White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1858-12-23


by another agitation on the Kansasques-
hon. BY waiting for q short time, and
acting IN obedience to law, Kansas will
glide into the Union without the slightest
impediment
This excellent provision, which Con-
gress have applied to Kansas, ought to be
extended and rendered applicable to all
territories which may hereafter seek ad-
mission into the Union.
Whilst Congress possess the undoubted
power Of admitting q new State into the
Union, however small may be the num-
Der of its inhabitants, yet this power
ought not, in my opinion. to be exercised
before the population shall amount to the
ratio required by the act for the admir-ion
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 q retrospective application. and
exclude State which, acting upon the
past practice Of the government. has al
really formed its constitution, elected its
legislature and other officers, and is now
prepared to enter the Union.
The rule ought to be adopted, whsthee
we consider its bearing on the people Of
She territories or upon the people Of the
existing States. Many Of the serious
dissensions which have prevailed in Con,
gress and throughout the country, would
have been avoided, hand this rule been as
tablished at an earlier period Of the gov
eminent
Immediately upon the formation of a
territory, people from different States and
from foreign countries rush into it. for the
laudable purpose Of improving their con-
dition. Their first duty to themselves is
to open and cultivate farms. to construct
roads. to establish schools. to erect places
of religious worship. and to devote their
energies generally to reclaim the wilder
ness and to lay the foundations Of -four
ishing and prosperous commonwealth.
II, in this incipient condition. with a
population Of few thousand. they should
prematurely enter the Union, they are
oppressed by the burden Of State taxation,
and the means necessary for the improve
ment of the territory and the advancement
Of their own interests, are thus diver ed
to very different purposes.
The federal government has ever been
a liberal parent to the territories, and a
generous contributor to the useful enter
prises Of the early settlers. 1t has paid
the expenses Of their governments and
legislative assemblies out of the common
treasury, and thus relieved them from q
heavy charge. Under these circumstan-
ccs, nothing can be better calculated to
retard their material progress. than to
divert them from their useful employ
ments, by prcmaturely exciting angry po-
litical contests among themselves, for the
benefit OF aspiring leaders. 1t is surely
no hardship for embryo governors. sena-
ators and members of Congress, to wait
until the number of inhabitants shall
equal those Of single congressional dis
trict. They surely ought not to be per-
mitted to rush into the Union. with
population less than ons-half of several
Of the large counties in the interior Of
some Of the States. This was the con-
dition of Kansas when it made applica-
ton to be admitted under the Topeka
Constitution. Besides. it requires some
time to render the mass Of population
collected in new territory. at all homo
geneous, and to unite them on anything
like fixed policy. Establish the rule,
and all will look forward to it, and gov
ern themselves accordingly.
But justice to the people Of the several
States requires that this rule should be
established BY Congress. Each State is
entitled to two senator's, and at least one
representative in Congress. Should the
people of the States fail to elect Vice
President, the power dsvolvsS upon the
Senate to select this officer from the two
highest candidates on the list. In the
case of the death of the President, the
Vice President. thus elected by the Sen
ate, becomes President Of the United
States. On all questions Of legislation
the senator's from the smallest States of
the Union have an equal vote with those
from the largest. The same may be said
in regard to the ratification OF treaties, and
of Executive appointments. All this
has worked admirably in practice, whilst
il conforms in principle with the charae-
ter Of a government instituted BY sover-
eign States. / presume no American
citizen would desire the slightest change
in the arrangement. Still, is it not I'M
Just and unequal to the existing States to
invest some forty or fifty thousand people.
collected in territory with the attributes
Of sovereignty, and place them on an
equal footing with Virginia and New
York in the Senate Of the United States /?
For these reasons l earnestly recon-
mend the passage Of general act. which
shall provide that, upon the application
Of a territorial legislature. declaring their
belief that the territory contains a num-
Der Of inhabitants which, If in g State,
would entitle them to elect a member Of
Congress, it shall be the duty Of the
President to cause q census Of the Inhab-
itants to be be taken. and IL found sufi-
Gent. then. BY the terms Of this act. to
authorize them to proceed sin their own
way" to frame State constitution, pre-
paratory to admission into the Union. !
also recommend that an appropriation
may be made. to enable the President to
take census Of the people Of Kansas.