The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-04-24
The Great Speech Of Judxe Douglas.


one Of the greatest efforts of its authors lii,
Its grent length, however, must exclude
from our columns. But, that our reader
may not be wholly deprived Of an opportu
nifty to judge Of its quality. we subjoln fe'
extracts. The first which follows, is tina
position in which Judge ID. commented Of
the promise of John Calhoun, made on tn
eve Of the final action by the Senate on tn
bill, that he would give the certificates o
election to the free state candidates, at tn
election in Kansas on the 4th of January
under the Lecompton constitution.
If YOU admit Kansas with the Lecomptor
constitution, you also admit her with tn,
State government which as been brought in
to existence under il. Is the evidence sat
isfactory that the State government has beer
fairly and honestly elected! Is the evidence
satisfactory that the elections were fairly md
! honestly held, and fairly and honestly re.
turned? You have all seen the evidence
showing the fraudulent voting; the forged
returns, from precinct after precinct, chang.
! ing the result not unly upon the legisla-
! tive ticket, but also upon the ticket for
! Governor and state officers. The false re-
I turns in regard TO Delaware Crossing, chan
ging the complexion Of the Legislature, are
admitted The false returns are established
. equally conclusively as the Shawnee pre-
cinct, the Oxford precinct, the klckapoo
precinct, and many Othsrs, making differ
cnce Of some three thousand votes in the
general aggregate and changing the whole
result of the election. Yet SIR we are call
ed upon 10 odmit Kansas with the State
government thus brought into existence not
only by fraudulent voting, but forged re-
turns, sustained by perjury, now establish.
bevond mistake. The Senate viii recollect
the efforts that ] made before the subjcc.
was referred TO the committee, and since. to
ascer ain TO whom the certificates of election
were awarded, that we might know wheth'
or thew were giyon TO the men honestly
elected, or TO the men whose electl ms de-
pended upon for gerry and perjury. Can any
one tell me now to whom those certificates
have been issued, if they have been issued
at all Can any man tell me whether we
are installing, by receiving this State gov
ernment officers whose sole title depends
upon forgery, or those whose title depends
upon popular votes? We have been calling
for that information for about three months,
but we have called in vain. One day the ru-
clare the free-Statc ticket elected, and next
dav tina, lie would declare the pro slavery
ticket elected. 50 il has aiternated like the
chills and fever, day after day, until within
the last three DAYS. when the action OF Con
.reSs became q little dubious when il was
doubtful whether Northern men were willing
10 vote for the STATE government dependin.
or farccGy and perjury, and then We fiud
that Ihc president of the Leccmpton conven-
ton aiprcSseS letter 10 the editor of the
Star. a newspaper in this cityfteling what
hc thinks is the rasult OF the election. He
saws il i true that he has received no an
swer to his letters of inquiry to Governor
Denver; he has no C!hciai information on
the subject, but, from rumorS, and unofficial
Information. he is now satisfied that the
Delaware Crossing return was fraud that
ut VIII be set aside; and that accordingly,
the result will toe that certificates will be is
sued to the frec-State men. do not mean
To DENY thst Mr. Calhoun may think such
will be the result but while he may think
So would rather know how the fact is
lis thoughts are not important, but the fact
is vital in establishing the honesty or dishon-
esty of the State government which we are
about no recognize. 1t so happens that Mr..
Calhoun has no more power, no more au-
Senator from Missouri, any other mem
Der of this body. The celebrated Lecomp-
ton schedule provides that
"In case of removal, ABSENCE, or disabil
itv Of The president Of this convention TO dis
charge the duties herein imposed on bin,
the president pro temtore Of this convention
shall perform said duties and in case Of ab
sence. refusal, or disability of the president
n
or a majority Of them, shall discharge the
duties required Of the president Of this con-
vention."
As Mr.. Calhoun is absent frcm the Terri
tory, ard by reason Of that absence, is de-
prved of all authority over the subject-mat-
ter, and as the president pro temPore has
succeeded to his powers, is 1t satisfactory
for the de- osed president to address let
ter TO the editor of the Star, announcing his
private opinion as TO who has been elected?
should like to know who the president pro
tempore is, and where he is; and, il he is in
Kansas whether he has arrived at the same
conclusion which the ex-president Calh ,un
has announced. ] should like to know whe-
ther that president pro tempore has already
issued his certificate to the pro-slavery men
in Kansas, while Mr.. Calhoun expresses the
opinion in the Star that the certificates will
be issued to the free-State men? II that
president pro fe,npore has become fugitive
from justice, and escaped from the Territory
| should like then to know who are the com
mittce of seven that were to take his place
and whether they, or majority Of them,
have arrived at the same conclusion to which
Mr. Calhoun has come? lnasmuch az this
opinion is published to the world Just be-
fore the vote is to be taken here, and is ex-
pccted to catch the votes of some green
members Of one body or the other, should
like to know whether certificates have been
issued and if so, by whom, and to whom
where the president pro temp0re IS? where
the committee Of seven may be found? and
then we might know who constitute the
Legislature, and who constitute the State
government which we are to bring into be-
ing. We are not only to admit Kansas with
a constitution. but with State government;
with Governor, a Legislature, a judiciary;
with executive, Legislative, judicial, and min
/ isterial officers. Inasmuch as we are told
! by the President that the first Legislature
may take steps to Gala convention to chan. c
! the constitution, should like to know Of
whom that Legislature is compoSeds lnas-
much as the Governor would have the pow
er to veto an act Of the legislature calling a
convention, | should like to know who is
Governor, so that may judge whether he
would veto such an act? Cannot our good
friends get the president pro temPore Of the
convention to write a letter to the Star p
Can they not procure letter from the COM
mittee of seven? Can they not clear uI
this mystery, and relieve our suspicious
minds of anything unfair or foul in the ar
rangement Of this mataer? Let us know
how the fact is.
This publication Of itself is calculated t.
create more apprehension than there wa:
before. AS long as Mr.. Calhoun took ths
Ground that he would never declare the re
suit until Lecompton was admitted, and tha
if it was not admitted he would never max