The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-05-06

MAY 6.
are no longer to be consulted or regarded,
no longer to be the architects of the Gov.
eminent under which they live. They
must submit to the arbitrary hand Of pow
er, and bare their necks to the yoke pre-
pared by Congress and such agents as it In
its majestic wisdom may depute. Con-
gress is to rule the empire and sway the
destinies of the people with more than re-
gal power. Who will hereafter pretend
that ours is Government deriving all its
just powers from the consent of the gov
erned9" It is no longer a Government 'by
the people for the people" It is a Gov.
eminent of the people by Congress < it is
the rule Of the servant over the master; it
is an utter denial of the right Of self.gov.
ermment; it is Federal usurpation; it is
Federal tyranny-Federal oppression.
The gentlemen who lead the other side
Of this House understood this inls5s--
How energetically aud eloquently our wor-
thy Speaker Mr.. Colfax) inyeighed against
Federal interference with the affairs and
constitution Of Kansas. How ably did he
argue for the right Of self.government-th the
right of the people to make their own con-
situations, unawed and uninfuenced by
Federal power. $3.50.
Let me read from his speech on that oc-
casion, and see if it is not applicable to the
present if it does not show that this bill
ought not to pass
IA constitution is before us, not framed
by the authority Of an enabling act, the
last Congress having failed to concur in
the passage of one-riot ratified by the PEG.
pie interested at any election in which the
right to choose, the simple power Of saying
yes or no, had been conceded-but framed
by q convention, elected by an imperfect
unfair, DISTINGUISHING, and therefore swind.
ling census and registry, whose members
represented, on an average, exactly thirty
votes apiece who needed an army to pro.
tect them while in session from the indig.
nation of the people whose organic law
| they pretended to have been commissioned
to make; who themselves conceded all
that have charged against them by sub.
mitting the constitution only to those who
were willing to vote for it and to swear
besides, to surportit; and whose ilLshapen
and Legitimate offspring was repndiated
as spurious by an overwhelming majority
Of ten thousand at fair, open election
authorized by the Governor and Legisla'
ture of the Territory"
Ten thousand were enough to stigmat.
izc the rule as despotic then; with ma.
|jority of twenty odd thousand against the
constitution to-day the House proposes to
pass this bill:
And yet this fraudulent instrument,
| which no one here is hardy enough to
claim as the voice of the majority of the
people Of the proposed State; which no
more speaks their will than does the con.
stitution of conquered and enthralled
Franco speaks the will Of the freemen Of
America and which every one, here OF
ELSEWHERE knows full well is loathed and
Iscorned and repudiated by the people who
ore to be forced with the bayonet to live
under it-this instrument is pressed upon
|us for ratification On the technical ground
that it emanated from q body which was
/ nominally q convention representing the
4 people of Kansas, that 1t has passed the
ordeal ola pretended, one-sided submis
sion, and that we have, therefore, no righ1
tot go behind it and inquire whether it i
or is not the will of the people Of that dis
tant Territory.
! The gentleman proceeds in another pas
!; sage to put the following inquiry 4
J, Imagine, sir George Washington sittinl
in the White House: that noble patriot
whose whole career Isl a brilliant illustra
ton Of honor and purity in high places
and who doubts that ifsuch constitution
as this had been submitted to him for hi
: sanction, he would have spurned from hi
: door with contempt and scorn the messe1
t ger who bore it9 Or ask yourself whs
9 would have been the indignant answer |
r Thomas Jefferson, who proclaimed as th
/ battle-cry Of the Revolution that gres
! truth enshrined in the Declaration whic
!, has made his name immortal, and whie
i. scattered to the winds the sophistries ar
# technicnlities Of the royalists of our Ian
j that j" all Governments derive their ju
e powers from the consent ofthe governed
Y not the implied consent Of enforced SUI
' mission, but the actual, undeniable u
= questioned consent of the freemen who a
/ to bear its burdens and enjoyit blessing
It If messenger had dared to enter the pr
r tails Of the White House when that ste
r old man Of iron will, Andrew Jackson,
d Tennessee lived within it, and asked hi
OIL to give his endorsement and approval, 4
10 sanction Of his personal character and o.
10 cial influence to constitution seeki1
J. with fraud, which its trainers were see
le ing to enforce on a people who protest
le and denounced and loathed and repud
If ted it, and to go down to history asits y
g untary advocate and champion, that M
81 serger, will warrant would have rene
a bered the torrent ofrebuke with which
d would have been overwhelmed till the
is test hour Of his life. -
lg Then he makes an appeal in almost t
r. same language that is used in the app'
a ~ roncraso NJ, haha1f nf fha nnnnlA Of A