Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-12-16

-ss..s. EATON
II authorizes the people of the Territory to
i elsct delegates to form constitution
and State Government for themselves,
"whenover, and not before, it is ascer-
tained by a census, duly and legally ta-
ken, that the population of said Terri
tory equal or exceeds the ratio of rep
resentation required for a member OF
the House of Representatives of the
Congress of the United States" The
delegates thus assembled shall first de-
termine by vote whether it is the wish
! of the people of the proposed State to
be admitted into the Union tthat times
\ and, if SO, shall proceed to form con-
1 stitution, and take all necessary steps
for the establishment of a State Gov
ernment in conformity with the federal
shall have been formed, Congress, car
rying out the principles of popular SOW
ereignty and nonintervention, have left
ssthe mode and manner of its approval
or ratification by the people of the pro-
posed States to be prescribed by law, " i,
and they "shall then be admitted into
the Union as State under such consti-
tuition thus fairly and legally made, with
or without slavery, as said constitution
may prescribe"
An election was held througho ut
Kansas, in pursuance of the provisions
of this act, on the second day of August
last, and it resulted in the rejection, by
a large majority, of the proposition sub
mitted to the people by Congress. This
being the case, they are now authorized
to form another constitution, prepara
tory to admission into the Union, but
not until their number, as aseertained
by census, shall equal or exceed the
ratio required to elect member to the
House of Representatives.
1t is not probable, in the present
state of the case, that third constitu-
ton can be lawfully framed and pre-
sented to Congress by Kansas, before its
population shall have reached the de-
signatcd number Nor is it to be pre-
sumed that, after their sad experience
| in resisting the territorial laws, they
will attempt to adopt constitution in
express violation Of an act of Congress,
During the session of 1856, much of the
time of Congress was occupied on the
question of admitting Kansas under the
| Topeka Constitution. Again, nearly
the whole of the last session was devo-
ted to the question of It's admission un-
! der the LccomptOn Constitution. Sure
! ly it is not unreasonable to require the
! people of Kansas to wait before making
third attempt, until tho number Of
their inha bitants shall amount to nine
three thousand four hundred and twen-
| ty.
During this brief period the harmony
of the States, as we'll as the great busi-
ness interests of the country, demand
that the people of the UnioG thall not
for the third time be convulsed by an
other agitation on the Kansas question,
By waiting for q short time, and acting
in obedience to law, Kansas will glide
into the Union without the slightest i'm
pediment.
This excellent provision, which Con
gress have applied to Kansas, ought to
be extended and rendered applicable to
all Territories which may hereafter seek
admission into the Union.
! While Congress possesses the un-
doubted power of admitting a new
State into the Union, however small
may be the number of its inhabitants,
| yet this power ought not, in my opin-
ion, to be exercised before the popula-
ton 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 misfortunes to which it has been
exposed by the Kansas question.
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 Legislature and other officers, and is
now prepared to enter the Union.
The rule ought to be adopted, whe-
ther we consider its bearing on the peo-
pie of the Territories or upon the peo.
pie of the existing States. Many of the
serious dissensions which have prevailed
in Congress and throughout the coun-
try would lsYe been avoided had this
rule been established at an earlier pc
riod of government.
Immediately upon the formation of a
~" - PSOP-O
; States and foreign countries rush into
it Tor the laudable purpose of improving
their condition. Their first duty to
: themselves is to open and cultivate
; farms, to construct roads, to establish
schools, to erect places of religious wor
, ship, and to devote their energies gen.
orally to reclaim the wilderness and lay
: the foundation of fiourishing and pros
porous commonwealth.
If, in this inoipient condition, with &
3 population of few thousand, they
! should prematurely enter the Union
E they are oppressed by the burden o
e State taxation, and the means necessary
= for the Improvement of the Territory ant
e the advancement of their own Interests
r are thus diverted to very different pur
G poses. -......-
This Federal Government has eve
}, been liberal parent to the Territories
o and q generous contributor to the use
full enterprises of the early settlers. /
: haa paid the expenses of their govern
4 ments and Legislative assemb blies ont O