The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-06-16
mn AFFECTION or kANsAs

II ANYTHING can convince the entire ma
Of The psopls Of the North Of the absoieee
necessity Of DISPLAYING the oEgarchy whie1
bears sway q Washin9ten ID will bathe -
lsntlsss tyranny With which il Yields Whist
ever remnant OF power 10 suffered 70 remain
in its hands. No consideration OF justice q
Of public policy 10 ever allowed to turn u
from its settled purpose, of terrifying ito eWn
power and promoting it, own specific ana
selfish ends, 1t what ever expense to the
general good.
The rejection Of the bill for the admission
Of Kansas BY the Senate affords . striking
instance Of this abuse Of power. For four
years now the people Of Kansas have been
struggling for the recognition Of their rights.
The resistance they have encountered has
cast lasting reproach upon our institutioos'
The Slavsholding interest determined as ne
outset to force Slavery upon them, regard.
less Of existing Law ~ well - Of the viii OF
the people themselves. The whole country
has been convulssd with the struggle to
which this attempt gave rise. II was prose-
cuted with ceasless industry, % long ~ there
was possibility Of its success. No means
we're left uutried to accomplish it. Fraud,
violence, perjury, forgsry-every ooneeiv-
able crime found ready agents, so long -
there remained the fsintest hope that
BY their lavish use, Slavery might DO planted
upon Kansas soil. The Lecompson Consti-
tuition seemed to have done the work. No.
toriously the product of the basest and most
barbarous crimes,-in open and shameless
disregard of the public viii, lit had, never
theless, the saving virtue Of recognizing
Slavery - social institution, and politi-
cal power in tho new State. This single
fact hushed al murmurs, and qusnchsd
every impulse of remorse. 1t rendered the
immediate admission of the new State not
only desirable but q matter Of the highest
Mr.. Buchanan recommended il
in special message. The Senate voted for
it,-every Pro. Slavery Senator being eager
to record his suffrage in its behalf. The
public welfare would brook no delay. The
measure was needed to quiet agitation, to
calm the aroused sensibilities of the naticn,
to remove this dangerous question from
the domain of public strife. The effort
failed,-not from any misgiving On the part
Of the Pro-Slavery party, BY which it WAS
sustainsd.-but because there were few
Dem ocrats not quite ready or willing to
be dragooned into 90 fragrant An outrage
upon democratic principles and the will Of
the people most directly concerned.
Two years have passed, and the scene has
changed. Kansas has been growing steadily
and rapidly, in population and in power,
Her political institutions have acquired
more form and consistency social life
has become more settled and Established
internal commotiop has ceased to disturb
her peace. The people have framed Con-
stitution, through delegates chosen BY
themselves in strict accordance with the
forms Of law 1T has been ratified by an
immense majority of the inhabitants, and
has been sent to Congress ~ the basis Of
their application for admission into the
Union. The desire is universal among the
people Of the Union, that this application
should be granted. Not word of oppo-
sition to it has been heard from any quarter.
Men Of all parties and of all sections con-
cede its essential justice, and look forward
to the admission Of Kansas as the end of q
long and violent struggle of contending sec.
tions, fruitful only Of danger and disaster
to the whole country. The Democratic
Party in the Senate interposes and forbids
it! Itrepudiates its own sentiments and
arguments of two years ago. 1t turns q
deaf ear to the reasons of State which de-
mand the passage of the bill,-and, true
only to the instinct of selfish domination
which controls all its actions, it excludes the
new State because Slavery is not among ito
and because its vote will be
added to the list Of Republican States.
The admission of Kansas would undoubt-
edly add three to tho electoral votes which
will be given for the Republican candidate.
But its rejection will DO equally certain to
weigh heavily in the scale against the DEM
ocratic Party, in every Northern and West-
ern State where they have been hoping for
success. The end will show that, for the
sake Of excluding three votes, they have en-
countersd the hazard Of throwing away ten,
yes, twenty times as many more. There is
no issue which at the present moment the
South could make more likely than this to
arouse the distrust:s and enlist the hostility
of every Western State. The people of Hi.
nois, Of Indiana, of Ohio and of Pennsyl- |
vania have been told repeatedly that the
Kansas question was a thing Of the past
that Slavery was forever excluded from its
orders,-that the rights Of the people were
secure, and their prompt admission into TIE
Union absolutely certain. This vote of the
Senate will teach them different Lesson
N. 7. Times.