The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-04-03


in astate Of preparation By having made
a Constitution, but that Constitution Eittn
asingle exception, had received the appro-
baton of Congress, and she had authori-
ty to call another Convention for the soh-
tary and particular purpose of asserting
to the boundary. She passed it as she
well might dc. Her people said: It is
wiser and more satisfactory mode to
pass by this act of Congress and to act
upon our acknowledged rights as a Terri
tory to call Convention. make a new
Constitution, and submit that to Congress
passing by the President and the Presi-
dents proclamation, and receiving our
adoption and admission from the hands
of Congress > and they did So
If they could do that; if, prepared as
they were, that preparation did not pre-
clude them from making another Consti-
tuition, how is this less state of prepaa-
ton on the part of Kansas, to preclude
the Territorial Legislature, not from pre-
forming the high act of calling Conven-
ton, but simply of taking another vote
on Constitution which was yet to be
proposed to Congress. Can any reason be
shown? No, sir; none. That Constitu-
ton was imperative. How long you'd
it have operated Suppose circumstan-
ces had occurred which had prevented any
application TO Congress for years, how
| long would this instrument have retained
its vitality. and retained Its vigor and
authority One year !? A short-lived
instrument. Two years Three years ?
Four years How long /? Suppose the
President, Calhoun, had put this instru-
| ment in his pocket and kept it there all
the days of his life, would it al the days
of his life have restrained the people of
Kansas from taking other steps and call
| ing other Conventions and making other
Constitutions
$ IF its authority would not have con-
tinued a lifetime, how long could it con-.
tinue I? No man can set limit, and the
conclusion therefore, is, that it never had
any binding infuence-at any rate, never
such binding influence (and that is all /
am required to show as to have prevented
the people if they had changed their
minds after making theirfrst Constitution,
! from calling another Convention, and re-
sorting to all means necessary for the es-
Establishment of another Constitution, and
then to offer it to you. It is theirs to of
| fer, and ours to dispose of. and they are
| freeup to the last moment to make known
to Congress what is their Will and what is
their determination in relation to the fun
damental law of the State which they
are about TO establish.
Is not this ali perfectly clear to our
reason Are there any fctions of law,
are there any technicalities springing out
of this instrument, governing their force
and effect, to prevent this conclusion !?
Is this Constitution to be made up into a
little plea of estoppel against the people !?
Are the little rules which we are to gather
| from Westminster Hall-the little saws
in actions at law that do we'll enough to
decide little questions of mestns and tutna
among A, B, and C-to be applied as the
measure to those great and sovereign prin-
/ ciples on which States and peoples rest
for their rights and their liberties No,
Sir. This is a great political question,
open, free to be Judged of according to
Gods truth and the rights OF the people,
unrestrained, unencumbered, unimpaired
! by any fiction or by any technicality
which could prevent the full scope of
your justice and your reason over the
whole subject.
| Therefore, Sir, this state of preparation
of the Territory of Kansas for admission
into the Union has no effect. The argn-
ment is not applied the fact is merely
stated there is a state of preparation, and
there it would be necessary to stop on
/ any doctrine on that subject; for, in my
own judgment no argument can be made
even of any ordinary plausibility to show
that the state of preparation restrains the
/ people of their natural and indefeasible
right, and their legal right as proclaimed
by you, to form with perfect freedom
their own institutions before they come
into the Union. There is no technieality
about it.
Here, it seems to me. applies that great
principle to which / adverted at first, that
the people have right to govern them
iselyes-I mean, of course, according to
the constitution and the laws, such as they
have This people had no Constitution
could have no Constitution and when
the act of the Territorial Legislature was
passed requiring a vote to be taken on
| this Constitution, they had full authority
to pass that law. Their hands were not
abound. Here was great act about to be
done, an act to bind the State to give it a
new character, to give it new institutions,
to put upon it Constitution-that pam
oply of the rights of all. This was the
great act to be done,- lis an act which
none but the people can do, through
themselves or their proper representatives.
It is in all cases directly by reference, the
act of the people The laws which they
establish are. not OF that transient char
acter which can be made to day and
repealed tomorrow. They are made for
permnency. They are the great, immu-
table and eternal truths and principles on
which all government must rest. They
are expected to be permanent The peo-
pie delegate to Others the power of pas
sing your temporary and repealable laws.
They reserve to themselves the great
rightof passing those which are perma-
neut and irrepealable except by them
selves.
"When frauds have been alleged and
charged against this Government of Kan
sas, gentlemen say, Ah. but these frauds
were in other elections; these frauds do
not particularly and specifically touch
this Constitution, or the proceedings
which led to this Constitution But sup
pose there were frauds in relation to it; is
it not something if I show you that, in
regard TO that part of the Constitution
which was submitted to the people to be
ratified by them, and was nothing until
the people had ratified it, even according
to the Constitution itself, there was fraud
in that election, and abundance of fraud ?
So glaring, so impudent, and so fearless
had frauds IN elections become there, that
upon that very polI-lisE, in one of the
precincts q forget whether it was in Ok
ford, or Shawnee, or that other precinct |