The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1858-01-08
JIDGE BLACK ON KANSAS.
WAsnINGToN, Dec. %. 1857


Gentlenen - am honored by youI invitation
TO the meeting of Monday next. | cannot be
there, but believe your urpose TO BE- lust, and
| trust am not without good r'asou for the
faith that IS within me. If the President has
done his dniy we'll, his fellow -citizens ought 10
express their appreciation freely. That be has
meant well for his country, will not be denied
by any reasonable man who knows him He
has no Object of earthly ambition, except TO per-
form the innctionS Of bis good office, so that
when he IptlreS from it he may read his history
in the eyes of confented and prosperous nation.
What has b. done in this affair of Kansas that
is worthy Of death or bonds Difficult, COM
! plicated, and rntanglrd as that subject has al
ways been, wherein has he failed to meet il like
a patriotic statesman Let his accusers stand
forth and specify what act hr has committed
which should Forfeit the confidence fthe Demo
cracy in . he leader they love, and the chief
| they admire"
When his Administration began ne found a
! portion Of Kansas like Utah, in state OF organi-
Zed and OPEN rebellion against the laws. The
most Infamous crimes had been fl4b:tuaIly COM
mittrd. Murder, arson and robbery were com
mon things. Some Of the immigrants were bad
men, aud vent there for base purposes. They
would brlrlird by nolhIng but the bagonet and
accordingly two thousand bayonet were sent
! there to keep them in order. But The very la
test adccrs show that even the presence Of the
! army has not been Sufficient to awe them iuto
! submission, or prevent them from committing
! the most atrocious ontrages. The natural desire
/ ofthe Presidents heart, and every honest heart
| in the country, was 10 put an end to the reign
| Of terror, conaagTaton and blood as soon as
possible, and II substitute 10 its place the supreme
and praceabr rule of the law. The array might
do for while, but it was a di>grac- to the
American name that military force was ne
| cesSaFy TO keep one portion Of the people from
cutting the throats OF another.
1t was plainly seen by every one who took
the trouble 10 think about it, that no progress
could be made in suPPrrsslng these disorders.
while the canSr and the excuse for them remain
I'd. So far as they were not prompted by the
mere love of plundr and blood, they were the
ofsprings oione relentless feud, one fatal dis
pute, arising out OF single subject, and that
subject was negro slavery. This split the peo-
pie asundrr, and made them hate each other
with the deepest intensity Of hatred. There
was no other division among them. Every band
otcomhatantS was ranged under a pro-slavery
or an anli-slayrry banner. Every violent act
ofaggression or defence was by one of these par
ties against the other. When life was lost the
news Of the victims death was ALWAYS accom-
pani,d by a statement of The side he had taken
Oh the slavery issue lfa general riot took place
the killed and wounded were enumerated accor-
ding 10 their Classification on this question.
The abolitioniSts organized their party into the
form OF State government, with all It's machi-
neiy, civil and military, and ranging themselves
under il they SwOrp fierce defiance and deadly
hostility to the regularly constituted authorities
ofthp United States, simply because of their
ysws on say1Gy This % n9i Il ALI He II Tbs 9ai e9ai
ends the country. 1t became a great section
al controversy and everywhere the burden of
all that was said and sung upon it was slavery.
The union Itself was in dan e in q eat & immi-
nent danger no one dreamed of ascr bIng that
danger to any cause except the unsettled con-
dnion OF the slavery question in Kansas.
In these unhappy circumstances, the legal
and satisfactory settlement Of this rxasperating
dispute was conSnmmaton most devoutl, to
be wished. To extirpate this root of bitterness
was the first thing to be done towards pacIfca-
ton. Bot how was it to be effected Our
political opponents thought-and suppose are
sill of the same opinion-that the people ofihe
United States, through their representatives. 10
Congress, might decide it without consulting
Kansas, whose people, according TO their theory,
should be treated with utter contempt. But
the Democratic party determined TO leave il with
those who alone were directly concerned in it.
This latter doctrine was triumphanly sustained
in Congress, at the polls and by the judiciary.
After that toe General Government could do no
more than protect the people of Kansas in doing
the work assigned them How they should do
1t, by what agents or organs, was not prescribed;
they were 10 do II sin their own waY"-hy
such representatives as they might see proper
to choose.
But unfortunately the Abolition party had
become so rancorouS that thr olive branch was
offered them. They nsulled and blasphrmed
the laws which left thr matter to their own
decison.-Ihp regular authorities could do no
more than give all fair chance of voting. The
Legislature first passed a law submitting the
question OF "Conyention" or ''no Convention"
TO 4 popular vote. The next Legislature after
wards IN accordance with the known wishes of
the people, and by virtue of their own rghtfuI
authority, enacted another law ior,the election
OF delegates 10 Convention. The delegates
were chosen at a lair and free election, after
iuIl notice TO all the voters Whether the vote
was large or small, it is not possible TO deny
the right OF thos- who were chosen. To say
that portion Of the electors by absenting them
selves from the polls could invalidate an cleo
ton otherwise legal Irregular, is simply absurd.
The members Of the Convention thus chosen
met at Lecompton, and then was raised the
new alarm that The delegates, or some of them,
intended TO make slave Constitution in opposi-
ton to what they knew to be the will of the
people. While the President saw that he had
no right to interfere between the people OF Kan
saS and their own renresentalives- and while he