The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1860-03-17

| the esiern banks ut their noble rlSefs locked
down upon and coveted ihe. fertile prairies
Of Kansas while sudden terror ran
/ through ali the eapitsl States, when they
saw Aseeming certainty that at lasl new
| Labor Stale wosild be built On their western
border. inevitably frau sht. as they said, with
a near or remote sbeliIi,n of Slavery. WHAT
could be done Congress could hardly be
expected to intervene directly for their safe
ty so soon after the Compromise of 1850.
| The labor hive Of the Free States was dis
tant, the way new, unknown, and not with
out perils. Missouri was near and watch
ful. and held the keys of the gates of Kan
sas She might seize the new and smiling
Territory by surprise, If only Congress
would remove the barrier established in
| 1920. The coniuncture was favorable.
Clay and Webster, the distinguished citizens
whose unquestionabie devot on to the I'm
ion was manifested by their acquiescence
in the compromise of 1859. had gone down
already into their onored graves. The
! Labor States had dismissed many of their
representatives here for too great fidelity to
Freedom, and too great distrust of the eff
cacy of that new bond Of peace, aud had
replaced them with parissns who were on
! " timid. but not unwilling. The Demo-
cratic President and Congress hesi,ated. but
not long. They revised the last great com
promise. and found. with delighted surprise.
that iC was so far from confirming the law
of freedom of 1899 that, an the other hand.
it exactly provided for the abrogainn of
| that venerated statute; nay, that the com
promise itself actually killed the spirit of
The Missouri law. and devolved ON Congress
the duty of removing the lifrless letter from
the national code. The deed was ,ne.-
The new enactment not only repealed the
Missouri prohibition Of Slavery, bu: it, pro
| nounced the people of Kansas and Nrbras-
ka perfectly free to establish Freedom OF
Slavery. and pledged Congress to admit
them in due time as States. either of sapi-
tai or of labor. into the Union. The Wing
representatives of the capital States, in an
hour of strange bewiIermenL CONQUERED /;
aud the Wing party Instantly went down.
never to rise again. Democrats seeded,
and stood aloni; the country was cont"und-
ed; and. amid the perpl-xilies OF the hour,
Republican party was seen gathering itself
together with much earnesiness, but with
little show of organization, to rescue. if il
were not now too late, the cause of Freedom
and Labor, unexpectedly and grievously
imperriled in the Territories of the United
STATES. ] will not linger over the sequel.
The popular sovereignty of Kansas proved
to be- the State sovereignty of Missouri, moi
only in the persons of the rulers, buI even
in the letter of an arbitrary and cruel cod.
The perfect freedom proved I" be a ha'eful
and inr"lerabIe bondage. From 1855 to
1869, Kansas. sustained and encouraged on
ly by the Republican party, has teen
engaged in successive and evtr-varying
struggles. which have taxed all her virtue.
wisdom moderation. energies, and resnurrt
ces. and often even her physical strength
and material courage, to save herself from
being betrayed Into the Union as Slave
State. Nebraska, though choosing freedom.
is. through the direct exercise of the Exec
u'ive power. overriding her own will. held
rs Slave Territory; and New NJ xico has
relapsed voluntarily into the practice of
Slavery. from which she had redeemed her
self while she yet remained a part of the
Mexican republic. Mainline. the Drmo-
cratic parry. advancing from the ground Of
Popular Sovereignty as far As that grcund
is from the Ordinance of 1897, now stands
on the position that both Territorial. Gov
ernments aud Congress are incompetent to
l-gislate against Slavery in the Territories,
while they are not only competent. hul are
obliged when il is necessary, TO leSislate for
its protection there.
In this new and extreme position, the
Democratic party now masks itself brbind
the battery of the Supreme Court. Is If il
were possibly true construction OF the
Constitution, that the power of deciding
practically forever between Freedom and
Slavery III a portion of the continent far *
ceeding all that Is yet organized. should be
r.. 81. II
sesses any legislative authority. and should
be assumed aud exercised By court which
can only take cosnzsnce of the great qups-
individuals, aid which action the Consi,u /
ton will not suffer the court To entertain. If
it involves twenty dollars of money. with
out the over uling intervention of jury of
twelve good and lawful men OF the neigh
borho ID where the litigation arises. The
independent, ever-renewed, and ever-recu
ring representative Parliament. Diet. Con
gress. or Lagi<l sture is the one chief. para
mount. essential. indispensable stiu.inn
in Republic. Even Liberty, guaranteed
by organic law. yet If it be held by other
tenure than the guardian care of such a rep
reseniative popular assembly. is but preca-
riously maintained. while Slavery. enforced
by an irrrpress,ble judicial tribunal. is the
G.. 'mple;est possible development of de<po-
tism. - -" - 7ss
Mr.. President, did ever, the annals of
any Government show more rapid or
more complete departure from the Wis
dom and virtue of It's founders Did
ever the Government of great empire.
founded on the rights of human labor, slide
away SO fast and SD far. AMI moor itself SO
tenaciously on The basis of capital. and that
capital invested ia laboring men? Did ev-
er free representative Legislature. invested
with powers So great. and with the guarii-
anstip of rights SO important, of trust SO