The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1860-12-12

Such treaties were accordingly concluded
| by our lale able and excellent minister 10
Mexico, and on the 4lh of January last
were submitted 10 lhe Senate for ratification.
/ As these have not yet received the final
action of that body, ii would be improper
Tor me TO present a detailed statement of
their provisions Sill | may be permitted
10 express the opinion in advance that they
are calculated 10 promote the agricultural,
the manufacturing and commercial inter-
es's OF the country, and 10 secure our just
influence with an adjoining republic 10
whose fortunes and fate we can never feel
ind ferent; whilst al The same time they
! provide for the payment OF a considerable
amount towards The satisfaction of The
claims OF our injured fellow citizens.
KANSAS AND UTAH.
AT the period of my Inauguration / was
confronted in Kansas by a revolutionary
{ Government, existing under what is called
the Topeka Constitution. Its avowed OBJ
| ject was to subdue the Territorial Govern
ment by force, and to inaugurate what was
| called the Topeka Government in its stead.
! To accomplish this object an extensive mil
I itary organization was formed and its COM
mGnd entrusted to the most violent revolu-
| tionary leaders. Under these circumstances
1t became my imperative duty to exert the
whole constitutional power of the Executive
/
raging in Kansas, which, in the excited
state of the public mind, both North and
South, might have extended into the neigh
! boring States.
The hestile parties in Kansas had been
infamed against each other by emissarios
both from the North and the South, to q de-
gree of malignity without parallel in our
history. To prevent actual collision, and to
assist the civil magistrates in enforcing the
laws, strong detachment of the army was
( stationed in the Territory, ready to aid the
marshal aud his deputies, when lawfully
called upon, as posse comitdtis in the exc
cution of civil and criminal process.
Still, the troubles could not have been
permanently settled without an election by
the people. The ballot-box is the surest ar
bitter of disputes among freemen. Under
/ this conviction, every proper effort was en-
! ployed to induce the hostile parties to vote
at the election of delegates to frame q
State Constitution, and afterwards at the
! election to decide whether Kansas should be
/ a slave or a free State The insurgent par
| ty refused to vote at either, lest this might
/ be considered a recognition on their part of
the Territorial Government established by
| Congess. A better spirit however, seemed
soon after to prevail, and the two parties
met face to face at the third election held
/ on the first Monday of January, 1858, for
members of the Legislature and State Off
GERS under the Lecompton Constitution
The result was the triumph of the anti-sla-
/ very party at the polls. This decision of
/ the ballet-box proved clearly that this party
were in the majority. and removed the dan
! ger Of civil war. From that time we have
heard little or nothing of the Topeka Gov
ernment, and all serious danger of revolu-
/ tionary troubles in Kansas at an end
/ The Lec0mpton Constitution, which had
/ been thus recognised at this State election
! by the votes of both political parties in N~-.
eos, transmitted to me with the request
tha. l should present it to Congress. This
! / could not have refused to do without yio-
/ lating my clearest and strongest convictions
of duty. The Constitution, and all the pro-
! ceedings which preceded and followed its
! formation, were fair and regular on their
! face. / tnen believed, and experience has
/ proved that the interests of the people of
/ Kansas would have been best consulted by
| its admission as State into the Union, es-
pecially as the majority, within u brief pc
riod, could have amended the Constitution
| according to their will and pleasure. If
fraud existed in all or any of these proceed
ings, it was not for the President, but for
Congress, to investigate and determine the
/ question of fraud, and VIII at ought to be its
/ consequences. If, at the first two elections,
the majority refused to vote, it cannot be
pretended that this refusal to exercise the
! elective franchise could invalidate al cleo
tion fairly held under lawful authority, even
if they had not subsequently voted at the
| third election. 1t is true that the whole
Constitution had not been submitted to the
people, as | always desired but the prece-
dents are numerous of the admission of
States into the Union without submission
1t would not comport with my present
purpose to review the proceedings of Con-
gress upon the Lecompton Constitution. 1t
is sufficient to observe that their final ac-
ton has removed all vestige of serious revo-
lutionary troubles. The desperate band re-
Gently assembled, under notorious outlaw
in the Southern portion of the Territory, to
resist the execution Of the laws and to plum
der peaceful citizens, will, / doubt not, be
speedily subdued aud brought to justice.
Had [ treated the Lecompton Constitu-
ton as nullity and refused to transmit it to
Congress, it is not difficult to imagine, whilst
recalling the position of the country at that
moment, what would have been the disas-
trous consequences, both in and out of the
Territory, from such a dereliction of duty
on the part of the Executive.
Peace has also been restored within
the territory of Utah. which. at the COM
mencement of my Administration, was in a
state of open rebellion. This was the more
dangerous, as the people, animated by IA
natical spirit, and entrenched within their
distant mountain Businesses, might have
made long and formidable resistance. Cost
what it might, it was necessary to bring
them INTO subjection to the Constitution aud
the laws. Sound policy, therefore, as we'll
as humanity, required that this object sho'd,
if possible. be accomplished without the
effusion Of blood. This could only be effect
ed by sending military force into the Ter
aitory sufficiently strong to convince the
people that resistance would be hopeless,
and at the Same time to offer them pardon
for past offences or condition of immediate
submission to the Government. This policy