Daily national Democrat., 1858-12-31

hhu HeEVlu lies great part OI Tue lallhcN
upon which the whole Lecompton argument
is based. Congress, of course, has no righ
to dictate to the people Of a Territory what
sort of n Constitution they shall have, al
though they certainly have a right to so fal
review a constitution as to see whether it bt
republican in form. This the Lecomptonite
themselves acknowledge, and, in doing so, i
seems to us that they grant necessarily tn,
further power to see whether the instrumen
be genuine document and actually the deeC
of the people. Otherwise. the Topeka Con
stitution could not have been examined BY
Congress as to its validity, and Kansas would
have had to be admitted under it. Thi;
power of reviewing, to certain extent, q
constitution before admitting State under
it, is one of the most necessary powers that
can attach to Congress- for it is the only pos
sible guarantee against fraud and wrong,
and the only manner in which the actual
sovereignty of the people can be secured If
Congress were not allowed to go behind the
mere face of the document itself, it could not
tell but that every ostensibly official sigma
ture, or certificate, or Identification, was an
absolute forgery. 1t is nonsense to confne
great legislative body like that Of Congress
to the rules of meIe court of record. Con.
gress has no right to dictate what the people
shall do, but it has right to inquire whether
the people have really acted or not. This
was all that was done by Congress when it
refused to admit Kansas under the Lecomp.
ton Constitution Congress did rot pretend
to say that the people of Kansas had not a
right to frame such Constitution, if they
liked but simply that they did not frame it
before, a majority of the people themselves
at the ballot-box The verdict of n majority
of the States in the Union, which have ex-
pressed themselves in elections since that
time, have declared that Congress was right
and acted upon a correct principle.
The Express says that the people must
suffer the consequences of their own laches
and if, through their neglect, the majority
happen to be imposed upon by the minority,
the only remedy is among themselves at the
ballotbox. But, suppose the majority re-
fuse to act because the power is in the
hands of the minority, obtained by fraud and
usurpation, and exercised for fraudulent ends,
which minority calls upon them to act only
in order that it may entrap them into show
of sanctioning what they never could ap-
proveH When people come to perform the
highest act Of sovereignty known to our form
of government, they do not wish to under
take it through processes which are laid
down for them by the minority and under
such restrictions and disadvantages as a
minority may prescribe. They wish to be
certain that their voice is to have free way
that the votes are to be rightly counted
that no spurious votes on the side of the
minority are to be received by venal Judges
of elections-that the returns are rightly TO
be made up, and that, in short, no advantage
is to be taken of the official positions of the
minority to cheat the people out of their ex.
pressed will at the ballot-box. Unless the
people can be thus thoroughly satisfied that
all is right, and that their voice is really to
be heard, we claim that il is their right to
remain away from the polls and refuse to
vote at all. We speak now with reference
to calling conventions in Territory for the
purpose of forming State Constitution. The
idea put forth by Mr.. Buchanan, in his late
message and previously, that all government
must cease, if the rule does not prevail that
the majority who refuse to vote are bound
by the act Of those who do vote, is wholly
incorrect when it comes to be applied to the
case of people about to throw off their
Territorial organization. Where a State is
already formed, and the laws in regular
course of execution, it would produce vast
confusion, and in fact stop the wheels of gov
ernment, were this rule not to prevail The
majority must vote or allow the minority to
do it for them. But it is ridiculous to applv
the same rule to the matter of calling n con
vention preparatory to organizing State
Government. The people have right to
go into such convention or to stay out of
it, and if the majority are not represented
in the convention, it is an invalid and un-
authorized body, no matter what circum.
stance may have kept the majority out,
whether it was voluntary on their part or
against their will. The reason upon which
the rule, under consideration, is founded is
wholly acanting in this case because if the
people refuse to vote for calling conven.
tion, or refuse to go into convention for
framing a State Constitution, after one is
called, it does not interfere with the regular
functions of the Territorial Government
that goes on as usual no wheels of govern
ment are stopped in the case and the sim.
pie result Is, that the people are still living
under Territorial Government, and have
not yet seen fit to perform that high act of
sovereignty which can alone dwell in the
majority. You cannot force the sovereign
people to exercise their sovereignty in this |
case. If you could force them, their sover. |
eighty would cease They are to Judge ,chen
they want a State Government and ho,c they
wish to go about framing it, and they can
doggedly refuse. if they like, to change their
Territorial condition at all.
UNHEALTHY-The Coroner, during his in. |
vest tiUation loat avap;np as 20 tba raao.,4 |