, 1859-01-17
PRESS AND TRIBUNE.
KoNDAY MORNING. JANUARY IL, 1859.
The Twp'LrrQmN@pns.

Lecompton Constitution upon the people Of
Kansas -eephiss.tes sc transparent that tue
waytarlng man though . 'eol did not err
therein, nnd falseheo1s 80 slarlng that indls.
nation ma. lost III unn1emcnt ut contemplate
ing them 1st- The Lecompton contrlvauce
was the act Of The people Of kaufas. ID.
Ite opponents were traitors and fanatics OF
thu Topeka breed. Sd. If tho people didn't
like the Constitution they could chango II
when they got ready. 4th. Tho practice Of
submitting constitutions to the people was
by no means.nniyetsal and would be attend
ed with ma.dfeEt inconvenience in this :ase
It will be remembered also that tue public
were for long time Kept in ignorance Of the
exact character Of The swindlc, though all
knew It to lie q swlndle that the first cleo
ton after its adoption by the Convention
vas held under q " villain apportionment;"
that The returns were enugly caudie.bo1ed by
Calhoun, aud that the certificates played
hide-and seek in the breeches Of that illus
trlous patriot for some lime afterwards.
If the engineers and apologists Of ths Dyer
charter for the city Of Chicago had drawn
their argamen1e, word for word, from the
messages Of Buchanan and the speeches Of tho
Lecomptonltes in Congress. and il they had
daguerreotyrel the tactics Of the Lccompton.
ties in Kausas, they could not have presented
more perfect fac smile. They are as like as
two peas, or the same pea twice over. The
STATE Register ol Springfield has put forth the
only plea in favor Of the Dyer cont1ivance,
which amounts ia defence in detail; yet the
Register it seems had not the impndence to
give it an editorial sancLion-pzudently sh!cld-
ing itxeH by appending three astcrikks {''')
to its two columns Of mendacity and mis-
representation Tie Chicago Times copies
this with only subdued endorsement,
as though the thing was bein: cut
pretty fat, by Jove! 1t says merely
that "the article transferred to nu-
"othcr column OF this paper from the STATE
"Rcgis:er, presents the whole subject in
"clear and Irresistible light. No reader Ger
tainly, can be In doubt Us to tha intentions
"of the friends to the movement, nor as to
the nature Of tue amendments contcmpla-
"ted; and no reader, it should Eeem, can
"qoeEtion their propriety and necessity"
As to the subject bcin. presented in an irrc-
sistiblc light, and as to there being no doubt
concerning the Intentions Of the friends Of the
movement, all people will agree. As to the
similarity Of the bill itself and the apology
put forth to sustain it, with tic Lccompton
Constitution, being 70 close as to compel the
belief that they enioy tie same pedigree and
are entitled 10 the same fatc--we shall pro-
ceed to SHOW
I. 3" The Lecomf.ton Constitution vas the
act Of the people Of Kansas The Register
article says that certain bill was prepared
by committee consisting Of Thomas Dyer,
William H. Brown, Flaye iiosclcy, Hugh
Mahcr, Walter L. Scwberry, John II. Kinzie,
Daniel Brainard, Sylvester Lind, S. 5. 1Iayes,
Thomas Hoync and others. Perhaps 50 hut
it was not M,s bll. The Register leaves the
Inference broadly, that all tie gentlemen
named above helped to frame and actually
approved the Dyer Charter. Tie 1pcts arc,
that, deducting those who are nominated for
Office under under it, not one Of them have
ever had anything to 90 with the contrivancc
ut Springfield, and VIC arc assured not one Of
them approves t,but all loudly protest against
It. So tile sum total Of our population, who
demand thc enactment Of tue contriyauce,
amounts to about the aggregate of tic nine
tailors who addressed petition 10 Parlia-
ment under the caption. "We, the people Of
England!'' We ask this question again. If
1t is believed that the Tom Dyer Charter cm-
bodies the will Of the people Of Chicago, wb.
not have it fairly submitted at the election to
be held six weeks hence:
IL. Il The opponents Of Lccompton are IT,.
i'e6a traitors aud fanatics: Though lie Re-
publicanistn Of Chicago Las not been made Z
reason, in print, why the people should bc
defeauded aud d;>frAncllisel, it is notorious
that this is the chisf argument depended on
at Springfield 10 make the Dyer bill caucus
measure, and thus drive it through By party
vote. This is the very essence Of Lccompton-
ism. 1t 1ncans that no csim. against eousti-
tutlona! rights is too great to he justified by
The needs Of Il few hungry politicians.
Ill. '( the people do not want the Csn.
stitution, they can alter it at their pleasure"
At this point the likeness is at fault, and the
original Lccompton has I'll immcasurable nd
vantage over the Illinois thing. The Dyer
bill is framed With M express; view Of never
being changed. 1t is selt-pcrpttuating. Ii
Glresno promise Of alteration, however odious
to the voters and property holders, unless re.
vcrsed at some future time by another Lc.is.
lasure md even then 1ho alteration will he
made by men living from oEc to four hun
dred miles from tue Interests at stale-the
people of Chicago having as little to say iu
the premises, as tue dwellers around the high
hills Of Basdae.
~. Submission to the popular 1ote is
not essential TO tho justice or legality of the
measure and nigh bcat!cudcd with inconyc-
niencc." This was the most lasraut feature
OF Lecompton, aud i. tie most shameless
falachood envclop:aS tic Dyer charter
Basing all their hopes on scheme to dcleat
the majority Of the voters, lis advocates uu-
derstand That submission 10 tue people
would be as proitlcsz as playing penny poker,
right hand against left. They have got too
old to find amusement in pulling sled up
bill TO ride down on. The farce Of passing L
law known to be odious to the people and
then giving the people chance to vote On
it, is not the entertainment to which they
have invited Themselves. Therefore they
wisely avoid any discussion Of this point,
when brought down to it, not only arru.
mcat but impudencc fails them.
But let lis zee wherein the tactics of Cal
houn have been copied hy Dyer and Co. Ia
the first place the bill ha. not yet been intro.
duced, aud therefore its provisions are al |
tered from day to day, to blind tic public
sight and ioresian public opinion ~ to t,s
real character. Here is Lecompton again.
In the next place, it apportions the Wards iii
such way that onc-,hird Of the population
shall inevitably rule the othcr two.thirds.
Here is more Of Lecompton. Next, it pro-
vides for Board Of Police Commissioners
antecedent to any election whatever, to l,c
appointed ly the power which eascts the
CHARTER. Here is 4 feature correspondent:
with the Dictatorship conferred upon John
calhoun Lecompton from first to last, from