Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-05-01
abe Uermont 45eniF.
BRATTLEBORO, VT;
SATURDAY, MAY l, 1858.
English's Bill.

In another column we print the proposition
agreed upon by the majority of the House and
Senate Committees and submitted to the House
of Representatives by Mr.. English of Indiana.
This proposition has very properly been char
acterized as bride and threat to the people
of Kansas. 1t seems to be ore of the most un-
statesmanlike, tricky measures ever palmed off
upon Legislative body bet its character is in
perfect keeping with the whole course Of the
administration on the Kansas question.
The first peculiarly in this proposition is the
grant of large tracts of land to the impoverished
people of Kansas, which grant is made part Of
the ordinance attached to the Constitution. The
people of Kansas, are to vote upon this ordi-
nance. If they vote to accept the grant that
vote is to be construed into vote accepting the
Lecompton Constitution if they reject this Of
fer they must live on in territorial condition
for years to come How much more honorable
and business-lille to give the people of Kansas
an opportunity to vote directly for or against
the Constitution But this would not subserve
the purposes of the administration. In most
States severe penalties are affixed to attempts
to bride men for their votes but here we witness
the deliberate attempt of an INSCRIPTIONS dem
ocracy to bride all the voters of Territory
"Take this Constitution in all its odious feat
ures," says the administration, "and we will
give YOU millions of acres of land reject it and
you cannot come into the Union for years and
must run your risk about ever getting rood
of the public domain" Such is one of the beau
ties of the democratic version of popular SOW
ereignty.
The next noticeable feature of this PROPOSE
ton is the provision for holding these unfair
elections. The voting is to be supervised by
men appointed by, and the returns made to, q
Board consisting Of the Governor, Secretary,
United States Attorney, and the presiding Off
GERS of the two houses of the territorial legisla-
ture, any three of whom are competent to act.
The whole power of determining the character
of the voting and the counting and declaring of
the result, is to be in the hands of men respon-
sible not to the people but to the national adj
minstration. Past experience, such as the re-
moval of governors for rejecting fraudulent re-
may be expected from corps of men whose
tenure of office is determined by their ability
and willingness to do the dirty work of a sym
pathizing government.
The last point to which We shall direct atten-
ton is the menace it carries ifthe bride of3 Geo.
600 acres of land is rejected. Unless this bride
is pocketed the people of Kansas are put under
the ban of Uncle Sam until they have from l20,-
900 to 100000 inhabitants taken by the federal
census if any should be ever ordered, under
such honest and disinterested marshals as John
Calhoun! "Your money or your life" is the sub
stance of this proposal, made with more than
the treachery and less than the courage of an
ordinary highwayman. Such bill could orr
ginate only with one who contemplated treach-
cry to the party with whom he was pretending
to act, and who made his own market price the
standard by which he measured the morality
and virtue of mankind.