND AFTER.


ROBERT j. WALKER BEFORE AND AFTER.
Mr. Walkers strained doctrines about the sove-
reigty Of the people, are maintained very much upon
the principle which controlled the good old lady,
who served her guests with stale cake assuring
them, that she had, slowed away, well frozen. the
very best mnce pies in the world but that it would
take an hour or more to warm them for eating. Mr.
Walkers sovereign power is most reserved and
dainty affair too The people have it all but the peo
pie cannot delegate il. conveyance of authority
to the representative is mere direction to clerk
to draw up the papers, that they may be examined,
discussed and approved or disapproved, by the SOW
ereign power. The sovereigns- sovereign as they
are even in our representative and deliberatve gov
ernment, cannot delegate to agents the least, mere
temporary authority as to bind the principals. Now,
we do not impeach Mr.. Walkers democracy in all
this--for it is the very purest democracy in the
world-it is ali democracy. There is not shade Of
the representative character in it. 1t is the
most unadnlterated, unmitigated, pure democ-
racy we have had, possibly excepting that which
originated the Topeka constitution and government
which Mr. Walker denounced as open rebellion
against the laws and the constitution Of the United
Statcs
Mr. Walkers letter to the Indiana meeting is Gu
rious production. He maintains the right of the
people, under the territorial government and the
authority Of Congress- to form State constitution
The act Of 1854, in his view, an enabling act.
In his inaugural address in Kansas, dated the 9th
May last he says:
Under our practice the preliminary act of framing
State constitution is uniformly performed through the in
strumentay of convention chosen by the people them
selves That convention is about to be elected by
you under the call of the territorial legislature created
and still recognised by the authority OF Congress- and
clothed by it, IN the comprehensive language OF the or
ganic law, ,ciM full Io'cr 10 make such an enactment,
and the authority Of the convention is distinctly rccog-
nsed in my instructions from the President of the United
States Those who oppose this cannot the al
legged irregularity of the territorial Legislature
Mr.. Walker continues, and we like to quote from
him because we feel sure from his letters he reads
his own works
The people of Kansas then invited by the high
authority known to the constitution to participate
freely and fairly the election of delegates to frame
constitution and State government The law has per-
formed its entire and appropriate function when it friends
to the people the right Of suffrage, but cannot compel The
performance Of that duty. Throughout whole Union,
however, and ahrsw free government prdits, those who
abstain from the Of the right Of suffrage author
ze those who do to act for them in that contngen
cy'
Mr. Walker then proceeds to declare that the ter
rtorial Legislature had ample power to call the con-
venon and to denouncc those traitors and rebels
who oppose it's authority
We thus establish two points tlrough the testi-
mony Of Mr.. Walker-irst the legality Of the cleo
ton Of the 18th Of June and secondly the authority
of the convention to frame constitution and State
government.
We now come to Mr.. Walkers process Of inva
dating the election of the 18th Of June and of the
convention. Well, what is it :? Why, because he
and AZ he declares and the President advised the sub
mission Of the constitution to the people, and it was
Constitution is invalid, because Mr.. Walker, Mr.
Douglas, or anybody else, promised that it should be
referred to the people for ratification rejection,
and it was not done. That may have been the way
they would have acted but how it can be pleaded
that refusal on the part of the convention to be
guided by their advice, impairs and destroys the au
thority Of the delegates we do not clearly Mr..
Walker is evidently determined that there shall be
no Misunderstanding about his position in this re-
spect He complains in one breath Of Executive die
aton and in the nert appeals to his instructions and
his everlasting inaugural address, to show what was
not only the duty, but what evidently he regards
the authority of the convention If it is diotaon to
sustain the action Of the people Of Kansas under the
administration of Mr.. Walker himself what would it