Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-18

Kansas-1ecruited largely from tne
western states-shouid at the mel
bound vault to the moral
leadership of the whole country.
Upon the vital, practical question OF tne
hour, namely the making OF Kansas a Iree
state, they were eminentiy sound, and we
can afford to look with leniencv upon
their comparative short comlngs ana
their failure at the first glance to perceive
the full bearings, moral and political o.
the great contest or which they had entef'
ed. Especially isthis so in view OF their suo'
sequent growth il grace, winch was So
rapid and radical that in less than three
years thereafter they framed q consttu'
ton without the word white In II.
The Topeka constitution was yotPd up
On and adopted by the people December
Is, 1855. and state officers under 1t were
elected January Is. 1856. The Legislature
met March 4, organized. listened to an able
message from Charles Robinson. the gov,
ernor elect, elected James II. Lane and
Andrew H. Reeder United States senators,
nemorialized congress for admission to
the univn and adjourned till July 4. The
movement had already attracted wide at
tention, and the slave power was alarmed
at it. Although every step had as yet
been merely formal and the necessity OF
admission to the union by congress to give
vital power to the constitution and
state government had been continually
recognized and avowed, President Pierce,
in special message to congress, January
"a, stigmatiZed the movement as Ievolu'
tionary and rebellious, and the Atchlson
Squatter Sovereign expressed the cheerful
conviction that the only way to correct the
troubles that existed was'' to hang up to the
nearest tree the very last traitor who had
participated in the Topeka convention"
I Notwithstanding all this the constltu-
ton was sent to congress and presented to
the senate by Lewis Cass, of Michigan.
and to the house OF representatives Dy
Daniel Mace, of Indiana. Meanwhile the
pro-slavery courts Of the territory began
their infamous work of vexation and op.
preston by finding indictments for trea-
son against the prominent supporters OF
the constitution. June II the first ma
tional republican convention was held In
Philadelphia, and among its trumpet
toned resolutions declared that
kansas should be Immediately admitted
as q state of the union with her present
free constitution, as at once the most
etfectual way of securing to her citizens
the enjoyment Of the rights and privileges
10 which they are entitled and of ending
the civil strife now raging in that terri
tory" On the 25th of June Galusha A.
Grow introduced a bill in the house Of rep
resentatives for the admission of Kansas,
and the 3rd of July the house passed it by
a vote of SO to 81; the next day-July A.
Colonel Sumner under special orders from
President Pierce, with force of United
legislature at Topeka, an act of eternal
intamy to all who participated in it: On
the 9Th of July, Senator Stephen A. Doug
as reported substitute for the house bill
admitting Kansas into the union. 1t auth
orized the people to frame a new constitu'
ton. Douglas substitute passed the SEN
ate the same day by vote Of 80 to IL; and
thus the Topeka constitution was rejected
by congress.
The movement, however. was not aban.
doned by the people of Kansas. Their
eyes were now turned with the intensesi
anxiety to the great presidential campaign
VIII ca was CONFUSING the country, and in
which the freedom of Kansas was the over.
>hadowing issue. From ten thousand
,latforms, and by twice ten thousand
speakers and writers, all over the land, the
Kansas question was now being discussed
The tide of immigration frum the free
states vas already rising. The slave power
bIockaded the Missouri river, but the liv
ing stream of freemen fastening to the
relief of their beleagured brethren west o.
the great stream, flowed around the stat.
of Missouri to the north. through Iowa ant
Nebraska. and spread cut upon the plains
and valleys of Kansas. The mighty nortl
was already beginning to pour fourth from
her populoGs loins not horde of rob
bers and vandals to rarage and destroy
some Italy of civilization. but a host Of in
teIigent freemen bound to rescue tn,
garden spot of the American continent
from the blasting and whitening curse o
human bondage.
, 1t was already beginning to be perceived
by those who had eyes to see, that great
er power than that of presidents ant
congresses was about to intervene in tn,
, strife, and that 90 as the presidential
. election might, the destiny of Kansas Wa
, virtually tixtd. The special movement
which had taken form in the Topeka con
stitution and state government might rul
, its course and give place to something
else. but the great end for which tina
movement had been inaugurated. tn
freedom Of Kansas. would be achieved
And 81 it proved The friends Of Free
Kansas were defeated in the presidential
election of 1856, and one of the mos
heartless, cold-blooded and treacherous o
their enemies was elected president, bu
the people of the North had been so thor
oughly aroused and informed by tn
campaign that an emigration 4
Kansas of phenomenal proportions a
| once ensured. The legislator,
under Ike Topeka constitution met in Janu
ary, 1857. memoiialized congress for tn,
admission of the state. and took reces
to the second Tuesday in June. On tn
9th Of June it again met and remained IL
session until June l3 At this meetin!
Governor Robinson read an elaborate mes
sage. and laws we're passed for taking
. census and apportion ng the state, for
state election In August to fill vacancies
locating the capita. at Topeka; establishing
the State University at Lawrence. and
!. joint resolution was passed askin
, congress to admit the state unde
the Topeka constitution. This meeting
was held without molestation frou
orv Source At the special election II