PLITICAL SPEECHES PARTLY IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE LNAINLY WITH KANSAS AND SLAVERY DEALING ~ : AC"i ...... ,EDOM NATIONAL-SLAVERY SECTIONAL.' . -... X, i.,' -,; 7e*:7/;, n SPEECH OF iQN. JO J. PERRY, OF' AINi;.,-, -.,.:,..,, e.~~~~~~~,.j,-,,.., I. ~D}i Comparatzve National ty and Sectontwalism of the Republican ax::A Democratic Parties. ~. -...;, IN THE HOUSE OF RFPRESENTATIVES, M,AY 1, 1856, -l..n!,L:ittle Ofthe Whole on the State of the Lnion. avert the most'threatening dangers, and whiech had been most reuigiously lived ip to.for more than thlirty, years, was to be ruthlessly abrogated The sequel is too well known to need ah exterded. .notice. Leading men in the Democratic:party, i! utter violation of their past professronsc fred; into Congress the. most -wviolent fearful Slavery aqi, tationr that ever distracte d this country, Presideont:'s Pierce repudiated his pled ges tra mpled tn'dhr foot the platform upon. which he was elected, turned his back upon his friends that had eleva sted him to power, and used the whole force ot his Administration to carry on this agitation, and. expose the vast regions of Kansas and Nebraskt',': to the. inroads of AfieCan Slavery. The deed was done,.. t Savery agita.tion, thus reopened in itts'fe Sta violent form, was not long confined to the uas, of Congress. It went out and sprea d lll over tho i countr, kindling u the Tagting fire s of. inteyn''n discord in eve ry d irection. The people bbecarme alar med, and aro use d themselv es in their lion strength to meet the impending danger. Throngh all the free States they resolved that " forbear-;. ance had ceased to be a vir-tue," and that rthea- would resisttthe outrage in the peacebe, cpst'-: tutional way of.setting such qluestions-att.h'*e. ballot-box. This -inalugurated a new political era. With a l triotism worthy of the mesh a7d~' theea use. whcli.incited t, the freen,en of te,. North laid aside: their old party prdilectionsii - gave a pa ramount importance to the great i~$t.$ forced upon them, and in almost every instaDnw'-e' gave those members of Congress who had voted4 for the Ka-nsas-Nebraska bill leave to stay a~t home. Only seven members from the free Staer @ out of the whole number who voted for this meure; have found their way back' to the preentin Hoiuse. The repeal of the MNlis~ouri-Conlro'~:~ has completely broken down old party:diinc,~:. tions, The pld Whig party,, once mightry. powerfiull tad which in times past lan havy Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, in the discussions that have taken place upon this floor, and at va rious other places in the Union, the Republican party, has been' charged. withl "sectionalism.". The authors of.this gr-oundless assumption have, in the same connection, boasted of the natio natLity of the Democratic' party. These two propositions I now desire to discuss.. Prior to tbe. meeting of the Tbirty-third Con gress, the country was enjoying a remarkable state of repose. The waves of'agitation, which in former years had rolled over the country, had nbatdd their fury, and ceased to disturb the peace or threatben the perpetuity of the Union. The discordant political. elements had;become quieted, and universal pe ace and almost unexampledc pro9sperity reigned throughout the States. T.ie people, a few months before, passed through a Presidential contest, and elected to the Executive c hair of the nation a son of he En, aild hy and overwvhelmiug mnajority. G e n eral Pierce accepted the nomination up on a platform which declared "Thte D3emocratlc party will resist all attempts at reslewasg, il Cotgress or out of it- the agitatiod e of the h41ai, r t tiuestion,undertwhateter shapeor colo th e gtte aepl)t nlaba ble nitde&'' The Prsiadent, at the u open ing -of Congress, declared, in the most emp hati c terms, his deter; mm,~,tho)R.to marry ot the principles "upon.which he was elected. In his message he says: But itotwitltstlmtgihng differences of opinion and senii;eit. which iihene'xisted ill relation to detit is anti specific ;ovisiofi~, thle'ackdi/esi.eneleof d'i'stingulishled em'dzens, .hose,:dev. ion to'the Unvion call never b)e doubted, xas ,ven-.reniewed vi.gor.to our inistitutionis. and restored a _..e of. repose and security to the publlinited throughut the Conlfederacy. That this repose is to suffer no hoc}k during, my o fficial term. if I have power to avert t, those wl-o placed: eqier; man b6'assured. Thip lst CQU"greo had!en in' session ouly a ma;w,onths, betfoxe thecoaat- y was startled with Ao uaexpected rumor that an old time honored 9-p'.c~tW which,Wo Qrig;dialy entered'into' to , j. - I. I,..'', I (,, A.. ~,. - ,I> C. - ~ —-:, 2, L -f C CX. I Q.' THE Pittsburgh, on the 22d of February last, adopted an address, containing a "declaration of its prinaciples and purposes," which has been published to the world, and which is briefly summed up as follows: VWe declare. in the fret plaie, onrAfixed and unil,er-d d(evtooc to ilee'onlii utiouI of tht Utti od Stttues-to the '.ids or which it was est,blisted, and tI, the mealis wd hih )It provided for their ataintielit. W'e accept the sol mul protestatiil of the pec;plu, I the Udt.d States. that tie ordaijed it'in orler to forrnm a more perf ct Union esttbhish ju,ti., insure d(lomesie it.r1'itliy provide for t,e Pommon defeiee. pr')lnote the genera[ welt'itre. ald selirc she ll —ssings of liberty to thea.:el'ees and their pos-eriy.'r We be}'eve that the poters which it confers u,nt)V i tle (-overtiwmeit of the U, itod ta::re amile for tIe accol v-. ;'iahmeneit of thes-,)ibeets,;nd that if these pob" e tes mn h et i-f exercised iii tle, spirit of th C, i:uio iscl they Camllno lead t auy o,.her resu,!t. AVe repect those gre i i[tlis whlich,he Con; i, -'i,,t dec'ars to tie inv,tla e —freI do,: of speech and cf tie press. the froee epxeris e o; reCiaoiOUn beliaf uid the rizl,i ot the Iiieo' e wmeaceel. to as'e4 o hpv :riwi to perixion the (,ov.r:inl f r a re:!ress of grfiv- nOeL. We woul! preserve th'se greti safeguards of ei il frtee,omn, the Aabe,, Cos tt.S. the righlit tnel by j,r-. t,e u tiie right of pers.uital liberty, unlIess cdeprived t,.ere.of for crime hy due I,rocees of lta. 5'e de!ar: our urpos 1o ob-y. -i all tLi, gs. th' ret"'ir'enS th oslutii a t ab laws- e acted i, pursuanee thert of.'Ve cheri h a p p rotoui rievere c tr te ise and pattlotie ini by wim iuln t was framned, aud a liv, ly seiise of the b'essing it h,ts eonferr d uponi our cou,ilrv atd upoi mankiind throa hout the world. In every crisis of dldictclty anhd of ao, p ier A e lhall in,voke i ts spirit aid proclaimu the supremacy of its authority. 'I ni the nexit place. w declare our arrent and uns,h'akeni attachmenit to this Unionl of American 3tates whirhc ghe Const tutioti creaLed atid has thus far px'eserved W. AVe rf.vere it as the purchase of tle blood of our foreftatlehers, m the conditiont ootr i ol rllWll at as the otu:trliai and g, aralitee of that libertv which the Coistit,ltioni was designied to secure. W,' will deteied and p)rotee it }gainst all its ecLm es. We wall reco.olise 110o geogra-phiical divisi -,s, {) lt,cal iliters s, 10o ilatrrowt o seetio0ial sre,judiees in our endeavore t o preserv e tfeuior of thoesee itates -a g'dillSt foreign aggress iol aill domestic strie. v sat -e claitm for ourselveis we claim or a1ll. The rshts, privileges, aind liberties, which we demanid as our ;~teritance,% e concede as their inheritance to all the ;,ittns ot thlis Republic.' Now, let me Candidly asl if there is anything ionel in the sentiments contained in-the above pisiWed, aid tt;ht is bv legrislative authaorityr;nid this'. so far as m y sufrage will got shall never be wantin pg."l9 $park-ss titl/tingto, 15~. In a letter to John F. d' verr, Se ptember, b p9, 1786, h e r Iressed the same sentiment: o ,I llever pmean, unless som e partictla,r cireumstansce sho uld courpel me to it, to possew s amilher slave by purcl*ase it **-t it anon ee my first.wi ihes to see seme plai adolltetm by -hie! y ak i this, country may be aboi ish d bi la aA.'-l-bid And in a letter to St. John Sinclair he further said: 'There are in Pennisylvaiia la,,& -for the gradual abo litioi.of S-lavery, which neQither Virgi-inia inor i5[aryla,,O0 hIave a.t priesenit, but whiclh,othitiig is inore ce,tain tlran 'they must have, and at a p,eriod not remote."y Thomas Jeffer son, in an table article on the rights of the AmL,erican Colonies, by him pre-: pared and 1}fid befbre the Virginia Conventioni which assembled in.kug ist, 1774, for the purpose of appointing delegates to the proposed Congress, remnarks as follows: .7'he aibo~;tion of domnestic Savery is the (.nRATm ,BsJrcr ot (desire ill these Colonlies, where it wa, unhap. pily initr odued il their i,fanit sta,e. But, previous to the en/~atd~lchisemrenlt of th'~ staves, it is nlecessary to. oexludu fiart er itm-portationis from Africa. Yet our repeated attemptl)ts to efrkct tiuis by, prohlibitionls, ai,,d by impusing dudes which ni'ghL amount o prohibition, have been hith rti deefeate,i by his Majesty's negative; thus preferriiig the imrnedliate atdvantage of a few Africani corsairsI t, Ihe lastinlg ii..er'rsts of the Americans States, and the riglfis of huma-n iature, deeply wouniided t y thil ilnfamous prac t 1ce." —Ame~ica. Atchive... 4th Serie. tnl. 1 p. 696. Mr. Jefrerson further declared his own senti-: nients in his Notesion Virginia, when he said: '-N~obody wishes nmore ardlenit.y than I to see aRn aboih tion llolt on]ly of the tradde, hut of the cornitioni of STaverf anid certainly nobody will l)e more willing to eioe-outite any sacrifice for tha.t otjeet.Y In the same work he further said - "The whole commerce between master and stave is;a continu,ial ex' reise of the most'tmiiremnitting des,pot isn o0* the one part. and degrading sbtmissicn. on nth' (other.t'-. * * * * * "~Vith whlat exe.erationishould the stun~s man be loaded, who. perxnittinig one ha'f of the titiz'. thus to trample on the rights vf the other, trat;~forms iio' 3 Nor were'these views and anticipations con fined to the free States. In th e rati fication Con vent ion of Virginia, Mlr. Johnson said: M'They tell us that the y see a progressive danger o f bringing about emancipation. The principle has begun sincet the Revolution. et us do what wewili will, it ill come round. Slavery hasc been the lousin d aioul o f muech of that impiety a3id dissipation which have been,so muc disseminated among our countr menti. I int were totally ab.olished,. it would do much good." —3 Elliots Debat, 6, 48. But I will not consume further time to prove this point, but will only add an extract from a speech de livered by Mr. Leith in the Qe nvention of Virginia, in 18'32, which fully corroborates the truth of thiseposition. H esaid: "I thought, till v er y laterly, that i t was kno wn to e ver y body, tha t during t he Revolutiosl, and for maly years after, the abolition of Slaveryiwas a favorite topic twit' many of our a-blest statesmen,,who entertained with re spect all the sche shmes whi ch wisdom o r itgelan uity could suggest for its accomplishmelit." The founders of the Go ver nmen t not only left their testimony as individuals upon th e question of Slaver*, but thei r well-known opinions wer e incorporated into the Coristittition and legislation of the country. To go back to the Declaration of Ind epend ence, we find Washi ngto n a asin d Jefferson, and Franklin, and S herman, and Pinckney, and their illustrious compatriots, solemnly subscri bing their names the i as ot he se " self-evident truths, that all men are created eqtual; that they are e n dowed by their Deaker with inherent and inal ienable rights;, that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happines.s." The Constitution itself is a great c ha rt of Libet oerty. Nowhere in it can b e found the word "slave," or " slaves," so careful were its founders to give no implied sanction to the traffic in human being s. In its very commencement, in its pre amble, it declares "The PEOPLE of the United States, i n o rder to form a more perfect Union), establisil justice,,' a,, " pro. -note the general welfiare, aid sec'ure the, blessings of iber ty," * d,;do ordain'and establish this Constitution." In tire same ins t ru ment it is declared N No person sihall )e deprived of li fe, liTerty, or propearty, without due process of laxr —Aendment, Art. 5. There is another provision contained in the Constitution, which for the last ten-years has been the subject of warm discussion, both in and out of Cong,ress. I mean that provision whiclh gives Congress " power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property belonging to the Uni ted States." In this connection, I do not propose to go into a discussion of the question, whether Congress has constitution al power to interdict Slavery in the Territories of ithe United States; but shall here content myself with showing how the framers of the Constiitution understood it themselves. On-the 1st of Mtarch, 1784, Congress voted to accept of a cession from the Sttate of V,irginia of what was subsequlently known as the Northwest Territory. On the same dlay, Mr. Jefferson, from a committee connsist~ing of himself, M~r. (Chase of M~aryland~, and Mr. Howell of'Rhode Island, reported a plan for the Government. This plan embraced all the Western Territory' and all ter-. nto -De(pots and th,ese ft1ai enemies, destroys the morads of he on,e part anti ie aimor patric' of the other! Can i t he liberties of a nationi he tl!,.uglit secure, wheei we have reimoved their oiilv firm tass, a cor vicio i the nlid vs of the people that these liberties are the gift ofGots? That they are not violated but by his wrath? INXuEoD, I TRE,'M BLE FIHR MY COUNTRY'HN, R EFLCT GOD IS JUST, GOD HIs. - d r:STICE I:IAN't;I ~L%-P FIlOREVEBR. In the Couention which framed the Constitu tion, MrI. Madison declared he' thought it wrong to admit into the Constitution the idea that there could be property in man."- lladison Papeers, 1429. Gouverneur Morris said he " never would con cur in upholding domestic Slavery; it was a ne farious institution; it was the curse of Heaven on the States where it previled."-3 MXadison t Papers, 1263. 'Ur. Gerry thought the Convention "' had noth ing to do with the conduct of the States as to slaves, but ought to be careful not to give any sanction to it."-5 J}Iads onr Payers, 1394. Mr. Mason, of Virginia, said " Slavery discour ages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They produce the most pernicious effects on manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a country."-3 llad ison Caiped8, 1391. MIr. -Ellsworth, of Connecticut, said " Slavery in time will not be a speck in our country."-3,)lad-, mose Papers, 1392. Air. Sherman, of Connecticut, said "he was opposed to a tax on slaves, because it implied they were pa opert?."-3:Ifadison Papers, 1396. ~ Mr. Williamson said " that both in practice and opini9n hlie was against Slavery."-3 Madison Ppers, 1428. Simiiilar viegws were expressed by other mnemhers. In the Conventions of the States, called to ratify the Constitution, similar opinions were exipressed by the leading meti in the same. I will only refer to a few of them. ~ ~mes Wilson, of Pennsylvania, had been a leading member of the Convention; and in the itification Convention of his State, when speakng of the clautse relatinrg to the power of Contregs over the slave trade after twenty years, le said: "r consider this clause as laying, the foundation for aiiishin.g Slavery out of this counitry; and thlougfh the eri,..,d is mnore di.stalg tian I could wish, it will produce -.e same kinid, graduital change as was )roducd in Peiiin =ylvania. " s,, ~,, "T'e ttewv States wlhichl are to ytd: e to'rmed will be tenlder -the''o,,tirot of Collrr il his articear, ntzd Slavery w11 nearver be, ijitrodugee,a amon~g Inauty ovther its whoplace, speakin g of Yet thise lapse of ahe w y'ars. and Cougre-s willth thve pasi prosper t extermihat te ltles of si-;ticdkil rd will [> e,ck twlwd,ed and est,hbltslbe.re roughoiit the U11iioi. If there m -as ioo othe,r lovely i'ea-re ili -he Coiisti tatiort btilt this one,'it would (11 i ue a -auty over its whole couit,liela-.ce. Yet the.lapse of a wv y -are. rnd Coilgre-s.willi have, poster to ext,-r,Tlitiatte :avery from within our borders.. —-2 E-Iioi's Debates, 4(M: In the ratification Conve~ntion of 3Massachu:tts, General Heath said: "'The migration, or-imnportationl. &c., is confinled to tile .ales nowU ex~isting o' I'y; new States cannot claim it. -:)r,gress, by their ordinance for creating new.S~tales, ne timhe since declared that- the e.stw States shall by re_.licanl. and thlat there shall lbe nio Slavery in tbem-."Etliot's.lDbatss, 115 4 But I will not stop here, but proceed to prove that the views of the Republican party on the constitutional right of Congress to prohibit Slavery in the Territories are sustained by the legislation of Congress from the meeting of the Pi'.st Congress up to 1848, and that such legislation has received the sanctioe. of every President with a single exception, beginning with' Geieral Washington, up to, and including, President Polk. To maintain this proposition, I shall introduce facts direct from the records of the Government: 1. The Ordinance of 1787 was recognised by chapter one, first session of First Congress. ,There seems to have been no objection to it. Mr. Madison's name appears. on the Journal of the proceedings thame sae day it passed. He was no doubt present, and concurred in th e measure. The act was signed by Gen era l Washin gton. 2. On the 7th o f April,s 1798, an act was passed authorizing the establishment of a Government in Mississipp i Territo;r' it ~uthorized the President to establish there"in a Government similarnta that in the Territory nort hwest of the Ohio river, excepting the Jefferson proviso of 17 87.. It the n prohibited the importati on of slav es from any place without the limit s of the Un ited States. This act passed about ten yte ars before Congress was authorized by the Constitution to prohibit bringing slaves into the States which were originally parties to the Fe deral compact. This act passed unde r th e Admi nist ratiioit of the e lder Adams. 3. At the. first session of the Sixth Con gress, .ch apte r forty-onie, laws of 1800, an act was passed creat ing a Territorial Governinent for i ndiana, out of the Nort hwest Territory-ea cming the Ordinance of 1787-and was signed by Presi dent Adams. 4. On the 26th of nlarclt, 1804, a n a ct wa s pas s e d, dividing L ouisiana into two Territories, and providing th at all t hat part of the Territory south of the t hi rty-third parallel of latitude, now the southern boundary of Arkansas, should be er e cted into the Territory o f Orleans.'In thisbact there are three provisions i n respect to Slav ery in t e Territo ry: 1. The importation fromnt any. .'place without the limits of the United Sta te s was prohibited; 2. The importation from any place within the United States, o f slaves imported since the 1st of' May, 1798, wa s prohibited;' 3. Th e importation of slaves, except by a " citizen of the United States removing into said T erritory for actual settlement, and being at the time of etch removal bona fide owner of such slaves," was prohibited. This is one of the strongest cases on record to show the control of Congress over Sla very in the Territories. It was a direct prohibi tionIof the domestic slave trade. This act was signed by President Jefferson.' 5. On the 1I th of January, 1805, an aete-was . passed establishing the Territory of'Michlgan, reqz?rmin~ the 0rainantce 0of: XXh8g. i''' 6.'.On' the 3d of F-ebru,ry, 1809, a similar Government was estabii'shed f~r. the Territory of Illlinois, recognising the same Ordinance. These two last acts.'Were.Under the A dainistration of |[Jeffelrson. S. I7. On the 4th of Jun%t 1812, an act was p'azed ritory ceded1 or to be ceded by individual States to the United States. (See Journals of Congress, April 23, 1784.) One of the provisions of said plan is as fotllows: '"That after the year sl00 of the Christianl era, there shall be neither Slavery nor inivolunlary servitude in ally of the said States, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall lhive been duly convicted to have been I ersonally guilty." —4 Jour. Cong. Confederation, 374. Territories were in this articl e of the Ordinance spoken of as States, because it was contemplated to erect the Territories into States. Under the Articles. of Confederation, a majority of the thirteen States was necessary to an affirmative decision of any question. On the 19th, of April a vote was taken on this proviso. The vote stood for the proviso-six States, viz: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. Against it-three States, viz: Virginia, Maryland, and' South Carolina. Delaware and Georgia were not represented. New Jersey, by Mr. Dick, voted ay; but her vote, only one delegate being present, could not be counted. North Carolina was divided-M r. Wi lliamson voting ay, and SIr. Speight no. From Virginia, Ir. Jefferson voted ay, and MIessrs. Hardy and Mercer no. Of the twentythre e deleg ates pr esent, ixteen voted for, and seven against-thus th is prov iso wa s defea ted by a mi nority vote. T he peop le were for it, and the St ates for it; but it failed by a prov ision which enabled the minority to control the majority. In the same year, Mr. Rufus King, of Massachlsetts, moved the p rovis o in the following f orm: "That there shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the States describe d il the resolves of Congress of the 23d of April, 1784, otherwise than ill the punishmnent of crimes whereof the parly shall have been personally guilty; and that this regulation shall lIe .al article of compact, and remain a fundam,:ntal principle of the Constitutions between the thirteen original .States, and such of the States described in the said resolve of the 23d of April, 1784." —4 Jo,,r. Cong. Confed., 481. This was committed by a vote of two to one, and resulted in the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, which expressly prohibited Slavery and involuntary servitude, ezcept for crime, throughout the whole territory [ then belonging to the United States] FOREVER. This proviso received the votes of every delegate (with a single exception'from New York) in the Convention. The First Congress under the Constitution ratified the Ordinance of 1787. In the Convention which framed the Constitution there were twenty men who were also members of the First Congress under the Federal Constitution. This proves very clearly that they understood that Congress had power, under the Constitution which they themselves had made, to prohibit Slavery in the Territories. Thus history vindicates the fact, that the pa triots of the Revolution, the members of the old State Confederation, the members of the Con vention which framed the Constitution, and the members of the First Congress after the adoption of the Constitution, entertained the same senti mnents upon the questions of Slavery extension and restriction that are now advocated by the Republican party. I 5 providing for the Government of the Territory of Missouri, and the laws and regulations in force in the Di stri ct of Loui si ana were continued in operation. 8. On the 3d of Moarch, 1817, a Government vas formed for the Territory of Alabama, and the laws then in force within it as a part of,Nnis sissippi were continued in operation. These acts were p assed under Mr. Madison's Administration. 9. On the 9th o f AIrch,'1819, the Territ ory of A rk ansas Bwas formed from the Territory of tinis sissippi, and a eGovernment established'for it. 10. On the 6th of March, 1820, the inhabitants of Missouri were authorized to form a State Gov erinment, a nd Slavery pro hibited in all that part of the Territory'north of 36~ 30 n orth latitude 11. On the 10th of March, 1'822, a Territorial Governmen t was established for Florida, con taining pro visi ons mak ing i t unl awful "to impo rt or bring in to the said Territory, from a ny place, without the limits' of the United States," any slave or slavnes. T hes lae thre acts Were signed by Mr. Monroe. 12. On the 20th of April, 1836, an act was passe d establishing the Territorial Government i onre rinhen rdie of Wisconsin, earmng the rdinance of 1787. This act was signed'byl Ge neral Jackson. 13. On th e 12th o'June', 1838, a TerriPorial Governm enr t for Iowa was established, extending the laws of the United States'over the same, and signed by Mr. Van Burea. 14. On th e 3d of March, 1848, be act was itssed establi shi ng Ttohe Tert orial Gov ernm ent of Oregon, With te pryoviso fo rever prohibiting Sla-crvery in, the same. Thiis act was Signed by MNr. -P01k. ~~ lhere is an almost unint errupte d series of le gislative acts, commencing with the First Congr'ess, and runni,t g through the long. periodt of m ore t h an half a century, containing the ouial oanc tion of WaS hington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison,' Monroe. Jacksort, Va-n Buren, and Polk,. directly recognising the constitut ional. right of -Congress to vrohibit Slavety in the Te rritories of the United States. Thus the legislation of the General Government for more than half a century furnishes a prece dent, in strict conformity,with the platform of the Republican party, on the right of Congress to interdict Slaver- in the national domain. If, then, t~.e Republican party are to be denounced as seciional, on account of entertaining and defending these time-honored doctrines, then the revolutionary heroes were sectional-the signers of the Declaration of Independence were sectional-that immortal instrument was itself sectional-the fi'r:tners of the Constitution were sectional, and so is the Constitution itself. Every President of the United States, from Washington to Polk, were sectional; and nearly all legislation of Congress, in the formation of Territories, for over fifty years, bas been of the Rme sectibna] kharacter. .~[r. Chlairman, I now' desire to' call the atteri: tion of' the Committee and the ~outntry to another' leading idea itn the R~epubli(~an Ixlatform, to wit': The svnsT~.X'rrAL restOredaton2 of Mhe Mfssouri Corn, .m'omive. I nave tow no time to go into a hiSitorical detail of the circumstances that originally led, to the adoption of this act of Congrese m t820 neither is it necessary; for the facts connected with the admission of Missouri into the Union are now pretty well understood. It is sufficient for my present purpose to remark, that, after.onie of the most stormy periods of excitement through which this Country ever passed, it was solemnly agreed that Missouri should be admitted into the Union with a Constitution allowing Slavery; and that all territory which had been acquired by purchase from France, north of 36~ 30', Should be forever free. The parties to this arrangement were the free States on the one side, and the slave States on the other. The prohibition north of360 30' was both absolute and,perpetual. I now propose to give some reasons why this contract should be restored in substance, if not in form. 1. Because the repeal of the Missouri Compro mise was a breach of good faith. Each s,ction of the Union had become a party to this contract. It became a matter of national honor. The North and the South had both agreed to it. Each party was not only bound by a solemn act, but' there was an implied pledge of honor, incidentally con nectedwtaith the act, of which the parties Could not divest themnselves. 2. The South received the consideration com ing to them, paid in hand. The, contract was rat ified; and, with the' ratification, 5flissouri was admitted. This repudiation is the more insulting to the North, from the fact that, just as soon as the consideration assigned her in this compact became of any value to her,'she was cheated out of it. Good faith, fair play, and honest dealing all require the restoration of the contract. 3. This compact was abrogated under false pretences, and in its practical operation was a Tfraud upon the people. This w ill appear for two reasons: -' First. At the time the Kansas-Nebraska bill was under consideration, it was declared over and over again, both in and out of Congress, that Slavery never would go into any part of these Territories. This pretext Was used as an argu ment to quiet the excited'feelings of the people, and-reconcile them to the outrage. Charity would leave us to presume that no member of Congress would make such an assumption, and send it to the country, unless he believed it. If so, no greater mistake could have been made. In looking over the debates ia the Senate upon the Nebraska bill, we find such opinions were expressed -by Mr. Pettit, of Indiana; Mr. Hunter, of,Virginia, Mr. Toucey, of Connecticut; Mr. Thoms,on, of New Jersey- Mr. Brodhead, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Badger, Of North Carolina; Mfr, Ererett,,of Massachusetts; Mrr. Douglas, of Illinois; Mir. Dixon, of Kentucky; Mr. Jones, of Tennessee and General Cass, of Michigan. In the House, the advocates of the bill generally said the same thing. These declarations were sent all over the country, and had their effect They were retailed out with great gusto b~y-all thie office-holders of the Administration,, fronm the highest in grade and employment, to the four and six'-penny postmasters and tide-waiters. Th~e bar, ificr of Free'dom was stricken down; and what then became of all their pompous assumptions? 6 the people into the support of a measure abhorrent to all their better feelings. But I will (sall the attention of the Committee to one or two facts, which go to prove, beyond all cotntroversy, that the frie nds of the bill, while they declare d, w hen the same was under consideration, that the bill would qonnfer upon the people of the Territories'the right to legislate upon thte qu estion of Slavrt ry in the same, mer amt no such thing; they were looking one way anl rowing another;h wil e t hat while they were thretezding to confer certain rights, they wer e for ci ng a bill through Conidgress, the very object of which wts to deprive them of any such power. Now to the proof. When the Kansas bill wras under consideration in the Hous e, an honorable member from Indiana [Mr. a MxAcl ] offered the following amendment: "Aiod the eoetislatati re ofi said T er ritory is hereas clothed with full power, att aay Session thereof, t o establish or prohibit Slavery." This am endment was a d uected-ay oes 76, noes 94.-Clga. Globe, vol. 28, tart 2, p. 1238. Another amendment to said bi ll w as offered by one of my ho norable co lle agues, [Mr. FULLR r,] which.reads as follows: "Ao(the Trerritorial Legislature shall ha ve pr o wer to establist or exclude Slavery, as to tyiem siallseeoi proper.eo In offerin g th i s am endment, my honorable colleague said:' '''this bill has beeni advocateol at the Norih solel! upo the6 ground that it dri ves the people (if ilhe Territory thle ritht tot lefaliacoate for thetreserve, ti(at the subject of Slavery while ill hl oerritorial stateo blI deblire. t mys elf here to be the friend and advocate Qfthat doctrine; and it is tecause ttfis bill does not establis'l this great American principle. and Vindicate this doctrine, that I am opp6sed to it ill iis present state. Now, sir,'l wash my hands ol ally attempt to deceive them upoi this vital point in the bill. My CO!.sLituenlts sh; ll not be deceived by me." —Cong. Globe, vol. p, part 2, 1p lg. p:, 7i ":9 My honorable' colleague put the only reasonable, legal construction upon said bili that it would bear. This amendment, too, was voted down.: In further proof of'the position I am now considering, I will cite the thirty-second section of the "act to organize'Kansas and Nebraska." The phraseology of this section is peculiar. It was artfully drawn; and' while it pretends one thing means quite another. It first undertakes to extend the " Constitution"'over the Territory, by declaring that "The Constitution. anll all laws of the Uuited States which are not locally iinap,icable, shall have the same fo)rce and effect i:} said Territory of Ka..sas as els where in the United States, excepting the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Un.ionl." Who ever before heard of such a monstrous absurdity? Congress, who derive all their power to act from the Constitution, here undertake to extend this great fundamental law of t-he land over a Territoiy within the jurisdiction of the United States. When did ever a Congress undertake before to legi~late the Con~stitution into a lTerritory'? Never, sir; nevrer. No such provisi on was ever contained in any previous act organizing a Territory: henc~b~yfairreasoning, Oregon, Waslfington7 Utah, New Mexrico, and Mtinnesota, are all left without the protection of the CJonstitution; and Congress can have no jurisdiotion Slaveholders went into K-mas, carrying with thetn their slaves. Thie first Legislitture elected under the organic law of the Territory, by slaveholders and " border ruffitians "'-a Legislature, the laws of which the friends of the Administration say are legal and binding-laws which the President has threatened to enforce at the mouth of the cannon and the point of the bayonet, enacted and placed upon the statute book of the Territory a law, declaring "If any person print, write, iniroeduce into, or publish, or circulate, or cause to b'e i)rotight into, printed, written, published, or circulated, or shala k,-owingiy itid or assist in brtngi,ig ilito, pnin pull,lislllig. or circulating, withill this Territory, aiy book, papir, pamphlet, magazine, handbill, or circ;lar, contailii.g a,-y stateitients, argumenres opinion, se.tirnent, doctrine, advice, or inintueindo, calcula'ell to produce a disorderly, dOngerous, or rebellious disaffectioni among the slaves of this Territory, or to induce such slaves to escape from the service of their miasters, cr to resist their authority, he shall be guilty of a felotiy, and be punished by imprisonmenlt at hard labor for a term not less than five years." Here is another section of this barbarous statute: "If any free person. by speaaking or writing, a-sert or maintain that per sons have' lot the right to hold slaves i n this'rerritory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, wrile, circulate, or euse to be introduced itto this Territory, written, printed, published, or circulated in this Territory, any b)ook, paper, nmagazine, pamphlet, or circular, contaiini, atly ileiial of the ri-lit of persons to hold slaves in thist'erritor, sucliperson shall be deem o guilty of felony, and puitished by linpr'sonneient at hardl labor for a term niot less thati two y ears." In the Squatter Sovereign, a newspaper published at Atchison, in Kansas Territory, by-Stringfellow & Kelly, and which is receiving the patronage of President Pierce and his Administration, under date of February 19, 1856, I find the following advertisement -FoR SALE.-A, very likely NEGRO Gimr, tell years old. Apply at this office. Fe[). 18, 1856. 50 4w.'h. We prove here by one of the Administration organs-which, by the way, lauds Pierce and the Democratic party to the skies-that Slavery-not only exists defacto in Kansas, but that little negro g irl s ar e p ubl ic ly advertise d and s old in that Territorty. I will give oine more specimen ofthe barbarous code of the " border ruffian " Legislature, which is designed to corrupt the very fountains of justice, and establish and perpetuate Slavery in this Territory: 1' No person, who is conlscielltiously opposed to holding slaves. or wa ho does not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a juror on the trial of aniy proseention for any violation of any ofthe section.s o' this act." Thus facts prove that the argument that, on account of soil, climate, or other reason, Slavery would not go into Kansas in consequence of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, was all a delusion; so far as it had an influence, it everywhere deceived and cheated the people. Another reason, urged with great vehemence by the advocates of the Nebraska bill, in favor of the measure, was this: that it would " establish the doctrine of popular sovereignty," and give the people of the Territories the right to form and regulate their own domestic institutions. I have now no time to go into an extended argument to show, the utter fallacy of this sp)ecious pretence, this Ealse light, held oult to blind, bowilder, arnd cheat 7 over them, for the reasona that that branch of the General Go'vernmen t derives all its poewer io legi"late from the Constitution; and the only leg it.imate conclusion which follows is, that these" T erritories are each nows so many inideptndent sovcre.nities, owing allegiance to no power but themselves. After declaring the Missouri Compromise " in. operative and void," the same section goes on to Bay: "It being the true intent and meaning,r otf this act. no,t to legislate Slavery into any Territory or tnte, or to exelude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereofperfeety free to form anAd,regulate their domestic itistitutiotis in their own way, subje't only to the Constitutionl of the Unied'States.;' tt The deception lies in this —that, while this act professes to make a certain grant of power'to the people of the Territories, it contains a provmo which, according to the Southern sectional'construction given' it by tt" Democratic party, entirely takes it away. The argument to this: The Constitution is the great fundamental law of the United States. To make the fraud less perceptible, by a sort of extra-judicial legislation, the Constitution i s extended over the Territory. The grant of power here is-made "subfect to the Constitution," which is another piece of extr-jddicial legislatio'i. Then follow out the Southern construction-that the ' Constititution alltows slaveholders to camry their slacves iuto the Territories, and there protects theo' in that kind of property," and you have the whole thing in a nutshell. Of course the people of a Ter ritory cannot make a law contravening the Constitution. Thus it is plain that the act'was intended, not to give " popular sovereignty," but to take it away; and, by a forced'construction of the Constitution, legislate Slavery into the Tert-itory of Kansas. In order to show that I am treating this matter fairly, and do notmisrepresent ourDemocratic friends, I will read from remarks of atn honorable member from Pennsylvania, [Mr. J.' GLAycY JoxES,] made in answer to certain interrogatories propounded to him by an honorable gen'tleman from Kentu'cky, [Mr. Cox,] prior to the organization of the'House. From the acknowledged talents and high standing of the honorable -gentleman from Pennsylvania-from the fact that he was the author of the resolutions adopted by th% first Democratic caucus of members of the House, and is a distinguished leader of that party-I feel justified -in drawing the inference that he truly reflects the opinions of that party. In answer to certain questions propounded by the gentleman from Kentucky, as to the legality of the Territorial laws of Kansas, he said: "In my opinion, the Constitution bimits,the power of Congres, to the extent of prohibiting them either from establishint- or abolishiZng Slavery in the Territories. Admitting 4hat view to, correct, I suppose it foilom s a matter of course, that the'otstitutioti of the Un ited State,s co,nfers Upon the people of the Territory t,o right to dispossess alty mant of his rigtht to property, whether it be SLAxV. or atty other property. Attd, therefore the Legislative Countcil of i Territory, though they mty pass laws regulating the dicposal asnt protection of property. have no right to so administer those laws asto establish por aholishl Ite right to told that property" :' Ainot her hon srabl~'member, e sa-oiternor Smithe tf Virginia, in the same debate, said'* "If I l'ad su,pposed there was any, e oplnpln move uniivers-lt than a,ty other th e Solut.h. it was the o"'iuio, that a Territorial Government. whi!e it r,smainied li a state of. inf,anicy, has no power either to a(ldmrit or to prohliit glavery withfn its limits. I say tlha,t this Congress, rlii. Gover'nment, havitg ino right or power whatever to atlonit Slavery ~ r prohibit it in ihe Territories, has no rigit' or power to deleg,ate that power to the Territories themix:;elv es.". A distinguished Senato6r from Mlississippi, (exGovernor Brown,) a few days since, in a speech in the Senate, said: " It bwiil be seen at once that the line ofar,imentwv ic~h IThave d parked otlt for myself will lea(i n e to consIider, to tonne extent. the doctrine of' squat r soverei,,gnty.' This doctriite, however well designed by its aunt-ors, has. in my ju(l.,melit. been the fruitful source of half our troubles. Bethre the people of the tans sections of the Union, ham itug,-as they supposed, though I tlh uk erronieonsly-hostile interests, ttl already itflamed by angry pas,ions, were invited into the cou ltry wve, who gave them laws, sheould have, d efined clearly and dist inctly wlha tt were, to be their rights after thy got the re. Noshing should have been left to coiistrueeclba'I believed, when the Kansas bill wits passed.t o that it conferred on the inhabitants of the T err itories. durin, their'Territorial exiO tence, no -right t) exclude, or il anywise to intterfere wlith, Slavery. * " The re se ems to b e a eer:ain u,ddefined ide o ir n the mi ls of some men, that the sovereigna ty of a Territory is it.herent itt the peop e of a Territory tha t it came to them from on high-a sort of poliiceal manina, de,cended from Henanven on these crtildeon of the forest. This do atriae, I confess, is a little too ethereal for me; I do not compreheltd itl thk-t this I know-if'ts soveeiratllty is ill th peo p'e o f the Territory-. whether t-thy obtaith ed iit from Goei oa meer, the conj,uct of this Goverp tmet t tuwards theyi is most "extra,rdinary. It is nlothitng'short of dowdritrht usurpation ftand de.popi.en.' W'e have:hwScven Govern ors appointed by the President. Ivy;tnd with the:ivice a (I consent ofithe Senr'tie, to g,over n - se,torie.of the U.,itett Stttl,,,. We hatve se-veni liff,,rit s,ets of'rerritoriao Judges, appointed il the same way, to expouni-d the laws fbr the seven Territories. We have M}'rs!,a!s m ~ rrest, and District Attornieys to prosecute, the inihahitants at th,ese s(nerei,,nties. inr tlti,r'own country. WVe require the Territories to legislate ia. obedien~ce to our acts; and.. le't the), inay go astray, w%e somelimes ob.lige them to send vp their laws for our approval. It has hapene,, time and t ime -,tgaiii, that their legislatioli has fallen uam.der ihe disa,,ppro-bation of Congress, anid thereby become voi(d What a mockery to disclaim the sovereig-,tyyopr-selv'es, declare that it is i~t the people of the'I'errix.ry. and then send a Govtrnror to rule. them. Judges to -expoulid their laws. lV[arsh'als to arrest, and Distriet Attorneys ta prosecute themn; andi, finially. to re quire these sovereigns ~to send up their laws for your saection; and then, by yota disapproval, to render them null!7 The Richmond Enquirer, (Virginia,) a leading Democratic paper, recently contained an elaborate article, from which I make the following extract: 'W we must. in the Cini'cinnati platform. repudiate squ~ ter sovereignty and, expressly assert State eqtality. We nrust declare that it it the dulty of the Gen,ral Gover nmeait to see that no ildvif,u:.- or inijuriotus distinctions are made between the peop)le or the properTy of different seetio:,s in the.Territorires. We do not mean to'dictate' It may be thi t the assertion in the platform of the ab-rac-t prcplositioii of State equality may suffice to carry aloft with it thie, (oIs",quenes which we desire. But it is offers charg,e(d that the Kansas-Nebraska bill contains the. 4o ctfirne of squatter sover eignty, and that squatter sover'igrv iy is the mreost efficienit agent o, Free-Smolism. Some [all' Northern Denocrass'have maintained thZ, ground. NoW. Ttills G'N ZIiUS'~ BE SPiKED. It mu,t appear from our platform that we imaimsaini practical State equality, aid repudiate titat construction of the Kansas-Nebraska act wheyl wo'u!(l defeat it., ~The doctrine that the: Constitution carries Sla:very into the Territories, and there legalizes and Iprotects it, and that the people of the T errtaries have no right under the Constitution to legislate upon the subject, except to " regulated it, was, sat the time of the passage of the'Kansas-Nebra~-. 8 their constitution6' gttempts to restore the n4, tional honor, and protect the people of Kansas in the peaceful enj;I,me,t of their civil rights? If there is, make the'most of it. The second'genera' proposition I now desire. to discuss, is t e et onali of the Democratic party." In pursuing this investigation, I intend to speak re'spectfily,,'but plainly. There are many reminiscences still lingering about the old Democratic party, of a pleasant character. It WLas once a great and powerful party. It was the. party originally founded by Jefferson; and as'we travel from its organizaitloud down the stream: of time, we find in its front ranks some of the greatest and best mln that ever honored and graced Qur country. It was once.; a party proudly staendwig nupon a platform of tnational principles, around: which'the patriotic of every section, North Andc, iIuth co'u'd consistently,aly. But" how have. athe mighty fillen,' and thie "fine gold become dim " Where stands the so-called Democrati' party of the present day'? HIas it not changed fronts; abandoned its old landmarks; denied,the faith, aind gone' over to'sectionalism? These questions I now propose to discuss. Slavery can in no just sense be termed, an trioal institution. We have already shown t,,t thhe founders of the Republic did not so consider it. Both the Constitution and the early legis-, elation of the country clearly indic.ate the feaq t that Waslshington,, and Jeffer on, and Maadismon, and. their cotemporarie, tookled, forward to thy ultimate extinction of this evil,. an early day. The framers of the Constitution left Slavery where they found it-with the States-ft municipal reg,latton, subject entirely to their jurisd4iction'a md copnrol. Being left to the States, it becam efo necessity sectional. Beyond the, jurisdiction, o06 tthe States'where it exists, it hias no legal protection. Again: Slavery is anjypnatural right,,and', can only exist by nlue of,the local laws of,the,States. "'":.,':".'.;..:., This question has been so decided by our juiici.,tl courts, Nortlh and:South, over and over again4l. But ill order to put this'matter beyond all doubt,: I will cite two or t!iiee authorities from the de;, cisions of courts in slahe Stitch. - In the case of the State of ll\ississippi rs. Isaac Jones,,the Court decided that L "The right of the master exists not by, force o'f the lat oelatu re or (f nat ions, but lay virtue o,vy of the positive law of tre 1tate.-W'alker's Ite r(, 86. In another case in the same State, the Court s ay.:.,.., "' lavery is colnldemnteid by reawo~n and the laws of natt're. it exists. a,;d dan oiil, exist, t[:riugh municipal regulutiott.':-Bjary vs. Deck-i,r, Walket's Reports, 42. The next.authority which I read is frowm M)artin's Louisiana Reports, 402, 403:,. " The reitioni of'owner s-id s ave is. in the St'eSo .this I)nLion inll which it las a 1 ei;l e xistec,cc a -reature of )it(nicipal lat.?'' I will cite one other authority to this poings,'0ut of the many that are found in the Reports. X' read from the case of Rankin vs..Lydia, 2 ~m- - shall's Kentucky Reports, in which the Couxrt say:; " Slavery is sanctioned by the lanws of thtis S'ate. tKea]' ka bill, and now is, the doctrine of the friends of that measure. Then I ask, sir, what becomes of your siren song of " Squatter Sovereignty," and the., right givee to the p eople of the Territories,by the Ne braskea bill to form their'own domesi iti c in stitu tions? " It is all a baseless humbug, an outrage ous imposition, whose light only. 'Leads to bewilde r, and dazzle s to blind.<) There is one more mr ver y importt reason why the Missouri Compromise shoul d b e restored. It is to protect the people of t-ansas in the eiijoyment of their constitutional rights. As we have already remarked, the Kansias-N'ebraska bill -was advo ckted on the ground t hat it would confr oer powers, rights, and privileges, uponi th e pe op le o f Kansas, not enjoyed by the people of other. Territories utnder their organic acts. Now, whati hait s bee n its practical operation?' I have now n o ti me to answ er this qu estion in detail Instead of enjoying o tror naigs po ie the extraordinary rights promied by the Kansas-Nebraska act, t he people of that Terri tory have been hunted down like wild beasts beenl waylaid and butchered in the streets; they h ave b ee n lynche( and mobbed;, their houses sacked and burn ed to A the g round; their printing presses th t o thrown into e rivers; their property destr,yed; and a lmost every indignity which the wickednes s of men o r devils could invent, showered down upon their devothd heads.' Th e Te rritory has been ietvaded by armed mobs, who have spread themselves into every settlement; the p eaceful settlers have been forced to surrend er ir alote a their ballot-boxes at the point of the bayonet, and then driven from the polls. In order to show the kind of spirit which actuated I nese invaders, I sad the following extract from, the Kickapoo Pioneer, ai paper which supports, this Administrationu and receives its patronage: ~ r"The.South must be up and doing; K,sas must anid, shall be a slave Stale Mark wha ewe },av, Southern freetenl! Come ainlmg ~vitt your ni,,g,roe.s anid plough up ever) inch of grouinai,hat is att Lhigi'mommeit disgraced a,id defaced by a,l AbolitiOdq ploughl. Seiid thi scound,Irel.s back to whence they camne, or send them to hell, it ma.tte'rs not which destinlation; suit your own- coiiveiiiem- e Bait the bug.l e of war over tIie l sloth and breadth ot the land, and leave not an AI)oliiionist ill the Territory lo relate their treacherou.l and cotihit'nai'i'g deedds. Strike your piercin, rifle-e)a;ls rnd your glittering s:eel to their b~lack& anal poisonious heart.<: let the w;ar-cry never ce s,s ill Iansas a,aini. unitil our Territory is divested ot the last vestige of A'/oeileollis.ll.Sir, the "Constitution of the United States has been legislated into Kansas," and-thepeople given "1 popular sovereignty; " and, this is the kind of protectioh it h'as aitYrded thiem. All the protection the National Administration has afforded these hardy pioneers has been the protection the "wolf affords the lamb," by removing Governor Reeder, and sending out Wiltson Shannon to enforce the bogus laws of a border-ruffian Legislator6. There never willl bJ any permanent peac, in Kansas until the question ofFreedom or Sla'very is s'ett.led, either by the restorationi of the Missblurt Compromise, or lief admission in'to the Union' as' a free Stat.e, wtiich is: substantially the same thing. I now pause to inqtfire, IS there anything serctional, on the part of the Rsepublic'an patty, in 9 left the chair, made a speech which was reported in the New Hampshire Patriot, and among other things said: ': I would take the,rotiiid of the non iexteis on of Sla very-ihat Sla very should not become stroniger. But Coll eress have oitly re enacted the old law of 17)3. Union loving men, desiring peace and lovini their country cot ceded that poiitt-unwillingly conceded it-anlsi. planittig themselves upon this law agaiist the outbursts ofpoisular feeling, resisted the agiiatior. which is tssa ultin g tl11 inho stand 3p for their cou,try. But the genrtle,man says that the law is olnoxious..What ~ngle'tht ingi is lhee conllect, ed with Slavery that is 11o0 op ylpoxihus? t,ivei the genrtle manl from 5 rtib. rougth (1 r. Batchellar) caniniot feel more deeply than I do on thie subject." New Hampshire and. Maine have heretofore been the two leading Democratic States, not only in New England, but the Utilon. The Democratid p'arty in these two States were the very last to falter, and the last to be conquered; for they, like General Taylor, never surrendered." As long ago as 1828, the county of Cumberland, in Maine, the larger portion of which is in my district "solitary and alone" in'all New Enzgland, gave tier electoral vote to Andrew JItckson. For this act of fidelity to the gallant old hero, this county was long known as the " Star in the East;" and the now venerable"James C. Churchill, who was the standard-bearder of the " nterrified" in that great fight, isneow an honored member of the Republican party. I have seen a letter written by him, dated Portland, March 21, 185Q, in answer to an. invitation from the" American Republicans," of Dover, New Hampshire, to meet with them and celebrate the late glorious victory in that State, in which he says: " "I congratulate you most heartily and sincerely iii.:bav' lits obthig ed a victory so signal atid so gloriouns. It seems ro me he advoeate of' Rum' lacks good iiioials atid gbo~i jtdd,meiit; the ad'vocate of extetasion of:'avery' lacks good sercee and good principles. and every good thing ifor Wiieh our fathers fought a-d conquered in tieo RevtJlu niot." In 1832', Maine gave her ten electoral voted" to Old Hickory, and gallant New Haimpshire wheeled in by her side, wvith her seven. In 1836,-they both went for Van-Buren. In 1840, the Democ racy of Maine, after a terrible fight, was beaten only by a few hundred's. " Hard cider, log cabins and gold spoons," were too much for her. But aoNew. Hanipshire, firm as her "granite hills," breasted the storm, withstood the shock, and gave her seven electoral vo'test for Van Buren. In 1844, both States went for' James K. Polk; in 1848, both voted for General Cass; and in 1852, both., by overwhelming rndttjoiities, chose electors. for Frankl'in Pierce. With this clean Democratic record, where has the Democratic party in these States stood upon the question of Slavery prohibition in the Territories? I answer, just where the Republican party now stand and I will proceed to prove it. The Deemocratic State Comn ittee of New Hampshire, in October, 1847, passed the following res olution: by aiiyhew ~ nu"~it, f the ii it Ctoii 9 Resqledl Thlat *^e declare it OUR'so0kst cONV"oxvt'rii 10 biti hiititidto tid fiuitt t e~r ml) tidultas the Dcniortstic patty thave heretofore dotile, that iieithe'r eondcun inp emil) t weig theSlateerij nor in*0~et'enary.sen ~tti.srerould he'reafter' exist in ally f Tterritory whtich may be acquited by or annexed to the Cn i o t ed Slates, and that we approve of the votes of e oHsr delegation ill Congress ill faver of the WVilmot ProI ~iso." tlueky,) Ittd the n'ht to hold" them under our munitcipal regu-litiolns is nilquesffoti.ble. But Se view lthis as a 'r2?itt "ini t by!,ositive la'w of a m orcthial thhraeter withut folundaiito in the'law of nature, or the unwritten alda conIt~iOi law."' oChAttel Slavery has'no dxistence except in one sect'on of the country; therefore, any'political party whie h favors Slaev ery, or in anw way lends its, i'flueince to spread it, favors one: section of the country a t the expen se of the other, and is most emphatically a sectional party. A party whose l a i n gi D e o r t s a l l o o v r i h e. I o n r, f v r d D o leading bjet iDsetotr the" pe cuiar inse tu tions" f the mautre ad n lave no el'ement of siia tieonalitoy aboit it. I have already remarked that the Democratic pfiity a ohce:a nafidhItt party. The leading men of the party, until wit'i.t a few years, held;that Congress had cdnistitutiOna1 power to prohibit Slavery in the Territorie's; andcthat it is expedient to exercise thtis power. I have already spoken of the position of leading]Democrats in the early history of the couutiry.ESO well-settled was this principles that when the' Wilmot proviso was first introduced into Congress in 1847, only two Dem 0cratic members from the fke-e States voted against it. Among.those who,voted for i~t,.were the Hon. Robert )IcClelland, tiow S.eiretary of -the Interior-; 'S$eiitor Bro'dhead, of'6eipylvania; exdGovernor Dunlapt of Maine;;..and the late Senator Norris, of New Haimpshire. -Ths late lamented Silas Wright, Ge'n'eiril.Dix. of New York, and other leading Democrats all over the country, favored th e meat'ire. The'lead{ii pa'perg. of the Ieiaioeratire press came, out, for' it. The'Eastern Atus *e, leading Denaocratic paper ih'ff Maine,!'hd the Kitw Hminpshir~ Patriot,'the l-edo'ig Diemd ckit,, p"a'Otr i NeVW Hambsaire, both took stron& g'8Uiid for the proving: 3fbe th-an this,;i majority of the free States of the Union passed resolatiohs instructing the,% Senators in Congress to go for the measure, and in a, majority of these States the Democratic party held the political coitrol. In 1848, the following, among other Democratic members, voted for ih'e bill organizing the Territory of Oregon, with a proviso forever prohiblting Slavery: MiOssts. Allen- of Ohio,; Bentoi, off Missohri; Bright:andtl Breese, of indian*; Douglas, of IllinoiS; DodgeI of WVisconsin;; Dix and.Dickinson, of New York; and Houston',of Te,%s. -Con'r~ essionai Giobe. ;. President Pierer himself, at a meeting held at C_btn d, New Hadmlpsh're, June 12, 1845, as re ort e4, in the New Hanpshire Patriot,'in reply to Senator Hale, said: "He had only to say no1w, what he-had always said, that he regart(ed Slavery as oniie of lie greatest noral and social evils-a cured 1X94i the whole couttiry; anti thihe believed to be lthe sentiment of'al ieii o f all pa tiea at the North. Mitr. P. wa's free. to admit that he; had lims.elf ebj:roaehea this suabjedt of annexa ion [of 1'exals with all his pre/j-iic~$ 71d!repxisaisns ai lto o t~ ground also e-its Sla1vir~ fcaiure. His convictiotst ofe tills subject Mwere,t as ne l/a,4 ~tatedl istrolg-110t die'.rcautlt of auy itew li'at but deep. yxd aud abL)iiig.'fei,y difficult ill his mi id.-evr I'd beeti. that of a r iecong,,ii ol. o by ado y lew act o fm: (;overn:, of the illc -iutiol vi domnestec Slavery;,i.hd had f,ouledit extr.:e':) (iificalt to bri,g his mitd to n 0bndkion iaip:trtially to weigh tlhe arguonejit for and against the measured. In 1851, General Pieree,, in the Convention of New Hampshire for revising the Constitution, ~j,oclttvOr la7~te.'o']n. But how have the Democratic " veterans of an hundred battles" in Maine stood upon this ques-. tion? We will see. In 1847, Hon. John W. Dana was Governor of i Maine, and the Legislature was strongly Demo cratic. In his annual message, Governor Dana said: "The territory which we nay acquire a-s indemniity for claims upoil MIexico is free; shall I it ibe nmade slave t erri- tory? The ~entinent of the free States is iprofuit(l, silt- cere, aid alaiqot universal, that the iflouettce of Slavery. upon productive eiiergy is like the l)light of mildewt-.hat it is a moral aid a social evil; thlat it (oes viole, ce to the rights of inan, as a hillkiLt, reasoniing, aud responi'ble being; that its existe-i(we ill this territory will shut out free labor, because the free rean will not sukmit himself to the degradation which atta(hes to labor wherever Slavery tuxists. lifdenttied by suc' coisideratioas, the free i tates will opp(jse the initrodiuictionl of Slavery into the territory which masy le acquired." In speaking of the riyfit offslaveholders to h old their slaves in the Territories of the United States, he further said: "On the o ther hand, the slave Stales claim thattthis territory -,ill he ac quired. if aequired at a 1, by thle I: lool an d treasure of all the States of tie Uti'on, to become the jotint lroperty of all; to be held for the bIenefit of all And they emlhlatically ask,'Is it cos-se iti wih justice?' e dis rirhlit to acquire aid possess property is onie of the inherent riihts of inait intdependent of l.iws aid Contstitutiolns. Not so with the -right to lis slave; tllhat is As. UNNATUEAL, AX ARTIFICIAL, A SrATUTE Rlt'ti; aid whei he volititarily passes with a slave to a Territory, where the statute recOgniiitig the rig,ht does not exist, then at once the right ceases to exist.'I'TE SLAVE BECO,MFS A FREIE MAAN, WITtlI JU'ST AS MUCH RlCilT TO.CLAISI THE MASTER, AS THE MASTER ro CLAIM THE SLA.VE." This is precisely where the Republican party now stanid. And who is Governor Dana? Now Minister to Bolivia, and appointed by lPresident Ise? ce. The Le-gislature responded, and passed the following resolutions, with only six nays in the House, and by a large majority in the Senate:. " Resodleal, That the iecitimtlentiof, this State is profound, sincere, and almnost t,niversal,, that the itflitience of Sla,!very upon productive energy is like thef blight of mildew; illdenrl~xity Ior clttirns UpOII Mexico. ' "'esolved, T'lat i t is the duty.of Conigress to prevent, by, thle exercise of all constitutional power, the extensionl ot talvi,rv illto teriitoryh of the Uoiited States now fren. " frtohred, That our Sepaat ors in C ongress a re her eby instructed, and our Represel tativesr requested, to stpport a nd p ar ry out to e priniciples of the foregoing resolutions., June 28S 1849, the Democratic.party in Maine he ld a State Conventione at w hich Hon. John H.ubbard was nominated for Governor. This C(onvention was Composed of si,hundrpd dalel, gat es, at whic h t he following resolutions Were passed-ouly oAe'solitary niember voting against ' R$sol, ed, That the inistitutioni of human Slavery is at varianlce with the theory of our Goverilinent, abhorrent to, the coinmon sentimeirnt of- halkilli, ard fraught with danger;to all who co ime *ithin.the sphere of its influence;. tiii.tllc Federal Govetrnment poss. sea': adequ,ate.ower so inhibit its existence in ihe:Territories of thc Untion that thc constiigitionality' of this:power has been Se.tlrd oy judicia con-struction, by coteonporaneous expositions, and by repeatud acts of legislation; and thatt we enjoin. qpol our Senators and Represe"tatives'in C,,igress to nmake every exertiolh and employ all their influence; to procure the passa,e of a law fortv'er ~xluding,- Slatur.y from the Territories of Californtia and New Melxico,. ~. "Resolved, That whilt we most cheerfully concedeto: our Southlerin brethren the right, on all occasions, to speak anid act with: etire freedom on'questio-is'eornected with 8;la,very ini the'T'erritories, we claim.the exercise of the saine right for ourselves; and aniy attempt, from'any quar te,r, to stlg=.ttize us or our Represenitati=es for adVo'/tqig or defendin g the opintionis of our people upon this:su ject, will b~e repelled as ani uniwarrantable act of aggress.oa upon the rights of-the citizens of this State.,, At this Convention a committee, of which Colonel Ephraim K. Smart was' Chairman, was raised to report an address t0 the peopli,e.froru which address I read the following extract:. "The Whig party of'this State will u-idouibtedly pro. sent a candidate in oppositioff to him, [1Hubbar d,]'whlo Will be a s:will atdvocate of Allti-Sliavery priaciples; I)ut he will, at the same time, necessarily feel himself under grea.ter oblig,ationis to give'a.ii and comfort to a President [Tay-lor] and Cubinet hvstlie to the'inhibition.of Slavery i. our Tr,ritories. A Governior withi' uch a. sociateswo,u,ld utterly Jail to exert any imoral influ,ence ini favor of kAF:.DOM I xH,: T RmiromI., The Akti, Slavery professionls, ve are sure, of one who is'bou.indto do thie bidding af Ti}l same condiltlon Adam was when thus inteizTo gated; and as he was -driveni? out bif Paradise'by his Maker for his sins, so the Dem.ocratic party has been driven out of power by the people for th same cause, with no.w no very good prospect o' ever getting. back into "Paradise." But to tile question a,4. the answer. -. - After General Cass, in his celebrated "Nichol son letter," in 1848, wande6-ed off So'uth, and pub lisheff t0 the country the fact that a' change had been. going on,in, his own.mind as well as in others," out of repect for, or sympathyv with, a great political leader-with a love for th'e sp6il]A or an inordinate thirst for power and plsce, oI some other reasons, he was:soon followed by'no inconsiderable number of prominent mnen of his party. From that -day' to this, they have been backing down, backing down, and bac(;king down, until the Democratic party has lost ever- element of. nationality, and is now become a mere sectional in-trumentality, to spread Slaverq into free territo?y, and build a great slave oligarchy to '6override every other interest in the whole colititry. To allow Slavery to go into the vast fields of Kansas and Nebraska, the Democratic party united,-with the South to breatik down the great banner of Freedom in the repeatl of'the Missouri Compact. Ths t is party as now usin g its whole Dow el to make SSlav ery nation al. Hatving by seetional legislation exposed every foot of'Aiericaua soil to the withering, blighting mildews of Slavery, the prty now u the d rt w s.iper to itss bosomy ani decltres eternal hos'tilty to "resloration," or a correction of'tlhe great wrong by them.committed uipon the best in t erests of the Union. hat is Democracy in 1856? Let us ex.,manl)( tllis question. In order,to a right uderstandira ofth{s n~atter, Ibwillcal the atteation of' the Ci:X' linitteelto.eetarinIreso!ijtons paqsed-by Demee-:- ti(: C onven'tion~ in:'seveiri~] of the Sts,tes, as ttheir " platform of principles-as the b1sis of a uationa~l org'nuii'i. tion:.""'.. i'' rL,rtl. I would adoptjaB. constitutional and equitablle neans to prevelit tho cjteilSioit of Slavery ito errito- g rl,s JiloW tree.. M o. }lol)iltg,,eutlemeii; that ~itis brief ae will meet your vi/.;wS, 1 ii't, with setuetites of r'espect atd rega.rd. yours, JO' HN HUBBARD. AetssrS. AD&~IS TiRAT&, THOMAS i M. MeaR)W. %V~LLiAM ~-IaitltAl, At'TIotR'rTRAT, Ja.&S1M'A.RT. JOItN HODGDON. I' t'..)'.Nr,).. G N. WHITY, NATia WoaRTHiG, D)ANirL WEN fWlR.Hi, JOSElil BACHtFL1DGR, DANIEL SMITH. ini 1854, the' Legislature [of M4aine-being in session at the time the Kans as-N e-braska biU taas )petidiitg before Congress-passed the bllowia g res,)lutions, but with,irx nays ia the Houso, and o0yi ole in the Senate:;. ~.iot.ed, That tht Senator', in.Congress from.4aine 1, as re.cted. arid the Rel)reselttaUves requested. to i).po.~ i~t every practicable way the' passage of the'Ne l I,'a. l:t 1tll. so called, so louig as it shall comtaini any pro,IrI, rep e,ilijig, abrogaLitig, rescinding, or iii anly way g,' aiti.. tat provision of the act of Coi,gress ap o,,,v,.d M'renO, i, conmmonty called'the Missouri 1',),rn~l,rise0 ~' tr~,,l'e. That the Governor be reque.sted to forw,ard a cli, o( the al)ove resoilutioi to each of our Setatoprs tJ it{ 1 preseittalives at WVashilittvit."' Atmiongt, those who voted for these:resolves were HS,. N. S. Littlefield, a leading: Democrat in my St.ate. tnd four years a member of Congress, and' i'cesidient of the last Democratic'State Convention ii.l.tiie. held in June last, and Hon. Lot M.s ,errill, aiother leader of the party, who was the 1 )etntorrttic candidate for the UIited States Senate iti ()I)position to Hon. William P. Fessenden, and ii'ow v tresident of the Senate in Maine. I)iiririg the Congressios al canvass in my distrieo, ii'1854, and a fe* dars bbfore election, niy competitor'(or Ongtesi:'Hbti William K. K,wtbalIt carie otit in a leter,'in'rly:t one'ad:(?r~es led to /ira by: Han. W. VI. ~inton and others i,,,~i:-i,,g:as to his position upon the Slavery tiltes'tion-whiteh letter was extensively circulated toiro~igh the distric-in which'kri Kimball said: ' G,.ntien i I' have received )qour letter Qf the 1st in: stttI.:.td lose no titne in rcplyi-g t'it. Upou-the general siLbject of Atneticaai Slavery, m,n opilions. perhaps, are i - d I 12 favor Southern intdres..' Is it a national benefit to extend. Slaver satet the terrt i it o ries, or m it do ne f or anha'cntthe benefit o a section? Was not the fugiti ve s lavef te law mad e for the benefit of the South and o not ls spprers dand dotits a n d it execution Ato protect Sotwhein wint'erests? D The Democrattic SapltfOre ais osectional in all its partse a nd to call it a "nation al " platform is a libel upon the Common sefise of- every man who reads it. -a [. With all- thotse facts glt rincg th'em it'the face, .the meomber,nof the nsiod-called D" emocratic party, the supporters of the present: naltional Adminis tration, have the- inblUag cmpidene to' stand up, and gay to thos e of who have, on the stump and at b the brltott, wthrough good- report and evil report, suppor'fed Jackson,' and Yan h Buren, and Polk, and Pierce, (until he forsook his friends and abandoned h is t platform) and have c lung to the Democratic pate y' Ie the m ariner to the wreck, until there was not a single plank of its good old platform left to save is f perdition, that we have left the Democrati, party-that we have changed and,g e oit,er, to..bolitionism-when they know, and we know, and the Whole world knows, that they are -the b,'t, thatihave changed, they are the deserters,'that they have gone off and offered sacrifice, to strange gods, while we' are defending th1e' acraiie'tal'ata,-rs and consecrated fires of the " god of our' fathers'._ -.While-'we are, in good faith, aintaining ind defending the doctrine of Jeffersdi and4 the Drmocratic party, they are bowing down and worshiping the Dagon good of Afriitxi SlaVery.: -' BU - i t E'a"b- iaid U~'hnhati' Cnvention ,wifl~not a'dopt th~e'pLa~t~t ni~i!Ctated by the sev'epM,Stat C/'htti4l heave referred to. If any one- entertains this opiniobnhhe is'grossly mistaken. What sa-s:'thei# Dioctacy at' Alabama? They instruct their delegates "to awithdraw," unless the Convention comes up to the mark; while the Democrats of Georgia declare they " will cut off all party connection with every man anzd party at the ~orth, or el~sewhere, that does not fully and fairly come up to this line of action." It may be a bitter'd osO fiNor. orthern' D'em,:rats, and they may at first resist it; but it will.be of no use, for they,Will have,Q drinkthe 4.oi$ d draught to the very dA:egs, Y-s', gen ylemen,you.ha;ve got to take the Wh61ddSO; in4, ho wever bitter and nauseating it may be, you have not only got to sWallw it, but say youilove it. Every'Northern Democrat will haove to mount the Juggernaut car of Slavery, "hold the reins, -or crack the whip," or be thrown overboard; to be crushed under the ponderous Weight of i~t. gigantic wheels. An honQrable' gent~emf'fr~om S buth Carolina [Mfr. KmTT] th,e o t Y~ A! eloqaent but plain lan~uaL,e. annouinceiddto' te DeQcra~tme party the fI - ~, ~,1, i:.t'. l,, ~i.;.I...line Of SoliDg ft had g(t, to pursue, t receive Southern support hat gentlema n said: "The De0no~ratic part~ at theNorth hag been cut down ini tlle fights. Ittbhlts p~as;-e~ through tire assd water. t. htas omr-e {iaveleSa'ie& wiih whitened gairmients:. SIt i.~ now strolls eno.uflh to do battle for the Constitution.;Vill you swell' ifi,tBr'the spoils~ withaw motley'hfrde~ Wve/rinag soiled and tattered'robes? I f y-ou wAtte,'g'~; the platdorin Wth ie soudh.'and th'e massn to the North." ~; * *~ * * "*The South should establish inI the platform the principle~ that the right of a Southe'rn manl to hi slavLe is eqyea il in ts First, I will read certain resolutions of the Democracy of Alabama, at their late Convention to elect delegates to the Cincinnati Convention. This Convention declared iA favor of General Pierce's renomination: Resolted, ". That it is expf dient that w e sl.old be rep resented in the Democratic Nationrial Convention upon T $tI.h co ndi:os as are hereminafier expressed. a9. That tile delegates to!he Democratic;National Gbr' vetlotioi. to mat e a Peslent and Vice Presi ident, are hereb eesly iaesiteted to insist that the said Convenition shall adopt, a plaforn of inceples as the buss of a hat tional o'gaizaetion, prior to the nomination of candidates, unequivocally asserting, in substance,'the following prop ositiois: 1. The re ognhtioii and approval of tfhie princi ple of nonintervention by Congress uponi the subject of Slavery in the Territorie. 2. That no restrictiol or prohi bition of Slaver y in adc y e shall hereafter be tiade in any act of Coit,re,ss 3. That no State shall be refused admissions into the Union,because of the existence of'Sla very therein. 4. The faithful execution and mainitenanic e of the fujilive slave law. "10. That if said National Convention shall refise to Pdopt the propositions embkiaced in the precedig Teso6lutioII, our delegate to said. Convenition'arc hereby positively instructed to wiithiraro therefrotm.' The Democratic Convention of Hiksissippi, which assembled in January last to elect deiegates to the same Convention, passed the follow-' ing resolutions: Re.,olved, " 4. That our delegates to the next Nation-al Conivenitiol of the Democratic party. to be hield. for the a o,,vpo.e of noitalirn- ca,:didates for President and Vice- e ,.Presidenit, are hereby ihstrueted' thiat they ard to ins fsistt on the.adoptionii by said Co(iv,:ntion,of a platform of pritici-i p'es whiich shall contain. "t. A reicog,nitionm and adoption of the M.iciples of the' act of Congress commonly c.atl'ed the Kinsas- Nebraslta d act,. -. "2. A pledge,to resist all attempts to,,ib'olish Slavery in the District of Columbia or to prohibit the lave trade d between the States: s "3. A pledge to resist i]} attempts to repeAl Vthe fugitive slave bill, or impair it! faithful e1eutii. ~ .The Democratic S'tate, Cqnventitn of Georgia,. the ""Empire State of the So thi.which, I think, was holden on the 6th of June last, adopted the tollowing resolutions: "Rqe.,olved, That we: adopt as,our own the. followit, g rIstl u[oi0. passed utnanimously by the last Legislattire of %eorgfa: ~.Rsohted by the Ge,,eriJ Xi~emLly'6f the State of Geo,. Pit.'hat oppositioni to the prini.iples of the' Nebraskai ill. i relatioi to the subject of Slavery, is regarded la y the people of Georgia as hostility to the people of the' Soutli, and that all- plers.is who partake i:'s'iichos ofnoutio~i are utie.fi to Ibe recognized as componient paTtti'ftany;f parly or organ i.aqit not hpstile to lia Soutlh., ~' ReshiS, fia't intatcier(dsec'e swith the above.re —oh-.L tioi, w hit st we arewi-iliigoto'acii party a.sociatidn wi: he all souiid and reliable men lit every section ofthe Untoioa.' we are not wihilig to affiliate. with any party that stal n iot recokrnise, approve and carry out, the princeiples anid pro iioi,s of the NebraskaXKanssas act, aild that the' Democratic party of GIeoria will cut off all party eonI-'c liol witl] every manl and party at the North or elsewhere Ihat does not ctne ap. fully and fairly lo this line of a<; I have no time to rbfer to Peosol ttions of Democratic Copoiveitiont in ot her Sates; they' are all of the same. ten.or' The Oemo&;atic platform has three prirnCi'pal planks: 1. The Constitution of the United States'crries Slavery into'thb:Tierittdeis;]And't'lere protects it; t. No rest;iction or pr oiibidon of-lave,'in the Tetitories; and;?':.':'.. 3. The maintenance and:eiierutifon of' the9f hgitire slave law. Here is a platform constructed exclusively to I I I I I t I I i disruption of these States. We revere the Con stitution, and live up t o all its obllgations~ anai when we are chargef with disloyalty t h-. great charter of Freedom, we hurl bagk the chalrge and deny the impeachment. But who makes these- ch'arges,.aga'ist the Republican party? / Wht political orgatnization stands up to chargegthe Renpublia. sof this cauntry rwith polical treason4? t s the so-caIed Democratic party that has done i.t, and is now doing it. Sir,'this issue has been torced upon us, and we accept it. We will not only acte 0a the defensive, but we "carry the war into Africa."' How stands the Nebraska De'mocracy upon this question? I have some recollection about a Southern Convention at Nashville, in June, 1850. I do not say for what purpose this meeting was called. I will let Colonel Trotti, a delegate from South' Carolina to said Convention,'give his understanding of the matter, by giving, an extraet of.a sapeechll made by him at the meeting at which he was chosen. It may be found in the Vational Intel ligencer, in June, 1850. He says, in giving his own views: ~ -' "That Coniventioni should say to the non-slav eholdihig States, thie Soutih will mai"6ai,t her rig hts oad equal to i the Unlion, o,r she wvil dissol&e it.,, In this Convention figured several distinguished gentlemen of the Democratic party. One of the resolutions there adopted declares t''hat the slaveholeditg States cannot and t ILI. no Nsubmit to th e ecptinejt ey Con,re ss of ally law imptEo.'ionerous colditiodIs all restraiis upote the U riglshts of msi. ters to remove'with their property rate tire Terridries of the United States." I think a majority of the meeting, after getting together, wereopposed to taking any violent meas — ures to bring about a rupture with the General Government; )et Governor Foote, of Mississippi, in a speech in the United States Senate, July 18, 1850, says: " That there were disuniiionists there, (though I regret to acknowxledg~e it.) is a fact ulhich ~annot be dcenied, fbr sever.11 Cetlemen w'ho arted a proti-n)ei)t part in the Cojveiitioni are understood to have unfurled the flogg or drl.-nioi since the Convention adjouraed." —Appen. GCong. Globe, vol. X2, 3P. 1.320. Hon. Jefferson Davis, now Secretary of War, in a speech in the United States Senate, June-g7, 1850, when speaking of " disunion," said: 'It is all alterniahve not to be anticipated-o~:e to which 1 could look Corstard lo astlhe last rec.ort; but it is one, let ee say, which undtr certain cor'tingenci, I ag wling to m eett an(i leave ny conlstitueaits to judge when thtat co. — tiiigeiicy a rives." —Cong. Globe. I could go on and read.from speeches of emi. nenit gentlemen of the Democratic party, in times past, in which they make direct threats to dissolve' the Union; but I will only read two or three extracts from speeches made by Democrats UPOn[ this floor,'coa;tinixg their opinion upon this question. An honorable member fronm Soauth.:Carolina, [Mr. 134:omzs,] in a debate in t~ris House on the 24th of Decemb'er last, said: "T'he genltlemanl fromn l~~assachucett~ has announc.ed t~ the world! that, x1 eer~ainl continlgencies, he. is wsillirg to let the Uniion slidle. Now. sir,'let his eonltingeellios be reversed. antd I amn wiling io let the Union sli'dei ay, gair .to aid in mnaking itt slide:?' length and breadth to the right of the Northern man to Iins horse. Ste should make the recogititiol of thie light tfull, c"fplete, and ftidisputable." There is one other pi,ee of evidence I will offer upon this point. Franklin Pierce and his Administration are endorsed by the Denlocratic'party. Of course, what he believes then y b eli eve. NOw, to show his position a nd that of the perty Who support him, I twilt read an extract of a letter from nSeintor Eva ns, of South Carolina, recently writ ten and published, recommen ding hhis State to go into the C incinnati Convention. He says: t pretodent Pi er yce i s a soad ab eter ofur owi heart. Both in' words anid dleed4 he comes liarer to our opinions than any ma"l who lial p receded him for the last thirty years' Our vote bay.gi.ve sim the no wnnptio n, and my best judgelt eitis tlt we ought to joiu c in the selection.'' In t he face of thes facts, we hear it proclaimed in th es e llalls, upon the stump, and everywhere, tha t t he )emocr atic party is a national party. Miembers of this Sointhern-sectional party talk with great flippancy about natiornal Democrats," ' national Democracy " and almost in the same breath denounce th e only tr uly na tional p art y in the coguntry as " Bl ack Rep ublicans," sectionalists,. arid fanatics. Black Republicans! Who can: help alliring the tas te of a party wh o, for the owant of argume nt to sustain their cause, resort to the doubtful experiment of dealing in opprobrious epithets? "Black Republi cans I " S;r, let the par t y whose very existence is shrouded by the "black" pall of Egyptian night, first wash oti the "black" stains ot its own pollution, before it d oals ou t c ontemptuous, reproachful terms upon its neighbors. Mr. Cha irman, before closing my remarks, I d esire to notice another charge of a more serious char acter, brought againstthe Republican party. The m emb ers of.this pa rty a re c harg ed w it h being " di.sunionists.' Never was there a charge taor, unfounded, mo re untrue. I call upon gen — tlemer wheo m a ke this groundless assump tion uto br ing oabt your proof or "m back out." But ithvas saisd Ctilt this foor, prior to te organization o f this Hou m,e, that th he distinguished gentleman from Mi bsa.,bal eot r, who with so much ability and in, pkrtiali,'y ]presides over our legisl:ative leliberatiohns b p,el h certain occasion said, t here i'might come a coainghy hen he should be will ing to let the Uiiin slide;" and almost any amount of holy horot was expressed by the Administration memb., s of the ]louse over this rumor. Now, sir,'sup.posing twe honorable Speaker did make tipj qremark-f-,,iiiuh I do not admit-it is no threat of disunion; i'expresses no desire for disunion; and it never c&L ne tortured int'o. the expression of a sentimentfqvrctle to the diseolution of the Union under say contingency., I defy any gentleman tp point mne to a single Republican Convention, in any part of the country, that has ever been holden, where anything like disunion sentiments have been uttered. These c.harges of disunion. against the Republican party, or any of its muembeirs, ashen investigated and. weighed in;the~balance of truth, will all disappear, | like the "baseless fabric ot a vilion." Neither is there anytthing in the political opinions orti pl?atform of the Republicanl puty, that tendsito a 13 -Attotherhunottbk m'~er~frdm Stit'tn"la, noion of cwnstitutional lwP?.i. r, we'nor,-, vUiuLIL,] iia debatein thii'Huonsi on'the 20thi',gret deal of boasting.out "'.Natipnal Deo of eember:t, said: -;: -N'tional Dem,ra-.",4"ese term8, 'Pne.4f the greatest i misfortirnes o~f t'e eountry, r anjiothing bt ts: paty.:lat, in favq. Gie'rk,'istnlt faethat ouF'_l^r'l'hern brief.ren iY,'ake. the of,preadwgS ry into fne terriory. Agai% ehavaraefo lthe. They,suppose tisn-ilbe Southearnd,, dIsua.p0nSts sr~,te fld' to..'the Clhoijn wine of the we sear gent'. men aecleimtng,l~Uad and, long I_e~'~cratic patt;.. Tlat,.ir; isa the gr eke-.i r th:e at aba.olt our c9nstittut ional gationur ehit. tyirau'p. of rib w t; h have er'b-lenf.: it-:: w':when being tl ly ite;rprete,,. mean:cat,,Ing ~atthe 1 ititI Aendt th~ y~srfltd wzltthc,r,t- 8~t}rnaw -ce. yqlen,'sir grr..the free'States,. o6,r'R,ptblicai-pur ", runaway ne; 9e PrfRep oinlc~m our Abolitoxian iomt 0 whatever elst;The.n Eagain. we hear the Repub lcaa. byou e cedt tio know itthaif y(ou restore the denounced Its Black iepublocans lDisunioni, tMis n.Ilomp..nbe, dtor repeal th. e,~gitive s.lave law, Aboitionts..ery.wel, we. understndwhy those "If tlhe bovernmeiit goe's int6o th'e:hans: of thie North reproachful terms are applied'to the Republicans. intO the fands of the ept-hpubla, party, of the Abolition It is simply because thie b, iee in th,,e doctrini party-fbr I like o tings by t'iir tru.e i anm,es - say of the Declaration of Independence that tie Con' If th,Governmes t ge lnt- tlle_nds of th out o ~ i..t. th t...., the Abolitionists of tie North, and they either repeal the stitutiot ethb~di es the great~rrmexges of'personal fugiti ve slave law'or'resorethe Missouri Compromi-e, I ]ibe. ty.it is hbecause they'-s-tix: up the old tell the;Houe4 and I tell the country, that theie will then time honored' platform of Wa'.hington' of'Jeffer-. be union at the,.outh upon this question..". son of kln, o Ln n adson, and m,_:,...: _. _...~ so~~~~~n,- of'Frantikhn,,o'f Lang.dii ~ of, Madis o'n~"'and The.oame gentleman goes.on still- further to all the early ra'thers. Si' could te Father oft say: )' -; his Cointry awe** from the tbfib;'ati4 leave the ' And letme aski g=eteen' fri'the TNorth. iftliis liion quiet retreat~t qf his own;Moount Vertn, and -his s dissolved, who lholds ydour Natiobal Capitol!. But let stately form again revisilt the: national Capitol me say to g,entlemen of the North, you cannot get posses_ barig his nAmeeoaiild the sginte& pirit of the sion of this National Capitol. Th'-Capitol now belong,s to no section: It belongs xmmofot l-Jefferson be reunited to tliedfist thlat alike io North South, Est, and West. But,ir,it was ow reposes amid the'*olitt-des df montiee$, erected uponI save territory, and if the hand of disunion ln, the* nt l shall - ever sever the States of this Republic, you sh al n mngle wth theivln the woul never take pos.essionl of it whllile occupy.:my seat as a both be denounced by this same Democratic party Representative uponi this floor. And nior;, I tell them withcontumelious'opprobikums; theWould both: that when ihe Nori4.and the South sever the connection which now binds them together, the Nor h will never bedenoned Blck Republicans, Abotio takep0sesion of thsCapitol unless they pass over my ists, traitors to this great'Republic, which thi". deadbody." wisdom atd patriotism f6tinded. The gentleman says this Capitol was erected Mr. Chairman, we are gravtly told,'in thit ul on slave territory; and, in case of a dissolution, House and other:pttces, that if the Democratice if'the North get any part of the public plunder, party a/e defeated in the next Pr'esidentikl elee while he' occupies a seat, they will have to' "ss tion,'and the Republican party elect their ecandi, over his dead body." When I- listenebd to this date to the Presideitial chair, th' U'i/4 n U itil'bi rematk, it brought "vividly to my recollection a - disai'ed. Let me say to gentlemen oA the othe' i scene that was witnessed in this same slavehold:f' Side- f the House, not tauntingly, btlt tespetfUil ing territory," in August, 1814, when a handfil ly, in the fite of Your threat, we nshall beat':ti" of British soldiers and sailors, after spending if we can. If we succeed, (as I trust in G6d7 we about amnonth upon the waters oftheCh the Chesapeake shall,) then'I say again, not to menace, but to. landed, and dragging their three pieces of artil- warn yon, Dhsolve'thi tloioU' [,nion if;dare' lery up by hand, over this,.same " slaveholding do it. You have practiced this same game too. territory," applied the torchli to the Capitol, re- long-you have "dissolved the Union" too ma'aj' duced it to a heap of smouldering ruins,, and, times before, to disturb the repose or unsettle the. after destroying outr library and public.archives, nerves of the intelligtht, p atriotiet citi-zens of leisurely re-embarked, and quietly sailed away to thee thirty-one States. Gentlemen, "Othello's other scenes of operation. occupation's gone." Your thundering gasconade, The Democratic State Convention of Alabama, that the "Union will be dissolved," -has'died before ieferred to,, in their fourth resoluttion de- away in harmless accents, and ceases to alarm' ~~~claroe ~~~-, i' even the" fearful and timid. But, if gentlemen "That any interference, hy QConigres for the peteon really" deire to disso1l+e the'Uriol, ihy not' ~: of Stavetty is ae'y of the Terries, would be asn inexcO..:a- sometbing besides taltk and th'reatei'? Why'ot1):e a:,d unconstiiuu.onul inifriug,'me,t Of the rights~of the b ,outh. whach, it is the delilerate geise-ofe t h- ventio egIhWhy not try the fearful eMciient? Yon it,ould t dt f he peop f Albam rt e nee n t watady the: acountof the Repu. a tO aL ISRt';IOtN 09' ttII TIs TItIT BIND TiIS STATE TO To H lican party. We aid as *Illin"to meet you:no: 'u, I a r t y' Y o u Motor#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -,''',-'as at any future'tine, kid settle this question, if This is the party which taunts the Republicans you, wet to try it. res;, gentlemen, we Will with the charge of "disunion." Let this party meet you upon this queostion whentever nd wher-. first " t the beam out of its own eye," beforoe ever you present it.' The Republicans of the. it utiderakes to "oat the mote out of its brother's United Stats, upon this issue,"ha'v but one flag; eye."' -.-. the "stars and stripes." Not one star upon its Where cn you find a Republican Convention floating folds will they ever see bedimmeed or passing resolves deliberately threatening to "' s- blotted out-not one stripe disfigured by the law .. sole te nio," 4fI the p'atiular me~asures of —'less'htind of teason. Th'e'y~have but otnimotto~-. the party ate not adopted, or ifrUi legislation of the ni'etto'transmitted t' tlit'e America~n'p"oeape'by;:: the country shall not happen to conform to their the immrta asko, Th Uno-tmus r cl,l .11 14 15 preserved;" and, like the old hero of the Hermitage, they are, every man of them, ready to "swear by the,ternal' it shall' neerpegish at the hands of any party, North or South. A friend some weeks since placed in my hands a pamphlet, containing the speeches' by the distinguished Senator from California, Mr. Weller,. and of three distinguished gentlemen belongg'i p to this Il House' Colonel Orr'of South, Caro'h'a,n es Spe.aker Cobb of Georgia, and Geheral Laneof Oregone made in,Concord, New.Hampshire,e prior to"the last election in that Stae. Colonelo Orr near' his closing -remirks is repotted'to have Roll back this -,welling tide of Republicanism. If you desire.to save the Uilioli, you must overwtelm it." This sbunds very much like Ccaleb Cushing's, "crushing out." The digtinguished gentleiman calls upon his political friends to "overwhelm Repubblieaniar", Yes, geiitlemne if you. *d d sire to save the Union, you must overwhelm it.'," But how did the descendants of "dolly Starkl,", the unaterrified yeomanry of,the gler'aus old Granite State, respond to this call. Who w-a m ' overwhelmed" in Newr H'ampshire? Wa is itp the "swelling tide.of Republicanism?" No, sir! No,'Sir!'It w'as' "sectional Democracy" "-the legions of the forlorn hope' of-all that- remains of that oncebhonored and re Specttable party, led O'.n by General Pierce-that —-was " overwhelmed." The honest people of that patriotic State "over*helinm" them, buried them up, and with the funereal rites pe rished the list fading hopes of Frsanklin Pi e rc e of a re-election to the Presidency Who was " overwhelmed" i n Riaode Island - a few weeks since, and who in Connectincut a few days, since? Was it the "'swelling. tide of Republicanism-?." No, sir; it was this-:same " sectional Democracy "-a party that has gone so far South, that it has even lost sight of the "North star." But, again, the Republicans are denlounced as 'I agitators I agitators! 1 " Sir, who began this agitatiort? The very: party who now denounce it. YesI' gentlemen Democrats,.you fired "the' Bigot pile," and now, when its roarin'g flames "-nd their ghastly, lurid glare in erery direction a4l over..the whole Union,.you tar'round and denounce your innocent neighbor with.inbeidi arism, when you yourselves applied the smoking torch. Youn havetraised the wvindtd now you must ,"bide the whirlwinid.";' {I But what party contibrtiae agitation upon the Slavery question? Who sends message after message into both Houses of Congre ss, falsifyin g the gr eat truths of history-denouncing the peoplhof the free States, falsely chargi ng them ith numerous derelictions of duty? Who sends. Gqe iraors to Kansas t o en force the bruta l lawI s of a -bogus'-Legislature upon.the squatter sovereign' of that Territor y? What party is n ow moving heaven ind earth to fRreo Slavery into Kansasf against the will of the people of that,d4ex,ot.Ter' ritorv, and in direct violation of an'old compact, to which both: sections' of tRe T Unigor were a party? 1 leave the people and th e country to, answer the se questions. MJr. Chairman, we are deliberately told b. the Admio lstration party, -that if the Missourif hotnpronise is restored, and Kansas made free —-that if tha old compact of 1820 is substantially carried out-it " will be an end of the' Union.?! You make the issue, gentlemen-we accept it. It is a. part Of the mission of the Republican r pairtv to make Kansas a free State; and gentlemen on the o ther side of the Housery h ave chosen Ka nsas as the great battle-ground of Freed om, an d there wae meet you. The designs and purposes of the Rec publican party upon,this vital question are oilikt the " laws of the Medes and Persians," unalti; absle. Our Southern brethren, more than thirty years a&o, for a consideration paid in hand, solemnly agreed that the vast and fertile regions. of Kasan and Nebraska should forever be free terri-. tory-;'and we mean to hold you to the contract.-/ The great Republican party has taken its p si-";, tn. Its banner has been unfurled, and nowproudly floats in the breezes of heaven, while upon its folds are inscribed in golden capitals of iving light-,N-o oMFR TFNRION OF THr FOOT-PRIN'OF: SLAVsR~Y lI"O TPRRE TERRITORY. Around this baitner are rallying the patriotic fiom all sections inl the.Union.; But one spirit animates the great'army of Freedom. Their watchword is" Onward@! oneartd." their battle cry, the soul-stirring words of the im-mortal Henry-'i Give me liberty, or give me death." WASHINGTON, D. C. BUBELL & BLANCHARD. PRINTERS,. 1856. I ..I CIRCULATE THE DOCUMESTS, The Republican Association of WVashington City, in order to afford every facility for a profuse distribution of documents during the campaign, have madeextensive arrangements for publishing speeches and documents favoring the, pciples of the Republican Party, and will furnish them to individuals, or clubs at the bare cost of publication. The following is a list of those already published; and, being stereotyped, we are enabled to supply any number of copies at short notice: List of Documents already published, and which will be kept for sale till the end of tke Campaign. *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - * aP. Freedom National, Slavery.Sectiolial.-Hon. -J. J. Perry. The Army of the United States not to be Employed as a Police to:Enforce the Laws of the Conquerors of Kan sas.-Hon. WV. H. Seward. Modern " Democracy",the Ally of Slavery.-Hon. M. W. Tappan. At $2.50 per 100 o pie s, free of postage. Crime against Kansas.-Hon. Charles Sumner. Report of the Kansacs Investigating Committee. Life of Fremont, illustrated. The Nebra ska Question, co ntaining the Speeche sotfDougi las, Chase,-Sqfith, Everett, Wade, Badger, Sewatrd A Sumner together with the History of the MiCsoprt Compromtse, &e. Price 20 cents, free of p ostage. /Political Map of the United States, designed to exhibit *he X comparative area of the Free and Slave States,-and the Territory open to Slavery by the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. With a comparison of the principal Sta, istics of the Free and Slave States, from the Census of 1850. Hlighly Colored. Price 20 cents, free ofv ootage. At 62 cents per1 O copies, free of post+.. Poor Whites of the South.-,Vestoit. Will the South Dissolve the Unioii?-Weston. The Federal Uiiioii, it mut be Preserved.-Weston. Southern 8lavery reduces Northern Wages.-Weston. Who are Sectional?-WVestoii. Review of the Kansas Minority Report.-Hon. J. Sher man. Reasons for Joining the Republican Party -JJudge Foot. Kansas Colitested Election.-Hoit. J. A. Biugham. Aidmission of Kanrsas.-Hon. G. A. Grow. 0o3itmer's Report and Speech in favor of Free. State Constitutioln for Kansas. Kansas Affairs. —Hon. H. Waldron. )efence of Kansas.-Rev. Henry Ward B-echer. I)efenice of Massachusetts.-Honi A..Burlingame. Privilege of the Representative, Prtiilege of the People. PS Honi.-J. R. Giddiings. - 3 Democratic-Party as it Was and as if Is -Hon. T. C, D)z-~ Thei Humbug and the Reality. -Hon: T. C. Day. W - > Blair's,Letter to the Republiefcn AS-soeiation.:..,; the Slavery Questioi.-L-Hon. J. Allison..:': Slavery Uncoi,stitutionlal.-Hon. A. P. Grang er At $1.25 per 100 copies, free ofpostage. — Kansas in 1856: A complete Histery of the Outrages in Kansas not embraced in the Kansas Committeeal's Re port.-By all Ofilcer of the Commission. Immediate AdmissiOn of Kansas.-Hoi. WV. H. Seward. Admission of Kanias, and the Political Effects of Siave ry. —Hon. H. Bennett. Affairs in Kansas.-Hon. L. Trumbull. Wrongs of Kansas.-Holl. J. P. Hale. Admission of Kansas.-Hon. B F. Wade. State of Affairs in Kansas-Hon. H. Wilson. Admission of Kansas.-Hon. James Harlan.p, The " Laws " of Kanisas.-Hon. Schuyler Colfax., Organizationi of the Free State Government in Kansas, a and Inaugural Address of Governor Robinson. Plymouth Oration.-Hon. W H. Seward. The Dangers of,xtenjding Slavery, and The Contest and the Crisi-; two Speeches in one pamphlet.-Hon. V. H. Seward. Poities of the Country.-Hon. Israel Washburrt. Complaiits of the Extensionists; their Falsity.-Hon. Philemon Bliss. The Slavery Question -Hon. Fdward Vade. Extravagant Expetiditures.-Hon. F Ball. In the German Language. Crime against Kansas.-Hon. Charles Sumner. Price $2.50 per 100. Life of Premont, illustrated. Price $i2.50 per 100. The "Laws" of Kansas.-Hon. Sceliuyler Colfax. Price $1.25 per 100.. The Dangers of rteading Slayery.-Hon. WV. H. Seward. Price $1. 25 per 100. The Contest and the Cri~is.-W. H. Seward. Price *1.25 :> per 100,, -: i'': [Trhe lmmediale Admission of Kansas.-Hon. W. H. Sew[~ arid Price $1.25 per 100. baddress of the National Republican Committee. Price H, $1.25 per 100. Francis P. Blair's Letter to the Republican Association. Price 62 cents per 100. Slavery Unconstitutional.-Hon. A. P. Granger. Price - 62 cee,ns-pr 100I MPoor White; of the South.-G. M. Weston. Price 62 cents per 100. Resort of the Kansas'investigating Committee. Price $2.50 per 100. A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by the th )usand copies. Address L. CLEPHANE, Secretary, Washington, D. C. I K'tt. Affairs in Karisas.-Honi. L Trumbull. Wrongs of Kanisas —Hon. J. P. Hale. Admission of Kansas.-Hon B F. Wade. State of Affairs in Kan sas —Hon H. H. Wilson. Admission of Kansas.-Hon. James Harlan. The "Laws"' of tlatisas.-Hol. Schuyler Colfax. Organizatio-i of the Free S'ate Government in Kansas and Inaugural Address of Governor Robinson. Plymouth Oration.- sfon. WV. H. Seward. The Dang,-ers of',xetC(in,, Slavery, and The Contest and the Crisi.t; two Spee hes in one pamphlet.-Hon. W. H. Seward. Politics of the Country.-Hon. Israel Washburn. Complaitts of the Extensionists, their Falsity.- Hon. Philemon Bliss. 'ite Slave;y Question.-Hon. Edward Wade. xtravagant Expeiiditures.-Hon. E Ball. A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by th thousand copies. address L. CLEPHANE, Secretary, Washington, D. C. 34th CONGRESS,? HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I REPORT 1st Session. No. 200. KANSAS AFFAIRS. JuLY 2, 1856. —" Ordered, That it be referred to the Committee of Elections, and printed; and that leave be given to the minority of said committee to submit a report at any time within ten days, and to take additional testimony; and when submitted, that the same be referred to the Committee of Electionrs, and printed.'' Mr. HOWARD, from the Select Committee, made the following REPORT. The Special Committee appointed to investigate the troubles in the Territory of Kansas, having performed the duties required by the House, beg leave to submit the following report: changed. The whole country was agitated by the reopening of a controversy which conservative men in different sections believed had been settled in every State and Territory by some law beyond the danger of repeal. The excitement which has always accompanied the discussion of the slavery question was greatly increased by the hope, on the one hand, of extending slavery into a region from which it had been excluded by law; and, on the other, by a sense of wrong done by what was regarded as a dishonor of a national compact. This excitement was naturally transferred into the border counties of Missouri and the Territory, as settlers favoring free or slave institutions moved into it. A new difficulty soon occurred. Different constructions were put upon the organic law. It was contended by the one party that the right to hold slaves in the Territory existed, and that neither the people nor the Territorial legislature could prohibit slavery; that that power was alone possessed by the people when they were authorized to form a State government. It was contended that the removal of the restriction virtually established slavery in the Territory. This claim was urged by many prominent men in western Missouri, who actively engaged in the affairs of the Territory. Every movement, of whatever character, which tended to establish free institutions, was regarded as an interference with their rights. Within a few days after the organic law passed, and as soon as its passage could be known on the border, leading citizens o f Missouri c rossed into the Territory, held squatter meetings, and then returned to their homes. Among their resolutions are the following: " That we will afford protection to no abolitionist as a settler of this Territory." "1 That we recognise the institution of slavery as already existing in this Territory, and advise slave holders to introduce their property as early as possi ble." Similar resolutions were passed in various parts of the Territory, and by meetings in several counties of Missouri. Thus the first effect of the repeal of the restriction against slavery was to substitute the re solves of squatter meetings, composed almost exclu sively of citizens of a single State, for the deliberat A journal of proc eed ings, including sundry comtnuni cations ma de t o a nd by the committee, was kept; a c op y of which is her e with submitted. A copy of the testimony has been made and arranged; not according to the order in w hich it was taken, but so a s to tpr esen t as clearly as possible a consecutive history of events in the Territory from its organizati on to the 19th day o f March, A. D., 1856. This copy and the o riginal, with copies of the census rolls and the poll-books of all the elec tions, ar e herewi th submitted. Your comlmit te e deem it their duty to state, as bri efly as possible, the princip al facts proven before them. When the act to organiz e the Territory of K ansas ",a s pas sed on the 30th of May, 1854, the greater portion of its eastern border was included in Indian reserv ations not open for settlements, and there were but few white settlers in any portion of the Territory. Its Indian population was rapidly decreasing, while many emigrants from different parts of our country were anxiously waiting the extinction of the Indian title, and the establishment of a Territorial government, to seek new homes on its fertile prairies. It cannot be doubted that if its condition as a free Territory had been left undisturbed by Congress, its settlement would have been rapid, peaceful, and prosperous. Its climate, its soil, and its easy access to the older settlements, would have made it the favored course for the tide of emigration constantly flowing to the West, and by this time it would have been admitted into the Union as a free State, without the least sectional excitement. If so organized, none but the kindest feelings could have existed between its citizens and those of the adjoining State. Their mutual interests and intercourse, instead of, as now, endangering the harmonv of the Union, would have strengthened the ties of national brotherhood. The testimony clearly shows that before the proposition to repeal the AMissouri compromise was introduced into Congress, the people of western Missouri appeared indifferent to the prohibition of slavery in the Territory, and neither asked nor desired its repeal. When, however, the prohibition was removed by the action of Congress, the aspect of affairs entirely election districts, appointed judges, and prescribed proper rules for the election. In the first, third, eighth, ninth, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, and seven teenth districts there appears to have been but little if any fraudulent voting. The election in the second dictrict was held at the village of Douglas, near fifty miles from the Missouri line. On the day before the election large companies of men came into the district in wagons and on horseback, and declared that they were from the State of Missouri, and were going to Douglas to vote. On the morning of the election they gathered around the house where the election was to be held. Two of the judges appointed by the governor did not appear, and other judges were selected by the crowd; all then voted. In order to make a pretence of right to vote, some persons of the company kept a pretended register of squatter claims, on which any one could enter his name, and then assert he had a claim in the Territory. A citizen of the dis trict, who was himself a candidate for delegate to Congress, was told by one of the strangers that he would be abused, and probably killed, if he chal lenged a vote.(4) He was seized by the collar, called a damned abolitionist, and was compelled to seek protection in the room with the judges. About the time the polls were closed these strangers mounted their horses and got into their wagons and cried out "All aboard for Westport and Kansas City." A number were recognised as residents of Missouri, and among them wae Samuel H. Woodson, a leading lawyer of Independence. Of those whose names are on the poll-books, 35 were resident settlers and 226 were non-residents. The election in the fourth district was held at Dr. Chapuman's, over forty miles from the Missouri State line. It was a thinly settled region, containing but forty-seven voters in February, 1855, when the cen sus was taken. On the day before the election, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty citizens of Cass and Jackson counties, Missouri, came into this district, declaring their purpose to vote, and that -they were bound to make Kansas a slave State, if they did it at the point of the sword.(5) Persons of the party on the way drove each a stake in the ground, and called it a claim; and in one case several names were put on one stake. The party of stran gers camped all night near where the election was to be held, and in the morning were at the election polls and voted. One of their party got drunk, and to get rid of Dr. Chapman, a judge of the election, they sent for him to come and see a sick man, and, in hi.s absence, filled his place with another judge, who was not sworn. They did not deny nor conceal that they; were residents of Missouri, and many of them were recognised as such by others. They declared that they were bound to make Kansas a slave State. They insisted upon their right to vote in the Territory if they were in it one hour. After the election they again returned to their homes in Missouri, camping over night on the way. We find upon the poll-books 161 names; of these not over thirty resided in the Territory, and 131 were non-residents.(6) But few settlers attended the election in the fifth district, the district being large and the settlements scattered. Eighty-two votes were cast; of these be tween 20 and 30 were settlers,(7) and the residue were citizens of Missouri. They passed into the Territory by way of the Santa Fe road, and by the residence of Dr. Westfall, who then lived on the western line of Missouri.(8) Some little excitement ~he gerno divided..the.Territ..ry.into..seventeen (4) John A. Wakefield. (5) Peter Bassinger. (6) Thomas (1) Jourdan Davidsou, J. C. Prince, John Scott, J. H. Hopkins, Reiben Hackett, Perry Fuller, John P. buc ;trilfellow. (2) V. P. Richardson. (3) J. C. Prince. (7) James W. Wilson. (8) Dr. B. C. Westfall. 2 3 the 30th of March, your committee were unable'. procure the attendance ofwitnesses from this district. From the records, it clearly appears that the vetes cast could not have been given by lawful resident voters. The best test, in the absence of direct proof; by which to ascertain the number of legal votes cast is by a comparison of the census-roll with the pole books, by which it appears that but 7 resident settlers voted; and 238 votes were illegally and fraudulently given. The election in the 14th district was held at the house of Benjamin Harding, a few miles from the town of St. Joseph's, Missouri. Before the polls were opened, a large number of citizens of Buchanan county, Missouri, and among them many of the leading citizens of St. Joseph's, were at the place of voting, and made a majority of the company pro sent. At the time appointed by the governor for opening the polls, two of the judges were not there, and it became the duty of the legal voters present to select other judges. Tke judge who was present (13} suggested the name of Mr. Waterson as one of the judges; but the crowd voted down the proposition. Some discussion then arose as to the right of nonresidents to vote for judges, during which Mr. Bryant was nominated and elected by the crowd. Sone one nominated Col. John Scott as the other judge, who was then, and is now, a resident of St. Joseph's, Missouri. At that time he was the city attorney of that place, and so continued until this spring; but he claimed that the night before he had come to the house of Mr. Bryant, and had engaged boarding for a month, and considered himself a resident of Kansas on that ground. The judge appointed by the governor refused to put the nomination of Col. Scott to the vote, because he was not a resident. After some discussion, Judge Leonard, a citizen of Missouri, stepped forward an-d put the vot e himself; and Mr Scott was declare d by him as elected by the crowd, and served as a judge of the election that day. After the election was over he returned to St. Joseph's, and never since has resided in the Territory. It is manifest that this olection of a non-resident lawyer as a judge was imposed upon the settlers b,y the citizens of Missouri. When the board of judges was thus completed, thw voting proceeded; but the effect of the rule adopted by the j udges allo wed manv, if not a majority, of the. non-residents to vote. They claimed that their presence on the ground, especially when they had a claim in the rerritory, gave them a right to vote: and under that construction of the law they readily; when required, swore they were "residents," and then voted. By this evasion, as near as your committee can ascertain from the testimony, as many as 50 illegal votes were cast in this district out of 1530 the whole number polled. The election in the 15th district was held at Penseneau's, on Stranger creek, a few miles from Weston, Missouri. On the day of the election a larg number of citizens of Platte county, but chiefly from Weston and Platte City, Missouri, came in small parties, in wagons and on horseback, to the polls. Among them were several leading citizens of that town- and the names of many of them a given by the witnesses.(14) They7 generally insisted upon their right to vote, on the ground that every sanar having a claim in the Territory could svote, no matter where he lived.(15) All voted who cho~se.No man was challenged or sworn. Some of the residents did not rote. The purpose of the stranlgers in voting was declared to be to make Kansas a Slave (13) Benjamin Hardling. (14) J. B. Crane. Francis M.4 Pattee, John W. lHouse, PhihetsS Skinner, DIN B. Gale. (A~ J. B. C~ranle. arose at the poll s as to the legality of their voting; bu t they did vote for Gen. ohitfield, and said they intended to make Kansas a slave State, and that thleyv had claims in the Territory. Judge Teagle, judge of the court in J acks on county, Missouri, was present, but did not vote.(9) He said he did not intend votingu, bu t came to see that otkers voted. A fter the election, the Missourians returned the way they came. Th e election in the s ixth district was held at Fort Scott, in th e s outh-east part of the Territory, and n ea r the Missouri line. A party of about one hundre d men from Cuss county, and the counties in Nissouri south of it, went int o the Territory, travelling about 45 miles, most of them with their wagons and telnt s, and camping out. They appeared at the place of election. Some attempts were made to swear them, but two of the judges were prevailed upon not to do so, and none were sworn, and as many as chose vo ted. Th ere were but few resident voters at the polls. The se ttlement was sparse; about 25 actual se ttlers voted out of 105 votes ceast, leaving 80 illegal votes.(10) After th ot n g a o e the voting w over, the Missourians went t o their wagons and comm enced leaving for home. The mos t shameless fraud practised upon the rights of th e settlers at this election was in th e seventh district. Itis a remote settlement, about seventy-five miles from the Missouri line, a nd contained, in Febrtaary, A. D. 1855, thre e months afterwards, when t he census was taken, bu t 53 v oter s; and yet the poll-books show tha t 60 4 votes w er e cast. The election was held at the hous e of Frey McGee, at a plac e called "o110." But few of the actual settlers were pre s ent a t the polls.(1gI) A witness, who formerly resided in Jackson county, Missouri, and was well acquainted with t he citizens of that county, (12) satys that he saw a great many wagons and tents at the place of election, and many individuals hle knew fr om Jackson county. He was in their t ents, and conv ersed wi th some of them, and they told him they had come with the int ention of vot ing. Ile w.ent to the polls, intending to vote for Flennigan; but his ticket being of a diffqrent color from the rest, his vote was challenged by Frey McGee, who had been appointed one of the judges, but did not serve.Lemuel Ralston, a citizen of Missouri, was acting ill his place. The witness then challenged the vote of a young man by the name of Nolan, whom he knew to reside in Jackson county. Finally, the thing was hushed up, as the witness had a good many friends there from that county, and it might have led to a fight if he challenged any more votes. Both voted; and he then went down to their camnp. He there saw many of his old acquaintances, who he knew had voted at the election in August previous in Missouri, and who still resided in that State. By a careful comparison of the poll-lists with the census rolls, we find but 12 names on the poll-book who were voters when the census was taken, three months afterwards; and your committee are satisfied that not more than 20 legal votes could have been polled at that election. The only residents who are known to have voted are named by the witness, and are 13 in number; thus leaving 584 illegal votes cast in a remote district, when the settlers within many miles were acquainted with each other. The total number of white inhabitants in the 11th district in the month of February, A. D. 1855, including mnen, women, amd children, was 36, of whom 24 are voters. Yret the poll-lists in this district show that 245 votes were cast at this election. For reaons stated hereafter, in regard to the election on (9) J. W. Wilson. (10) J. C. Prince. (11) lMatthias A. Re~!. (12) William F. Johlnst,one. 4 The above abstract exhibits the whole number of votes at this election for each candidate, the num b er of legal and illegal votes cast in each district, and the number of legal voters in each district the February following. Thus your committee find that in this, the first election in the Territory, a very large majority of the votes were cast by citizens of the State of Missouri, in violation of the organic law of the Territory. Of the legal votes cast, General Whitfield received a plurality. The settlers took hut little interest in the election, not one-half of them voting. This may be accounted fbr from the fact that the set tlements were scattered over a great extent, that the term of the delegoate to be elected was short, and that the question offree or slave institutions was not generally regarded by them as distinctly at issue. Under these circumstances, a systematic invasion from an adjoining State, by which large numbers of illegal votes were cast in remote and sparse settlements, for the avowed purpose of extending slavery into the Territory, even though it did not change the result of the election was a crime of great magnitude. Its immediate effect was to further excite the people of the northern States, and exasperate the actual settiers against their neighbors in Missouri. In January and February, A. D. 1855, the governor caused an enumeration to be taken of the inhabitants and qualified voters in the Territory, an abstract of which is here given. and it was with great difficulty that the settlers and pulled hack. He then went outside of the of these who did not know him said, "The&s a ~,. 1D 62 3 3391 369 21 316 203 199 3; 161! 91. 101 41 106 71 47 51 824 583 442 6 49;2 318l 253 7 36 53 81 561 27! 39 9 61 251 36 10o 97 541 63 1ii 33 3i 24 Ii,2 1041 401 78 ]31 168 1161 96 141 655 512! 334 15 492 381 308 16 708 475 385 17 91 59 50 18 59 401 28 ..5128 338312905 459 23, 112 97 724 418 50 28 31 61. 5 35 145 .... 448 514 54 51 C. W. Babcock... Q. H. 1Hrown..... T. W. Hayes..... O. B. Dorialdson.. WVm. Barbee...... Do.......... J. B. McClure.... Do.......... M. F. Conway.... Do.......... B. H. Twoibly.. l 1Do......... H. B. Jolly........ Albert WVeed..... H. B. Jolly....... Chas. Leitl....... Alex. O. Jolhnson. B. H. I'Twombly... Total......... r~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ 038176I01l98~ . Abstract of7 census and election of November 29, 1854. PlacerS voting. 1 2 2, 13 Lawrence.........6 1... 4671 188 51B151o 300 369 3001 a 2 Doiglas............ 23.. 25'10 6[.w b1 199 ao 35t 2 .3 Stnsot s.............. 9..4 47301....3 41 Dr. Chapuahi's..... 140' 21 21.. 161 47 3G 131 3~~~~~~~~ 11 H. Slleri( A.Lands......Landis. ad6 4p u15........ es o h e 44o that 50 6 Fort Scot........ x05 i 105 253 2 80 71............. 64 584 8! Council Grove 1.......... 16 39 16.... 9! Reyni old(s'....9..... 311.. 40 36 40..... 10V Big Blute Cross.......2..6..9.. 37 63 37...6 It{ Maryi 237.... 2245 24 7 238 WI wartords 31 9.... 1 41 78 41.... 131 Oawkie............. 69 1 1.. 71 96 71.... 14 Hardinig's........... 130.... 23. 153 334 103 50 151 iPetseno........... 267. 39 306 308 1(J 206 161 Leavenworth::-,,.... --. 80 312 385 150 162 171 Shawnee Agency... 49.... 13 62 50 62.... .............................................. .... Total........t248 305 2833 2905 1114 1729 (17) George H. Keller and Jolhn A. Landis. (18) George H. Keller. (19) J A. Landis, L. J. Eastin. (20) J.(A. Landis. (16) H. B. Gale. On the same day that the census was completed, the governor issued his proclamation for an election to be held on the 30th of March, A. D. 1855, for members of the legislative assembly of the Territory. It prescribed the boundaries of districts, the places for polls, the names of judges, the apportionment of members, and recited the qualification of voters. If it had been observed, a just and fair election would have reflected the will of the people of the Territory. Before the election, false and inflammatory rumors were busily circulated among the people of western Missouri. The number and character of the emigration then passing into the Territory were grossly exaggerated and misrepresented. Through the active exertions of many of its leading citizens, aided by the secret society before referred to, the passions and prejudices of the people of that State were greatly excited. Several residents there have testified to I I I 88-, 751... 506 191 1 2151: 121... 169, 2 1 1385i 2-2 i 27 79'.: 121 1 1 76, 13 66 12 14 iosi 23... 30! 6... logi 37 i 273 9 1 4 3011 46 1 846: 1 6 1 5 1042104 4 8 14 3' 5 4 97 ; I -i — 7161,408 151 1 m ... 7 6 1 26 11 I 10 3 7 14 35 15 33 23 1912 E 962 519 2-52 I146-' sio lis 83 86 151 36 144 284 1167 $73 1183 150 99 ml 3469 ELECTION OF MARCH 30, 1855. 5 the character of the reports circulated amongot andan credited by the people. These efforts were success ful. By an organized movement, which extended from Andrew county in the north, to Jasper coulnt in the south, and as far eastward as Boone and Col counties, Missouri, companies of men were arranged in irreoular parties and sent into every council dittric in the Trritory, and into every representative distric but oae. The numbers were so distributed as to con trol the election in each district. They went to vote and with the avowed design to make Kansas a slav State. They were generally armed and equipped carried with them their own provisions and tents and so marched into the Territory. The details of this invasion form the mass of the testimony take r by your comini:tee, and is so voluminous that w can here state but the leading facts elicited. it wv s not hing more than right that the Missouri should have the other one to look after their int ests;, (10) ad Robert A. Cummins was elected Blantoan's stead, because he considered that evB man had a right to vote if he had been in the Te. tory but an hour.(11) The Missourians brought their tickets w them; (12) but not having enough, they had' more printed in Lawrence on the evening bef, and on the day of election.(13) They had wh ribbons in their button-holes to distinguish the selves from the settlers. When the voting commenced, the question of legality of the vote of a Mr. Page was raised. fore it was decided, Col. Samuel Young stepped to the window where the votes were received, a said he would settle the matter. The vote of A Page was withdrawn, and Col. Young offered vote. He refused to take the oath prescribed the governor, but swore he was a resident of i Territory; upon which his vote was received.(1 He told Mr. Abbot, one of the judges, when as' if he intended to make Kansas his future home, tY it was none of his business; that if he were a rat dent then, he should ask no more.(16) After' vote was received, Col. Young got up on the wri dow-sill, and announced to the crowd that he h been permitted to vote, and they could all come and vote.(17) He told the judges that tkere - no use in swearing the others, as they would swear as he had done. (18) After the other judg had concluded to receive Col. Young's Vote, IN Abbott resigned as judge of election, and Mr. BP jamin was elected in his place.(19) The polls were so much crowded until late the evening, that for a time when the men had v ted they were obliged to get out by being hoist up on the roof of the building where the electi. was being held, and pass out over the house.([ Afterwards, a passage-way through the crowd w made by two lines of men being formed, throiiwhich the voters could get up to the polls.(~ Col. Young asked that the old men be allowed go up first and vote, as they were tired with travelling, and wanted to get back to camp.(22) The Missourians sometimes came up to the po in procession, two by two, and voted.(23) During the day the Missourians drove off l ground some of the citizens-Mr. Stearns, Mr. Bor and lMr. Willis.(24) They threatened to shoot A Bond, and a crowd rushed after him, threatentl him; and, as he ran from them, some shots w.f fired at him as he jumped off the bank of the riv and made his escape.(25) The citizens of the tow. went over in a body late in the afternoon, when t' polls had become apparently clear, and voted.(26.) Before the voting had commenced, the Missourilt said if the judges appointed by the governor d not receive their votes they would choose otb. juidges.(27) Some of them voted several timr changing their hats or coats and coming up to t. (10) S. N. Wood. (11) R. A. Cummins, Norman All,S. N. Wood, C. S. Pratt, J. B. Abbott. (12) C. W. Babcoo' Robert Elliott. (13) Robert Elliott. (14) G. W. Deitzlc (15) E. D. Lad:l, Norman Allen, S. W. Ward, C. S. Pra; J. B3. Abbot. (16) Norman Allen, J. B. Abbot. (17) F.. X Ladd, Norman Allen, S. N. Wood, C. S. Pratt, J. B3. Abb, (18) C. W. Babcock, J. B. Abbot. (19) (C. W. Babcock,,. N. Wood, C. S. Pratt, J. B. Abbot. (20) E. D. Ladd, No man Allen, C. W. Babcock, Lymean Allen, J. M. Bankr(21) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, Lymeant Allenl. (22) Lyms. Allen, E. D. Ladd. (9.3) E. D. Ladd~ Ira W. Acile: (2v4) E. D. Ladd, C. W. Babcock, Lymeant Allen, S. N. Won. N. B. Blanton, John Doy, J. Davidson, Charles Robinsor ('252 E. D. Ladd, C. W. Babcock, Lymean Allen, S. N. SWoo,4 N.. B.. Blanton, J. Davidson, Dr. Joh n Doy. ("~') E. D. Ladd C. Robinson, A. B. Wade, A. Whitlock, A. M. Banlks, H. W Buckley. 0W/) G. W. Deitzler. The company of persons who marched into this district was collected in Ray, Howard, Carroll, Boone, Lafayette, Randolph, Macon, Clay, Jackson, Saline, and Cass counties, in the State of Missouri. Their expenses were paid; those who could not comne, contributing provisions, wagons, &c. (1) Provisions were deposited for those who were ex pected to come to Lawrence, in the house of Wil liamn Lykins, and were distributed among the Mis sourians after they arrived there.(2) The evening before, and the morning of the day of election, about 1,000 men from the above counties arrived at Law rence, and camped in a ravine a short distance from town, near the place of voting. They came in wa gons (of which there were over 100) and on horse back, under the command of Col. Samuel Young, of Boone county, Missouri,'and Claiborne F. Jack son, of Missouri. They were armed with guns, rifles, pistols, and bowie-knives; and had tents, music, and flags with them.(3) They brought with them two pieces of artillery, (4) loaded with musket balls.(5) On their way to Lawrence some of them met Mr. N. B. Blanton, who had been appointed one of the judges of election by Gov. Reeder, and, after learning from him that he considered it his duty to demand an oath from them as to their place of residence, first attempted to bribe him, and then threatened him with hanging, in order to induce him to dispense with that oath. In consequence of these threats he did not appear at the polls the next morning to act as judge.(6) The evening before the election, while in camp, the Missourians were called together at the tent of Capt. Claiborne F. Jackson, and speeches were made to them by Col. Young and others, calling for volun teers to go to other districts where there were not Missourians enough to control the election, as there were more at Lawrence than were needed tbere.(7) Many volunteered to go, and on the morning of the election several companies, from 150 to 200 each, went off to Tecumseh, Hickory Point, Bloomington, and other phces.(8) On the morning of the elec tion the Missourians came over to the place of voting from their camp, in bodies of 100 at a time.(',) Mr. Blanton not appearing, another judge was appointed in his place; Col. Young claiming that, as the people of the Territory had two judges,. (1) F. P. Vaugliaii, Jourdan Davidson. (2) Wm. Yates, C. W. BIabcock, Dr. John Doy. (3) E. D. Ladd, Norman Allen, William Yates, Wm. B Hornsby, G. W. Deitzler, C. X WV. Babcock, Lyman Allen, S. NWood. E. Chipman, Ro e.. l)ert Elliott, N. B. Blanton. Jourdan Davidson, Win. Lyon, J. B. Abbot J. W. Ackley, Dr. John Doy, A. B. Wade, John ( M. Banks, A. W. Buckley. (4) E. Chapman, Jourilan Da- N vidson. (5) E. Chapman. (6) N. B. Blanton. (7) Nelman ( Allen, J. Davidsoni. (8) N. Allen, Win. Gates, W. B. N Hornesby. C. WV. Bibcock. S. N. Wood, J. Davidson, A. B. Wade. (9' E. D. L,add. FIRST DISTRIcT.-Lawrence. 6 persons came into the Territory in March before the election, from the northern and eastern States, intending to settle, who were in Lawrence on the day of election. At that time many of them had selected no claims, and had no fixed place of residence. Such were not entitled to vote. Many of them became dissatisfied with the country. Others were disappointed at its political condition, and.in the price and demand for labor, and returned. Whether any such voted at the election, is not clearly shown; but from the proof, it is probable that in the latter part of the day, after the great body of MIissourians had voted, some did go to the polls. The number was not over fifty. These voted the free-State ticket. The whole number of names appearing upon the poll-lists is 1,034. After full examination, we are satisfied that not over 232 of these were legal voters, and 802 were non-residents and illegal voters. This district is strongly in favor of making Kansas a free State, and there is no doubt that the free-State canAdidates for the legislature would have been elected te)y large majorities if none but the actual settlers had voted. At the preceding election in November, 1854, where none but legal votes were polled, General Whitfield, who received the full strength of the pro-slavery party, (45) got but forty-six votes. SECOND DISTRICT.-BloontinDgon. On the morning of election the judges appointed by the governor appeared and opened the polls. Their names were Harrison Burson, Nathaniel Ramsay, and Mr. Ellison. The Missourians began to come in early in the morning, some 500 or 600 of them in wagons and carriages, and on horsebacl, under the lead of Samuel J. Jones, then postmaster of Westport, Missouri; Claiborne F. Jackson and Mr. Steeley, of Independence, Missouri. They were armed with double-barreled gunlis, rifles, bowieknives, and pistols, and had flags hoisted.(I) They held sort of an informal election off at one side, at first for governor of Kansas Territory, and shortly aft erwards announced Thomas Johnson, of Shawnee Mission, elected governor (2) The polls had been opened but a short tilie, wlhen Mr. Jones marched swith tie (mrowd up to the window and demanded that thee should be allow ed to vote, without swearinr as to their resid(lence.(3.) After some noisy and thrteaiteniiin talk, Clait)oriie F. Johnson addressed the crow d, sa ing the) had come there to vote; that they had a right to vote if they had been there but five miniutes, ald he was not willing to go home withullolt votilng; which was received with cheers.(4) Jackson then called upon them to form into little bands of 15 or 20, which they did,(5) and went to an ox wagon filled with guns, which were distribu ted among them,(6) and proceeded to load some of them on the grounid.(7) In pursuance of Jackson's request, they tied white tape or ribbons in their button-holes, so as to distin guish them from the " abolitionists."(8) They agaiia demanded that the judges should resignq and upon their refusing to do so, smashed in the window, sash and all, and presented the.r pistols and guns to thein, threatening to shoot them.(9) Some one on the outside cried out to them not to shoot, Is there were proDslavery men in the house with the judges.(10) ndow again.(28) Th ey said they intended to v ote st, and after they had got through the others could te.(29) Some of the m claimed a rioght to vot e der the organic act, from the fact that their mere esence in the Territory constituted them residents, such they were from Missouri, and had homes in ssotiri.(30) Others said they had a right to vote cause Kants,as belonged to Missouri, and people -m the East had no right to settle in the Territory d vote there.(31) They said they came to the Territory to elect a islatture to suit themselves, as the people of the . ritory and persons from the East and the North nted to elect a legislature that would not suit m.(t32) They said they had a right to make nsas a slave State, because the people of the North ,I sent persons out to make it a free State.(33) me claimed that they had heard that the Emigrant d Society had sent men out to be at the election, d they came to offset their votes; but the most of vm made no such claim. Col. Young said he r.nted the citizens to vote, in order to give the :etion some show of fairness.(34.) The Missourians said there would be no difficulty the citizens did not interfere with their voting; t they were determined to vote peaceably, if they uld, but vote any how.(35) They said each one them was prepared for eight rounds without loadg, and would go to the ninth round with the tcher-knife.(36) Some of them- said that bv voting the Territory they would deprive themselves of e righlIt to vote in Missouri for twelve months after.rds.(37) The Missourians began to leave the afternoon of e day of election, though some did not go home ,til the next morning.(38) In many cases, when wagon-load voted they iimmediately started for -me.(39) On their way home thev said that if overnor Reeder did not sanction the election they ould hang him.(40) Tile citizens of the town of Lawrence, as a general ing, were not armed on the day of election, though me had revolvers, but not exposed as were the — i-s of the Missourians.(41) They kept a guard ,out the town the night after the election, in consenence of the threats of the Missourians, in order to -otect it.( 42 ) The pro-slavery men of the district attended the Iminating conventions of the free-State men, and oted for, and secured the nominations of, the men ,ey considered the most obnoxious to the free-State .rty, in order to cause dissension in that party. ~3.) Quite a number of.settlers came into the district feoie the day of election, and after the census was -ken.(44) According to the census returns, there ere then in the district 369 legal voters. Of those ;hose names are on the census returns, 177 are to A fbund on the poll-books of the 30th of Mareh, 855. Mlessrs. Ladd, Babcock, and Pratt testify to ty-five names on the poll-bo voting. 0', all J-' Banks 781 Dr. Chapmyian's....... 47 97 17' Shiawnee MVisgionD... 50...... 2' Lawrence............ 269 369 ' 3 2 Bloomington.......... 212 212 4 Tecumseh............ f,l 101 : 7I 8. B. Titus........... 53 J a o ,,l Council Grorv....... 39...... 66Fort Scott............ 253 "9531 75Bull Creek~........... 442 44.2 ............ 343 - -1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..-,-, 0'- a.' 0~~~~~~~-~0, a5 -"a 9..... 25............. t 4 ............ 346...... 48.................. 0 ~ Rork Creek.. do............... 3....:...... 317 St0 Mary'............ 19...... 7................... do............. 9............ 14...28... I..6160 o....61 160:::;'.'. p ............... 4 W....... W.. 13.......2 2 1BA.......4.................I......1 0 4 8 12 2307......i.... D .........................is.... ..66''' 4 ~126......................... l~ 4 -............ Free Sta ndidates. ....... NI. I-'. M.......... tt ............ do............. 4-) ........ do)...........2 ............ (to............. 1 83 468 2............... BI 9 L.6 J. at............... i..... 7 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr..' Chapman............................ 41 7.............. 4..............63. 41..... ii... B.H.. T — -woiibly........ 6 4 A Jecumiee............... r 6 7 I s.......'5womby3 1..W 0..... 8119 A.CJ.,hitney........... 59 6 6ree S tate ca ndidates. 77...... A.FP. P~owell......... 43 129.......do............. 7Al e...... Jo h n Hutc hi nson..... 78-1...... E.DI Ladd...... 781 781 P.P. Adl m I ore 9I.. a318...... Isaac Davis........... 318 318 E.GC. Mact(y.......... 366 366 C. K. fi-llidaiy... ~ 210...... A. J. Ba,ker.......... 1'2 2-22 It. Ric................ 3915...... A. J. Ba,ker........... 313 315 Jino. Ilaiiiltoni....... 377...... W,-Ym. Marg~raves...... 375...... John,S,erpctl!I.......... ,37...... Atdamn Pore........... .377:377 S, II. Hioiis.r..... 65.a.. 65........... :::':............... 6b................... ...... 10 20....... P-o-sla very candidates A AS. Johnso,n......... .......do.............. 3Wams iitloek...... J. M. Banks........... A. -B. Wade.......... !2 G. W. Ward......... O. H1. Brown......... I D. L. Croysdale...... ~N W McGee........ ...... do............. '"" os. C. Anderson..... S. A. Williams....... 4 W.'A. Hlas!Rell....... Allen ikisn... Hlenry Youinger....... -Samuel et.... Pro-slavery candidates. Wm. Barbeet........ John Donalds~oni........: ........ ~t.0)............. ........ do............. ........ do............. ........ do............. John W. Foreman..... ........ do............ ........ do0............. W. P. Richardson-..... D. A. M. Grover...... R. R. Re e s............ L. J. Eastiin........... R. R. Rees............ L. J. Eastin........... c; ;._ .rn =._1 380 191 ~.. _"._C I c c - *_ i' 1.0 ,.2 ..... 896 75 69 236 Pro-slave,ry. c d;as a - a a CC Precincl~~ aid place of C C p.y1caCdidates. - a,a c - -._. . = ~ VVWin. A. Haskell..... 198...... Allen Wilkinson...... 8...... Henry Younger....... 198,.. Sam,uel Scott......... l18 198 BWn. A. Haskell........... Allen Wilkinsoi...... 4...... THenry Younger....... 7,1....... Sanmuel Scott.......... 74 74 Nl Sm. A. Haskell.................3 Allen Wilkirisoni....... 2 3o5 Henry Younger....... 35........ 35 Samnuel Scott...........5 684 Russell Garrett. J.............. 1 Rke.....I.........Ido........ 59 1 ............do.............. o41 Fr. J. Mairshalll......... 3.8.. .a. I 15:2 1._5 ' C ...... ....... ::..... ......: ......: ....... ....,5.. ..... I- I c., .> i I o I aq oz! i ,.';lofslave!~- ca_ i _d.tts. I i 6a iIs Precincts and place of 5' voting. C a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. — a 12 Silver Lake..........9 78 S t. M3ary' s.......F...... 13 Hickory Point........1 83 14 Wolf River........... Doniphan..... 18 Nemeha.............. 28 14 Burr Oak............. 215 15..........................208 16m Leavenw,,orth......... 385 .. a _ 5 O._ 0 tv o. ...... ...... ...... ...... 215 208 .. O.W 1.G a. ,e.w I._ I._ 6 - O6. 1. o .2 .5._ ' O_;4 1 .-o C Ca C C C Caa C Is to Is Is 16 16 16 16 16 ...... 7 321.........7...... 370 1 y46...... 53 321 1 242 12 230 12 230 1 H o......... W 7 2............................. 1.............................. 5... a7 2.................. .n....................................... .................. 1........... 140 166...... 14.................. 4616. ................................. 417....... Rj 1............................ H. MBcCartne y........ ...... do............9 C. Hard............. G. A. Cutler......... John Landis.......... J. Ryan.............. G. A. Cutler......... John Landis.......... Joel Ryan............ G. A. Cutler......... John Landis.......... John Fee............. ........................ Felix G. Braden...... Samuel France....... F. B rowni.i,.......... i I i i I i I I I i i ;s .Z c, :-,. I - 1. ,z , 1;4 z 7 'C ll I 1. I i z t, 1 8 "I c; 9 - E , j .E' -.1' "I 8 0 E...... .....: ...... ...... ...... ..5. ...... 7 6 .z '5 - .t -z It, 1. .12 1 6 13 ...... 73 ...... ...... ...... 75 59 23 a. II-. ,z t .:El '5 -. i;,. g I a3 0 6 1. ..... .....: ...... ...... ...... ...... l ............ ............ 630 10 .L I z .2 I ;el 5 c ...... E .2 . 5 - 9 t -a 6 9 61 54 64 612 17 16 17 17 62 62 64 66 56 43 21 Free State -— andidates. li -E I z 11 m 7 6 .... 4 .... ..6. Win. Jennings J,,Ii,i Serl)ell.......... Adam P,)re.......... S. 11. Houser......... W!4i. Jennings Jolin Serpell.......... Ad,iiii ]'(,re........... S. 11. Houser......... Wm. Jennings Jolin Serpell.......... A(lam Pore........... S. 11. Houser......... Wm. Jennings S. D. Houston ...... (10.............. ...... do.............. ..... i Little Sagar Creck................ Pawnee.............. 36 99 Big Bltie.............. 63...... Rock Creek................. ........................ 24, ..... 9 1 9 i I 1 I cn M;3 ,I;I '.9 I -1 , ,2 -, t, 6 11 I .11, I z-:,z I 6 ;4 9 10 11 .E. -z: - ll =;G .5 t:z Z, e. =. E 5 . Z e. 1. -I .4 I r '8.2 C'. 15 ti I m I .2 I-. 0 I I 8 0 El I I t. C. I' 4 Is 0 0 0 E. IE. . L '5.!4 4 7.' o .- t '2 0 6 6. .E. I I 8 0, 6 ..j z, . I ,..2 a c; ;4 Free Stite caildidatcs. 12'' 4 i'4'i .117 2.17 1 57 52 i...... 313 I...... ...... 29.2. 48.:'.:''. 50 420 2,56... 41.2 1....... 4 1'2 41 899...... 899 I...... i 895 -' 8 9i'. ... ...... ...... ...:.. ...... ...... 54 303 :..... 59 I 6 .6i. 1410 .... 328 11 24P 78 346 166 ..iii. I Fr. J. Marsball....... ...... do.............. Wi-n. H. Tibbs....... John H. StriiigfelloNv.. R. L. Kirk............ J. 1-1. Stringfellow..... ]Z. f,. Kirk............ ............ Joel P. Blair.......... Thos. W. Water,,oii.. H. B. C. flarris...... J. Wedd,,ll........... Wni. G. Tffathias..... H. B. Archy I;,.-ae.......... 19 7 3 15 8 8 30 211 18 14 13 2 .... 5 59 59 12 13 14 385 16 Your committee report the following facts not the history of our government, by which an organ shown by the tables: ized force from one State has elected a legislature for ()f the 2.9Q5 voters named in the census rolls, 831 another State or Territory, and as such it should are found on the poll-books. Some of the settlers have been resisted by the whole executive power of were prevented from attending the election by the the national government. distance of their homes from the polls, but the great Your committee are of the opinion, that the con m.jo)rity were deterred by the open avowal that large stitution and laws of the United States have invested bodies of armed Missourians would be at the polls to the President and the governor of the Territory with vote, and by the fact that they did so appear and ample power for this purpose. They could only act control the election. The same causes deterred the after receiving authentic information of the facts freeState settlers from running candidates in several' but when received, whether before or after the cer districts, and in others induced the candidates to tificates of election were granted, this power should withdraw. have been exercised to its fullest extent. The poll-books of the 2d and 8th districts were It is not to be tolerated that a legislative body thus lost, but the proof is quite clear that in the 2d dis- selected should assume or exercise any legislative trict there were thirty, and in the 8th district thirty- functions; and their enactments should be regarded eight legal votes, making a total of eight hundred as null and void. Nor should the question of its and ninety-eight legal voters of the Territory whose legal existence as a legislative body be determined by names are on the census returns. And yet the proof, itself, as that would be allowing the crimrinal to in the state in which we are obliged to present it, judge of his own crime. after excluding illegal votes, leaves the total vote of In section 22d of the organic act it is provided, 1,410, showing a discrepancy of 512. The discre- that "the persons having the highest numberof legal pancy is accounted for in two ways: First, the votes in'each of said council districts for members of coming in of settlers before the March election, and the council, shall be declared by the governor to be after the census was taken, or settlers who were duly elected to the council, and the persons having omitted in the census; or, secondly, the disturbed the highest number of legal votes for the House of state of the Territory while we were investigating Representatives shall be declared by the governor the elections in some of the districts, thereby pre- duly elected members of said house." The procla venting us from getting testimony in relation to the mation of the governor required a verified notice of names of illegal voters at the time of election. a contest, when one was made, to be tiled with him If the election had been confined to the actual set- within four days after the election. Within that tiers, undeterred by the presence of non-residents, or time he did not obtain information as to force ot the knowledge that they would be present in num- fraud in any except the following districts; and iD bers sufficient to outvote them, the testimony indi- these there were material defects in the returns of cates that the council would have been composed of election. Without deciding upon his power to set seven in fitvor of making Kansas a free State, elected aside elections for force or frand, they were set aside from the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 6th council districts. for the following reasons The result in the 8th and 10th, electing three mem- In the 1st district, because the words " by lawful bers, would have been doubtful, and the 5th, 7th, resident voters" were stricken fromn the return. and 9th would have elected three pro-slavery mem- In the 2d district, because the oath was adminisbers. tered by G. W. Taylor, who was not authorized to Under like circumstances the House of Represen- administer an oath. tatives would have been composed of fourteen mem- In the 3d district because material erasures from bers in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected the printed form of the oath were purposely made from the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th In the 4th district, for the same reason. representative districts. In the 7th district, because the judges were not The result in the 12th and 14th representative dis- sworn at all. tricts, electing five members, would have been doubt- In the 11th district, because the returns show the ful; and the 1st, 6th, 11th, and 15th districts would election to have been held viva voce instead of by have elected seven pro-slavery members. ballot. By the election as conducted, the pro-slavery can- In the 16th district, because the words "by lawful did.ates in every district but the 8th representative residents" were stricken from the returns. district received a majority of the votes; and several Although the fraud and force in other districts of them, in both the council and house, did not was equally great as in these, yet, as the governor "reside in" and were not "inhabitants of" the dis- had no information in regard to them, he issued certrict for which they were elected, as required by the tificates according to the returns. organic law. By that act, it was declared to be "the true intent ELECTION OF MAY 22, 1855. and meaning of this act to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic The election to fill the vacancies caused by the institutions in their own way, subject to the consti- action of the governor was held on the 22d of May, iution of the United States." So careful was Conl- 1855. There was no illegal voting at that election -ress of the right of popular sovereignty, that to except in the 16th district, at Leavenworth. For ecure it to the people, without asingle petition from that district the pro-slavery party, while p)ublicly u-nv portion of the country, they removed the restric- refusing to acknowledge the legality of that election ion against slavery imposed by the Missouri corm- not only voted, but a large number of the citizens of ,romise. And yet this right, so carefully secured, Missouri came over and voted as at the previous was thtis by force and fraud overthrown by a por- election.(I) The najorityof the judres decided that Thle striking difference between this republic and was to have some one say he had some interest in .ther republics on this continent is not in the pro- the Territory.(2) No one was sworn that day, or isions of constitutions and laws, but that here even challenged.(3) The steamboat Kate Kassel hanges in the administration of those laws have ceo made peacefully and quietly through the bal- WFranc. Adam Fisher. (3) Matt. France, W. H. Adams A. st-box. This invasion is the first and only one in Fisher. 17 .me up, and men from her came ashore and vo- citizens of Missouri to march into the Territory te :d.(4) MAany free-State men did not vote that meet and repel the alleged eastern paupers and aboay.(5) One of the free-State judges desired the litionists, is fully proven by many witnesses. ords by lawful resident voters " to be stricken out But neither of these charges is sustained by the f the return before he would sign it,(6) and only proof. hned the return with those words in under a mis- In April, 1854, the general assembly of Mlassachbpprehension.(7) It is impossible for your commit- setts passed an act entitled "An act to incorporate -.e accurately to decide which party would have had the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society." The ob majority of the legal votes of the district, had no ject of the society, as declared in the first section of legal votes been polled, on account of the difficulty this act, was " for the purpose of assisting emigrants f determining who were legal and who were illegal to settle in the West." The nominal capital of the oters at that election. corporation was not to exceed five millions of dollars, but no more than four per cent. could be assessed l.bstract of the returns of the election of May 22, 1855. during the year 1854, and no more than ten per c .during the year 1854, andl no more than ten per cent. No. of Places of Pro-slavery Free-State in any one year thereafter. No organization was istrict. Voting. Votes. Votes. Secatt'g. Total. perfected or proceedings had under this law. 1....Lawreace...... — 258 18 306 I2... Douglas......- 127 - 127 On the 24th day of July, 1854, certain persons in 3... Stinson's....... 148 1 149 Boston, Massachusetts, concluded articles of agree 7.... 110".......... 66 13 79 ment and association for an Emigrant Aid Society. 8....Cuncil Grove. 33 - 33 The purpose of this association was declared to be, ~16.... Leavenworth...5"0 140 15 715 assisting emigrants to settle in the West." Under Total.......560 802 47 1409 these articles of association each stockholder was in Your committee have felt it to be their duty, not dividually liable. To avoid this difficulty an appli-oly to inquire into and collect evidence in regard to cation was made to the general assembly of Massa)rce and fraud attempted and practised at t he elec- chusetts for an act of incorporation, which was 'ons in the Territory, but also into th e facts and granted. O.n the 21st day of February, 1855, an act ,retex t s by which this force and fra ud have b een was passed to incorporate the ltew England Emixc u sed or justified; and, for this purpose, you r com grant Aid Company. The purpose of this act was s itt e e have allowed the declarations of non- resident declared to be, "directing emigration westward, and adinganed provie diretng accmmodation afeswrd arrvng oters to be given as evidence in their own behalf; aiding and providing accommodation after arriving !so, the declarations of all who came up th e Missouri at their place of destination." The capital stock of iver, as emigrants, in March, 1855, whether they vo- the corporation was not to exceed one million of cad or not, and whether they came into t he Territory dollars. Under this charter a company was organ ized. t all or not, and also the rumors which were circa- Your committe e have exam-ined some ofits officers, ated among the people of Missouri previous to the Your committee have examined someion of its circulars and records, to asfficers lection. The great body of the testimony taken at an on it i att e hlie instance of the sitting delegate is of this character. tain what has been done by it. The putblic atten When the declarations of parties passing up the Iv e wrofered in evidence, yeur committee reGiver were offered in evidence, youEr committee r erritory of Kansas, and emigration naturally tendeived them upon the distinct statement that they ed in that direction. To ascertain its character and ould e xclu unless the persons making the resources, this company sent its agents into it, and Declarations were, by other proof, shown to have the nformaton thus obtained was published Th )een connected with the election. This proof was company made arrangements with various lines of -ot made, and therefore much of this class of testi- transportation to lessen the expense of emigration trnpraionto lesnthe Terrior,ende pocue tcetsgratireuce ony is incompetent by the rules of law: but, it is into the Territor, and procured tickets at reduced -llowed to remain as tending to show the cause of rates. Applications were made to the company by he action of the citizens of Missouri. The alleged persons desiring to emigrate; and when they were auses t ion of t h e cn of Mr i a included numerous to form a party of convenient size, tickets in the following charges, viz: were sold to them at the reduced rates. An agent I1st. That the New England Emigrant Aid Society,a 1 st. That the Newv England Emigrant Aid Society, acquainted with the route was selected to accompany tf Boston, was then importing into the Territory them. Their baggage was checked, and all trouble large numbers of men, merely for the purpose of con- and danger of loss to the emigrant in this way trolling the elections; that they came without we- avoided. Under these arrangementsseveral compa lare nmbes o mn, erey fr te urpse f cn-avoided. Under these arrangements several compamen, children, or baggage, w itot o ie went into the Territory in the fall of 1854, unnoted, anld returned again. der the articles of association referred to. The com 2d. That men were hired in the eastern and north- pany did not pay any portion of the filre, or furnish urn States, or induced to go to the Territory, solely any personal or real property to the emigrant. The to vote and not to settle, and by so doing to make it company, during 1855, sent into the Territory from ' free St.tte. eight to ten saw mills; purchased one hotel in 3d. That the governor of the Territory purposely Kansas City, which they subsequently sold; built postpoaed the day of election to allow this emigra one hotel at Lawrence, and owned one other buildtion to arrive, and notified the Emigrant Aid So- g in that place. They held no property of any ciety and persons in the eastern States of the day of ther kind or description. They imposed no condielection before he gave notice to the people of Mis- tion upon their emigrants, and did not inquire into souri andi the Territory. their political, religious, or social opinions. The That these charges were industriously circulated total amount expended by them, including the salthat grossly exaggerated statements were made in aries of their agents and officers, and other expenses reboard to them; that the newspaper press and lead- incident to all organizations, was less than one hun iug ""~: h' it' iklli'- meetin.gis if:w. s-tern Mi~sl 1' ttlslz3lour i 'II ~'i1)iC w~t:-LS SD v~slr \S dre(! thos~s-dil dollars. (aided in one case by a chaplain of'the United States Their purposes, as far as your committee can aF army) gave currency and credit to them, and thus rtain, were lawful, and epatributedto supply those excited the people and induced many well-meaning wants most experienced in the settlement of a new country. (4) Matt. France, W. Fl. Adams. (5) M. France, A. Fish- The only persons who emigrated into the Terrier. (6) Matt. France, Adam Fisher. (7) Matt. France. tory under the auspices of this company in 1855, p,4or to the eletion in March, was a party of 169 }orsons, who came under the charge of Charles I> olinson. (1) In this party there were sixtyvseven women and ciiildren.(2) They came as actual settlers, intend i.g to make their homes in the Territory, and for no other purpose.(3) They had about their persons !liit little baggage, usually sufficient clothing in a (arpet-sack for a short time. Their personal effects buch as clothing, furniture, &c., were put into trunks and boxes, and, for convenience in selecting and cheapness in transporting, was marked "Kansas plrty baggage; care of B. Slater, St. Louis." Gen erally this was consigned as freight, in the ordinary way, to the care of a commission merchant This party had, in addition to the usual allowance of one hundred pounds to each passenger, a large quantity of baggage, on which the respective owners paid the usual extra freight.(4) Each passenger or party paid his or their own expenses, and the only benefit they derived from this society, not shared by all the people of the Territory, was the reducti.on of about seven dollars in the price of the fare, the convenience of travelling in a company instead of alone, and the cheapness and facility of transporting their freight through regular agents. Subsequently many emi grants, being disappointed either with the country or its political condition, or deceived by the state meats made by the newspapers, and by the agents of the society, became dissatisfied and returned, both before and after the election, to their old homes.Most of them are now settlers in the Territory.(5) Some few voted at the election in Lawrence,(5) but the number was small. The names of these emigrants have been ascertained, and thirty-seven of them are found upon the poll-books.(51) This company of peaceful emigrants, moving with their household goods, was distorted into an invading horde of pauper abolitionists, who were, with others of a similar character, to control the domestic institutions of the Territory, and then overturn those of a neighboring State. In regard to the second charge, there is no proof that any man was either hired, or induced to come into the Territory from any free State, merely to vote. The entire emigration in March, 1855, is estimated at 500 persons, including men, women, and ohildren.(6) They came on steamboats up the Missouri river in the ordinary course of emigration.Many returned for causes similar to those before stated, but the body of them are now residents.The only persons, of those who were connected by proof with the election, were some who voted at thie Big Blue precinct in the 10th district, and at Pawnee in the 9th district Their purpose and character are stated in a former part of this report. The third charge is entirely groundless. The organic law requires the governor to cause an enumeration of the inhabitants and legal voters to be made, and that he apportion the members of the council and house according to this enumeration.For reasons stated by persons engaged in taking the census, it was not completed until the early part of March, 1855. (7) At that time the day of holding the election had not been and could not have been named by the governor. As soon as practicable after the returns were brought in, he issued his proclamation for an election, and named the earliest day consistent with due notice as the day ofelection. The day on which the election was to be held was a matter of conjecture all over the country, but it was (1) BenrminSlater, Charles Robinson. (2) C. Robinson. Samuel C. Smith. (4) B. Slater. (5)Charles Robinson, Samuel C. Smith. (5X) Anson J. Stone. (6) %V. H. Chick and Mr. Riddlesbarger. (7) Wm. Barbee. Sgeueally kno wn that it wou ld be in the lat te r X of March. The precise day was not known bv one until the proclamation issued. It was not knc t to the agents of the Emigrant Aid Society in ~: * ton on the 13th day of March, 1855, when the p; * | of emigrants before referred to left.(8) Your committee are satisfied that these char were made the mere pretexts to induce an armed , vasion into the Territory as a means to control election and establish slavery there. The real purpose is avowed and illustrated by testimony and conduct of Col. John Scott, of Joseph's, Mo., who acted as an attorney for the ting delegate before your committee. The follow are extracts from his deposition: " Prior to the election in Burr Oak precinct, in 14th district, on the 29tlh of November, 1854, I l been a resident of Missouri, and I then determir if I found it necessary, to become a resident of K sas Territory. On the day previous to that elect I settled up my board at my boarding house in Joseph's,,Mo., and went over to the Territorv; took boarding with Mr. Bryant, near whose ho the polls were held the next day, for one month, that I might have it in my power, by merely de-' mining to do so, to become a resident of the Tel tory on the day of election. " When my name was proposed as a judge of e! tion, objections were made by two persons on ~ *'-.* * I then publicly informed those pres, that I had a claim in the Territory; that I had ken board in the Territory for a month, and tha' could at any moment become an actual resident,. legal voter in the Territory; and that I would do if I concluded at any time during the day that vote would be necessary to carry that precinct favor of the pro-slavery candidate for delegate Congress. * a -.'f I did not during the (I consider it necessary to become a resident of i Territory for the purpose mentioned, and did r vote or offer to vote at that election. "I held the office of city attorney for St. Josep; at that time, and had held it for two or three ye-' previously. and continued to hold it until this sprit. ~* *' X I voted at an election in St. Jose? in the spring of 1855, and was re-appointed city torney. The question of slavery was put in iss at the electior of November, 1854, to the same e tent as in every election in this Territory. Genes Whitfield was regarded as the pro-slavery candid — by the pro-slavery party. I regarded the questi, of slavery as the primarily prominent issue at tb election, aiad, so far as I know, all parties agreed making that question the issue of that election. " It is my intention, and the intention of a gr. many other Mfissourians now reside-d in Nissou, whenever the slavery issue is to be determined upon the people of this Territory in the adoption of the St, constitution, to remove to this Ter ritory in time to t quire the right to become legal voters upon that Ad tion. The leading purpose of our intended removal the Territory, is to determine the domestic institutio of this Territory when it comes to be a State, and -- would not come but for that purpose, and would nev think of coming here but for that purpose. I beliethere are a great many in Mlissou>ri whco care so sift, ted.". Tb.~ invasion of March 30th left both t,arties in state of excitement, tending directly to produce vi. lcnce. The successful party was lawless and re(l less, while assuming the name of the'"Lawv ar Order " party. The other party, at first surprise and confounded, was greatly irritated, and son~ I c t is (S,)Charies Robikson. AnsGn J. Stone, and Eli Thayer 19 member elect ef the council presided.(l 1) The following resolutions, oeffered by Judge Payve, a member elect of the House, were unaiiiioutsly adopted: "Resolved, lst. That we heartily endorse the aetion of the committee of citizens that shaved, tarred and feathered, rode on a rail, and had sold by a negro, William Phillips, the moral perjurer. " Yd. That we return our thanks to the commnittee for faithfully performing the trust enjoined upon them by the pro-slavery party. 3rd. That the committee be now discharged. 4th. That we severely condemn those pro-slavecry men who, from mercenary motives, are calling upon the pro-slavery party to submit without further aotion. "5th. That, in order to secure peace and harmony to the community, we now solemnly declare that the pro-slavery party will stand firmly by and carry out the resolutions reported by the conmmittee appointed for that purpose on the'memorable 30th."' The act of moral perjury here referred to is the swearing by Phillips to a truthful protest in regard to the election of March 30th in the 16th district. — solved to prevent the success of the invasion. In )m e distri(ets as before stated, protests were sent to a governor; in others this was prevented by treats, in others bha t he wan t o f time, a nd i n oth.-s by the belief that a n ew election would bring a ew invasion. Aloeta the same time, all classes of -en cormmtenced bearing d eadly weapons about their ersons-a I)ra( ti( e wh ic h has continued to this 'me. Under these circtumstances, a slight or accieltal quarrel produ ce d unusual violence, an d lawns as act s eame freqduent. Thi, u nhappy condition a the publ ic mi nd was further increased by act,s of iolence in Western Nissouri. w here, in April, a ewsl)aper press c alled the Parkville Luminary was estroyed by a mob. About the same time Malcolm Clark assaulted Cole :cCrea at a squatter meeting in Leavenworth, and -as shot by Mc Crea in alleged self-defence. On the 17th day of May, William Phillips, a lawer of L eavenworth, was first notified to leave, and poen his refusal was forcibly seized, taken across S te riv er and carried several miles into Missouri, and hen tarred and featherd, and a one side of his head lea e d, and other gross indignities put upon his per)n. Previou s t o this outraLege, a publ ic meeting was .eld(10) at which resolutions were unanimously assed, looking to unlawful violence, and grossly int hle rant in their character. The right offree speech pon the sub jec t of slavery was characteri zed as a, isturbance of the peace and quiet of the commuity, and as "circulating incendiary sentiments. "'hey say " to the peculiar friends of northern fanat3s, go home and vent your treason where you may nd sympathy." Among other resolves is the fol-wing~ "Resolved, That the institution of slavery is lown and recognised in this Territory; that we opel the doctrine that it is a moral and political -. il, and we hurl back with scorn upon its slander.us authors the charge of inhumanity; and we warn !1 persons not to come to our peaceful firesides to 'ander us and sow the seeds of discord between the caster and the servant; for. much as we deprecate le necessity to which we may be driven, we cannot ,e responsible for the consequences." A committee of vigilance of thirty men was ap,ointed "to observe and report all such persons as hall, i * - * by the expression of abolition entireents, produce disturbance to the quiet of the -:itizens, or dainger to their domestic relations; and .1l such persons so offending shall be notified and blade to leave the Territory." The meeting was "1 ably and eloquently addressed by Judge Lecompte, Col. L. N. Burns, of Weston, Missouri, and others." Thus the head of the judi.iary in the Territory not only assisted at a public :tnd bitterly partizan meeting, whose direct tendency waas to produce violence and disorder, but, before :nv law is passed in the Territory, he prejudges the cl.racter of the domestic institutions which the people of the Territory were, by their organic law, " left perfectly free to form and regulate in their own way." O)n this committee were several of those who held ~crtificatess of election as members of the legislature. Some of the others were then, and still are, residents of Missouri, and many of the committee have since been appointed to the leading offices in the Territory, one of which is the sheriffalty of the county. Their first act weas that of mobbingf Phillips. Subsequently, on the 25th of May, A. D. 1855, a pulblic meeting was held, at which R. RX Rees, a LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. The members receiving their certificates of the governor as members of the General Assembly of the Territory met at Pawnee, the place appointed by the governor, on the 2d of July, A. D. 1855. Their proceedings are stated in three printed books, herewith submitted, entitled, respectively, "The Statutes of the Territory of Kansas;" "'The Journal of the Council of the Territory of Kansas;" and "The1 Journal of the IHouse of Representatives of the Teritory of Kansas." Your committee do not regard their enactments as valid laws. A legislature thus imposed upon a people cannot affect their political rights. Such an attempt, if successful, is virtually an overthrow of the organic law, and reduces the people of the Territory to the condition of vassals to a neighboring State. To avoid the evils of anarchy, no armed or organized resistance to them would have been made, but the citizens would have appealed to the ballot-box at future elections, to the federal judiciary, and to Congress for relief. Such, from the proof, would have been the course of the people but for the nature of these enactments and the manner in which they are entforced. Their character and their execution have been so intimately connected with one branch of this investigation-that relating to "violent and tumultuous proceedings in the Territory "-that we were compelled to examine them. The "laws" in the statute-books are general and special; the latter are strictly of a local character, relating to bridges, roads, and the like. The great body of the general laws are exact transcripts from the Missouri code. To make them, in some cases conform to the organic act, separate acts were passed defining the meaning of words. Thus, the word " State " is to be understood as meaning "Territory T;" (1) the words "county court" "shall be construed to mean the board of commissioners transacting county business, or the probate courts, according to the intent thereof." The words "circuit court" to mean " dist r ict court."(2) The-material differences in the Missouri and Kansas statutes are upon the following subjects: The qualifications of voters and of members of the Legislative Assembly; the official oath of all officers, attorneys, and voters; the mode of selecting officers, and their qualifications; the slave code, and the qualifications of jurors. (1 1) R. R. Rees. (1) Statutes, p. 718. (2) Statutes, p. 706. (10) A. Payne. 20 Upon these subjects the provisions of the Missouri eode are such as are usual in many of the States. But, by the "Kansas Statutes" every officer in the Territory, executive and judicial, was to be appointed by the legislature, or by some officer appointed by it. These appointments were not merely to meet a tem porary exigency, but were to hold over two regular elections, and until after the general election in Oc tober, 1857.(3) Thus by the terms of these "laws" tile people have no control whatever over either the legislative, the executive, or the judicial departments a the Territorial government, until a time, before which, by the natural progress of population, the Territorial government will be superseded by a State government. No session of the legislature is to be held during 1856, but the members of the house are to be elected in October of that year.(6) A candidate to be eli gible at this election must swear to support the Fugi tive Slave law, (7) and each judge of election, and each voter, if challenged, must take the same oath. (8) The same oath is required of every officer elec ted or appointed in the Territory, and of every attor ney admitted to practice in the courts.(9) A portion of the militia is required to muster on the day of election.(10) " Every free white male ctizen of the United States, and every free male In dian who is made a citizen by treaty or otherwise and over the age of twenty-one years, and who shall be an inhabitant of the Territory, and of the county and district in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified elector for all elective officers."(11) Two classes of perons were thus excluded, who, by the organic act, were allowed to vote, viz: those who would not swear to the oath required, and those of foreign birth who had declared on oath their intention to become citizens.(12) Any man of proper age who was in the Territory on the day of election, and who had paid one dollar as a tax to the sheriff, who was required to be at the polls to receive it,(13) could vote as an "inhabitant," although he had breakfasted in Missouri, and intended to return there for supper. There can be no doubt that these unusual and unconstitutional provisions were inserted to prevent a full and fair expression of the popular will in the election of members of the house, or to control it by non-residents. All jurors are required to be selected by the sheriff, "d " no person who is conscientiously opposed to he holding of slaves, or who does not admit the right to hold slaves in the Territory, shall be a juror in any cause affecting the right to hold slaves, or relating to slave property." The slave code, and every provision relating to slaves, are of a character intolerant and unusual, oven for that class of legislation. The character and conduct of the men appointed to hold office in the Territory, contributed very much to produce the events which followed. Thus, Samiel J. Jones was appointed sheriff of the county of Douglas, which included within it the first and second election districts. He had made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the settlers by his conduct on the :0th of Marcli, in the second district, and by his burning the cabins of Joseph Oakley and Samuel Smith.(14) THE ELECTION OF OCTOBER 1, 1855. der the same rules and regulations as were appto other elections. The free-State men took no rin this election, having made arrangements for hc ing an election on the 9th of the same month. l citizens of Missouri attended at the election of 1st of October, some paying the dollar tax, ot, not being required to pay it. They were pres. and voted at the voting places of Atchison (1) - Doniphan,(2) in Atchison county; at Green Sprin Johnson county;(3) at Willow Springs,(4) Fralin,(5) and Lecompton,(6) in Douglas county; Fort Scott, Bourbon county;(7) at Baptiste Pac Lykins county, where some Indians voted, so whites paying the dollar tax for them;(8) at Le enworth City(9) and at Kickapoo City, Leavenwo. county; at the latter place under the lead of Gene B. F. Stringfellow and Colonel Lewis Burns, of Asouri.(10) From two of the election precincts which it was alleged there was illegal voting, -e Delaware and Wyandott, your committee failed obtain the attendance of witnesses. Your committee did not deem it necessary, in gard to this election, to enter into details, as it manifest that from there being but one candida General Whitfield, he must have received a majorof the votes cast. This election, therefore, deper not upon the number or character of the votes ceived, but upon the validity of the laws under wh; it was held. Sufficient testimony was taken to sh, that the voting of citizens of Missouri was practicat this election, as at all former elections in the T. ritory. The following table will exhibit the res of the testimony as regards the number of legal illegal votes at this election. Jibstract of poll-books of October 1, 1855. bD COUNTIES. TOWNSHIPS.; Q> -0 4.S Atchison~~~~... Grssope E...., Atchison.... Grasshopper.... 7 Shannon...... 131 Bourbon................242 Brown................ 4 Calhoun.................... 29 Davis........................ 8 Doniphan... Burr Oak........42 Iowa 31 Wayne......66 Washington....59 Wolf River 53 Douglas...... Franklin....... 86 Lawrence......42 Le(ompton.... 101 Willow Springs1O3 Franklin.......... 15 Jefferson.................... 42 Johnson..................... 90 Leavenworth Alexandria.... 42 Delaware.. 2..... 39 Kickapoo...... 150 Leavenwortho..212 Wyandott...... 246 Lykins...................... 220 Lvnn........................ 67 Madison...... (See Wise Co.) Marshall.................... 171 Nemaha................ 6 Riley..... 28 Shawnee......One Hundred and Teni 23 Tecumseh.::,. 52 Wise........ Council Grove. 14 The county of Marshall embraces the same terr. tory as was included in the ]lth district, and tb reasons before stated i ndica te that the great majorit (1) D. W. Field. (2) John Landis. (3) Robert Morro,, G. Jenkin-s, B. C. Westfall. (4) A. White, T. Wolverton. - Reid. (5) L. M. Cox, L. A. Prather. (6) B. C. Westfall.(7) E. B. Cook, J. Hamilton. (8) B. C. Westfall. (9) G. k Warren, H. Miles Moore. (10) J. W. Stephens. THE ELECTION O F OCTOBER 1, 1855. An election for delegate to Congress, to be held on the 1st day of October, 1855, was provided for un (3 Statutes, pp. 168, 227, 712. (4) Statutes. p. 330. (5) Statutes, p.475. (6) Statutes, p. 330. (7) Statutes, p. 332. (8) Statutes, p. 332. (9) Statutes, pp. 132, 339, 516. (10) Statutes, p. 469. (11) Statutes, p. 332. (12) Statutes, p. 34. (13) Statutes, p. 333. (14)Samuel Smith and Ed. Oakley. 'i!2i.; 242 :: 4 .. 119 4 14 .. i .. 32 .. 15 3 45 .. 190 I 5 S;,5 220 .: 67 71 :: 6 .. 28 ii .. 14 50 4 1)9 12 4 li. 62 59 53 3 1 I-) 5.1 15 i6 70 24 6 28 23 52 14 I ii I l 21 in most of the States of the Union, and in most respects were similar to those contained in the proclIAmation of Governor Reeder for the election of March 30, 1855. The executive committee appointed by that convention accepted their appointment, and entered upon the discharge of their duties by issuing a proclamation, addressed to the legal voters of Kansas, requesting them to meet at their several precincts at the time and places named in the proclamation, then and there to cast their ballots for members of a constitutional convention, to meet at Topeka on the 4th Tuesday of October then next. The proclamation designated the places of eleotions, appointed judges, recited the qualifications of voters and the appointment of members of the convention. After this proclamation was issued public meetings were held in every district in the Territory, and in nearly every precinct. The State movement was a general topic of discussion throughout the Territory, and there was but little opposition exhibited to its Elections were held at the time and places designated, and the returns were sent to the executive committee. nbvotes there cast wermr i lleg al or fictitious. : counties to which our examination extended, were 857 illegal votes cast, as near as the proof nable us to determine. THE STATE MIOVE.IENTS. -ile the alleged legislative assembly was in ses 3 movement was instituted to form a State gov Snt, and apply for admission into the Union a e. The first step ta ke n by the peop le of thb orwy, i n cons equence of th e invasion of Mar c o ;55, was the circulation, for signature, of a ie and t ru thful memorial to Col ngiress. Your ittee find that every allegation in this memo -ias been sustained by the testimony. No furthe L Ias taken, as it was hoped that som e action by neral government wou ld prot ect them in their cWhen the alleged legisla tiv e assembly proi to construct the series of enactments referred - settlers were of opinmas ion that submission to wotld t resul t in entirely depriving them of the secured to them by the organic law. Their .al condition was freely discussed in the Terriuring the summer of 1855. Several meetings eld in reference to ho ld ing a conventio n to State gotvernment, and to apply for admission le Uni on as a State. Public opin ion gradually ; in favor of such an application to the Conto meet in December, 1855. The first general w oas held in Lawrence, on the 15th of Au 855. The follo wing pr eamble and resolution here passed: hereas, the peopl e of Kans as hav e been since element, and now are, without any law-making , therefore be it solv ed, Th at w e, the people of K ansas Terrir mass meeting asse mbled, ir respective of panrinctions, influenc ed by common necessity, and desirous of promoting th e comm on go od, do call upon and request all bona fide citizens of s Territory, of whatever political views or sctions, to consult together in their respective Io district s, a nd in mass con venti on or other'ect three delegates for each representative to said election district is entitled in the house resentatives of th ie l egislative assembly, by ,nation of Governor Reder of date 10th of 1855; sa id deleg ates t o ass emb le in conven-rt th e t own of Topeka o the th e 19th day of Sep, 1855, then and ther e to consi der and deterporn all subjects of publicinterest, and pa.rticupon that having reference to the speedy for of a State constitution, with an intention of Sediate a pplic ation to b e admitted as a Stat e ,e Union of the United States of America." ~r meetings were held in various parts of the )ry, which endorsed the a ction of t he Lawpneetings, and de legates w ere s elected in c ome with its recommendations. y met at Topeka on the 19th day of Septemi;55. By their resolutions they provided for pointntent of an executive committee, to conseveea persons, who were required to " keep a of their proceedings, and shall have a gener,(rintendence of the affairs of the Territory, so egards the organization of a State govern"They were required to take steps for an eleco b, held on the second Tuesday of the October ~iiig under regulations imposed by that con:m1 " or members of a convention to form a itultiot adopt a bill of rights for the people of :as, andtake all needful measures for organiz.State gvernment preparatory to the' admisof Kansa.into the Uinion as a State." The prescribeawere such as usually govern elections Tabli shouing the number of voters, and the number of votes cast for delegates to the constitutional convention, October 9, 1855. -* The poll-books of Lawrence precinct were not among the others, and are either mislaid or lost. The number of votes cast was 558. FIRST DISTRICT. Precincts. Blanton. -Palinyra. Lawrence. t-al. 67 16... TO...... TO I...... 61 16... 30 16...... 72 16... 40...... 74 16 558* 648 Candidates. Ch,,irles Robinson... J. 11. Lane........... S. W. Smith......... J. K. Goodin........ Edward Jones....... Morris llunt.......... Abraham Still....... SECOND DISTRICT. llrecincts. Candidates. Benicia. Boomingtoii. A. Curtis............ 27 116 H. Benton.......... 27 116 J. A. Wakefield.... 24 116 J. M. Turner........ 27 116 Total........... 27 116 Total. 143 . 143 14,0 143 148 THIRD DISTRICT. Precincts. m- Cainp To- Wash- Browns Creek. peka. ii-igton. ville. Total. 7 94 33 19 1 a4 104 33 1 9 194 14...... 1 4 1 2...... 1 2 2, 2 3 3 5 119 33 24 214 W. Y. Roberts.. 31 C. K. Hollidav.. 31 J. Cowles....:...... H. H.Wentworth... Edw'd Segraves... Scattering.......... P. C. Schuyler..... Total........ 31 22 ELEVENTH DISTRICT. No return except Black Vermillion precinct-t, Candidates. TWELFTH DISTRICT. Pr-ecincts. Catndidates. St. Mary's. Silvcr laklie. ,M. F. Conway........ 19 12 Jos. F. Coles............. 18 J. S. Thompson......... 21 Total.............. 19 21 Candidiates. C T DITI 'a a a - a O- Prcnc William Turner.. 24 49 8 16 67 32 35 Jas. M. Arthur... 24 49 8 16 67 32 35 Mi. T. Morris...... 23 49 8 16 66 32 35 Orville C. Brown 24 49... 16 66 32 35 Richard Knight.. 24 49... 16 67 32 35 Hamilton Smith.. 23 48... 16 66 32 35 Hiram Hoover.... 17... 13............ David C. Forbes........... 16......... N. S. Nichols.................. 3..... Wm. S. Nichols............... 64... 7 Isaac Woollard....................29 Fred. Brown...... 24 47... 16 (4 32 35 ENTHT DISTRICT. Precincts. Falls. Pleasant Hil; 43... 41 * — 43 ... 43 43 43 li .: Z r__ 8 33 272 9 33 273 9 33 272 ... 33 255 . y 33 257 ...... 220 13... 43 ...... 16 ......- 3 ...... 76 ...... 29 ... 33 251 Ca ndidates. Geo. S. Hillyer........ Wm. Grigsbee......... Wmn. Hicks............. J. Whiting............. FOURTEENTH DISTRICT. Precincts. Paler- Burr Doni- Wolf Candidates. N.10o. Oak. phati. River G. A. Cutler... 40 33 42 18 Jno. Lan des.... 40 33 42 18 D. M. Field..... 40 33 42 18 C. M. Stewart.. 39 33 42 18 Total....... 40 33 42. 18 Total.......... 24 49 13 16 67 32 35 13 33 282 SIXTH DISTRICT. Precit., ts. NTH DISTRICT. Precincts. C -osby's Store. Precinct. 29... 29 ... 30 ... 30 ... 28 ... 2 29 30 -Canididates. Ioie-, et Caditlates R. J. Fargird. Town. W. R. Griffin...... 12.. John Hamilton..... 12 27 A. W. J. Brown 1.... 12... Wm. Sa,unders..... 12... W. J. Griffith.............. 27 T. H. Burgess.............. 24 A. H. Brown............ 26 Jas. H. Pheri3............ Total........... 12 27 SEVENTH DISTRICT. Precinct. Can',Iidate. J. B. Titus', Council City. Ph. C. Schuyler........................ 60 SIXTEENTH DISTRICT. Precinets. Leaven- Wya,t- Ridgc. Easton. Del Candidateli. Lwortlh. dotte idg Eastoi. a M. J. Parrott... 492 38 47 61 22 MI. W. Delahay. 495 38 47 61 22 Matt. France.... 493 38 47 61 22 S. W. Lattie 493 38 47 61 22 Robert Riddle.. 493 38 47 61 22 D. Dodge........ 493 38 47 61 29 Tot al........ 514 38 47 63 29 EIGHTH DISTRICT. Precinct. Candidates. Waubauniassa. Total. r. H. Pillsbury......................... 27 27 . C. Schuyler................. 27 27 Total................................ 27 27 NINTH DISTRICT. aNTH DISTRICT. Precinicts. Mission. Wakar-usa. 13 5 13 5 13 5 (.'a S didates. William Graham....... Samuel Mewhinney.... Candidates. Robert Klotz......................... A. Hunting.......................... RECAPITULATION. Votes cast in 1st district.. 648iVotes cast in 11th dis,ri Td district... 143' 12tlh itri 3d district... 214 13t), t,t'i. 4thi district.. 55 14th istri, 5thl district...~' 15tl1listri. 6tl district.. 59 fi!6 distri. 7tlh district.. 6' 7il distri. 8tlh district.. 9? 9ti dtistrict.. 76, Tota......... 1 lOtli district.. 110, Total............................. FOURTH DISTRICT. Precinct. Wi.6-on Sprit.,,,s. 55 55 55 Total. 55 55 55 S. Mewhinney..................... Wm. Graliam..................... Total........................... FIFTII DISTRICT. PrecinQts. Tot,,il............... Colutiibia. Total. ... 12 ... 39 12 ... 12 27 ... 24 ... 26 20 20 20 59 Caiididates. Caleb lvlay............. R. fl. Crosby.......... Stanford McDaniel... Jas. S. Sayle.......... H. B. Gale............. Ch. S. Foster.......... Total.............. '1'otal. 60 62 Total................................ 62 Precinct. Pawnee. 53 54 76 Total. 53 54 'I 6 Total................ H DISTRICT. Precincts. Rock Creek. Big Blue. 30 64 30 73 80 Total. 94 103 110 Cari,bdates. Dr. A. Hu-nting....... Robert Klotz.......... Total.............. 23 'he result of the election was proclaimed by the Election of January 15, 1856. -utive committee, and the members elect were rered to meet on the 23d day of October, 1855, at 2 S ,eka. In pursuance of this proclamation and di-'A-qOlOr' A'NA M ion the constitutional convention met at the time })lace appointed, and framed a State constitution.: emorial to Congress was also prepared, praying -1!l'f E. admission of Kansas into the Union as a State...... er that constitution. The convention also pro- r'oads utlof d that the question of the adoption of the consti- on, and other questions, be submitted to the peo- and required the executive committee to take the' po'a's l nF F .ssary steps for that purpose. ccordingly an election was held for that purpose u le 15th day of December, 1855, in compliance with 0' proclamation issued by the executive committee.... returns of this election were made b,y the eXecu-:::.'r*z oomm'ttee, and an abstract of them is contained i e followinr table::::::: * PI~aO3[AyA v f: -act of the election on the adoption of the State:': Constitutionz, Decenimber 15, 1855..... ~_ I........... ion of m as and." ttoes.. ~ No. 223 356 20 76 - 12 2 53 15 137 4 18 64 136 - 42 2 24 - 35 3 72 7 31 _ 21 12 18 43 2 60 5 37 17 59 15 44 19 31 1 21 - 20 - 14 11 19 5 45 3 54 - 22 1 23 - 12 - 283 4 20 1 47 - 19 _ 7 5 _ 1 15 2 33 - 73 2 7 453 1778 destroyed. General Bankiug Law. Yes. No. 225 83 59 14 9 3 31 15 122 11 13 4 125 9 41. 1 2-2 2 23 11 39 33 16 12 5 16 6 6 21 19 33 13 4 33 33 20 3'2 7 23 6 16 5 - 20 - 14 17 1 15 29 19 34 5 14 7 16 1 11 8 20 7 13 37 6 - 18 3 4 11 12 4 9 3. 1 53 19 3 _ 11-20 564 Constitu tion. -ecinets. Y es. No. ,wrence.....348 1 :antoll..... 72 2 , mr a.....11 - ranklin...... 48 - 'ooninrgton. 137 ist Douglas.. 18 - opeka.......135 - ashington... - 4 42 — owilsville... 24 - -cumseh.... 35 -dirie City... 72 - tte O.sage... 21 7 I. Sugar..... 18 2 2osho....... 12 - ,ttawatoinie. 39 3 ttle Sugar... 42 18 :rnton....... 32 - awatomie... 56 1 tls..........39 5 niata....... 30 - *io City..... 21 - ill C'reek....20 - M~ary's..... 14 - aul)ousa....19 - wuiee....... 45 - .tss'per Falls 54 niphan....... 22 2 rr Oak..... 23 - .e Padons'. 12 - earna........ 28 - ckapoo.....21 20 asant Hill.. 47 - tiatiola..... 19 - hitfield.....4 7 olf River... 24 - 'nt Joseph's lottouI......- 15 Pleasanti.. 32 "ton........ 71 2 ,-qon....... 7 - 'otal......1731 46 ] es -on 3 45 3? sal!'V ~H I'IA.u1af'X''_,' 0 a - plauYaxLAA IVIf o 1laiin IV I —..:1 -.... 0 - 23 6 10 19 31 ~ ~~:::: ~'':: ~: -...8....28..tlUJ 'SeP!llOHl'x'D I- Xpx1tID 0 ~ - 2ol0nt 40D'd ' oJa11IJ If r' o'A'.qAA. . sll~oqoll'A'AA ~ — The poll-book at Leavenworth was destroyed. I ______ *ttor 15 - 4 9 14. 1 158 N c, G q . 0(9Ic I NC ..... cr 4g. ~ *, n **rze ~.~.....'~. ~:. . ~... -....- o.~.:... ~... ^:.. ~~ S..-..=@.- ~' c..~.. — The poll-c ook at Leavenworth was te cast there October 9, 1855, was 514. frECTION OF JANUARY 15, 1856. executive committee then issued a proclamaciting the results of the election of the 15th of ber, and at the same time provided for an elec be held on the 15th day of January, 1856, for ,fficers and members of the general assembly State of Kansas. The election was accordingly the several election precincts, the returns of were sent to the executive committee. An t of them is contained in the following table: I :I 5 .sc: Cl r).i ~ C, -1:D~ l I -Aue~ttloo -a{'IU 'L'IILI'N'S I -_ C, O. CD4-Om . - cl - IN ror — IN' I nun HI'1 'i 24 The result of this election was announced proclamation by the executive committee. In accordance with the constitution thus ad the members of the State legislature, and most State officers, were on the day and at the place nated by the State constitution, and took th therein prescribed. After electing United senators, passing somie preliminary laws, ar pointing a codifying committee, and prepa, memorial to Congress, the general assemb journed to meet on the 4th day of July, 1856 laws passed were all conditional upon the ad-r. of Kansas as a State into the Union. These pi ings were regular, and, in the opinion of you. mittee, the constitution thus adopted fairly ex, the will of the majority of the settlers. The await the action of Congress upon their memo These elections were not illegal. Whether sult of them is sanctioned by the action of Co-, or they are regarded as the mere expression of lar will, and Congress should refuse to gra prayer of the memorial, that cannot affect th gality. The right of the eeople to assemb express their political opinn in any form, w by means of an election or a convention, is to them by the constitution of the United Even if the elections are to be regarded as the a party, whether political or otherwise, theproper, and in accordance with examples i,i States and Territories. The elections, however, were preceded and fo by acts of violence on the part of those who o them, and those persons who approved and sut the invasion from Missouri were peculiarly ho: these peaceful movements preliminary to the ( zation of a State government. Instances of tr lence will be referred to hereafter. To provide for the election of delegates t gress, and at the same time do it in such a as to obtain the judgment of the House of Re. tatives upon the validity of the alleged leg. assembly, sitting at Shawnee Mission, a cons was held at Big Springs on the 5th and 6th d September, 1855. This was a party conventic a party calling itself the free-State party ws organized. It was in no way connected wi State movement, except that the election of d to Congress was fixed by it on the same day election of members of a constitutional conv instead of the day prescribed by the alleged tive assembly. Andrew H. Reeder was put in nation as Territorial delegate to Congress, election was provided for under the regulatioscribed for the election of March 30, 1855, ex, as to the appointment of officers and the per whom returns of the elections should be made election was held in accordance with these tions, an abstract of the returns of which is co, in the following table: ~ uoasxnawqn w reuar d n t t.... CL I'alzuoota~'HS e l a:kl }dvmat to God i r th e acil, ive. reilt of Ain."ri al le,ldertyr hat isintaee tv wehl sl the peopl e ha nt( l)lue d ellfo our to )reak tIi ehcainnot s a fort.i~~! Power. a,d ll-y the e}:jo,yeiit a,,d assluMiLtiLo,, t' a fluy eOIlforma}e lo ~ha,, to lo:{ l ihey could to break all oilier cllias. acd set the world free. ~ Trhal r'amhle was ah. work of your fathers! they so! p il hallowed ~rves; the re is not, I beiieve. on,e rnia: li,,i(" lI-w wo wil as e,,gn',l in that most ri,hlteot.s a(ct There are words iniihat preamnble fit to be read hly tll whit h —- ithti the I I( o l-bIy all wlh, te~a,r the ilne-I)y all whlo c-relish th- mel,, r,- ot a,. t iore i am( virtuous -,.eestty. AIid 1 ask every oi;e o- you now p -ese th ere,.i ht a,dfortyl hours p-,ts over ),our lseads. to tur,, to that act- ~o r,al d thiat prea,l,id i f you are Pe,.n-;ylva,,ia,~s, the b)loold wili stir and prompt yoel to your duty. There are ar,,.utneits i.) that (documen,t ftar surpa.-sinst anylhi;ig that my poor a,ilhty could advanlce oil the subject, alnd there I leave it." I will now give the preamble to which Mir. Webster so eloquently alluded: " Vhen we conitampla-lte our ab)horrenice ofthat condition to which the arms algcl tyrattity of Grea;t Britain were ex ertred to reduce u-; when we look back u hO] the variety of dagger. e to wh ich we have b een ext)o. ed a cd how nir,ellously our wantls ii n manyr itshawi es ha ve n vee n supplied, and omur leliverattces wrmounht, who Co even hope a"I human foriittlde k whave b tcome une(qual o the conflict. we are u,,avoidai)ly led lo a serious and grateful sense of the manifold blessinigs w-hich we have undeservedly received from the-hai,d of that lBei,r, from wheom ever b gooad and perfect git eometh. Impressed with these ideas, we coneive that t is our du and we rejoice ha it isie o at i our power.to extend aportion of that freedom to th ers which hath been extended to u ad release from th t slate of lhraldom. to w hi ch we ourselves were tvrafnically doomd. antd troit which we have nowt every prospeet of being delivered. It is h ot for us to iquire whliv. in the creation of ouartkid, the ioha)itants of tne several parts of the earth were distinguished by a difference in feature or complexion. "It is sufficient to know that all are the work of all Almighty hanid. We finid ill the di,tribution of the hum all ipecies. ~hat the most fertile as well as the mos, barren parts of the e.,rth are inhabited by men ofcomplex:o i dift fere,t from ours. and froin ea lh other; from whence we may reasonably, as well as religiously, inier that He who placed them in their various situations hath extended equally his care Old pro ectloiito all; and it I)ecometh not us to ce:uilteract his mercies. W%e esteem it a peculiar blessing!, gratited to u, that we are eniab~led this f,ay to ad(d one more step toward ulsiversal clvilizlio,l, by renmoeilna as much as possible the so-rows of those who have lived il1 ulde-ervcd hoiidlagec and( from w hich', by the assumed autlhorit o the Kli,gs of Great Britain. no effectual legtal relief could be obtained. VWfeaned by A loner course of exp, reiice from those narrow prejudices and partia'ities we had im',ibed, we fi: d our he;:rts eii larged witil kinidies. and beievoletee tow trds tnenl o, all conditions -aud )iatio,us; and we conleive ourselves at this particular peti,d exlr,ordi-lri y calle l upon by the hlesqin,,s whioh we have reeeive~d. to maiulest the sinicerlty of or pro:essioni, aiu,d to give a substan,tial proof of our gratitude IIAnld whe,reas the condition of those persons who have he'retofore b eat denominated n-gio and mulatto slaves has been attlled d w,th circumstance s which io. (,ily deprived them of the common o,lessii,gs w!;ichi by nature ttlev were entitled to, but has east them in.o t- e deepest attli,'tion.i. byau~ unnatural separation alid sale ot hushan.d and wife from each other. and from lheir childreni-ani injury the greataess of whick call oily be coliceivedI by supposing that we were ill the amne unhappy case: Ill justice. therefore, to persoes so unhliapp)ily c,rcumsttlaneed, and who have nlo profpect before them wtereo i thev may rest their sorrows and their hopeshave no r asoeaable iutdueernelit to reader their service to society, which they otherwise might; and, also, in gratefu' commemt~oration of our ownvi ha py delhveranic froih that state of uniconiditionial submission, to which we I 6 tain a wilderness for thirty-four years, until the South wanted it, and then they took that too. A gentleman who was a member of Congress at that time, (the venerable Dr. Darlington,) writing to a newspaper in his district, gives a graphic description of the scene presented on the final passage of the Missouri Couinpromise. I will give a few extracts: The vau"ts,d dome re-echoed with thlreats of bloo(i anid earttane, diun on al t'I civil -ar, aidt all the teirtrity fiztires whit,i heat, d imad iatit,ts coultd cotijure up); lli the firm a,l t'tith ul tlrypurse their coarse, r-esolved upoII (:sehlar,:it.g tile sol.mlt duties com,nitted to thIelml, a,tid leavil the eve?tt o iln who co, tr)l - l;e lem; lSt and Iverr,Jles the fiiry of.e ven t'e 1) od.st amben the loe-ls ofcetiao. T1 1,se tilreit oftti-tiot,S is abhorretit to eve, i p atriotic mi 0ld.:d so at vt,.tiatlie Wil ll Ii part ill i,;ju artion of the F,ther oi his Cottfitry. have lie- o me di~gra'.efllly comuloti ii laiter times. It is thie g ory of th.ddie States, at nig wlCa Peilsyl: lli A statnd pre emilltet. -, hlave eschlewe this desperate foll. ai(d tobhave c)tilirolted the madntiess of the ext-erniits" * * *' Just ad {~ efilimlle a cts of (ov, r,tinent etever ye't productedI co mm)itiio,, uo anaet tel Dieorteey t(el virtuo:is pneqep e; and ori!s caot 1)t alr,a(ly so deteriorated a to coinsidr a re triction oil the firther extensionl of humanf Slavery. anI act of injustice or mpoiicy. It woulti be a llb'l o,t t he co Is of the men of'76 to entertain su(h ani idea for a si',le,nomneht.' * "P. S.-M31arch 5, 1! 20 —The die is cast. Missouri is ad mitted, with the privilege of tbrmrng a Constitutioni and Sttate Governme lt withiout the restrictioti of Slavery. The Sienate rejected the r strictive clause in the Mrisiosouri ])il], and sent it lback with all ad(itionial section,. to ex elide Slavery in the: Territories north of 36~ 30'.'rile comnmittee of coitfere recommended to the Hous e tht) alo)t these lmedeat, o0 which coidition the Senate had at eed to admit MaiUe into the Uit ioei. The n cine the trying momenit. the most pathetic appeals were mnade to memlber, the horrors of disunionti wee dlepicted ott one hand. a-id the blessiing,s of harminoiy por tra y ed ol the othir. Sane waverin frieinds of restriction disatip peared from the Hlouse, aind three or four went over to the other side; antd wheel the question was taken, there was a majority of three for accedingl t o the aenetidmenits of ihe Seniat. I am proud, however, to ay that not withsta-idinr the threats a,id the appeals to the fears anid the fe,lingis,'honest PeIiisylvailia, faithful Petinsylvallia, stood firm as a rock. Two of her memlbers had bee. opposedl to the restrictioni from the beettininig, (Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Fullertoi.) thoughl the latter voted for it till the pinich came; bit the remai, ler werewi not to be moved even ili that?rying, momeint-for it was an awful crii as. Everythlitig horrible was thre'teied, wit h the itost le - terminl d a-pectof 0iteiace. Oie memIber fa iinted twice while pleading for the Compromise.'Tihus has Congr ess possibly averted evils threaten d bly distempered men o the qltveholding States, anlt certainly, iln iny opiiot, hum'ld ithe proud chairacter of our Republic in the eyes of the world." The writer of the above adds, in a note, the following: i 'Of tile twenty-three R,nresentatives of Pennsylvania, at that (lay, tile tollowing named tweilty-otte resisted the extetisiotl of SI tvery into Missouri atid all free territory, oi atiy pretext or compromise whatever: 'Messrs. Boden. Dalrlingtoea. Deni..ison, Edwards, Forrest, Gross. lHemphill, Hilishman, Heister, Host-tter, Maclqy, Marl.lianq, R. Nloore, S Moore, Miiurray, Patterso an, Philson, Rogers. Sergeant, and Tarr." The patriotic writer of those extracts has survived that Compromise which was to live forever. What anguish his noble heart must have felr, when he learned of the consummation of that unparalleled perfidy by which that Compromise was abrogated! lie remarks, in a note written since the repeal: " Every initelligent person is how aware that tile noisy raporings of the Slave Power down South is all sham, intended merely to scare the service remitants of obsolete parlie. and aquabblitig factions in the North. The Slave Power is a ulnit, and tolerates no dissenting factions ill its own dotniiotis; Ibut it encourages feuds and divisions e!sewhere. the l,etter to mailage them. Yet. while the cunning oligarchy thus threatens, it knows full well nonie can know it better-that the peculiar institutin would not be safe onie hour under the influences result ibia fromn a diss lulio of the Uniioni. lVhv should it, s, long lt as it can wield at pleasure tl!e physical energies o0 the f r ee nd vtes?h' On the 5th of April, 1t20, the writer made thi.o prediction: ") ventur e to predict that the settled policy of the slave hoding States till be, to prevent the admission of any new ici-stavelaoldiong State i,to the U,ior, unless r slavelholedihg State shall be a(anileed to balanice it." Why shoul d Penns lvttnians b e expected to re pudiate the noble principles and exalted virtues of their fathers? Thleir deeds and virtues have embalmed thei r memories in the r ecollection ot the patriotic and virtuous, and will hand'down their names, associated with the good and great who have lived upon earth, to the latest posterity. Do those who appeal to us to vote for Mr. Bu chanan claim that he will subserve any special or peculiar interest of Pennsylvania? No. With the Democracy, there is but one question now be fore the country. Tariffs, internal improvement systems, distribution of public lands, banks-all, all have dwindled into insignificance before the greater question, whether Slavery shall be spread over the plains of Kansas, and thereby a new market be opened to the domestic slave trade. Governor Wise, of Virginia, in a recent speech, urged the peculiar claims of Mr. Buchanao upon the South, and declared, that if Mr. Buchanan's policy in relation to the Territories acquired from Mexico had been adopted, slaves would have in creased three hundred per cent. in value. Has not the free labor of Pennsylvania already felt sufficiently the crushing influence of fifteen hun dred millions of dollars invested in slave property, that she should lend her influence to add to its value, and consequently to the power of an inter est which already overshadows all others in the country, and which has always wafed a bitter warfare against Pennsylvania interests? Mr. Chairman, it will not do to tell me that Mr. Buchanan will not observe the conditions upon which he was nom~in,tted. He has sworn fealty to the Cincinnati platform; and if he is an hon est and honorable man, he cannot do otherwise than fulfil the conditions upon which he was nominated. We are appealed to in Pennsylvania to vote for James Buchanan, because he is a Pennsylvanian to the " manner borni," and our State pride is appealed to. It will not do, gentlemen; the people of my State have some State pride, but will not be induced to vote for a man whose ambition leads him to forg,et what is due to his own State and his country. He has no claims upon any but th,ose who approve- of that wicked policy whi.ch'nas caused the murders, arsons, and robberies, in Kansas. He is bound to complete what Pierce began, and has no claims upon any man who could not support Pierce or Douglas. With these facts before uls, we are invited —nay, urged —to vote for Mr. Buchanan, because, tbrsooth, he is a Pennsylvanian. I am fully aware that Mir. Buchanan was nominated because it was supposed that he could carry Pennsylvania, and thereby save the partj from that overwhelming defeat which it so richly merits at the hands of a betrayed and outraged people. But I would ask those who urge us to 7 Madness or folly rules the hour, and the spirit of the infernals appears, for the time, to direct our affairs. Wis e men saw this from th e b eginning. The object of the repeal of the Mislsouri Compromise was to take away the barrier which proh ibite d Slavery from entering tlie fair fields of Kansas. - The wicked pretence set up, that it was not to legislate Slavery in to Kansas, or to legis,late it out, and that the pe ople should be left "perfectly free " to adopt their o wn i nstitutions, bore the i mp r ess o f falseh ood upon every line of the act. But the effects, the fruits of that bill- what a r e they? Look at the report o f your committee sent to Kansas to investigate the'el ection frauds. What a revelation is ther e fo r my coun trymen I-what an exposure for the eyes of civilized me n! The parallel to the atrocitie s committed there c anno t be found in the history of any civilized country, since the i' northern hive " broke loose upon and overran the Roman Empire. Crimes of every grade are committed against those who were lured from the free States by the deceptive lure, that they Were to be left "perfectly free to es tablish their own domestic institutions." And the criminals run at large! Men from the free States are hunted like wild partridges upon the heath, and are driven o,uts;:while, on the other hand, Southern emigrants-armed emigrants-.. are welcomed into the Territory; and, upon their arrival, are mustered into the service of the Uni ted States, under Marshal Donaldson, and paid out of the money of the people. Call you this equality, gentlemen? Major Buford marched over four hundred men from South Carolina and Alabama; and as soon as they reach Kansas, they become a part of the United States Mar shal's posse, and are placed upon the pay-roll. They may commit what acts of violence: they will, and there is no remedy. The United States troops can drive out bodies of Free State men, and can prevent others from entering the Terri tory, but have no power over Marshal Donald son's or Sheriff Jones's posses. lsry intelligent man must see that the Kansas bill invited this very state of' things. It was a. deceptive invita tion to the North- and the South to send emi grants into the Territory, and the strongest should be the winner of the prize. All Western Mis souri, with Atchison, Stringfellow, and their army of Border Ruffians, stood ready to overpower the Free State actual settlers; and they did do it more than once, as is shown by the report of the committee. Pennsylvanians, lured by the devices and hol low professions of that bill of fraud, emigrated in considerable numbers-some from my district, but more from my colleague's, [General DiCK'S;] others from Ohio' Some of these,?Barber, Brown, and others, have been welcomed to inhospitable graves by the bloody hands of Border Ruffians. Some are in prison under arrest lbr treason, brew cause they in their simplicity believed that the Kansas bill meant what:it said; that is, that they should be left perfectly free to: adopt their own domestic institutions; and set about doing so at, Topeka, and formed a Free State Constitution. For this, G. W. Smith, Esq., a lawyer of long exC perience, ability, and respectable standing, from Butler, the residence of my colleag~u%t ~Mr. PURwI-. vote for him because he is a Pennsylvanian, how they can expect us to do so, when he is pledged to pursue a policy-an infamous policy-that is not of Pennsylvania, but of Douglas and Atchison. He has doffed his individuality, and no longer thinks or acts for himself. He is hereater to be the exponent of the Cincinnati platform, and it is the exponent of the views and policy of Douglas and Atchison. The hemp placed about the necks of Governor Reeder and William Y. Roberts, would scarcely set the easier because it was nicely adjusted by a marshal appointed by their old Democratic friend and leader, James Buchanan, who, as President, was carrying out the Douglas policy, by "subduing" and hanging them for treason. It will be recollected that a few years since, when we were about to acquire territory from Mexico, to "indemnify us for the war" commenced by Mr. Polk, Pennsylvania, through her State Legislature, instructed her Senators and requested her Representatives to vote for the adoption of the "Wilmot Proviso," and to exclude Slavery from all territories which might be acquired. I had the honor to have a seat in the Legislature in 1847, when those resolutions were passed, and I believe that there were but three dissenting votes in the Senate and House. Those resolutions were supported by Governor BIGLER, now United States Senator, John C. Knox, now one of the judges of the supreme court, and by other Democrats of less distinction. How can Pennsylvania, With this record, support this new dogma, which, if sustained in the election of Mr. Buchanan, will tarnish her fair escutcheon, and sadly mar the beauty of her historical record? It is not necessary for me to pursue this subject further than to say that Pennsylvania has clung to the policy of her patriotic leaders of revolutionary times. KANSAS. Ever since the perpetration of that great crime against the nation's peace-the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill-the country, throughout its length and breadth, has been convulsed with excitement pernicious to-its prosperity and happiness. It should be the object of every patriot to do wh a t he can to restore quiet, and that is only t o be don e by removing the cause. A skillful phys ici an will first ascertain the cause of the excitemen t, or the dis ease, and then will apply suitabl e remed ie s f or its removal. He will, if possibl e, probe to the seatl of the disease, and remove the caus e of irritation. So with the body politic; when diseased or unnatu ra lly excited, we must first ascertain, if possible, the cause, and t hen apply the remedy. The re is not a man, woman, or child, in the land, who does not know the cause of the feverish excitement that now threatens our future happiness and peace. And I was abou t t o say, further, thatth here is not one within the sou nd of my voice-nay, scarcely an intelligent man in the whole country, but who knows what is the remedy to be applied, which will remove the plague-spot. It is as simple as it will prove efficacious. Repeal the Kansas-Nebraska act. That is the remedy, and you all know it. Your President knows it. Mr. Douglas knows it. But they have not sufficient patriotism to raise them up to the performance of deeds so noble. 8 amount of credulity —than I possess, to believe that the patient will recover under such treatment. ANcE,]: is now in the "chain-gang," under the guard of the United States troops. AnotherPenn sylvanian, W. Y. Roberts, Esq., with whom I had the pleasure of serving in our State Legislature, and who was then one of the leading Democrats in that bo dy, has beeni d ri ven out of tae Terri tory upon a charge of treason, for having taken part in forming the TopekKaConstitution. KANSAS POLICY TO BE CARRIED OUT. Suppose that, through' the wickedness, perverseness, or weakness of a pilot n n he sehould use a chart by which he had steered a noble vessel into the most e per ilou3 position. among rocks tnd bnretakers,.an0d tta sto rm h avin g arisen, the vessel, was in the greatest danger of being wreked,. and there was but one channel by which the vessel could be rescued,,a4d ubrough t boak. to an open sea, and that the, pilot and crew-o-batialy refused to tack, and de-axled that they Woul steer by the false chart, if the-consequence should be the loss of the vessel, what would yoI thcinek. of the proposityi.to throw theppilot over wbtar d. retaina the crew, ant employ- a ne.w piost, upon con;. dition that he must pledg himself to use the same compass and the.saldt chixt,eand th ieat he must navigatethe v essel in all particulart asn the old pilot did?.. What would you. think of the wisdom of such a proposition? o.W.uld - it not bs wi pkid to $ go expose t e sip a nd th e patent of.passeng ers? Yeththat is precisely what you have done in atice rom'he d'y of i lnessadhv n maoitoftepniteo hcutytiepaet throwing over board hl Mrb Pierce, and in insistind tbat t he p ropo sed new pilot, r,. Buebanan, shall n ot retur n to, the point of depiriur.e,d36, 3u(0/e but must continue to. ser by:the Douglas and Striwii fehllow.s chart, if thee onsequene should be the lossi of lthe ship,' with:.all yon bard. If the eem- - ocr atic nparty u sweoren,iis e the posongersh we might not com pli n at, the, widkedese,. f t heir determination.,: Again: suppose t hat my fr iend and colleaue on my lef t [Dr. BRADS tW i q suhold be called: tos visit a sick, Whose sands of life had apparently nearly t out, T he doc tor, aafter prope r examinatioa Q- the paient, expressed his. wpinion that the patient,i anthopghmes.uae ar death's door, mighth yet be s aved by of 0te f treatment. Ah I upkyiDians, who ha?Qeen in attendance from oths e daoy of h a cin ess, aand eave endangered his li. t b w maltretment, that cannt be done; we have risked our reputation:as kiiitifl physicians upon the treatment which the pp.aient has had, and there is to be no ehange. If you can cure thd man by our treatment, we wfillv' e the patient up to you. Would the doctor'take charge ofth.e pa-tient upon- such conditions? No0 gentlemen. He would either app.yhis own'rqen edies, or leave him to die in- the hads of:the quacks. oDor Buchan an sh vuldshavemdel. the same':tr-s',wM-'. plGaca} *hUa'h4. have brought upa the -:tion.teft Me difaa.an~ow preayi upon; its vit~$; but he is willini:: take Chaxge of: the.patient,. anid promises to use the same:n.rums: wVhiC- hawve- bgeu prescribed by Doctor p.roand.~Doctor Dougaf,.' con ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. | DEMOCRACY NOT ALWAYS THE SAME.. The Democratic party claim that the grpat dis tinguishing, vital princ'lle of their party is,-obe dience to the cleari y-,eXpressed wl- of the majority. We know that upon this corner-stone res.ts the structure of our Government. RBut let us test the Democratic profession by their prac tice. They repealed( the restrictive clause of the Missouri Compromise; to extend Slivery, wvith out solicitation fromrn, and in oppos ition to, the vwill of the pieople. It was resisted in vain. The peopl'e were' appealed'to, and, after full discus sion, put their'seal of reprobation upon the act, and sent us, here to repeal the Kaisas-Neb,raska bilis and restore the MIissouri restrictive clause. This we' have done.- We have met the demands of thepeople. But the Senate, professedly Democratic, and further removed from the people, refuse to obey their behests. They reject the bill t a: tnpatitti apg Ka,s with her free Cbons,titution di formecd a' t Topka, Thley ktlso.reject a bill repealing the, Kansas act, and restoring the Missut a r l lict e-the very thuig that f sl,id the other an'i Ne I)raska members s were selat here to do. We have met the demanldsof ife people, I)ut a Democratic Senate thro, s our 0il,ls Iack U sP~ Us wit derision and iisult. This is the Dermocra'~y o'1856.,'~ -- It will be recollected that, during ithe Adminitrat,on of Pres dent Tyler, taty was entere into: with.Texas providing'for itS. admryisiO ioaito ihe'Uiom bhe treaty was submi,ed lo the Senate, a)nd by'tt reject-ed.. The South, under the lead of Mr..'ored the Demo. cratic party to,ah)pt the antiexatioti of l'exa, as a par y melas'm:9:,-~;d -.itw*de the is$.qe in the campaign in 184t: Ttl,at'i Oue'dfeateId M'r. Van Burmea for niominia tion, aTd'n6iiilaled Mor. Polk.''The isste was carried to tte people, aud Mr Polk wa elected ever Mr. Ctay. The -Democratic par,y thenI claimned,'t tia on-i having b-e,sinsu)mittved tO the(ectple, aidtthe~. having de.cided in ;, otf o-r of,itite, anmafie duty of tke' Oigres, whieh as3 's,,bl~e~'llt-0f Deember,:184~,o' ~i~t'!pe'tie,subject{ and they did,'s be0ore, Mr. Polk was iaaugaratedt a admitted -Prexas by joint resolution-the same Senate which redee,,ee tie ~reuty the winter preyous, now votin)g for her a,lmissio.' That wa Democracy ii 1t844! Ah! but my Deyi-ocratic fi'iends sag, the Feepie were with us the c thtey are prot. with'us h thpe a Ka,tsas m atter, aind that makes ull't?:~li~e,,e ia the world.'I admit,'tliat with ani'unseru-ptii ]~/ p/V it does. -' We are about to ruBn t o o ur homs, and i ve an asccount of our stewardship. tothp~ss-wl,o sen' tus. We have done all that we can' do,. carry out the will of a vast majority of the wpeo hled itchis: Counry-to givepeac to he coa ntiry, and p rotec t th'e people of Ka as against te acts of and infaindo-r. rgt o na Le isl.ature, imotsed upol them by Mtssoui, d them still byorc issuesa arepait of Border Ruffian s. cloted wlt oer by hisAdmii,.afior.'But our efforts hakve pivred ineffectual, because tlhe Senate and President would not abandon th~[r wherishe~tip,jei~le;..~f~ming K.ngohas a slave SIate We will -hy th~tnaie'rt' before the peo:,le.': If,hey Approfe of the treachery'of those who hatched tli, Kansas nspiracy, aq aoprnve of'.the ouitr*ges committed ther, they will vinle:(~:,.$t Bifchanan,an1'send those to rep,selt ~hem 'i't~:'.ii -/ifi~.who will sustaini him in his de,, iniiiaiioi to ~/~':~fU~the.'Piere, ".Douglas, and Stripg*elow p olicy, as :e~ir~ffse/d in the Ci.rwi.-at platformp. -! -the other hand, if ...q~.':'~,'ap'p*o~ve o~f: e urse i,a~t.ilg, to save 8Knsas ':"!oPreeo0m, and:';/o<:'prosoe!.lts':d'6erive d aId unfOrtunate 'eitizen;:, anad i-n vindie~:ii:uth nt:olal faith,.~nd inl givi ng pe~ae to lhe tho: e wl try, they will:elect Fremont to the P residency, adreturn' to this House again a majori y ofra true to th. rse crat cects. The issues are plain. Duties ann:l reapchiiS~t~i~ies 0f ~:a't momenit~ now rest upon the.peepie, and!;hav~e n0'fear but llthat iey will meet and disichare them as patriots. ~.-: BUELL & BLANC!ARD, I i Priiiters, Washington, D. C. omplaint of the xnionit — Cl r ~altitp. SPEECH OF HON. PHILEMON BLISS, OF OHIO, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MAY 21, 1856. ciples of law common to all the States, while extolling the devotees of sectional systems; and especially are we surprised at his assu rance in presuming to vilify the people of the North, merely for their earnestness il opposition to his schemes for blackening the continent with African social organizations, and at his audacity in using mob and military power to coerce those who were to be left "perfectly free" to chose their own in stitutions. Mr. Chairman, the race of Serviles hIas not run out. The enjoyment of the blessings of free institutions does not suffice to extinguish the meaner passions. Republics still furnish Swiss Guards. Those who once flourished by the African slave trade, and whose influence made New England yield to the demands of the Carolinas and Georgia, that it be fastened for twenty years, upon the young Federation, did not die childless. The East-and I regret to have to add the West-still furnishes those who seek not judgment, but who "love gifts andifollow after rewards"-who, for a consideration, will not hesitate to sell out the free West — who will not hesitate to libel the States that bore them, or which gave them power to sting. To the Representatives of the slave interest here I can only say, make the most Mir. BLISS. It is some weeks, Mr. Chair man, since I s oug ht the floor to express my views upon the subject which I now prop ose to discuss. E events h ave s inc e cr owded so thick upon us,, that what I masy say may seem almost out of time; and while Kanasm, from the feet of usurpers, is stretching toward s us for r elief, and the lawful authorities, instead of rushing to the rescue, are in alliance with her enemies, I may find it difficult to enlist attention to anything but her imme diate wrongs and rights. But Kansas, suppo sed to o prostrate for, action, has succeeded in arraying herself in the "robes of sovereignity," and with bayonet at h er breast, y et with the the fearlessnes s of i ntegrity, asks but for anut frtho ri ty to annihilate the usurpers. Her case will be soon before us, and I believe our action will vindica~te the popular verdict upon the faithless attempt to enslave her. Till then. we may *(onsider questions that will be living when the Kansas struggle shall have passed, if there pass not with it the substance of our common freedom. Yet, I cannot but first note the extraordinary efforts of the President, and which have so surprised us, to aggravate the slavery agitation, to alienate and sectionalize the people, to defame those who would strengthen and extend the great prin t 2, very. My country is filled with them; and it is because they wouldprotect their' rights and interests," and their own equality, that they would escape the influence of Slavery. Though those remaining with you are more 'than nine-tenths of your white population, yet they, I suppose, are not "the South." " The South," then, consists of its slaveholders; and what interests, pray, of slaveholders, are jeoparded by Slavery restric tion? Clearly they are not deprived of the proceeds of the labor of their slaves. A given number of hands will produce just as much cotton or sugar or tobacco, whether Kansas or New Mexico be free or slave, and its market price will be just as high. In, deed, the consumer of slave labor is rather interested in the restriction of Slavery, for with every expansi6o the price of the la borer, and consequent cost of production, is increased. The only ones, then, interested are those who have slaves to sell; and they, it seems, are "the South." Let it, then, be understood, that when the rights and in terests of the South are spoken of, you mean the rights and interests of those who rear men and women for the shambles! The time was when "the South" had another sense, and her sons would have blushed to own her complete identification with human traffic. And- if it has come to this, God forbid that I should show, any respect for such " rights," for such " interests." COMPLAINT SECOND-INEQUALITY. But we are accused of denying the equality of the citizens of the States; and all the appeals, denunciations, and threats of treason, which falls so thick upon us, are based upon the accusation. The assumption is simply this-that if the laws of the Territories shall not permit the citizens of slaveholding States, who at home have held persons in bondage, from thus holding them in the Territories, then o f them. Our free churches, free schools, and free presses, which so shock your nerves, are doing their work; and even if your impoverishing systems shall leave you anything to barter, you will soon find that-at least our people have outbid you. You taunt us with the fact, that our fathers permitted a few of their mercenary tradesmen and mariners to engage in the practice lawful as you call it-of hunting men and stealing women in Africa for your fathers to buy. We do not mean that our complicity in kindred crimes shall give your children the power to call the blush to the cheeks of those we leave behind us, But it is not of our mercenaries that I propose to speak, but to their masters, and of such of their complaints as are based upon the WE DESIGN TO PREVENT THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY INTO ANY OF THE TERRITO[RIES. The legal power t o do this cannot be q uestioned; a nd if a ny poor wanderer is yet groping h is wa y by the Will-o'-th'-wi sp of th e N icholso n l etter, I comm-end him to the argumentof th e gen tlem an from Pennsylvania, [Mr. RITCHIE,] or to t hat of my colleague, [Mr. STA&NTON.] COMPLAINT FIRST —RIGHTS OF THE SOUTH INVADED. ,But, Mr. Chairman, this is claimed to be a sectional measure, and complaint is made that by it the ri ghts and inte rest s o f t he S outh would be invaded. If so, the complaint is just, and we should desist, for we are no sectionalists. But pray tell me who constitute " the South?" Of course, in this,connection you do not count your slaves; nor can it be claimed that the rights and interests of your non-slaveholders would be violated by such non-extension. The more industrious and intelligent of them have fiown and are flying from the effects of Sla il REPUBLICAN PURPOSE. 3 diction? Are the rights of the dwellers of each hamlet to be decided by the laws of their parent State? And yet the gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. WARNER,] if I under stand hinm, assumes this doctrine. After citing the case of a Spanish vessel laden with slaves, which was seized by a British cruiser, and the seizure held illegal, he says: " The slaves were not taken by the Spaniard in to the Kingdom of Great Britain. in violation of her laws, but were seized upon the great highway of nations, upon the empire of the seas, upon com mon ground, where the Spaniard had as much right to - be with his property as the Englishman; and the principle would have applied with equal force if the slaves had been seized upon common Terri tory, the joint property of Great Britain and Spain. The same principle is applicable to the common territory of the Union, which is common ground, being the joint property of all the States, where the citizen of Georgia has as much right to be with his slave property as the citizen of Ohio has to be there with his property-neither violat ing any law of that Territory by going, into it with their property." The character of this reasoning will ap pear, when we consider that the high seas belong to no nation, federation, or confeder acy, and that they are, and can be, subject to no municipal code, but the law of each nation follows its own ships wherever they go. Slavery and the slave trade were then held to be lawful in Spain, and, therefore, slaves on board Spanish ships could not be discharged by English law. The ship was still Spanish, its domicile was Spain, and it was subject only to Spain's law. But each Territory must have municipal laws of its own, and they are uniform in every part Of the Territory. Can there be one law for the farm of the emigrant from Georgia, and another for the farm of the emigrant from Ohio? And what if the two emigrants own and occupy a farm in common, perhaps intermarry, the law of which State shall govern? Neither is it true that the Territories are the common property of the States, as such They belong to the Federation as a unit; and each citizen. owes allegiance to the Federal Government alone. They bear my_ 1. No pers on a l pr ivilege is denied- to an emigrant from a slave State, w hich is n ot'y also denied to emigrants fr om the free States; h ence t here is no inequality. 2. So far as law is= concerned, the very demand is a claim for sup eriority, and notw equal ity. Th e extensio n of th e law of Sla very would subvert its opposite, and give it a superiority under pretence of equality; for the law that enslaves a man, and the law which protects him, cannot co-exist. 3. The complaint assumes that the laws in the Territory must be made to conform to the laws of the several States, at least in re lation to " persons held to service." Now, in view of the fact, that there is great disagreement between the laws of the States upon this subject, some allowing abject servitude, and others permitting only the natural and common-law subjection, and that modified of wives, minors, and apprentices, the absurdity of the complaint clearly appears. Either the laws of all the States must be in force in the Territory, which is impossible, or the laws of some particular State, or laws independant of those of any State. Or, the complaint assumes, 4. That each emigrant should carry his own State laws with him. Is that possible? Have laws any extra-territorial force? Law is a municipal regulation; does it extend beyond the mutticipium.? Is a Territory like the high seas, where all nations have equal rights, and the flag of every nation carries upon its own ship the nation's juris they are denied a perfect equality- with -citizens of the free States; or,'in other words, if Congress shall refuse to permit the establishnient of the local laws of the slave States in all the Territories, it thus refuses to protect the equal, rights of the emigrating citix,ens of those States. Now, to this complaint it is enough to 4 no analogy to a country belonging to two independent sovereignties, as the gentleman has supposed; and even if they did, it would not matter; for if Great Britain and Spain held a common territory, it must have municipal laws; and the relations of persons and the rights of property would be controlled by its own municipal laws, and not byr those of the joint sovereigns. COMPLAINT THIRD-INVIDIOUS DISTINCTIONS. other hereditary re lati on t he chilid follows the condition of the father. 2. Slaves cannot contract legal marriage,s and ther e can be no such thing as the lawful family rela tion a mon g them. When they follow the instincts of religion and affection, as best they may, the i r union is subj ect entirely to the irresponsible will of others. Le t him who can measure the influence o f sac red domestic ties upon civilization and character, characterize such legal atheism. I can find no fit words! 3. Slave s can hold no property. The acquisitive ins tincts-the greatest of human civilizers-are den ied lawful exerci se. Says Crenshaw, Justi ce, in Br and on et al. vs. Planters,&c., Bank, 1 Stewart's Rep., 320: " A slave is in absolute bondave; he has no civil right, and can h old no pro perty, e xce pt at the will and pleasure of his master; and h is man ster is his guardian and protector; and all his rights, and acquisitions, and services, are in the hands of his master. A slave is a rational being, endowed with volition and understanding like the rest of mankind, and whate ver he lawfully acquires and gains possession of, by finding or othe rwise, is the acquirement and possession of the master. A slave cannot take property by descent or purchase. I I 4. Their persons are without the law's protection; and they are in general subjected to any treatment dictated by the interests or passions of the possessor. This subjection has been of late modified by enactments against willful murder, assault with intent to murder, and in some States are found regulations as to food and gross abuse. But the legal disabilities of the slave are such, that these provisions are of necessity at the master's discretion; and the essential character of Slavery justifies the master, or temporary possessor, in the use of any force he may deem necessary to induce absolute subjection, even though life be taken. The case is clearly put by Judge Ruffin, of North Carolina, in the State vs. Mann, 2 Devereux, 263, when he decided that the hirer of a slave-woman, who refused to submit to a But complaint also is made that, by prohibiting Slavery in the Territories, Congress would make improper and invidious distinctions against the laws of the slave States. This complaint is also based upon the unfounded assumption, that the law of slavery -if I may be pardoned the seeming paradox of calling that law which is but the denial to its victims of the law's protectionfrom its CHARACTER, INFLUENCE, and ORIGIN, has equal claims to the favor of the Federal 3overnment with the principles of the common law, or the law of Freedom. If this be true, then I admit that the complaints of the Slavery extensionists are well founded, or at least that there should be a division of 'he Territories. Slave-y therefore, itself is _ptt in issue; gentlemen compel us to test .ts claims. By the chara cte r of S lavery I r efer not to the cruelties or kindnesses of slave-masters, but only to its distinguishing and essential legal features; and, in doing this, I shall but briefly allude to a few of them. 1. Slavery is hereditary. Because one has succeeded in enslaving the parent, therefore he has a perfect right to enslave his posterity, and according to the degrading and demoralizing rule of partuts sequitur ventremn. Like the ox and tle horse, the owner of the dam owns the increase'; while in every CIIARACTER OF SLAVERY. 5 dency? I would not intimate that the white race is necessarily degraded by contact with the black; that would depend entirely upon the character of the contact-upon the sentiments or passions developed by it. He who seeks the elevation of the low, himself is elevated; while he who would keep them down himself sinks. Such is the universal law; and the inquiry now is, whether that law i. suspended in favor of Slavery; whether the general influence upon the dominant race, of a class oppression, vindicates justice? We are told, that " what a man soweth, that s h al l he rea p;" and Jefferson, speaking o f the surroundings of Slavery, from its m i dst, says; "The lian must be a prodigy who can retain his manners and mo rals undepraved by such circumstances." Whatever elevation or excellence of individual character ther e ma y be, a nd no man mnore highly appreciates those many excellencies than do I, the general influence of slave ry up onI the coun t ry and th e w hit e masses is visible to the most superficial observer. It is seen in the perversion of Christianity; in the degradati on of labor; in the blighting of the soil; in the thriftless indo len ce of the masses, and their consequent ignorance and poverty; in their subjection to t he adverse interest s of a privileged class; in the particolored complexion of the denizens of kitchen, plantation, and slave-pen; in the supremacy of force over law; in the recklessness of life; in the almost total subversion of that freedom of thought, and freedom of speech and the press, thk essential attendants, and among the chief ends of all free Governments; and in that lowest of all results of wrong-doing, such a loss of the moral sense as to blind the wrong-doer to the character of his acts; all which are witnessed in such large portions of the country, and in proportion to the predominance of Slavery and the slave spirit. I am happy flogging, might lawfully shoot at and wound her; and the court declared that the power of the master must be absolute; that, though contrary to moral right, this discipline belongs to a state of slavery, and is inherent in the relation of master and slave; and adds: " We cannot allow the right of a master to be brought into discussion in a court of justice. The slave, to remain a slave, must be made sensible that there is no appeal from his master-that his person is in no instance usurped," &c. I speak not of those refinements of Anmerican slavery-forbidding letters, forbidding honorable employment, forbidding assemblies, forbidding locomotion, forbidding emancipation, and forbidding even to the dominant class freedom of speech; they are but its incidents and tributes to the rebellion of nature against its enormities. But per h ap s the inflitence of these provis ions, at least upon the do minan t class, is benign; perhapcs laws have ceased to react upon charac ter; perhaps hum an nature is s o changed that the denial of the sanctions of ma rriage to servants, though a majority of the pe ople, while character is to them valuel ess, and self-defenc e d eni ed, guards the decencies of life; perhaps, for the commerce of civilized nations, the substitution of a traffic in their sons and daughters develops the resources and increases the industry and dignity of States; perhaps absolute power generates the milder virtues, exalts the sense of justice, and promotes habits of self-control. Let us see. Such is the natural aptitude of the negro to improvement, that, unless in the heavy planting regions, in spite of the laws, he may make some progress, But slavery brings him into an unnatural contact with the white man, and how does that contact affect the latter? We sometimes hear of the tendencies of nature towards an equilibrium; are the negro's wrongs avenged by this ten INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY. 6 unlike common law villanage- the only English servitude. The marriage of a vil lain was as valid as that of his lord, and both were consecrated by the same sacra ment. Like other hereditary conditions, that of the father followed the offspring; contracts with villains were lawful, and caused their liberation; the bastard was presumed to be begotten by a freeman, and was free. Villains regardent were attached to the soil, and protected in their homesteads as in their family relations. The number o f villains in gross was always small, and no evidence is found of their existence in England for centuries before the settlement of Virginia; and even the mildest form of serfdom had faded before the progress of the common law and the influence of religion, not yet the ally of oppression. Besides, the courts of Westminster have often decided that colonial slavery was never lawful in England. The celebrated Somersett case, and the case of Forbes vs. Cochran, (2 Barn. & Cress., 463,) are conclusive. But in the absence of these decisions, where is the evidence that chattel slavery was every lawful in England? Dig up the records, and give us the proof. Surely such a custom could not have existed for centuries, " from the time when the memory of man runneth not to the contrary thereof," and baron and peasant, and bench and bar, be ignorant of its existence. And, besides, every maxim of the common law breathes justice, and its whole machinery is contrived to guard rights, not to intensify wrongs. It had excrescences, but none like Slavery. Whatever of political privilege or personal security the Briton enjoys beyond the Russian, or the citizen of the Ohio beyond the Mexican, they owe to the successful contests of the Anglo-Saxon with the enemies of the common law. Let it never be cited in favor of any form of oppression. to know that these influences are not yet universal and complete, for in no State is free labor yet entirely supplanted. These allusionsto the charact er and influence of slave laws are necessarily very brief -full fidelity would require volumes-yet they are exceedingly painful. I would gladly forget that our country is so dishonored, and, worst of all, that men will glory in their shame. But the extensionists and their President have forced the discussion upon us, and I have never learned to let squeamishness stand in the way of duty. ORIGIN OF SLAVERY. But perhaps the origin of the slave code will inspire reverence. Whence, then, came the anomaly? Did the grim form spring, full grown and armed, from the western wave? Or did it skulk in the hold as the colonist left the home-land, and follow him with his other household gods? Or is the incongruous thing an exotic? It may seem idle to look back in our struggles with the present; but to me, in the onward traverse, ever looking back, but for line, having no more faith in syllogisms merely, in law and politics, than in philosophy, guiding my feet alone by the instincts of justice and the " lamp of experience," the origin of a system of government, or system of laws, and its effect where indigenous, possesses great significance; and, besides, I have become sick of hearing the antiquity of Slavery, of the slaveholding habits of patriarchs and philosophers. I have no doubt that the slaveholding spirit is as old as sin, and that Cain would have Enslaved Abel if that would have better gratified his passions; but I do mot mean that African Slavery, ancient though it be, shall filch respectability by assuming a stolen crest. Not from the Cnoirnon Law. The American slave code was not derived from the English oommon law. It is wholly 7 is to transfer the dominion of the ship to its English captor, and by its agency Brazilian slaves become British subjects and freemen. eSo far from the modern law of nations authorizing, or even giving color to, domes tic Slavery, its fundamental principle, of the equality of nations, as based upon the natural equality of man, is directly hostile to it. Says Vattel: II Since men are naturally equal, and a perfect equality prevails in their rights and obligations, as equally proceeding from nature-nations composed of men, and considered as so many free persons living together in the state of nature, are naturally equals and inherit from nature the same obliga~tions and rights." And yet a nation may not prevent the internal wronos of other communities; for, says our author: II A nation, then, is mistress of her own actions, so long as they do not affect the proper and perfeet rights of any other nation.' X * If she makes an ill use of her liberty, she is guilty of a breach of duty; but other nations are bound to acquiese in her conduct, since they have no right to dictate to her.' Again: " It is therefore necessary, on many occasions, that nations should suffer certain things to be done, though in their own nature unjust and-condemnable; because they cannot oppose them by' open force, without violating the liberty of some particular State, &c." But it is a-confusion of ideas to say that men have a right to do a thing because foreign nations may not prevent it, and a legal absurdity to trace title to property to such forbearance. True, there was a time when Slavery had something to do with the'law of nations; when the rules of intercourse between States at war, permitted the slaughter of captives-men, women, and children; and when their enslavement was a forbearance. We hence find Grotius exceedingly learned in elucidating the inhuman customs of the ancients, and correctly tracinlg the right -pardon the word —to enslave ca. tives, to the rules of intercourse between nations. Gentlemen'admit that:this lawr has made some progress. The next step Not f rom the law o f Nat i ons. The gentleman from Georgia labors with s om e plausibility to trace the right to prop erty in man to the law of na tions, an d th r ough it to the common law. But his argument is based on th e assump tion that the law of nations can decide what i s and what nton te is not property. Property is derived from the law of nature, or from the muni cipal law, and not from the law of nations. T he latter may takl e notice of -what is prop erty, but i t d oes not establish it. Can it be said that the importer derives from th e law merchant his right to treat a s property his pip e of b rand y or bale of silks? " The law of nations is that code which defines the rights and prescrib es th e duties of nations, in their inter c ourse with each other," (t'Kent.) And under it each nation, in its intercourse with other nations, will, in general, treat as property what that nation so regards, and while it i s within -its exclusive jurisdiction, however repugnant to the-spirit of its own laws. The authorities cited by the gentle-man prove not hing more. Spai n and some other States at that.time permitte d their citizens to buy o r st e al negroes in'Gu inea, and trans por t them in Spanish ships; and the only point decided was, ~though with s om e looseness of phraseology, that the rule of intercourse between nations-if. e.. the law of na tions -wo uld not permit any f riendly nation to interfere to prevent it. So th e l aw of nations may decide the ownership of property, as prizes in war. But it does not decide that to be property Which is so taken. Suppose, in war, an English privateer should capture a Brazilian slave ship, the property on board would be lawful prize, and belong to the captor. But would the slaves be property? Certainly, if the ~law of nations so decides. -But, no. The domioil of the captured ship immediately becomes English, and all that the law of nations does 8 will be to depart from neutrality; to place the slave-trader where he belongs-beside the common pirate. Not fromt the Civil Law. Neither is the civil law the source of our slave code. Slavery had produced in the Roman Empire its legitimate results. It had driven out industry, barbarized the people, exhausted the soil, and cured itself by involving both master and slave in common subjection. The new systems which, in the thick darkness, laid the foundations of modern civilization, contained as much of Christianity and Freedom as the darkness oould comprehend. They certainly were purged of chattel Slavery, as its legal foundation had been destroyed in the overthrow of the barbarous maxim, that prisoners of war might be slain or enslaved. Nor have I learned that any State whose jurisprudence was founded upon the civil law, gave laws to any of the English colonies. Not from ilfoslent Law. of slaves, but on the express condition that we should act with the fear of God before our eyes; which sentiment, indeed, should be the guide of all our actions. The reasons by which Slavery is justified are these: God has commanded his prophet, the prophet of Islam, to announce the divine law to men, to call them to believe in the true God, and to employ the force of arms to constrain unbelievers to embrace the true faith. Atcording to the divine word itself, war is the legitimate and holy means to bring muen under the yoku of religion; for, as soon as the infidels feel the arms of Islam, and see their power humiliated, and their families led away into slavery, they will desire to enter into the right way, in order to preserve their persons and goods." -Travels of SUEk Moha mmed, a n Arab merchant, pp. 297-8. Islam s ervitude is entitled to the highe r considerati on of those who believe that God has made of one bloo d all nations of me n," as it is not at all sectional or exclusive in its charact er. All, whe ther Eur opea n or African, can find shelte r i n i ts f old from the sin and dangers of unbeli ef; and whe n once in, it woul d be wrong of course to endanger backsliding by e ma ncipa tio n. But for two consideration s, I might suppose that col onial Slavery originated in Mosl em law. Fir st: the only intercourse between the colonies and th e Moham me dan Sta te s wa s th r ough thos e whom fortune threw into the hands of the corsair, an d, being themselves fugitives from slavery, we do not learn that the few who escaped desired to bring the laws with them. Second: while Moorish and American Slavery agree in general, they differ in one important particular. By Moslem law, a slave who bears Issue to her master ceases to be transferabe, and the issue is free. —(See Lyon's Northern Africa, p. 289.) The striking contrast between the two systems, in this respect, will appear, when we consider that no obstacle is thrown in the way of the advancement to any station of the offspring of the Turk or Saracen and his slave; while in America, the father and owner of bastard slave families is permitted to send them to the auction block; and though the fact of the paternity is no disgrace, yet an acknowlk But some suppose the colonists adopted the Mohammedan slave code. The Spaniards, after expelling the Moors, are said to have imitated, to some extent, their practice of slaveholding; and, judging from the similarity in the justifications of Slavery by some of our religious teachers and the Islam doctors, there is some speciousness in the supposition. The spirit of the following extract from the journal of a Mohammedan traveller has doubtless commended the author to the favorable consideration of those divines w ho have s hown such zseal in canonizing oppression. After detailing the horrors of the slave hunts in Africa, the author adds: " Only the very strong or the very fortunate reach as far as Egypt. I have seen Jkllabo leave Wadai with a hundred slaves, and lose them all by cold; and others have been deprived of still greater numbers, by heat and thirst; whilst others again, out of a single flock, find not one wanting. All this depends upon the will of the Most High. " Our holy law permits the sale and exportation 9 try, for none there existed; and while she gave the colonies the common law, she gave no other. They could not have been de rived from the civil law, for no political intercourse was held between countries adopting it and the colonies; and that part of the civil law adopted in Europe was purged of those customs. They could not have sprung from Islamism, from want of voluntary intercourse, and from material variance. Whence, then, I again inquire, came those continuous and immemorial customs by which these la b o rers w ere held in servitud e? Th ere is only one answer. The customs which e nsla ved t hem a t home were, so to speak, imported with the s lave. The various peculiarities of American Slavery had existed from " time immemorial" in Africa, and thus w ere adopted in the colonies. The absolute authority of the master o ver the person of the slave, ovter all his acquisitions, over his marital and parent al r ela tions, the presumptions in favor of Slavery, and the property maxim of partto sequitur ventrem, were all lawful in Africa from immemorial usage, and in the absence of legis lation c ould only be m ade lawful in America by th e pl anter availing himself of this African usage. Chief Justice Marshall, in e'ect, confirms this proposition, in remarks quoted by a Senator seeking to trace Slavery to the law of nations. After showing that the enslavement of captives was once lawful, he adds: "1 Throughout Christendom this harsh rule had been exploded, and war was iio longer considered as giving a right to enslave captives. But this triumph had not been universal. The parties to the modern law of nations do not propagate their principles by force; and Africa had not yet adopted them. Throughout the whole extent of that immense continent, so far as we know its history, it is still the law of nations that prisoners are slaves. The question then was, could those who had renounced this law be permitted to participate in its effects, by purchasing the human beingsS who are its victims?" — Weaton' s Law of 2fations, 635. But there is a country blest with the " in stitution" from the remotest antiquity, and whose slave laws must commend it to the affectionate regard of all propagandists. In Western and Central Africa, slaveholding is the true " corner-stone." Slaveholders are the only aristocracy: and slaveholding ideas have so thoroughly taken possession of the people, as effectually to shut out all antagonist "isms." The discordances of Abolitionism, Free-Soilism, and Republicanism, are not permitted to disturb the reign of free-loveism, barbarism, and terrorism. Soon after the settlement of the earlier colonies, a trade was opened with this country, principally to procure laborers; and Hawkins and his successors industriously followed the methods of obtaining them long sanctioned and sanctified by African law. These methods were either purchase, or, when more convenient, the slave hunt -for by settled law all seized in the hunt were presumed to be slaves, and it was found somewhat difficult to rebut that presumption; and such was their success, that soon the banks of the Jameses, the Ashleys, and the Hludsons, were well stocked with captives from the Guinea coasts. But the inquiry naturally arises, By what law were these men compelled to labor after their importationI? No statutory slave code was adopted, and no customs could have existed long enough to have the force of law; and yet they w ere held und er customs or regulations similar to those which are now called law. These customs, to have been legal, must have been ancient or immemorial; and having no antiquity at home, -they miust have been naturalized from abroad. They could not have come from the mother coun edgment of its duties is considered a public indecency, and a fraud upon the slave system. B,at is from -African Law. 10 of each man over himself; but the first few hundred or dozen squatters are to found systems for the Territories that may degrade or bless their future millions. This doctrine at the North assumed the specious name of " popular sovereignty," and recon ci led t he pe opl e in 1848 to the aband onment of the doct rine of the father s; and its seeming embodiment inNC saL wh the N ebraska b ill was there the only justification for that outrag e. But it is now abandoned, and a fe w ancient - tainers only are left to do hom age to the famous Nicholson letter. As the doctrine of Territorial sovereignty arose, so it ha s fallen, with the fortunes of the distinguished Senator from Michigan. Would to God its abandonment had l eft us where we were, in the exercise of an undoubted sovereignty in founding such institutions for the Territories as should secure to their future people- the blessings of "popular sovereignty!" But one heresy only prepares for a worse. The new doctrine, as well as that ~of the Nicholson letter, is so utterly opposed to our uniform practice, to the decisions of all the courts, State and Federal, that I hardly suppose gentlemen regard it as constitutional law as yet: but rather as a politics2 obligation arising from the Constitution, which they claim should be recognized in-all our political action, upon which they have compelled the Administration to base its -policy,:and which they soon expoct to establish as law. In a recent report, the -Senator from Illinois repudiates the northern construction of the language of the Nebraska act, purporting to leave the people of the Territory "perfectly free".to admit or exclude Slavery. He says that I'the sovereignty of a Territory rqmains in abeyance, suspended in the -United States, in trust for the people, until thefr shall be admtted into the Union as a State.;" The Justice decides that this African usage was adopted by the European States, so far as to transfer slaves to the colonies, and hold them there. Thus were domesticated the institutions of Africa alongside of the common law, and they have ever since divided our jurisprudence. I do not propose to decide whether such customs could have been lawful, under the-provisions of the English charters. I leave that to the gentleman from New York, [Mlr. GRANGEa,] and to those who shall combat his positions. I have no love for them, and should not regret to see them deprived of legal sanction. It is enough for me to know that these customs were adopted and, if lawful at all, were so by the laws of the Guinea chiefs, and not by civilized codes. Such is the slave code-.such its influence-and such its origin. In founding the young institutions for the Territories, we must establish it or guard against it. There is no middle course, for ours is the real responsibility, to whomsoever we may seem to shuffle it. Is the code so attractive -that a discrimination against it seems "improper" or "invidious?" COMPLAINT FOURTH- SLAVERY RE STRICTION UNCONSTITUTIONAL. But, as if perceiving the transparency of these complaints, the Slavery extensionists take refuge in the Constitution, which, like the ancient shrines, is the eager skulkingpl ace of those who would shrink from:duties or shield crimes. They complain that Slavery restriction is a violation of the true spirit, if not the letter, of that instrument. First, we have the doctrine of the Nicholson letter, or " squatter sovereignty." Though 'C(ongress may, in -the organic act, provide at its discretion for other things, it may not guard the only legiitim~ate sovereignty, that 11 I me greater pleasure to hear the positions of slaveholders upon this question, stated with some appearance of logic, than to see the double shuffles and deceptions of their "popI ular sovereignty" allies. If I understand I his position, it is this: that slaves were held as property in the colonies and States, by the law of nations, which became the law of the land, and that, under that law, the-hold. ers of slaves acquired absolute rights of property in them. The conclusion I give in his own words: " Those great fundamental rights which I have been discussing, belonged to the people of the the Sltates before and at the time of the adoption fof the Constitution. They entered into, and con I-stituted an essential element of, their title to their slave property, part and parcel of it; and, not having delegated them in the Constitution, they have them now; and it is by virtue of thosepre exi"stonx * rights, whi ch are solemnly guarantied by the Consti tuti on, that my constitu ents claim to,be entitled to take their slave property in to the com mon Territory, and to have it protected there." The gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. (oXer] has, during this session, sta ted the d octrine in a still more revol ting form: " So far from the d ogma presented by Norther n men, that slaver y requir es p ositiv e law to protect it, being true, I believe the law prima facie is that wherever a negro is found in the United States, or Territories thereunto belonging, there he is a slave; and such has been the received opinion by custom and adoption, as shown by early history; and, un til you show a positive law to the contrary the ne gro is a slave wherever he is found in the United States. We don't want any positive law to sup-port slavery. There is not a Southern State which has created slavery by positive adoption. It has been established by custom and common consent,% in the same manner as it was established in Massachusetts and New York; and those States made a great deal moro money out of it than we have. There is no law in the South making slaves property. Property in slaves exists on the same basis as other property. Property arises as a naturaI right, over and above all law, and such it is recognised the world over by common consent. Anid the colonies having, by custom and common consent, assented to and established the right of property in ntgro slaves, that kind of property stands to this day on the same basis of other species of property, so far as the:power of the Government is concerned; and Congress has no more power over it than it has over property in horses or any other chattel." " If Congress could confer power on the people of a Territoryto prohibit glavery during their Ter. without a use, fore ver "hid in a napkin," and therefor e n o trus t at a ll. The gentleman from Pen nsylvania, [Mr. JONests,] in a c oll oquy wi th th e g en tlem an fro m K entucky, [Mr. Cox,] thus announces the views, I suppose, of the Buchanan in terest: " I b elieve tha t Congre ss has the pow er to con fer upon the people of a Territory the right to le g islate upon the subject of Slavery, when they are forming their organic law, prepa ratory to its ad-f mission into the Union as a sovereign State; butT p rior to tha t time, the y have n o right ei th er to es tablish or abolish slavery.," * X -* | " I have sai d al ready, that, in my opinion, the Constitution limits the power of Congress to the extent of prohibiting them either from establishing or aboli shing Slavery in th e Territories. Admit ting that view to be correct, I su pp o se it follows, as a matt er of course, that the Constitution of the United States confers upon the people of the Terri tor y no r igh t to dispossess any man of his right to prop erty, whether it be slave or any other property. 'And, th e refore the Legislative Council of a Terri tory, though they may pass laws regulating the disposal and protection of property, hav e n o right so to administer those laws as either to establish or abolish the riah t to hold that property." "sr. Cox. * * I un derst and the gentle man, however, to say, that by the Constitution of th e United States, Congress having no power over the subject of defining wisan hat is and what is not property, if a slaveholder goes to the Terr itory of Kansas wit h his slaves, h e s till holds them as prop erty, and may claim the right of protection for that property. "AMr. JONES. Undoubtedly. The Government recognises as property what it finds there as such, having no power to say whether it is or is not prop erty. I think my-friend from Kentucky agrees with me there. "Mr. Cox. Certainly, I do." I do not know as the gentleman from Pennsylvania intended to acknowledge the fall extent of the Southern claim as hereaf ter given, but it prepares the way for the as sertion of the universality of slavery, and which I find here the almost universal claim of slavery extensionists. The gentleman from Georgia [Tr. WARPNER,] has stated it ,with great distinctness, and I confess it gives. 12 prohibiting Slavery, and which were claimed to be still in force, he adds: "But I deny that the laws of Mexico can have the effect attributed to them. As soon as this treaty between the two countries is ratified, the sovereigntya and aut horit y of Mexico, in the Territory ae quired by it, becomes extinct, and that of the United States is substituted in its place, carrying with it the Constitution with its overriding control over all the laws and Institutions of Mlexico inconsistent with it." It will be recollected that this doctrine was the special hobby of the present Secretary of War while in the United States Senate. I have gone somewhat into detail in stating the present doctrines of the slavery party, because they are denied by the Administration party in my country, and it is difficult to make people there believe that such principles are actually being applied to the government of the Territories. But so it is. These novelties have become tests in our Territorial administration. Slavery is the rule-the power of its prohibition by any authority whatever denied, and the Federal Constitution its shield and protector! I well recollect the sneer with which this idea was received, North and South, when it first attracted attention. MIr. Clay, in reference to it, remarked: ritorial existence, it might exercise the power itself, without committing it to the people of the Territory. This power, sir, I deny, and believe that the Constitution of the United States does not authorise Congress to destroy the right of property in the States, even thougth that right should be carried into the Territories. The Territories are the common property of all the States; and if Congress, as is admitted, cannot destroy or affect property in slaves in the States, how can it destroy or control it in the Territories? No, sir; whatever is recognised in any State as property must, under the Federal Constitution, be regarded as property in the joint and common Territory of all the States.', So far as I am able to learn, these are very modern opinions, and originated, with other heresies, in the fertile brain of the late Mr. Calhoun. They were advocated by him often and ably in the latter years of his life; and, though first treated as chimerical, are now adopted even by Kentucky! I have now before me a speech delivered by him in the Senate, June 27, 1848, in which he elaborates the doctrine with his accustomed ingenuity, and shows that the Federal Government possesses the exclusive power, in the nature of a trust, to govern the Territories, subject to restrictions, express or implied. The former are the express provisions of the Constitution; the latter are " those imposed on the trustees by the nature and character of the party who constituted the trustees," which he claims to be the States in severalty. "In the States, severally, reside the dominion and sovereignty over the Territories, and they are the Territories of all [the States,] because they are the Territories of each, and not the Territories of each because they are the Territories of all." Adding the admitted equality of the States, "it must be manifest that Congress, in governing the Territories, can give no preference or advantage of one State over another." "It has no more power to do so than to subvert the Constitution itself." He hence claims that Slavery must be legal in all territories, because it is in some of the States. And, in alluding to the laws of M.exico in California, "I must say, that the idea that eo instanzti upon the consummation of the treaty, (the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,) the Constitution of the.Unted States spread itself over the acquired country, and carried along with it the institution of slavery, is so irreconcilable with any comprehensions or any reason which I possess, that I hardly know how to meet it." And yet it is now substantially the dootrine of the Governmnt party, and substantially the doctrine of the leaders of that other party styling themselves National Americans, and, with Nativism, was the basis of their coalition to organize this House. Such is the progress of fanaticism, when led by passion and lust of power. I confess, the impudence of this claim, its bold sophisms, and false assunil tions, 13 el versal in the colonies, and sanctioned by the t mother country. I have already shown that I1 the law of nations could not constitute i- property, and admitted that by usage persons d were held as slaves. It is true, I have also - shown that this usage could not have been n lawful, not having been immemorial, unless n derived from and availing itself of the im memorial usage of Africa; but I am willing , to admit for the present, its entire lawfult ness. And what follows? This usage was contrary to the law of nature and the legit, imate object of Government; contrary to the municipal laws of all civilized States; e was grossly tyrannical in its character, and destructive of every social and material in terest in its effects; and yet gentlemen - gravely claim that it would be a violation of the constitutional rights of the slave-ridden ; States to protect the Territories from this blighting usage! Mr. Calhoun was in the . habit of basing the claim, not upon any fie titious "constitutional guaranties," of which men speak so flippantly, but upon tl)he bold and unfounded assumption that the'F'errito ries belonged to the States in severalty; th,t the Federal Government held them in trusr for each of the States, and must govern them with reference to the supposed interests of the States. Such was the theory of co lonial rule. Colonies were founded, and, as far as possible, slave usages introduced, not to promote the permanent well being of the colonies, but with all possible rapidity, and for the benefit of the home country, to coin the fresh soil, and leave its future to retri butive sterility. But the American Revo lution overthrew all such theories. Accord ing to its doctrines, Governments are insti tuted to secure the rights of the governed, and not the interests of the governors. I admit, with Mr. Calhoun, that the power to govern the Territories is a truls-all Gkov~ ernment~s are in the nature of trusts -but amaze me, and, in contemplating it, I fec somew hat the embarrassment of the grea Kentuckian. Because slavery was lawfu in the colonies and most of the St ates prevu ous to the adop tion of the Constitution, ant is still lawful in some of the States, there fore it is lawful by force of the Constitutioi in all the Territories. Place it in the forl of a syllogism. 1. Whatever was lawful in the colonies and is still lawful in any of the States, mus be lawful in the Territories. 2. The practice of enslaving men was and is thus, lawful. 3. Therefore, slavery is' lawful in the Territories. Corollaries: the right of distress, and the practice of imprisoning for debt, very important property rights, were lawful in the colonies, and are still in some of the States; therefore they cannot be prohibited in the Territories. The right of gambling by lottries existed in the colonies, and still does in some of the States, and heavy capital is invested in the business; therefore, the right is a sacred one in all the Territories. And these rights, too, have always existed by the kaw of nations, i. e., the law of nations has aothing to do with them. It would seem that the statement of the proposition would alone be sufficient to show its absurdity. But when men would guard great wrongs with the shield of logicwrongs enthroned in passion and interestKey lose their vision; the thin gauze bee,omes brass, and they fancy themselvesmad sometimes their enemies fancy themsafely shielded by the gossamer. But let us examine these constitutional claims a little more in detail. Gentlemen on this floor have placed great storess upon the claim that, previous to the Revolution, slavery and the slave trade were authorized by the lawr of nations, were uni- 14 for whose benefit is this trust to be executed? Clearly for that of the cestui que trust, and not the trustee, or even the founders of the trust. THiE TERRITORIES ARE THE cestui que trust, AND WE MUST LOOK TO THEIR RIGHTS AND INTERESTS ALONE. The fact that a dif ferent rule prevailed under colonial subjec tion is rather a beacon than a precedent. The claim, then, that the Territories are to be governed with reference to the interests of the old States, and not the good of the Territory, is based upon a fiction; is colonial in its analogy; contrary to the doctrine of the Revolution; and it cannot be presumed to be constitutional, unless the provisions of the Constitution are explicit to that effect. It is claimed that, as there is no express power given by the Constitution over slavery, it is therefore unconstitutional to exercise such power. And is there any express power given in relation to crime other than Federal, in relation to rights of property, and the other thousand things appertaining to government? The powers of Congress in relation to Territories are altogether general in their character, and embrace all proper subjects of legislation. I care not whether it be derived from the clause giving authority to "make all needful rules and regulations respecting the Territory;" or, as Mr. Calhoun thought, from the powerto acquire territory, necessarily carrying with it the power to govern; it must be general. There is no limit to it, except the express limitations of the Constitution, and in that respect is entirely unlike the Federal authority over States. Instead of there being a want of power in Congress to prohibit Slavery, because not exp ressly given, it haspower to do nothing else, Congress, within its jurisdiction, is bound to carry into force all the provisions of the Constitution, and to present all wrong-doers from violating them. The guaranteess of personal liberty and rights of property are inconsistent with sla very, and should be enforced; and the duty of Congress to malke express enactments on the subject depends entirely upon the dan ger of their violation. Were there no such thing as theft, no enactments against lar ceny would be necessary; but the guaran tees of property, as well as the unwritten powers of all Governments of general juris diction, demand its express protection, when and where necessary; and so of individual liberty. But, even if there were no such guarantees, I demand of those who require express powers for the protection of indi. vidual liberty, the power, express or im. plied, to infringe it. Liberty is the normal, and slavery a forced relation; "contrary to natural right," says Justinian; "a mere municipal regulation," says the Supreme Court, in Prigg vs. Pennsylvania. And I deny the power in the Government, unless clearly granted, to protect A in holding B in subjection, to adopt the unn atural and merely local regulation. But, say gentlemen, slaves under the Constitution, are property, and h ence, must be pro t e cte d as property. That is begging the question. I demand the proof that, under the Federal Constitution, and within its exclusive jurisdiction, there can be property in man. Is it found in the contemporaneous declarations of its framers, that it would be wrong to admit in it the idea, and in their care not to do it? Is it found in the language of the instrument, were slaves within States are supposed to be alluded to, where they are described as persons, and persons only? Is it found in the provision, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law? Is it found in the avowed objects of the Constitution, to establish justice, to secure the blessings of liberty, &c.? If not, where 15 is it found? Gentlemen who make this extra ordinary claim hold the affirmative. Bring forward the provisions of the Constitution which reduce man, whether white, yellow, red, or black, whether Saxon, Celt, Moor, or Mohawk, to the condition of a chattel. But, says one, h e is held as property by th e l aws of c ertai n States, and therefore, by operation of the Constitutio n, he mu s t be h eld as property in the comm on T erritories. Indeed! and what provision of the Consti tation oerates to almake the slave laws domi nant, anl to extend t hem, to the exclusion of others, into the Federal Territories? Am I answ ered, tha ththe Constitution provides that no person s hall be de prive d o f his prop erty without due p rocess of law, and hence cannot be deprived of slaves? But that, too, begs th e question; for w he re, again I ask, is the authority for property in man? By the law of nature, a man is entitled to property in his own labor and his own earnings, and has the right to control both the one and the other; and do gentlemen assume that the Constitution gives to others property in this labor and those earnings? But perhaps gentlemen rely upon the provision for the delivery of fugitives from labor. This will not answer: for the conclusion, that this clause authorizes property in man, is not only a naked assumption, but is expressly estopped by its language; for they are " persons;" and only when they escape from one State to another State shall those persons be delivered up; and then the whole force of the provison is spent. The Convention better understood the force of language than do the propaganda; for the reason there given for changing a proposed phraseology to the present was, "because the former was thought to express the condition of slaves, and the latter (the one adopted) the obligation of freemen." But, says anoth er, the Co nstitutio n is ta sort of I law of nations " bet ween the States, It does not decide what is property, but treats as property whatever an y State so re gards. This may be, in a manner, true, whie t his prope rty is within the State's ex cltsive jurisdiction. I t is only tru e, how ever, because the Constitution, like the law of nations, with a single exception, has no jurisdiction in the premises, and, so to speak, cannot trea t at it at all. Suppose poor whites who are now free, as seems to be contemplated by some Southern politicians, should be enslaved; the case would not be alte r ed. The re is no Federal jurisdiction between citizens of the same State, and they may enslave one another, or murder one another, with impunity, so far as the Federal Government is concerned. But wheni these citizens come into Federal jurisdiction, as within Federal territory, then the Constitution ceases to be to them as a "law of nations," but becomes municipal law; and they are alike regarded as persons, and persons entitled to all its personal guarantees, Nothing can be plainer; and I am astonished at the effrontery, and almost impunity, with which men labor to debauch the national charter. CONCLTJSION. I have shown that the complaints of the propaganda are baseless and the claims on which they are founded legal shams. But it is not a question of sectional interests or conflicting rights. It has no geography, It is a struggle of systems, a struggle of laws, a sttruggme of clviiizationIs; and our duty in that struggle becoines a naked question of political justice and obligation, We cannot avoid responsibility for the political Constitutions of Territories previous to their organization into States. Shall we give them the African code, with as much of the 16 cemmon law as can endure the base contact, or the commion law republicanized, anl without African taint? There can be no neutrality. We must discriminate, and we are discriminating. The base and bloody Guinea system has been forced upon Kansas, and every Federal officer is active in its imposition. In the midst of the contest, I should ask pardon for the time spent in answering false eomplaints, were it not expedient to clear sway the rubbish, lest some weak combatant hould stumble in the fight. But their truth is really not in issue. We must not be drawn aside by them; they are intended for future application, if we survive the revolution initiated by the propaganda. For the first tinme in our history are we called on to legalize the acts of an invadingo armed force-a force which seized the ballot-box, filled it with foreign ballots, and inaugurated a Rump to give laws to freemen. The acts of this Rump are worthy their paternity-fit bantlings of the incestuous coition of the spirit of border-ruffian Democracy with the spirit of Gold-Coast barracoon jurisprudence The slave power pronounces them law, and President and postmaster meekly echo the decree. They are being enforced as law, and we must rescue the victims, and damn the vile inv ntors! In planting Slavery in the col onies, there was no parallel to this; and yet, how deeply have we heard Virginia curse Old England for her selfishness in the matter! What deeper curses will the future Kansas heap d upon our heads for complicity in her debase. ment! And what is the motive? To perpetuate servitude, and to obtain fresh soil to desolate! Does colonial history furnish a match for such cold selfishness? Hear the gentleman from Georgia, before quoted: " There is not a slaveholder, in this House or out of it, but who knows perfectly well that, whenever Slavery is confined within certain specified limits, its future existence is doomed; it is only a question of time as to its final destruction. You may take any single slaveholding county in the Southern States, in which tihe great staples of cotton and sugar are cultivated to any extenrt, and confine the present slave population within the limits of that county. Such is the rapid,aatural increase of the slaves, and tle rapid exhaustion of the soil in the culitivation of those crops, (which add so much to the commercial wealth of the country,) that in a few years it would be impossible to support them within the limits of such county. Both master and slave would be starved out; and what would be the practical effect in and one county, the same result would happen to all the slaveholding States. Slavery cannot be confined within certain specified limits, witlhout producing the destruction of both master and slave, It requires fresh lands, plenty of wood and water. not only for the comfort and ha ppine ss of the slave, but for the benefit of the owner." We only need to look across the river, and all around us, to see that this exhaustion is not alone from cotton and sugar culture. It followvs your s~jstez; and when you have desolated Kansas and Texas, and New 5Iexico and Utah —what then? Will you come upon us and demand our hone-farms, enriched with willing sweat, to subject them to your exhausting process? The end must come; and the only question is, whether it shall be before or after the continent is ruined. Our country's salvation is in our hands, and cursed be the slave, or coward, or traitor, who shall betray the sacred trust! SPEECH OF HIION. HIIENRY BENNETT, OF NEW YORK, ON THE ADMISSION OF KANSAS, AND THE POLITICAL EFFECTS OF SLAVERY. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 30, 1866. WASHINGTON, D.C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS 1856. k SPEECH OF HON. HENRY BENNETT, OF NEW YORK, ON TiE BILL FOR THE ADMISSION OF KANSAS AS A FREE STATE. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 30, 1856. In this condition of things, when the public feeling has become highly inflamed, and we are rapidly approaching revolution and civil and sectional war, we are appealed to for the admission of Kansas as a State, to give safety to its people, and prevent further outrages-to restore peace and tranquility to the country, such as it had before this wicked attempt was made to force slavery into free territory. Its admission as a State has now become a matter of imperious necessity. It is the only way left of peaceably and speedily putting an end to all these difficulties. It should be at once adopted. What objection can be made to the immediate admission of Kansas? Its constitution is republican; and was fairly adopted. Its precise population is immaterial. There is no regulation on that subject. It rests entirely in the discretion of Congress. It is estimated Kansas has now some sixty thousand inhabitants, and their numbers are rapidly increasing. Long before another election it will have double the number deemied necessary by any objector. No delay is necessary on this account. Seven States have been admitted, having, when they applied for admission, a less population tham Kansas is estimated to have. Neither Missouri, Arkansas, nor Lousiana, all slave States, admitted from the same Territory, had as large a population as Kansas has; and Florida, another slave State, had, when admitted, only twenty-seven thousand and ninety-one inhabitants; and by the last census had only fortyseven thousand two hundred and three free white inhabitants. Yet Florida, for more than teu The House having un der c onsider ation Ho use bill (No. 411) for the admission of Kansas as a free State. Mr. BENNETT, of New York, said: Mr. SPEAKER: Kan sa s asks admission as a free S tate. This is demanded for the protection of her people, and t he preservation of the public peace. It is requreied by every consideration of justice, and of prudence.- Kansas was a free Territory, and pleded. t o f r eedom. But the last C ongress did the great wrong of opening it to slavery; un settli ng that whi ch was settled; reopening slavery agitation; and renewing sectional strife; v iolating the national fanith; anddonginjustic e t o t he fr ee States. By t hat act Kansas ha s b e en made th e thoheater of contention and %iolence. Printing presses have been torn down, property destroyed, houses burned, and robberies and murders committed. 'The Territory is in a state of civil war. Mobs of ar med men, controlled only by the madness of passion, have inflicted upon peaceable citizens e very k ind of indignity and in sult, and perpetrated every speci es of cri me and cruelty, unchecked and unrebuked. It has no law or government protecting its citizens; none, or such only as has been imposed upon them-such only as tends to their oppression. The city of Lawrence has been destroyed, and free citizens driven from the Territory, with the sound of artillery ringing in their ears, and the light of their burning habitations flashing upon their eyes, as they turned to look back to the homes where they had been forced to leave their wives and children at the mercy of worse than barbarian foes. 2 years, has had its two Senators in the Senate of the United States; representing, in 1845, twentyseven thousand, and in 1856, forty-seven t h ousand people!- equal in the Senate with New York, having over three nmillions. Is it wise or proper to refuse admission to Kansas, and protection to its people, in the hope of yet being able to make it a slave State?2 That, I believe, is now impossible. As such it never can be admitted; it is doubly pledged to freedom. But if its people, now asking admission as a free State, desires to establish slavery, they can amend their constitution at any time after their admission as a State, to that effect, and in that vway, and in no other, make it a slave State. And even for this purpose, (really the only obection,) no delay is necessary, and nothing can be gained by it. I propose to compare the claims of the two sections to Kansas, and see to which it rightfully and properly belongs-to see how much our purchased territories have cost, and how they have been divided: been made. It was most emphatically the South, and the voice of " southern councils," that led to the acquisition of Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and New Mexico; and as it regards all sectional issues-all questions of political asch idency-all these acquisitions of territory have been made, and have o pera ted, f or the direct and immediate bene/its of the slaveholding States. Not one inch of territory has ever been purchased or acquired of any foreign Power, since the Constitution was adopted, at the instance of the free States, or which was intended for their benefit. Yet the free States have paid more than two thirds of the entire cost of all these acquisitions of territory, and the consequent expenditures since incurred. They have borne their hill share in the wars which led to, or resulted from, these acquisitions, in the expenditure of money, and in the sacrifice of human life. II. HOW HAS THE PURCHASED TERRITORY BEEN DIVIDED? I. COST OF TERRITORY PUIRCHASED. Territory of Louisiana, (purchased of France in 1803.).................................... $15,000,000 Interest paid................................. 8,327,353 Florida (purchased of Spain)................. 5,000,000 Interest paid................................. 1,430,000 Texas, (for boundary)........................ 10,00o,000 Texas, (for indemnity)...................... 10,000,000 Texas (for creditors, last Congress)........... 7, 750,000 Indian expenses of all kinds, (say)........... 5000,000 To purchase nav, pay troops, &c............ 5, 000,000 All other expenditures...................... 3,000,000 Expense of the Mexican war................. 217,175.575 Soldiers' pensions, and bounty lands, &c.,(say) 15,000i000 Expenses of the Florida war, (say)........... 100,000,000 Soldiers' pensions, bounty lands, C&e., (say)... 7,000,000 To remove Indians, suppress hostilities, &c., (say)....................................... 5,000,000 Paid by treaty, for New Mexico.............. 15,000,000 Paid to extinguish Indian titles, (say)....... 100,000.000 Paid to Georgia.............................. 3,082,000 $832,764,928 Fro m the territory thus purchased, and paid for by all the States, five new slave States have been admitted, having the following extent of territory and representation in Congress: The free States, sf any, are yet to be admitted! Kansas and Nebraska, unless the unjust legislation that opened these free Territories to slavery. and the violent measures adopted to establish it in Kansas, aided and abetted by the present Administration, shall enable slavery to take all, even that part once secured to freedom, and from vhich slavary was "forever pr-ohibited!" At a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars (over eight hundred millions,) we have obtaillnedi the territory for these five new slave States, by which the slaveholding section have gained politically (and that is the all important object) ten United States Senators and sixteent members of this House! California, it is true, has been admitted as a free State; but it was the result of accident. The territory acquired of Mexico, like all the rest, was acquired for the benefit of the South. The dis covery of the mineral wealth of California led to its rapid settlement and admission as a State, before slavery had time to be transplanted there. The Senators and members from California have learned in whose hands the power of this Government is held, and have ever been. and now are, Many of the above items can be accurately stated; others can only be estimated. But our acqu isition s of territory have cost us an immen se amoun t, and led to large expendit ures. The above is merely an approximation towards it. The expense of the Mexican war is given as stated of ficially by the Secretary of the Treasury in his repor t in 1851. (See Appendix to Globe, vol. 23, page 21.) This was, as Mr. Clay said in his great speech in 1850, a war "made essentially by the South, growing out of our annexation of Texas;" a war into which the country was precipitated by the action of a southern President; a war of conquest, which Congress declared " was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President of the United States." It was at the instance of the slaveholding section of the Union, and for its immediate benefit, that all our purchases of foreign territory have States' - Square M i l e s. i.Louisiaa....... 41,246 1). IVIissouri........ 65,037 3. Arkansas....... 5'-).191 4. Florida.. 59,268 5. Texas.......... 325,369 5 Slave States.....543,369 Senator3. 2 2 2 2 2 Represent4tive,. 4 7 2 1 2 io 16 3 chase lying north of the Missouri compromise line, of which Mr. Clay said, in 1850, " In point of intrinsic value and importance, I would not give the single State of Louisiana for the whole of it," is demanded by the aggressive spirit and sectional interest of slavery. To this the free States never can consent. Kansas and Nebraska never should, and never can, be admitted as slave States. Never. Do not increase the evils that are upon us, and protract this controversy in that vain hope. It never can be realized. The question is not now as it was in the beginning. But for these great additions of territory, which the free States aided to purchase; but for these new slave States, formed out of the added territory, which the free States aided to admit; but for the votes of the Senators and Representatives from these very States, thus acquired and thus admitted, this great wrong of opening the free Territories to slavery-a wrong against the political and equal rights of the free States-could never have been committed. Without the aid of the votes of the new slave States, the slave power could not have violated the compact of 1820. Our past experience can never be forgotten. The day of conmpromises is passed. We have learned that the slave power aims at supremacy-absolute surremacy in this Government; that it is ever aggressive, insolent, and exacting; that it abides by no compact, fulfils no promise, rega&ds no obstacle, but, true to one instinct, its love of dominion, seeks to secure the whole power of this Government in its grasp. It seeks to destroy the political rights of the free States, to trample under its feet every principle of equality and of r epublicanism, and build up its own power upon their ruiins. Against this prervesion an d dest ruction of thevery principles of this Government, the free States here, and now, have taken their stand, seeking only to bring back the Government to the true republican standard of equal Xepresentation and equal rights. The great question now, is " the extension or non-extensioil of slavery"-its extension into free territory, and then its extension into the free States, for one is the same as the other. " It controls the South. It controls the North. It pre cludes escape." So say the pro-slavery papers. True. It cannot be avoided or evaded. We are compelled to meet it, whether we would choose, or whether we would forbear. On this question there are but two parties-those who are for the extension of slavery into the free Territories, and those who are against it. It is the great question, before which all others sink into insignificance. Are we to have a government of Ih( people, a real representative Republican Government? or are the owners of slave property, small in num ber, but Faith the power now in their hands, and strongly intrenched in every department, to rule politically, the faithful allies of the South! They have ever been, they are now, of the pro-slavery party. And in the account I am stating between freedom and slavery, California should be wholly omitted, as it forms no part of thte territory where the struggle for and against the extension of slavery has been carried on. Omitting, then, Califorinia on either side of the account, I proceed: Out of all the territory purchased since the Constitution was adopted, how manyJree States have been admitted? None!o How many Senators have the free States gained by the large expenditure of blood and treasure they have tade? None! How many Represerttatives? Nowse! no, Non-e! not one inch of territory, not one solitary menmher in either branch of the National Legislature! Mr. Clay admitted this, in his speech made in the Senate in 1850. (See Appendix to Globe, vol. 22, part 1, page 126.) He said: "What have been the acquisitions made by this country. and to what interests have they conduced? Flo rid a, where slavery exists, have been introduced. All the mIost valuable part of Louisiana has also been added to the extent and consideration of the slaveholding portion of the Union. "All Louisiana, with the exception of what lies north of 36~ 301. ",All Texas; all the Territories which have been acqluired by the Governinent, during sixty years of the operation of that Governi ent, have been slave Territories; theaters of slavery, with the exception I have mentioned lying north of 36' 30'." It is no longer an exception! Even there slavery was admitted by the last Congress. But where the free States to receive no part of the purchased Territories? Yes. The South made a division, by which the free States were promised that part of the Louisiana Territory lying north of 360 30', when in the then distant future, it night be settled. But when, more than thirty years afterwards, that time came, the slaveholders abused the power which the free States had given then, by this addition of ten Senators and sixteen Representatives, and violated every principle of honesty and good faith, by repealing that pledge, and repudiating thatpromise-claiming a perfect right to all they had obtained, tand a,n equally perfect right to take the rest, even that small portion which was free, and which they had pledged to freedom. And the President and'pro-slavery party are now laboring to force slavery upon Kansas, by out-lawing and butchering the citizens of Kansas opposed to slavery. Thus far the fair division of the Territories, purchased and paid for by all the States, has been -to the free States, none! to the slave States, ad! But that is not enough; even that comparatively valueless part of the Louisiana pur *It is claimed that Iowa, at least, was a part of the Louisiana purchase. If it were conceded, it would not weaken my argument. But it is also claimed, and I think more correctly, that it was a part of the territory north and west of Ohio, ceded by Vfrginia, (and the other States,) and from which slavery was excluded. 4 as with arbitrary and undisputed sway? Is this to be a land of freedom, or a despotism of slavery? Is such a despotism, more odious than any that can be found in history, to be now firmly fixed upon us by a system of fraud and forceby high-handed acts of wrong, outrage and violence? Shall Freedom, Democracy and Repubcanism, be crushed down by the despotic rule of slavery? Shall one interest, one section, one itstitution, be made absolutely the ruling power? or are all interests to be alike represented and alike protected? It is a question not only for the present, but for all future time! Let freemen judge! ire you for or agai?nst the extension of slavery? This is the question-the great question, to be settled at the next Presidential election! Are youfor or against the extensionist of slavery into free territory? For slavery or for freedom? III. EXT_ENT, POPULATION AND REPRESENTATION OF THE FREE AND SLAVE STATES. Maine and Vermont were formed by dividing old States, and not from added territory. While the free States have more than doubled the population, the slave States have gained more than double the territory, by the admission of new States. That is, the addition made (by the admission of new States,) to the limits of slavery, is aboutfive times in extent to the addition made to the free States, in proportion to numbers. The five purchased slave States of Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri, contain 543,369 square miles. The whole fifteen free States, contain 454,344 square miles. The territory added to the slave States by purchase, is larger than all the fifteen free States, by 89,025 square miles. This excess is a larger territory than is contained in seven of the free States. 4And this was all purchased to extend slaverj; while the free States admitted, have been formed out of territory belonging to the United States when the Government was established, and to which the ordinance of Jefferson and of freedom, prohibiting slavery, was applied by the fathers of the Republic. When so much has been yielded to slavery, will southern Representatives object to admitting one free State out of all the purchased territory? Free States. Sq. Mliles. 1. New York......... 46.000 2. Pennsylvania.........5, 47, 000 3. Ohio........ 2.... 3 9,964 4. Massachusets.. 7,250 5. Indiana...........4. 33,809 6. Illinois............ 55, 409 7. Maine............ 35,000 8. New Jersey........ 6,851 9. Michigan.......... 56,243 10. Connecticut........ 4,750 11. New Hamnpshire... 8,030 12. Vermont........... 8,000 13. Wisconsin......... 53,924 14. Iowa............... 50,914 15. Rhode Island...... 1,200 Fifteen States........ 454,344 Pop1,lation. 3,048,325 2,"58,160 1,955,050 985,450 977,154 846,034 581,813 465.509 395,071 363,099 3] 7,456 313,402 304,756 191,881 143,875 13,347,035 (Omitting Californfa, as before.) Slave States. Sq. Miles. Population. 1. Virginia.............. 61,352 89,4800 2. Kentucky......... 37,680 761,413 3. Tennessee......... 44,000 756,836 4. Missouri............ 65,037 59'2,004 5. North Carolina..... 45,500 553,028 6. Georgia............. 58,000 521,572 7. Alabama.........51.. 50,722 426 514 8. Maryland.......... 11,000 417,943 9. Mississippi........ 47,151 295,718 10. Louisiana.......... 41,346 255.491 ]1. South Carolina.... 28,000 274,563 12. Arkansas.......... 52,198 162,189 13. Texas..............325;520 154,034 14. Delaware.......... 2,120 71,169 1. Florida.............. 59,268 47,203 Fifteen States........ 928,894 6,184,40,4 The fifteen free States, have 13,000,000 of free white inhabitants; the fifteen slave States 6,000,000; yet each have thirty Senators; True, the small States are entitled to two Senators each, as well as the larger ones; but this number of slave States, extended over a large territory, with a small population, makes the disproportioned representation of the two sections in the Senate too palpably unjust. In Senators, the slave States have, by this system, kept up a rep'esentation, in the propotion of TWO to ONE, as against the free States. In the House, the slave States have ninety members, representing 6,000,000 of population; Sen. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1) 2 2 2 2 2 32 30 Fifteen free States contain.................13,347,035 Fifteen slave States............... 6,184,404 The fifteen free States, have more than double the free white population that the fifteen slave States have. Tee45 3 "S a. Fifteen slave States contain......928,894 square miles. Fifteen free States "..... 454,344 " " Difference.............. A474,550 -.' " The fifteen slave States contain more than double the territory of the fifteen free States. In other words, the slave States now have aboui .five times the extent of territor?j, according i) Mulation, that the free States have; including slaves and all, they have about three times th(territory of the free States, according to -popula.tion! Yet, they would'Still encroach upon free territory. They still demand more for slavery. Nine slave States have been added, con tainin,,,t................... 722,922 square miles. Six free a es have been added, containing..................... 290,264 11 Difference...................... 239-,658 #11 11. Sen. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 30 Rep. 33 21 11 11 9 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 145? Rep. 13 10 10 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 6 2 2 1 1 IV. REPRESENTION. 90 Populatio?z. 6 the free States, one hundred and forty-two members, representing 13,000,000. Upon the same ratio with the slave States, the free States should have one hundred and ninety-five members c-a loss to them of fifty-three-in the popular. branch of the Government; that in which the popular voice is to be heard, and the popular will expressed. South Carolina has six Representatlves, with a free white population of 274,563. New Hampshire has three Representatives, with a free white population of 317,456. - Vermont has three Representatives, with a free white population of 313,402. Vermont and New Hampshire, with a population of 630,858, have six Representatives. South Carolina has six also, with only 274,563; Less, by 356,295-not one half as much. At the ratio of South Carolina representation, these free States should have fourteen Representatives, instead of six. Is there not a wide difference in the political rights of these States? My district has a population of over 100,000; the ratio of South Carolina is about 45,000; that would more than double the representation of every free State. Three congressional districts in New York contain a larger free white population than the State of South Carolina. Yet th is is th e State that is going to forc e s lavery into Kansas- the one that has s o o f ten complained of the hardships of remaining on e of the United States, and threatened disunion! With over 110,000 more slaves than white inha bitants, to be held in subjection, what a formidable force South Carolina could command to destr oy the Union! Only think, what a regiment she could muster! and think, too, what deep cause? she has for revolution! More than twice the representation acpording t o numbers! and therefore more than twice the political power in proportion, olwed to any free S& ate in the Union! And all the "moral power" of the ora poer e " national institution" besides! This may be the reason why South Carolina had n o less than three prominent candidat es for S peaker in the present House! There was none from New Hampshire or Ve rmont! And this unequal representation South C arolina w ould retain, if twenty free States were admitted. Why, then, should she object? Florida has 47,203 white inhabitants; Delaware 71,169; both together have about the same population as the St. Lawrence and Herkimer congressional district in New York, formerly represented by Preston King; yet these two slave States have s/ electoral votes; this district has but one. South Carolina has a less white population than a single congressional district in Iowa! yet it has eight electoral votes. Politi cal,ly, s lavery is th e greatest of all institutions —a foe to capital, energy, enterprise, and improvement. The very sGil loses half its value, where slavery desecrates it. Yet s lavery is the great politica institution of this co untry. Poitcians and oHce seek ers -from president ial aspirant s, who promulgate the ir devotion from hi gh places, dow n to the lowest menial in or about the public offices-are swift to do it rever ence, eager rivals to be foremost in aiding its further extension and more vermanent ascendency. They vie with each other as to who shall be its most rampant and rabid advocate, and stoop the lowest to-propitiate its favor. And this will continue, so long as devotion to slavery is the only passport to oice. On this single ground stood all the rival candidates for the nomination at Cincinnati. Upon this, each relied for success. To them their subserviency to slavery was more important than ability, honesty, or integrity. An avowed determination to extend slavery was the all important qualification. All stood on this platform, but most pre-eminently the nominee of the miscalled Democracy, now having but one policy, and one principle-the eztenson of human bondage. Unwisely the framers of the Constitution al lowed a representation upon property in oixe in stance-a thing plainly wrong in principle in a republican and representative Government; and unfortumately allowed it upon that kind of prop erty upon which, of all others, no representation should have been given. It was upon slaves. The basis of representation, as adopted, allowed three fifthe of all slaves to be counted; and gave this unequal and, therefore, unfair and unjust, representation in favor of the owners of that species of property over all others. True, this was done by northern as well as southern votes. But it should be borne in mind that slavery then existed in every State in the Union-ithat we had become deeply involved in debt by the war of the Revolution, and direct taxes were apportioned in the same manner. If some States had more slaves than others, and- therefore, this provision might be in some small degree unequal, it was thought the burden imposed with it, as to the payment of taxes, would be a fair equivalent for the advantage it might confer. And besides the slave trade was prohibited after 1808, and slavery was expected soon to be an institution numbered with the things of;:the past. At that time this representation was rIVly of little moment. and did not probably B to any State a single member on slave property alone. The Government was inaugurated with a policy wholly o'Mosed to the ~ion of slavery, and looking confidently to its speedy extinction. The ordinance prohibiting slavery was applied to all ourr Territories by almost unanimous consent. Slavery was thus confined to the States where it V. REPRESENTATION UPON SLAVE PROPERTY. 6 existed, and its stream cut off at the fountainhead by the abolition of the slave trade. But soon after our Government went into operation, it was discovered' that slave representation had an unexpected and magic effect. It brought into solid column, united and bound together, all who came from States inll which slavery existe d, to such an extent as to render it of any real consequence as a propery interest and a political element. Thus united they became more and more controlling. They swa yed the policy and decided the measures of the Government. They used th e pow er obtai n ed to extend the itnstitution, and thus increase their sectional strength aud political influence. Hence the sotlthern. policy'of FxPANSION and DIsrrRsWos, of which this country furnishes the most r,'markabl-e example to: be found in the history'of the world. This led to the purchase of Louisiana as early as 1803, and has since been followed by the purchase of Florida, the acquisition of NVew Mexico, and the annexation of T~eas.. That slave republic (almost as large as all the free States) was annexed to extend the " area of freedom! "' This policy of the extension of slavery, and its dispersion'as far and wide as possible, to strengthen and secure the political ascendency of slaveowners, has led'to all the outrages in relation to the free Territory of'Kansas, from the act of Congress to the acts of the border ruffians in Kansas —the butchery of its people, and the destruction of' Lawrence,' and to' the outrages of slaveowners here at the Capitol-.all having a common object-to )fore the:exteon of slavery for politicaZ purposes, intofree territoy. To, this policy we o'we,all the evils of the present alarming state of affairs" throughout the land. From it every slavery agitation has arisen. These have always occurred when this policy has been checked or opposed by the free States. And this policy has been steadily pursued'under every possible and contradictory pretense, and owes its origin, and thus far its success, to the fact that slavery is made a, political element'by allowing a representation upon slave property, and the free States have never before been unitedly opposed to it. the Government, the slaveholding States have shaped its policy, and controlled its action. -.ito measure of any political importance, prejudicial to the aim's and i nterests of slavery, has ever be en passed. For- the last fifty years, the free States, so far as the General Government s cncerned, might about as well have been governed without any voice in the elections, or any representatiqn in Congress. The measures adopted'hame. been dic t ated by slaveholders, and their rea l"polhya heal been-and it is now openly avowed-the extension of slavery. That' has now become the only real politics of this country. There is not an aristo cracy in any Governmenit of Europe that holds *the power in it' that the slaveholders have held, and now hold, in this free Democratic representative Republic. This is not a matter of theory; it is the undisputed truth of history, demonstrated by an experience of sixty years. It is not the re sult of accident, but of a settled system, the natural effect of an adequate catuse'. With thirty Senators and ninety Representatives, personally and politically bound to the support of slavery, and without any property representation or union of interests at the North, this result was in evitable. The slave States, with less than hayf the population of; the free States, have extended slavery more than twice as far as the free States have "enlarged the area of freedom"-that is, in the portion offive to one. Nine new slave States have been added. To extend the free States in the same proportion they should have added eighteen free States. They have only added, six, and these much smaller in extent. The slave States have added: eighteen Senators. The free States should, in proportion, have added thirtysix. They have only added twelve, (and four more gained by dividing old States.) The slave States have added forty-eight members in this House-the free States in proportion should have added ninety-six. They have only added fortynine, (and nine more by the division of old States.) Were Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, New Mexico, Minnesota, Oregon, and'Washington, all admitted as free States, the free States would not then be equal in extent of territory or number of Representatives with the slave States, in propor tion to population. The admission of free States would only lessen, not remove, the inequality between the free and slave States, leaving still this unequal representation in favor of the slave States, to the full extent of all their slave property. Can they ask for more than that? It has placed the power of the Government in the hands of slaveholders. They hold it' now, and have almost entirely for the last sixty years. Mr. Clay admitted in 1850, that the policy and measures of the Government had been controlled for the last. fifty years by "the preponderating influence of southern councils," and he enumerated th3 leading measures enacted and defeated by,' southern councils." Sometimes being for and then against the same measure, and' always successffil-indeed, almost from the formation of It is supposed by many that this privileged class-this aristocracy, in fact, established upon human bondage-embraces the great mass of' the people of the southern States. This is not so. It is the slaveotwners alone-and these form only VI. EFFECT OF THE. EX-TENSION OF SLAVERY. . VII., THE SLAVE POWER. 7 right-twelve hundred strong-is solely in consideration of his owning two thousand slaves as property! Yet men in the free States holding property of a value equal to his, or far exceeding it, have no political advantage from it, let their property be what it may. There is no property has any pohlitical power but slave property, and that, (estimated at $1,800,000,000,) scattered over more than two thliirds of the territory of. the Union, controlling half the States, combined in a single interest, and made a political element, controls this Government. Slavery is political; and politicians are its arrogant champions. There can be no end ofalvragrs5na slaveryaggre ssion and slaver agitation, until you disconnect slavery and politics; until it is settled- and defnittdy settled - thai slavery cannot be extended for politie purposes. Until that is done, there can be no peace, and no end of agitation. VIII. THE ADMINISTRATION AND SLAVERY. The political power of sla ve ry h as bee n estrikingly illustrated by the presen t Administ ration. The President came into office by the largest popular vote ever given, with a strong majority in both branches of Congress, all deeply pledged against all further slavery agitation, in any form, in or out of Congress. This was the corner-stone of their party creed. Yet, almost as soon as they had taken their oaths of office, the slave power demanded the free Territory of Kansas, and reopened and renewed the slavery agitation ill Congress and out of it, to accomplish its object, by repealing the prohibition against slavery north of the Missouri compromise line. Slavery demanded this wrong to be done; and to do it, the whole power of the President and his party was put into requisition. The faith of the nation that had pledged it to freedom in 1820, the pledges of the party made in 1852, the oft-repeated pledges of the President, and almost every member of his party in Congress against agitation, were all disregarded! —all violated! It became the great measure of the Administration. Slavery required it; and what to slavery was national faith, or party pledges, or individual integrity? All other considerations must yield. The suprernacy of slavery -its political supremacy_ must be secured! and the deed was done-Kansas was opened to slavery! Slavery was strong enough to compel a northern President to violate his repeated pledges, and labor to introduce slavery into free territory. A thing that Henry Clay, although a southern man, spurned the mere imputation of in words of burning eloquence. "I never can-I never will vote, and no earthly power will ever compel me to vote to spread slavery over te~ritory where it does not exist." (Henry Clay in 1850, in the U. S. Senate.") HOW have the pledges against ag;itationl been redeemed? By passing a law in Congress to States. Slaveholders in each. Alabama...................................... 29,295 Arkansas.......... 5,999 Delaware....................................... 809 Florida........................................ 3,5'20 Georgia........................................38,456 Kentucky.....................................38,385 Louisian a......................................20,670 Maryland......................................16,040 Mississippi.....................................23,116 Missouri...................................19,185 North Carolina........................28,303 South Carolina...............................25,596 Tennessee...................................:.33,864 Texas............................ 7,747 Virginia......................................... 55,063 Total...................... 346,047 Thus it will be seen that the number of slave owners, including men, women, and children, is only about three hundred and forty-six thousand. And the free white population over six millions, in the slave States. Or only about one in twenty of the white population in the slave States are slaveowners. Yet this small number, by a union of interest, and by the political importance given to slavery-rule these States absolutely and despotically-the great majority of the people-a majority of nearly twenty to one-are never heard of, and have no more power in those States, politically, than the slaves its aristocratic rulers own! This is truly astonishing But the condition of the General Government is more so. The free population of the Union is about twenty millions. The slaveowners now number some three hundred and forty six thousand. For the past sixty years their numbers would average from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand. Yet the General government is in their hands, and has been for the past fifty years, when the majority against them in the Union is as sixty to one; still they hold the power; and the Government is directed and controlled by them, and has been almost ever since it has been in operation. And during all that tine more than one half of all the important officers of the Government-and I believe nearly two-thibds of those offices-have been,filled by slaveholders, to the exclusion of the great mass of the people of the United States! Slaveholders have political advantages denied to all other men! A man who owns two thousand slaves has the same political power, on his slave property, as twelve hundred inhabitants of the free States. His power is larger than that of all the voters in a town of ordinary sizealmo s t equal to that of all the electors in some counties in the free States! He has, besides, individually, the same political power as the richest man in a free State.- This additional a small portion of the people of the slave States. The following statement, taken from the census of 1850, will show the number of slave owners in the slave States: , States. I. Staveholders 8 spread slavery over territory where it did not exist, (upon the same principle it can be forced into a free State,) where the question of slavery was at rest, and where it was "prohibitedforever." The most atrocious measure ever attempted for the extension of slavery-a measure that has caused a greater agitation, and made adeeper impression on the public mind, against slavery, than all its previous aggressions! The President also pledged himself to protect and sacredly to maintain the individual right of every citizen, "at home and abroad, upon every sea and on every soil." In the best days of Rome, the claim to be a Roman citizen was a protection in far-off and foreign lands; and it is the proudest boast of England, that her Government protects every citizen under it with jealous care. A wrong done to any one of her people is regarded as a national wrong, and as such redressed. The Secretary of State made a strong case, on paper, for interfering with a foreign Government in the case of Martin Koszta, who had merely declared his intention to become an American citizen. All that was well. It gratified national pride. But how has the President maintained the rights of the people of Kansas-American citizens, here at home, on our own soil, residing in a Territory of the United States, governed by its laws, and directly under the care of the President, whose officers are appointed and removed by him, and accountable to him? Have they been protected in their property or in their persons? Many months ago, Colman, a pro-slavery man, shot Dow in the highway-a wanton and unprovoked murder. But the officials of the President have taken no notice of it to this day. After this, Barbour, a settler in Kansas, was shot, when riding home, by Clark, a pro-slavery man, then and now holding the office of Indian agent under the President. No proceedings were ever taken against him. The judges, and marshals, and attorney, appointed by the President, were all silent and approving. How were their rights protected? How were the rights of the generoushearted Brown protected? Hle was assaulted by a mob, and most inhumanly mangled and mutilated, and left to die, and only carried, bleeding, to his home, in time for his wife and his children to behold him expire! That wife is now inseane!t These are some of the triumphs of border ruffianism in Kansas fearful evidences, among the living and the dead, of the law and order party in Kansas-of the protection of the Presidentof that party the President sustains by a standing army-he last resort of every despotism on earth. These and kindred deeds are openly perpetrated, and almost openly defended, clearly connived at and encouraged! For in no instance has any man 'con prosecuted for these crimes, or even censured by the President. In no instance has even the leader of a mob been arrest ed; no murder e r i s brought to justice; no crime is psrevented or paun ished. This is the protection aff orded to our fellow-citizens in Kansas. To protect them no arm is raised-no orders given. But to oppress them, to dragoon them into submission to slavery, the tro ops of the Unite d States are sent forth by o rder of the President, and treacherously use d to protect murd reers and butcher peaceable ci tizens. What now i s the c ondition of Kansas under the President's pro tection? Let the blood of thes murdered victims of tyranny and oppression bear witness! Ndo free -State man is protected in his rights; no property is safe; no man's life secure. In none of the President's messages, regular or irregular, annual or special, (put forth to forestall public opinion and aid his renomination,) has any allusion been made to the monst rous outrage s and cruel murders committed in Kansas, although matters of public notoriety. But he covertly reproaches the free States for allowing emigration to Kansas, and palliates all the cruelties and crimes the advocates of slavery extension have perpetrated-and most justly is he responsible for all the fearful consequences. But if a slave escapes into Massachusetts-if, driven to desperation, any settler from a free State is even charged with a violation of the infamous laws of the Territory, a military force is put into requisition, and protection is offered or punishment inflicted. Then the laws are executed with a vengeance. Even the meeting of a convention to adopt a free constitution, and ask admission as a State, is held by the pro-slavery judges, appointed for Kansas by the President, to be a criminal offence. And criminal prosecutions before these judges, under official instructions, as it is said, are vigoroilsly prosecuted. But as to robbery and mur&der cup mitted to aid in establishing slavery in Kansas, against these there is no law, and for these crimes there is no punishment! The blood of the murdered freemen that has stained the soil of Kansas will rise up to heaven bearing its witness against slavery.; It has already spoken to the heart of every freeman in the land, and rendered the establishment of slavery in Kansas impossible. " They never fail who die in a great cause." And by the unalterable law of eternal justice, crimes like these are never permitted to pass unpunished. Every department of the Government-except, thank God! the House of Representatives-is in the hands of the slave power. Some three hundred and forty six thousand slave-owners control and rule twenty millions of people. That is the power that rules, and has for sixty years ruled, the American Republic. IX. POLITICAL POWER OF SLAVERY. 9 The same eleven slave States have 57 Representatives. New York has...................... 33'~ Difference in favor of slavery......94 2 4 Fair and equal representation lies at the very foundation of a Republican Government; and every departure from it is a step towards despotism. Here it creates a real aristocracy - a privileged class, that rules over a free people. sThe Senate is part of the appointing power. This ordeal no man can pass, no matter how pure, honest, faithful, and competent, if he is opposed to the extension of slavery. If he is unsound upon the nationality of slavery-nay, if only suspected of having a sectional preference for freedom, his fate is sealed. The President nominates, and the Senate appoints, the judges of the Supreme, circuit, and district courts-the whole Federal Judiciaryand almost all the other officers of the General Government, except members of Congress. This immense patronage and power of appointment by the President and the Senate, is a tower of strength t o slavery, and an unfailing political guillotine to all who oppose it. The President and Senate, also, have the treatymaking power, under which it is now claimed that Cuba, or any other slave territory, can be purchased, at any price, and with a sti pulation to make of it any number o f s lave States. - And the HFouse, it is said, with out any voice, is bound by the treaty- must pay t he price, and perform the stipulations! And if any one d oubt s this monst rous proposition, its constitutionality is to be decided by the judges the Senate and Pre sident appoint! General Gadsden has long been on a fishing excursion to purchase mo re territory for slavery! 3. Ais to the Jnudiciary.-The appoin t ment of the judges is removed furthest from the people, and is placed where the power of slavery is always strongest; and consequently, with less than a third of the population, the slave-owners only numbering one in sixty, have always had a ma jority of the judges, and a majority on the bench of the Supreme Court; and the others taken from the free States must be "national:" that is, in every contest opposed to freedom and in favor of slavery. The pouwer that creates is greater than the thing created, and many alarming encroachments have lately been attempted upon the rights of freedom by the Federal Judges: one is the recent auda cious doctrine, that slaves can be held in the free States as well as in the slave States —thus striking down the independence and sovereignty of the free States, and judicially establishing slavery therein. Slavery depends upon the laws of the States. Where it is allowed, slaves can be held; where it is not, they cannot. Some States have passed laws giving slaveholders a right of passing XAs to the Presidht.-Did he not bow down on his knees before it in the most humiliating position? To please this power, that makes and unmakes Presidents, did he not violate the pledges he made to th e Am erican people? Was he not alike false to tru th and to freedom? Has lie not permitted every crim e and cruelt y to pass unpunished and unquestioned in Kansas? Nay, has he not aided and abe tted their perpetratio n? And, a s t he last c rown ing act of all this submission to slavery, has he not been the me ans of the destruction of Lawrence? And. when a universal butchery was expected, did he not look coldly on, and refus o rise s a to raise his hand to save them? His name will be remembered in his tory, hereafter, only because attached to it there will be a wide inheritance of infamy. And, for all this, what was hi s reward? To be flung a e s side as a useless thing, because he had rved slaver y with such a desperate, calculatinsieal, as to meet th e conde t onati o n of all ho.st men. He could serve t he slave- own ers no m ore. The American people w ould never re-elect so servile a tool of the barbarian element of the Government. He was thrown aside for another, promising equal servility, and who had not a s yet become equ all y odiou s, bu u who promi sed, m ost faithfully, t o f ollow in his foo tsteps-p erhaps to go beyond them! 2. As t o the Senate. -There the rule of slavery has long been absolute. It only regi sters the edicts of slave-owners! It only represents that interest and that institution! The free States, with 13,000,000 people, have thirty Senators; many of thgm, from perse or political motives, the firm allies of slavery. Nearly every northern pro-slavery Senator is a presidential aspirant! The slave States, with 6,000,000, have also thirty Senators, unitedly representing one single pecuniary and political interest, sleepless and untiring in its support. Look at this! Votes of eleven slaveholding States at the election of 1852, when 3Ir. Pierce was chosen, as contrasted with the vote of New' York: 1. Arkansas......... 19,577 7. Texas.............I18,547 2. Delaware.......... 12,673 8. Alabama..........41,919 3. Florida........... 7,193 9. Louisiana......... 35,902 4. Georgia........... 51 365 10. Mississippi........ 44,424 5. Maryland......... 75,153 11. Virginia......... 129,545 6. North Carolina...78,861 s Aggregate vote of eleven States.................515,159 Vote of New York..............................52,294 Being 7,135 votes more than all the others. These eleven States, (Virginia included,) that gave, in 1852, a less vote than New York for President, ha ve twenty-two Senators; New York has only two! The whole object of the Kansas-Nebraska act, and all the wrongs committed under it, was to increase this unequal preponderance of the slave power in the Senate, and to add also to its controlling influence in the House. 10 through the State with their slaves. Where this ri,lght exists, it is by virtue of the State law, and is solely regulated by the State. And there is no power under the Constitution, in any depart ment or in all the departments of Government, that can compel a State to hold slaves as prop erty. If this is attempted it is an invasion of State rights, and should be resisted. Such an attempt by the Supreme Court is a judicial tsurpation, and niot binding on the States. This question has been recently before the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and, as I am informed, virtually decided, although the case was dismissed. And mark that decision! It is that slaves can be held as property in a free State! It is said, too, that this decision is made by the pro-slavery judges from slave States! And that every judge who heard the case from a free State held a contrary opinion, in conformity with the well-settled law in this country and in Eng land, and in accordance with every principle of reason and common sense. How absurd it is to say that the law of one State must be controlled within its own limits; where it is supreme, by the cmj?icting law of any other State! Georgia allows slavery; New York prohibits it. The Supreme Court say the laws of Georgia are of higher authority, within the State of Ne-.w York, than her own laws! or in other words, the Supreme'Court sets up slavery as above the constitutions and laws of the free States! That is judicial legislationi by the Federal judges in favor of slavery. It cannot, and never will, be submitted to by any free State. If it is, the boast the Senator fromin Georgia [r. TOOMBS] is said to have tauntingly made that he would yet "call the roll of his slaves on Bunker Hill," may now be fulfilled. If this is submitted to, there needs no more legislation in Congress to extend slavery. It is already made the supreme law of the land. If it cannot be prohibited in the free States, they are no longer free. This is the court to decide upon the constitutionality of slavery, and of all laws and treaties to extend it. This power might as well be given to so many overseers selected from slave plantations as to judges thus appointed and controlled, if this decision has been made, and is a specimen qf their independence and integrity. I Citizens of slave States carry the laws of those States with them into free States! That is the position. It involves a long -list of absurdities. 1. It destroys the independence and equality of the several States. 2. It gives to non-residents of a State rights denied to its own citizens. 3. In a case of coefticting State laws-each supreme in the State where it exists-it gives one class of States jurisdiction within the limits of the other, and effectually destroys the independence and sovereignty of the latter, by nullifying their laws andl imposing upon them laws in defiance of, and in direct hostility with, theirs. If-every citizen from a slave St ate carries the law of slavery in t N free States, why does not every citizen from, a fre e State carry the law of freedom into a s lave State? If the laws of South Carolin a can be se t up in New York, as superior to the laws of New York, it is no longer a f ree St ate: it is a mere province under South Carolin a! And w hat is law in New York will depend on the place from which the non-resident came, and what may hap pen to be law where he last resided! And there may be fifteen different laws in full force in New Yorka each nullifying its own laws, and i n dir ect conflict and hostility with them. The law of each State must be supreme within its limits, or all freedom and self-government is destroyed. The recent outrage.committed upon the rights of a citizen of Pennsylvania by a United States district judge, has awakeled the public indigna tion and excited attenti.4'.,to the course of the Federal judges appointed:by the -slave power, whose acts are usually unobserved —one decision furnishing a precedent for -nother. Judge Kane (a name ominous of evil) issued a habeas co?IUs. not to restore freedom to some person illegally restrained of liberty, biut to take and return three persons to slavery who had, ]eing in -. free State, asserted their right to freedom, and left their master. This, Judge Kane had no right what ever to do, least of all to attempt it under a writ of habeas corpus; but Williamson, to whom this unlawful writ was directed, returned to it, that the slaves claimed were not in his custody, and he could not bring them before the judge; and that return was proved to be indisputably true. But Mr. Williamson had advised these slaves that they were free-'having been voluntarily brought by their master into a free State. For this insult to their master, who was both a slave holder and an officeholder, he must be punished. He had violated no law., civil or criminal, State or National, in giving this opinion. He had only advised these slaves what were their legal rights. If this wvas a crime, the law was open to Mr. Wheeler: he had only "to prove and punish," for all that Williamson did was openly done, and never denied. But, then, Williamson must be prosecuted,Sand tried according to the Constitution and laws of the United States and of Pennsylvania. And what would be the accusation. Under what law could the indictment be framed? And what jury could be found to convict him? No; that would be unavailing.' Judge Kane, therefore, be came the poor pitiful instrument of Mr. Wheeler to regain his slaves by an unauthorized proceeding, if he could, and, failing in that, to punish Williamson under the false pretense of a contempt against Judge Kane, an which accusation he was deprived of his liberty, without crime or trial, J7'o July to ~roverbe. A power given 11 are left! How secure "in their persons, papers, and efiects against unreasonable searches and seizures," under the Constitution! The captain of the steamboat who put on shore the rifles of the settlers on their way to Kansas, taken for self-defense, and who thus unlawfully seized and deprived them of their property, has since been in this city, but he has not been called to any account by the authorities here or in Kansas. He received no censure or rebuke: he probably came here to claim a high reward for this valuable service. The President's judges in Kansas are engaged in a more congenial employment. I read from the Baltimore Sun: to ecatst for their necessary protection, without any fixed limits, left to their discretion, was thus wantonly abused to deprive a citizen of his rights and of his liberty. For thishiigh-handed and arbitrary ex ercise of p sower, Judge Kane should be impeached and degraded from the place he is unworthy to hold. And if no other member of this House had, I would have moved his impeachmenit before this day but for the fact, his judges would be the Senate who appointed himthe Senate that represents only the slave power in this Government; and his subserviency to slavery would, with them, be a matter of praise, not of censure. It would probably elevate him to a higher position. There is but one tribunal which can redress these wrongs-the people, the stern condemnation of the popular voice. That rules and regulates at last ever department of Government. Behold the power of slavery in our Government: 1. It has the President. 2. It has the Senate. 3. It has the Jutdiciary, In this House only can freedom make a stand! This is truly the battle-ground; and woe to the Representative from a free State hereafter, that proves recreant to the cause of freedomn and equal rights! "Kansas Affairs. WASHINGTON, April 8.-Associate Justice Burrill, of Kansas, is said to be in Washington for consultation with the executive authorities relative to the course judicially to pursue towards the officers of the free-State organiza tion." The judges of Kansas, it seems, are to be regu1lated by executive instruction as to what shall be held innocent or criminal in Kansas; as to what party or persons shall be hunted down, and dragooned into submission by criminal prosecutions; as to the crime for which they shall be indicted and convicted, and the punishment to which they shall be subjected! Likle the Star Chamber proecutions in England, when the infamous Jeffreys was judge. Here is a large power, not found in the Constitution criminal prosecutions for politicald opinions. And a larger indictment-all opposed to slavery are to be dealt with as traitors! all who are for a free State organization! The people who assembled peaceably in convention to adopt a constitution, and ask admission, as a State, under the General Government, as they had a right to do by the Constitution, as the people of every other Territory have done, are treated as levying war against the United States, and are to be convicted of treason, by the judiciary of Kansas, (in that they have attempted to makle Kansas a free State,)-high treasonagainst slavenj and President Pierce! Judge Kane should be promoted to this branch of the "national service!" Let him be the Jeffreys of America; or placed, at least, beside Lecompte! Judge Lecompte, it would seem, has received instructions, and is at the work. Indictments have been found against freemen concerned in the high crime of asking for admission as a free State! Governor Robinson and other leading men from the free States are now imprisoned on such charges as these! They were left "perfectly free" to choose freedom or slavery! Their crime was in choosing freedom! That is the only unpardonable political sin, with this antiagitation Administration, and its ptre judiciary in Kansas! The Constitution provides that treason "shall consist only in levying war against the United States," or adhering to their enemies, 1. Slavery admitted into this free Territory by act of Congress! 2. T he Gove rnor appointed by the President; and, if not heart and soul for slavery, he is removed, and another appointed who is! 3. The judges all appointed by the President; and all the other officials, including secretary, attorney, and marshal,l and a military force stationed there under his command! 4. A Legislature elected by armed invaders from Missouri, who have established slavery under severe penalties, prohibited "freedom of speech" and of "the press," and prescribed "cruel and unusual punishments" to prevent the exercise of the rights guarantied by the Constitution of the United States! 6. A proclamation by the President requiring the people of Kansas to submit to these laws; and that any hesitation or refusal would be promptly put down by military force! Denouncing beforehand, as " treasonable insurrection, the right of the people peaceably to assemble" and to "ask for a redress of grievances" ty their admission as a State; that is, asking the right of " self-government! " 6. Border ruffianism and border ruffian laws enforced by the military, and the perfect freedom of the people of Kansas being death or submission! Hor\ " perfectly- free" the people of Kansas X. THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS "PERFECTLY FREE!" 12 giving them aid and comfort; and that it must be proved by two witnesses to the same overt act. Judge Lecompte has directed indictments charging treason for peaceably asking for admission as a State, and protection under the Constitution! and no proof required! A petition for a free State is rebellion against the Government! And submission under the Constitution is levying war! have no such property; so that this representA tion, in which all were then interested, now bene fits only a section, or one half of the States; and the great increase of slaves in those States has rendered the inequality among the States so great as to require correction. Nearly one third of all the Representatives from the slave States hold their seats by virtue of representation upon slave property. The change since the Constitution re quires a change in that. Fourth. Direct taxes are not resorted to to defray the expenses of Government, or to pay the national debts, and never have been. The money for Government is collected under a reve nue system, mostly in the free States, nearly one fourth of it in the city of New York. The rep resentation on slave property has, therefore, been had by one section without any equivalent re ceived by the other, as was intended by the Con stitution. Fifth. The effect of this provision, which has placed this Government in the hands of a privi leged class, an aristocracy in fact, banded togeth er by one single interest, was not then understood. Now it requires change, and a fair system of equal retpresentation to be adopted. Here is a remedy for all the political evils with which slavery has so long distracted the country -an effectual and final remedy-a peaceful, eon. stitutional remedy-one which requires the vote of two thirds of both Houses, and cannot therefore, be forced upon one section by the otherone which can never be adopted except from a conviction of its propriety. Why not adopt it? Is it not a matter of justice and equality? Why seek to retain an unequal share of the power of the Government in the hands of any section or class? For my part, I declare myself willing to remove any just cause of complaint the slave States have in the Constitution or out of it. Are they equally willing to do so-to stand upon a just and true equality with, the free States? If not, let them never blame us for refusing to extend and increase this unjust and unequal representation by the admission of other slave States. Our only defense against being without any voice in the Government, in that case, is to refuse their admission. In time, the increase of our numbers, and the admission of new States, will gradually not remove-but lessen this unequal power given to the South over us by representation upon property. To that gradual change we must then look solely for relief. But we must forget all parties in the free States, and unite to maintain the existence of a free Government, and to defend the equal rights of the free States. Past experience must teach the free States to trust no man in Congress, hereafter, in the Senate, or in the House, who is not true to freedom, and devoted, heart and soul, to the maintenance of the equal rights of the free States. XI. SETTLEMENT OF SLAVERY AGITATION. " Representation and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States that may be included within this Union according to thei r respective numbers, whic h shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons."-Constitution, article 1, section 2. "Representation and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the severat States which are or hereafter may be, included within this nion, according to their respective nu4mber of free persons including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed." Such an amendment would repeal both taxation'and representation upon slaves, one being the equivalent for the other. It would relieve the slave States from the taxation, and the free States from the representation; and it would restore equality of representation and of political rights to,all the States. The slave property-estimated at $1,800,000,000-would still retain its just influence in the Government as a great property interest, like every other species of property; but it would have no separate, distinct, political importance given to its owners over all other kinds of property, as an element of political power. This would disconnect slavery and politics. First. Representation upon property is wrong in principle, and proves in practice to be dangerous to the peace and welfare of, the country; for to this cause, under all kinds of pretexts, every agitation on the slavery question can be traced. It was' this that caused it in 1820, when the Missouri compromise was adopted, which was regarded by the South (as Mr. Pinckney then said) as a "great triumph," politically, one which would " give the South in a short time, an addition of six, and perhaps eight, members of the Senate of the United States." In fact, by that, and the other measures:in consequence, the South have more than realized the prediction-gaining ten Senators and sixteen members. Second. It would end at once and forever the agitation of the question of slaverv in Congress, and remove tlke.;ciuse of constant irritation, and the most dangerous al disturbing element under our Constituti-n. the only on'e that endangers the perpetuity of the Uinion. Third. When the Constitution was adopted, all the States had slaves; nov one half of them Constitution. P.reposed Amendment. 13 was set off to freedom in the division made by the South in 1820, and for it the Scuth has received more than an ample equivalent. I demand it, be,ause it was then pledged to freedom: that pledge should be redeemed! I demand it, because the greatest and by far the most valuable portions of these Territories have been surrendered to slavery. This only was to be free, and this we claim for freedom; and if this is refused the free States get nothing. I demand it, because, by the legislation of last Congress, the people of Kansas were to be left free to choose, and they have decided for freedom. I demand it, because the Senators and Representatives advocating that act disclaimed wishing or expecting to make a slave State of Kansas; they only desired to assert a principle, and repeal a s ectional lin e! I demand it as matter of equality and justice, after such immen se addit i ons ha ve been made to the slave States, that corresponding additions shall be made to the fre e States. I demand it to pre ser ve i n any degree, the equality of the States, and the political rights of the free States. I de mand it to re pair the wrongs done by the last Congress, and to quiet the a gi t ation it has caused. I demand it as the r ight of the people of Kansas to be admitted as a State u nder the Constitution. I demand it to place them under the protection of a government of law, to relieve them from the despotism of a mob, or of a military force, and -to g ive them security in the ir property and in their persons. Admit Kansas, and al l will be we ll. Refuse it, and who knows when, or where, or how this "war," as it is called between the two se ctions, will e nd? It i s a war, at least, in which we have right, justice, honor, honesty, truth, and freedom, on our side-a war in which we have everything to gain and nothing to lose; and one in which slavery has everything to lose, and can gain nothing. If it continues, it is because southern men desire it. Will they ha ve it so? If they ve adi I t will, let them remember Kansas can neve r be admitted as a slave State. All the bloo d that has been or may be shed, all the outrages of slavery, all the appeals to violence and brute force, only deepen the feeling and add to the certainty, that it can only be admitted as a free State. Do it, then, at once, and restore peace and concord again. Who can foresee to what this struggle, if continued, may lead? We cannot dare not yield. Wil southern men persist in this' mad purpose? I trust the vote on admitting Kansas will show that we can yet expect justice at their hands. If not, the consequences will rest upon themn! But the slave States say, if we do not yield, they will secede from the Union? If, because we refuse to put absolute power in their hands, (they almost have it now,) they will separate from us, so be it. By that act they would lose the whole of that unequal power of which we complain. They would come down to an equality then. They would lose the right to reclaim fugitive slaves. They would be relieved from the unpleasant power of governing thirteen millions of people, and from all the cares of office. What a day of lamentation it would be in the Old Dominion, when all their clerks should leave their places, and cease to receive their salaries! They would lose all the advantages of the Union, while they would labor under every disadvantage they do now, and many others of a much more formidable character. The threat of disunion is worn out! It has been useful often. It is idle now. The free States have real causes for complaint: the slave States, none. Better not invite attention to the advantages and disadvantages of disunion. The North, now true and loyal, may come to favor it. They may come to think they are capable of self-government, and wish to try the experiment, and set up on their own account; and that would be the greatest of all calamities to slavery-one from which it could never reoover. But we shall neither have an amendment of the Constitution, nor a dissolution of the Union! What, then, shall be the fate of Kansas? I ask southeirnm men, if they will refuse to admit one free St ate o ut of all the purchased territory, and from which five slave States have already been admitted? Will you refuse to allow the pledge vour section made in 1820 to be redeemed? Will you violate the pledge you made in the last Congress, to leave the people of Kansas " perfectly free" to settle this question? They ask for admission as a free State! Will you refuse to restore peace to the country, as it was before you mWde this attempt to take free territory for slavery? You have taken five times as much, already, as the free States have, in proportion, would you, indeed, if you could, make the inequality still greater Will you refuse to give security and protection to the people of Kansas; and leave them longer exposed to murder, robbery, and violence? Will you refuse to them the right of self-government? And for what? In the hope, by prolonging this struggle, to make Kansas a slave State? Believe me, that never can be done! The sooner Kansas is admitted the better! Recall the error you have made. That is the only wise and true policy. I demand the admission of Kansas, because it XII. DISUN'ION. XIII. ADMISSION OF KANSAS. ~-i; — I' . THl-E "LI,AWS_" OF KANSAS. SPIEECH OF SCHUYLER COLFAX, OF INDIANA, IN TIIE TIOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 21, 1856. institutions. When, not content with this, they have charged us with implied perjury, in being hostile to the Constitution, and unfaithful to the Union, we have been content to leave the world to judge between us and ouraccusers-a scrutiny in which principles will have more weight than denunciation. In spite of all these attacks we have not been movedto anyattemptto restrictthe most perfect and unlimited freedom of speech on the part of our denouncers; for we ackiowledged the truth of Jefferson's sentiment, that " Error ceases to be dangerous, when Reason is left free to combat it." If that constitutional safeguard of our rights and liberties, free speech in debate, is to be recognised anywhere, it should certainly be recognised, enforced, and protected, inr this House. Every Representative of a free constituency, if worthy of that responsible position, should speak here at all times, not with "bated breath," but openly and fearlessly, the sentiments of that constituency; for, sir, it is not alone the two hundred and thirty-four members of this House who mingle in this arena of debate; but here, within this bar, are the teeming millions of American freemen, not individually participating, as in Athens in the olden time, in the enactment of laws and the discussion and settlement of the foreign and domestic policy of the nation; but still, sir, participating in the persons of their Representatives, whom they have commissioned to speak for them, in the important questions which are presented for our consideration. Here, in this august presence, before the whole American people, thus represented, stand, and must ever statd, States and statesmen, legislators and jurists, parties and principles, to be subjected to the severest scrutiny and the most searching review. Gere Alabama arraigns Massachusetts, as she has done through the mouth of one of her Representatives but a few weeks since; and here Massachusetts has equally the right to arraign any other State of the Confederacy. And while the Republic stands, this freedom of debate, guarantied and protected by the Constitution, must and wili be sustained and enfciced on thi floor..: The House being in Committee of the Whole on the tiat d he of th e Union o the Army appropriation bill, .frt. COLFAX said: Mr.-CHAIxAN: I desire to give noti ce that I shall mcve, w when we rea ch the third clause ofthe pending Army bill, the following amend ment; an red I read it now, because the rmarks I shall make to-day a re designed to show its necessity. " But Congres s, hereby disapproving of th e code of al. leged lnts officially uommusicated t o them by the Presi deit. aind which are reprsented to have bee n e nacted by a bedy claimialg t o b e the Territorial Legnislature of Kate sns, and g also disapproving of the mac i n oar it which said elleged laws m lave been iforireed by the auth oriti es of said Territory, expressly declare that, until these alleged laws shall,have been affirnmed by the Senate and Houseof Representatives as having feedn enacted by a legal Lgislaature, chosen in con,formit y with t he o rg anic lawe by the peoile of Kansas, no par t of t he mili,ary force of the Ur.iled States shall l we wmptoyed ill.,id of their enforement; nor shall any citzen of Kansas be required, unnder their eroisionl,l to ac t as a part of the posse comitatus of any afi(er acting as marshal or sheriff i n said'Territoray.. My esp ecial object to-day is to speak relative to tlis code of laws, now in my hand, which has ema n at e d from a so-called Lenislative Assemr bly of Kansas; and for the making of which your constituents, in common with mine, have paid their proportion-the whole having been paid for out of the Treasury of the United States In speaking, of the provisions embodied in this voluminous document, and of the manner in which these "laws" have been en/orced, I may feel it my duty to use plain and dlirect language; and I find my exemplar, as well as my justification for it, in the unlimited freedom of debate which, from the first day of the session, has been claimed and exercised by gentlemen of the other side of the House. And, recognising that freedom of debate as we have, to the fullest extent, subject only to the rules of the House, we intend to exercise it on this side, when we may see fit to do so, in the same ample manner. j-Ience, when we have been so frequently called'fanatics," and other epithets of' denunciation, no one on these seats has even called gentlemen of the other side to order. When it Was pleased themto denounce uis as Black Republicans or colored Republicans, we have taken to exception to the attack, for we regard fireedom of qwech as one of the pillars of our free 2 I wish first, Mlr. Chairman, to speak of the manner in which the Chief Justice, sitting as the supreme judicial officer of the Territory of Kansas, has performed the functions of his office. I have no imputation to make upon him as a man of moral character or of judicial ability. I know nothing in regard to either. I do not say he has wilfully and corruptly violated his official oath; for I can say tiat authoritative. ly in only one way-and that is, by voting for his impeachment. I shall not comment, sir, on the extraordinary manner in which he has enforced the Kansas code, with Draconian severity, against all who advocated Freedom for Kansas, but with a serene leniency towar,s all who did not; pushing its severest provisions to the ex tremest point in the one case, and forgetting, apparently, that it contains any penalties what ever in the other. But I desire to draw the attention of the House to the fact, proven by the code itself, that this "Legislature" have used every exertion within their power to make that Judge the interested champion and advocate of the validity of their enactments. Pecuniary interest, sir, is a powerful argument with man kind generally. We all see and we all recognise this fact as a truism which no logician denies. The Administration that gives a man an extensive or a profitable contract may reasonably expect to find in him a supporter. The Legislature that confers on a man a valuable charter, would have a right to feel surprised if he did not decide in favor of the legality and the constitutionality of their enactments; as well as use all of his influence in their favor, if their authority to act as grantors was disputed, and if his charter fell to the ground as worthless, in case their right to grant it was overthrown. It is true, some men are so pure as not to be affected by such things; but in the generality of cases, the human mind cannot fail to be thus influenced, even if it is not absolutely controlled. Now, if you will turn to the concluding portion of this "code of laws," you will find one hundred and forty pages of it, over one-sixth of the whole, devoted to corporations, shingled in profusion over the whole Territory, granting charters for railroads, insurance companies, toll bridges, ferries, universities, mining companies, plank roads, and, in fact, all kinds of charters that are of value to their recipients, and more, indeed, than will be needed there for many years. No less than four or five hundred persons (not counting one hundred Territorial road commissioners) have been thus incorporated, and have been made the recipients of the bounty of th, legislation of Kansas, making a great portion, if not all of them, interested advocates to sustain the legality of those laws now in dispute before the American people. I need scarcely add, that the name of' nearly every citizen of' Kansas who has been conspicuous in the recent bloody scenes in that Territory on the side of Sl1avery, canl be found among the favored grantees; and all of them know that, if that Legislature is Mr. Chairman, I feel compelled, on this occasion,hereore by trut, n and by a conscfieni,ious convic tion of what I know to be the feelings of my constituernts -for whom I speak as much as I do for myself-to denounce, as I do this day, the "acode" of th e socalled L eegislat-are of Kansas, as a code of tyranny and oppression, a cod e d of outrag e and of wrong, which would disgrace the Legislature of any State of the Union, as it disgraces the Goths and Vandals, who, after invading and conquering the Territory, thus attempted to play the despot over its people, and to make the white citizens of Kansas greater slaves than the blacks of Missouri. No man can examine the decrees of Louis Napoleon, no matter how ignorant he may have been of the procession of events in France for the past six years, without having the convi ction f6rced upon his mind that they emanated from an usurper and a despot. The very enac,.tnents embodied in these decrees be* testim ony against him. The limitations o1n the righ t of the subject; the mockery of the pretended freedom of elections which he has vouchsafed to the people; the rigid censorship of the press; the shackles upon the freedom of speech; all combine to prove that they emanate from an au tocrat, who, however men may differ as to the wisdom of his statesmanship, und1oubtedly governs France with a strong arm .rd an iron rule. And so, sir, no unprejudiced man can rise from a candid perusal of this code without being thoroughly convinced that it never emanated from a Legiblature volunta. rily chosen by the people whom it professes to govern, but that it was dictated and enacted by usurpers and tyrants, whose leading object was ol crush out some sentiment predominant amongst that people, but distasteful and offensive to these usurping legislators. I know this is a strong assertion; but, in the hour of your time which I shall occupy, I shall prove this assertion from the itriiinsic evidence of the code itself. Before I proceed to make an analysis of these laws, which I hold were never legally enacted, were never fit to be made, nor fit to be obeyed by a free people, let me say a few words in regard to the mainner in which they have been administered and enforced. We have heard of murder after murder in Kansas-murders of men for the singular crime of preferring Freedom to Slavery; but you have not heard of one single attempt by any court in that Territory to indict any one of' those murderers. The bodies of Jones, of Dow, of Barlber-, and others, murdered in cold blood, are mouldering away and joining the silent dust; yet one of the mur5rers this very day holds a Ter;itorial ogrce irn ]kansas, and another of them holds au opilie of influence and rank under the authority of the Oeneral Gkovernmenlt, while neither the T5erritorial nor the General Governm}rnt inquire into the Armes they hare corem;[ted, or the jus~tification!1 for their broth ers' blood that stains their hands. 3 work. This charter, valuable as it must become as the Territory advances in population and wealth, is presented as a free gift to Judge Le compte and his associates by the mock Legis lature of Kansas. Of course, in all these char ters the directors are to open books for the sub scription of stock, keeping them open " as long as they may' deem proper;" no barrier existing against their subscribing the whole stock them selves, the moment that the books are opened, if they choose so to do. But I desire to draw attentionparticularly to another grant, to be found on page 774, in which this same impar tial Judge, S. D. Lccompte, with nine other per sons, are incorporated as the Leavenworth and Lecompton Railroad; and I ask you to notice, and explain, if you can, the difference which exists between that and other incorporations. In the first place, the other railroad charters are granted to certain persons in continuous succession. In this charter, with a capital of $3,000,000, for a railroad from Leavenworth to his favorite city of Lecompton, (which was made the capital of the Territory by this same Legis lature,) with an indefinite and unrestrained power to build branch railroads from the capital in any and every direction, Judge Lecompte and his associates, including Woodson, the See retary of the Territory, are granted perpetual succession. In section 21, page 777, there is this special exception, which, though brief in its language, is momentous in its importance, for the benefit of Judge Lecompte & Co.: " That sections seven, thirteen, and twenty, of articI first, and so much of section eleven, article secondti, as $ lates to stock ownled, of an act concerniing corpor'atio4 shall not apply to this act." In the examination which I gave to these laws, it struck me that this exception of this charter, for the benefit of Lecompton and La compte, from the provisions of the general law relative to corporations, w;as singular, to say the least; and I turned back to the general law, to see the character of the provisions thus sus pended, so far as this act was concerned; and the proof that it furnishes of the intention, on the part of the Legislature, to make Judge Le compte interested in their behalf, is so strong that I will refer you to these sections as circum stantial evidence of no ordinary character. Section seven of the general corporation law (see page 164) provides as follows: Lg "'rhe charter of every corporation that shal hereafel4 b e graitted by law., shall be subject to alteration, s~ potL enwio, or repeal, by aly succeeding Legi.calure: Prox ded, such nal:eation. suspes.ion, or repeal. shall 1o110 wio econflict with any right vested in such corporation by i[ charter." t But in Lecompte's charter, the power eves to amend it is, by the suspension of the abovt section, withheld from any " succeeding Letia t lature, even if said Legislature, or the people a Kansas, unanimously desired its amendwenit. f Sec. 13 (page 165) makes the stockb()lders t all corporations individually liable for its deb4 i But this ho, te is suspended by she lock LegisI). .'tare of Kansas, for the benlefitof JudgeLec~ proved tc be illegal and f raudulent, their grants become.aliteless. In quoting tom this code of the laws of the Legislature of Kansas, I des ire to state that I quote from Eaeputive document No. 23, submintted to this House by t he President of the United States, and p rin ted by the public printer of Congress. It is entitled "Laws of the Territory 6f Kansas," and forms a volume of eight hundred and twventy-three pages. I notice that many mem bers have a copy of this cod e before enoay oe s them now; and as man y p eople, as they discuss these enacttments around the hearthstone at home, cannot believe that they are authentic, I will take pains to quote the section and page of every law I allude to, and will say to gentlemen upon the other side, that if they find me quoting incorrectly in a single instance, or in the mi.-utest particular, essential or non-essential, I call upon them to correct me on the spot.* I wish to lay the exact truth, no more, no less, from this official record itself, authenticated as it is by the President of the United States himself, before Congress and the American people. You will find in this code of laws, that Mr. Isaacs, the district attorney of Kansas, figures in four acts of incorporation, and cannot fail, therefore, to believe inl the legality of their enactment. Mr. L. N. Reese figures in three more; Mr. L. J. Eastin in three; Stringfellow in three, of course; and R. R. Reese in five-all of them earnest defenders of the code and its provisions, as might be expected. But I desire more particularly to show you the incorporations in which the Territory of Kansas hare given an interest to the Chief Justice of the Territory, Judge Leconapte, sitting, though he does upon the judicial beech, to decide upon the validity of these Territorial laws. You will find him, on page 788, incorporated as one cf the regents of the Kansas University; but I pass by that, as of very little moment. At pag,e 760 you will find a char. ter for the Central Railroad Company, with a capital of $1,000;000, in which S. A. Jlecompte is one of the corporators. The Chief Justice's name is S. D. Lecompte; and as I cannot hear of any other person- of the name of Lecompte in the Territory, I have no doubt that this is a maisprirlt in the middle initial, and that his name was intended. Bat I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and pass over this charter. On page 769 you finid another charter, in which Chief Justice S D. Lecompte figurfei as a carporator. It is the charter of the Leavenworth, Pawnee, and Western Railroad, which, in the opinion of many, is destined to be a link in the great Pacific Railr-oad, or at least an imiiportant section in one of its branches. It is chartered with a capital of $5,000,000, and five years' time is given fur the grantees to commence the "*'Fhe pagres referred to are numbered in accordanee with the (Oflicial Repwrinlt of the 1,aw-s lby Congoress. of which eaceh ~Xnlemter ncas a copy, and Ifft the pages of the Optilon plriilted ins Kanlsas. As the Sections, however: are generally- quoted ill full.: they can easily be traced by anly parson h1 avingy the tatter edition. 4 ing and abetting in such conmbinations, then must ye a still find bills for constructive treason," &c. Mr. Chairman, I am no lawyer; but I think I tinderstand the force of the English language; and when I read in the Constitution of the Uni. ted States that "Treason against the United States shall consist ONLY in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort," I do not hesitate to brand that charge of Judge Lecompte, under which Governor Robinson was indited for treason, and is now under confinement and refused bail, as grossly, palpably unjst, and wholly unauthorized by the Constitution. To concede his argument, that to resist, or "to form the purpose of resisting," the Territorial laws, is treason against the United States, because Congress authorized a Legislature to pass laws, leads you irresistibly to the additional position, that to resist the orders of the county boards created by that Legislature is also treason, for these boards are but one further remove from the fountain-head of power. And thus, sir, "the extreme medicine of the Constitution would become its daily bread;" and the mian who even objected to the opening of a road through his premises, would be subject to the pains and penalties of treason. No, sir; that charge is only another link in the chain of tyranny, which the Pro-Slavery rulers of that Territory are encoiling around its people. And when the defenders of these proceedings ask us to t r ust to th e impartiality of courts, I answer them by pointing to this c ha rge, and also to the Judicial decrees of the Territory, by aut.rity of which numbers of faithful citizens of the United States have been indicted, imprisoned, and harassed —by authority of which the town of Lawrence was sacked and bombarded-by authority of which printing presses were destroyed, without legal notice to their owners, and costly buildings cannonaded and consumed, without giving the slightest opportunity to their proprietors to be heard in opposition to these decrees; all part and parcel of the plot to drive out the friends of Freedom from the Territory, so that Slavery might take unresisted posses. sion of its villages and plains. It might have been supposed that, at least, one of those rights dear to all American freemen-the trial by an impartial jury-would have been left for the people of Kansas unimpaired. But when the invaders and conquer. ors of Kansas, in their border ruffian Legislature, struck down all the rights of freemen, they did not even leave them this. with which they m,g~ pow..!bly have had some chance of justice, even against the hostility of Presidents, the tyranny of Governors, and the hatred of Judges. No jurors, sir, are drawn by lot in the Territor.y. But the first section of the act concerning jurors (see page 377) enacts that "All courts, before whom jurors are required~ may order the marshal, sheriffs or other officer.Z to SOrLDm a sufiicier.t number oIr jurors." Section twenty (see page 166) makes direct ors liable for debts incurred by them exceeding the capital stock. But this, also, is suspended in Judge Lecompte's charter, and he is one of the directors of the road. But there is still ano ther extraordinary pro vision in this charter, which I f ind in no other grant of this Legislature. Section fifteen (page 776) provides: "If sktid company shall r equir e for the construction or - e air of said road, any stolle, gravel, or other materialis, ro sn the land of an y person atjoiniing, to or NEAP. said toad, and CANN'OT contract fore a e o the sare with the ouwner thereof, said company may proceed to tak e p ossession of and use the same, and have the property assessed" &c. Not only are the y empowered to take stone, gravel, and other materials, including timber, of such gre at value in Kansas, from land through which the road runs, but also from "adjoining" tracts; and still f urt her, fr om tr act s " NEAR said road," which may b e co n strued to mean one mile, or five miles, or ten miles off, as the easetmay be. And i f th e own er refuses to par t with his timber or gravel, the company are authorized t o take it first, and pay f or it after wards; and t he ma n wh o resists, and seeks to protect his own property, would be amenable to the p enalties of this bloody cod e f or resisting "'the laws of Kansas." What was the object of the s e extraordinary grant s and privileges to Judge Lecompte and his associates, I submit for the American peotple t o d ec ide. Before I leave this Judge-the c en tral figure as he is of the group of men in Kansas who tare using the power of the Judiciary as itcwas sed durin g "the bloody assizes" in England aind, the Reign o f Terror in France, to enforce .the decrees of tyranny-I must call attention ato his eharge to the l as t g rand jury which he adidressed in K ansas; and in which, instead of alluding to the destruction of prope rty of Free -State men by unauthorized mobs; to the tar.ring and f eat hering, and other pedsonal outrages, to which many of them had been subjeeted t tt he repeated invasions of the ow uTerritoy by armed ma rauders, of w hich he had been a witness:; and to the murders of unoffending Free State menr of which he c oul d n ot h ave failed to hearn; his vi rtuous desihe to uphold ,"the laws" found vent in another directionth e direction of p ersecu tion instead of protection. I quote from this extraordinary charge, -as published in the Aurational Intelligeitcer of this city, of June 5, 1856, the following extraordinary paragraphs: a This Territory was organized by an act of Cgiigress, ad, so far, its authority is from the United States. It has a Legislature, elected in pursuance of that organic act. This Legislature, being an instrument of Congress by which it governs the Territory, has passed laws. These Itaws. therefore, are of United States authority and making; ard all that resist these laws, resist the power and authority' of the Urnted States, and are therefbre guilty ~f high "Now, gentlemten`, if you find that any persons have rerted these law s, then you must, under y our oath s, fi nd brlls against sueh persons for. high treason. If you find shmt nlo such resistance has beenl made, but that co>mbina-"ns have beer formed for Ihe purpose of resisting them, Atd.mdisiduaals of in~lucnce and alo'.retv have been. aid 5 ly its "intent and meailing." Wishing to do no injustice to any one, I quote from his speech, as reported in the National Democratic organ here, the }Vashington Uniont, of June 10, whi.h I hold in my hand: "T'he platform was equally explicit ill reference to the disturbances il relation to the Territory of Kansas. It de clared that treason was to be puishlied. and resistance to the laws was to lIe put downll.' # *: * iHe rejoiced tha,t the Coniven,tion, by a unanimous vote had approvedi of the creed that low iust antid shalkprevalt [Applause,] fie rejoiced that we ad a statidard-lear,er [Mr. Buchaniani] with so much wisd(om and nerve as to enforce a firm and Lndivi led execution of those laus." And Mr. Buchanap. after the nomi;. —ation, replied to the Keystone Club, who called on him on their return from Cincinr'-ati, as fol lows: "Gentlemen, two weeks since I should have made you a longer speech, but now I have been placed upont a plo formn of which I most heartily approve,- and that can speak for me. Being the representative of the great Democratice party, and lot simply Jamnes Buchaetan, 1 mtust square my conduct according to the platfoim ofthat party, and inset; no new plank, nor take one from tt. That platform is su~ ficietltly broad and national for the whole Democratic party." I shall now proceed to show you no less than seven palpable violations of the orgqanic lat, (the Nebraska bill,) incorporated into this code by the bogus Legislature which enacted it. The President, Judge Douglas, and Mr. Buchanan, who are all pledged " to enforce these Territorial laws," cannot have failed to notice that the conquerors of Kansas enacted their code, regardless of whether its provisions coincided with the organic law or not; but, nevertheless, where they differ, the law of the United States is to be ignored, and the Pro Slavery behests of the Kansas invaders are to be carried out at the point of the bayonet, if necessary. Fir-st. Section twenty-two of the Nebraska bill enacts that the House of Representatives in Kansas shall consist of twenty-six members, " whose term of service shall continue one year." That does not mean eighteen, nine teen, or twenty months, but "one year," and one year only. The Legislature of Kansas was elected on the 30th day of March, 1855-a day which has become famous from the discussions in this House and elsewhere in regard it; and, sir, if you will turn to page 280 of this Kansas code, you will see that there is not to be aa election for members of the lower House of the Legislature until the first Monday in October, in the year 1856-over eighteen months after the first Legislature was elected. If you turn, then, to page 403, you will find that no regular session of that Legislature is to be held until, January, 1857; so that the term of that House of Representatives, in defiance of the organic law, is prolonged to twenty-two months instead. of twelve months. Sir, their term has expired now. There is no Legislature in the Territory of Kansas this day; and therefore, in the language of the Declaration of Independence,. "the legislative powers, incapable of annihilag tion% have returned to the people at large for The whole matter is left to the discretion of these officers; and Marshal Donaldson or I' Sheriff Jones," pack juries with just such men as they prefer, and whom they know will be their willing. instruments. For a Free State man to hope for justice from such a jury, charged by such a Judge as Lecompte, would be to ask that the miracle by which the three Israelites passed through the fiery furnace of their persecutors unscathed, should be daily re enacted in the jurisprudence of Kansas. Nay, more, sir-to make assurance doubly sure, the same law in regard to jurors excludes all but Pro-Slavery men from the jury-box in all cases relating directly or indirectly to Slavery; for here is its thirteenth section, (page 378:) ":No person who is co-m,cientiously opposed to the hold Ing slaves, or who does ot ain t the right to hold slaves. in this Territory, shall be a juror in any cause in whlich the r igh t to hold any pe r-on in slavery is iofvolved, nor in any cause in which any injury done to, or committed by, any slave, is in issue, nor in any crimninial proceeding for the violation of any law enacted for the proteetion of slave property and for the pun ishment of crime committed against the right to such property." I. leave this dark picture of the jurisprudence of Kansas, and turn now to the laws them selves —" laws" that were, as late as the 9th of February, 1856, over two months after the opening of this sessione thus spoken of by the Detroit Free Press, the organ of General Cass, and one of the leading Democratic papers of the Northwest: " But the President should pause long before treating as 'trea.so table insurrection I the action of those inhabitants of Kanisas who deny the bindiingi, authoqity of the Mis-ouriKan"sas I,egislature; for. in our humnble opinion, a people that would lnot be i'cliuiedl to rebel against the acts of a legislative body forced iupo-n them hy fraud and violence, would be uwvorthy the name ofA.zrican. If there wa, ever justifiable catusefor popular revolutieon a>ainst a usurpinzg and obnoxious Gover~,mentt that cause has existed in Kansa~s." The President of the United States has declared, in his special message to Congress, in his proclamation, and in his orders to Governor Shannon and Colonel Sumner, through his Secretary of State and Secretary of WaF, that this code of Territorial laws is to be enforced by the full exercise of his power. He has, of course, read them, and knows of their provisions. He must know that they trample even on the organic law, which his official signature breathed into life. He must know that they trample on the Constitution of the United States, which he and vWe have sworn to support. Reading them as he has, he could have chosen rather to support the law of Congress and the national Constitution; but he preferred to declare publicly his intention of assisting, with all his power and authority, the enforcement of this code, which repudiates both. The National Democratic Convention also, at Cincinnati, denounced " treason and armed resistance to the laws " in a marked andl special manner; and if there was any doubt as to the object of this denunciation, the speech of the author of the Nebraska bill himself, Mr. DoUGLA/s, at the ratification meeting in this city, a few nightss since, shows plain 6 their exercise." For exercising them, however, in 1no conflict with the Territorial -3overnment, but carefully avoiding it, and abstaining from putting any legislation in force, but only organizingt as a State to apply for admission here, as "a redress for their grievances "-for doing this, the court of Judge Lecompte arraigns them for treason, and scatters its indictments all over the Territory. Second. The same section of the Kansas organic law says that the mecabers of the council shall serve for "two years;" but their term has been prolonged in the same manner to ?early three years, so that the councillors elected in March, 1855, remain in office until the 1st of January. 1858-longer than a member of this House holds his seat by the authority of his constituents. And it is to this Legislature, the Senatorial branch of which, even if legally elected, should expire in nine months from this time, but which, in defiance of the organic law, have taken upon themselves to extend their term to a period nineteen months distant, that Judge Douglas desires, in his bill, to submit the question of when a census shall be taken preparatory to admission as a State, and to clothe them with the superintendence of the monevements in the Territory, preliminary to said admission. When we have investigated to-day the " constitutionality," the "justice," the "impartiality," the' humanity," of their acts thus far, no one will need to ask, why I am not willing, for one, to give them the slightest degree of power or authority hereafter, but, on the contrary, desire to take from them that which they have illegally usurped and tyrannically exercised. But, if to these two points it is replied that the term of the House of Representatives was intended by this mock Legislature to expire or; the 30th of March, 1856, ten months before the new House takes its seat, and the Council, in March, 1857, ten months before the new Council meets, it follows that, though the Nebraska bill extended "popular sovereignty" by giving the President absolute control of two of the three branches of the Government, the Executive and Judicial, and left to the people only the Legislative, subject to a two-thirds veto of the President's Governor, this Legislature so legislates that there is no House of Representatives there from March, 1856, to January, 1857-aiand no Council fiom March, 1857, to January, 1858-in a word, so that there can be no Legislature in the Territory from March, 1856, to January, 1858, except from January to.Nirch, 1857, BARELY TWO MOXTItS OUT OF TWEN-TY-TWO I Tii,d. T he next v io lation of the organic law is the enacting of a Fugitive Slave Law in that Territory; although, by section twentyeight of the Nebraska bill, the Fugitive Slaveb Law cf the United States was declared "to ex-c .nd and be in full force within the limits ofc tile Territory of Kansas." This is one of the l violations that I do not complain much about, for, in some respects, the Te r ritorial law is milder than the n ation al ofm e. ane d requires the lave cl,iniant to pay the costs in advance; but I allude to it to show the utter recklessness of ;he Kansas legislators, and their disregard of the law of Congress. By this law, (sections 28 and 29, page 329,) persons are prohibited from tak'ing fugitives from the Territory, except in accordance with its provisions, and are fined $5()0 if they do so. Fourth. The expenses of the Territory are paid, as is well known, out of the National l'reasury; ard section thirty of the Nebraska bill enacts that the chief clerk of the Legislature shall receive four dollars per day, and the other clerks three dollars per day. But on page 444 of the Kansas code, you will find an extra douceur to the clerks, of fifteen and twenty cents per hundred words for indexing and copying journals; on page 145, another law, declaring that, if the Secretary (then acting as Governor, after Governor Reeder's; removal) should refuse his assent to the above, the chief and assistant clerks should receive $100 each out of the Treasury, besides their per diem; and on the next page, page 146, the pay of the enrolling and engrossing clerks is increased to four dollars per day, on the like contingency, although the organic law expressly fixed it at three dollars per day. The legislators acted as if they had not only conquered the people — ~ Kansas, but the National Treasury also. Fijth. Section twenty-two of the organic law gives the Governor, exclusively, the right of determining who were elected members of the Legislature. He did so, throwing out about one third of the members elected at the first election, the reign of terror and of violence preventing more contests of ether equally fraud. ulenit returns. But the Legislature, when assembled, without examination of the merits of each case, and without authority to commit such an act at all, threw out all the members elected at the second election, and admitted in their stead those whose riaht to seats the Governor haxd expressly denied. Sixth. Section twenty four of the organic law enacts: But if you will turn to page 600, you will se e how coolly this bogus Legislature ignores both the Nebraeka bill and the pre-emption law; for it declares, as if they owned the soil, that in actions of trespass, ejectment, &c., settlers shall be protected in their pre-emptions, not of one hundred and sixty acres, but of three hundred and twenty acres; " that such claim may be located in two different parcels, to suit the convenience cf the holder," "without being compelled to prove an actual enclosure; " and the still more flagrant repudiation of the Con "That the le,-i-lative power of the Territory shall ex t,'Id to all iglitful subjects of ],.g s7ation consistent with the Co iitutioii of the U,i,,,.(l Stati,; I)tit,.,P lav shall be pwsed interfering with the pri,7tary disposal ofthe soil." 7 gress;lonal pre-emption law, that "occupancy protect free speech, by constitutional provision, by tenant shall be considered equally valid as their prophetic fears have been realized by the Personal residence," under which the whole enactors of the Kansas code. Its one hundred Territory may be preempted by Missourians. and fifty-first chapter, on pages 604 and 605, is And this law, with the others, is to be enforced entitled, "An act to punish offences against by the President I slave property;" and there is no decree of Aus Se&venth. Section thirty of the Nebraska bill I trian despot or Russian Czar which is not merenacts that the official oath to be taken by the ciful, in comparison with its provisions. Here, Governor and Secretary, the Judges, "and all sir, in the very teeth of the Constitution, is secother civil officers in said Territory," shall be tion twelve of that chapter: "to support the Constitution of the United " If any tree person, byspeaking or by writing, assert or States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of maintain that persons have Tot the right to hole slaves tn theirrspectiv oces." No more o his. Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, ther respective offices." No more-no less. tpubllish, wrie, circulate, or case to be introduced into But the legislators of Kansas, with the same this Territory, written, printed, published, or circulated, ~~~~~~~~~~~in. this, Terri~tory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, disregard of the Congressional law that mark- in this Terrtory any k, paper, magazine pamphlet or circular, containing aniy denial of the right of nersols ed their other acts, enacted another kind of to hold slaves in this Territor3, such person shall be deemofficial oath, on page 438 of their code, as fol- ed GUILTY OF FELONY, and punished by imprisonmre.nt at hard labor for a term of not less than two years." lOWS: "SEc. 1. All officers elected or appointed under any ex- iow many more than two years he shall be isting or subsequenitly-enacted laws of this Territory, punished, is left to the tender mercy of Judge shall take and subscribe the following oath of office:'I, Lcompte and the jury which " Sheriff Jones do nolemtily swear, upon the holy Evangelists of Lecompte, and the jury which "Sheriff Jones A'mi-hty God, that I will support the Constitution of the will select for their trial. The President of the Unii,ed, States, and that I will support an,d sustai,,, the pro tate nd tat Xil suport anustiithepUn ited States has sworn to support the Consti~'isiots of all act entitled " An act to or, aniize the Terri. tories of Nebr as ka ad Kasas ad the provisions of the tution; but this, with the other "laws of Kan-' to jes o~~~ f Nt~asiida; atid the- proiin h .av of the United States commonly known as the " Fu- Sas," are to be enforced by him, despite that gitite Sla,e Lac;; and faithfully anid impartially, a,d to nitution with the army of the United my biit din~a msel i te ioha~cofConstitution, with the army of the United tile best of my abl)'ity. deln —.n myself in the discharge of - my duties in the office of; so help me God.'" States; and Mr. Buchanan is pledged by Judge You cannot fail to notice that, in this new Douglas to "the firm and undivided execution oath, framed by the bogus Legislature, the Fu- of those laws." But, sir, in a few short months gitive Slave Law is elevated to a " higher law" 7the people, the free people of the United States, than the Constitution; for the officer is merely will inaugurate an Administration that will do to "support " the latter, but is required to justice to the oppressed settlers of Kansas, that swear that he will "support A ND SUSTAIN" the will restore to them their betrayed rights, will otwear t hw " p A s i t vindibcate the Constitution, and will place in the other. Besides these seven palpable, flagrant, and offices of trust of that ill-fated Territory men '?who will overthrow the " usurpation," give their unconcealed violations of the organic law, or- whowllloverthrowthe usurpation givetheit ganizirig the Territory, I point you now to five official influence to Freedom and the Right, equally direct and open violations of the Con- rather than to Slavery and the Wrong, and proStitution of the United States; for that instru- tect rather than oppress the citizens whom they merit has been trampled upon as recklessly as are called upon to govern and to judge. ~the laws of Congress. Second. he same constitutional amendment the laws of Cong-ress. _First. The very first amendment to the Con- prohibits the passage of any law "abridging stitution of the United States prohibits the pas- the freedom of the press;" and here, sir, it sage of any law "abridging the freedom of' flagrant violation of it, is the tlth section of speech;" and it is a significant fact, as can be the same law in the Kansas code, page 605: learned from Hlickey's Constitution, page 33, "If any person print, wrte, irotroduce into, publish, or circe~lae, or cause to be brought into, printed, written, that this, with a number of other amendtments publishe,d. or circulated, or shall ki,owingly aid or assist inbnningi,,into, prin~ting, publishinig, orcirculatinig, withto the Constitution which follow it, was submit- i tbrenr itoit, priatibog, pulishig or circulating, with ill this Territory. aly book, paper, pampnlet, magazine, ted by Congress to the various States in 1789, hand ill, or circular, conltainig aly statements, arguimmediately after the adoption of the Constitu- nelIts. opinions, sentineitt, doctrine, advice, or innuendo, tion its with the following preamble-: ralculated to produce a disorderly, daigerous, or rebeltion itself, with the following preamble: lious disaffection am ong the slaves in this Territory, or to "The conventions of a number of States having, at the iiduce such slaves to escape front the service of their time of their adopting the Conistitutioni, expressed a iesire masters, or to resist their authority, he shall be guilty of in order to prevent iniscotistructioti or abuse of its power, foqloiy atid lie punished by imprisonmrent and hard labor thiat furthor declaratory and restrictive clauses should be for a term not less than five years. addedt.11 And, under this atrociously unconstitutional Therefore the amendments that followed were provision, a man who "brought into" the Terproposed. ritory of Kansas a copy of " Jefferson's Notes Thus it is conclusively proven that the amend- on Virginia," which contains an eloquent and merit prohibiting any abridgement of the free- free-spoken condemnation of Slavery, could be dom of speech was adopted to prevent "an convicted by one of" Sheriff Jones's" juries as abuse of power," which our forefathers feared having introduced a "book" containing a "seamight be attempted by some degenerate de- timent" "calculated" to make the slaves "disaendants at some later period of our history. orderly," and sentenced to five years hard labor. ]ut} though they thus sought to,reserve and Probably.under this provision, as well as the 8 hands of the United States marshal, or wLext the soldiers of the United States, yielding to o rders which they do not deem it dishonorable for them to despise, assist in their execution. Such forbearance-such manifestations of their allegiance to the national authority-become the more wonderful, when it is apparent as the noonday sun that every attempt has been made to harass them into resistance to the authority of the United States, so as to furnish a pretext, doubtless, for their indiscriminate imprison ment, expulsion, er massacre. Fourth. The Constitution also prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. I shall show, before I close, that this so-called Kansas Legislature has prescribed most cruel and unusual: punish ments, unwarranted by the character of the of. fences punished, and totally disproportioned te their criminality. Fitfth. The Constitution declares (article 1, section 9) that "the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it." But the Kansas code, in its chapter of habeas corpus, (article 3, see tion 8, page 345,) enacts as follows: " No negro or mulatto, held as a slave withini this Territory, or lawfully arrested as a fugitive from service trom another State or Territory. shall be discharge-a, nor.shall his right of freedom be had under the provisions of this act." This provision, suspending the writ of habeas corpus in the above cases, is not only a violation of the Const itution, but also of the organic law; for that provided, in section 28, for appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States on writs of h abe as corp us, in cases involving the right of freedom, the issuing of which this Territorial law expressly prohibits. The language of the Nebraska-Kansas act is as fol. lows: "Except, also, that a writ of error or appeal shall a.se be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States from the decision of th. said Supreme Cour' created by this act. or of any judge thereof, or of the district courts created by this act, or of any judge thereof, upon any writ of habeas corpus, involving the question of personal free ddm." But the Kansas Legislature coolly set aside the law of the United States by which alone their Teriitorial organization was brought into existence, and effectually prohibited any appeal to the Supreme Court, " upon any writ of habeas corpus,'involving the question of personal free dom," by declaring that the writ shall not be used in the,Territory for any such purposel Having now referred to a few of the many acts embraced in this code, which conflict with the Constitution or the organic law, I proceed to the examination of other provisions some of which stamp it as a code of barbarity; as wll as of tyranny -of inhumanity as well as of op pression. And, first, to " the imprisonment at hard labors" which is made tlie punishment for "offences against the slave property," in the sections which I have already quoted. The general understanding of the people at forge charge of high treason, George W Brown, ed4 itor of the Herald of Freedom, at Lawrence, has, after his printing press has been destroyed by the order of Judg,e Lecompte's court, b een him self indicted, and is now imprisoned, awa it i ng trial-kept, too, under such strict surveil lance, fa r wo rse than murderers are treated in a civilized country, that even hi s mother and wife were n ot allow ed t o visi t him until he had h umbly petitioned the Governor for permission. And this upon the soil of a Territory which our forefathers, i n 1820, in this very Hall, dedicated, by solemn compact, to " Freedom forever." Third. the sixth amendment to the Consti. tutior a of the United States declares that, "In all cr imi nal pr osec utions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an IMPARiTIAL jury." It is signific ant that, in the Constitution itself, it had been provided (article 3, s ecti on 2) th at "the trial of all crimes, except in cases o f im pea chment, shall be by jury." But, to prevent' abuse of power," this, with other amendments, was adopted, declaring that the trial shall be by an impartial jury. I have already s hown you how i mpartially t hey ar e to be selecte d by sheriffs who gobt anbout and imita te, in thei r con duct towards Free State m en, the example of Saul of T arsus in his persecu tion of the early Christians, (Actse, chapter 8, verse 3, " entering into ev ery ho use, and seizi ng m en and women, committed them to prison;") and I have quot ed you a section, show ing how impartially the y a re to b e c onstituted, with men on one side only; but in this v er y ch apter, the concluding provision, section thirteen, (page 606,) rep eats t his gross violation of the Na tional Constitution, as follows: " No person, who is consci bentiously oppos ed to holding klaves. or w ho does wot admit the rig ht to hold slave, in this Territory, shall sit as a juror on the trial of any prosecutioii for any violation of any of the sections of this act."' Her e, sir, in the se instances which I have qu ot ed, s tand the Con stitution of the United States on the one side, and the Kansas code on the other, in direct and open conflict-the one declaring that the freedom of speech shall not be abridged, that the freedom of the press shall be protected, that juries, above all things else, shall be entirely impartial; the other trampling all these safeguards under foot. And because a majority of the settlers there, driven from the polls by armed mobs, legislated over by a mob in whose election they had no agency, choose to stand by and maintain their rights under the Constitution, you have seen how anarchy and violence, how outrage and persecution, have been running riot in that Territory, far exceed ing in their tyranny and oppression the wrongs for which our revolutionary forefathers rose against the masters who oppressed them; and yet, though the protection they have had from the General Government has been only the same kind of protection which tiae wolf gives to the lamb, they have, while repudiating the Territo rial sheriff,~ bowed in submission to- writs in the 9 has been, that, as there was no State's prison yet erected in Kansas, this imprisonment woulcd be in some Missouri prisons near the frontier. But. sir, such is not the case. The authors of these disgraceful and outrageous enactments, with a refinement of cruelty, provided that the " hard labor" should be in another way; and that way will be found in chapter 22, entitled i an act providing a system of confinement and hard labor," section 2 of which (page 147) reads as follows:. heavy iron ball, six inches in diameter, and eighteen inches in circumference.] Mr. Chairman, if the great men who have passed away to the spirit-land could stir themr selves in their graves, and, coming back to life and action, should utter on the prairies of Kansas the sentiments declared by them in the past, how would they be amazed at the penal ties that would await them on every side, for the utterance of their honest convictions o0. Slavery. Said Washington to John F. Mercer, in 1786: "I never mean, un le ss sofme particular circumstance should compel me to i t, to possess nother slave by pui chase' it being among my first wishes to se e some pla n adopted by which Slavery i ll this counie try inay.be aboi ished by law." Said Jefferson, in his Note s on V irginia: "The whole commerce be tween master and slave is a continual exercise of the most u"reneittin s esd otiso on t o pr, n eanguo the one part and degrading submission on the other." # A Vith what execration should the st,etesnlraed be loaded h, who, perwittig one half of the ciizens thus to trample on the rights of the othe r, transfor ms th ose into despots, and the io n e e, e t he a these t enemies, destroys the morals of the wone part, and the ameor patrice of the other! Cwan the lib ertie s of a nation be thougrht secure,pi w hen we have re mo. ved their o nly firm basis-a conviction in the dnieds of the peopleha e Y brsar the rat these berties are the ift of God? That they are not violated but by hi, wrath f In deed, I tremble for my country when I refle ct that God is just, and his justic cannot slecpforever." Surely such language, in t he eyes o f a Pro-I Slav ery jury, w ould b e cons ider ed as calcui lated " to render slaves'disorderly." And surely, in the language of the President a nd his party, "the law must be enfor ce d." Come, then, " Sheriff Jones," with your chain and ball for each of t hese founders of th e R epublic, and, manacled to gether, le t the m, as they pur sue their daily work, chant praises to "the gre at principle for which our revolutionary fathers fought," and of which the defend ers of the Ne braska bill t ol d us t,na t law was the grea t em bodiment. Said Mr. Webster, in has Marshfieldl speech in 1848: " I feel that there is n o thing UnjUSt, n othing of which any honest man can complain, if he is inte llige nt, and I feel that there is nothiong of which the c ivilized world, if they take notice of so humble a n individual as myself will reproach me, when I say, as I siid the other day, that I have made up my mi-nd, for one, that under no cir cumstances will I consent to the extension of the areallof Slavery in the United State s, o r to the f urthe r increas e of slave representation in th e House of Relresentatives. And again, in 1850: "Sir, wherever there is a particular good to be donewherever there is a foot of iand to be staid back from be comin-ig slave territory-I am ready to assert the principle of the exclusion of Slavery." Said the noble old statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay, in 1850: " I have said that I never could vote for it myself; and I repeat, that I never can and lnever will vote, and no earthly power ever;rill make me vote, to spread Slavery over territory where it does not exist." Surely this, too, conflicts with the law of Kansas. Hurryr them, Judge Lecompte, to the chain-gang; and as they commence their years of disgraceful and degrading punishment, forget not to read them from the Nebraska bill that {its true intent and meaning" is "to leave I Every person who may be sentenced by any counrt o 1 competelit jurisdiction, under any law in force within this Territory, to punishment by confinement and hard labor. shall be deemed a convict, and shall immediately, under the charge of the keeper of such jail or public pr ison, or under the charge of such person as the keeper of such jail or public prison may select, be put to hard labor, as in the first section of this act specified, (to wit,'or. the streets, roads, public buildings. or other public works of the Territory'-[Sec. 1, page 146;] and such keeper orother person. having charge of such convict, shall cause such conivict, while engaged at such labor, to be securely confined by a chain, six feet in lengtl,, of not less than four-sixteensths nor more than three-eighths of an inch links, with a round ball of iron, of not less than four nor more than six inches in diam eter, attached, w hich chain shalli be securely fastuced to the ankle of such tnvieCt with a strong lock aind key; and such keeper, or other person, havingz charge of such conivie.t,nmay,iflnecessory, confinee such convictwhile 6o eiinga ged at hard labor, by other chains, or other means, in his discretioni, so as to keep such convict secure, and prevent lhis escape; and when there shall be two or more convicts un,pler the charge of such keeper, or other person, such convicts shall befastened together by strong chains, wi h stroiis locks and keys, during the time such convicts shall be engaged in hard labor without the walls of any jail or prisoii-" A nd thi s penalty, hrevolt ing, hum iiating, d e basing as it is, subjectin g a free American citizen to t h e public s neers and contumely of his oppressors, far worse than within the prison w alls, where the degr adation of th e punishment is relieved by its privacy, is to be borne from two to five long years by the men of Indiana and Ohio, of New England and New York, of Pennsylvania and the far West, who dare in Kansas to declare, by speech or in print, or to introduce therein a handbill or paper, which declares, that " persons have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory." The chain and ball are to be attached to the ankle of each, and they are to drag out their long penalty for exercising their God-given and constitutionallyprotected freedom of speech, manacled together in couples, and working, in the public gaze, under task-masters, to whom Algerine slaveholders would be preferable. Sir, as this is one of the laws which the Democratic party, by its platform, has resolved to enforce, and which the President of the U'nited States intends to execute, if need be, with the whole armed force of the United States, I have procured a specimen of the size of the iron ball which is to be used in that Territory under this enactment, and only regret that I cannot exhibit also the iron chain, six feet in length, which is to be dragged with it, through the hot summer months, and the cold wintry snows, by the Free State "convicts" in Kansas. [Here Mr. C. exhibited a large and 10 the people thereof perfectly free (not only free, tion for debt; by page 432, mortgages of slaves but PERFECTLY free) to form and regulate their are to be recorded; by page 556, slaves, are to domestic iastitutions in their own wa.y, subject. be taxed by the assessors; by page 630, slave only to the Constitution of the United States." owners are to be accountable for trespaises by There is another portion of this act to which their slaves. But nowhere in the code is to be I wish to call special attention. It is the suc- found a single line, or section, declaring that ceeding section to the above, (sec. 3, p. 147:) "Slavery is hereby established." I have no "W he ever any convict shall be employed at labor for idea that even if the Legislature of Kansas any ilncorporate townl or city, or any counlty, such to,r,, was to be conceded a legal body, Slavery this eity, or ctity. shall pay ilto the Territorial treasury tile day has a legal existence in the Territory. sum,n of fifty cents for each convict, for every day such convict shall be engaged at such labor; a,d wlhenever But to expect such a decision from its courts, such c',-vi:.'t shall be employed upon priate hiring, at Ia would be to look for mercy from a Nero. bor, it sihall be at such price each, pe,r day, as may be As I was examining this Saharaoflegislation, agreed upono with such keeper. or other person. havit-g charge ot such: and the proceeds of said labor shall Ibe to find, if possible, one oasis, my eye fell upon collected by such keeper, and put into) the Territorial chapter 74, page 323, headed with the attract tI~reasury.1~''~ ~ive title of "FREEDOM-; " And I rejoiced at the Not content with the degradation of the certainty of finding something worthy of appro. chain-gang, a system of WHITE SLATERY is to val in its provisions. But, alas I it is a fit asso be introduced by "private hiring;" and the ciate for the rest. By it, it appears that "a per. "convicts," sentenced for the exercise of the son held in slavery" cannot so e for hi freedom freedom of speech and of the press, are to be till he first petitions the court for leave to estab hired out during their servitude, if their "keep- lish his right to freedom. If that leave is de er" sees fit, to the heartless men who this day nied, whether he is legally or illegally held in are hunting them from their homes, and burn- slavery, no matter how d(early he could prove ing their dwellings over their heads. But "the his freedom, yet, if the court withholds its per laws are to be executed;" and though they are mission, he has no alternative but to continue the offspring of the most gigantic fraud ever in slavery till death frees him from his uLnjust ser perpetrated upon a free people, if there is no vitude. But if the court consent, he can only chang,e in the policy of the Government, and go on by giving security for the costs, when it if the party which controls its action is not is a conceded fact that, as a slave, he has not a kurled from power, we shall doubtless next dollar or a copper of his own in the world, and year see Governor Robinson (if not previously cannot even mortgage his own labor for indem executed for treason) with the iron chain and nification of his security. On page 325, section ball to his ankle, hired from the convict-keeper 12, of this same law, there is a singular provis by Governor Shannor to do his menial service; ion: or to be punished, if he disobeys his master's "' If thlie plaitifft be a negro or mulatto, lie is required to orders, likle a Southern slave. And Judge Le- prove his right o freedom." compte would have the privilege, too, and There can be only one fair, legitimate, infer would doubtless exercise it, of having Judge ence from this-andthatis, that it is considered Wakefield as his hired serf, dragging, for two quite possible that persons not negroes or mu or five years to comeohis chain and ball after lattoes-in other words, while persotns-may him, as he entered his master's presence, or happen to be held in slaveryin Kansas; but the obeyed his master's command. And Marshal requirement of the consent of the court, and seDonaldson, with "Sheriff Jones," and String- curity for costs, applies to them also; and, of fellow, wouild not certainly be behind their supe- course, section 14 adds: "in actions prosecuted riors in the retinue of Free State slaves whom under this act, the plaintiff shallnot recover any they could satisfy their revenge upon by hiring damages" from the person who has been thus as their mneniiials from the keeper of the Kansas proven to have held him illegally, and perhaps convicts. for years, in slavery. There are many things in this code of which The code also, to be complete, provides for I desire to speak, but which I will not have slave-flogging by law. By the one hundred and time to tallude to, as my hour is rapidly pass- twenty-second chapter, on page 454, patrols are ing away, and I must hasten on. It is worthy to be appointed by the county boards, who are of notice, in passing,that in no place in this code to visit negro quarters, and to watch unlawful is Slavery expressly established in the Territory. assemblages of slaves. If slaves are found at Instead of leaving the people of the Territory the latter, or strolling from one plantation to "perfectly free to form their own institutions," another without a pass, they are to suffer ten or Slavery is taken to be an institution already twenty lashes. There is one exception, and, as existing, as if it were already established by I desire to do impartial justice to this code, I the Congress of the United States. In this wish to say, to be placed to the credit of the initial legislation of the Territory, it is treated men who enacted it, that that whipping clause ~s a heretofore recognised and permanent "in- is not to be construed to prevent slaves fom ititution." Thus, by page 60, slaves are to be going directly to or returning from divine worappraised like other property of a decedent; ship on the Sabbath. They believe, it seems by page 298, slaves are to be taken ip execu in the "~ stated preaching of the Gospel," and 11 therefore that is excepted. But, sir, when vis- In order that there may he no misunderstanditing, on an adjoinin,g plantation, a woman ming or denal that this is the regular election whom hier master allows him to call his wife I day, I quote from chapter 66 of the Code, page till he (clooses to sell her and her children to 1 280: some disttiant s'aveholder, the lash is the penalty, unlits he is provided with a pass. The Constitution speaks of the value and the necessitv of "a well-re!;,,leatef1 militia." And the bogus Legisature have taken pains to keep their militia " well regulated," indeed. They have not tailed to keep the military force of the Territory in their own hands by some remarkable provisions, found on page 419, chapter one hundred and ten, and very truthfilly entitled "An act to organize, discipline, and GOVERN, the militia of this Territory." Not one solitary jot or tittle of power is given to the people of the Territory to elect even a fourth corporal of the militia. The Governor, Sir, by this law, appoints the generals and the colonels. The colonels appo int Ie captains. The captains appoint the sergeants, the musicians, and the corporals. And all the people have to do is to say Amen I anid train when ordered. Precisely such an exper itment as this was tried in Indiana some years ao, and all went off happily and smooth By until it came to the people's turn to train; w h i c h all over the State they very unanimously declined to do. There was no Lecompte in Indiana to indict the whole State for treason, and the whole matter passed oft' as an excellent joke, that offended no one, officers or people. But a Lecompte sits on the Kansas bench, and to refuse to obey this law is treason in his eyes. But there is more in this chapter than meets the eye at firlst. It provides, in the first place, (see page 420.,) that the Territory shall be divided into military divisions, and that each brigade shall coisist,of not less than two nor more than five regim.ents. It is not supposable, of course, that, in the early settlement of the Territory,., there will be more than two regiments in ea ch brigade, especially as there are two divi sions of militia in the Territory, and not less than two brigades in each division. And now, sir, if you will turn to section 12, page 421, you will find that, by its cuttnit,.gly-devised provisions, one half of the people of Atnsas are to be under train ing order s of their- superior o f( eis, bound to go wherever thol.ee oqcers commaned them, UPON e THE VTIRY DA Y OF TIIE ELECTIONS in the Territory! That clause reads: Sr3c' 12 Tint onl the last Sa-ttrday in the month of Au gust, il eve r sa,r. othe c:,oeolo o r tcoeut ddrys obi,er of each re'i-neit o. t separte rat ttstlim s!.all, iy writtei or Erinted aid erisil'l.eJits. Out lip or dtistriaiuted fifteen days before s.~it dlt). un:til Out all cort[ll. and slag officers under his cottd'a z(o, to rlldhzslous- at so noe colvelfiee-t aclJd suitable e,, where they ahail b)e forwned ard dril led il .omp)tny t(rint'r Ity the comintidait; ati( at sa id reidez vous tihe cmmnotdan t sil give co thile offi'ers public b go tice of.he plae w!fe,4e the,- regimnenit or battalion shall meets. wih 11a.ce shalli 1) williti his district, a.td the time as followsi.. viz: tfirst regeneit, or one sorfes t iln susnuter in each brigale. shall meet at t,,C o' clock in theforenoow u oof the first 2Ionday int October," &e. It adds that the next re,iment ir each brig ade is to meet the ensuing day. ",SEc. 1. On the first M%ondayv in ()ceolber. il the ye;'r ore thoust;nId eiglt huntdred an,d fifty five. and ol the first Monde ay it October. every two) y-.rs thlereafter, a election for deleate tlo th loue of Represe.itatives of the Untited St-ales shaill be heldl a, the rp'?eclive places of holding eleciols~ ill the Territory of Kansas.l S;Ec. 2. (,n the first Monllday il O(tober. in the year one thousaewld -inht hehoa d reh antd fifty-six, anid on the first Mondayv in October in ever, year therenfter.'4i, election for Representatives of the L,e,,,'ilative Assemrbly, a,ld for all oher elective offices not otherwise provided-l for by law, shall be hel al thbe respective places of holding elections ill th,is T'erritory. BSEC 3. O,, tle first iMoreday in October, icp the year o ne thousa,d eiglh! hundred and fifty-seven, and on the first !omitay in Ociobcr every two, years thereafter. an election shallbe held, at the reuspe tive ne!e(es of holding elections, for divi nbers o f t he council.d On the very day of the election, thereforewhich in every other State of the Uni on is so me-s thing like a Sabbath, so far as ordinary business is concerned, and men are permitted to choose their own officers and legislators as they s ee fi t it, ultramelled b y any power upon e arth, and when men, in m an y St ates, are exempt from arrest for all offences but felony, to aid to the furthest extent in leaving the people perfectly free in the exercise of the freeman's most price. less right,the elective franchise —these citizens of Kansas are to be summon ed forth by their superior officers, wherever they may choose to march them, subject to the penalties of an in stant court martial, if they do not obey. For section 13 says, page 423: "If a noni-commissioiied officer. muslelan, or private, shall be guilt) of disobebdiec,e of orders, or diisrespe(t to all officer. d,,ri,,g the time he shall be on duty, le shall be tried by a court-martial, and, filled,r not less than live dollars, nor more than twenty dollars." There is no provision in this chapter by which these officers, appointed by the Governor, are to supply the privates with tickets of an ortho dox character, to be ~bted under their "or ders;" but the selection of election-day for training-day is a coincidence that is obviously not accidental. The authority given by French generals to the army to vote as they please, but if they vote, they must vote for Napoleon, is to be re-enacted in Kansas; and even if the freemen of Kansas, under training orders as they are, should vote as they please, despite the reign of terror existing there, and the an. gry denunciations of their officers, they can be kept by those officers, as it was doubtless in tended they should be, under such orders as will prevent them from protecting their ballot boxes against the invasion which is, doubtless, this fall-as so often before-to crowd them with fraudulent votes. Section thirteen of this same law brings all the Sharpe's rifles on the ground, where the " superior officers" can take possession of them under color of law, without fear of their con tents: "That it shall be the duty of every non-commissioned officer and private who owns a rifle, musket, or fire-loelg to appear with it ill good order at every paradle." 12 "SEC. 20. Whenever any person offers to vote, his vote o lay be challenged by one of the judges, or by ally voter, and the judge s of the election may exatih e lim touching his rig-ht to vote; an,,d if so examined, NO EVIDENCE TO CON TRADICT SHALL BE RECEIVED." Certainly these provisions explain themse lves, without comment. I will now invite your attention to a contras t in the penal code of this Territory, singular in its charactern to say the very lea st. Section five of-the act punish in g offe nces against slame property, page 604, enacts as follows: " If any person shal l aid or assist in enticing, decoying, or persuading, o r carrying away or Dlgasending ouit ofthi s Territory, a ny slave b elo nging to apothe, ri tl intent to procure or effect the freedom of suc h slave, or with intenlt to deprive the own e th e o er hereof of the services of such slave, he shall be a njuL,ged guilty of grand lareny, and on con victiohi thereof,hall suffer death, or be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than th anen years., A person who, by a pro-slavery packed jury, is convicted of aiding in per suading out o f the Territory a slave belonging to another, is to suffer at least twice as severe a penalty as he who is convicted of committing the vilest out. rage that the mind of man can conceive of on the person of your wife, sister, or daughterl Nay, the contrast is still stronger. The jury, in the first instance, are authorized even to inflict the punishment of death-in the latter, see page 208, the penalty is "not less than five years." Such is the contrast in Kansas between'the protection of a wife's or daughter's honor and happiness, and that which is thrown as a pro tecting regis over the property of the slave holder I Again, on page 208, you will find that the ruffian who'commits malicious mayhem, that is, without provocation, knocks you down in the street, cuts off your nose and cars, and plucks out your eyes, is punished " not less than five nor more than ten years;" the same degree of punishment that is meted out in sec tion seven of the above act, page 605, on a person who should aid, or assist, or even " har. bor," an escaped slave I On page 209, you will find that the man who .sits at your bedside, when you are prostrated by disease, and, taking advantage of your con fidence and helplessness, administers poison to you, but whereby death does not happen to ensue, is to be punished not less than five nor more than ten years," though it is murder in the heart, if not the deed. And this is precise. ly the same penalty as that prescribed by the eleventh section (quoted in my remarks above on the five violations of the Constitution) against one who but brings into the Territory any book, paper, or -handbill, containing any " sentiment" "calculated," in the eyes of a Pro-Slavery jury, to make slaves " disorderly." Tie man who takes into the Territory Jefferson's Notes on Virginia can be, under this laws hurried away to the chain-gang, and manacled, arm to arm, with the mnurderous poisoner. On page 210, the kcidnapping and confner me nt of a free white p'erson~ for any purpose% even. if a man, to sell him into slavery, or it The whole country has heard, sir, of the section of the election law which allows " inhabitants" to vote at the general election, without requiring them to have resided in the Territory a single day; and of the test oaths to sustain the Fugitive Slave Law and the Nebraska Bill, which are intended to shut out all men opposed to both from the ballot-box. And I will quote it from page 282, because I desire to contrast its provisions with another: "SEc. 11. Every free white male citizen of the United States. and every free male Indian who is made a citizen by treaty or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-onle years. who shall be an i,nhabitant ofthis Territory, and of the county or district in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified f lector for all elective officers and all Indians who are inhabitants of this Territory. and who may have adopted the customs of the white man. and who are liable to pay taxes, shall be deemed citizens: Pro-ided, That no soldier. seaman, or marine, in the regular Army or Navy of the United States, shall be entitled to vote. by reason of being on service therein: And pro vided, further, That no person who shal; have been convicted of ally violation of anlly provision of an act of Congress, entitled'An act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters,' approved February 12, 1793; or of an act to amenid and supplementary to said act, approved 18th September, 1,50;, whether such conviction were by erim- p inal proceediing or by civil action for the recovery of any penalty prescribed by either ofsaid acts, in any courts of the Utited States, or of any State or Territory, of ally of fence deemed infamous, shall be entitled to vote at any election. or to hold any office in this Territory: Anti pro,ided, further. That if any person offering to vote shall be challetiged and required to take all oath or affirmation. to be admittistered by otne of the judges of thie election, that he will stustain the provisions of the above-recited acts of Cotlgress. and of the act entitled'Ali act to orgatt ize the Territories of Nebraska and Kanrsas' approved bMay 30,1854. and shall refuse to take suchi oath or affirm atioti, the vote of suchi person shall be rejected. Mereiy being an " inhabitant," if the person is in favor of the Nebraska bill, and of the Fu. gitive Slave Law, qualifies him as a voter in all the elections of the Territory affecting National or Territorial politics. The widest possible door is opened for the invaders to come over and carry each successive election as "inhabit ants" for the time being of the Territory. But, turn to page 750, and notice the following pro vision (section 8) defining the qualifications of voters at the petty corporation elections of Lecompton: " All free white male citizens who have arrived to the full age oftwenlly-onle years, and who shall be elitled to vot tor Territorial officers, atnd lwho shall have resided withiin lte city limits at least six months next precedilig any electioni, and, mi-oreover, who shall have paid a city tax or ally city license according to ordinianice, shall be eligilie to vote at any ward or city election for officers of the c'ty." Being a n inhabitant a -day clothes a person with the right to vote for Dele cates in Conress, and Representatives in the Legislature; but to vote at an insignificant election, in comparison, six months' residence is requiredl Am I wrong in judging that this inverting the usual rule, shows that Missou-rians are wanted at the one election, but not at the other? If any one deems this opinion unjust, let him study the following sections of the General Election Law, .page 283: ~ " SEc. 19. Whenever any person shall offer to vote, he shall BE PRESUMED to be entitled to vote. I f f t f I 1 re 7 0 s e 13 war that has existed in that Territory; to that most aggravating of all insults by which the very Jones who headed an invading party of Missourians at one of the polls, and with his revolver at the breast of an election judge, gave him five minutes to resign or die, was commissioned as a Sheriff, to ride booted and spurred over the people whose rights he had thus assisted in striking down; and many other things that make the blood of the great mass of freemen at the North course, as it never before coursed, through their veins. But I must allude, before concluding, to the mockery of relief held out to the people by the President and his coadjutors. In his special message to Congress, on the 27th of January last, the President spoke thus: 'Our system affords no justification of revolutionary acts; for the constitutional meanis of relieving the people te of unjust administrations and laws, by a change of public agents and by repeal, ARE AMgPLE." And in his speech, as reported in the Union of Jun e 10, m ade to t he B uchanan ratification meeting, who marched to the White House, he coolly told them: 6'here will be, on your part, no appeal to unworthy -)alslolls. no inlflarnmatory calls for a second revolution lik,t those which are occasionally reported as coming from. Kneel who have received nothing at the hands ol their Government but protection and political blessings. Ho eclaratiomi of resistance to the laws of the lan d." But I wil l not stop to allude to the " proteetion and political blessings " which the people of Kansas have received from the "hands of their Government." It was bitter irony indeed. Judge Douglas, too, at the same meeting, speaking ol the Kansas laws, declared as follows: "Or, if they desire to have any of the laws repealed, let them try -s carry their point at the polls, and let the majority deci,, the question." Never, sir, was there a more signal instance of "holding the word of promise to the ear, and breaking it to the hope." Where are the " ample " means of obtaining relief from the un endurable tyranny that grinds down the Free State men of Kansas into the dust? How can they " carry their point at the polls?" Let facts answer: 1. The Council, which passed these laws, has extended its term of service till 1858; so that, if the entire representative branch was unanimous for their repeal, the higher brai.ch has the power to prevent the slightest change in them for two long years! 2. The Free State men in Kansas are abso lutely shut out from the polls by test oaths, which no one with the soul of a freeman, who traces all the outrages there directly to the enactment of the Nebraska bill, can conscien. tiously swear to. 3. Even if they do go there, and swear Xo sustain the Nebraska bill and the Fugitive Slave Low, the election law is purposely framed, as I have shown, to invite invasions of Missourians, to control the elections:.n favor of Slaveryr. a woman, for a still baser purpo se, is to be punished " no t exceed ing t en years." D ecoy ing and entic ing away a child, unde r twelve years of ave, from its parents, " not less than six months, and not exceeding five years." But deceying and enticing away (ma rk the similarity of the language 1) a s lave fro m hi s master, is punished by dea th, or c onfinement, not less than ten y ears. Here is the section, page 604: "Sec. 4. If any person shall entice, dec oy, or carry away out of this Territory, ally slave belonging to anothe r, with iate nt to d eprive the owner thereof of the service s of such slave, or with intent to effect or procure the freedom of s.uch slave" he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceiiy, and. on coivi~tioio thereof shall suffer DEATH, or be imprisoned at hard laborfor not less than ten years." I had hloped to find ti me to cite and comment upon other sections in this c ode, b u t I wtill quote bi t one more, showing that, while a white man is compe lled to se r ve out the penalty of his crime, at h ard labor, thes e slaveholding legislators ha ve, in t heir great regard f or the v alu e of the slave's l abor to his m aster, enacted th at a slave, for the same offence, shall be whipp ed, and then returned to him. Here is the section, which I c ommend to the consideration of those Who, while def ending these laws, nickname the Republicans " nigger-worshippers." It is found on page 252: "Sgc. 27. If any slave shall commit petit larceny, or shall stial aly neat cattle, sheep, or hog, or be guilty of any vaisdemeano morg, or other offe nc e punishable under the provisiolIs of this act o-ily by fine or imprisoorment in a county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment, hie shall instead'of such ofnishment, be punished, i f a male, by s tripe s on h is bare back not exceeding thirty-nine, or if a female by iris o lment in a county o ent in t jail no t exceediyg twenty-one days, or by st rip es not exceeding twenty-one, at the discretion of the justice." Such, sir, i s an im partial a nalysis o f the code of Kansas, every allusion to which has been proven b y extract s from the official copy now in my hand, and in quoting which I have referred, in every instance, to the page, t he number of th e section, an d its exact words; and I think that the strong language at the outset of my remarks, in which I denounced this disgraceful and tyrannical code, has been fully justified by the proofs I have laid before you from its pages. Let it not be forgotten, Mr. Chairman, that it is because the people of Kansas-an overwhelming majority of the actual settlers there-refused to obey these enactments passed by a body of men elected by armed mobs of invaders- that they have been delivered over to persecutions without parallel, and to all the horrors of civil war. Had I time, I would desire to refer to the history of events in that Territory; to the reckless and ruthless violation of plighted faith in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which opened the door for legislation like this; to the entire absence of any protection by the P~resident to the settlers against personal outrage; to the repeated invasions by which the whole machinery of legislation was usurped, but the fruits of which the President upholds byr cannon and bayonet, with proclamations and iteaalties i to the causes which led to the civil 14 in 1850, and with which, thanking the House for its attention, I conclude my remarks., "But if, u!nhappily, we should be in,volvedl il witr in civil war. between tile two parts of this Co (tederacy, in wilich tlhe effort upoIL the one sie s io,ld be I(o restraiin the piecrodclton of Slanery it te ne Territories. and udom t the other sile twa.forex i i ts troiuctioi thr, wha a wspectacle shiould Wh prrese nt to the Reastoiio me to thetmankird,l i ti effort, nv ot to vroe.ate ri-ch I.ut-I orist riisay it, a ttough I aie tor us t f h ui ioo e it wi be ulersood to be sad ih o design t) excite teeliig —a W.ir to a?rr~p'~,.~te wro.gs in the Territories thus aequlied from NIi xi(o! It wooud bo a wa,r ill whici Me siouhl have nio svipathi..s no good vvishes —D~ uZwlich all -az.kind uwo~,,tl t,e a:o4ci.st 2gz * for from the consencement of thie Revolutio,, down,i to the presen~t time, we have Coislaoty r epro ache d our 13ritishi ancestors for the inttrod,,ctio,, of Slavery into this couir. try.,, 4. They are driven from the jtury-box, as well as disfranchised, and prohibited from act ing as autorneys in the courts, unless they take the test oath prescrited by their conquerors. 5. Free speech is not tolerated. They are left " perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way," except, if they speak a word against Slavery, they are convicted of fielony, and hurried to'the chain gang. 6. The presses in the Territory, at Leaven worth and Lawrence, in favor of Freedom, have been destr:,yed, and the two last by the author ity of the court of Judge Lecompte, thus " crush ing out" the freedom of the press. 7. Indictments are found by packed juries against every prominent Free State citizen; and those who are not forced to flee from the Territory, are arrested and imprisoned, while those who have stolen from Free State men, tarred and feathered them, burned their houses, or murdered them, go at large, unpunished. In such a state of affairs as this, t o t alk of going t o the p olls and having the law s repealed, is worse than a mockery. It is an insult. It is like binding a m an han and nd foot, throwing himo into the river, and then telling him to swim on s hore, and he w ill b e saved. It is lik e loadi ng a man w it h irons, and then telling him to run for his life. The only relief possible, if Kansas is not promptly admitted as a S tate, whic h I ho pe m ay b e effec ted, is in a change of the Administration and of the party that so recklessly misrules the land: aild that will furnish an effectual relief As I look, sir, to the smiling valleys and fertile plain s of Kansas, an d witness there the sorrow f ul scenes of civil war, in which, when forbearance at last ceased to be a virtue, the Free State men of the Territory felt it necessary, deserted as they were by their Government, to defend their lives, their families, their property, and their hearthstones, the language of one of the noblest statesmen of the age, uttered six years ago at the other end of this Capitol, rises before my mind. I allude to the great statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay And while the party which, when he lived, lit the torch of filander at every avenue of his private life, and libelled him before the American people by every epithet that renders man infamous, as a gambler, debauchee, traitor, and enemy of his count-v, are now engaged in shedding fictitious tears over his grave, and appealing to his old supporters to aid by their votes in shielding them from the Indignation of an uprisen people, I ask them to read this language of his, which comes to us as from Ihis tomb to-day. With the change of but a single geographical word in the place of' Mexicf,"' how prophetically does it ~pply to the very scenes and issues of this year l And who can doubt with what party he would ~And in the coming camIpaign, if he was restored to us from the damps of the grave, when sh'l rend the followring, which fell from his lips8 Below will be found extracts from speeches tnalde during the present session of Congress, by Democrratic members, all of whom are act ive'y supporting Mr. Buchanan's election; and four out of the five are Laosthern Democrats. The folbilowing is from the speech of Judge WARNER, of Georgia, delivered in the House of Repre s entatives on the 1st of April, 1856; and not only corroborates one of the Northern argu ments against the extension of Slavery, (that it exhausts and blights the soil,) but also proves that even if Kansas was conceded to the'tep culiar institution," it would still need more, and would demand more: "There is not a slaveholder, in this House ox ' out of it, but who knows perfectly well that whenever Slavery is confined within certain special i limits, its future existeizee is doomed; it is only a '' question of time as to its final destruction. You ' may take any single slaveholding county in the ' Southern States, in wvhich the great staples of ' cotton and sugar are cultivated to any extent, ' and conftine the present slave population within 'the limits of that county. Such is the rapid ' natural increase of the slaves, and THE RAPID d EXIIAUSTION OF THE SOIL in the cultivation of 'those crops, (which add so much to the com' mercial wealth of the country,) that in a fewr 'years it would be impossible to support them ' within the limits of each county. Both master and slave would be starved out; and what would b' e the practical effect in any one county, the ' same result would happen to all the slavehold ing States. SLAvERY CANNOT BE CONFINED within ' certain specified limits WITHOUT PRODUCING THE 'DESTRUCTION OF BOTH MASTER AND SLAVI. IT 'REQUIRES FRESH LANDS, plenty of wood and ' water, not only for the comfort and happiness of ' the s lave, but for the benefit of the owner. We 'underst and perfectly well the practical effect 'of the proposed restriction upon our rights, 'and to what extent it interferes with Sltivery in the States; and we also understand tie ob'ject and purpose of that interference. If the ' slaveholding States should ever be so regard' less of their rights, and their Lonor, as coequal States, to be willing'.o submzit to this proposed ' restriction, for the sake of harmony and peac% they could not do it. There is a great, over' ruling, practical necessitZ which would proTw4 I I I I Ii APPENDIX. 15 ' it. They ought not to submit to it upon prin- jority and minority reports from the Committee ciple if they could, and could not if they would. on Territories were made to the Senate, Judge "It is in view of these things, sir, that the DouoLAs, in the course of a reply to remarks by people of Georgia have assembled in convention, MAr. Smrine,i spoke as follows:-(See Daily Con7' anl, soleoi,q resolved that, if Congress shallpass tressional Globe, March 13th, 1856, 5th column i a Ilow exclidi y themn fromnt the coinerlo Teritory of second page.) with their slave property, they wile dlsrv5v the tics'" The minority report advocates foreign inter. that bind them to the U,nion." | ference; we advocate self-governmeit and non The followving extracts are from the speech of' interference. We are ready to meet the issue; Judge Douglas, delivered in the Senate, March' and there will he no dodging. We intend to meet 20, 1856, and published in the Washington' it 60oetfy; TO REQUIRE, SUC.MISSION TO TltE LAWS Union, (tri-weekly edition,) of April 3d, 1856:' and to the constituted authorities; TO REDUCH "In reply to all of this, I have only to sad, that' TO SUBJECTION THOSE WIIO RESIST TtIEM, AND TO the majority of the committee are of the opin-' PUNISH REBELLION and treason. I am glad that 'ion that things should be called by their right' a defiant spirit is exhibited here; we accept the names-that revolution should be checkei' issue." that rebellion should be put down-that insur- On the 26th of May, 1856, Senator Puon, of rectionl should be suppressed-and that the Ohio, a Northern Democrat, speaking of the Government should use with firm hand and Kitnsas Code of Laws, remarked:-(See Appen' steady nerve whateverforce may be necessary to dix to Conygressional Globe, page 610.) maintain the supremacy of the laws against all " Sir, I regret the necessity for such legislation; ' organized resistance, from whatever quarter it' but WHEREVER SLAVERY EXISTSAS AN INSTITUTION, may come.' law S that character must be adopted." "In this connection it is worthy of remark Th o oke n in that portion of his re'that the particular acts of the Legislature ma! following and commenting upon which have been forcibly resisted, and for th' Lion of the act punishing offences ' violation of which the prisoners have been ~agn -ave property, quoted in the foregoing ' rescued from the officers, are not the same laws spe under the head of the second violation of 'that are represented as being barbarous and the onstitution. ' oppressive. Of the vast number of enactments On the 13th of May, 1856, J. GLANCY JONES, of. affecting almost every relation in life, and fill- Pennsylvania, one of the leading Denocratie ' ing a volume of nearly one thousand pages, members of the liouse, and a champion of the only tivo are complained of as being unjust and interests of Mr. Bucha.uan, then a candidate be oppressive. These are the statutes in regard to fore the Democratic National Convention, about ' the elections and slaves. to assemble, defended him against speeches that "All of the others, so far as we have been in- had been made against him. [l would add, that ' formed are ENTIRELY UNOBJECTIONABLE, and well all the extracts in this Appendix are from edi adapted to the promotion and protection of the tions of speeches revised by their authors.] 'best interests of society." "All such accusations as these against Mr. ~~~* * * * * * * *' Buchanan, are answered by thirty-six years of "A word or two more on another point, and I' devotion to the Constitution of the United ' will close MAy colleague has made an assault' Stases. ' on the President of the United States, for his "They are answered by the fact, that, twenty efforts to vindicate the supremacy of the laws,' years ago, in the Senate of the United States, and put down insurrection and rebellion in the' he was among the first Northern men to resist the ' Territory of Kansas. In my opinion, the Presi-'inroads of Abolitionism. dent of the UInited States is entitled to the " They are answered by his opposition to thanks of the whole country, for the prompt-'the circulation of insurrectionary docurments, ness and energy with which he has met the'through ths maids of the United States, anoilg crisis. It was his imperative duty to maintain' the slaves of the Southl. the supremacy of the laws, and see that they " Theyr are answered by his determined sup were fiaithfully executed. It was his duty to'port of the bill admitting Arkansas into the '; suppress rebellion and put down treason. ilMy' American Union. colleague says that it will be necessary to catch "They are answered by his early sup,ocrt of 'the traitor before the President can hang him.' the annexation of Texas. My opinion is, that, from the ignus of the times, " They are answered by his PERSEVERINOG SU]' ad in view of all that is passing around us, as' port of the Fuytive Slave Laew. # well as at a distance, there will be very little "They are answered by his energetic efforts difficulty in arresting ithe trcaitors —and that, too,'to effect the repeal of the law of the State of without going all the way to Kansas to finrll' Pennsylvania, denying to the Federal authori' theml [Laughter.] This Goverinment has shown' ties the use of her prisons for the detention of 'itself the nmost powerful of any on earth in all'fuagitive slaves. ' respects except one. It has shown itself equal " They are answered by his EARLY and on.' to toreign war or to domestic defence-equal \' yielding opposition to the WFilmot Proviso. 'to any emergency that may arise in the exer- "They are answered by every vote he yeve i~ cise of its high functions in all thinogs except the' the A,ierican Conyress on the question of Slavery 'soawer to hang a traitor I"' and by the fact, that, of all Northern men, hi On the l2th of March, the dsy that the ma-' he has bean among the moaptrominant in aselit 16 ing and defeuding a strict construction of the' DEMNIFICATION from some other portion of the Federal Constitution."' commonproperty. THIS PRINCIPLE was the moral This speech was extensively circulated; and,'basis of that praiseworthy legislation of 1854 it is believed, did more towards effecting Mr.' which the Chairman of the Committee on TerBuchan.ant's nomination at the Cincinnati Con-' ritories has most injudiciously denominated & vention, three weeks afterwards, than all other' conspiracy against Freedom.' efforts in his favor combined. [The above argument completely overthrows The following extracts are from the speech of the plea that the Nebraska bill of 1854 was Mr. CADWALADER, of Pennsylvania, another prom- framed in accordance with the principles of the !cent and influential friend of Mr. Buchanan's, Compromise of 1850. Mr. C. contending that lelivered in the House, March 5th, 1856: by leaving the Mexican laws in force in the Ter "We are soon to be divided into sixty, or, more ritories legislated for in 1850, Slavery was kept probably, seventyStates, ifthe normalconditions out of them, and that the Nebraska bill of 1854 ' of our country's progress can be fulfilled. These was "AN INDEMNIFICATION" to the slaveholders I conditions of our progress, and of its attendant " for their loss" in the former Compromise I ] I happiness and prosperity, cannot be fulfilled un- But here are two more extracts from this same I less the legislation on the subject of Slavery in the speech, which may throw light on "the true inI Territories is to be regulated, under the Constitu- tent and meaning of the Nebraska bill: tion, u,ith a due regard to the rights and interests "To the northward of the latitude 40~, climate I of the sl1tveholdi)ig States, which the Constitution' and other considerations made Slavery practiI purports to secure."' cally out of the question. To the south ward ~* * * * * *''I of 36~ 30', on this side of the Rocky moun " After the Mexican war, an att(''...;us, except in that portion of what was taken ~ successfully made to apply agaiLn -t l: d Texas and annexed to New Mexico in of these partitions to new territoria all I" - 40, the institution of Slavery is now established This attempt failed, because, as I w )'Srom all parts of our country to the westward have occasion to show, local con, I.i; of the Rocky mountains, it is excluded. This rendered the principle inapplicable.:' 1 exclusion is probably permanent. The Terri driven by necessity to adopt here the n:' tory of KIansas, lying westward of the State ot principle of common possession with con:.' Missouri, between the parallels of latitude a7~ enjoyment. But as the Mexican laws locally in' and 40~, is, therefore, now the ony space in 'force had excluded Slavery from these Territories,' which the question of Slavery is to be regarded the application of this principle to them was' as of any practical importance." illusory, so far as any possibility of participation "The question is, whether the force of a nuin their further settlement by slaveholders might' merical majority from the Northern States can be concerned. Property in slaves was thus, in' be rightfully exercised, in order to deprive our ' effect, excluded wcholly from their limits."' Southern brethren of theprivilege OF FREE ACCESS "The principle of the former partitions having' WITHu THEIR SLAVES, TO THIS TERRITORY-a Ter become inapplicable, and slaveholding settlers' ritory, be it remembered, within degrees of lati having been altogether excludedfrom this territory,' tude which, to the eastward of its limits, include the slaveholdineg States were, of right, entitled to ANs already five slaveholding States, and much more INDEMNIIICATIONfOr their loss, if it could be afforded' land of slaveholders than land from which SlaBY GIVING[ THEM ACCESS, WITH THEIR SLAVES, TO' very is excluded." OTHER TERRITORY. If st,uch access could be given * * * * * * * without any violation of existing fights of others "Should Kansas become a slaveholding Terri in such territory, there could be no just cause' tory, AND ULTIMATELY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO OI for its denial. This was true, although their' THREE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, Nebraska and Min exclusion from the territory acquired from Mlexi-' nesota must nevertheless be divided into ten or co might have been the result of unavoidable' eleven non-slaveholding States. [?] It should causes, for which the UIrnited States were not re-' be our hope and prayer that these future Stateas sponsible. Equal participation in the beneficial' may be organized in such a mannier that their enjoyment of THIS territory having become impossible,' inhabitants may retain the good-will and fellow and the whole benefit of its enjoyment having,' ship qf the people of the slaveholdinig States, and from the first, enured'o one class of its common' maintain the stability of the Union." proprietors, the other class ought to receive AN IN WASHINGTON, D. C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 1856. lp The Democratic Party as it Was and as it Is I SPEECH OF HON. TIMOTHY C. DAY, OF OHIO, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 23, 1856. who, in the kindness of their hearts, were willing to illuminate the uninitiated. But my attention has been fruitles s; e ither Ithe pupil is too obtuse, o r the teachers are not as acute a s they shou ld be. I see upon this floor members whose lives have be en passed in battling against Democratic ideas and measures- -member s wh o have won for themselves laurels for forensic ability in furious onslaughts on what they the n de e med a Pandora's box of human evils-the Demo cratic party; members who can boast long yea rs of s carre d servic e in antagonism to Democratic principles an d leaders, and fho now speak of the ir a ffiliation wit h what they call Demo cra cy, with a ll the staidness of old soldiers, instead of the blush of the n ew recruit. And I will do them the justice to say,, that I believtinae the y ar e consistent in all this; that their pres ent positi on bas not required for them any surrender of the past; that they now stand where they have always stood. In the re cent dismember ment of parties, when the one they loved and cheriheed for its conservative qualities died of p o li t ical marasmus, it left to the hot-headed, impetuous rival which had fought it long and Gallantly, the dangerous legacy of its interests, and the care of an estate so encumbered and mortgaged, that, after a few years of painful struggles, it will end in the ruin of its possessors. The remains have been followed to their final resting-place by devoted servitors, whose dropping tears have been dried, and joy quickened in their heart, by the more than fraternal endearments of the special legatee of the dear defilnct. Hence, the position of the gentlemen to whom I have alluded, and thousands elsewhere, throughout the length. and breadth of our Republic, whose be Mr. DAY. Mr. Chairman, in the eddying fight, amid the din of clashing arms and the roar of artillery, when the murky clouds of heavenward-wreathing smoke become too dense for the fell work to go successfully on, there are lulls in the storm of human passion, to give breath to the combatants, and enable them to distinguish friend from foe. So, in the milder conflicts of the political arena, in the wordy war of debate and the thunder of the press, when a cloud of platforms obscuires the field, it becomes necessary to have some pause, to examine the ground, to see what chances of positions have occurred-to study, decide, and fight on. To my mind, such a time is now upon us, and, for one, I frankly confess that I notice some changes which need explanations, and with which we can hope to have results explained. I propose only a cursory glance at the mai n poi nt s of the polit ical battle-field for the last thirty years, to trace the growth of an interest which has embraced in its folds the Democratic party of the past, and made of it a huge workshop of new doctrines, resolves, and wire-drawn platforms. Since the meeting of this House, during the struggle through which we passed in the election of a Speaker, and since, we have had many able disquisitions on Democracy, by those whose province it has been, in times past, to act as tutors; a.nd we have also had some efforts in that line from pupils, whose rapid progiess in their Democratic studies, if not a marvel to themselves, is so to some of us. I have listened to these harangues with some interest, satisfied that I had widely diverged from the old paths, or that lights unknown to the past had recently been discovered, which were patent to the few, I 2 lief in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls has been fully and joyfully realized. It has been the pride of mv life to rank myself as a Democrat; it is yet my boast, though not connected with the party which has the name, but not the soul, I venerate. We frequently hear allusions on this floor to ancestry-of the Cavaliers and Huguenots of the Old World; and, though I have but little of that description of venieration, I, too, can point to a Denmocratic ancestry, which may be equalled, but not excelled-where, from grandfather to granrdson, no vote has been cast other than for Democrats for Presidents, from Thomas Jefferson down-down to Franklinl Pierce. And now I find myself in antagonism to what is called the Democratic party; for, when it inherited its legacy of conservatism, it did not change its name, although it did its principles; and, like those of old who went into the wilderieSS, I am forced to wait for the smitingo of the rock of the future, out of which is to gush the pure waters of principle, of which the people may drink and be made g,lad again. No one can shut his eyes to the fact, that a great change has taken place within a veiy short period of time; that that party which, under Jefferson, was born to lead the vanguard of the Republican army against the conservatism of Federalisnm; which was assaulted at its birth for its heresies and its radicalisms, but which, like the infant Hercules, was too powerfitl to be crushed; which (grew in strength and power, nurtured by clearly-defiltned principles of eq(ual and exact justice to all; and which had the love of every heart not chilled by. the icy breath of conservatism, drawing to itself all who had energy, talent, and soul, a desire to advance, and the nerve to act. This party was th e Democratic party. For half a century, it was the star of hope for the oppressed everywhere; it led in every conflict with privileg(red power; it was the citadel and strength of every movement of the people. Ulider such a leader as Andrew Jackison, it dared to question the might of the greatest moneyed power our Republic has known; and in that contest, as in all o thers with conservatism, it came obu vietorious. When thepeople of Rhode Island, who had long suffered the loss of their inalieInable rights, under a charter gr~anted bsy a Kinglf, and used by,sonservatism to prolono its power, wished to free themselves of their yoke, this party ranged itself on their side, though the means to be used were revolutionary. It proclaimed as its miss io n the en franchise-ent of the oppressed, and it acted in consonance with its preachings.- It wab the ra dica l, progressive, revolutionary party, opposed to the " law and order" of conservatis m. Where is th at party now? That great and glorious party of the past, with its living ideas, re so lve s, and bold deeds, is now, bvby the dece ase o f its old antagonist, the inheritor of " law and order " instead of being the party of the people, it is the party of privileged power. With one foot on the heel and the other on the head of the negro, it talks of notlinog but "law and order." The lion of Democracy has become the jackal of Slavery. When we see some wonderful phenomena of nature, the mind is naturally led to inquire the cause; and in human affairs we shoul(h not do less. Why is it that its bold, radical, and progressive policy has been abandoned, and the Democratic party become retrogressive'and conservative? I have intimated death as one catise —the departure of the Whig party having left all the soul it had, conservatism, to enter the body of the Democratic party; but the great cause is, instead of being a party of one idea- progress, it has become a party of two ideas-Slavery and office. I know one-idead parties are deemed very reprehensible just now, but I would prefer such a party, if the one idea was a good one, to the party with two, and both bad. In this connection, Mr. Chairman, I desire to trace, as briefly and succinctly as possible, the growth of one of the ideas Now dominant with the so-called Democratic party —-an idea which has frozen all the generous impulses that once found a home in that party, and which lhas made of it a receptacle of all that is selfish, all that is conservative. It is an idea that, like the frozen serpent placed by his hearth by the'generous fzitrner, has been warmed by the genial rays of our Re)ublican sun —strange conltradiction! —and nowv threatens with its fangs the very life of Liberty itself'. It is an idea which is ingrained in the moist selfishh passions of our nature, knowing no law lbut self —no r tle blut might. It, was weak in the first days of the Republic, asking onsly for existence. now) it is bold and arrog~ant, 3 people-the reprcsentatives of that people did not forget, in their own enfranchisementt that there were those across the broad Atlantic who groaned in slavery. In 7.94, the Constitutionial Assembly of France passed an act of enfranchisement, declaring all free within her colonies, of which Louisiana was one; but the hurried events of that period, the great distance of the colony from the mother country, and the speedy sale of it to our Republic, prevented the fruition of the benevolent intentions ofthose legislators of the "reign of terror." From this acquisition we may date the change in the republican policy of our Government. The fertility of its soil, and its applicability for the growth of cane and cottoll, for which unfortunately the slave has the reputation of being peculiarly adapted, made this territory the real nucleus of American Slavery. It shut up the road to the extension ofthe Western bound ary of the free States, and paved the way for the famous Conipromise, over the re peal of which this nation is now convulsed, Tfrom its centre to its extremnest points. Be yond the great Nortlhwest was a still fur th-er West, and in this broad domain, acquired from France, it was claimed that Slavery existed by " organic law." This bold assumption of a most dangerous dogmai-one that has not its parallel ex cept in thie days of the Wambas, when the vassals of the barons of the Old World were held in feudal bondage, though they did wear white skins-this assumption, I say, from the very boldness with which it was urged, was acquiesced in by what it is now fashionable to call the " ag,g.ress ive North." Another of the crumbling tyrannies of Europe soon wanted our gold, and we got in exchange the peninsula of Florida, and the Slave Power got an accession to its rapidly-growingr boundaries. L.n both these instances, the strange fact was presented, of a Republic purchasing Slavery from en slaved nations across the AtlanL;c; and, with the isolated exception of California. no acquisition of territory made since the foundation of oulr Republic has added t~ the strength or to the boundaries of the free States. True, Iowa has been carve, out of the Territory of Louisiana; but how and for what equivalent, I will soonI ex aminie. At the time of the acquisition of Loulisi aria, seven of the'origin 1l th}irteen State claiming the right t o rule ahere it should always have been a stranger. It is this idea, its growth and pre sent demands, which i wisthi to portray; and, though the colors will necessarily be sotabre, the sketch will ylot be the less accurate. At the time the thie o t format ion of the Constitutionsthe " organic law " of which w e now hear so much, and which is so widely and differently construed Slavery existed in twelve of the thirteen States that fashioned that irnstruinent. Yet, with his preponde rance o f s lave States, s o dllsatisfited wer e the framers of that instrumen t of t he evil t endencies of an institution whic h they felt to be o ut of pl ace i n their new-born Republic, that t heir firs t care w as t o prevent the further importation of slaves, and thus shut the door upon a rapid increase of that descriptioni of property. In the Constitution, the word " slave " was not allowed to intrude, either because tile name then grated harshly on their ears, or that they telt that this anomaly should only exist tacitly and by sufferance for the time necessary for its total extinction. The Constitution was formed for all time; and, with their views, they did not dream but that their descendants would gradually and finally extinguish Slavery within the boundaries of the Reputblic. The cotem poraineotis history of that eventful period is p)laini, as to the oppositionl felt by our fathers on this subject; and their recorded work bears the impress of this feeling. They knew Slavery was a moral wrong, anrrd they feared that it would become, what we, their descendants, see it, a political evil. A few brief years passed away, and the rich alluviums of Lousli-ana, which com manided the mouth of t'he grandest river the world knows, attracted the attention of the then infant Republic. We had in herited one evil legacy in our separation from the mother country, and now an ad dition was to be made to it by her ancient rivtal, France. Slavery existed in the Ter ritory of Louisiana, as it exists everywhere, in defiance of justice and right; and, in addition to tha,,, it existed there in deft anlce of pos,itive law. The representatives of that " reign of terror," as it is fashion able to call it —when the crumbling throne of one of the most aa~cienat of the monar-I chies of Europe hlad gone down in a sea of b~lood —— when the crimes of a thiousand years were revenged by an exasperated 4 wvere either free, or had taken the initiatory' from the danger of such a violent birth; steps towards freedom from African Sla- and all kinds of opiates were administered very; and the admission of Louisiana made in one general prescription, labelled corn the free and slave States equal in number. promise. XNow commenced the famous system of Ah! what did that birth of California, equilibrium, in which Slavery and Freedom because it was a free one, not cost the were made to jog aloncr,paripassu, in the North-the " aggressive North?" Better fear that, if the former became stronger in that it had come into the Union as a slave the councils of the nation than the latter, State, than that the chalice, filled with the future would not redeem the hopes of bitterness, should have been put to the the far-seeing statesmen of the South. lips of the North! Her statesmen forgot With the immense accession of slave ter- that there is at least one thing in this ritory, as furnished by France and Spain, world dearer than peace-honor; one began to dawn the ambition of a power thing more sacred than the Ufion-Lib which, up to that time, had been humble erty.Th e y consented to a law, at which in its pretensions, the demands of which the self-respect of every freeman of the we of the present day can fully com- North rebels, and they compromised the prehend. Hence the policy, which was manhood of the North to "preserve the steadily pursued during thirty years of the Union." A free State, made so by the Republic, from 1820 to 1850, which I have sons of the North, who loved Freedom denominated as the system of equilibrium. because they had been nurtured with its No more single births were to be allowed; great truths, asked admission into this the order of Nature was disturbed, to keep Republic, and it was met at the threshold an equilibrium. Twins, one black and by delays and denials. It was enough one white, were placed into the arms of to arouse the whole North, to make it the Republic at each accouchement of the stand uponi its reserved rights, and toTerritories-Maine and Missouri, Arkan- demand instead of supplicating; yet its sasand Michigan, Florida and Wisconsin, statesmen forgot their duty, and comTexas and Iowa. Thus were four pairs of promised instead of acting. And yet, twins born, and the countrywent on in its gentlemen from the South say that the quiet, plodding way, never dreaming but North is " aggressive;" that we who repthai it was all the result of the natural law resent Freedom are arrogant in our dezf population, until the Mexican war laid mands; that the South has suffered much )pen the wealth of gold discovered in Cali- for the sake of the Union. I wish it were ornia. The citizens of the free States so; I wish I could shut my eyes to the ushed across the plains to this new Ophir fact, that that North, which is my home, n such numbers, that, before the ever- where my life has been passed, and whose :atchful statesmen of the South had pre- institutions I love, has been true to its ,ared for the event, the State of Califor- honor and dignity in the councils of this ia was knocking at the door of the Union Republic. But it is not so. 3r admission. Here was a dilemma! The Mr. Chairman, I have thus rapidly :outh had got so accustomed to the twin sketched the growth of one of the two ystern, that this threatened single birth ideas whichI said constituted the present irew it into a fit of consternation. The Democratic party. I have purposely omitquilibrium was about to be destroyed; ted any details of the Missouri Comprond we all remember the struggle of 1850, mise, because it is " a twice-told tale," hen, instead of twins, we got an "omni- and because I have no love; for the word. -s " load, not of States or equilibriums, Our fathers trusted to the honor of the -t of equivalents. The most learned po- South, and entered into a compact which 'ical midwives of that period of our Re- should have been sacred. For its violaiblic were in consultation, how to remedy tion I do not hold the descendants of -e threatened evil; California would not those with whom they ma'de the agreeait; the free spirit of her sons was un- ment as entirely responsible, although I customed to the restraints and delays think they forgot thne ancient chivalry in .eded to keep the twin equilibrium per- the modern love of. power; but for those wt. California was determined to be i of the North whel, from the lL'st of ambi.rn, and the midwives were'compelled tion, fortot that'heir first'duty was to their assent to what they could not prevent country and its firee institutions, h.istory has drlala:.1t the mother must be saved its page, upon which will be written, in 5 imperishable letters, "It would have been better for the Republic, had these men never lived." Until 1844, the one idea I have just traced had not openly appeared as a polit ioal power. It had been content to reap the advantages accruing from the national ambition of our people for acquisition of territory, for all the additions made to our domains gave the prospective advantage to Slavery. The North, instead of being extended, had submi tted to curtailm ent. In 1844, the onqe idea appeared at Baltimore s as a politi cal power, and the wisest of Democ ratic statesmen, a m an who was imbued w ith the true spirit of DeR ocracy, and would t not surrender it at the bidding of the one idea-I m ean Martin Van Buren-was beaten fo r the nomination of President. The free North was for him, because it felt that he had been struck down in 1840 unjustly, and because he was a true and tried s tatesm an. The slave South aoas against him, because he had opposed the acquisition of Texas, a slave Sta.tet. The memorable two-thirds rule wass passed, and the will of a majority deteated. From that year, we date doughfaceism; from that year, the decadence of the principles of Democracy, which were replaced by the other idea, which I have said constituted one of the pair now named the Democratic party. From the time of Teffersen, the Democratic party had suf'bred but two reverses. It was the domnant party of the Republic; its principles :ommanded the support of the masses of he people, because of their truth and jusice; and the one idea saw in that organzation the means of permanent advanages; and, like Delilah of old, with its ures and wiles of office, it has shorn this iodern Samson of his strength. In 1848, another Northern statesman .ought a nomination for the Presidency. Earned by the fate of Mr. Van Buren, he -rote a letter, conceding to the South, iot all it demanded, but enough to pave he way for hope, and as his reward he eceived the nomination he sought. But more reliable man for the South was his ~.pponent in the election; and the one '.ea, true to itself at all times, gave its upport to the candidate who had intersts identical with its own. Thus, taco Jrorthern statesmen —men renowned for heir attachment to thee principles of Democracy-were struck down; one for nom~ation, because he was still true to the .doctrines of the father of the church; thu other in the election, because the one idea had not received an obeisance low enough, and because a slaveholder was his opponent. Th e e ve r-memorable and accident al administrat ion of Fillmore, during which the sinale birth, attended wi th so much trouble, took place, so d isgusted the pe ople of the North, that the y visited a terribloe vengeance upon the party he was sup posed to represent. In the nominations and elections of 1852, the one idea wa s on the sie d of the popular party; and from the advent' of the present Executive we may date the exact and close union of the two ideas- Slavely a n d office. This union needed some striking solemnities, to inaugurate it in the minds of the people some monument to perpetuate its politi cal st rength- by showing what two idea s can do in the councils of a nation. The Kan s as bill w as passed- a compact was broken-a majority of Representatives were reduced to a minor it y- r ules of legislation were violated; and in defiance of the popular will, in defiance of right, justice, and public faith, two ideas ruled and rioted i n the ple nit ude of their power. And yet, the North is " aggressive." I wish it were so! Far better would it be that the No r th, representing, as it does, the tr ue spirit of our Government- t-life, action, and freedom- should be agaressive, than to be what it h as been, tame, tirnid, a nd compromising. A world of trouble would have been saved to the future; for the harvest is so wn, and the crop will be gathe re d. And we, who have passed our lives i n the Democratic party- we, who h ave given the best pro o f in our power of our sincere love of principle, in refusing to recognise a party in which the lust of office is allied with the evil of Slavery, as the Democr atic pa rt y o f J effersonwe are told by this Warty of two ideas that we are not Democrats. I am not choice about names; they have too often been the means of deceit; and while I am sure that I hold to the principles of the past, party designations are all of but small moment. W~e all know, that what was Democratic at the North eight years ago is not so now; at least, eve who hold to the old faith are denounced by our political doctors as traitors, and read out of the church as schismatics adheretics, beyond the pale of hope, Just six years ago, as the editor of a lar sovereignty" the one idea would concede to the North; and the support it receives from the other idea shows exactly what the people have to hope from the union of them both. It is precisely the " popular sovereignty " the present perjured usurper of France permitted its penple to have after the coup d'etat, by which he won his way to a throne through blood and carnage: if you vote as directed, you can vote-if not, not. A slave State, Missouri-one of the twils of 1820fears the effect upon her property if a free State is formed on her border, and her citizens regulated the " popular sovt reignty " of Kansas. A Legis lature, thui chosen, passed laws which must disfran chise every emigrant from the free States yet we must have " law and order;" an( the party of two ideas, claimin(g to be the same that stood by the freemen o Rhode Island in their revolution-th same that tramnpled upon a law of' m. State, dividing the county I represent intO two election districts, revolutionary re sistance to which gave political prom, nence to one of the Senators fiom Ohio now loudest in his love of "law an, order;" this party of two ideas tells tlh. people of this Republic, that these laws wvhiclh insult the intelligence of fieemen must be obeyed. If they are enforced if the fieemen who have gone to Kansas t, make fiee homes for themselves and thei children are forced to bite the dust, b subrmitting to those iniquiitouis laws, let i be written of them, as was done by th conqueror of the beautiful capital of Po land, when from its smoking ruins, ami its silent streets and enslaved people, surrounded by the tinselled manikin of tyranny, he proclaimed, As Order reigl: in Warsaw." Let me say here to those who represe, the Democracy of the South, not the ne recruits, but the old soldiers, You al trying a dangerous experiment upon tk Democracy of the North. As a lav abidino and compact-keepinp, peopl; they will favorably compare with you an yours; and their party attachment hi been proven by their patient endutranc tbr the past twelve years. They has seen their cherished statesmen strut dowvn onl the balttle-field, because th, would not surrender the conlvictionls their lives, or degraded because they di They have borne all this;, because th; loved the party, the portrait of wXhich Demooratic organ, I used the following language in its columns, and it was then good Democracy: "What does the South want? Her rights in the Territories? She has them. Her citizens are as free to go with their wives and children, their wagons and horses, as the citizens of the North. Will that not satisfy the South? Has she some peculiar right which the North does not poss ess, a nd does not wi sh? Has she the right to take into free Terr itorie s a spe cies of property which the f ree l abor of the Nort h r egards as a p estilence, a nd which it knows to be its natural enemy? Most certainly not. There is a right stronger than that claimed by the Souththe natural right of man. It is a right which override s a ll oth ers. It is omnipotent, irresistib le. It acknowledges an equal right, but no superior. It goes hand in hand with its equal, but not with the slave. It breathes and lives in the pure a i r of Freedom, a nd suffocates in th e atmosphere of Slave ry. I t only asserts the great principle of life-that of self-preservationwhen it says, the fertile plains and smiling valleys of our new lands shall be fiee. If the South is content with Slavery where it now exists, we are. All w e a sk is, tha t it shall remain where it is." This was Ohio Democracy in 1850. The resolutions of its State Conventions breathed the sam e unmistakable lanuage, asd under thi s banner of non-extension we ma rch ed oII to victory as the Demaoeritic party. But the pa rty repudiated its platform, an d the Democracv of Ohio hav e r epudiated the party. In 1854, when a majority of eighty thousand of the people of Ohio repudiated the Kansas bill, the nominees of the present Demo cratic party did n ot dare to breast the storm, but preached that act as the great charter of Freedom-as an act that was to make all the States he reaft er to be ad mitted fre e; but the people would not be lieve them- they loved the old Democra cy better than the new. And of what is the pre se n t Democratic party c omposed? I h av e shown that it h as two ideas, and in the nature of thints, with two such elements, the collectioni must be incongruous. From extreme radicalism, it has gone over to extreme Hunkerism. It is now the conservative, Federal party of the Union; and, instead of being the rollicking, dashing party of the past, full of revolutionary designs, it is now staid and quiet, and talks very de murely of law and order. It has gathereds to itself the consekvatism of the North and of the South; and with the specious cry of " popular sovereignty" it seeks to march to victory. Kansas stands as a living monument of the kind of "popu 6 7 the national compact, if any of the laws passed by Congress where the negro is concerned are repealed. The counsels of th.e Father of his Country are invoked, to show us that Liberty itself is not as dear as the existence of the Union. He was a great and good man! I and he did leave in his last will and testament food for the reflection of those who claim to be h-is testamentary legatees. Let me quote from that instrument, which of all others more clearly shows the workings of a man's heart, the will of Washington: have drawn. They love d it, tbeaus e of the perils an( dangers thr ough which they had passed with it; t hey loved it for its birth, its youth, its manhood; do not ma ke t hem curse it for its old are. The North has its education; it is that of equality; it is natu ral that its people should be oppose d to Slavery; the y have been taught that the Constitutio s recog nise(d Slavery only where it existed, and they are opposed to its extension. Th e fore of party a ttachment, the habitude of a life, m ay dr aw the support of the old soldiers to th e par ty which ha s th e name they know, but th e younor and thinking minds are being, lost to you. No party, with " law and order " as its motto, and the extension of human Slavery as its design, can flourish at-the North. Our people would have to un learn the teaching of their schools, the impulses of t heir natur es w ould have to be changed,' before they could enroll th emselves in such a party. You have brou ifrght y our cherished institutioir into the political arena; you have submitted it to t he re solves of Conventions and the keepingy of a party. Flushed wit h y our triumphs, with an unsated ambition for dom inion and p ower, you gr asp boldly. The Kansas bill, and its known fruits, you hail as victories; but have you thought of the heart-burnings, the disaffection, the mortifications, it has caused at the Nor th? Brave and loyal hearts have (as.it, in disgust, a p art y in which they c ould not pres erve their self-respect. At my home, I know men whose support would be an honor to any cause-r-eni whose lives have been passed in the thickest of the fight, battling for Democratic truths —men of brain, representative men, honest iene-who are not now of'you, nor with you, in this fight. These men could bear with your infirmities for the good of' their party; but your ambition has left them no alternative. They are now isolated-acting with no organization, standing aloof, the memory of the past yet exercising its potent influence. But this cannot last. Such men must act; they have principles, talent, influence; and they are subtile tools in the hands of workers. In your race of ambition, do not overreach yourselves. "Beware! behind you stalks the headsmlan! " There is a limit beyond which it is not safe to go. We of the North are taunted as being foes of the Union, and hear daily thre~ats from the S0~uth of a dissolti*on of[ "Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the slaves whom I hold in mmy own right shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them during her life would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insliperable difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriage with the dower negroes, as to excite the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences, to the latter, while both are in the occupancy of the same proprietor-it not being in my power, under the tenure by wIldc the dower negroes are held, to manumnit them." * * " And I do, moreover, most pointedly and most solemnly enjoin it upon my executors, hereafter named, or the survivors of them, to see that this clause resp ecting slaves, and every part thereof be religiously fulfilled at the epoch at which it is directed to take place, without evasion, neglect, or delay." We have frequent extracts from Washington's Farewell Address, warning us against sectional divisions; but if those who quote them had only a tithe of the spirit breathed in the foregoing clause of his posthumous farewell of earth, we should have no occasion for his warnings. His opinion of Slavery, as a moral wrong, is evinced clearly in the quotation I have made; and if his example had been followed, it would never have become the great political wrong it now is. But with the one idea, as a moral wrong, I do not choose to meddle, further than to show to those who are so loud in their denuniciations of those who do not agree with them that Slavery is a divine institution, that the Father of his Country taught us differently. It is as a political wrong that we of the North wish to deal with that institution, leaving to those States which have it all its blessings. We do not envy them its possession; we do not ask them to divide it with us; we say to them, "If it is meet and good in your eyes, keep it." With it, as a political wrong, we have the right, and it is our duty, to deal. We have our interests as well as the South; and it is our interest to see that free labor 8 the next five years are to be decisive ones in the destiny of this Republic. We are hurrying for ward to an era in our political history which is to shape our course, for good or evil, for a long future. We have seen the Republic turned widely from the path in which its founders believed it would tread; we have seen what they considered a wrong converted into an exciting and aggres sive right. It is for us of the North-we who are willing to abide by the doctrines of the fathers of the Revolution-to at least make the attempt to right these wrongs. Are we to be told that Slavery is the equal of Freedom, and its rights to the territory the same, and not denounce the heresy? Shall we listen to the assertion, that the flag of which we are so proud, and under which Liberty was'won, carries Slavery in its folds wherever it floats, and not blush with shame? Are we to know that the only use and purpose of this Union to the one idea is, that it protects and extends Slavery, and assent to such a use of i t? We have had enough of timidity at the North: one of the great parties of the Union has ied, because it was afraid to live, and the other ' ws abandoned its principles because it was ,;id to die. The two ideas, Slavery and office, :h,e marshalling their hosts for the conflict, and it t'is time that an opposing idea-Freedom of our Territories-was gathering its forces for the battle it cannot avoid with honor, and with which it cannot fail to be victorious. Let us be true to ourselves and to those who are to follow us. Remember "We sow the golden grain to-day, The harvest comes to-morrow." But, to make the future what it should be, willing hearts are needed. The cold breath of personal ambition, grasping for the power won by the triumph of pure principles, will wither the fruit before it is ripened. History is full of the wrecks of ruined nations, whose people sought and won Freedom only t o lose it under l ea ders who knewno higher purpose o f life an than the vain ambition towin power, posi tion, a name, even at the cost of th e Liberty of a trusting people. We have enough o f bra wling pat riotis m-the noisy' declamat io n of p oor earth-worms, who crawl through mire to gain what they seek-but of honest devotees, of unselfish laborers, alas! Liberty has but few I The warring antagonism between Liberty and Despotism, the rude jousts between Right and Might, which fill the pages of-historywith the romance of life, furnish to the thinker the solution of the causes of man's failure to be fr'e. The earth-born ambition of the few has wrecked the hopes of the people in every struggle of which we have a record. To us, who have a mission and a time never before accorded to man, this fact should strike deep in our heart —chastening, cleansing, and eiinoblin. The short cycle of human existence makes but a shadowless mark upon the roll of Time; and he who fills his brief hour with-his own selfish plottings, though he may win a page in history, has lost the divinity of his nature in the sordid meanness of the mere' man. With a just cause, an honest people, and anselfish leaders, our wildest41reamns of man's advancement might become sober truths; lose but one links of this mystic chainl, and all is lost. In the langruage of one of the master minds of our age,' What State could fall, what Liberty decay, if the zeal of mall's noisy patriotism were as pure as the silent loyalty of a woman's love! " Mr. Chairmnan, I have finished my task. If what I have spoken shall aw aken a thought in one brain, or make one pulse quicken with a purer love of the cause of truth and humanity, I will be more than repaid. If I fail to do ei~ther, I have left, as -my own reward, the pleasiltg eoaseiou~heSS of a duty performed...' is not suppl ante d by slave. We believe this to b e a Democratic Union, where the majority is to determine, under the organic law, t he destina tion of th i s Republic. It cannot possibly be ad mitted that a min ority, und er the pretext of a right which is a huge and monstrous wro ng, shall rule the majority, and s hap e o ur Government to its own purposes and interests. To permit this, is to not only abnegate our rights, but also to refuse to do our du t y. It is folly to say t hat it is no concern of ours, whether Slavery goes to the Territories or not- t hat we have fre States and that should conte nt us -while the one idea, steadily and persistently, attends to its own prop agation and extens ion. T he pol itical power of this Re public must be the reflex of some princi pl e; and it is essential, if we wish to preser ve the spi rit of our Government, that that power s hould beth the representative of the thrift, prosperity, an d e nergy, of the free States. aWe are told that our claim to t hisis not well founded; and w he have an array of figures, amno Wt- tputable, r ep re senting, in current ch l f so e ill on of some millions of human chattels, - North, whe hav e n o such valu es; but we i. energy which springs from a laudable he(y the skill which emanates from free minds. It is a question of vital importance to the labor of tert the Nort h, whether our Territories shall obe carvted out into free States, or not. It is a question of interest- it is a question of life itself. Eve.n now we are told, among the new heresies preached-by the one idea-and that, too, by distinguished Democrats of the South-that it is better for labor to be owned than to be employed; that, at the South, labor has no unquiet contests with capital, beca use there cap ital owns labor. And these insalting.arguments are add r ess ed to th e people of the North, where labor is proud of its independence, and jealous of its rights. There seems to be no limit to the assumptions of the one idea; it claims rights which are wrongs; it threatens to subvert our Government, if its Democratic theory of a majority rule is put in practice; and now it dares to compare its system of slave labor with that of the toilers of the North. I ask the mechanics, the laborers of the North, to mark the progress of events, to lay to their hearts these taunting declarations, and then remember that every slave State added to this Union gives power to those who think that labor is benefited by being owned. And, as a counterpoise to all these dogmas, assumptions, and clutching ambition, the " rights of the South" stun our ears and bewilder our senses. Why, Slavery has no rights; it is a thing of sufferance and suffering, and is a denial of all right. The North has yielded to the South the sufferance to hold slaves; but it will never consent that what it believes to be a wrong shall be made a pestilence, with which the free Territories of the Republic shall be overwhelmed. If it- was only a contest for political power, the North would be untrue to its duties, did it permit the extension of Slavery; but as it is a question of interest, the Kansas bill has " sown dragon's teeth, which will spring rip armed men!" The challenge is accepted; it is not a fight of one campaign; it w11 take manly, but the result can- | not be doubted.| lMr. Cha.irman, we livo in an eventful perio~i [ Defence of Massachusetts. SPEECH OF HON. ANSON B3URLINGAIME, OF MASSACHUSETTS. IN THE HtOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 21, 1856. and specific charges. I am sorry to find at tLehead of the list of her assailants the President of the United States, who not only assails Massachusetts, but the whole North. He defends one section of the Union at the e xpens e of:the other. He declares that o ne section has ever been mindful of its constitutional obligations, and that the other has not. He declares that, if one section of our country were a foreign country, the other would have just cause of war against it. And to sustain these remarkable declarations, he goes into an elaborate perversion of history, such as that Virginia ceded her lands against the interests of the South, for the benefit of the North; when the truth is, she ceded her lands, as New York and other States did, for the benefit of the whole country. She gave her lands to Freedom, because she thought Freedom was better than Slavery-because it was the policy of the times, and events have vindicated that policy. It is a perversion of history, when he says that the territory of the country has been acquired more for the benefit of the North than for the South; he says that substantially. Sir, out of the territory thus acquired, five slave States, with a pledge for four more, and two free States, have come into the Union; and one of these, as we all know, fought its way through a compromise degrading to the North. The North does not object to the acquisition of territory, when it is desired, but she dosires that it shall be free. If such a complexio., had been given to it, how different would have oeen the-fortunes of the Republic to-dayl Thii may be ascertained by comparing the progress of Ohio With that of any slave State in the Mississippi;:valley. It will appear more clearly by comparing the free with the slave regions. I have not time to do more than to present a general picture. Freedom and Slavery started together in the great race on this continent.; In the very year the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Roak, The House being in the Committee of the'V'hole on the state of the Union, Mr. BURLINGAME said: Mr. CHAIRMAN: The House will bear witness that I have not pressed myself upon its deliberations. I never before asked its indulgence. I have assailed no man; nor have I sought to bring reproach upon any man's State. But, while such has been my course, as well as the course of my colleagues from Massachusetts, upon this floor, certain members have seen fit to assail the State which we represent, not only with words, but with blows. In remembrance of these things, and seizing the first opportunity which has presented itself for a long time, I stand here to-day to say a word for old Massachusetts-not that she needs it; no, sir; for in all that constitutes true greatness-inn all that gives abiding strength-in great qwLities of head and heart-in moral power-in material prosperity-in intellectual resources and physical ability-by the general judgment of mankind, according to her population, she is the first State. There does not live the man anywhere, who knows anything, to whom praise of Massachusetts would not be needless. She is as far beyond that as she is beyond censure. Members here may sneer at her-they may praise her past at the expense of her present; but I say, with a full convic. tion of its truth, that Massachusetts, in her present performances, is even greater than in her past recollections. And when I have said this, what more can I say? Sir, although I am here as her youngest and humblest member, yet, as her Representative, I feel that I am the peer of any man upon this door. Occupying that high stand-point, with modesty, but with firmness, I cast down her glove to the whole band of her assailants. She has been assailed in the House and out of the House, at the other end of the Capitol, and at the other end of the avenue. There have been brought against her general charges i;, - 2 slaves landed in Virginia. Freedom has gone on, trampling down barbarismn, and planting States-building the vsymbols (,f its faith by every lake, and every river, until now the sorns of the Pilgrims stand by the shores of the Pacific. Slavery has also made its way toward the setting sun. It has reached the Rio Grande on the South; and the groans of its victims, and the clank of its chains, may be?eard as it slowly ascends the Western tributaries of the Mississippi river. Freedom has left the land bespangled with free schools, and filled the whole heavens with the shining towers of re .igion and civilization. Slavery has left desolation, ignorance, and death, in its path. When we look at these things; when we see what the country would have been, had Freedom been given t o the Terr itor ies; when we think what it would have been but for this blight in the bosom of the coun try; t ha t th e whol e Souththat fair land God has blessed so much-would have been covere d w ith c ities, and villages, and railroads, and t h a t inte ryi the country in the place of twent y-five millions of people, thirtyfive millions would have hailed the rising morn exulting in rep ublica n libert y -when we thin k of the se things, how must every honest manhow must every dlan with br ains in his head, or heart in his b a)so i-regret th at the policy of old Virginiae in hecr better days,; did not become the animatin, policy of th is exp and ing Republic I It is a perversi on of history, I say, wh en t he President intima t es t hat the adoption of the Constitution abrogated th e n Ord inance of 1787. It was recognised by the first C ongress which asse mbled u nder the Constitution; and it has been sanctioned by nearly every President, from Washington down. It is a perversion of history when the President intimates that the Missouri Compromise was made against the interests of the South., and for the benefit of the North. The truth-the unmistakable truth is, that it was forced by the South on the North. It received the almost united vote of the South. It was claimed as a victory of the' South. The men who voted for it were sustained in the South; and those who voted for it in the North passed into oblivion; and though some of them are physically alive to-day, they are as politically dead as are the President and his immediate advisers. Not only has the President perverted history, but he has turned sectionalist. He has become the champion of sectionalism. He makes the extraordinary declaration, that if a State is refused admission into the Union because her Constitution embraced Slavery as :.n institution, then one section of the country would of necessity be compelled to dissolve its connection with the people of the other sectioni1 What does he mean? Does he mean to say that ,there are traitors in the South? Does he mean :to say, if they were voted down, that then they ought not to submit? If her does, and if they aaean to back him in the declaration, then I say e quicker we try the ik oty hestrengtIh of this great Government the better. Not only has he said t hat, but m embe rs h ave sai d o n this floor, again and again, that if the Fugitive Slave Law, which has n othi ng s a cred about i t-lwhich I de e m u nc onstituti onal which Sou th Carolina deems unc onstitutional - if that law be repealed, that th i s Union will then cease to exist. Mr. KEITT. I wish to k now from the gentleman from Massachusetts, by what authority he says Sou th Carolina holds the Fugitive Slave Law to be unconstitutional?' Mr. BURLINGAME. By the authority o f the Charleston Mercury. Taking that paper from his pocket, Mr. B. read th e f oll owing: "Ofte c tion ht i the action of Massachusetts i the abrogation of the Fugi t i n e h ve Sl av e Law, we have no complaint to make. It was from the first a miserable illusion; and worse, in fact, for it wa s an idfriGgement upo n one o f the most c her ished principles of t he C onstitution. w hich provides that fugitives from l abor, upon demand, shall be delivered up,' but giv es n o power to Congress to act in this affair. The tenth amendment to the Cons t itutio n provides that' th e powersnot delegated to she United States are reserved to the States or to the people.' The clause above confers no power, but is the naked declaration of a right; and the power, not being conferred, results to the States a s on e of the incide nts of sovereignty too dearme t o be trusted to th e General Government. "eOur South ern members strove for the passage of ttt law, and strove honestly; but it shows the evils of our unfortunate c ondition, th a t, in the u rgen cy o f o ur contest w ith an aggressive adversary, we lose the land ma rks - o principle-to obtain an illusiv e t riumph, we pressed the Government to assume a power not conferred by the instrument of its creation, and to establis h a precedent by which, in all after time, it will be authorized to assume whatever right may have no constitutional right of enrforcement; and, wearied with so many efforts to confine the Government to its limits of legitimate powers, we are pleai e/d0p have assistance from another quarter.; and if the question shaitl'be determined in her favor, we will siicerely rejoice in such a vindication of the Constitution." That is my authority, but I do not wish to be interrupted; I have not time. I say that it is not for the President and members on His floor to determine the life of this Union; this Unions rests in the hearts of the American people, and cannot be eradicated thence. Whenever any person shall lift his hand to smite down this Union, the people will subjugate him to Liberty and the Constitution. I do not wish to dwell on the President, and what he has said. Notwithstanding all this perversion of historynotwithstanding his violated pledges-and notwithstanding his warlike exploits at Greytown and Lawrence-his servility has been repaid with scorn. I am glad of it. The South was right. When a man is false to the convictions of his own heart and to Freedom, he cannot be trusted with the delicate interests of Slavery. I cannot express the delight'I feel in the poetic justice that has been done; but, at the same time, I am not unmindful of the deep ingratitude that first lured him to ruin, and then deserted and left him alone to die. [Applause.] If I were not too much of a Native American, I would quote and apply to him the old Latin wordsj "D~e qnruetzs nil nisi bonum" —speak nothing but good of the dead. I can almost forgive him, considering his condition, the blis 3 tering words he let fall upon us the other night, when he went through the ordeal of ratifying the nomination of James Buchanan. He said that we had received nothing at the hands of the Government, save its protection and its political blessings. We have not certainly received any offices; and as for its protection and political blessings, let the silence above the graves of those who sleep in their bloody shrouds in Kansas answer. There have been general and specific charges made against old Massachusetts. The general charge, when expressed in polite language, is, that she has not been faithful to her constitutional obligations. I deny it. I call for proof. I ask when? where? how? I say, on the contrary, that from the time when this Government came from the brains of her statesmen, and the unconquerable arms of her warriors, she has been loyal to it. In peace, she has added to it renown; and in war, her sons have crowded the way to death as to a festival. She has quenched the fires of rebellion on her own soil without Federal aid; and when the banners of nullification flew in the Southern sky, speaking through the lips of Webster, in Faneuil Hall, she stood by Jackson and the Union. No man speaking in her name-no man wearing her ermine, or clothed with her authority-ever did anything, or said anything, or decided anything, not in accordance with her constitutional obli-o gations. Yet, sir, the hand of the Federal Government has been laid heavily upon her. That malignant spirit which has usurped this Government, through the negligence of the people, too long has pursued her with rancor and bitterness. Before its invidious legislation she has seen her commerce perish, and ruin, like a devastating fire, sweep through her fields of industry; but, amid all these things, Massachusetts has always lifted up her voice with unmurmur-. ing devotion to the Union. She has heard the Federal drum in her streets. She has protect ed the person of that most odious man-odious both at the North and the South-the slavehunter. She has protected him when her soil throbbed with indignation from the sea to the New York line. Sir, the temples of justice there have been clothed in chains. The Federal courts in other States have been closed against her, and her citizens have been imprisoned and she has had no redress. Yet, notwithstanding all these things, Massachusetts has always been faithful and loyal to the Constitution. You may ask why, if she has been so wronged, so, insulted, has she been so true and faithful to the Union? Sir, because she knew, in her clear head, that these outrages came not from the generous hearts of the American people. She knew that, when Justice should finally assume the reins of Government, all would be well. She knew that, when the Government ceased to foster the' interests of Slavery alone, her interests would be regarded, and the 'whole country be blessed. It was this high con stitutional hope that ha.s f,v: tml.; the head and heart of Massachusetts add vhicl has made her look out of the gloo,mn of the present, and anticipate a glorious future. So much in relation to th e eneradl chare aKa ins t Massachusetts. There are specific charge's, upon which I shall dwell for a moment. One is, that she has organized an " Emigrant Aid Society." Did you not tell Massachusetts that the people of Kansas were to be left perfectly free to mould her institutions as they thought best? She knew, and she told you, that your doctrine of squat. ter sovereignty was a delusion and a snare. She opposed it as long as she could here; and when she could do it no longer, she accepted the battle upon your pledge of fair play. She determined to make Kansas a free State. In this high motive the Emigrant Aid Society had its origin. Its objects are two-fold-Freedom for Kansas and pecuniary reward. And it is so organized that pecuniary benefit cannot flow to stockholders, except through the prosperity of those whom it aids. The idea of the society is this: to take capital and place it in advance of civilization; to take the elements of civilization, the saw-mill, the church, the school-house, and plant them in the wilderness, as an inducement to the emigrant. It is a peaceful society..- It has never armed one man; it has never paid one man's passage to Kansas. It never askedthough I think it should have asked-the political sentiments of any man whom it has assisted to emigrate to Kansas. It has invested $100,000, and it has conducted irom Massachusetts to Kansas from twelve to fifteen hundred of the flower of her people. Such is the Emigrant Aid Society, such is its origin, and such its action. It is this Society, so just and legal in its origin and its action, that has been made the pretext for the most bitter assaults upon Massachusetts. Sir, it is Christianity organized. How have these legal and these proper measures been met by those who propose to make Kansas a slave State? The people of Massachusetts would not complain, if the people who differ from them should go there to seek a peaceful solution of the conflicting questions. But how have they been met? By fraud and violence, by sackings, and buan;.ngs and murders. Laws have been forced upon them, such as you have heard read to-day by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mir. COLFAX,] SO atrocious that no man has risen here to defend one single one of them. Men have been placed over them whom they never elected, and this day, as has been stated by the gentleman from Indiana, civil war rages from one end of Kansas to the other. Men have been compelled to leave their peacefull pursuits, and starvation and death stare them in the face, and yet the Government stands idle —no, not idle; it gives its mighty arm to the side of the men who ate trampling down law and order there. The United States troops have not been permitted to protect the 4 Free State men When they have desired to do so, they have been withdrawn. I cannot enter into a detail of all the facts. It is a fact that war rages there to-day. Men kill each other at sight. All these things are known, and nobody can deny them. All the Western winds are burdened with the news of them, and they are substantiated equally by both sides. Has the Government' no power to make peace in Kansas, and to protect citizens there under the organic law of the Territory? I ask, in the name of old Massachusetts, if our honest citizens who went to Kansas to build up homes for themselves, and to secure the blessings of civilization, are not entitled to protection? She throws the responsibility upon this Administration, and holds it accountable; and so will the people, at the polls, next November. Another charge is, that Massachusetts has passed a personal liberty bill. Well, sir, I say that Massachusetts, for her local legislation, is not responsible to this House, or to any member of it. I say, sir, if her laws were as bad as those atrocious laws of Kansas, you can do nothing with her. I say, if her statute-books, instead of being filled with generous legislation-legislation which ought to be interesting to her assailants, because it is in favor of the idiotic and the blind-[laughter]-were filled, like those of the State of Alabama, with laws covering the State with whipping-posts, keeping half of her people in absolute slavery, and nearly all of the other half in subjection to twenty-nine thousand slaveholders; if the slaveholders themselves were not permitted'to trade with or teach their slaves, as they choose; if .gnorance were increasing faster than the population-I say, even then, you could not do anything here with the local. laws of Massachusetts. I say, the presumption is, that the law, having been passed by a sovereign State, is constitutional. If it is not constitutional, then, sir, when the proper tribunal shall have decided that question, what is there, I ask, in the history of Massachusetts, which will lead u s to believe that she will not abide by that result? I say, there is nothing in the history of the State of Mississippi, or of South Carolina, early or recent, which makes Massachusetts desirous of emulating their example. I, sir, agree with the South Carolina authority I have quoted here in regard to the legislation of Massachusetts. Sir, my time is passing away, and I must hasten on. The State of Massachusetts is the guardian of the rights of her citizens, and of the inhabitants within her- border line. If her citizens go beyond the line, into distant lands or upon the ocean, then they look to the Federal arm for protection. But old Massachusetts is the State which is to secure to her citizens the inestimable blessing of trial by jury and the writ of habeas corpus. All these things must come from her, and not from the Federal Gov ernment. I believe, with hel great st:,z:esmen and with her people, that the Fugitive SlaveLaw is unconstitutional. Mr. Webster, as an original question, thought it was not constitutional-; Mr. Rantoul, a brilliant statesman of Massachusetts, said the same thing; they both thought that the clause of the Constitution was addressed to the States. Air. Webster bowed to the decision of the Supreme Court in the Prigg case; Mr. Rantoul did not. Massachusetts believes it to be unconsititutional; but whether it be constitutional or not, she means, so long as the Federal Government undertakes to execute that law, that the Federal Government shall do it with its own instruments, vile or otherwise. She says that no one clothed with her authority shall do anything to help in it, so long as the Federal Government undertakes to do it. But, sir, I pass from this. I did intend to reply seriatim to all the attacks which have been made upon the State, but I have not half time enough. The gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. BENNETT,] after enumerating a great many things he desired Massachusetts to do, said, amongst other things, that she must tear out of her statute-book this personal liberty law. When she had done that, and a variety of other things too numerous to mention, then he said " the South would forgive Massachusetts." The South forgive Massachusetts! Sir, forgiveness is an attribute of Divinity. The South has it not. Sir, forgiveness is a higher quality than justice, even. The South-I mean the Slave Power-cannot comprehend it. Sir, Massachusetts has already forgiven the South too many debts and too many insults. If we should do all the things the gentleman from Mississippi desired us to do, then the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. SHORTER} comes in, and insists that Massachusetts shall do a great variety of other things before the South probably will forgive her. Among other things, he desired that Massachusetts should blot out the fact that General Hull, who surrendered Detroit, had his home in Massachusetts. Why, no, sir; she does not desire even -to do that, for then she would have to blot out the fact that his gallant son had his home there-that gallant son who fell fighting for his country, in the same war, at Lundy's Lane-that great battle, where Colonel Miller, a Massachusetts man by adoption, when asked if he could storm certain heights, replied, in a modest Massachusetts manner,'" I will try, sir." -He stormed the heights. The gentleman desires, also, that we should blot out the history of the connection of Massa. chusetts with the last war. Oh, no I She cannot do that. She cannot so dim the lustre of the American arms. She cannot so wrongf thne Republic. Where, then, would be your great seal fights]? Where, then, would be -the glory ol " Old Ironsides," who)se scuppers ran red with Massachusetts blood? Where, then, would be the history of the daring of those brave fisher 5 questions and answers explode. He answers, hotly and tauntingly that the South wants none of our vagabond philanthropy. Sir, when the yellow pestilence fluttered its wings over the Southern States, and when Massachusetts poured out her treasures to a greater extent in proportion to her population than any other State, was that vagabond philanthropy? I ask the people of Virginia and Louisiana? But, sir, the gentleman was most tender and m ost plaintive when he described the starving operatives. Why, sir, the eloquence was most overwhelming upon some of my colleagues. I thought I saw the iron face of our Speaker soften a little, when he listened to the unexpected sympathy of the gentleman with the hard. ships of his early life. Sir, he was an operative from boyhood to manhood-and a good one7 too. Ah, sir, he did not appreciate, as he tasted the sweet bread of honest toil, his sad condition; he did not think, as he stood in the music of the machinery which came from his cunning hand, how much better it would have been for him, had he been born a slave, [laugh. ter,] and put under the gentleman from South Carolina —a kind master, as I have no doubt he is-where he would have been well fed and clothed, and would have known none of the trials which doubtless met him on every hand: How happy he would have been, if, instead of being a Massachusetts operative, he had been a slave in South Carolina, fattening, singing and dancing, upon the banks of some Southern river. [Great laughter.] Sir, if the gentleman will go) to my district, and look upon those operatives and mechanics; if he will look upon some of those beautiful models which come from their brains and hands, and which from time to time leap upon the waters of the Atlantic, out-flying all other clippers, bringing home wealth and victory with all the winds of heaven, he might have reason to change his views. Let him go there, and, even a fter all he said, he may speak to those men, and convince them, if he can, of their starving condition. I will guaranty his personal safety. I believe the peopl of Massachuset ts woul d pour forth their heart's blood- to protect even him in the right of freedom of speech; and that is saying a great deal, avter all that has happened. Let him go to the great:ounty of Worcester —that bee-hive of operatives &#d Abolitionists, as it has been called-and he will find the annual product of that county greater, in proportion to thle population, than that of any other equal population in the world, as will be found by reference to a recent speech of exGovernor Boutwell, of our State. The next county, I believe,- in respect to the amount of products in proportion to population, is away up in Vermont. Sir, let him g o and look:at these mnen —these: Abolitionists, who, wefare told, meddlie with everybo~dy' business but their own. They certainly take time enough to at men, who swarmed from all her bays and all her ports, sweeping the enemry's comme rce from the most distant seas? Ah, sir! she cannot afford to blot out that history. You, sir, cannot afford to let her do it-no, not even the South. S he sustained rsli the sir, if the glastwar; she paid her own exp enses, and has not yet been paid enti rely fro m the Treasury of the nation. The enemy h overed on her coas t wi th hi s ships, as numerous, almost, as the stars. He looked o n th at w arlike lan d, and the memory of-the olden tim e cam e back upon him. He remembered how, mor e th a n fortyyears before, he had trodden on that soil; he re memb ered how vauntingly he invaded it,and how speedily he leftit. He turned hlis glasses towards i t, and beheld its people rushing from the mountains to the sea, to defend it; and he dared n ot attack it. Its capital stood in the salt sea spray, y et he could not take it. He sailed south, where there was another capital, not far from where we now stand, forty miles from the sea. A few staggering, worn-out sailors and soldiers came here. They took it. How it was defended, let the heroes of Bladensburg answer I [Laughter.] Sir, the gentleman from South Carolina [r. KEITT] made a speech; and if I may be allowed to coin a word, I will say it had more cantasn' kerosity in it than any speech I ever heard on this floor. [Renewed laughter.] It was certainly very eloquent in some portions-very eloquent indeed, for the gentleman has indisputaibly an eloquent utterance and an eloquent temperament. I do not wish to criticize it much, but it opens in the most extraordinary manner with a "weird torchlight" and then he introduces a dead man, and then he galvanize8 him, and puts Am in that chair, and then he makes him it point his cold finger" around this HaH. Why, it almost frightens me to al. lude to iL And then he turns it into a theatre, and then he changes or transmogrifles the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. fOLFAX,] who has just spoken, into a snake, and makes him "wriggle up to the foot-lights;" and then he gives the snake hands, and then "mailed hands," and with one of them he throws off Cuba, and with the other clutches all the Canadras. Then he has men with "glozing mouths," and they are " singing psalms through their noses," and are moving down upon the Solit-h "like an army with banners." Frightful-is it not? He talks about rotting on dead seas. He calls our party at one time a " toads" and then he calls it a'; lizard;" "and moorer which e'en to mention would be unlawful." Sir, his rhetoric seems to have the St. Vitus's dance. [Laughter.] He mingles metaphors in such a manner as would delight the most extravagant Milesinn. - But I pass ~ ]m logic and his rhetoric, and also over_li historical mistakes, much of tie same nat~s those made by the President, which I h~e already pointed out, and come to some of his sentences, in which terrific 6 ishnesa and utter imbecilityv of a great portion of the people of South Carolina. But, Mr. Chairman, all these assaults upon the State of Massachusetts sink into insignificance, compared with the one I am about to mention. On the 19th of May, it was announced that Mr. SUMNzR would address the Senate upon the Kansas question. The floor of the Senate, the galleries, and avenues leading thereto, were thronged with an expectant audience; and many of us left our places in this House, to hear the Massachusetts orator. To say that we were delighted with the speech we heard, would but faintly express the deep emotions of our hearts awakened by it. I need not speak of the classic purity of its language, nor of the nobility of its sentiments. It was heard by many; it has been read by millions. There has been no such speech made in the Senate since the days when those Titans of American eloquence-the Websters and the Haynes-contended with each other for mastery. It was severe, because it was launched against tyranny. It was severe as Chatham was severe when he defended the feeble colo.nies against the giant oppression of the mother country. It was made in the face of a hostile Senate. - It continued through the greater portion of two days; and yet, during that time, the speaker was not once called to order. This fact is conclusive as to the personal and parliamentary decorum of the speech. He had provocation enough. His State had been called hypocritical. He himself had been called "a puppy, "a fool," "a fanatics" and " a dishonest man." Yet he was parliamentary from the beginning to the end of his speech. No man knew better than he did the proprieties of the place, for he had always observed them. No man knew'better th an he did parliamentary law, because he had made it the study of his life. No man saw more clearly than he did the flaming sword of the Constitution, turning every way, guarding all the avenues of the Senate. But he was not thinking of these things; he was not thinking then of the privileges of the Senate nor of the guarantees of the Constitution; he was there to denounce tyranny and erime, a d he did it.: He was there to speak for the rights of an empire, and he did it, bravely and-grandly. So much for the occasion of the speech. A word, and I shall be pardoned, about the speaker hirmelf. He is my friend; for many and many a year I have looked to him for guidance and, light, and I never looked in vain. He never had a personal enemy in his life; his character is as pure as the snow that falls on his native hills; his heart overflows with kind. hess for every being having ~e upright form of man; he is a ripe scho(:ahivalric gentleman, and a warm-hearte 3_~e friend. He sat' at the feet of Charmingfl.d dranik in Tne sentiments of that noble s61. ~e bathed'sin tend to their own business, to accomplish these results which I have named. T he ge ntlem an b rok e ou t in an exceedingl y explosive question, something like this: I do not know if my memory can do justice to the language of the gentleman, but it was some thing like this: "Did not the South, equally wi th the North, bare her forehead to the god of battles?" I answer plainly, No, sir, she did not; she did not. Sir, Massachusetts furnish ed more men in th e R evolution than the whole South put to gether, and more by t en-fold than S ou th C arolina. I am not including, of course, th liiathe militia-the conjectured militia furnished by that State. There is no proof that theywere ever engaged in any battle. I me an the regulars; and I say that Massachusetts furnished more than t en times s many men as South Carolina. I say, on the authority of a st andar d histo rian, onc e a member of this House, (Mr. Sabine, in his his t ory of the Loyalists,) that more New England men now lie buried in the soil of South Carolina, th an there were of South Carolinians, wh o left their State to fight the battles of th e country. I say, whe en General Lincoln w a s defending Charleston, he was compelled to give up its defence, because the people of tha t city would not f ight. When General Greene, that Rhode Island blacksmith, t ook command of the Southern army, South C arolina had n ot a Federal soldier in the f ield; and the people of that State would not furnish sup plies to his army; while the British army in the State were furnished with supplies almost exclusively from the people of South Carolina. While the American army could not be recruited, the ranks of the British army were rapidly filled from that State. The British post of Ninety Six was garrisoned almost exclusively from South Carolina' Rawdon's reserve corps was made up almost entirely by South Carolinians. Of the eight hundred prisoners who were taken at the battle of King's Mountain-of which we have heard so much-seven hundred of them were Southern Tories. The Maryland men gained the laurels of the Cowpens. Kentuckians, Virginians, and North Carolinians, gained the battle of King's Mountain. Few South Carolinians fought in the battles of Eutaw, Guilford, &c. They were chiefly fought by men out of South Carolina; and they would have won greater fame and brighter laurels, if they had not been opposed chiefly by the citizens of the soil. Well might the British commander boast that he had reduced South Carolina into allegiance. But, sir, I will not proceed further with this history, out of regard for the fame of our common country; out of regard for the patriots — the Sumters, the Marions, the Rutledges, the ~Pinckneys~ the Haynes truer patriots} if possible, than those of any other State. Out of regard for these men, I will not iquote from a letter of the patriot Governor Mathews to General (Gr6ene,l in which he complains of the self 7 cially do I notice the conduct of that Senator recently from the free platform of Massachu setts, with the odor of her hospitality on him, who stood there, not only silent and quiet while it was going on, but, when it was over, approved the act. And worse: when he had time to cool, when he had slept on it, he went into the Sen ate Chamber of the United States, and shocked the sensibilities of the world by approving it. Another Senator did not take part because he feared his motives might be questioned, exhibiting as extraordinary a delicacy as that individual who refused torescue a drowning mortal, because he had not been introduced to him. [Laughter.] Another was not on good terms; and yet, if rumor be true, that Senator has dcclared that himself and family are more indebted to Mr. Sumner than to any other man; yet, when he saw him borne bleeding by, he turned and went on the other side. Oh, magnanimous SLIDELL I Oh, prudent DOUGLAS I Oh, audacious TOOMBS I Sir, there are questions arising out of this which far transcend those of a mere personal nature. Of those personal considerations I shall speak, when the question comes properly before us, if I am permitted to do so. The higher question involves the very existence of the Government itself. If, sir, freedom of speech is not to remain to us, what is all this Government worth? If we from Massachusetts, or any other State-Senators, or members of the House-are to be called to account by some "gallant nephew" of some "gallant uncle," when we utter something which does not suit their sensitive natures, we desire to know it. If the conflict is to be transferred from this peaceful, intellectual field, to one where, it is said, "honors are easy and responsibilities equal," then we desire to know it. Massachusetts, if her sons and representatives are to have the rod held over them, if these things are to con. tinue, the time may come-though she utters no threats-when she may be called upon to withdraw them to her own bosom, where she can furnish to them that protection which is not vouchsafed to them under the flag of their common country. But, while she permits us to remain, we shall do our duty-our whole duty. We shall speak whatever we choose to speak~ when we will, where we will, and how we will, regardless of all consequences. S-r, the sons of Massachusetts are educated at the knees of their mothers, in the doctrines of peace and good will, and, God knows, they desire to cultivate those feelings-feelings of social kindness, and public kindness. The House will bear witness that we have not violated or trespassed upon any of them; but, sir, if we are pushed too long and too far, there are men from the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts who will not shrink from a defence of freedom of speech, and the honored State they represent, on any field where they may be assailed. the learning and undying love of the great jur ist, Story; and the hand of Jackson, with its honor ants and its offices, sought him early in life; but he shrank from them with instinctive modesty. Sir, he is the pride of Massachusetts. His mother Commonwealth found him adorning the highest walks of literature and law, and she bade h im g o and grace somewhat the rough character of p ol itical l ife. The pe ople of Massachusetts- the old, and the young, and the middle- aged-now pay their full homage t o the -beauty of his public and private oharacter. Such is CHARLES SUMNER. On th e 22d d ay of May, when the Se nate and th e House had cloth ed t hemselves in mourning for a brother falle n in th e battle of life in the distant State of Missouri, the Senator from Massachuset ts s at in the silence of the Senate C hamber, engaged in the employments appertaining to his offtice, when a m ember from this House, who had taken an oath to sustain the Constitution, stole into the Se nate, that place w hich had hitherto been held sacred against violence, and smote him as Cain s m ote his brother. Mr. KEITT, (in his seat.) That is false. M r. BURLINGAME. I will not bandy epithets with the gentl eman. I am respon sible fbr my own language. Doubtless he is responsible for his. Mr. KEITT. I am. Mr. BURLINGAME. I shall stand by mine. One blow was enough; but it did not satiate the wrath of that spirit which had pursued him through two days. Again and again, quicker and faster fell the leaden blows, until he was torn away from his victim, when the Senator from Massachusetts fell in the arms of his friends, and his blood ran down on the Senate floor. Sir, the act was brief, and my comments on it shall be brief also. I denounce it in the name of the Constitution it violated. I denounce it in the name of the sovereignty of Masachusetts, which was stricken down by the blow. I denounce it in the name of civilization which it outraged. I denounce it in the name of humanity I denounce it in the name of that fair play which bullies and prize-fighters respect. What I strike a man when he is pinioned-when he cannot respond to a blow l Call you that chivalry? In what code of honor did you get your authority for that? I do not believe that member has a friend so dear who must not, in his heart of hearts, condemn the act. Even the member himself, if he has left a spark of that chivalry and gallantry attributed to him, must loathe and scorn the act. God knows, I do not wish to speak unkindly, or in a spirit of revenge; but I owe it to my manhood, and the noble State I in part represent, to express my deep abhorrence of the act. But much as I rep:~iate the act, much more do I reprobate the fmduct of those who were by, and saw the outrage perpetrated. Sir, cspe BUELL & BLANCHARD, Printers, Washington. i. TO THiE OP':ONENTS OF SLAVERY-EXTENSION. A Piresid-nthli Carnvass of unusu al significaice is about to open-one of whic! [he result imust go far to determine whether Liberty or Slavery is to be the polestar of our National course —whether the vast unpeopled regions, confided by Providence to our keeping, shall be subdued and cultivated by intelligent, happy tfi'eemen or by lashe-d and blinded s.aves. It is most important that the tru.bea ings of this eonltest'be set forth and diffused, not in the heat of the struggi-, after evryv one shall have taken his position and resolved to maintain it, burt (;W, whle +he popular mind is measurably caln and unprejudiced. In view of thlse cqnsiderations, the Natioual Publishing Committee have issued, and Wll continue from, time to time to publish, the most important Speeches and Essays which have appearedand shall appear on the side of Free Labor and Human Riglts, whieh, we trust, those who love the cause will purchase for gratuitous rcirculatin among their friends and neighbors, with an eye- to the struggle befor,' us. Eigoht page documents will be furnished at the rate of 62cts. per 100 copies, a d 16 page documents at $1.25 per 100 copies, free of postage. Where 500 ,r mnore copies are ordered of any one document, a discount of 20 per cent. will b)e made from these rates. In order to facilitate their circulation, no extra charge will be made for enveloping and directing them to such names as may be furnished. The very low price at which these documents are furnished, puts it within the reach o1f every one to aid in their distribution. L. CLEPHIANE, Secretary, }Vashington, D. C. LIST OF DOCUMIENTS ALREADY PUBLISHED. pies'-(free of postage.) 'Reasons for Joining the Republican Party. By Judge Foote of New York. Kansas Contested Election. Speech of Hon. John A. Bingham of Ohio. Kansas Contested Election. Speech of Hon. John Hickman of Pa. Kansas Contested Election. Speech of Hon. J. Washburn, Jr. of MIe.,Kansas Affairs. Speech of Hon. H. Waldr on of Michiga n. The Slavery Question. Speech of Hon. Johh Allison of Pa. D, e'cneny of tanesas. By e-v. I T. W. Beechlen. T.,etter- of Franicis P. Blair to the Re p nblican Association. Tihe Poor Whites of the South. By (Geo. t. Weston of Maine. 5!;outher, lSlavery Reduces Northern Wares. Address by Geo. M. Weston, de livered in Washington City. 'circular Aecompanying the Call of the National Committee appointed at the Pitts burgh Convention. At $1.25 per 100 cop)ies (l -ee of postage.) Atddres of the Pittsburgh Republican The IDangers of Extending Slavery, and Conlventio,. the Contest and the Crisis. Two Speeches ')rgainization of the Free State Govern- of Hon. W. H. Seward. ment in Ktmlsas and Inaugural Address and Immediate admission of Kansas into the esse of Gev. Robinson. Union. Speech of Hon. W. H. Seward idt, C'oollanmeri's,'inority Report on Admission of Kansas. Speech of Hoen K n-sas tAftirs. Jas. HIlarlan of Jowa. t,-i nt Plymouth. By lon. Wnm. The WrongsofKansas. Speechof Hon.. IT. S.-'aid. -John P. Hale. -\''i-s in Kansas Territory. Speech The State of Affairs in Kansas. Speech ,,,. L. Tr-umbll of Ill.; of Hon. Chas. Sumner. IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. L1etter of Fran.eis P. Blaii to the Re- The Contest and the Crisis. Speech of -publi ell Assoiatio.Hon. W. H. Seward. Adress'ad'clara't~iin of Principles The Dangers of Extending Slaverv. of the i etts,Tlrrh toniveation. Speech of TRon. H. S.Sewrd. AJ)MISSION OF KANSAS. SPEECH ION. G. A. GROt, OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE 0,i1, On closing the debate on the Bill iepo,tedfrom the Committeeon Ter rztories jbr the admission of Kainsas into the Union as a State. ried out in good faith to the citizens who relied on its protection. He signed that bill, was there fore a par o t t of it, an dit s hisdty to se e th at its lett er and spirit w e re in no hay pveolated, ut that the rights secured to citizens under it were fully protected. He entirely failed to do se. Having thus failed ~, Mllr. McMIULLIN, (interrupting.) Will the gen tleman yield me tlhe ooor for two minutes? Mr. GROW. For what purpose? Ar. McMULLIN. To explain the.course of the President. - Mr. GROW. Not now.,fI have time to finish the remarks which I propose-to make, before the expiration of my hour, I will yield the floor with great pleasure to the gentleman from Virginia. If he proposes to ask me a question pertinent to: the subject I am speaking on, I will hear and aiu swer it; Ptherwise, I am unwilling to yield at'this time. The Proestident having failed to.protect the, citi. zeuis of Kansas in the rights secured to them by the organic act,. I ask whether we should now' place in his hands any measure of proposed relief or protection for that people? When a public officer betrays his trust in one case, will you intrust the same charge to his keeping again? Do you expect any relief to the: people of Kansas from this Administration, or from the minions whom it has bent to that Territory? To expect it would be as great folly-as to hope, to protect your lamb from a second attack of the wolf, by putting two bells on its neck instead of one. i am opposed to any measure of relief, the execution of which is to'be intrusted to'men who have trampled on every right most sapred to American freemen, and who have given to the flarmes -theo houses of peaceable citizens, and driven them forth homeless into the wilderness. It is proposed by this substitute that five:me be appo#'ed by the Administration which has permitted all thse wrongs, to -take a census of the population of'KXmsas; and that they say employ such persoas as th'ey please to assist in taking it. No person is to vote at the elections for delegates to form a Constitution, ulnless h-. Lfr. GCROW said: The first test vote on the bill under consideration will be on the motion to commit it to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union; after having disposed of the pending instructionls-one proposed by the geln ileman from Georgia, [Mr. STEPIrNSS,] in the na ture of a substitute; the other, an amendment thereto, restoring the Missouri Compromise, of fered by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mr. DUNN.] Before speaking on the merits of this bill, I propose to say a word as -to the effect of this motion, should it prevail. Every person who has served in this Hall is aware, thatat this stage of the session, should this bill be referred to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, it could never, in all probability, be reached. If it is proposed to send it there for the purpose of amendment, that object would not be secured; for, in order to reach it, it would be necessary to lay aside every bill on the Calen dar preceding it, one by one, by a majority of the Committee. And the same majority which could lay aside the bills so as to reach this, could, when reached under the ruling in the Nebraska case, strike out the enacting clause, and report the bill to the House without a single amendment, or any opportunity for one. If, then, the only object in referring is to have it amended, gentlemen will see that that object would not be accomplished by the reference. As to the instructions proposed by the gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. STEPHENS,] I have but a word to say. His amendment, which is similar to a number of amendments that have been introduced lately in the other wing of the Capitol, professedly for the relief of Kansas, proposes the appointment by this Administration of a certain number of men, who are to go into Kansas, take a census of voters, and provide for the election, at some future day, of delegates to form a StateConstitution. I have no faith in any measure of redress for the people of Kansas, which is to be placed in the hands of this Administration to execute. A bill organizing the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas was passed by Congress, and it was the President's bounden duty to see it car . OF 2 ,:me is on that census list. They might em- after the taking of a census, without regard to soty, under this power, Stringfetllow, Jones, and the number of her inhabitants, why not admit D)onaldson, to go out and take the census of the her at once, and put an end to all these troubles? people-making such a list as would suit their Some gentlemen say, we ought to take no acpurposes, and secure the success of the border tion upon the subject until the Investigating ruffians in their crusade in behalf of Slavery. Committee, which was sent. into the Territory, But, even if the list was a fair one, what secu- have made their report. Now, that report, so far rity have you that a fresh invasion would not be as the question of the admission of Kansas into ~,ffected, or that armed men would not go to the the Union is concerned, it seems to me is wholly ,olls, seize upon the ballot-boxes by force, and immaterial, except as furnishing an additional rive away the legal voters of the Territory by reason for her admission, in order to relieve the tolence, as has been done in every election here- people from great wrongs. But if it is considertofore held in the Territory? The penalty fixed ed necessary, that Commission has returned, and in this substitute for illegal voting would not any member who is not satisfied as to the condiprevent it, for it is simple a fine slot to exceed a tion of things in Kansas, can satisfy himself by certain sum of mnoney. Shouluid a Slavery propa- an appeal to the members of the Commission. ga.ndist be brought beiore Judge Leconipte, The question now before us is, whether the charged with ilie al voting, who believes that, people of Kansas are to be relieved from their when the penalty is not to exceed five hundred oppressions and wrongs by its immediate admisdollars, it will exceed six cents? Who believes sion as a State into this Union? So far as that that the penalty would ever be fairly enforced question is concerned, it makes no difference under such an administration of law as exists in whether the Kansas legislation was valid or inKansas? A Judge who orders the destruction of valid. Even if valid, and elected without fraud public buildings, printing presses, and private or violence, the pretended laws they enacted, and dwellings of respectable citizen4, as nuisances, which were transmitted to this House by the )n the mnere findinig of a grand jury, is not to be President of the United States, are a disgrace to rusted with the rights of Amierican freemen. any civilized people. The only question is, But, sir there is some encouragenient for the whether you will relieve these people from that friends of Freedom in Kansas in the propositions despotism and wrong, by admitting them now as which cave been submitted within a few days a State into the Union? There is no other way in ttis Hall and in the Senate. It is, that the in which you can effectually relieve them, and ground taken in the early part of the session with prevent constant invasion of their rights by nonrespect to Kansas is abancldoed by the men vwho r(sidents. resisted the appointment of as committee to in- Blt it is said, that if the laws enacted by this vestigate the tian.acticons in that Teriitoryv, al- Legislature aie wrong, they can be repealedlegitg that no fr.iids or,iclonie ica( lbteet cem- that thle'Nmllet-box is the proper place to change mitted; and evei if thtere ad, this Hoisie had no ui, ilust l's. As a general proplosition, that is power to control or redress them. true. But this legislationi was forced upon the Propositions tor se(ttling the troubles in Kansas. people of Kansas, through firaud and violence, by aind professedlv to prevent the repetition of the an invlsioni of non-resi(ents. Of'thle six thousand wrongs and injustice perpetrated upon her people, three lhutil(sId rtnd thiitty-one votes polled at that are now made by those who strenuously opp)osed election, but fourtceen hlundred and ten were legal the appointment of that conmittee, and justified votes, as as(ert'iied by the investigations of the or al)olotized foi the wrongs which their report c(onimittee sent by this HIouse to Kansas: After exposes; and thle giT'ound talkeni in the openirL of' en'('ti. 1 lws which even Southeni Senators, the session, that Kiansas must, haive a population rIsing bever the prejudies of their section, have ofninety-three thousand four hundred and tvenntv decla:ed on the floori of the Senate to bIe cuel, opbefore she could be authorized to form a State )reseive, and ptealbly Muegist to oase section of the ,onstitutien, is abandoned on all sides. That Union, and an insult to honorable mea?, they pro.'as really the only pIlausibtle objection that could vided against their repeal by disfranchising at the be made to her immediate admission; and that polls-by unauthorized test oaths-all who are yielded, what objection can there be, save that opposed to them. They provided f)r their exeher Constitution prohibits Slavery? cution in the spirit in which they were enacted, The power of Congress to admit new States is by taking from the people any voice in the elecconferied in section three, article four, of the Con- tion of their officers. 'titution, in these words: There is not an officer in the Territory of Kan "New States niay be admitted by the Congress into this sas to-day, civil, military, or judicial, save the Union." thirteen members of the Council of the spurious The time, mode, and manner, of admission, is Legislature, (aho hold over another year,) in the therefore left entirely to the discretion of Con- selection of which the people have had any voice. pgress. The executive and judicial officers were sent by The proposition is now to admit her as a State the Federal Government, and the Legislature api.-to the Union, after taking a census, without re- peoited, or provided for the appointment, by their d to the number of inhabitants. Why delay own appointees, of the election boards, sheriffs, ',r adneission, then, for the taking of a census, conslables justices of the peace, and all other ofvhen it is proposed to admit her, whatever her ficers in the Territory. Aned then to guard against population may be? I appeal to every gentle- the change of any of their "cruel and unjust lman who proposes to admit the state of Kansas, laws," they require, as a qualification to vote 3 and to hold'office in said Territory, in addition to other obnoxious qualifications, an oath to support the FLugitive Slave Law and t'tIev postponed tehe tnext meeting of the Legislature till the 1st of Jan unary, 1857. But, as the Council hold over another year, no change can be made in these lavwsby the people themselves, even if they were not disfran chised at the polls, till after the 1st of J.anutry, 1858; so that, from the time of passing the Ter ritorial law by Congress, which provided for an ual sessions of the Legislature, it will be almost four years before a change can be effected in the Legislature, so as to repeal theme laws. The gentleman from Georgia [.Ir. STFP}IEF,S] the other day referred to legislation in his own State which he believed to be unconstitutional and oppressive; but the courts decided that it was constitutional, anA: lihe submitted to the decision, as was the duty of a good citizen. But if a pro vision had been appended to that law, prohibiting any man from voting for its repeal until he had sworn to support it, would he have felt himself bound to abide by it? Sir, the people of Kansas are in a different po sitionr firom that of any people in any State in this Union, in respect to any lavws of which com plaint was ever made. For the first time in the his.tory of the Government, is an oath required of a voter to support particultr'laws,.s a qualiLfica tion to vote at any election. Well might the Senator from Delawtre L[ir. CLAYTON] declare it an 1' injustice unexampled." A Legislature, that denies the right of private judgment, that has stripped the people of all voice in the selection of their own rulers, that strikes down freedom ofea speech and of the press, under the penalties of not less thiin two years' imprisonment at hard labor, and that tramples upon every right dear to a treeinan, has been inmposed upon the people r of K Ins s bv f-arid and violence-their houses hav be(-ni burned, and their property destroyed, uinder the sanction of this Administration and its appointees. There being no peaceable mode for thie people ofthe Territoryto change these "cruel and oppressiv(e" laws for more than two years, they resorted to the only peaceable mode of re dress under the circumstances. And that was to form a State Government, and ask admission into the Union. They proceeded, peaceably, as they had a right to do, under the Constitution of their coiuntry, to form a State Government, and ask of Congress to admit them into the Union as a State. Their memorial is before you, and is to be answered by your action on this bill. All the proceedings preliminary to the formation of this Constitution hive been as regular and orderly as the disturbed condition of the Territory would allow; and instead of being confined to any class or party, it was of a general character, and extended an invitation to all citizens to participate. The first public meeting for that purpose was held at La.wrence, September 15, 1855, at which time the following resolution was passed: i'Resolc ed, Thiat we, the people of Kmilsas Territory, in ma-s eetirng assettbted, irre-pectiive of party dltretisfons,c lii'itet,eid by cornmoti itecessity. aid greatly desirois of prorotirrg the comanmon good. do hreretby call upon and request all boera fide citizens of Ktansas'rerritory, of what ever political vews or predilectionis, to consult togetr il their respective election districts, aii.,i il mass conwv tioj, or otherwise, ele-t three deleg'eates for each Repr sei,tatve to -hice saidi e lection district i s entitled in t' House of uepremsent.tves ot' tie Legislative Assembly, Ar procl.-maratio.~ of G,overnor l-eedtr, of (late 19th of lAiarc 1855; soir deaegatese to iassemle in convention at the tow.f of ropeka, on' the 19Lh dour of September, 1855, then a,, there t o pos ioer ed eterne po all suject s of pub'.! interest, and t,rticuiarly upon tihat hiavidng referrence to ein speeoly forms tior i a State Copistitutio -n, ith as i tenitir ne of an i!mmediate -aop;ication to be adir.tlfted as a State in',, the Uhiogh of tth e United State s of A meri nia.e: In accordance with this recom mendation, del egates were el ect ed in the differe nt election) districts, who met -at Topeka, on the 19th oit September, A. D. 1855, to take into considera tion the expediency of ealling a convention to form a State Constitution. The address issued by this convention was to the legal voters of Kan sas, and closed in these words: "And whereas the debasing character of the Slaver~ which now inivolves us ilipels to action, and leaves us. as the onily le,-.al al(l peaerhleru alternative, the immediaai, establishinent of a State Goveriineit; mid whereas th, orgm,ziie act fails ill poinii~ti!, otut the course. to be adopted il a,reme,re y like ours: Therefore, you are requesterl to meet at your!several precincts i,- said Tierritory herein after meiitionied. on th}e seIo d' Tiuesday of October next it beisig ihe ninth (ar of said month, and then and there cast yoear ballot,'for members of a eon1enitionD to meet al 'Pop,-Ia o0t the fourt' lies lay in October next, to form. Coli,stitution., aRI,.p a t)ill olf [_i,hts/ f(r the people of Kan sas, aidi(I a ll needful Peasres organizing a State (overnime.it preparatory to thle a,:trizssion of Kansas tint the Un,ion as a State." After this address, which fixed the time and places of election, provided for the appointment of judges,iaild the qualification of voters, elec tions were held ill every district in the Territory, and delegates elected to meet at Topeka the 23d October, 1855, to form a State Constitutior. They met at that time and place, formed a Cor stitution, and submitted it to a vote of the people for ratification on the 15th of December follow — ing. The 15th of January, 1856, a Governor, Legislature, and St,ate officers, were elected; and the Legislature met on the 4th of March, 1856, and after receiving the Governior's message, ap pointing committees, and electing United States Senators, adjourned to the 4th of July. All these proceedings were necessary, befit - their application to Congress for admission; c-l; the power given to Congress by the Constitu-.o7.: is to admit States, not Territories. The new Sta.t must therefore have all the "agents indispel-. sable to its action as a State," before its applica tion; and such was the decision of the Attorney General, transmitted by General Jackson to the Governor of Arkansas, September 21, 1835. Referring to the third section of the fourth articlof the Constitution, he says: "1 This provision implies that the new State shall havy, been conjstituted by the settlement cf a Constitution o. framne of Goverrmenlt, and tby the appointment of thesi official -agents which are indise,ensable to its action as a State, an~i esleci ally to its action as a member ofthe Unioir prior to its adm.ission intothe Union. Il1 accordance w;'; this im-nplication, every Sate received into the Un:.t1. since the adoprison of the Federal Constitution has beea' actually organfized prior to such a~dmission." Instead of the proceedings of the Free St:-i movement in Kanlsas being against law~, it J s clearly in accordance with la~w and constitutional right. The Free State men in this. msovement have done nothing but what they had,, 4 may peaceably meet together in primary assembly, or in conventions chosen by such assentmblies. fof the purpose ofpetilioiiijig Conigress to abrogate the Territorial Gov ernrnenit. and to admit theln into the Uhion as an inde penident State.. The particular form which they may give to their petition c anniot be material, so long as they con fine themselves to the mere right of petitioning and con duet ail their proceedings in a peaceable manner. And as the power ot Congress over the whole subject is ple lnary and unlimited, they may accept any Co,nstitution, however framed, which in their judgment meets the sense of the peoelie to be affected by it. If, therefore, the. citi zens of Arkansas think proper lo accompany their pe tition by a written Constitution, framed and agreed on by their primary assemlie or by a convention of delegates chosen by such assemblies, I perceive no legal objection to their power to do so; nor to any measures that may lme taken to collectthe sense of the people in respectto it." Does the Constitution meet the sense of the peop7e to be affected by it? The existence of Slavery was the only question upon which the people were divided, and the vote for delegates to the Convention settled that by a majority of legal voters. All the proceedings preliminary to the formation of a Constitution in Kansas have been conducted in a peaceable manner. The Legislature that convened on the 4th of March passed a resolution that no act of theirs was to have the force of law, and no officer elected under that Constitution was authorized to act, until confirmed by some subsequent action of the Legislature, and thus they await the action of Congress. Governor Robinson, in his message to the Legislature, speaking as the agent of the State thus organized, shows its peaceable character and subordination to the action of Congress, in the following extract: "It is understood that the deputy marshal has private instructions to arrest the members of the Legislature, and the State offieers. for treasoni, as soon as bthis address is received by you. In such an event, of course, no resistance will be offered to the officer. Men who are ready te defenld their own and their country's honior with their lives, can never object to a legal investigationi into their action, nor to sutiffer any punishment their conduct may merit. We should be uniworthy the constitdency we represent, did we shrink from martyrdom on the scaffold, or at the stake, should duty require it. Should the blood of Collins and Dow, of Barber and Brown, be insufficient to quench the thirst of the President and his accomplices in the hollow mockery of' squatter sovereignity' they are practicing uponi the people of Kansas, then more victims must be furnished. Let what will come, not a finger should be raised against the Federal authority until there shall be no hope of relief but in revolution." The people of Kansas, relying on their constitu tional rights and the official decisions of the Government, and following the precedent of Tennessee, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, and Iowa, all of which formed State Constitutions without any act of Congress authorizing the same, present themselves, through the memorial of their Legislature, and ask admission into the Union. Why should not their prayer be granted? Since the objection to the immediate admission of Kansas, on account of insufficient population; is abandoned, there can be no other, unless a sectional dne, except the allegation of informality in her proceeding, in not having a previous act of Congress authorizing them. I have shown that such as act is not necessary on any principle of constitutional right. Five States have been admitted without any such act. And, so far as the forms of law were concerned, Michigan came into the Unlion against them, having entirely sup right to do. The people of any Territory have a right, undei the Constitution, to call a convention at any time, with or without an act of Congress or of the Territorial Legislature, and to form a S tat e Gov ernment, and apply to Congress for admiss ion i nto the Union. T he right of a people " to alter or abolish " their form of Gov ernment is an inheren et one, a nd is class e d in the Decl a ration of Independence, as indi spen sable to t he inalienable rights of man. T h e mode and manne r of accomplishing it in org aniz ed S tates properly belongs to the formns of law, to be prescribed by the State Government; bu t in t he Territories, Congress is the only power that can prescribe the forms; for a Territorial Government emanating from Congress can be chane oti i e d or a rged, modified or abrogated, only by its consent. That consent, however, can be exp ressed as well after as before the action o f the p eop le. If Congress, then, has prescribed no form, whatever action the people think proper to adopt, in order to secure a change of Government, provided it be conducted in a peaceable manner, is lawful and constitutional-lawful, because it violates no valid law-constitutional, because article first of the amendments to the Constitution secures to the people everywhere, under its jurisdiction, the right, paramount to all law, peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievanices. General Jackson, in replying to the Governor of Arkansas in 1835, who solicited of him instructions for his guidance in case the people of that Territory, without a law of the Legislature, proceeded to elect delegates to a convention, and to organize and put in operation a State Government, without the authority of Congress, says, through his Attorney General, in the opinion just cited, that "It is not in the power of the General Assembly of Arkansas to pass any law for the purpose of eleeting members to a convention to form a Constitution and State 'Government, nor to do any other act, directly or indirectly, to create such new Governimen,t. Every such law, even though it were approved by the Governor of the Territory, would be niull and void." The Governor of Arkansas, in this same communication to the President, expressed the opinion that, under the Constitution and laws of the United States, no measures can lawfully be taken At the citizens of Arkansas, to form a Constitu.ion and IState Government, until Congress shall first have granted them authority so to do; and that he will therefore feel himself bound to CONSIDER AND TREAT ALL SUCH PROCEEDINGS AS UNLAWFUL. That is precisely what the Administration and its abettors, under similar circumstances, are now doing in reference to Kansas. And it is to be regretted that the President did not send to his Governor in Kansas the opinion sent by General Jackson to his Governor in Arkansas, in days when Democracy meant something besides propagating and nationalizing the institutions of human bondage. In instructing his Governor as to the rights of the people, he says: "'They. undoubtedlly possess the ordinary privileges and lmrnuttites of citizens of the United Stsates. Among these is the right of the peop~le' peaeab~ly to assemble, and to petition th,n Government for the redress of grrievanlces.' Xh the exercise of this right, the inhabitants of Arka.nsas 5 planted the Territorial Legislature betre the ac tion of Congress. Michigan applied for admission with a Consti tution formed by her people without any previous act of Congress. Under it she had elected a Governor, Legislature, United States Senators, and member of Congress. Her application was met with the same objection as is now urged against Kansas-that her proceedings were not only without law, but against law and good order; and that class of objectors were opposed to receiving her memorial, on the same grounds urged by a class of Senators against the memo rial of Kansas, for it wotld be recognisino the State of Mlichit,an when there was no such State and to recognise her as such would be sanction ing treason. Congress, lhowever, admitted her, on condition that her )eol)le should assent to a change of bound.ry. The legailly-constituted authorities called a convention, fixed the time and place of holding the election for delegates, andiprescribed th'e quiilific'tions of voters. This convention, so constituted, rejected the teirm)s of admission. But the people, by a soni. ells movement, without any legislative act wlitLtev(r, called another convention, and accepted the con dition of admission fixed by Congress. Under these circumstances, Michigan was admitted into the Union. Kansas, with far greater reasons than ever existed heretofore for a departure fromn the usual forms of proceeding, asks at your hands the same boon. In tlhe case of Michigan, the times were more fortunate than those of Kansas. Andrew Jackson was then President; Benton, Niles, W. R. King, and a host of other equally illustrious leaders of the Democracy, were then in the Senate Chamber, and espoused her cause. No threats or efforts were then made to subdue liberty. Kansas, having violated no law, lays her petition for a redress of grievances at your feet. For doing this, some of her citizens are exiled from their homes, and others pine in chains, charged by the Government of their country with treason-treasonz in peaceably forming a State Constituition under the right guarantied by the paramount law of the land, in order to ask of Congress admission into the Union-treason for doing precisely what the people of Arkansas and Michigan did almost a quarter of a century ago, an d wh ich was endo rsed by Conter es s and the then President of' the Republic. But times have changed, and men wvith them. The Democracy in the days of Jackson stood upon the principles of the fathers of the Republic in reference to the Territories, and justified the right of the people peaceably to assemble at all times, and petition for a redress of grievances. The gentleman from Georgia, [Mlr. STEPHENS,] in his remarks on Saturday, appealed to the higher law to sustain Slavery. Without stopping to discuss Scripture authority on that point, for it belongs to the theologian as one of his controverted questions, I wish here only to say, that if Slavery and its existence rest on the Old Testament for their support, then the same authority will support white Slavery as well as black, and thie amalgamation of master and slave. In the Slavery of the patriarchs there was iiltermar riaae betweenethe mas ter and slave-thie sons and daughters of the one wit h the sons and daughters of the oth er. It is not questioned that the slaves of that day were white. If that was the case, then the;gentleman's argument proves too much, and there is a rule of the logicia ns, th at an argument is as faulty that proves too much, as one that proves too little. If the Bi ble argu ment be good, whites can be seized and carried into bondage, and mast ers and slaves may amal gamate. But I will pass by for the present th e de fdnce of Slavery, as auth or ize d by the practice of the patriarchs; for how far their e xample should be followed, or can be, consistently with the new dispensa ti oneae y th at decla res " that what soever ye would th a t men shoul d do to you, do ye even so to them," will come up properly on a bill now pending in reference to a n othe r patri arclmal institution e xis ting in one of the Ter sit(ries. The pentlemoan seemed to think that the spirit of Jefferson w ould fe el indignanlt that he should be quoted as authority by Republicans. Sir, it the spirit s of t he departed hover over the scenes of earth, and watch with solic i t ude i ts affairs, with what anguish must th a t spirit c onte mplate the wrongs i n Ka nsas, who e xcla imed, when on earth "With what execration should the statesman be l oaded, who, perittig one-half the citioens thus lo trample on the gtiglets of the other, t ra nsforms t hose into despots, and these into e,,emies, destroys the morals of the one part, anda the hmoh r p atriot of the other! " If t s iit o t he spirits of th e saintead dead hover over their country, watching its destiny with anything of i reatheir earthly solicitude for its welfare, what anguish must wring the heart of his noble copatriot, wh o, i n the Senate Chamber, in 1819,. de clar e d that,, Nothin-g call more gladden the heart, than the contemplationl of a portion of territory consecrated to Freed,m, — wihose soil should never be nmoisten-)ed by the tear of the slave. or degraoed by the step of the oppressor or the oppressed." Ca.n the spirits of such men be wounded by the appeal of the living to their authority to vindicate the rights of the freemen of their native land, and save from degradation the very territory that once so gladdened the patriotic heart I Tyranny and wrong rule with brute force one of the Territories of the Union, and violence reigns in the Capitol of the Republic. In the one, mob law silences with the revolver the voice of justice, pleading for the inalienable rights of man; in the other, the sacred guarantees Qf the Constitution are violated, and reason and free speech are supplanted by the bludgeon; and, in the Council Chamber of the nation, men stand up to vindicate and justify both! Well may the patriot tremble for the future of his country, when he looks upon this picture, and then upon that I Can the spirits of the departed, unless they partake more of earth than when surrounded by their clay tenements, look down on these scenes without anguish and bitter' sorrow? Mr. Speaker why, should the application of the gentleman from Georgia, [Mlr. STErPTiENS.] - Sir, law and order have not been violated in that Territory, save by the officials of your Governmt ent. We have the testimony of Governor Shlan non himself, as to the peaceable character of the citizens of Lawrence, who, by his own letter to t the President, of November 28, 1855, shows that - the influence of the Executive office of the Terri tory was to be wielded in behalf of Slavery, whose interests lie regards as synonymous with law and order. In writing the President, in reference to the arming of the-Free State men, he says. "This military org ilizatioe is looked iup,n as hostile o10 L t'1 Son he re meno, or rather 1to t/e lt aid order )artjy of he eryritorsy maniy of whotn have relatives and frieids, andt all ha. e synrup athiers, i n Missouri." The first invasion of Lawrence was made be fore any legal process of any kind or description was ever issued against any citizen of that place. In the letter of Governor Shannon to the Presi dent, December 11, 1855, which gives an account of the invasion of Ltwrence, he bears testimony to the law-abiding character of the people of that place. He says: "It was at once agreed that the laws of the Territory should have the regular cours, a.ls hat those who dis puted their validity should. if they desired to do so, test that question i the judicial tribuinals of the country; tlihat i th men thige gvno retsiihtaince should be matte to their due execeation and the citizens of[,Lawrence a vicinity were, when properly called on, to aid inl the arrest of any one csiharged vigh their violatione, and to aid aid assist in the preservation of tie peace and good order of society." * * * " ~i is proper I should say that they claimed that a large najority of their had always held ad inculcated the same1'otew." The people of Lawrence reiterated this declaration in the following communication adopted in a public meeting of her citizens' L AWRENCE, May 14, 1855. DcaRSia: We have seen aproclam.tinllissued )by yourself, datetl 11th MAay, and also have reliable iiformattton this tortling. that large bodies of armnd men, i il)ursuance of your proclamation, have assemtbled ill the vicinity of La,vre!aee.'riat there may be no misuld(erstandi,llg we beg leave to ask respectfu;ly, (that we may be reliabl-y in inoried,) w-ht are t'h demnariis against us? WVe(tesire to s t ate, most' lrtithfLilly a-nd earnestly, that no opposition whatever waill ow, or at any future time. be oSff.red to the executionl of any legal process by yourself or any person acting for you. We also pledge ourselves to assist you, if called upon, il the execution of any legal process. We declare ourselves to be ordier-lovinig alit la —abiding citizen s, and ontly await an opportunity to testify our fidel t.y to the laws of the coun,try, the Coiistitution, anl the Union. wVe are irformed, also, that those men collecting about LGawrence openly declare that their intention is to destroy the towta, aid drive ofithe citizens. Of course, we do itot believe that you give any countei-tauce to such threats; but it view of the exciting state of the public mind, we as.k protection of the constituted authorities of tilie Governmeut, dleclaring ourselves in readiness to co-operate with them for the mainttetiaice of the peace, order, and quiet, of the community in which w. live. J. B. DONALDSON, United States 3Iarshialfor Kansas Territory. And at a still later day, the commnittee of safety of Lawrence sent to Marshal Donaldson the following: We, the committee of public safety for the citizens of L,awrenc"e, make this statemenet and declaration to you as Marshal of Kansas Territory. That wve retiresent citizens of the United States, and oI Kanisas, who ackniowledge the constituted authorities of the Governmerit; that e make no resistance to the exeeutioul of the lawar% Nationlal or Territorial, and that we ask protection of thle G;overnmnent, and claim it as lawalbidingl American cit;izens. For the private property already taken by your posse Kansas for admisshon be delayed, when it seems to be conceded on -Ill sides that it.3 proper to ad mit her witahout requicing the ratio of p opula t ion necessary for a lh-preseotative in.a State? That ideaseems to have beenentirely abandoned. Then why delay thins rgtpplicatio th wh en every man must be satisfied, in his ovn judgment, that it would restore peac e to Kansas to give her ca Gov erlinent of her ovn fbrmtatio, with officerss and c ourts of her orvi se lection? Imtnediate action is necessary, in ord er to put an endf to the strife in the Territoryl, yh;.cui, the President inform.s us, threatens the pea e nhnot only of Kdntsas, but of the Uniion. The representatives of Freedom and of Slavery, strutgglinwti for sutlrem acy, rally to the plains of Kansas with the immpleiue n rts of wa r and violence. Is the bitternesst en,endered in thes e conflicts to be alll.yed, and the dangers of' bloodshed to be av er ted, by Co ng ress author izing the people of t he Territory, att some future time, to do what they alret ddy have the right to do, without any such authority? An act of' C ongress authorizing them to form a State Con stitution cUnfers no ri gthht thatt them do not already possess, and is no redress of present grievances, or relief against unjust and oppressive laws. Howv can gentlemen iwho claim to be the special advocat es of the ri of te r of men to govern them selves in the Territories object? It i s and inherent right of a people, the world over, to govern them selves; and that right can not be interfered with without injustice, unless the condition atn,,d circumstances under which they may be plizced necessarily impose restraints. Such is the cale with the Territories. The popu lat'ion, in the first instance, being too small to support a Governmuenit, Congress establishes one, and pays aIl its expenses. Conisequetitly, it must halve a supervision over its acts, for the same ret;,son th;t a principal must have control over the acts of his agent' otherwise, he might be in volrsted il any amount of expenditure for purposes wlhickx he entirely disapproves. If the people could go into the Ter'ritories, in the first place, in suficient nlumbers to support a State Governient, Congress should have nothing to do with themi- any more thtan with a State. But being for a time too weak and feeble in numilbers to support a State Government, from the necessity of the case Congress must form a (Governnment for them, and they must submit, duirinig this infancy of their existence, and during this inability to support a Government, to such conditions as may be imposed by Congress. But those conditions should be removed at the earliest practicable period. When the people are of sufficient numbers to support a Government of their own, and ask it at your hands, why withhold it? Whv not free your Treasury from the burden of supporting their Government, and allow them that right which belongs to tlhem-the inherent right of the people to govern themselves, to protect their own ballot-boxes, their own lives, and their own property? The objection made to the ad mission of Kalnsas, under present cirCumstances, by most of the opponenfts of her admission, is, that la;w and order mus~t be maintained in this Territory; and that w&s ta point urged by 5 wlli, tr,inpling upon all law and the most sacred a a'l:;rn',tee. s of the (Constitution of your country. Ii o,i ) sorid order is the excuse of despotism, the Iw LoL M,l ov er, for all its enormities. It was to pre serve law and order that Poland was blotted firom the map) of nations, and the dungeon and the rack |silenced the voice of patriotism in Hungary. To preserve law and order, the streets of Naples are crop ded with chlainied gangs, and its quarries are covered with galley-slaves, guilty of no offence save that they hate oppression and love liberty. For the same reason, some of the noblest sons of France are to-day pining in hopeless exile, and Siberia is full of hearts too large to be contained by theirinative land. The law and order that reigns over the graves of crushed hbumsa,nityis more to be dreaded than all else it is the order of death. Order reigns in desdsolo -reigns everywhere, when you close the nths e3f men, either by brute force or under the':tion of law. The sctffold sends its vic tim to a quiet rest, and order reigns over his grave. Th-e order of Klansas is the order that reigned in Wiarsawv on the 7thl of SepItenmber, 1831, when, withi its streets red with the be st blood of its citi zens, and the shrieks of liberty stifled as her last votary fell, Paskiewitch sentto the Czar his memo ra ble dispatch, " Order reigns in Warsaw." The 'satrap of this Administration in Kansas exhibits a like love of law and order with his prototype; whose example, with becoming propriety, he might well imitate, if he succeds in crushing out in Ka,insas the spirit of liberty, by sending a like dis patch to his superior, 1 Order reigns in Kansas." Law and order enlist in the service of any master who, for the time being, chances to hold the sceptre of power. They are just as efficient for oppression and wrong as for freedom and right. When enlisted in behalf of despotism, I pay no homage at their shrine. But liberty and law are the twin divinities who guard the rights of man, and watch over his happiness. At their altar, all good men will lay their offerings. But the law and order of despotism is to be execrated the world over; and the day has passed away when out rage and wrong are to be vindicated by the cry of law and order. In view of the wrongs and outrages perpe trated upon the people of Kansas, the patriot may well exclaim, in the language of Madame Roland on ascending the scaffold: "O Oh, Liberty, what crimes have been committed in thy name I " Mr. Speaker, were there no precedent for the admission of a State under like circumstances, those surrounding this case would, of themselves, be sufficiert to establish one. Truth, justice, and humanity, need no precedents; they make them. It is old abuses and time-sanctioned wrongs that entrench themselves behind formulas. Why should an American legislator hesitate in the performance of any act that his judgment approves, for want of a precedent? The existence of the Riepublic, and its whole history, is in violation of all precedent. There is not one of the ulniversally-recognised truths of to-day, but what wras the rankest heresy when first proclaimed, and the fagot and the i.j ' I wei -isk i ldemniificatio n; d jihcl t r th..-;:::.;; cilizenis., we tllrow rro!- ilp,?! ou'l..ii!:!f,: ':,er the flag of our t~anio~,,l,,.l wvithi; li,t to!(!s (it liles l',, SdiutioIn. w,t imaU,y o,Otail. Stat'ly. SAMIUEL C. PO,~I_rEIOY, ~VYI. Y. Ii~ >BERi' S: I,Y;i-.AN AI,LEN, S. B. im;:-i'O N. JOINI A. PERtRY, A. HI. Air ~i.,,OR',Y, C. ".-. BABCOCK, JO,'-II GR(i Nvi"A.: Yet, after all these declarations by men who lhad violated no lawv, and who bhad proposed, in ai written communication to tile Governor and AI isha,l, of 17tll of May, to deliver their arms, if ,esired, is'to Colonel Sumner, so soon as he should ,tiiarter in the town a body of United States troops ,ultlicient for their protection, to be retained by chirn as lo eg as such force shall remain," Lat renee llts sakeed, and its public buildings and pirnting,, presses destroyed. fihere is there a man u nde orr ai rest in Kansas, or with any civi l proc ess again st him, who has shot downe men there for freedom of Sech, or cro i-has destroyed, printing aresses, bur ned the dwellings of peaceable itn defenseless citizerns, an d sent their wives end chsildren into thse wilder heess, to afind prote tion is t he sa vjge, ahgainest the l t e s c, o er s their less-erifl irs uers a imthe -tn orho has been arr est ed by your guardians ot lah and order fio any of these outrla ges cand wrongs? m lnder th e sah (tion of ofdice r s of the law, citizens have b ee n stobpped upo)o the highways, their persons seaw, whie aend t apers seized, without any legal process; their property taken eand corifis c-oted; and they, u nless eng aged in the w ork of making Kansas a slave Sta,.te, (comlpelled to carry a pass, signed by some offIcia,l of ilse Territory, in order t o s ave themselves from robbnery or rmurde r by th ese conserv ators of law. Thus are Altherican freenmen, on Areirican soil, reduced to the condition of a Southern slave, who must hsve his miLster's written pass in order to leave the plantation. With the shout of law and order yoll lay in ashes the houses of peaceable citizens, destroy their printing presses, and with cannon batter down their public buildings. Witlh the shout of law and order you disarm the citizen, while the Constitution of his country declares that the right "1to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." AVith the shout of law and order you search and take from the houses and persons of the citizens, without legal process, their papers and effects, when the Constitution of the country declares that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; " and no search shall in any case be made without a warrant issued on oath, describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized. With the shout of law and order you seize law-abiding citizens, and by mob law exile them from their homes, for declaring that Slavery is an evil, and ought to be prohibited by law, while the Constitution guaranties freedom of speech and of the press. With the shout of law and order you arrest and put in chains order-loving citizens, on a charge of high treason, for peaceably assembling and petitioning the Government for a redress of grievances 8 rack dripped with the blood of its martyrs. The repeal, with one exception, has resulted in the world's conservatism trembled when fifty-six bold election of an opponent to that repeal? Does he merchants, farmers, and mechanics, proclaimed believe that there has been no change in the the inalienable rights of man. As for myself, popular sentiment? Does he believe that the there is but one book of precedents that can in people remain quiet and satisfied with the exist any way control my action as a legislator, and ing condition of affairs? If so, how does it hap that is written upon my heart by the finger of pen that in every State election, save one, held Him who made it. in the Nortli since that repeal, the Democratic "Let the dead past bury its dead; party, which was the instrument by which it was Act. act, in the living presents accomplished, has been defeated, and its banner Hteart within and G~od o'erhead."* teart within aid God oeread." trails in the dust on the proudest fields of its One word here, in answer to the gentleman,former triumphs? And why does it rejoice tofrom Georgia, [MAr. STEPHENS,] who thought day in accessions from the ranks of its old enethese troubles the result of other causes than inies, to save it from hopeless ruin? It trampled the repeal of the Missouri Compromise- The on the holiest and best impulses of the human wrongs of Kansas date from the day that the heart andit rustnowreceive its retributiot. I Missouri Compromise was repealer Qu thesi EILire here to quote a reason which I urged heads of its repealers rest the blood shed in te repeal of the M.issouri Co.mnise sas, and the wrongs and the outrages wlii part of which, results have already been heaped upon it. The repeal was ic, and each day is verifying the purpose of making Kansas a slave St-t tt til t1nce of the prediction: a conspiracy from the start; and tstant friend of this Admin::3',lt. Sir, as an early an,' constant friend of this AdImincarried out with violence and brute force. With- itratiol, I desire the defeat ofthis )ill for its passage out that repeal, Slavery could never hexe gone will, in my judgn ie,nt, insure, beyond a doubt an anti Adthere. There would have been no effort to to.ce I mniiistratonr majority in the next (Congress. As an earlest rwoebt t ean devoted friend to the Deiiocratic pairty, to which I it into the Territory. Without it, Kansas would 1 have cheerfully given my best eneigies froic my earliest have been saved from civil war, and ti'e repose political action, I desire the defeat of this bill; for its pasand harmony of the Republic would have con- I egewillblotitoutsa ationalorga zato, d. leaving but a wreck in every Northern state, it will live only in tinned undisturbed. On the heads, then, of the history. As a lover of peace, harmoily, and fraternal repealers rests the responsibility for all these concord among the citizens of the Confederacy, arndasa troubles. Strife anarchy and bloodshed are devotee at the shrine of this Union, with all its precious fir o ubls.tfruitsf, anarepe, and bheosshed, sea hopes to man, I desire the defeat of this bill; for its pasthe first fruits of that repeal, and the second seal sage will tear open wounds not yet healed, lacerate is not yet opened. spirits already fr.enzied, and "the bond of confidence But the gentleman says that the country is at which unites the two sectio,s of the Union will be reint asunder, and years of alienation and unkindness may irpeace, and is prosperous and happy. True, but tervene before it can be reslored, if ever, to its wonted the agitation in the country is not based upon tenacity and strength." dollars and cents. It is founded upon principle- If you would calm the spirits that you have a principle underlying the foundation of our frenzied, heal the wounds you have inflicted upon Government-a principle which enters into the the country, and restore peace and harmony to spirit and genius of the Republic. And I ask the Republic, admit Kansas as a State with her the politician, if this agitation is not the result free Constitution. And if you would end this of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, how sectional strife forever, return to the example of it happens that but nine of those from the North the Fathers of the Republic, and cease your efwho voted for that repeal were returned to this forts to propagate Slavery under the protection House, while some forty who voted against it of the flag of your country, and desist from the occupy seats here to-day? How happens it that attempt to nationalize the institutions of human every election for Senator in the North, since the bondage. WASHINGTON, D. C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERTS. 1 8 5 6. TRACT FOR AMERICANS. I'I MOR~i POMlLITICAL TIOTIIY AND FDSITIfI. GEORGE LAW AND CHAUNCEY SHAFFER'S REASONS FOR REPUDIAqING FILLMORE AND DONELSON, And the Action, of the Know-NotAing State Convention at Syiacu,e on the Resolutions ceneuring Brooks'8 Assault on Senator Sumner, &c. SPEECH OF HON. E. B. MORGAN, OF N. Y., IN U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUG. 4, 1856. York Assembly as an Anti-Mason, and in 1832 was elected as such a member of this House. In the same year he voted for Mr. Wirt, the Anti-Masonic candidate for the Presidency. He was afterwards a member of this House for a period of six years, commencing March 4, 1837, during which time he was attached to the Whig party. During this, his second period of service in Congress, the slavery agitation a rose and was continued in the country, and the records, often quoted, and to which I shall now only briefly refer, show that Mr. Fillmore voted with persistent firmness on the side of freedom, and in company with such men as John Q. Adams, Joshua R. Giddings and Mr. Slade, of Vermont. On the 21st day of December, 1837, Mr. Patton. of Virginia, offered the following resolution: Tim House being in Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union, Mr. MORGAN said: MR. BHAIRtAN: I propose to ask the attention of the House and of the country, to the probable consequences of the success of one of the candidates of the Presidency, who is a citizen of my own State, Hon. Millard Fillmore. To exhibit them fully, it will be necessary to examine his antecedents, his personal relations to men and parties, the platform upon which he has consented to stand, the influences which prevailed in his nomination, the views and objects of those who support him, and the principles which must control him, if he is elected. ~ My sole object in referring to his personal antecedents and relations, is to throw light upon his probable line of policy, should he be elevated to the PresidentiaI chair. I enter upon that branch of the discussion with sincere reluctance, and only because it is essential to a full elucidation of the subject. "Resolved, That all petitions, memorials, and papers, touching the abolition of slavery, or the buying, selling, or transferring of slaves, in any State, District, or Territory of the United States, be laid on the table, without being debated, printed, read, or referred, and that no further action whatever shall be had thereon." In 1829, Mr. Fillmore made his first entrance into public life, having been in that year elected to the New York Assembly, as an Anti-Mason. He was once or twice, re-elected to the New FOR SALE AT TIHE OFFICE OF THE NEW YORPK TRIBUNE. PRICE, IPER DOZEN CopiEs 20C.; PER HUNDRED, $1 25; PEil THOUSAND, $10., 40 Mr. Fillmore'8 Political Hi8tory. The resolution was adop-ted-yeps 122, nays 74; Mr. Fillmore voting in the negative. Mr. Fillmore's name is iound with those of Adnlams and Giddings, and against the South. On tl:e 21st of Januaryv, 1842, iMr. Adains I)reseiited an abolition )petition, praying tlhe naturalization of free-negro foreigners, and tliat they be allowed to hlold real estate. Mr. Wise moved to lay its reception on the table; wvliclth motion was carried. Alr. Fillmiore again voted against the South, in the negative. On the 12th of December, 1842, Mr. Adams called up his motion to rescind the 21st rule. IMr. Jolhnson, of Maryland, moved to lay it on thle table; which motion was carried; Mr. Fillmore again voting against the South, in the ne,ative. On the 3d of January, 1843,' Mr. Morgan moved a resolution instructing the Comnittee on Territories to bring in a bill repealing a certain act of the territorial legislature of Florida, preventing the immigration of free negroes into that Territory. Mr. Black mioved to lay the resolution on the table; which was carried; Mr. Fillmore again voting against the South, in the negative. These notes, covering every year of his Congressional service after the slavery agitationi colnmenced, and witli whichl all his votes lharmnonize, show ilaiiily eniiough where Mr Fillhnoe stood at that timne. In 1838, ie wrote the following letter: "4 BUFFALO, Oct. 17, 1838. " Sin: Your communication of the 15tli inst., as clhairmnan of a comnmittee apl-)poiniited by the 'Anti-Slavery Society of the County of Erie,' has just coiiie to lhand. You solicit my answers to the following interrogatories: " First. Do you believe that petitions to Congress on the subject of slavery or on the slave trade ougllt to be received, read, and respectful)y considered by the Representatives of the people. " Second. Are you opposed to the annexation of'rexas to the Union, under any circumnstances, so long as slaves are held therein? "Third. Are you in favor of Congress exe rting all the constitutional power it possesses to abolish the internal slave trade between the States? "Fourth. Are you in favor of immediate legislation for the abolition of slaverv in the District of Columbia? "I am much engaged, and have no time to enter into an argument, or to explain at length ~iiy reasons for mliy opinion. I sliall tlherefore content myself for the present by answering all your interrogatoties in the affirmative, and lease tbr somne fiuture occasion a mlore extendedl discussionl of tile sub~ject. "I 1ran, respectfully, y our ob't servant, a l'flI, LARD FILLMORlg?) W. M~ills, Esq., Chair man. On the 11th of December, 1838, 3rr. Atherton offered his celebrated resolutions in reference to Abolitio n petietions, no i te politics of that tilvne a s "Atteithto e's gag.'. Fillmnore voted against their introduction and against the ir atdol)tion. On the 13thi of December of the samie year, Mr. Wise, of Virginia, ofiered a series of resolutions declariing against the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the abolition of the int er-Stat e slave trade, and the reception of Aboliti on petitions-affi rIning that the la ws of C ongres s al one govern in the p eoesc ription of the mode of recovery of fugitive slaves; that Congress has no power to impose the abolition of slavery upon a State as a condition of it s admission into the Union; that the citizens of a slave State have a right to take their slaves through a free State; that the General Government is constitutionally boiund to protec t the m i n such right; that the l b,s of the non-slaveliold ing S tates in conflict with such right were n ull a nd void. T he m otion to suspend the rules for the introduction of these resolutions wa s loso —Msr. Fillmore voting adverse t o th e mo ti on to suspend the rules, and against th e South, and in company with Adams and Giddings. On the same day, Mtr. Slade of Vermont, moved resolutions against the slave trade between the District. of Columbia and the States; against the same trade between the States? and in favor of receiving, debating, printing, and referring Abolition petitions. On the motion to suspend the rule s fo r tblhe purpose of tintroduci ng these resolu tions, which was lost, Mr. Fillhnore again voted against the South, in favor of suspending the rules, and in company with Adams and Giddings. On the 31st of December, 1839, Mr. Coles moved to suspend the rules, for the purpose of moving a resolution against the reception of Abolition petitions; which motion was lost; M,r. Fillmore voting against a suspension of the rules, and in company with Adams and Giddings. On the 28th of January, 1840, the famous 21st rule was adopted, which precluded the reception or entertainment in any way of an abolition petition. On a(lopti-ng th,i~s rule, Mr. Filllnore again voted against the South, in the negative. On the 9tli of December, 1840, Mfr. Adams, of Massaclitsetts, moved a repeal of this last rule. Mr. Jenifei, of Marylanid, moved to lay the motion on the table; which was carried; Mr. Filliiiore voting in the negative, against the South. On1 thle 21st of January, 1841, M~r. Adams presentedl an abolition petition. Mr'. Connor mlovedl to lay) a patrt of it, not eznbraeed Xwitldin the effect of th~e 21st rulet on th~e table. On the votes taken in reference to this petition, 2 3 if Mr. Clay was designated for the Presideney. Ie 8, had e arly adopt ed the opinion that Mr. Cl[ty aVsts unpopular and unavailable. So theinking, ole got tip and.cmanaged a caucus of the New York refrs ibers of Congress in 1839, S vt which aT letter Was agnieed upoIl and signed, ter. Mdi tcllere only dissenting, advisin g the New York delegation ill the Harrisburg Con ventioit, to bring out Gen. Harrison, and not r. Clay, for the camlpaign of 1840. He retaiine(r the same opinion of n Mr. Clay's lnavailtl)ility in 1848, whicch was inc reased by hst apprehensions that Mr. Cloy's declaratio ns in the ineantiite in reference to the slavery ques tion, awould itake him fata lly obnoxious to the free sentim,ent of the North. Mr. Fillmore doubted whether it would be possible to sup )or t e ven Gen. Taylor at th e Nor th, in conse quence o d pln ad art of the prevlence and larmth of these seintio menets. hlis final c ioclfion, comneuni cated at the last momen t to his friends leaving tfor the Philade lphi a Convention, was, abs olutely to refuse the use of his name i f Mr. Clay iwas nominated for the Presidency, and that hle did not desire his nam, to be used, if the nomination fell upon Gen.'T'aylor. In ofact, he was nominated upon the ticket wi th Gen era l Taylor, and it is only necessary to observe that this was so done, for the sole purpos e of conciliating anti-slavery s upport to thee ticket. Mr. Fillmore was known througl lout the country, as a decided anti-slavery man, and it was hoped and isbelieved tha t h is name would reconcile Nortlern voters to the support of General Taylor, and so th e event. proved. The original draft of Mr. Fillmore' s letter, accepting the nomination for the Vice-Prost — . dency, was submit ted to hi s friends, and un der their advice, was not published, until cer tain extreme anti-slavery sentiments were stricken out, which, in their judgmen t, wo nul dh have been f atal t o the Whig party atthe South. After his elevation to the Vice-Presidency, )fr. Fillmore took a new departure in politics, and I propose to point out some of the cir-, cumstances which preceded and attended it. In the year 1839, Mr. Seward being Gov — eraor of New York, a bill was passed by the Legislature of that State, creating the office of Vice-chancellor for Western New York. This office was given by Gov. Seward to Frederick Whittelsey of Rochester,'the bill creating it having passed the Legislature with the general understanding that that appointment would be made under it. Before the final completion of these proceedings, hr. Fillmore, then at Washington, wrote a letter to a distinguished gentleman at Albany, err pressing his own wish for this appointment, if it could be given to him consistently with the arrangements of the Whig -party. Inures ply, Mr. We~ed apprised him of the cireum In 1847, as a canididate for thle Comnptrollerslil), lie wAas the head of the New York State WViii, ticket, whiclh was iun upon a pla.tfoi-rm, wvclichI proclaims "since the crisis has arrived wiven the question i1nst be miet, uncollil)rolllising hostility to the extension of slatvery iiito aniy territory now fibee, or wdnicli nmay liereatter be acqniire(I by any action oft' the goveirnmient of o01r Union " Il 1818, wve find lilni instigating I-oii. N. K. IIHal, h is la w partner aind special politicali friend, a fteearwards his Postmiaster-Geieral, to im o ve a resolu ti on lere, whlichi has more practic al abolitionism in it tliail any proposition ,ver at, itate d ili Congress. The resolution I am about to read, wa s prepared by Mir. Hall i n concer t with Mr. Fillmore, and was iolly approved b y Mr. Fillmore. " Resolved. Thia,it the Committee on the Judiciary be, and they are hereby, directed to report to this hiouse, with all convenient speed, a bill reopealing all laws of Cong ress, and abrl)ogatiring, so fir as they are operative or in force in the District of Columbia, all laws of the State of iaryland wvliclh authorize or require the courts, officers, or magistrates of the United States, or of the said District, witllin the District of Co]umbia, to issue process for arrest, or commit to the jail of the said I)istrict, any runaways or other slave or fugitive from service, or colored person claimed as such, except on due complaint and proof of, or on a conviction for, some crime or misdeneanor, the commission of which by any free whiite person would authorize in the same manner the arrest, commitment, and detention of such whlite person in like manner charged with or convicted thereof." This resolution is preceded by an elaborate pre,,tnlble, in which, among other things, it is declared that the use of the jails in the Dist ricto oiafo We aeeth of Colubi r te detention of fugitive slaves, is " repugnaznt to the feelings of a large majority of the people of the United States." In 1848, Mr. Fillmnore was nominated and elected Vice-Presi(lent on the same ticket with Gen. Taylor. Thie suggestion that he aliglht receive this nomination, was a matter of consideration and discussion for some time before it was ma(le, bv Mr. Fillmore and his fiiends. As a question of personal interest, liMr. Fillmore hesitated and wavered in d,cidiDg wlether to solicit this nomination, or to reserve himself,s a candidate for the Unite(] States senatorship. On one point, his mind was inade up firom first to last. He would -not accept the Vice-Presidential nomination, [Congress',onal Globe, Volume 18, p. 890.] On the 28tli of Febrtiai-y, 18-18, llon. N. K. of New York, offere(I the followin,, reso 11 lutioli in the Ilouse: 4 stances attending the creation of the office. Mr. Fillmore, however, never forgave Gov. Seward for his failure to gratify him in this matter. In reference to some of the appointments made by General Taylor for the State of New York, opposing recommendati on s w e re mad e by Gov. Seward and Mr. Fillmore. The latter gentleman complained, although really without cause, th at he d id n o t have that weight with Gen eral Taylor to which he was entitled. In the end, a coolness grew up between Gen. Taylor and Mr. Fillmore, which carried Mr. Fillmore by insensible degrees into the camp of their common enemies. Becoming more an m omor e estr ange d fr om General Taylor, he joined himself to the opposition raised by the South and by the democratic party to General Taylor's territorial policy, and at length became a prominent and conspicuous member of the coterie of Union savers. Nor did he fail to take an early advantage of his new political connections, to gratify the views in respect to the distribution of office, disappointment in which was the sole cause of his opposition to the soldier and patriot then administering the government. In a speech delivered in California in the fall of 1854, Mr. Foote of Mississippi lets us into some of these secret movements. After recapitulating the points of one of his speeches in the United States Senate, in which he had denounced the free-soil movements and nominations to office of General Taylor, Mr. Foote says: From this period, Mr. Fillmore was against his old friends and his old principles. As President he acted with the South and with the Democrats. Whig members of Congress had no access to him, and no influence with him. It was at the end of his administration that honest John Davis of Massachusetts, with bowed head and desponding heart, made the memorable declaration that "slavery rules everything." A distinguished member of this House from Maine, Mr. Washburn, has informed the public that Mr. Davis said to him, that he felt himself as much a stranger in the White House after the accession of Mr. Fillmore, as he did during the administration of Mr. Polk. What was true of Mr. Davis, the tried and trusted leader of the Whigs of Massachusetts, was true of all the Whigs of the North who held fast to old principles. Mr. Fillmore received his reward in the unanimous support of the South in the Whig convention of 1852. But between himself and the true Whigs of the North, he had, with his own hands, erected an impassable wall of separation. No personal disappointments could justify Mr. Fillmore in forming his new alliances against Gen. Taylor, but in truth, nothing had occurred of which he had the least right to complain. Gen. Taylor was a just, upright and sagacious man. Instead of finding Mr. Fillmore an impartial counsellor, taking a broad view of things, he found him intent at all times on advancing his peculiar, personal interests. At the first interview between them in Washington, Mr. Fillmore demanded that his partner, Mr. Hall, should be appointed Governor of Minnesota, and that Mr. Foote, the editor of his paper, the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, should be appointed Minister at Constantinople. Gen. Taylor could not but see, and he did see, that Mr. Fillmore was a mere office broker, for his particular friends, instead of being a reliable adviser for the general good of a common party. Again, at Erie, when Gen. Taylor was lying there sick, and so sick, that, to use his own expression, he " could not tell night from day," Mr. Fillmore came up from Buffalo, not to minister to him, not to comfort him, but to extort a promise from him, the performance of which he afterwards exacted, that his friend, Mr. Stuart, should be appointed Architect of public buildings. Gen. Taylor noted the s e and similar things, and often, before his death, spoke of them with grief and indignation. I know that there are many Whigs at the North, who still hold in good faith to the old "I had not long taken m y sea t bef or e Mr. Badger of North Carolina, one of the pur est a nd most p atrio ti c men that ever occupied a place in the national counci l, came to m e a nd s tated that Vice-Presiden t Fillmore, f the the n presiding officer of the Senate, had requested him to mak e known to me that he perfectly concurred in the views which I had just expressed, and tha t h e would be pleased to have an interview with me on the subject in th e official rooms o f the Capitol, at the hour of nine o'clock on the next morning. I pr omised to attend upon him at the time and place specified. I did so. " Without going into particulars at present, it is sufficient for me to say that I obtained by the direction of Mr. Fillmore from the hands of an accredited friend of his, a list of the nominees subject to the objection of being agitators on the question of slavery. This whole catalogue of worthies was disposed of in the Senate, in other words they were sacrificed to the peace of the country; save one or two, whose nominations remained to be acted upon on the last night of the session of Congress. They were disposed of by Mr. Fillmore himself on the same night; for just before the clock struck twelve, this gentleman, being then President, sent in a s,vecial message, withdrawing all the offewive nominatiom, and substituting others in their stead." 5 principles of the Whig party of the North, who incline to support Mr. Fillmore. Let me warn such men, that the rancor of a renegade always surpasses the hostility of an original enemy, and that we have more to hope, (I speak now as an original Whig,) from Mr. Buchanan, than from Mr. Fillmore, who hates his old associates and his old principles, from the consciousness, which he cannot escape, that he has been false to both. Implacable enmity to all the true men of the North, and thorough devotion to the politicians of the South; these make up the personal relations, never again to be changed, of Mr. Fillmore. Here was no approval of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. On the contrary, the reference to "obnoxious acts" and "violated pledges," was intended, either to condemn it, or to carry the appearance of condemning it. But in respect to all present and future action, which is its only practical aspect, this section sustains the Nebraska act as a thing settled and not to be disturbed. This twelfth section offended the great body of the northern Americans, and at a separate convention holden at Cincinnati in the fall of 1855, in which this northern wing was largely represented, the following resolution was adopted: The present platform of the American party, adopted in February last, and upon which Mr. Fillmore now stands, is precisely the same as the Cincinnati platform, so far as the Kansas-Nebraska policy is concerned. This is clear from its language, and equally so from its history. The first platform of the American party, adopted in June, 1855, contained the celebrated "Twelfth section," now expunged, and which was as follows" "XII. The American party having arisen upon the ruins, and in spite of the opposition, of the Whig and Democratic parties, cannot be in any manner responsible for the obnoxious acts or violated pledges of either. And the systematic agitation of the slavery question by those parties having elevated sectional hostility into a positive element of political power, and brought our institutions into peril, it has, therefore, become the imperative duty of the American party to interpose for the purpose of giving peace to the country and perpetuity to the Union. And, as experience has shown it impossible to reconcile opinions so extreme as those which separate the dispu- i tants, and as there can be no dishonor in submitting to the laws, the National Council has deemed it the best guarantee of common justice and of future peace, to abide by and maintain the existing laws upon the subject of slavery as a final and conclusive settlement of that subject, in spirit and in substance. II And regarding it the highest duty to avow their opinions upon a subject so important in distinct and unequivocal terms, it is hereby declared, as the sense of this National Council, that Congress possesses no power under the Constitution to legislate upon the subject of slavery in the States where it does or may exist, or to exclude any State from admission into the Union because its Constitution does or does not recognize the institution of slavery as a part of its social system; and expressly pretermitting any expression of opinion upon " Th a t the repea l of the Missouri Compro — mise was an infraction of the plighted faith of the nation, and that it should be restored; and if efforts to that end should fail, Congress should refuse to admit into the Union any State tolerating slavery, which shall be formed out of any portion of the Territory firom which that institution was excluded by that compromise." This was the most moderate form to which the demands of the northern Americans could then be reduced. In February last, the party met again in national convention, and having set aside the platform of June, 1855, adopted a new one, of which the two following are the only clauses which relate to the Nebraska controversy: "Seventh. The recogntlasn af the r ight of the native-born and naturalized citizens of the United States permanently residing in any Territory thereof, to frame their constitution and laws, and to regulate their domestic and social affairs in their own mode, subject only to the provisions of the Federal Constitution, with the right of admission into the Union whenever they have the requisite population for one Representative in Congress." the power of Congress to establish or prohibit slavery in any Territory, it is the sense of the National Council that Congress ought not to legislate upon the subject of slavery within the Territories of the United States, and that any interference by Congress with slavery as it exists in the District of Columbia would be a violation of the, spirit and intention of the compact by which the State of Maryland ceded the District to the United States, and a breach of the national faith." The American Party Platform. " Thirteenth. Opposition to the reckless and unwise policy of the present Administratioia, in the general nmnagqment of our nationaj affairs, and more ospeciaUy a.,; shown in 6 'by a majority of the whole people, is a redress of an undeniable wrong, and the restoration of it, in spirit at least, indispensable to the repose of the country, they have regarded the refulsal of that Convention to recognize the well defined opinion of the country, and of the Americans of the free States, upon this question, as a denial of their rights, and a rebuke to their sentiments. A e ti Many Northern members having left the Convention upon these grounds, Ali-. Fillinore obtained the nomination, receiving the Southern votes, with the exception of a few given. to Garret Davis, of Ky., and General Houston. 14 of the 15 delegates from Virginia voted for Mr. Fillmnore, and so did unanimously the delegations fiom ~[alrylgnd, Delaware, North Carolina,l Missouri, Alabamna, Arkansas, Florida, and Mississippi. And thus the Soutlh obtained the platform it wanted, and the man of its choice. This thing was and is understood by the Southern members of that Convention, precisely as it was by the Northern members. The South came off the substantial winner, although, for theatrical effect, it was thought best to shed a few tears over the departed "twelfth section." Mr. Zollicoffer, a member of this House, from Tennessee, was a member of that Convention, and he has told us here, exactly what the true scope of the new platform is. I will quote from his reported speech. In the House on the 3rd of April, 1856, [Appendix to Cong. Globe, 1st session, 34th Cong. page 355,] Mr. Zollicoffer said: removing Americans' (by designation) and conservatives in principle fromn office, and placing foreigners and ultrai.ts in their places; as shown in a truckling subserviency to the stronger, and an insolent and cowardly bravado towards the weaker powers; as shown in reopening sectional agitation, by the repeal of the Missouri compromise," &cq. A s t o the past, th is ne w platform differs from the old platform, inasmuch as it expressly condenes the repeal of th e M issouri Compromise, whereas the old one does so only by in ference and construction, if it does so at all. As to the p resent and future, the two platforms are identical, both upholding the Nebraska policy of Judge Dougla ss, and both repu diating Congressional control over the Territories, u nder preten(te of giving to the citizens thereof th e right t o gov ern themselves. Practically, it is of no moment, what individual s, or partie s, t hink of h ree o the repeal of the Missouri Comprom ise. The important question is, what shall now be done? Shall the D ouglass swindle be acquiesced in, or shall the C omp romise be restored, in let te r or substanc e? But while t his is the only practical question, I must take occasion to say that I find it easier to respect those who sustain the Douglass policy, as right in principle, than those who condemn it, a nd at the s ame time sustain it. The Northern members of the February Convent ion, saw at once that th is new platform was as c omplet e a r epu dia tion of their views as the old one. A resolution was offered by one of them that " we will nominate no candidate for President or Vice President, woho is not in favor of interdicting the introduction of slavery north of 363 30'." A motion was made to lay this resolution on the table, and it was carried-yeas 141, nays 59. The resolution to proceed to a ballot having passed, the Convention was about to do s.o, when Mr. Perkins of Connecticut, announced the secession from the Convention of the delegates of that State, which was followed by Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Ohio, and portions of the delegates of Illinois, Iowa. and Pennsylvania. These sece(ling members put forth an address to the public, of which the f,llowin, is the material portion: " The undersigned, delegates to the Nominating Convention now in session at Philadelphia, find themselves compelled to dissent from the principles avowed by that body; and holding the opinion, as they do, that the restoration of the Missouri Compromise, demanded "My colleague makes the point against me, that the thirteenth section embraces a specification against the Administration, for'reopening sectional agitation by a repeal of the Missouri Compromise.' I will inform my colleague that I proposed to strike out that specification, and every specification in the thirteenth section; but there being much disorder at the time, I failed to succeed. * * * The question was subsequently about being put in the American council,-sshall the new platform be adopted in lieu of the old? when some member proposed a division of the question, which was agreed to, and the vote was first taken upon striking out the old platform, I voted against striking out, but the proposition was carried. Then the question recurred upon adoption of the Neto platforms. I voted for its adoption. I did it just as I voted for the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1854, with some minor objections, which I stated at the time. * * * But to make the most of that specification in the platform, it is but an expression of opinion as to a bygone ism, while the seventh section of the platform lays down a vital prin 7 ,iple of action for the present and the fqttitre, covering the wlhole groud nd E and REASSERTIN(, Ill I,EAI)ING PR-LINCIPLE EMlI eO DIED B() I IN TlHIE OLI) TWVELFTII SECTION ANI) IN THlE NEB'RASKA ACT." Thuls it is clear, that tihe American platform,s for all substantial purposes, is identical withl the Cinicinlnati Ipl)atformn. To the samie effect, another Fillmore memicber of this I-louse, lion. Char-les Ready of Tennessee, in a recent letter to his constituents, says: "W We see a political party presenting candi dates for the Presidency and Vice Presidency, selected for the first time from the free States alone, wvithl the avowed purpose of electing these candidates by suffrages of one part of the Union only, to rule over the whole United States. Can it be possible that those who are engaged in such a measure can have seriously re flected upon the consequences which must inevitably follow, in case of success? [Cheers.] Can they have the madness or the folly to believe that our southern brethren waoul(t submit to be governed by such a Chief Magistrate? [Cheers.] Suppose that the South mhaving a majority of the electoral votes, should declare that they would only have slave —liolders for President and Vice President; and shiould elect such by their exclusive suffrages to rule over us at tile North; do you think we would submit to it? No, not for a moment. [Applause.] And do you believe that your southern brethren are less sensitive on this subject than you are, or less jealous of their rights?7' "It is true, ]fr. Fillmore was opposed to the rep e al of tire Missouri restriction; and some, it liiay be mlany, of his supporters, ere also opposed to i t. Therein, the re was a difference of opinion between us. " But all th ose things are past. we musten n ow l ook to the f1utre. Will there, in the future, be an issue between us? Is -ir. Fillmore now, and will he hereafter be, in favor of restorin, the Missouri restriction? Ile is 7cnowzoi to be o]>posed to at,' agitatioi on the subject of slavrc2y, AND TO STAND BY THIE EXISTI.(G LAWS. Then, there is no practical issue between us upon this point, nor is there between him and Mr. Buchanan. He also holds to the right of the Territory to admission into the Union, with a constitution prohibiting or establishing Slavery, as the people may therein provide. In this, we also agree with each other, and with Mr. Buchanan. Surely, then, I can support him without any inconsistency or change of political opinion." Certainly, Mr. Fillmore advances rapidly. In 1848, an abolitionist; in 1850, a Union man; in 1856, a Nullifier. What next? By no possibility can Mr Fillmore get a northern vote in the electoral colleges. In all probability, he can get none anywhere. If, however, the election is accidentally thrown into this House, not a solitary northern State is in his favor, as represented here. In any wise, his whole strength is at the South. His party is there. The control of it lies there. The northern Americans are mere bobs to a southern kite, just as the northern Democrats are. The only question between the Buchanan and Fillmore palrties is, which of two parties, both intensely and exclusively southern, shall vault into power. Now, I assert here, that the thirty Fillmore members of this House. from the South, are even more rapidly and furiously pro-slavery than the Democrats from the South are. They united in the attempt to make Governor Aiken, with his fifteen hundred slaves, Speaker. They resisted, to a man, the investigation into the Kansas outrages, and to a man, they resist every measure of redress. To a man, they voted against the restoration of the Missouri compromise, as provided in Mr. Dunn's bill. Mr. Fillmore talw,s, just as his platform reads. Following that lead, he condemns the repeal of the Missouri Comnpromis e, and he wsays that he w as oppos ed to it iohe, ipt woas don e. I believe this to be an after thought. Not one word, n ot one line, was give n to the public by Mr. Fillmore in 1854, against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He was then m akin; a tour through the South, delivering speeches, and whining about the "Union," just as he is now. Not a lisp did he utter against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, u nti l the cue was given him in this platform. ;Following the same cue, he avoids saying any thin, about restoring the Compromise. Not only does Mr. Fillmore thus adopt a platform, in no respect better than the one which is sinking Mr. Buchanan, beyond the reach of the plummet, but he himself superadds to it, nullification, disunion and treason. This is strong language, but it is borne out by the truth. Mr. Fillmore does not merely predict disunion, but he incites and approves it. .,IH does not merely say that the South will di,-,solve the Union if Col. Fi-einont is elected, but that they oii,lit to dissolve, it, and iv, ould be doiii,, no more than the North would do under siliilar cii-cuiiistances. -At Albany, June the 26th, Mr. Fillmore said: 'Who will su.pport and control Mr. Fillmore? Mr. Fiillmore's Po-sition. 8 To a man, they voted to keep General Whitfield, the bogus Delegate from Kansas, in his seat. On everything, bearing directly or indirectly upon slavery, *they vote to a man. They did so on the contested seat between Messrs. Allen and Archer, of Illinois. They threaten disunion if the Missouri restriction is restored. On the 20th of last December, (Appendix to Congressional Globe, page 30,) Mr. Cox, of Kentucky, said: "1 Taking the record of this Congress in the various tests that have been applied and the relative position and votes of the three parties, I am forced to the conclusion, by every principle of reason, policy, and philosophy, that the South Americans must and will, ultimately unite with the Democratic party, and those who claim to be Americans North with the republican party." "When you tell me that you intend to put a restriction on the Territories, I say to you, that upon that subject the South is a unit, and will not submit to any such thing." "The interests, sympathies, and legitimate and proper identity of the South Americans are with the national democratic party of the country." On the 19th of last December, (Appendix to Congressional Globe, page 56,) Mr. Campbell, of Kentucky said: Undoubtedly this is so and to sincere men, holding sincere opinions upon the great question of slavery extension, it must be apparent, that as affecting the result, the election of Mr. Fillmore will be precisely the same as the election of Mr. Buchanan. They are both southern candidates, having their strength at the South, and certain to be controlled by the South, if elected. I am aware, as I have said once before, that many persons at the NMrth, honestly opposed to the extension of slavery, are still inclined to Mr. Fillmore, from a misapprehension of his true position. To such men I have particularly designed to address myself. Can they believe, upon a fair review of the whole case, that freedom has anything to hope from the success of Mr. Fillmore? We are upon the eve, sir, of important; political movements, and I intend to speak plainly. It is fast becoming apparent that Mr. Fillmore has no effective strength and can carry no single State. His friends still cling to Maryland as a forlorn hope, but they must soon abandon even that State. If Mr. Fillmore is not formally withdrawn, he will be substantially dropped. The bulk of his present supporters at the North will, in that event, rally under the broad banner of Fremont and Freedom. Not so, I fear, with Mr. Fillmore himself and his immediate advisers. It is my most deliberate judgment that they prefer Mr. Buchanan to Col. Fremont, and that th ey will keep Mr. Fillmore in the field, or withdraw him, just as may be thought best for the interes t s of the democratic party. In my opinion, there is not in all the Northern States a man more completely and irretrievably wedded to the South, by his sympathies on the one hand and his hatreds on the other, than Mr. Fillmore. Since 1850, he has been with the South and with the democratic party, and he will never return to the friends whom ".Resolved, That in view of the increased dangers that threaten the institutions of the South, this convention deems it necessary to, and does hereby, reindorse an d a dop t the follow ing resolution, known as the Georgia platform, to wit: That the State of Alabama, in t he judgm ent of thi s convention, will and ought tlo resist, (as a last resort,) to a disruption of every tie which binds her to the Union, any action of Congress upon the subject of slavery in the District of Columbia, or in places subject to the jurisdiction of Congress, incompatible with the safety, the domestic tranquillity, the rights and honor of the slaveholding States; or any act suppressing the' slave trade between the slaveholding States; or any refusal to admit as a State any territory applying, because of the existence of slavery therein; or any act prohibiting the introduction of slaves into the territories; or any act repealing, or materially modifying, the laws now in force for the recovery of fugitive slaves." Ho-tise, [Afr. Watkinm, of Tennessee,] himself' elected as an.,erican to his seat here: An(I again, in the same letter, Afr. Watkins says: 11 It is an interference with our institutions when our citizens are denied the same rights in the new territories with the citizens from the North, for that territory belongs to us as much as it does to you. * "Whenever this Government makes a distinction between a southern and northern constituency or citizenship, then we shall no longer consil'er ourselves bound to support the Confederacy, but will resort to the right of revolution, which is recognized by all." The, following is one of the resolutions of the last American State convention in Alabama: It is usele,-,,; to miiltiply quotations further. The whole thing is stated with exactness and truth in a letter addressed, on the 2d iiist., to citizens of New Jersey, by a niember of this 9 he has betrayed. They expect nothing from t him but implacable hostility to the last. 1 But to the great body of his present supporters at the North, I appeal with confidence. Come over to your natural allies. Unite the North and thereby tranquilize the Union. In the presence of an united and irresistible North, the madness of Southern nullification would be arrested. Men of all parties of the South are rushing to the support of Mr. Buchanan, as the pledged representative of Southern sectional interests. Has freedom less power than slavery, to produce concert, and arouse sympathies? The support of Mr. Fillmore at the South, at this moment, is a mere sham to keep alive a Fillinore party at the North, so as to defeat the election of Col. Fremont. Will the intelligent people of the North be longer deceived? Mfr. Fillmore has delivered many speeches since his return from Europe, but in not one of them has he expressed either sympathy for the down-trodden people of Kansas, or indignation against those who have oppressed them. He has proposed no measure of redress for their wrongs, and he has offered co-operation in no such measure. For the cause of liberty, so fearfully imperiled by the wants in Kansas, he has uttered no word of cheer, or counsel, or hope. He has been as silent and as cold as the grave, upon a theme which has stirred the freemen of this country, as they have not been stirred since the days of the Revolution. He has eyes and ears for nothing but the Presidency, and that to be reached by the support of the South. Hle has no voice, and no heart, for the North which he has abandoned. And for what cause, and on what pretence, is the North to be persuaded to divide its strength at this crisis? For an issue and a question, which, in all its political aspects, has been abandoned by his friends upon the floor of this House. A session of Congress of nearly nine months is near its termination, and no friend of Mr. Fillmore here has moved any change in the Naturalization laws, a change in which is the o nly substantial object pro posed by the American organization. The thirty Southern friends of Mr. Fillmore have been active enough and sealous enough, when ever or wherever the interests of slavery have been concerned. Not one thought, or one mo ment, have they given to this pretended issue of Amerietnism, with which they hope to divide the N0Tth and seeure to themselves the con trol of this continent forever. Is it po ssible that the intelligence of the free States will be deceived by pretences so flimsy? Who has forgotten the declaration made on this floor, during the contest for the Speakership, by Hon. Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky, the bold and frank leader of Mr. Fillmore's thirty Southern members of this House? " I w1ill FIRST take care of the niggers, and then take care of the Irish and Dutch!" This was the out-spoken declaration of Mr. Marshall. Slavery first, and Americanism afterwards; this is the motto and the practice of the 5outh. Slavery swallows up everything else, and controls everything else. And who is running for the Vice-Presidency on the same ticket with Mr. Fillmore! Mr. Donelson, of Tennessee, who, on the day of his nomination, boasted of his rAe hundred negroes, as the proof and giieantee of his fidelity to the " institutions " of the South! The ticket presented to us is not Fillmore alone, bad as that would be, but Fillmore and' Danelson, " niggers " and all. The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, urging the claims of Mr. Fillmore upon the South, makes the following statement as to the sentiments which he expressed during the Southern tour of 1854: Of the fact that Mr. Fillmc,*'s original opinions or "anti-Slavery pre8,whices" have been th orough ly " obliterated " there can be no questio n, but the date and cause of the obliter ation are not co rrectly given in this extract. It was not the Southern tour of 1854, but the Washinigton intrigues of 1850, which did the work. It was not what Mlt. Fillmore saw of "the happy condition of the sltaves" at the South, but what he had seen of " the happy condition " of politicians at this seat of power, attaining fortune and prosperity by subserviency to the interests of slavery. It was this spectacle of what has been, but may not always continue, which " obliterated" every single free principle of Mr. Fillmore's youth and manhood. " Having made the tour of the Southwestern Slave States, he announced on the steps of theState House door in Montgomery, that the anti-Slavery prejudices of his early education had been obliterated by what he had seen in the South of the, hap.py condition of the slave." i 10 LEIT'ER FRO-I GEORGE LAW ON TIlE POLIITICAL CRISIS. the sam-e oligarchy that has wielded his power DA during his administration, as at'osolntelv as if he had 1no will or iiindrl of his own, and had no re spolnsibility to anly section of the Union except to the 3,50,0)0 slaveholders of the Southl, who now control the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Sencate. The only voice the Fre States lhave in the Fc(leril Government is in the House of Repre scentatives. Is it not fair to expe ct that if Mr. Buchd nan should be elec t ed, the evils that the countr y has experienced for the last three years will go on in creasing dtlriing his administration until the \North erii mind wi ll submit no longer to be cheated, bullied, defied, and deprived of its ju-st rights and fair repr esentations in the Federal Govern ment. As one of the leading features of the coming administration, slavery is to be forced into Kan sas. Thic rivers, the great higlhwvay of the nation through Missouri, a Slave State, are to be closed. as they are at present, to the fi-enemce of the North who desire to emi-fgrate to that territory. Those great thoroughfares which have heretofore been looked upon as the pride of the nation, and that steam has rendered so valuable for the tran sportation of persons or property, must be closed to the freemenli of the North, or they must be sub jected to examination, insult, loss of property, and turned back, unless they proclaim themselves in favor of the institution of slavery in this terri tory. Such means as these are made use of to force slavery into Kansas. When free emnigrants arrive there, after all these difficulties and delays have been surmounted, they must undergo another examination, and swear allegiance to the government of the slave power organized in Kansas by the Missouri mob, or be deprived of the right of franchise and of holding office. This is the operation of squatter sovereignty, which deprives a man of his citizenship, unless he swears fidelity to slavery; and all this is to be carried out and put in execution by an armed force, furnished from Missouri-the adjoining Slave State; and the Federal Government, with Federal troops in the Territory, will look on calmly without interferin-, so long as the Missouri mob succeeds to enforce slavery upon Kansas; but if the men from the Free States, who believe in free speech, free territory, free labor, free press, and free men, should be too numerous for the slave labor, then the Federal troops organized for this special purpose, under the command of a Southern favorite of a Southern secessionist Secretary of War, are to interfere and decide the contest in favor of Slavery in Kansas. So much for the chances of Northern principl,es and Northern men in K ansas, and all that vast territory North of 36~ 30', secured to freedom by solemn compact, in which the great minds of the country united to build up and preserve to freedom, and which the pigmies and traitors, aided by this corrupt administration, have attempitedl to pull down and destroy. Here is where Gen. Pierce stands, and here is where NEW YORK, Jtly 3, 13,. DEAR SIR: I beg to aclwnowle dges the receipt of y ou r l etter of the 26th ult. I lave carefully fe fected upon its contents. In reply, I be, to state to you t ht I deeply regret no more perfect eunion has b een effected b a th o se whose duty it was to hav e acc omplished tihat object- to unitc the l itoe le elements of opposition o to the present corrupt ad ministration, wielded as it is by the extreme slave oligarchy of the South. For the last three years, this same oligarcllhy has used the entire poawer tbid patronage of the General Govlernment to crush out all independen t action anod thon est epresenta tion on the part of the North, to pcase p Northern dla en who were willing to aisrepmes tent their constitu ent s from personal motives, and for promises offavor from the present corrupt adbnin istration. All good men who have the love of their coun try at heart, both i n the oNorth and in the South, should unite cordially in a common effort to de stroy th e vipe r that has coiled around the free dom and independence of the American people. F reedom of speech is prohibited il the uallsg of Congress: bowie-knives and revo lvers are worn as dbily appendxages at the Capitol as a me ans of assault and defence. The Senate declares itself not on l y powerless for punishment, but even palsie d f or protec t ion. Its members look quietly on and see a memb er s tricken dow n in open day in the Senate chamber, withou t eve n t he common efsort of humannity that woul d be exercised in a bar-room to save a ma n prostrated, with out an opportunity of defending himself. Thu s you see that those who represent thei r constituents honestly, and by unanswerable arguments, and who cann ot be purchased by Executivem favor, mus t be awed i n to silence by bowie-kniva,s bludgeons, and revolve rs. Such is the scheme of Governm ent inaugurated under the Pierce dynasty, and fostered by th e Southern sectional power that supports it. Upon this b asis, an d into the arms of this power, the nominee of the Cincinnati Convention surrenders himself before the country, without the slighte st reservation or individual independence of his own. What has the country to exp ect if Mr. Buchaanan succeeds? Nothein better than what it has experienced under Mr. Pierce, and perhaps s omething worse. Onie is an old mpan without independence of m ind, o r e n ergy of cl3aractcr, which the country is forewarned of by his declaration, that he is no lon ger J ames Buchanan, and has no views or opinions of his own, and is therefore the pliant instrument of the Slave power tha t nomi nat ed him at Cincinnati, and must ref lect their views only. I t will b e we ll for the American people to remember th is whe n t hey cast their vote for chief magistrate in November next. The other came into office, a man in the prime of life, without any such submission or pledges, backed up by almost the unanhious voice of the ceuntrv ill his election, and vet he was note three weeks'in off'ce before he surrendered himself to 11 Smith lack in one ship. Mr. Fillmore ordered the UInLited States mails to be taklen from the vessel, Aoand notitied the owners that if the ship was fired ua)on I)v the Cutlibtn authorities, and damiaged or (testroye(l, that tlhey would have no cluim upoIl this Govein ielnt for remunuerationi. The comt entlder of' thei Crescenot City was remov ed by his order, lie eei;ig Jn iehtt o icer of the U nit ed S tta t es Navy, Stnd uolnder or the President's control. Aniotlhex would dart)etor wtttran appoiin-te d by the ownersl. He, too, wzt,, rem,-oved by Mlr. Fillniore's orders. The ship wdsgs flled t e t G,0ao a for not carryi ng the Unite d Stbhttes oICails, lIwhen the Uoniteod States G overnment or dir. tFiosllmo re withheld them. The insurance ol'ices in New-York were either frightened by the course of Sir. Fillmyiore, or influenced by him to wito,ell)d their insurance front property shipped b y the stet' t,h-iat PLItts,r S~lmith avts on board of. The oNhiicimeb of the Crescent Citv had to insure the propeity o f the shippers. Thea palssernt ers on board of her were not allow~ed to be landed in C(ala. The owvniers persevered in what they con sidlereod their proper rights, and the rights of an Amiierican citizen, and refused to dismiss Purser Smith, until the Captain-General of Cuba wEDs obliged to rescind the mandate against Purser Smith. This is the mode in which the rights of an Amkierican citizen had to be vindicated whiie Mr. Fillmore was President. This is the same Mr. Fillhnore that you recommend me to support as an American. Now, sir, can you support him as an American? Can the American Party support him as an American? Is he the proper representative of the American people? These are facts for the American people to look at before they vote. For my part, Mr. Fillmore would be the last man I would support in the whole country as the stan dard bearer of the great American Partv. What has Mr. Fillinore ever done for this coun try or the American Party? Where are his acts that are to be remembered or treasured up in the hearts of the people? What great interests has he ever advanced? Or has he been a mere office holder, without merit, except the merit of doing nothing? You are aware of the manner in which he was forced upon the American party by the Slave Oli garchy at Philadelphia, when he apparently re ceived the nomination of the Convention. In the letter to me you appear to lay great stress upon the course that the Republican party has seen fit to pursue, and that it has not met the American party half way in the great work of unit ing the whole North against the corrupt police of the present Administration and the power that controls the Cincinnati nominee. We will suppose that all this is true in relation to the Republican party. I myself do not think the Republican Con vciltion acted as wisely as it might have done, when the object was harmony of action to accom plish a great good for the whole country; but is this any reason why I should be diverted from the great purpose I hlave at heart, which is to unite all parties thaft think as I do ill relaltionl to the cor rapt policyr of the present Administration, ~nd the eontin1;:ation of that, policy if Mr. Buchanan shoulld be elected? No mwan, or set of men, what ever they: conduct may be, shall divert me for out, James Buchanan stands, w hile asking for the support of the fileomen of the North. A few words about Air. FillIiiore. Lot us examithe with whaft consis tency we, as Americsan, or tNoltlherl t freemen, ican support l himi. Whornt arce his anteedents? uWhen Presiiidenat of the Unit,(l Statts, wasli he not entirely subservienrt to the SIreei i'ols? Did he resist tlhe overtures of the Sla ve Or )ligr g chy of th e Sooth, or did l he become a willihitg ins t orumIentt lin tlihei lands? I ask you to look at his acts while President, and let them lmbe the answers to these queistions. I will refer youl to the Fnueeitiv te S rave Law, that mflaes the freeCane of thie hio Lh0 slavte e cSutchesC —tthat refuses toieA thee right of trial by jtiry-that centres thl e ri ght rdo of themdom of the dmain in one judge, iand gpas him ig a double fee if he declares him a spove, l id onl f hal f tihe eif le finds himts a freemen. This is the po wer that the slave PligarcIhv of the S'hotith exercise ant the North, where we have prohibite pproperty iln me n to our ownt citizens; and this nt bet ars the signatulre of Mbil lard Filllhore a is Pr e sident of the Unwited States. I ask you how l ie can expect the vote of the free North. Can you give him your vote? Can I give Aimn mi ine? Ar e these the views you and I enter tain in rel at ion to the rights and the duty of the people of the North or mankind? Now, sir, upon this qecstion alone, without going into all his o ther ac ts of subserviency to the South and the s lave p ower, let him stand for the suffrages of the freemen of the North. A s to th e Amirericainism of hr. Fillmore, you and I have some knowledge of how much he has done to sustain that party. Has he ever been identifi ed w ith it either in pr inciple or in fecliing? If so, where are his icts- on what occasion here tofore has he proclaimed it? What assist ance has he ever rende red us in all ou r contests? What were his antecedents to Americanism when Presi dent of the Un it ed St ate s? Did he then protect American interests or Amer icann men? I well recollect that he did not, and the country will recollect it too. When the Captain-General of Cuba issued his decree prohibiting the steamship Crescent City from touching at Havana so long as Mir. Smith,,an American citizen, was aboard of her as Purser, because, as they alleged, the Ierald and other papers in New York had published some informa tion from Havana that was distasteful to the Cuban Government, and which they charged to have been furnfished by Purser Smith, and, therefore, neither the Crescent City nor any other American ship should be allowed to touch at Havana having Mr. Smith on board, or any other person who would dare to furnish to the American press in formation disagreeable to the Catptaini-Geier,al of Cuba —Sr. Fillmore was apprised of this order by the owners of the Crescent City, and he was desired to take some action in relation to it for protection of American property and American citizenIs; hle miserably skulked the responsibility of his position, and Bled his interest with the owners to have Mr. Smith ~lismissed as purser, and to be replaced by somne one who was satisfac tory to the Captain-General of Cuba. This the owners refused to do} and sent Mr. I cultural interests by enlarging the field of pro duce and consumption. It has added hundreds of millions to the capital of the nation. By his explorations he has opened up the most central and convenient railroad route to California. He aided in the organization of California as a State. and devoted her institutions to freedom, and she acknowledged her indebtedness to Fremont, by sending him as her first Senator to Congress. He protected American interests in California. tle protected and advocated American interests in the Senat the at he United States. His antece dents are American. He rose by his own energy, his own industry, and his own merit. These are antecedents that will be appreciated by the Ame rican people. They are not the promises of to day of American principles under the expectation of the suffrages of the American party, but they are a history of his li fe fro m his youth upward, when actuated by no other motives than a true American heart, thoroughly devoted to the inte rests of his country. With this view of the subject, who are we to support? I have fairly canvassed the different candidates. So far as Americanism is concerned, we may as well support Mr. Buchanan as Mr. Fillmore. He has a fairer American record than Mr. Fillmore; and, as for the promises of old politicians, we all know what they are worth on the eve of an election. I do not mean to be cheated' by them, nor do I wish to see the American people, by pretensions that have no value, but that are entirely worthless. In relation to the subject of the extension of Slavery, we may as well suppor-t Mr. Buchanan as Mr. Fillmore. Mr. Buchanan promises that he will be governed by the Southern slaveholders, and Mr. Fillmore we know has already been governed by them. As to advancing the interests of the country, we may as well support Mr. Buchanan, as Mr. Fillmore. Neither of them has ever advanced, by any act of his own, the great industrial interests of the country. They have both been drones, living on office. The only difference that I see is, that Mr. Fillmore is about five years younger than Mr. Buchanan, and has that many chances less to die. You would laugh and ridicule the idea if I were to ask you to vote for Nr. Buchanan as a proper representative of the American party; it seems to me equally ridiculous that you should ask me to vote for Mr. Fillmore as the American Candidate. I shall give my support to John C. Fremont, as the best representative, in my estimation, of the American people and the American party. I am, with much respect, yours truly, GEORGE LAW. moment from the course I have marked out in the coming Presidential campaign. [intend to go for the man wvho most nearly re presentts the.~tmericant sentirmect, and the senti ment in relations to Slavery of the freemen of the -lorth, which declares that Slavery is sectional and that F'reecdore is natioael. At the same time I desire to have the best representative of the pro gress of the age ill which we live. I want a maln who has done something for the great material in terests of the country. I want to see his foot prints, not promnised, but already made in the di rection that has led to the development of the resources of our country-who has eila.rged the field upon which the labor an(d intelligence of our country is to be applied-one who has done some thing for American interests and American rights one who has done something forthe area of freedom -something for material progress and benefit to his fellow men. I want no10 old politician, with his host of dependents as seedy as himself. Let us have a man in the prime of life, full of energy, and yet sufficiently familiar with the vicissitudes of life to judge of men correctly-to appreciate the wants of the whole country-to avoid the intrigues and traps of politicians-to devote himself honestly and fearlessly to the interests of the country-to apply the resources of the Government to the accomplishment of such improvements as are national in their character, and that will result in the greatest benefit to the whole country -one who has no old political friends to reward, and no old political enemies to punish-one who will feel that he is elevated by the people and not by intrigue. Now, Sir, of the candidates who are before the people for the exalted position of Chief Magistrate, I prefer Jouw C. FREMONT. I prefer him because he is not an old hackneyed politician, ann all sold out. He is in the prime of life-43 years old. He has been brought into notice by the energy and exertion that he has evinced as a great explorer of the route to the Pacific Ocean. He first opened up the pathway through the wilderness that others followed to the golden fields of California, and gave the most accurate and extended view to the American people, of all that vast region of country between the borders of civilization on the Atlantic slope and the Pacific Ocean. He took an active part and was foremost in raising and sustaining the American flag in California, He commenced first and went all through the campaign with signal success, that ended in the acquisition of all that vast territory and wealth-that opened up to American enterprise and American energy such a field as has no parallel in history-which has advanced the country at least 25 years at a single bound. It gave us the facilities of increasing our commerce. It enabled us to extend largely our railways and other internal improvements, and thus has greatly increased our manufacturing and agri 12 To G. A. SCROGGS, E,q., Buffalo, N. Y. 13 CIIAUNCEY SHAFFER, ESQ., RENOUNCING FILLMORE. tension of human slavery by the action of the General Government), while Mr. Fillmore, to justify the claims of the South, in effect says, "Elect me, or the South, that loves me so well, shall not remain in the Union." As an American, I am not bound by the action of that Convention; rather let me say, I cannot submit to be bound by its action, any more than can my brethren of Massachusetts or Connecticut, and of every New England State. The American party of Massachusetts, in solemn council assembled, has declared for Mr. Fremont, and nominated electors favorable to his election: anid so has the State of Connecticut, and so will all New England do (for New England has a history), and so will the American party of this State act, excepting always a portion of the Silver Grey portion of that party. The latter portion will stand by Mr. Fillmore, notwithstanding he "has adopted the leading principles of that platform," the seventh section of which commits the American party to Slavery extension under the guise of squatter sovereignty; because this "portion of a portion" came into the order with the design of retrieving the fallen fortunes of Mr. Fillmore, as is proved by the attempted ostracism of the liberal-minded men of the order, and by the threats preceding and accompanying the Philadelphia Convention, that in the event of George Law's receiving the nomination for the Presidency, they with the Whig party proper, would nominate an out-and-out American Whig (meaning Mr. Fillmore, I presume), and also by letters now in existence, and which, I hope, will yet be published. I have not " re tur ned to the hea rty support of Fillmore and Donelson," nor w ill I do an y act or thing tending to sanction the outrages o f p rosla very, nullification bo rder ruffians, who, in addition to their outrages in Missouri and Kansas, of themselves sufficient to turn the cheek of darkness pale, have from 1852 until now, wrested the high powers of the nation from their legitimate purpose, to the strengthening of the slave oligarchy. There are other objections to my supporting Mr. Fillmore, founded upon the fact stated by the Citizen, that I belong to the Methodist Churck. The church owes slavery no particular good will; for slavery has renit that church in twain; has imprisoned women for teaching slaves to read the Bible, and has sought in every way.to destroy that church, as being the opponent of slavers most to be feared. Let facts speak. Last winter a minister of the Methodist Church, in Missouri, was arrested while in the pulpit by a gang of men (who, if they live, will probably vote for Mr. Fillmore), who wantonly and falselv charged him with horse-stealiing, and without allowing him time to put on his overcoat, mounted him on a horse, drove him some seventeen miles, (the weather being intensely cold,) threw him into a cheerless room, without fire, and there left him to die, and there he died. SARATOGA SPRINGS, Augus8t 14, 1856. W. DUNN, ESQ.-My Dear Sir: I have just received, by way of New-York city, your note of the 9th inst., enclosing the followin g extract from the Ithaca Citizen, to wit: "COMING BACK.-Chauncey Shaffer, who was one of the most prominent bolters from the Philadelphia American Convention, and who has been stumping the river counties in this State at the Fremont meetings, has returned to the hearty support of Fillmore and Donelson. Mr. Shaffer is an eloquent speaker, and was District Attorney in New York city. He belongs to the Methodist church, and his recent conviction that Mr. Fremont is a Roman Catholic, is the reason why he withdraws his support from the Republicans. He has candidly examined all the evidences for and against, which have appeared, and he looked closely into the statements of Fulmer, and the opposition against them, and declares that the evidence in favor of his being a Papist is conclusive, for which reason he cannot support him." You assure me t hat t h oe above is producing an im press io n in your region, and desire me to inform you whe ther it is true or not. I answer that it is a sheer fabrication a " Roorback." That no furthe c ier mischief may occur from the circulation of that article, I will set the matter of my preference of candidates right at once. In the first place, I was not a prominen t or other "bolter from the Philadelphia American Convention." I was not a delegate to that Convention. The re were reasons why I should not b e a delegate. I had too much to do with undo. ing the work of a p reviou s Cou ncil in Philadelphia ass embled; t oo much to do again st th e slave propagandist s at B inghamton last August, and was too little inclined to see A meric anism s old out, t o be considered a safe man to go to Philadelphia. I staid at home against my will, I admit. Moreover, that Co nvention was not an "American Convention." As far as the N orth was concerned, it was a Silver GreyWhig Convention; as far as the South was concerned, it was a Convention for the propagat io n of human s lavery, and the result was the nominat ion of two men, o ne of w hom glories in being the owner of a hundred slaves, and the other (Mr. Fillmore), in being a most subservient instrument of the slave power, as is manifestly proved by his course while acting as President of the United States; also, by his speeches made during his southern tour, in pursuit of a re-ilomiination, as well as by his nullification speeches at Albany and elsewhere, on his return from his visit to the Pope. Hence the leading Silver Grey newspapers of the North (including the New York Express), claim Mr. Fillmore as the regular Whig nominee for the Presidency, while the South claim him as the champion of Southern rights (meaning, the ex 14 I should fiurthler add, that the conviction in my mtirnd tlatt Aldeiriii Fttin Fher has borric fillse wit ness.agilist his ii(eiglil)or, is strengthiened by the cotl'adiit ctoi'y statteiCtents that I at1ii cre(libiy in A'oriioed hi e fios mr. dl oe oncerning this pretended nconve F ersttio Ii(i, anby the Thrtheer foIcts that ttlrOilght hliS imarrediatte fneighbors his stcuattcement is not believe(ve. But if' I shoul d refise to vote f or II. Fremont beetiase ofe lfis beirng a Roeid an Catholic, I could riot vot e for Ii. Fill torhe; and for t reson t he at the tConvention which nomiefinted aMr. Fillniore was controlled by Roinaii Cathiolics as well as by sh5tveiry propagandists. This is the proof': Tvo sets of' delegates, appeared f;'om the State of LIouisiana,,t, one Protestant, and the other Romiian Catholic, both demaniding admission. The Romiian Catholic delegation was receive(], and the Protestant delegation was rejected. The reason, I understand, assigned for this singular admission and rejection was, that the Romant Catholic delega-tioni did not acknowledge the temporal supremilaicy of the Pope-btit did the Pr-otesttant delegation acknowledge the temporal supremacy of the Pope? There are other objections to my supporting 3Ir. I,'illtore, and as an American, and a man who at the commencemelnt of' his political lifc resolutely set his ftie a,ainist the further ag,ressions of the slave power, I cannot be induced by niiy special pleatlinig o02 by any " Rootbacks " that mtay be hatched in- the hotbed of political zeail, to vote for aniy other manl for President than Col. Fremont, inasmuch as I see no other way of' putting an end to the terrible aggressions of thie slave povcr. I believe upon the election or defeat of Col. Fremont, will depend the questions, whether or not the black coluimn of slavery will be pushed to the Patcific ocean; whether or not the African slave trade, the sum of all wickedness, will be revived; and whether or not practical slavery shall be Iorced upon the Free States under the decisioIls of Federal judges, appointed as Mr. Fillmore sought to appoint and did appoint some of his judges; and in short, whether this country shall have a constitutional government for the slave oligarchy; whether or not we shall recover our lost national honor, and go on in peaceful progress to the climax of human greatness; whether we shall be destroyed by the aggressive system of the sltve power. Very truly yours, CHA.UNCEY SHAFFER. My iniforinant is a bishop of the llethodist Churchl, iiiid spoke of his oviwn knowvlede. Another inistanice: The Itev. Mlr. Viley, and abouit 3() other ininisters of tile Metliodist (Crlii, have beei( assaulted ill their chliclhes, i tiid divii eend froiii plice to p)lace like will l)easts of piey, theirc lives being every day in iimiiimenit peril. Aniiother instianee: In Kalnsas, a Aetliod(list mnin ister was whipped(!, tarred, and featlieid(l, tied to a log, and set afloat on the IMisbsoeiii ri ver. Another instance: Very recently, a Methodist miniiist(er iii Missourii, while preaheliiiig was dragged from his pulpit and tarred iand featliered; while an old Methodist layiIiman for the crime ot'f expostulationl against such conduct, was shot; and it is i notorious fact, and one which will riot adinit of contro versy, tliat a miiiister of my church cannot preachl the gospel in the State of Missouri, or the Territory of Kiansas, but at the peril of his life! And yet I find no reproof of these outrageCs either inr the Philitdelphlia platform, or in any of tihe speeches of Mr.'illiioi ie. As to rmiy having examined " all the evidence' in relation to IMr. Freinont's eligiotis creed, I have to say that I have examined ail the evidence including Alderman Ftilriiei's statement, and have exhausted the means of inifoirmatioI, within nmy reach, and have arrived at the following conclusio60s: 1st. That hfr. Ffemont's father wa s a French Huguenot, and his mother an American Protestant lady. 2d. That Co!. Fremont was born a Protestant, and baptized a Protestint, mirried( a Protestant lady, has had his children baptized by a Protestanit clergyman, educates themi in the Protesaintt faith, wlvile hlie is a Protestanit inI practice in all the rIelitions of life. I admit that he was married by a Catholic clergyman, under circunimta,nces peculiar to himself, anid with which ile public is already acquainted. 3d. I conclude that Alderman Fulmer's statement is altogether untrue. Col. Fremont was not in Washington at the time Fuliher says he conversed with him, nor within several months of that time. He was on the Pacific Ocean, or the Isthmus of Darieli, or on the steamer George Law from Aspinwall to New York city, at the time fixed by Fuliher. I should add that upon Col. Fremont's arrival in New-York city, lie sailed to Europe without visiting Washington at all, and that he remained in Europe more than a year. I I 15 TIE SOUTHI AMERICANS ON BORDER-RUFFIANISM. Freedom of Speech Infamous. body, with the statement that he believed the Americran party in the State of New York to )e Anti-Nebraska in sentiment, and that he wistl ed to place it upon record that such is its positionl; that, in his view, the adoption of his resolutions would promote the success of the American ticket in the North-particularly in the States of New York, M3assachusetts and Pennsylvania-while at present the party is daily losing ground in those States from the position in which it is placed before the people on the subject of slavery; that with these and such like arguments he urged their adoption; that the Council was thereby thrown into the wildest state of excitement; that scores of members flocked around him and besought him to withdraw the resolutionssome urging that if adopted, the South would be driven from the support of Fillmore, and for this reason, that however truly they embodied the views of the party in New York, it would not do to set theml forth. Moreover, that their adoption would repel from them the Admiuistration-Nebras1ka voters, whom they were expecting would support Fillmore in the State of New York; and more seriously still, that their rejection, should they be offered, would drive fronm the support of Fillnore thousands of Anti-Nebraska voters, now acting with the party in this State; that by such considerations they had soughlt to influence hinm, lbut filiiirg, President Samnions sumnmarily ended the difficulty by declaring the resolutions out of order; that hlie thereupon appealed fiom that decision, but President Sammons was sustained by the Council, which thus rejected the resolutions; that hlie then returned to President Sammons his commission as Deputy for Rockland County, withdrew from all connection with that organization, and retired. The statement of Mr. Caldwell was listened to with the profoundest interest, and a touchiing and eloquent address made by him, uponI the principles of the North Americans, and expressive of his sympathy with and determination henceforward actively to support them, was greeted with rounds of applause. The resolutions of Mr. Caldwell were immediately adopted by the North Americans unanimously, together with the following: TwfE Fillmore Americans held a State Convention at Syracuse on the 26th of Au,ust, which la,sted two days. At this Convention, such delegates as were supposed to favor freedom in the Territories were excluded by the arbitrary dictum of the President of the Council. Nevertheless, a few delegates or Deputies, ad they call them, escaped the vigilance of the President, and passed into the Hall. Among these was LUTHER CAIDWEI,T% Esq., of Rockland County, who offered the following resolutions: R esolved, That the a ttempts made in Congress dtring its late session, and particularly in the United States Senate, to suppress freedom of speech, as manifested in the bru tal, clandestine and cowardly attack of Brooks upon Senator Sumner, deserve and shlould receive the execr ation of the pe ople of the United States, an d t hat all those, ir respec tiv e of arty who, by their votes in Congress or otherwise, lav e sustain ed Br ooks in his infam ous conduct, are justly obnoxious to the same reprobation, Resolved, That the well-nigh fatal assault upon Freedom, in the outrages perpetrated in Kansas under the protection of the present National Adnministration, and the failure of Congress effectually to inter-pose and pinevent those enormous aggressions upon the sovereignty of the actual inhabitants of that Territory, merit the unqualified condemnation of all lovers of republican liberty, and that no true American should be indifferent to the same, or fail, by word and act, in all fitting ways, to vindicate the oppressed against their oppression and oppressors. Resolved, That the provisions of the Klnsas-Nebiaska act for the government of the Territories are fallacious in theory; and that this Conventionl deem it the duty of the American party in this State and Nation boldly to assert and firmly maintain the doctrine of our fathers, that the government of tllP erritories is vested in, and should be exert".aed by, Congress. Resolved, That this Council denounces the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as destructive to the repose, harmony and fraternal relations of the country; and that the Territory which was covered by it must, and shall be preserved to Freedom, so that Slavery may not exist therein, nor Slave States, formed therefrom, be admitted into this Union. This effort of Mr. Caldwell to bring the party up to the adoption of something like the Binghamtoii Platform, onl which, a year before, they had gone before the people and succeeded in the election, utterly failed, when he and a few others, who sympathized with him, left the Convenrtion and went over to the other American Convention, then in session at Collipean Hall, in Resolved, That the State Council now in session in this city is repudiated by this body: that its unconstitutional and illegal action has freed Americans from all obligation of allegiance to it or its decrees, and that this body is the true American organization of the State of New York. Resolved, That the nominations of Fillmore and, Donelson be and the same are hereby repudiated by this body. Resolved, That John Charles Fremont, the nominew for the Presidency of the American National Convention, held in the City of New York, June 12, standing upon the positions of the Binghamton: platform, as the opponent of the present National the sanie city, where they were warmly received. Mr. Caluwell was invited to the stand, and related ilis experience among the South American conspirators against liberty, as follows: Tlhse resolutions, Mr. C. said, he offered in that Resolved, That this council unequivocally approves the action and endorses —the proceedings of the late State Council at Syracuse, in rejecting all matters foreign to the issue of the American party. Resolved, That this Council (the members being largely in attendance,) does hereby heartily expel the said Luther Caldwell from the said Council, and thus justly brands him with i'nJmy, and that we hold him in contempt as a traitor to his party and his country. A dministration, and as opposed to Slavery extension, be and he is hereby adopted as the candidate of true Americans of the State of New York. Resolved, That the State Committee be recommended to call a State Nominating Convention, to consist of two Delegates from each Assembly District, to meet in the city of Syracuse, Sept. 17, at 12 o0clock noon. Subsequently, the Piermont Council, of which Mr. Caldwell was a member, expelled that gentleman, and branded him infamous as follows: In estimating the extent of Mr. Caldwell's Infamy and Treason, we beg the reader to refer to the resolutions which he offered, and on which these grave ch arges are founded. It will there be seen that in the estimation of Mr. Fillmore's party the defence of freedom of Speech is infamous, and that opposition to Slavery Extension and condemnation of Ruffianism, either in the U. S. Senate or in Kansas, are held to be traitorous. In this view of the case we should not be surprised at seeing a very large crop of Traitors in this State next November. Jhereas, At a Convention of the American party, held at Syracuse, in this State on the 24th day of August last, Luther Caldwell, Deputy for Rockland County, did present, without the authority of this party, and in direct and willful violation of its principles, a series of resolutions opposed to its Presidential nominees and the platform on which they stand: Resolved, That Luther Caldwell, by his treachery to his party, has rendered himself wholly unworthy of confidence as a politician, and respect as a citizen: and has shown himself to be a man utterly devoid of integrity and manly principle. REPUBLICAN DOCUMENTS NOW READY. THE EPORT OF THE KANSAS INVESTIGAT ING COMMITTEE; Submitted on Tuesday, the 1st inst., by the Hon. Messrs. Howard of Mich. and Sherman of Ohio, with 2,500 pages of evidence, the fruit of three months' faithful labor in Kansas. Price per single copy,... $ 0 04 Price per dozen,...... 0 40 Price per hundred,.... 2 50 Price per thousand,.... 20 00 An original and authentic Biography of the People's Candidate for President, prepared expressly and with great care for THE TRIBUNEv Office, is now ready. It is condensed into a pamphlet of 32 large octavo pages, on good type, with spirited illustrations. GOVERNOR SEWARD'S SPEECH on the Immediate Admission of Kansas, is flow ready-16 large octavo pages. Price per dozen,..... $ 0 20 Price per hundred,.... 1 25 Price per thousand,.... 10 00 HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX'S SPEECH on the "Laws" of Kansas, 16 octavo pages, same price as the above. A German Edition of the above is now ready, name price. HON. CHARLES SUMNER'S SPEECH in the ,Senate, on Kansas Affairs-2 pages. JAMES BUCHANAN, HIS DOCTRINES AND POLICY, as exhibited by himself and his friends. 16 octavo pages, same price as above. TRACT FOR AMERICANS-Embracing the Speech of Hon. E. B. MoasANs, in reference to Millard Fillmore's Political History and Position; also George Law and Chauncey Shaffer's reasons for repudiating Fillmore and Donelson, and the Action of the Know-Nothing State Convention at Syracuse on the Resolutions censuring Brooks's Assault on Senator Sumner, &c. 16 octavo pages, same price as above. Price per dozen,..... $ 0 40 Price per hundred,... 2 50 Price per thousand,.... 20 00 Price per dozen,.... $ 0 20 Price per hundred,.... 1.25 Price per thousand,.... 10 00 Orders enclosing the cash are respectfully solicited. GREELEY & McELRATH, TRIBUNE OFFICE. NEW YOR. 16 I LIFE OF OOLONEL FRENONT. Price per dozen,..... $,O 40 Price per hundred,.... 2 50 Price per thousand,.... 20 00 I BORDER RUFFIAN CODE Eff KANSAS Is ,ceady-16 large octavo pages. now THE CRIME AGAINST KANSAS. TIlE APOLOGIES FOR THE CRIM.E T,IHE TRUE RIEMEDY. I : 0 stir i'1v/'4N N / v,... N"\/\, \ SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER. IN THlE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 19th and 20th MAY, 1856. WASHINGTON, D.C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS 1856. .'i f 1 it has not o e de leter oiirit t in ht slightest letter, or in the remotest sit. ~t true, it has sent men to Kansas; an had i not a right to send them? It is true, I trust, that its agents love Freedom, and hate Slavery; and have they not a right to-do so? Their offence has this exent, and nothing more. Sir, to the whole ais iraignfment of that Company, in the report of the Committee on Territories, I now for them plead "Not Guilty!" and confidently appeal to the country for that honorable acquittal which is due to their patriot services. The outrages in Kansas are vindicated, or extenuated, by the alleged misconduct of the Emigrant Aid Company. Very well, sir; a bad cause is naturally staked on untenable ground. You cannot show the misconduct. Any such allegation will fail. And you now begin your game with loaded dice. Afterwards, 19th March, Mr. DOUCLAS introduced "A Bill to authorize the people of the Territory of Kansas to form a Constitution and State Government, and to provide for their admission into the Union when they have the requisite population.,' Subsequently, Mr. SEWARD moved, by way of substitute, another Bill, providing for immediate action, and entitled "A Bill for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union." Debate ensued, and was continued, by adjournment, from time to. In the course of this debate, on the 1lt az.. Oth May, Mr. SUMNER made-the following speeck: In the Senate, 13th March, 1856, Mr. DoUGLAS, from the Committee on Territories, presented and read a very long Report on affairs in Kansas. Mr. CoV also present ed and read a Minority Report. A s s oon as t he reading was completed, Mr. SUMR took the floor, and m ade th e following remarks: a Mr. SUiaMER. In those two re po r ts, the whole subject is presented characteristically on both, sides. In the report of t e ma i the majority, the true issue is smothered; in that of the minority, the true issue stands forth as a pillar of fire to guide the country. The first report proceeds from four Senators; but against it I put, fearlessly, the report signed by a single Senator, [Mr. COLLAMER,] to whom I offer my thanks for this service. Let the two go abroad together. Error is harmless, while reason is left free to combat it. I have no desire to precipitate the debate on this important question, under which the country already shakes from side to side, and which threatens to scatter from its folds civil war. Nor, indeed, am I disposed to enter upon it until I have had the opportunity of seeing, in print, the elaborate documents which have been read to us to-day. But I cannot allow the subject to pass away, even for this hour, without repelling, at once, distinctly and unequivocally, the assault which has been made upon the Emigrant Aid Company of Massachuisetts. That Company has oe noth for which it can be condemned under the laws and Constitution of the land. These I I t.) SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES STUMINER. Mr. PRESIDENT.I Against this Territory, thus fortunate in post You a:e now called to redress a great trans- tion and population, a Crime has been committed, gression. Seldom in the history of nations has which is without example in the records of the such a question been presented. Tariffs, army Past. Not in plundered provinces or in the bills, nary bills, land bills, are important, and cruelties of selfish governors will you find its justly (c, upy your car&, but these all belong to parallel; and yet there is an ancient instance, the course of ordinary legislation. As means which may show at least the path of justice. In and instruments only, they are necessarily sub- the terrible impeachment by which the great ordina e to the conservation of Government itself. Roman Orator has blasted through all time the Grant them or deny them, in greater or less name of Verres, amidst charges of robbery and degree, and you will inflict no shock. The ma- sacrilege, the enormity which most aroused the chinery of Goverinment will continue to move. indignant voice of his accuser, and which still Tlre State will not cease to exist. Far otherwise stands forth with strongest distinctness, arresting is it with the eminent question now before you, the sympathetic indignation of all who read the involving, as it ~oes, Liberty in a broad Terri- story, is, that away in Sicily he had scourged a t(ory, nd also involving the peace of the whole citizen of Rome-that the cry "I am a Roman Country e ith c(;ur good name in history forever- citizen" had been interposed in vain against the mo e. lash of the tyrant govcrnor. Other charges were, Take down your map, sir, and you will find that he had carried away productions of art, and that the Territoiy of Kansas, more than any other that he had violated the sacred shrines. It was region, occupies the middle spot of North Amer- in the presence of the Roman Senate that this ica, equally distant from the Atlantic on the east, arraignment proceeded; in a temple of the Foand the Pacific on the west; from the frozen rum; amidst crowds-such as no orator had waters of Hudson's Bay on the north, and the tepid ever before drawn together-thronging the porGulf Stream on the south, constituting the precise ticos and colonnades, even clinging to the house territorial centre of the whole vast Continent. To tops and neighboring slopes-and under the such advantages of situation, on the very high- anxious gaze of witnesses summoned from the waiy b(tweeni two oceans, are added a soil of un- scene of crinme. But an audience grander farsurpassed richness, and a fascinating, undula- of 1higher dignity-of more various people and ot tit.g beauty of surface, with a health-giving wider intelligence-the cointless multitude ot ctlmate, calculated to nurture a powerful and succeeding generations, in every land, where elogrnerous people, worthy to be a central pivot of quence has been studied orwherethe Roman name American Institutions. A few short months only has been recognised-has listened to the accusahave passed since this spacious mediterranean tion, and throbbed with condemnationofthe crimcountry was open only to the savage, who ran inal. Sir, speaking in an age of light and in aland wild in its woods and prairies; and now it has of constitutional liberty, where the safeguards of already drawn to its bosom a population of free- elections are justly placed among the highest men larler than Athens crowded within her his- triumphs of civilization, I fearlessly assert thab t4ric gates, when her sons, under Miltiades, won the wrongs of much-abused Sicily, thus memoraLil)erty tor mankind on the field of Marat.hon; ble in history, were small by the side of the n,re than Sparta contained when she ruled wrongs of Kansas, where the very shrines of popG0eece, and sent forth her devoted children, ular institutions, more sacred than any heathen quickened by- a mother's benediction, to return altar, have been desecrated; where the ballot-ith their shields or on them; more than Rome Lox, more precious than any work, in ivory or gathered on her seven hills, when, under her marble, from the cunning hand of art, has been kin,s, she commenced that sovereign sway, plundered; and where the cry:-I am an Ameriwhich afterwards embraced the whole earth; can citizen" has been interposed in vain against r 1ore than London held, when, on the fields of outrage of every kind, even upon life itself. Are CLecy and Agincourt, the English banner was you against sacrilege? I present it for your excarried victoriously over the chivalrous hosts of ecration. Are you against robbery? I hold it ~~~~Fragiln~e ~~ | up to your scorn. Are you for the protection ~ t 4 - crowds in every vocation of life-the politican with his local importance, the lawyrer with hii i subtle tongue, and even the authority of the judge on the bench; and a familiar use of men in places high and low, so that none, from the President to the lowest border postmaster, should decline to be its tool; all these things and more were needed; and they were found in the Slave Power of our Republic. There, sir stands the ; criminal-all unmasked before you-heartless, grasping, and tyrannical-with an audacity be yond that of Verres, a subtlety beyond that of Machiavel, a meanness beyond that of Bacon, and an ability beyondthat of Hastings. Justice to Kansas can be se&red only by the prostra tion of this influence; for this is the Power be-6' hind-greater than any President-which suc-. cors and sustains the Crime. Nay, the proceedings I now arraign derive their fearful consequence only from this connection. In now opening this great matter, I am not in sensible to the austere demands of the occasion; but the dependence of the crime against Kansas upon the Slave Power is so peculiar and import ant, that I trust to be pardoned while I impress it by an illustration, which to some may seem trivial. It is related in Northern mythology, that the god of Force, visiting an enchanted region, was challenged by his royal entertainer to what seemed a humble feat of strength-merely, sir, to lift a cat from the ground. The god smiled at the challenge, and, calmly placing his hand under the belly of the animal, with superhuma. strength, strove, while the back of the feline monster arched far upwards, even beyond reach, and one paw actually forsook the earth, until at last the discomfited divinity desisted; but ha was little surprised at his defeat, when he learn ed that this creature, which seemed to be a cat, and nothing more, was not merely a cat, but that it belonged to and was a part of the great Ter restrial Serpent, which, in its innumerable folds, encircled the whole globe. Even so the creature, whose paws are now fastened upon Kansas, what ever it may seem to be, constitutes in reality a - part of thwe SlavePower, which, with loathsome folds, is now coiled about the whole land. Tkus do I expose the extent of the present contest, where we encounter not merely local resistance, but also the unconquered sustaining arm behind. But out of the vastness of the Crime attempted, with all its woe and shame, I derive a well]] founded assurance of a commensurate vastness of eff6rt against it, by the aroused masses of the country, determined not only to vindicate Right against Wrong, but to redeem the Republic from the thraldom of that Oligarchy, which promptr directs, and concentrates, the distant wrong. Such is the Crime, and such the criminal, which it is my duty in this debate to expose, and, bv the blessing of God, this duty shall be done con pletely to the end. But this will not be eilough. Thle Apologies, which, with strange hardihood, have been offered for the Crime, must be tow away, so that it shall stand forth, without a sir~ gle rag, or fig-leaf, to cover its vileness. And, finally, the True Remedy must be shown. Th. subject is complex in its rei.~tions, as it is traS. polelico,an citizalons I slaow you liot p toheir e:crst r ights hasve been cloven d own? wam il e a cTyrannical Usurpa tion ha s soug ht to install itself on their very necks I But the wickedness which I now begin to expose is immeasurably aggravated by t he m otiv e whi ch prompted it. No t in any common lust f or power did this uncom mon trage dy have its origin. It is the rape of a virgin Territory, compelling it to the ha tefiul embrace of Slavery; and it may be clearly traced to a depraved longing for a new slave State, the hideous offspring of such a crime, in the hope of adding to the power of Slavery in t h e National Government. Y es, sir, wh e n the who le world, alike Christian and Turk, is rising up to condemn this wrong, and to make it a hissing to the nations, here in our Republic, force-aye, sir, FORCE-has been openly employed in compelling Kansas to this pollution, and all for the sake of political power. There is the simple fact, which you will vainly attempt to deny, but which in itself presents an essential wickedness that makes other public crimes seem like public virtues. But this enormity, vast beyond comparison, swells.to dimensions of wickedness which the imagination toils in vain to grasp, when it is understood, that for this purpose are hazarded the horrors of intestine feud, not only in this distant Territory, but everywhere throughout the country. Already the muster has begun. The strife is no langer local, but national. Even now, while I speak, portents hang on all the arches of the horizon, threatening to darken the broad land, which already yawns with the mutterings of civil war. The fury of the propagandists of Slavery, and the calm determination of their opponents, are now diffused from the distant Territory over wide-spread communities, and the whole country, in all its extent-marshalling hostile divisions, and foreshadowing a strife, which, unless happily averted by the triumph of Freedom; will become war -fratricidal, parricidal warwith an accumulated wickedness beyond the wickedness_of any war in human annals; justly provoking the Long judgment of_Procvideand the avenging pen o hi, and constituting a strife, in the language of the ancient writer, more than foreign, more than social, more than civil; but something compounded of all these strifes, and in itself more than war; sed potius commune quoddam ex omnibus, et plus quam bellurh. Such is the Crime which you are to judge. But the criminal also must be dragged into day, that you may see and measure the power by which all this wrong is sustained. From no common source could it proceed. In its perpetration, was needed a spirit of vaulting ambition which would hesitate at nothing; a hardihood of purpose which was insensible to the judgment of mankind; a madness for Slavery which should disregard the Constitution, the laws, and all the great examples of oar history; also a consciousness of powter such as comes from the habit of power; a combination of. energies found only in a hundred arms directed by a hundred eyes; a control of Public Opinion, through venal pens and a prostituted press; an abiiit:? to subsidize 5 sition to the usurpation in Kansas, he denounces as "an uncalculating fanaticism." To be sure, these charges lack all grace of originality, and all sentiment of truth; but the adventurous Senator does not hesitate. He is the uncompromising, unblushing representative on this floor of a flagrant sectional,sm, which now domineers over the Republic; and yet, with a ludicrous ignorance of his own position-unable to see himself as others see him-or with an effrontery which even his white head ought not to protect from rebuke, he applies to those here who resist his sectionalism the very epithet which designates himself. The men who strive to bring back the Government to its original policy, when Freedom and not Slavery was national, while Slavery and not Freedom was sectional, he arraigns as sectional. This will not do-it involves too great a perversion of terms. I tell that Senator, that it is to himself, and to the "organization" of which he is the "committed advocate," that this epithet belongs. I now fasten it upon them. For myself, I care little for names; but since the question has been raised here, I affirm that the Republican party of the Union is in no just sense sectional, but, more than any other party, national; and that it now goes forth to dislodge from the high places of the Government the tyrannical sectionalism of which the Senator from South Carolina is one of the maddest zealots. To the charge of fanaticism I also reply. Sir, fanaticism is found in an enthusiasm or exaggeration of opinions, particularly on religious subjects; but there may be a fanaticism for evil as well as for good. Now, I will not deny, that there are persons among us loving Liberty too well for their personal good, in a selfish generation. Such there may be, and, for the sake of their example, would that there were more I In calling them "fanatics," you cast contumely upon the noble army of martyrs, from the earliest day down to this hour; upon the great tribunes ot human rights, by whom life, liberty, and happiness, on earth, have been secured; upon the long line of devoted patriots, who, throughout history, have truly loved their country; and, upon all, who, in noble aspirations for the general good and in forgetfulness of self, have stood out before their age, and gathered into their generous bosoms the shafts of tyranny and wrong, in order to make a pathway for Truth. You disc credit Luther, when alone he nailed his articles to the door of the church at Wittenberg, and then, to the imperial demand that he should retract, firmly replied, "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God!" You discredit Hampden, when alone he refused to pay the few shillings of ship-money, and shook the throne of Charles I; you discredit Milton, when, amidst the corruptions of a heartless Court, he lived on, the lofty friend of Liberty, above question or suspicion; you discredit Russell and Sidney, wh en, for the sake of their country, they calmly turned from family and friends, to tread the narrow steps of the scaffold; you discredit those early founders of American institutions, who preferred the hardships of a wilderness, surrounded by a savage foe, to injustice on beds of ease; you dis eondent in imp ortanc e; and y et, if I am hono red by your attention, I hope to exhibit it clearly in all its parts, while I conduct you to the inevitable conclusion, that Kansas must be admitted at once, with her present Constitution, as a State of this Union, and give a new star to the blue field of our National Flag. And here I derive satisfaction from the thought, that the cause is so strong in itself as to bear even the infirmities of its advocates; nor can it require anything beyond that simplicity of treatment and moderation of manner which I dbsire to cultivate. Its true character is such, that, like Hercules, it will conquer just so soon as it is recognised. My task will be divided under three different heads: first, THE CRIME AGAINST KANSAS, in its origin and extent; secondly, THE APOLOGIES FOR THE CRIME; and thirdly, the TRUE REMEDY. But, before entering upon th is argum ent, I must say something of a general character, particularly in response to what has fallen from Senators who have raised themselves to eminence on this floor in championship of human wrongs; 1 mean the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. BUTLER,] and the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] who, though unlike as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, yet, like this couple, sally forth together in the same adventure. I regret much to miss the elder Senator from his seat; but the cause, against which he has run a tilt, with such activitv of animosity, demands that the opportunity of exposing him should not be lost; and it is for the cause that I speak. The Senator from South Carolina has read many books of chivalry, and believes himselfa chivalrous knight,with sentiments of honor and courage. Of course he has chosen a mis~tress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight-I mean the harlot, Slavery. For her, his tongue is always profuse in words. Let her be impeached in character, or any proposition made to shut her out from the extension of her wantonness, and no extravagance of manner or hardihood of assertion is then too great for this Senator. The frenzy of Don Quixote, in behalf of his wench Dulcinea del Toboso, is all surpassed. The asserted rights of Slavery, which shock equality of all kinds, are cloaked by a fantastic claim of equality. If the slave States cannot enjoy what, in mockery of the great fathers of the Republic, he misnames equality under the VConstitu tion-in other words, the full power in the National Territories to compel fellow-men to unpaid toil, to separate husband and wife, and to sell little children at the auction block-then, sir, the chivalric Senator will conduct the State of South Carolina out of the Union! Heroic knight! Exalted Senator! A second Mloses come for a second exodus! But not content with this poor menace, which we have been twice told was " measured," the Senator, in the unrestrained chivalry of his nature, has uindiertaken to apply opprobrious words to those who differ from him on this floor. He coJls them "1 sectional and fanatical;" and oppow* 6 credit our later fathers, who, few in numbers and weak in resources, yet strong in their cause, did not hesitate to brave the mighty power of England, already encircling the globe with her morning drum-beats. Yes, sir, of such are the fanatics of history, according to the Senator. But I tell that Senator, that there are characters badly eminent, of whose fanaticism there can be no question. Such were the ancient Egyptians, who worshipped divinities in brutish forms; the Druids, who darkened the forests of oak, in which they lived, by sacrifices of blood; the Mexicans, who surrendered countless victims to the propitiation of their obscene idols; the Spaniards, who, under Alva, sought to force the Inquisition upon Holland, by a tyranny kindred to that now employed to force Slavery upon Kansas; and such were the Algerines, when in solemn conclave, after listening to a speech not unlike that of the Senator from South Carolina, they resolved to continue the slavery of white Christians, and to extend it to the countrymen of Washington I Aye, sir, extend it! And in this same dreary catalogue faithful history must record all who now, in an enlightened age and in a land of boasted Freedom, stand up, in perversion of the Constitution and in denial of immortal truth, to fasten a new shackle upon their fellow-man. If the Senator wishes to see fanatics, let him look round among his own associates; let him look at himself. But I have not done with the Senator. There is another matter regarded by him of such consequence, that he interpolated it into the speechl of the Senator from New Hampshire, [Mr. HALE,] and also announced that he had prepared himself with it, to take in his pocket all the way to Boston, when he expected to address the people of that community. On this account, and for the sake of truth, I stop for one moment, and tread it to the earth. The North, according to the Senator, was engaged in the slave trade, and helped to introduce slaves into the Southern States; and this undeniable fact he proposed to establish by statistics, in stating which his errors surpassed his sentences in number. But I let these pass for the present, that I may deal with his argument. Pray, sir, is the acknowledged turpitude of a departed generation to become an example for us? And yet the suggestion of the Senator, if entitled to any consideration in this discussion, must have this extent. I join my friend from New Hampshire in thanking the Sen ato r f rom Sou th Carolina f or adducing this instance; for it gives me an opportunity to say, that the Northern merchants, with homes in Boston, Bristol, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia, who catered for Slavery during the years of the slave trade, are the lineal progenitors of the Northern men, with homes in these places, who lend themselves to Slavery in our day; and especially that all, whether North or South, who take part, directly or indirectly, in the conspiracy against Kansas, do but continue the work of the slave-traders, which yOu condemn. It is true, too true, aias! that our fathers were engaged in this traffic; but that is no apology for it. And in repelling the authority of this ex ample, I repel also the trite argument founded on the earlier example of England. It is true that our mothe r country, at the peace of Utr echt, extorted from Spain the Assiento Con tract, se. e curin g the monopoly of the slave t r ade with the Spanish Colonie s, as the whol e price of all the blood of great victo ries; that she higgled a t Aix-la-Chapelle for another leas e of this ex clusive t raffic; and again, at the treaty of Mad, rid, clung to the wretched piracy. It is true, that in this spirit the p ow e r o f the mother coue - try was prostituted to the s ame ba se ends in her American Colonies, aga;inst indi gnant protests from our fathers. All thes e th ings now rise up in judgment against her. Let us not follow the,, Senator from South Carolina to do the very evill to-day, whi c h in a n oth e r generation we coan demn. As the Senator from South Carolina is the Don Quixote, the Senator from Illinois [Mr, DOUGLAS] is the squire of Slavery, its very Sancho Panza, ready to do all its humiliating offices. This Senator, in his labored address, vindicating his labored report-piling one mass of elaborate er ror upon another mass-constrained himself, as you will remember, to unfamiliar decencies aI speech. Of that address I have nothing to say at this moment, though before I sit down I shall show something of its fallacies. But I go back now to an earlier occasion, when, true to his na tive impulses, he threw into this discussion, " for a charm of powerful trouble," personalities most discreditable to this body. I will not stop to red pel the imputations which he cast upon myself; but I mention them to reinind you of the " swel tered venom sleeping got," which, with other poisoned ingredients, he cast into the cauldron of this debate. Of other things I speak. Stand ing on this floor, the Senator issued his rescript? requiring submission to the Usurped Power of Kansas; and this was accompanied by a manner all his own-such as befits the tyrannical threat Very well. Let the Senator try. I tell him now that he cannot enforce any such submission. The Senator, with the Slave Power at his back, is strong; but he is not strong enough for this pur pose. He is bold. He shrinks from nothing Like Danton, he may cry, "I'audace! I'!ladace! tomtjours l'audace! " but even his audacity cannel compass this work. The Senator copies the Brit. ish offider, who, with boastful swagger, said thy with the hilt of his sword he would cram tle " stamps" down the throats of the Amnerican peo, ple, and he will meet a similar failure. He may convulse this country with civil feud. Like the ancient madman, he may set fire to this Temple of Constitutional Liberty, grander than Ephesian, dome; but he cannot enforce obedience to that tyrannical Usurpation. The Senator dreams that he can subdue the North. He disclaims the open threat, but his conduct still implies it. How little that Senator knows himself, or the strength of the cause which he persecutes I He is but a mortal man, against him is an immortal principle. With finitee power he wrestles with the infinite, and he must fall. Against him are stronger battalions than ally I marshalled by mortal arm —the inborn. iueradi, 7 cable, invincible sentiments of the human heart; against him is nature in all her subtle forces; against him is God. Let him try to subdue these. by their concurring votes upon a reluctant North. At the time it was hailed by slaveholders as a victory. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, in an oft-quoted letter, written at three o'clock on the night of its passage, says, "It is considered here by the slaveholding States as a great triumph." At the North it was accepted as a defeat, and the friends of Freedom everywhere throughout the country bowed their heads with mortification. But little did they know the completeness of their disaster. Little did they dream t hat the prohibi. tion of Slavery in the Territory, which was s ti pulate d as the pr ice of their fatal capitulation, would also at the very moment of its maturity be wrested from them. Time passed, and it became neces sary to provide for this Territory an organized Government. Suddenly, without notice in the public press, or the prayer of a single petition, or one word of open recommen dation from the President-after an acquie sce nce of thirty-three years, and the irreclaimable possession by the South of its special share under this compromise-in violation of every obligation of honor, compact, and good neighborhood-and in contemptuous disregard of the out-guishing sentiments of an aroused North, this time-honored prohibition, in itself a Landmark of Freedom, was overturned, and the vast region now known as Kansas and Nebraska was opened to Slavery. It was natural that a measure thus repugnant in character should be pressed by arguments mutually repugnant. It was urged on two principal reasons, so opposite and inconsistent as to slap each other in the face-one bein, that, by the repeal of the prohibition, the Territory would be left open to the entry of slaveholders with their slaves, without hindrance; and the other being, that the people would be left absolutely free to determine the question for themselves, -and to prohibit the entry of slaveholders with their slaves, if they should think best. With some, the apology was the alleged rights of slaveholders; with others, it was the alleged rights of the people. With some, it was openly the extension of Slavery; and with others, it was openly the establishment of Freedom, under the guise of Popular Sovereignty. Of course, the measure, thus upheld in defiance of reason, was carried through Congress in defiance of all the securities of legislation; and I mention these things that you may see in what foulness the present Crime was engendered. It was carried, first, by whipping in to its support, through Executive influence and patronage, men who acted against their own declared judgment and the known will of their constitu. ents. Secondly, by foisting out of place, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, important business, long pending, and usurping its room. Thirdly, by trampling under foot the rules of the House of Representatives, always before the safeguard of the minority. And fou2,thly, by driving it to a close during the very session in which it originated, so that it might not be arrested by the indignant voice of the People. Such are some of the means by which this snap judlginent was obtained. If tne clear will of the People had not been disregarded, it could nrot But I pass from thes e th ings, which, though belonging to the verv heart of the discussion, are yet preliminary in character, and press at once to the main question. I. It belongs to me now, in the first place, to expose the CRIME AGAINST KANSAS, in its origin and extent. Logically, this is the beginning of the argument I say Crime, and deliberately adopt this strongest term, as better than any other denoting the consummate transgression. I would go further, if language could further go. It is the Crime of Crimes-surpassing far the old crimen majestatis, pursued with vengeance by the laws of Rome, and containing all other crimes, as the greater contains the less. I do not go too far, when I call it the Crime against Nature, from which the soul recoils, and which language refuses to describe. To lay bare this enormity, I now proceed. The whole subject has already become a twice-told tale, and its renewed recital will be a renewal of its sorrow and shame; but I shall not hesitate to enter upon it. The occasion requires it from the beginning. It has been well remarked by a distinguished historian of our country, that, at the Ithuriel touch of the Missouri discussion, the slave interest, hitherto hardly recognised as a distinct element in our system, started up portentous and dilated, with threats and assumptions, which are the origin of our existing national politics. This was in 1820. The discussion ended with the admission of Missouri as a'slaveholding State, and the prohibition of Slavery in all the remaining territory west of the Mississippi, and north ofa 3:6~ 30', leaving the condition of other territory south of this line, or subsequently acquired, untouched by the arrangement. Here was a solemn act of legislation, called at the time a compromise, a covenant, a compact, first brought forward in this body by a slaveholdervindicated by slaveholders in debate-finally. sanctioned by slaveholding votes-also upheld at the time by the essential approbation of a slavehold-t ing President, Jamnes Monroe, and his Cabinet, of whom a majority were slaveholders, including M'r. Calhoun himself; and this compromise was made the condition of the admission of Missouri, without which that State could not have been received into the Union. The bargain was simple, and was applicable, of course, only to the territory named. Leaving all other territory to await the judgment of another generation, the South said to the North, Conquer your prejudices so far as to admit Missouri as a slave State, an d, in consideration of this much-coveted boon, Slavery shall be prohibited forever in all the remaining Louisiana Territory above 36~ 30/; and the North yielded. In total disregard of history, the President, in his annual message, has told us that this compromise 11was reluctantly acquiesced in by the Southern States." Just the contrary is true. It was the work of slaveehlolder s, and was crowded I I I 8 - to this conclusion you must yet come, unless re deaf, not only to the admonitions of political e justice, but also to the genins of our own Con- stitution, under which, when properly inters preted, no valid claim for Slavery can be set up d anywhere in the National territory. The Senator o from Michigan [Mr. CAss] may say, in response t to the Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. BROWN,] n that Slavery cannot go into the Territory under n the Constitution, without legislative introduc tion; and permit me to add, in response to both, n that Slavery cannot go there at all. NVothing can o come out of nothing; and there is absolutely noths, i ng in the Constitution out of which Slavery can r- be derivbd, while there are provisions, which, w when properly interpreted, make its existences I anywhere within the exclusive National jurisdic- tion impossible. e The offensive provision in the bill was in its - form a legislative anomaly, utterly wanting the a natural directness and simplicity of an honest y transaction. It did not undertake openly to rey peal the old Prohibition of Slavery, but seemed d to mince the matter, as if conscious of the swina d le. It said that this Prohibition, "being incona sistent with the principle of non-intervention by - Congress with Slavery in the States and Terri, tories, as recognised by the legislation Of 1850 - commonly called the Compromise Measures, is r hereby declared inoperative and void." Thus, d with insidious ostentation, was it pretended that a an act, violatingthe greatest compromise of our le t gislative history, and setting loose the foundations y of all compromise, was derived out of a compro- mise. Then followed in the Bill the further decla- ration, which is entirely without precedent, and - which has been aptly called "a stump speech in a its belly," namely: "it being the true intent and f meaning of this act, not to legislate Slavery into f any Territory or State; nor to eclude it there- from, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institus tions in their own way, subject only to the Con stitution of the United States." Here were e smooth words, such as belong to a cunning - tongue enlisted in a bad cause. But whatever f may have been their various hidden meanings, a this at least was evident, that, by their effect, the y Congressional Prohibition of Slavery, which had - always been regarded as a seven-fold shield, covr, ering the whole Louisiana Territory north of 36~ - 30', was now removed, while a principle was de- clared, which would render the supplementary y Prohibition of Slavery in Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, "inoperative and void," and thus e open to Slavery all these vast regions, now the 1 rude cradles of mighty States. Here you see the r magnitude of the mischief contemplated. But v my purpose now is with the Crime against Kan sas, and I shall not stop to expose the conspiracy t beyond. - Mr. President, men are wisely presumed to inm tend the natural consequences of their conduct, l and to seek what their acts seem to promote. * Now, the Nebraska Bill, on its very face, openly t cleared the way for Slavery, and it is not wrong - to presume that its originators intended the nat , ural consequences of such an act, and sought in have passed. If the Government had not nefa riously interposed its influence, it could not has passed. If it had been left to its natural plac in the order of business, it could not have pass ed. If the rules of the House and the right of the minority had no t been v iolated, it coul not have passed. If it had been allowe d to g over to another Congress, when the People migh be heard, it would have been ended; and the: the Crime we now deplore, would have bee without its first seminal life. Mr. President, I mean to keep absolutely withi the limits of parliamentary propriety. I make n personal imputations; but only with frankness such as belongs to the occasion and my own char acter, describe a great historical act, which is nov enrolled in the Capitol. Sir, the Nebraska Bil was in every respect a swindle. It was a swin die by the South of the North. It was, on th part of those who had already completely en joyed their share of the Missouri Compromise, swindle of those whose share was yet absolutel untouched; and the plea of unconstitutionalit set up-like the plea of usury after the borrowe( money has been enjoyed-did not make it less swindle. Urged as a Bill of Peace, it was swindle of the whole country. Urged as open ing the doors to slave-masters with their slaves it was a swindle of the asserted doctrine of Popu lar Sovereignty. Urged as sanctioning Popula Sovereignty, it was a swindle of the assertec rights of slave-masters. It was a swindle of broad territory, thus cheated of protection agains Slavery. It was a swindle of a great cause, earlj espoused by Washington, Franklin, and Jeffer son, surrounded by the best fathers of the Re public. Sir, it was a swindle of God-given in alienable Rights. Turn it over; look at it or all sides, and it is everywhere a swindle; and, i the word I now employ has not the authority o classical usage, it has, on this occasion, the in dubitable authority of fitness. No other word will adequately express the mingled meanness and wickedness of the cheat. Its character was still further apparent in the general structure of the bill. Amidst overflowing professions of regard for- the sovereignty o the people in the Territory, they were despoiled of every essential privilege of sovereignty. They were not allowed to choose their Governor, Sec retary, Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Attorney or Marshal-all of whom are sent from Washington; nor were they allowed to regulate the salaries of any of these functionaries, or the daily allowance of the legislative body, or even the pay of the clerks and doorkeepers; but they were left free to adopt SIaver-. And this was called Popular Sovereignty! Time does not allow, nor does the occasion require, that I should stop to dwell on this transparent device to cover a transcendent wrong. Suffice it to say, that Slavery is in itself an arrogant denial of Human Rights, and by no human reason can the power to establish such a wrong be placed among the attributes of anyi ust sovereignty. In refusing it such a place, I do not deny popular rights, but uphold thence I do not restrais popular rights, but extend them. And, sir, 9 pushed full-grown into the Territory. All efforts were now given to the dismal work of forcing Slavery on Free Soil. In flagrant derogation of the very Popular Sovereignty, whose name helped to impose this Bill upon the country, the atrocious object was now distinctly avowed. And the avowal has been followed by the act. Slavery has been forcibly introduced into Kansas, and placed under the formal safeguards of pretended law. How this was done, belongs to the argument. In depicting this consummation, the simplest outline, without one word of color, will be best. Whether regarded in its mass or its details, in its origin or its result, it is all blackness, illumined by nothing from itself, but only by the heroism of the undaunted men and women, whom it environed. A plain statement of facts will be a picture of fearful truth, which faithful history will preserve in its darkest gallery. In the foreground all wrill recognise a familiar character, in himself a connecting link between the President and the. border ruffian-less conspicuous for ability than for the exalted place he has occupied-who once sat in the seat where you now sit, sir; where once sat John Adams and Thomas Jefferson; also, where once sat Aaron Burr. I need not add t he name o f David R. A tchison. You h av e not forgotten that, at the session of Congress immediately succeeding the Nebraska Bill, he came tardily to his duty here, and then, after a short time, disappeared. The secret has been long since disclosed. Like Catiline, he stalked into this Chamber, reeking with conspiracy-inmmo in Senatutn venit-and then like Catiline he skulked awayabiit, excessit, evasit, crupit-to join and provokce the conspirators, who at a distance awaited their congenial c hief. Under the influence of his maligi presence the Crime ripened to its fatal fruits, while the similitude with Catiline was again renewed in the sympathy, not even concealed, which he found in the very Senate itself, where, beyond even the Roman example, a Senator has not hesitated to appear as his open compurgator. And now, as I proceed to show the way in which this Territory was overrun and finally subjugated to Slavery, I desire to remove in advance all question with regard to the authority on which I rely. The evidence is secondary; but it is the best which, in the nature of the case, can be had, and it is not less clear, direct, and peremptory, than any by which we are assured of the campaigns in the Crimea or the fall of Sevastopol. In its manifold mass, I confidently assert, that it is such a body of evidence as the human mind is not able to resist. It is found in the concurring reports of the public press; in the letters of correspondents; in the testimony of travellers; and in the unaffected story to which I have listened from leading citizens, who, during this winter, have "come flocking" here from that distant Territory It breaks forth in the irrepressible outcry, reaching us from Kansas, in truthful tones, which leave no ground of mistake. It addresses us in formal complaints, instinct with the'indignation of a people determined to be free, and unimpeachable as the declarations of a murdered man on hsis dying bed this w ay t o extend Slaverv. Of course, they did. An d t his isef tae i the first stage in the Crime agains t Kansas. But th is was speedily followed by oth er derelopments. The bare-fi ced scheme was soon whispered, that K ansas must be a slave State. In confo rmitity wi th this i dea was the Govern ment of this unhappy T erritory orga nized in all its departments; and thus did the P resident, bv whose complicity t he P rohibi tion of Slavery had been overthrown, lend himself to a new complicity giving to the conspirators ~a lease of colnnivante, am ounting ev en to copartners hip. The Governor, Secretary, Chief Justice, Associate Justices, Attorney, and Miars hal, with a whole caucus of other stipendiaries, nomtinate d by the President and confirmed by the Senate, were all commended as friendly to Slavery. No man, with the sentiments of Washington, or Jefferson, or Franklin, f ound a ny favor; nor is it too muceh to say, that, had these great attriots once more come among us, no t on e of them,, with his re c orded unretracted opinions on Slavery, could have been no mina ted by the President or confirmed by the Senate fo r any post in that Territory. With such auspice s the conspiracy proceeded. Eve n i n adva nce of the Nebr aska Bill, s ecre t societies were organized in Missouri, ostensibly to protect her institutions, and afterwards, under the name of " Self-Defensive Associations," and of " Blue Lodegs tes," these were multiplied th r ough out the w ester n c ounties of that State, befor e al?y c ounter-movement from n the gaVonth. It was confidently anticipated, that, by the activity of th ese societies, and th e interest of slaveholders everywhere, with the advantage deri o ed fNite egborhod th an the neighborhood of Missouri, and the influence of th e T erritorial Government, Slavery might be introduced into Kansas, quietly but surely, wi thou t arousing a conflict-that the crocodi le egg might be steal thi ly d ropp ed in th e sun-bu rnt s oil, there to be hatched unobserved until it sent forth its reptile monster. But the conspiracy was unexpectedly balked. The debate, w hich conv ulsed Con gress, had stirred the whole country. Attention from all si de s tvas directed upon Kansas, which at once became the favorite goal of emigration. The Bill had loudly declared, that its object was " to leave the people perfectly free to form anld regu late thei r domestic institutions in their own way; " and its supporters everywhere challenged the determination of the question between Freedom and Slavery by a competition of emigration. Thus, while opening the Territory to Slavery, the bill also opened it to emigrants from every quarter, who might by their votes redress the wrong. The populous North, stung by a sharp sense of outrage, and inspired by a noble cause, poured into the debatable land, and promised soon to establish a supremacy of numbers there, involving, of course, a just supremacy of Freedom. Then was conceived the consummation of the Crime against Kansas. What rould not be accomplished peaceably, was to be accomplished forcibly. The reptile mnonster, that coulld not be quietly and securely hatched there, weas to be 10 pitched their tents, placed their sentries, and waited for the coming day. The same trust. worthy eye-witness, whom I have already quoted, says, of one locality: "Baggage-wagons were there, with arms and amminn. tion enough for a protracted fight, and among them two brass field-pieces, ready charged. They came with drums beating and flags flying. and their leaders were of the most promine nt and conspicuous men of their State." Of another locality he says: " The invaders came together in one armed and or ganized body, with trains of fifty wagons, besides horsemen, and, the night before election, pitched their camp in the evicinity of the polls; and, having appointed their own judges in place of th ose who, from intimidation or oth erwise, failed to attend, t he y voted without anmy proof of residence." With this force the y were able, on the succeeding day, in some places, to int imidate t he judges of elections; in othe rs, to substitute -judges of their own appointment; in others, to wrest the ballot-boxes from th e ir rightful possessors, and everywhere to exercis e a complete control of the election, and thus, by a pre tern atural a ud a city of usurp ation, impose a Legislature upon the fre e pe ople of Kansas. T hus was conquered th e Sevastopol of that Territory! But it was not enough to secure h e the Legis lat ur e. The e lection of a memr of of Congress recurred on the 2d October, 1855, and the same foreigners,who had learned their strength, again manifested it. Another invasion, in cont rolling numbers, came fro m Missouri, and o nce more forcibly exercised the electoral franchise in Kan sas. At last, in the latter days of November, 1855, a storm, long brewing, burst upon the heads of the devoted people. The ballot-boxes had been violated, and a Legislature installed, which had proceeded to carry out the conspiracy of the in. vaders; but the good people of the Territory, born to Freedom, and educated as American citi zens, showed no signs of submission. Slavery, though recognised by pretended law, was in many places practically an outlaw. To the law less borderers, this was hard to bear; and, like the Heathen of old, they raged, particularly against the town of Lawrence, already known, by the firmness of its principles and the character of its citizens, as the citadel of the good cause. On this account they threatened, in their peculiar language, to "wipe it out." Soon the hostile power was gathered for this purpose. The wick edness of this invasion was enhanced by the way in which it began. A citizen of Kansas, by the name of Dow, was murdered by one of the par tisans of Slavery, under the name of "law and order." Such an outrage naturally aroused in dignation and provoked threats. The professors of "law and order" allowed the murderer to escape; and, still further to illustrate the irony of the name they assumed, seized the friend of the murdered man, whose few neighbors soon rallied for his rescue. This transaction, though totally disregarded in its chief front of wickedness, be came the excuse for unprecedented excitement. fThe weak Governor, with no faculty higher than 4-servility to Slavery —whom the President, in his !official delinquency, had appointed to a trust X worthy only of a well-balanlced character —was against his murderer. And let me add, that all this testimony finds an echo in the very statutebook of the conspirators, and also in language dropped from the President of the United States. I begin with an admission from the President himself, in whose sight the people of Kansas have little favor. And yet, after arraigning the innocent emigrants from the North, he was constrained to declare that their conduct was "far from justifying the illegal and reprehensible counter-movement which ensued." Then by the reluctant admission of the Chief Magistrate, there was a counter-movement, at once illegal and reprehensible. I thank thee, President, for teaching me these words; and I now put them in the front of this exposition, as in themselves a confession. Sir, this "illegal and reprehensible countermovement" is none other than the dreadful Crime - under an apologetic alias - by which, through successive invasions, Slavery has been forcibly planted in this Territory. Next to this Presidential admission must be placed the details of the invasions, which I now present as not only "illegal and reprehensible," but also unquestionable evidence of the resulting Crime. The violence, for some time threatened, broke forth on the 29th November, 1854, at the first election of a Delegate to Congress, when companies from Missouri, amounting to upwards of one thousand, crossed into Kansas, and, with force and arms, proceeded to vote for Air. Whitfield, the candidate of Slavery. An eye-witness, General Pomeroy, of superior intelligence and perfect integrity, thus describes this scene: " The first ballot-box that was opened upon our virgin soil was closed to us by overpowering numbers and impending force. So bold and reckless were our invaders, that they cared not to conceal their attack. They came upon us not in the guise of voters, to steal away our frainchiise, but boldly and openly, to snatch it with a strong hand. They came directly from their own homnes, and in compact and organized bands, with arms in hand and provisions for the expedition, marched to our polls, and, when their work was done, returned whence they came." Here was an outrage at which the coolest blood of patriotism boils. Though, for various reasons unnecessary to develop, the busy settlers allowed the election to pass uncontested, still the means employed were none the less "illegal and reprehensible." This infliction was a significant prelude to the grand invasion of the 30th March, 1855, at the election of the first Territorial Legislature under the organic law, when an armed multitude from Missouri entered the Territory, in larger numbers than General Taylor commanded at Buena Vista, or than General Jackson had within his lines at New Orleans-larger far than our fathers rallied on Bunker Hill. On they came as an "army with banners," organized in companies, with officers, munitions, tents, and provisions, as though marching upon a foreign foe, and breathing loud-mouthed threats that they would carry their purpose, if need be, by the bowie-knife and revolver. Among them, according to his own confession, was David R. Atchison, belted with the vulgar arms of his vulgar comrades. Arrived at their several destinations on the night before the election, the invaders 11 adoption-only a few days after the Treaty of Peace between the Governor on the one side and the town of Lawrence on the other-another and fifth irruption was made. But I leave all this untold. Enough of these details has been given. Five several times and more have these invaders entered Kansas in armed array, and thus five several times and more have they traiapled upon the organic law of the Territory. But these extraordinary expeditions are simply the extraordinary witnesses to successive uninterrupted violence. They stand out conspicuous, but not alone. The spirit of evil, in which they had their origin, was wakeful and incessant. From the beginning, it hung upon the skirts of this interesting Territory, harrowing its pea ce, disturbing its pro sperity, and keeping its inhabitants under the painful alarms of war. Thus was all Security of person, of property, and of labor, overthrown; and when I urge this incontrovertible fact, I set forth a wrong which is small only by the side of the gian t wrong, for the consummation of which all this was done. Sir, what is man —what is government-without security; in the absence of which, nor man nor government can proceed in development or enjoy the fruits of existence? Without security, civilization is cramped and dwarfed. Without security, there can be no true Freedom. Nor shall I sa;y too much, when I declare that security, guarded of course by its offspring, Freedom, is the true end and aim of government. Of this indispensable boon the people of Kansas have thus far been despoiled-absolutely, totally. All this is aggravated by the nature of their pursuits, rendering them peculiarly sensitive to interruption, and at the same time attesting their innocence. They are for the most part engaged in the cultivation of the soil, which from time immemorial has been the sweet employment of undisturbed industry. Contented in the returns of bounteous nature and the shade of his own trees, the husbandman is not aggressive; accus tomed to produce, and not to destroy, he is essentially peaceful, unless his home is invaded, when his arm derives vigor from the soil he treads, and his soul inspiration from the heavens beneath whose canopy he daily toils. And such are the people of Kansas, whose Security has been over thrown. Scenes from which civilization averts her countenance have been a part of their daily life. The border incursions, which, in barbarous ages or barbarous lands, have fretted and " har ried " an exposed people, have been here renewed, with this peculiarity, that our border robbers do not simply levy black mail and drive off a few cattle, like those who acted under the inspiration of the Douglas of other days; that they do not seize a few persons, and sweep them away into captivity, like the African slave-tratders whom we brand as pirates; but that they commit ai succession of acts, in which all border sorrows and all African wrongs are revived together on American soil, and which for the time being annuls all protection of all kinds, and enslaves the whole Territory. - Private griefs mingle their poignancy With public wrongs. I do not dwell on the anxieties which families have undergone, exposed to end, rlghtened from his propriety. By proclamation he invoked the Territory. By telegra ph he invo.ka ed the President. The Territory would not respo nd to his senseless appeal. The President w as dumb; but th e procl ama tion was circulated throughou t the b order coun ties of' Missouri; and Pl a tte, Clay, Carlisle, Sabine, Howard, and Jeff ers on, each of them, contributed a volunteer company, re cruited fr o m the ro ad sides, and armed with weapon s w hich chance affordedknown as the " shot-gun militia "-with a issouri officer as commissary general, dispensing r ations, and ano ther M isso uri officer as generalin-chief; with two wago n loads of rifles, belonging to Missouri, drawn by six mules, from its -arsenal at Jefferson City; with seven pi eces of cannon, belonging to the United States, from its arsenal at Liberty; and this formidable force, amounting to at least 1,800 men, terrible with threats, w ith o aths, and with whisky, crossed the borders, and encamped in l arger part at Wacherusa, over against the doomed town of Lawrence, which was now threatened wi th destruction. With t hes e invad ers was the Governor, who by this act levied wa r up on the people h e was sent to prot ect. In camp with him was the original Caetiline of the conspiracy, whil e by hi s side nvas the d ocile Chief Justice and t he d ocile Judges. But this is not the first instance in which an unjust Governor has found tools wher e he ought to have found justice. In the great impeachment of Warren Hastings, the British orator, by whom it was c o nd u ct ed, exclaims, in words strictly applinackb le t o t he misd eed I now arraig n, 1 Had he n ot the Chief Justice, the d tamed and domesticated Chief Justice, who waited on him like a fiamiliar spirit? " Thu s w as thi s invasion countenanced by those who shoul d have stood in the breach against it. For more than a week it continuecl, whilte deadly confict seeme d imminent. I do no t p ewell on thee heroism s).y which it was enbaountered, or the mean retreat to which it was compelled; for th at is not necessary to exhibit the Cr ime which you are to judge. But I cannot forbear to add other addi tional features, furnished in the letter of a clergyman, written at the time, who saw and was a part of what he desc ribes: i' Our citizens have been shot at, and in two instances murdered. our houses invaded, hay-ricks burnt, corn and other provisions plundered, cattle driven off, all conimunicationi cut off between us and the States, wagons on the w a.y to us with provisionq stopped and plundered, and the drivers takseln prisoners, and we in hourly expectation of an attack N~:arly every ma,t has been in arws in the viltaze. Fortifications havy been thrown up, by incessant labor night and day. The sound of the drum and the traran of arm-d men resounded throuzh our streets, families flpei~tg, with their household goods for safety. Day before yesterday, the report of cannon was heard at our house, from the direction of Lecompton. Last Thursday. one of our neighbors —one of the most peaceable and excellenit of men, from Ohio-on his way home, was set upon by a gang of twelve men on horseback, and shot down. O ier eight hundred men are gathered under arms at Law. rence, A,% yet, no act of violence has been perpetrated by those on our side. No blood of retaliation~ stains our hands. We stand and are ready to act purely i'~s ~he defence of oar homes and lives."' Bat the catalogue is not jet complete. On the 15th of December, when the people assembled to vote on the Constitution then submitted for 12 In the outrage upon the ballot-box, even without the illicit fruits which I shall soon exhibit, there is a peculiar crime of the deepest dye, though subordinate to the final Crime, which should be promptly avenged. In countries where royalty is upheld, it is a special offence'to rob the crown jewels, which are the emblems of that sovereignty before which the loyal subject bows, and it is treason to be found in adultery with the Queen, for in this way may a false heir be imposed upon the State; but i n our Republit the ballot-box is the single priceless jewel of that sovereignt y whi ch we respect, an d the eleotoral franchise, out of which are born the rulers of a free p eop le, is the Queen w hom we are to guard against pollution. In this plain presentment, w he t he r a s re gards Security, or a s regards Elections, there is enough, sure ly, without proceeding further, to justify the intervention of Congress, most promptly and completely, to throw over this oppres se d people the impenetra ble shield of the Constitution and laws. But the half is not yet told. As every point in a wide-spread horizon radi,ates fr6m a common centre, so everything said or done in this vast circle of Crime radiates from the One Idea, that Kansas, at all hazards, must be made a slave State. In all the manifold wick. ednesses that have occurred, and in every suo. cessive invasion, this One Idea has been ever present, as the Satan i c tempter-the motive power-the causing cause. To accomplish this result, three things were attempted: first, by outrages of all kinds to drive the friends of Freedom already there out of the Territory; secondly, to deter others from coming; and, thirdly, to obtain the complete control of the Government. The process of driving out, and also of deterring, has failed. On the contrary, the friends of Freedom there became more fixed in their resolves to stay and fight the battle, which they had never sought, but from which they disdained to retreat; while the friends of Freedom elsewhere were more aroused to the duty of timely succors, by men and munitions of just self-defence. But, while defeated in the first two processes proposed, the conspirators succeeded in the last. By the violence already portrayed at the election of the 30th March, when the polls were occupied by the armed hordes from Missouri, they imposed a Legislature upon the Territory, and thus, under the iron mask of law, established a Usurpation not-less complete than any in history. That this was done, I proceed to prove. Here is the evidence: 1. Only in this way can this extraordinary expedition be adequately explained. In the words of Moliere, once employed by John Quincy Adams in the other House, Que diable allaient-ils faire dans cette galere? What did they go into the Territory for? If their purposes were peacefuL, as has been suggested, why cannons, arms, flags} numbers, and all this violence? As simple citizens, proceeding to the honest exercise of the electoral franchise, they might have gone with nothing more than a pilgrim's staff. Philosophy always seeks a suffcient cause, and only in the d en assault, a nd oblig ed to li e down to rest with the alarms of war ringing in their ears, not knowing that another day might be spare d to them. Thro ughout this bitte r w inter, with the thermometer at 30 degrees below z ero, the citizens of Lawrence hav e been constrained to sleep under arms, wi th se ntinel s treading their c onstant watch against surprise. But ou r souls are wrung vy individual instances. In vain do we condemn the cruelties of an o ther age- the refinements of tortur e to which m en have been doomed-the rack a nd thumb-screw of the Inquisition, the last agonies of the regicide Ravaillac- "Luke' s iro n crown, and Damien's bed of steel "- for kindred outrages h ave disgrac ed these bord ers. Murder has stalked -assassination h as sk u lked i n the tall gras s of th e prairie, and the vindictiveness of man has assumed unwonted forms. A preacher of the Gospe l of the Saviour has been ridden on a rail, and then thrown into the Mis s ouri, f astened t o a log, and left to dr ift down its muddy, to rtuou s curr ent. And lately we have had th e tidings of that enormity without precedent-a d eed with out a name-wher e a candidate for the Legislature was most brutally gashed with knive s and hat chets, a nd t he n, after weltering ia blood on the snow-clad earth, was trundled along with gaping wounds, to fall dead in the face of his wife. It is common t o drop a tear of sympathy o ver the trembling solicitudes of ou r early fathers, exposed to the steal thy assault of theo savage foe; and an eminent American artist h as p ic t ured this scene in a marble group of rare beauty, on the front of the National Capitol, where the uplifted tomakawk is arrested by the strong arm and generous countenance of the pioneer, while his wife and children find shelter at his feet; but now the tear must be dropped over the trembling solicitudes of fellow-citizens, seeking to build a new State in Kansas, and exposed to the perpetual assault of murderous robbers from Missouri. Hirelings, picked from the drunken spew and vomit of an uneasy civilization-in the form of men Aye, in the catalogue ye go for men; As hounds and gray-hounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, Shoughs, water-ru-s, and demi-wolves, are called All by the name of dogs: leashed together by secret signs and lodges, have renewed the incredible atrocities of the Assassins and of the Thugs; showing the blind submission of the Assassins to the Old Man of the Mountain, in robbing Christians on the road to Jerusalem, and showing the heartlessness of the Thugs, who, avowing that murder was their religion, waylaid travellers on the great road from Agra to Delhi; with the more deadly bowie-knife for the dagger of the Assassin, and the more deadly revolver for the noose of the Thug. -n these inv asions, attended by the entire subrersion of'all Security in this Territory, with the plunder of the ballot-box, and the pollution of the electoral franchise, I show simply the process in unprecedented Crime. If that be the best Government, where an injury to a single citizen is resented as an injury to the, whole State, then must our Government forfeit all claim to any such eminence, while it leaves its citizens thus exposed. 13 One Idea, already presented, can a cause be found i and qe, t-ey - set out. it looked like an army." * * v in any degree commensurate with this Crimea; rolr s ey i lm." * * * * Asid, as therewe in any degreeXno moes uine the Territory, they carriedl tellts. Their mis and this becomes so only when we consider the io as a peaceable one-lo vot,, and to Irive down mad fanaticism of Slavery. &stitkes tr their ftu re h omes. After the election, soume 2 Public notoriety steps forward to confirm e thousand five hu r d of the v oters se,t a committee 2. Public noto rietystpfrwrtocnit. Roeder t, asee. rtoio if it was his purpose to ratify the suggestion of reason. In every place where the electio. He an swered that it as. and said the ma Trut c,answereel thtrel it was aend saiderthed nd Truth can freely travel, it has been asserted and jority at al elec tion must carry the day But it is not to understood, that the Legislature was oned e deiei that the ousand five hundred apprehend Kanas y freiner frmMssorind i,g that the (;overf or ni.n.hl ata crtipt to play the tyrantupon Kansas by foreigners from Missouri; and since his coieuct had alreadv been insidiotus and unjustthis universal voice is now received as undeni- wore on their hat amune fhe p.'Ile were resolved, absle ver,.y. if a tyranit attemsptedl to trample upon the rights of the *lty- ~~~~~~~~~~sovereignl people, to hngll him." 3. It is also attested by the harangues of the soeregi people, to ag him. conspirators. Here is what Stringfellow said be- 6. It is again confirmed by the testimony of a fore the invasion: lady, who for five years has lived in Western ,To those who have qualms ofeonscence as to viola- Missouri, and thus writes in a letter published in tii, laws State or National the time has come when such the Brew IHaven Register: impositions must be disregarded, as your rights and prop erty are ii danger: and I advise you, one and all, to enter26. 1 every ectiot distrt i, Kansas, itn defiance of Reeder and "Youask me tote]l you something ab)ut the Kansas and his vile nyrm7ideisitt, and vote at the point of the bowie-knife Missouri troulies. Of course you kniow iin what they have and revolv.er. Neither give nor take quarter. as our case origitated. There is no dentying that the Missourianis have demiands it. It is eniough that the slaveholding interest determined to control the elections, if possible; and I don't wills it, from which there is no appeal. Wh. tt right has know that their measures would be justifiable. except Governior Reederto rule Missourians in Kansas? His uponi the principle of self-preservationi; and that, you proclamation and prescribed oath must be repudiated. It knowv, is the first law of nature."' is your interest to do so. Mind that Slavery is establised. And it is confirmed still further by the Cirwhere it is not prohihited." where it is not prohibited."7. And it 18 confirmed still further by the Cir Here is what Atchison said after the invasion: cular of the Emigration Society of Lafayette, in HWellr whatnt? Whyan election sfotr mtinvars of Missouri, dated as late as 25th March, 1856, in "1Well what next? Why an election for mminbers- of the Legislature to organize the Territory must be held. which the efforts of Missourians are openly conWhat did I advise you to do then? Why, meet them on fessed }hfeir owni -round, and beat them at their o,n game again; tiseirown ground nandeheat them wattheir owns gameatasi; "The Western counties of Missouri have for the last and cold and itnclement as the. weather was, I went over two years been hleavily taxed, both it tmoney and time, iit with a company of mnen. My object in goi, was not to fightitig the battles of the South. Lafayette cou,nty alone has vote I had no right to vote, unless I had disfranci' pended snore than $100,000 in money, and as mech or dnore myselfin Missouri. I was not within two miles of a o in time. Up to r coute ofissori hae y-in time. Up toth~i.stime, the border count;es ofillissouri have tinr place. My object in g oing wa s not' ad teests of the South uheld and maintained the rights an,d interests of the South to settle a difficulty between two of our candidates; inthisstruggle, nassisted, andnotunsuccessfully. Butthe and the Abolition,ists of the North said, and published asd thae Aholluonf aso ther with satid-nf asd rulse- Abolitionists, stakini their all upon tne Kansas issue. eid it abroad, that Atchison, was there with botee-knfe and re- hesitatisng at no means, fair or foul, are moving heaven Volter, ctnd by God Iivas trite. I never did go into that Ter- and earth to reli(ler that beautiful Territory a Free State." ritory-I never intend to go into that Territory-without beintg prepared for all sutch kind ofcattle. Well, we beat 8. Here, also, is complete admission of the tlhem, and Governaor Reeder gave certificates to a majori ma ri n a Usurpation, by the Intellitencer, a leading paper ty of all the members of both Houses, and then, after they were organized, as everybody will admit, they were the of St. Louis, Missouri, made in the ensuing sumonly competent persons to say who were, anid who were mer: not, memb~ers of the same?" not, members of the same." "Atchison an, Stringfellow, with their Missouri folio - 4. It is confirmed by the contemporaneous ad- ers, overwhelmed the settlers in Kansas. browbeat and mission of the Squatter Sovereign, a paper pub- bullied them asd took the Goverirneiit from their ltand. Mi~or oe lactaed the pri-esit hodly nissan who insult lished at Atchison, and at once the organ of the piisourl voles eleclei tla e pr tse,t boiy of mn who insult public iii,elli,-enee an,] popular ri,,,Its by s yling themselves President and of these Borderers, which, under I the Legislature of Kansas.' This body of men are helpilt date of 1st April, thus recounts the victory: themselves lo fat seculations by locaiili te'seat ot'6iov erlment' au (eetile towni los for their votes They are INDEPESNDENCE, [M[IssotRI.] IllMarch'41, 1855. passing laws disfraichisini all the citizens of Katisas who "Several hundried mirmt foro Kansas have-jus,t en " ~~Several 11lei eni,graSnts frdo rnot believe Negro Slavery to be a (Chistian iisiliutioi tered our city. Thley were preceded by the Westport and ati a tiatioial hbl,ssiig.'t'iy are proposisi, li punish with Indepeisdence brass baids. They came sn at the west i,nprisontient the utterancee ofviews inosise ith their side of the public square, and proceeded entirely arou(id own. Aist they are trying to perpetuate their Sreposterot,s it, the bandls cheeri us wi th fine mu sic, and the emni- and inferial tyranny by appoiitinz for a termn of years gratits with good news. imniT diately following the hands creatur,s of their own, as comrimissionlers it ever- couu'y, were about two hund rsedi iho regular order; fol to lay and collect taxes, and see that the laws they are lowinig these were one hunidred'tl fifty wagons, car- passingo are laitlifully executed. Has this are aisytiiltig ria,es, &c. They gave repeated cheers for Kansas asndS compare with these acts i audacity?" Missouri.'I'hy report,hat not an Anti-Svayery man will he iIl Ihe Legrislature of K aIsas. We hatem'ade a cleaen 9. In harmony with all these is the authorita ~s~~~t.,t~ees.5 - tive declaration of Governor Reeder, in a speech 5. It is also confirmed by the contemporaneous addressed to his neighbors, at Easton, Pennsyltestimony of another paper, always faithful to vania, at the end of April, 1855, and imnmediately Slavery, the New York Herald, in the letter of a afterwards published in the Washington Uniosn. correspondent from Brunswick, in Missouri, under Here it is: date of 20th April, 1855" dtite of 20th April, 1855: "It was indeed too true that Kansas hadl been iznvatd,l "From hve to sevw n thousand men started from M'[is- conquered, sujugateid. by all armved force from heynosd ) et sonri to atteisd the e:ectiost, some to remove, hut the most. borders, led on by a faliatieal spirit, tiraiptis,ir uiader foot to return to their families, with ass intention, if they liked. the principles of the Kansas bill and the right of suffrage." the Territory. to make it their 5iermatient abode at the earliest momnetit ipracticable. But they intended to vote. 10. And in similar harmony is the complaint '. Missouriasswere,many ofihem. Douglas mean. T'ere of the people of Kansas, in a public meeting at were oea liunidred and fifty voters frnom this counity, otia hundred and seventy-five from hIoward, one huodred Big Springs, on the 5th September, 1855, embod frost Cooper. Indeed every county furnished its quota;' ied in these words: many changes bf language, against the heinous offence, described in forty-eight different ways, of interfering with what does not exist in that Territory-and under the Constitution cannot exist there-I mean property in human flesh. Thus is Liberty sacrified to Slavery, and Death summoned to sit at the gates as guardian of tihe Wrong. But the work of Usurpation was not perfected even yet. It had already cost too much to be left at any hazard. - " To be thus was nothing; But to be safely thus! "' Such was the object. And this could not be, except by the entire prostration of all the safeguards of Human Rights. The liberty of speech, which is the very breath of a Republic; the press, which is the terror of wrong-doers; the bar, through which the oppressed beards the arrogance of law; the jury, by which right is vindicated; all these must be struck down, while officers are provided, in all places, ready to be the tools of this tyranny; and then, to obtain final assurance that their crime was secure, the whole Usurpa,tion, stretching over the Territory, must be fasttened and riveted by legislative bolts, spikes, and screws, so as to defy all efort at chang, through the ordinary forms of law. To this work, in its various parts, were bent the subtlest energies; and never, from Tubal Cain to this hour, was any fabric forged with more desperate skill and completeness. Mark, sir, three different legislative enactments, which constitute part of this work. First, according to one act, all who deny, by spoken or written word, "the right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory," are denounced as felons, to be punished by imprisonment at hard labor, for a term not less than two years; it may be for life. And to show the extravagance of this injustice, it has been well put by the Senator from Vermont, [Mr. COLLAMER,] that should the Senator from Michigan, [Mr. CAss,] who believes that Slavery cannot exist in a Territory, unless introduced by express legislative acts, venture there with his moderate opinions, his doom must be that of a felon! I To this extent are the great liberties of speech and of the press subverted. Secondly, by another act, entitled "An Act concerning Attorneys at-Law," no person can practice as an attorney, unless he shall obtain a license from the Territorial courts, which, of course, a tyrannical discretion will be free to deny; and after obtaining such license, he is constrained to take an oath, not only "to support" the Constitution of the United States, but also "to support and sustain "-mark here the reduplication-the Territorial act, and the Fugitive Slave Bill, thus erecting a test for the function of the bar, calculated to exclude citizens who honestly regard that latter legislative enormity as unfit to be obeyed. And, thirdly, by another act, entitled " An Act concerning Jurors," all persons "conscientiously opposed to holding slaves," or "not admitting the right to hold slaves in the Territory," are ex&.uded from the jury on every question, civi]Jor criminal, arising out of asserted slave property; while, in all cases the summoning of the jury is left with "Reso7. ed, That the body of menl Cello for the last two months have been passinlg laws lor the people of our Territory, moved, counselled. and dictalel to l)y the demyagogues of Mlissouri. are to us a foreig'n body, representing only the lawless inviaders who elected th,-m, and not the people of the Territory-that we r pudiate their action. as tie monstrous colls,lmma'ioll of ai act of violence, usurpation. and fraud. unparalleled in the history oftlhe Union. and worthy only of men unfitted for the duties and regardless of the responsibililies of Rf pubhieans."n 11. And finally, by the official minutes, which have been laid on our table by the President, the invasion, which ended in the Usurpation, is clearly established; but the efflct of this testimony has been so amply exposed by the Senator from Vermont, [Mr. COLLAMER,] in his able and indefatigable argument, that I content myself with simply referring to it. On this cumulative, irresistible evidence, in c oncurren ce with the antecedent history, I rest. An d yet Senators here have arfoued that this cannot be so-precisel y as t he conspir acy of Catiline was doubted in the Roman Senate. Nonnulli aunt in hoc ordine, giut aut ea, quce imminent, non videant; aut ea, gum vident, dissiinulent; qui 2em Catilinzae mollibus sententiis altieg-unzt, copiurat'onemque nascentem non credendo co?-?-oboraverunt. As I listened to the Senator from Illinois, while he painfully strove to show that there was no Usurpation, I was reminded of the effort by a distinguished logician, in a much-admired argument, to prove that Napoleon Bonaparte never existed. And permit me to say, that the fact of his existence is not placed more completely above doubt than the fact of this Usurpation. This I assert on the proofs already presented. But confirmation comes almost while I speak. The colunmns of the public press are now daily filled with testimony, solemnly taken before the Committee of Congress in Kansas, which shows, in awful light, the violence ending in the Usurpation. Of this I may speak on some other occasion. Meanwhile, I proceed with the development of the Crime. The usurping Legislature assembled at the appointed place in the interior, and then at once, in opposition to the veto of the Governor, by a majority of two-thirds, removed to the Shawnee Mlission, a place in most convenient proximity to the Missouri borderers, by whom it had been constituted, and whose tyrannical agent it was. The statutes of Missouri, in all their text, with their divisions and subdivisions, were adopted bodily, and with such little local adaptation that the word " State " in the original is not even changed to " Territory," but is left to be corrected by an explanatory act. But, all this general legislation was entirely subordinate to the special act, entitled " An Act to punish offences against Slave Property," in which the One Idea, that provoked this whole conspiracy, is at last embodied in legislative form, and Human Slavery openly recognised on Free Soil, under the sanction of pretended law. This act of thirteen sections is in itself a Dance of.Death. But its complex completeness of wickedncss, without a parallel, may be partially conceived, when it is understood that in three sections only of it is the penalty of death denounced no less than forty-eight different times, by as 1 4 15 out one word of restraint to "the marshal, sheriff, or other officer," who are thus free to pack it according to their tyrannical discretion. For the ready enforcement of all statutes against Human Freedom, the President had already furnished a powerful quota of officers, in the Governor, Chief Justice, Judges,'Secretary, Attorney, and Marshal. The Legislature completed this part of the work, by constituting, in each county, a Board of Commissioners, composed of two persons, associated with the Probate Judge, whose duty it is " to appoint a county treasurer, coronier, justices of the peace, constables, and all other officers provided for by law," and then proceeded to the choice of this very Board; thus delegating and diffusing their usurped power, and tyrannically imposing upon the Territory a crowd of officers, in whose appointment the people have had no voice, directly or indirectly. And still the final inexorable work remained. A Legislature, renovated in both branches, could not assemble until 1858, so that, during this long intermediate period, this whole system must continue in the likeness of law, unless overturned by the Federal Government, or, in default of such interposition, by a generous uprising of an oppressed people. But it was necessary to guard against the possibility of change, even tardily, at a future election; and this was done by two different acts; under the first of which, all who will not take the oath to support the Fugitive Slave Bill are excluded from the elective franchise; and under the second of which, all others are entitled to vote who shall tender a tax of one dollar to the Sheriff on the day of election; thus, by provision of Territorial law, disfranchising all opposed to Slavery, and at the same time opening the door to the votes of the invaders; by an unconstitutional shibboleth, excluding from the polls the mass of actual settlers, and by making the franchise depend upon a petty tax only, admitting to the polls the mass of borderers from Missouri. Thus, by tyrannical forethought, the Usurpation not only fortified all that it did, but assumed a self-perpetuating energy. Thus was the Crime consummated. Slavery now stands erect, clanking its chains on the Territory of Kansas, surrounded by a code of death, and trampling upon all cherished liberties, whether of speech, the press, the bar, the trial by jury, or the electoral franchise. And, sir, all this has been done, not merely to introduce a wrong which in itself is a -,%al of all rights, and in dread of which a mother hi, lately taken the life of her offspring; not merely, alohas been sometimes said, to protectSlaveryinMissouii,since it is futile for this State to complain of Freedom en the side of Kansas, when Freedom exists without complaint on the side of Iowa and also on the side of Illinois; but it has been done for the sake of political power, in order to bring two new slaveholding Senators upon this floor and thus to fortify in the National Government the desperate chances of a waning Oligarchy. As the ship, voyaging on pleasant summer seas, is assailed by a pirate crew, and robbed'for the sake of its doubloons and dollars-so is this beautiful Territory now assailed in its peace and prosperity, and robbed, in order to wrest its political power to the side of Slavery. Even now the black flag of the land pirates from Missouri waves at the mast head; in their laws you hear the pirate yell, and see the flash of the pirae r knife; w hile, incredible to relate! the President, gathering the Slave Power at his back, testi fies a pir ate sympat hy. Sir, all this was done in the name of Popular Sovereignty. And this is the close of the tragedy. Popular Sovereignty, which, when truly understood, is a fountain of just power, has ended in Popular Sqavery; not merely in the subjection of the unhappy African race, but of this proud Caucasian blood, which you boast. The profession with which you began, of All by the People, has been lost in the wretched reality of Nothing for the People. Popular Sovereignty, in whose deceitful name plighted faith was broken, and an ancient Landmark of Freedom was overturned, now lifts itself before us, like Sin, in the terrible picture of Milton, "That seemed a woman to the waist, and fair, But enidedt foul in many a scaly fold Voluminious and vast, a serpent armed AV;ith mortal sting,-; about her middle round A cry of hell-hounds never ceasinsg barked With wide Cerl)erean mouths full loud, and rung A hideous peal; yet, when they list, would creep, If aught disturbed their noise, into her womb, And kennel,here, yet there still barked and howled Vitllill, unseen." II. Emer ging fro m al l the blacknes s of this Crime, in which we seem to have been lost, as in a savage wood, and turning our backs upon it, as upon desolation and death, from which, while others have suffered, we have escaped, I come now to THE APOLOGIES which the Crime has found. Sir, well may you start at the suggestion that such a series of wrongs, so clearly proved by various testimony, so openly confessed by the wrong-doers, and so widely recognised throughout the country, should find Apologies. But the partisan spirit, now, as in other days, hesitates at nothing. The great Crimes of history have never been without Apologies. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, which you now instinctively condemn, was, at the time, applauded in high quarters, and even commemorated by a Papal medal, which may still be procured at Rome; as the Crime against Kansas, which is hardly less conspicuous in dreadful eminence, has been shielded on this floor by extenuating words, and even by a Presidential message, which, like the Papal medal, can never be forgotten in considering the madness and perversity of men. Sir, the Crime cannot be denied. The President himself has admitted "illegal and reprehensible" conduct. To such conclusion he was compelled by irresistible evidence; but what he mildly describes I openly arraign. Senators may affect to put it aside by a sneer; or to reason it away by figures; or to explain it by a theory, such as desperate invention has produced on this floor, that the Assassins and Thugs of Missouri The ima-e is complete at all points; and, with this exposure, I take my leave of the Crime against Kansas. 16 efforts sit. te to expose the utter illegality of that body, which he now repudiates entirely. It was said of certain Roman Emperors, who did infinite mischief in their beginnings, and infinite good towards their ends, that they should neve.r have been born, or never died; and I would apply the same to the official life of this Kansas Governor. At all events, I dismiss the Apology founded on his acts, as the utterance of tyranny by the voice of law, transcending the declaration of the i(,dantie judge, in the British Parliament, on the eve of our Revolution, that our fathers, notwithstanding their complaints, were in reality represented in Parliament, inasmuch as their lands, under the original charters, were held "in common socage, as of the manor of Greenwich in Kent," which, being duly represented, carried with it all the Colonies. Thus in other ages has tyranny assumed the voice of law. The Apology tyrannical is founded on the mis taken act of Governor Reeder, in authenticating the Usurping Legislature, by which it is asserted that, whatever may have been the actual forc e or fraud in its elect ion, the p eople of Kansas ar e effectually concluded, and the whole proceeding is p lac ed under the formal sanction of law. Ac cording to this assumption, complaint is now in vain, an d it only rem ains that Congress should s it and hearken to it, without correcting the wrong, as the a ncient tyrant listened and gr an ted no redress to th e h um an moans that issued from the heated b raz en bull, w hich subtle crue lty had devised. This I call th e Apology of technicality inspired by tyranny. The facts on this h ead are few and plain. Gov ernor Reeder, after allowing only five days for Objections to the returns-a spac e of time unreaso nably b rief in tha t extensi ve Territory-decelared a majori ty of the m emb er s of the Council and of t he House of Represent atives " duly elected," withheld certificates from certain others, because of satisfactory proof that they were not duly elected, and appointed a day for new elections to supply these vacancies. Afterwards, by formal message, he recognised the Legislature as a legal body, and when he vetoed their act of adjournment to the neighborhood of Missouri, he did it simply on the grou nd of t he illegality of such an adjournment under the organic law. Now, to every assumption founded on these facts, there are two satisfactory replies; first, that no certificate of the Governor can do more than authenticate a subsisting legal act, without of itself i nfilsing legality where the essence of legality is not already; and secondly, that violence or fraud, wherever disclosed, vitiates completely every proceeding. In denying these principles, you place the certificate above the thing certified, and give a perpetual lease to violence and fraud, merely because at an ephemeral moment they were unquestioned. This will not do. Sir, I am no apologist for Governor Reeder. There is sad reason to believe that he went to Kansas originally as the tool of the President; but his simple nature, nurtured in the atmosphere of Pennsylvania, revolted at the service required, and he turned from his patron to duty. Grievously did he err in yielding to the, Legislature any act of-authentication; but he'has in some measure answered for this error by determined Next comes the Apology imbecile, which is founded on the alleged want of power in the President to arrest this Crime. It is openly as serted, that, under the existing laws of the Uni ted States, the Chief Magistrate had no authority to interfere in Kansas for this purpose. Such is the broad statement, which, even if correct, furnishes no Apology for any proposed ratification of the Crime, but which is in reality untrue; and this, I call the Apology of imbecility. In other matters, no such ostentatious imbecility appears. Only lately, a vessel of war in the Pacific has chastised the cannibals of the Fejee Islands, for alleged outrages on American citizens. But no person of ordinary intelligence will pretend that American citizens in the Pacific have received wrongs from these cannibals comparab!e in atrocity to those received by American citizens in Kansas. Ah, sir, the interests of Slavery are not touched by any chastisement of the Fejees I Constantly we are informed of efforts at New York, through the agency of the Government, and sometimes only on the breath of suspicion, to arrest vessels about to sail on foreign voyages in violation of our neutrality laws or treaty stipulations. Now, no man familiar with the cases will presume to suggest that the urgency' for these arrests was equal to the urgency for interposition against these successive invasions from Missouri. But the Slave Power is not disturbed by such arrests at New York I At this moment, the President exults in the vigilance with which he has prevented the enlistment of a few soldiers, to be carried off to Halifax, in violation of our territorial sovere ignty, and England is bravely threatened, even to the' extent of a rupture of diplomatic relations, for her endeavor, though unsuccessful, and at once abandoned. Surely, no man in his senses will urge that this act was anything but trivial by the side of the Crime against Kansas. But the Slave Power is not concerned in this controversy. Thus, where the Slave Power is indifferent, the President will see that the laws are faithfully executed; but, in other cases, where the interests of Slavery are at stake, he is controlled absolutely by this tyranny, ready at all times to do frere in reality i-,itizens of Kansas; but all these .efforts, so far as made, are only tokens of the weakness of the cause, while to the original Crime they add another offence of false testimony ftgainst innocent and suffering men. But the Apolo,ies for the Crime are worse than the efforts at denial. In cruelty and heartlessness they identify their authors with the great trangression. They are four in number, and four-fold in character. The first is the Apology tyrannical; the second, the Apology imbecile; the third, the Apology absurd; and the fourth, -the Apology infamous. This is all. Tyranny, imbecility, absurdity, and infamy, all unite to dance, like the weird sisters, about this Crime. 18 that a small printed pamphlet, containing the "Constitution and Ritual of the Grand Encamp- ment and Regiments of the Kansas Legion," was taken from the person of one George F. Warren, who attempted to avoid detection by chewing it. The oaths and grandiose titles of the pretended Legion have all been set forth, and this poor mummery of a secret society, which existed only on paper, has been gravely introduced on this floor, in order to extenuate the Crime against Kansas. It has been paraded in more than one speech, and even stuffed into the report of the committee. A part of the obligation s assumed by the members of this Legion shows why it has been thus pursued, and also attests its innocence. It is as follows: HI will never kniowingly propose a person for membership ill this order who is not infavor of snakieig Kansas a free State, and whom I feel satisfied will exert his en t i re influence to bring, about this result. I will support, maititaitn, and abide by atly honorable movementit made by the organlization to secure this great elud. which will iot conflict with the laws of the country and the Constitutiot of the United States." who seek to do the m is si on o f th e Saviour are I scourged and crucified, while the murderer, Ba rabbas, wi th s y ath e s ympathy of the c hie f priests, goes at la rge. Were I to take counsel of my own feelings, I should dismiss th is whole Apology to the ineff ble contempt which it deserves; but it has been made to play such a part in this conspiracy, that I feel it a dut y to expose it completely. Sir, from the earlies t times, me n have recog nised the advantages of organization, as an ef fective agency in pr omoting works of peace or w ar. Especially at this mo men t, there is no interest, public or priv ate, high or low, of charity or trade, of luxury or convenienc e, which does no t seek its aid. Men organize to rear churches and to sell threa d; to build schools and to sail ships; to cons truct roads and to manufactu re t toys; to spin cotton and to print books; to weave cloths and to quicken harvests; to provide food and to distribute light; to influence Public Opin. ion and to secure votes; to guard infancy i n its weakness, old age in i ts decrepitude, a nd womanhood in its wretchedness; and now, i n all large towns, when death h as come, the y are buried by organized societies, and, emigrants to another world, they lie dowinin pleasant places, adorned by organized skill. To complain th at this prevailing principle has been applied to living emigration is t o complain of Pro vi dence and the irresistible ten dencie s implanted in man. But this application of the principle is no recent invention, brought forth for an existing emergency. It has the best stamp of Antiquitv. It showed itself in t he brigh t e st days of Greece, wher e colonists moved in org anized bands. It became a part or t he ma tur e policy of Rome, where bodies of men were constituted expres sly fo r this purpose, triumnviri ad colonos deducendos.-(Livy, xxxvii, a 46.) Naturally it has been accepted in modern times by ever y c ivilized State. With the sanction of Spain, an association of Genoese mlerchants first introduced slaves to th is continent. With the sanction of France, the Society of Jesuits stretched their labors over Canada and the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. It was under the auspices of Emigrant Aid Companies, that oux country wvas originally settled, by the Pilgrim Fathers of PlymoutiC, by the adventurers of Virgirnia, and by the philan thropic Oglethorpe, whos e " benevolence of soul," commemorated by Pope, soughtt to plant a Free State in Georgia. At this day, such associations, of a humbler character, are found in Europe, with offices in the great capitals, through whose activity emigrants are directed here. For a long time, emigration to the West, from the Northern and Middle States, but particularly from New England, has been of marked significance. In quest of better homes, annually it has pressed to the unsettled lands, in numkers to be counted by tens of thousands; but this has been done heretofore with little knowledge, and without guide or counsel. Finally, when, by the establishment of a Government in Kans'~s, the tempting fields of that central region Iwere opened to the competition of peaceful coloInization: and especially when it was declared Ka nsas is to be made a f re e State, by an honorable movement, which will not conflict with the laws and the Constitution. That is the object of the organization, declared in the very words of the initiatory obligation. Where is the wrong in this? What is there here, which can cast reproach, or even suspicion, upon the people of Kansas? Grant that the Legion was constituted, can you extract from it any Apology for the original Crime, or for its present ratification? Secret societies, with their extravagant oaths, are justly offensive; but who can find, in this mistaken machinery, any excuse for the denial of all rights to the people of Kansas? All this, I say, on the supposition that the society was a reality, which it was not. Existing in the fantastic brains of a few persons only, it never had any practical life. It was never organized. The whole tale, with the mode of obtaining the copy of the Constitution, is at once a cock-antd-bull story and a mare's nest; trivial as the former; absurd as the latter; and to be dismissed, with the Apology founded upon it, to the derision which triviality and absurdity justly receive. It only rema ins, und er t his h ead, that I should speak of the Apology infanmous; founded on false testimony against the Emigrant Aid Company, and assumptions of duty more false than the testimony. Defying Truth and mocking Decency, this Apology excels all others in futility and audacity, while, from its utter hollowness, it proves the utter impotence of the conspirators to efend their Crime. Falsehood, always infi,mous, in this case arouses peculiar scorn. An association of' sincere benevolence, faithful to the Constitution and laws, whose only fortifications are hotels, school-houses, and churches; whose only weapons are saw-mills, tools and books; whose mission is peace and good will, has been falsely assailed on this floor, and an errand of blameless virtue has been made the pretext for an unpardonable Crime. Nay, more-the innocent are sacrificed, and the guilty set at liberty. They q fhat the question of Freedom or Slavery there *,as to be determined by the votes of actual set tlers, then at once was organization enlisted as an effective agency in quickening and conduct ing the emigration impelled thither, and, more than all, in providing homes for it on arrival there. The Company was first constituted under an act of the Legislature of Massachusetts, 4th of .May, 1854, some weeks prior to the passage of the Nebraska bill. The original act of incorpo ration was subsequently abandoned, and a new charter received in February, 1855, in which the objects of the Society are thus declared: " For the pur,poses of directing emigration WVe,-tward, a-d aiding in prociding accommodations for the emigrants ofe.r arrivin,g at their places of destiszation."S At any other moment, an association for these purposes would have taken its place, by general consent, among the philanthropic experiments of the age; but Crime is always suspicious, and shakes, like a sick man, merely at the pointing of a finger. The conspirators against Freedom In Kansas now shook with tremor, real or affected. Their wicked plot was about to fail. To help themselves, they denounced the Emigrant Aid Company; and their denunciations, after finding an echo in the President, have been repeated, with much particularity, on this floor, in the formal report of your committee. The falsehood of the whole accusation will apper in illustrative specimens. A charter is set out, section by section, which, though originally granted, was subsequently abandoned, and is not in reality the charter of the Company, but is materially unlike it. The Company is represented as " a powerful corporation, with a capital of five millions; " when, by its actual charter, it is not allowed to hold property above one million, and, in point of fact, its capital has not exceeded $100,000. Then, again, it is suggested, if not alleged, that this enormous capital, which I hate already said does not exist, is invested in "cannon and rifles, in powder and lead, and implements of war"all of which, whether alleged or suggested, is absolutely false. The officers of the Company authorize me to give to this whole pretension a point-blank denial. All these allegations are of small importance, and I mention them only because they show the character of the report, and also something of the quicksand on which the Senator from Illinois has chosen to plant himself. But these are all capped by the unblushing assertion that the proceedings of the Company were "in perversion of the plain provisions of an Act of Congress;" and also, another unblushing assertion, as "certain and undeniable," that the Company was formed to promote certain objects, "regardless of the rights and wishes of the people, as guarantied by the Constitution of the United States, and secured by their organic law;" when it is certain and undeniable that the Company has done nothing in perversion of any Act of Congress, while to the extent of its power it has sought to protect the rights and wishes of the actual people in ~ Territory. Sir, this Company has violated in no respect the Constitution or l aws o f the lan d; not in the severest letter or the slightest spirit. But every other imputation is e qually baseless. It is not true, as the Senator from Illinois has alleged, in order in some way to compr omise the Company, that it was informed before the public of the date fixed for the election of the Legislature. This statement is pronounced by the Secretary, i n a letter now before me, "an unqualified falsehood, not having even the shadow of a shade of truth for its basis." It is not t r ue that me n have be en hired by the Com pan y to go to Kansas; for every emi - grant, who has gone under its direction, has himself provided the means for his journey. Of course, sir, it is not true, as has been complained by the Senator from South Carolina, with that proclivity to error which marks all his utterances, that men have been sent by the Company " with one uniform gun, Sharpe's rifle;" for it has supplied no arms of any kind to anybody. It is not true that the Company has encouraged any fanatical aggression upon the people of Missouri; for it has counselled order, peace, forbearance. It is not true that the Company has chosen its emigrants on account of their political opinions; for it has asked no questions with regard to the opinions of any whom it aids, and at this moment standr ready to forward those from the South as well as the North, while, in the Territory, all, from whatever quarter, are admitted to an equal enjoyment of its tempting advantages. It is not true that the Company has sent persons merely to control elections, and not to remain in the Territory; for its whole action, and all its anticipation of pecuniary profits, are founded on the hope to stock the country with permanent settlers, by whose labor the capital of the Company shall be made to yield its increase, and by whose fixed interest in the soil the welfare of all shall be promoted. Sir, it has not the honor of being an Abolition Society, or of numbering among its officers Abolitionists. Its President is a retired citizen, of ample means and charitable life, who has taken no part in the conflicts on Slavery, and has never allowed his sympathies to be felt by Abolitionists. One of its Vice Presidents is a gentleman from Virginia, with family and friends there, who has always opposed the Abolitionists. Its generous Treasurer, who is now justly absorbed by the objects of' the Company, has always -been understood as ranging with his extensive connexions, by blood and marriage, on the side of that quietism which submits to all the tyranny of the Slave Power. Its Directors are more conspicuous for wealth and science, than for any activity against Slavery. Among these is an eminent lawyer of Massachusetts, Mr. Chapmanpersonally known, doubtless, to some who hear me-who has distinguished himself by an austere conservatism, too natural to the atmosphere of courts, which does not flinch even from the support of the Fugitive Slave Bill. In a recent address at a public meeting in Springfield, this gentleman thus speaks for himself and his asso ciates'* 19 Sir, this Company has violated in no respect the Constitution or laws of the land; not in the severest letter or the slightest spirit. But every other imputation is equally baseless. It is not true, as the Senator from Illinois has alleged, in order in some way to compromise the Company, that it was informed before the public of the date fixed for the election of the Legislature. This statement is pronounced by the Secretary, in a letter now before me, "an unqualified falsehood, not having even the shadow of a shade of truth for its basis." It is not true that men have been hired by the Company to go to Kansas; for every emigrant, who has gone under its direction, has himselfprovided the means for his journey. Of course, sir, it is not true, as has been complained by the Senator from South Carolina, with that proclivity to error which marks all his utterances, that men have been sent by the Company " with one uniform gun, Sharpe's rifle;" for it has supplied no arms of any kind to anybody. It is not true that the Company has encouraged any fanatical aggression upon the people of Missouri; for it has counselled order, peace, forbearance. It is not true that the Company has chosen its emigrants on account of their political opinions; for it has asked no questions with regard to the opinions of any whom it aids, and at th is moment stands re a dy to for wa rd thos e from the South as well as the North, while, in the Territory, all, from whatever quarter, are admitted to an equal enjoyment of its tempting advantages. It is not true that the Company has sent persons merely to control elections, and not to remain in the Territory; for its whole action, and all its anticipation of pecuniary profits, are founded on the hope to stock the country with permanent settlers, by whose labor the capital of the Company shall be made to yield its increase, and by whose fixed interest in the soil the welfare of all shall be promoted. Sir, it has not the honor of being an Abolition Society, or of numbering among its officers Abolitionists. Its President is a retired citizen, of ample means and charitable life, who has taken no part in the conflicts on Slavery, and has never allowed his sympathies to be felt by Abolitionists. One of its Vice Presidents is a gentleman from Virginia, with family and friends there, who has always opposed the Abolitionists. Its generous Treasurer, who is now justly absorbed by the objects of the Company, has always been understood as ranging with his extensive connexions, by blood and marriage, on the side of that quietism which submits to all the tyranny of the Slave Power. Its Directors are more conspicuous for wealth and science, than for any activity against Slavery. Among these is an eminent lawyer of Massachusetts, Mr. Chapmanpersonally known, doubtless, to some who hear mewho has distinguished himself by an austere conservatism, too natural to the atmosphere or courts, which does not flinch even from the support of tile Fugitive Slave Bill. In a recent address at a public meeting in Springfield, this gentleman thus speaks for himself and his asso cidtea'* tha the question of Freedom or Slavery there *.a s t o be dete rmined by the votes of actual settiers, then at once was organization enlisted as an effective agenc y in qu icke ning and conducting the emig ration imp ell ed thither, and, more than all, in providing home s for it on arrival there. The Company was first constituted under an act of the Leg islature of Massachusetts, 4th of slay, 1854, so me w eeks prior to the passage of the Nebraska bill. The ori ginal act of incorporation was subsequently abandoned, and a new charter re ceived in February, 1855, in which the objects of the Society are thus declared: "For the purmooses of directing emigra ti on We.tward, -id aiding in pr,orviding accommodations for theoeirant ofCa,r arriv,i,,g at their places of destination.': At any o ther mom ent, an association for these purposes woul d ha ve tak en its place, by general consent, among the philanthropic experiments of the age; but Crime is always suspicious, and shakes, like a s ick man, merely at the pointing of a finger. The conspirators against Freedom An Kanllsas now sh iook with tremor, real or affected. Their wicked plot was about to fail. To help themselves, the y denounced the Emigrant Aid Company; and their denuncia tion s, after finding an e c ho in the President, have been repeated. wit h much particularity, on t his flo o r, in the form al report of your committee. The falsehood of the whole accusation will appear in illustrative specimens. A charter is set out, section by se ction, which, tough origin ally gran ted, wa s subsequent ly ab andoned, and is not in reality the charter of the Company, but is materially unlike it. The Company is represented as " a powerful corporation, with a capital of five millions;" when, by its actual charter, it is not allowed to h old p rop erty above one million, and, in point of fact, its capital has not exceeded $100,000. Then, at ain, it is s ugg est ed, if not alleged, that this enormous cap ital, which I hate already said does not exist, is invested in " cannon and rifles, in p owder and l ead, and implements of warn"all of which, wheth er allege d or suggested, is absolutel y false. The officers of the Company authorize me t o give to this who le pretension a point-blank denial. All thes e al legation s ar e of s mall imp ortance, and I mention them only b e ca u se they show the character of t he repo rt, and also something of the quicksand on which the Senator from Illinois has c-hosen to plant himself. But these are all capped by the unblushing assertion that the proceedings of th e Company w er e " in perversi on o f the plain provisions of an Act of Congress w and also, a nothe r unblush ing assertion, as "certain and undeniable," that the Company was formed to promote certain objects, "regardless of the rights and wishes of the people as guarantied by the Constitution of the United States, and secured by their organic law; " when it is certain and undeniable that the Company has done nothing in perversion of any Act of Congress, wl-lle to the extant of its power it H~as sought to protect the rights and wishes of the actual people in t> Territory. 19 20 Such is the simple tale of the Emigrant Aid Company. Sir, not even suspicion can justly touch it. But it must be made a scapegoat This is the decree which has gone forth. I was hardly surprised at this outrage, when it pro ceeded from the President, for, like Macbeth, he is stepped so far in, that returning were as tedious as go on; but I did not expect it from the Sena tor from Missouri, [LMIr. GEYER,] whom I had learned to respect for the general moderation of his views, and the name he has won in an hon orable profession. Listening to him, I was sad dened by the spectacle of the extent to which Slavery will sway a candid mind to do injus tice. Had any other interest been in question, that Senator would have scorned to join in if peachment of such an association. His instincts as a lawyer, as a man of honor, and as a Senatox, would have forbidden; but the Slave Power, in enforcing its behests, allows no hesitation, and the Senator surrendered. In this vindication, I content myself with a statement of facts, rather than an argument. It might be urged that Missouri had organized a propagandist emigration long before any fi-om Massachusetts, and you might be reminded of the wolf in the fable, which complained of the lamb for disturbing the waters, when in fact the alleged offender was lower down on the stream. It might be urged, also, that South Carolina has lately entered upon a similar system-while one of her chieftains, in rallying recruits, has unconsciously attested to the cause in which he was engaged, by exclaimitig, in the words of Satan, addressed to his wicked fdrces, " Awake I arise! or be forever fallen!" * But the occasion needs no such defences. I put them aside. Not on the example of Missouri or the example of South C arolina, but on inherent rights, which n o man, whether Senator or President, can justly assail, do I plant this impregnable justification. It will not do, in specious phrases, to allege the right of every State to be free in its domestic policy from foreign interference, and then to assume such wrongfidl interference by this Company. By the law and Constitution, we stand or fall; and that law and Constitution we have in no respect offended. To cloak the overthrow of all law in Kansas, an assumption is now set up, which utterly denies one of the plainest rights of the people everywhere. Sir, I beg Senators to understand that this is a Government of laws; and that, under these laws, the people have an incontestable right to settle any portion of our broad territory, and, if they choose, to propagate any opinions there, not openly forbidden by the laws. If this were not so, pray, sir, by what title is the Senator from Illinois, who is an emigrant from Vermont, propagating his disastrous opinions in another State? Surely he has no monopoly of this right. Others may do what he is doing; nor can the right be in any say restrained. It is as broad as the people; and it matters not whether the) go in numbers small or great, with assistance or ~' Mr. EvANs, of So~uth Carolina, hore i,terruptedl Mr SUmSeR. to say that he did not know of any such addtres~x M~r. S. replied, that it was take n from Southernl papax "I 1ave been a Dir ctor of the SocieWy from the first, an, have kept miyself well inflormed ii regard to its proceedinis. I am:,>,t twarc that aloy one ill this comnmuniiy ever suspected me of bailer,la Aboli icmist, but I have been accessed of beiin,, Pro)-Sl.avery; and I believe naw y gtood people tiitilk I,tn quie t oo conservative of n toal lubject. I take tills o., casion to s:,y that a,I the plfans and proceedin~sot' tile iSoci'ty have mnet my approba;ioi; a,d I as,ert thalt it h,ls niever tonle a si~,gle act vitl which any po~i ieal p:arty or the, peop!e of ally section of the comntry earl iustly fi,ll fault. T ie name of its Presicdent. Mlr. Bro,ll. of Pr.ovidenice, alld ofi's Treasurer, Mfr. Lawrence, of B3oston, are a su:fici,ilt -u,:raniy il the estimation ofinite'lizret mlen n aii, s; its being- entgag-edi ill ally fanatical elerprrise. It, stockholler. are compose,] of men of all political pa,ries except Abolitioniists. I amn not aware that . has received the palronage of that class of our fellowcitiz.en. and I am i iorfned that some of them disapprove of its proc,eedinigs."1 The acts of the Company have been such as might be ex pec ted from auspi ces thus severely careful at all points. The secret, through which, with small means, it has been able to accomplishl so mu ch, is, that, as an ildttcement to edniiration, it has gone forw ard an d p lanted capital in advance of poputlat ion. Accordiny to the old immethodical sys tem, this rule is reversed, and population has been left to g rop e b lindly, without the advan tage of fix ed centres, with mills, schools, and churches-all calculated to s often the hardships of pioneer life-suc h as have bee n established befo rehand in Kansas. H ere, sir, is the secret of the Emigrant Aid Company. By this single principle, which is now practically app lied for the first time in hist ory, and w hich ha s the s implicity of genius, a bus in ess association at a distance, without a large capital, has become a beneficent instrument of civilization, exercising the functions of variou s Societies, and in itself being a p tissionary Society, a Bible Society, a Tract Society, an Education Society, and a Society for the Diffusion of the Mechanic Arts. I would not claim too much for this Company; but I doubt if, at this mome n t, there is any Societ y, which is so completely philanthropic; a nd since its leading id ea, like the light of a candle from which other cand les are lighted w ithou t num ber; ma y be applied indefinitely, it p romis es to b e an important aid to Human Progress. The lesson it teache s cannot be forgo tten, and hereafter, wherever unsettled lands exist, intelligent capital will lead the way, anticipatithe athe wants of the pioneer-nay, doing the v ery work of the origina l pioneer-awhile, amidst well-adrranaed harmonies, a new community will arise, to become, by its example, a more eloquent preacher than any solitary missionary. In subordination to this essential idea, is its humbler machinery for the aid of emigrants on their way, by combining parties, so that friends and neighbors might journey together; by purchasing tickets at wholesale, and fiirnishin,, them to individuals at the actCal cost; by providing for each party a conductor familiar with the road, and, through these simple means, pl'omoting the economy, safety, and comfort, of the expedition. The number of emigrants it has directly aided, even thus slightly, in their journesy, has been infinitely exaggerated. From the beginning of its operations down to the close of the last autumn, all its detachments from Massachusetts contained only thirteen hundred and twelve persons. 21 without assistance, under the auspices of socie ties or not under such auspices. If this were not so, then, by what title are so many foreigners annually naturalized, under Democratic auspices, in order to secure their votes for misnamed Democratic principles? And if capital as well as combination cannot be employed, by what title do venerable associations exist, of ampler means and longer duration than any Emigrant Aid Company, around whii(h cluster the regard and confidence of the country-the Tract Society, a powerful cor poration, which scatters its publications freely in every corner of the land-the Bible Society, an incorporated body, with large resources, which seeks to carry the Book of Life alike into Terri tories and States-the Missionary Society, also an incorporated body, with large resources, which sends its agents everywhere, at home and in for eign lands? By what title do all these exist? Nay, sir, by what title does an Insurance Compa ny in New York send its agent to open an office in New Orleans, and by what title does Massa chusetts capital contribute to the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in Missouri, and also to the copper mines of Michigan? The Senator inveiglhs against the Native American party; but his own principle is narrower than any attributed to them. They object to the influence of emigrants from abroad; he objects to the influence of American citizens at home, when exerted in States or Territories where they were not born I Thie whole assumption is too audaciousforrespectfil argument. But since a great right has been denied, the children of the Free States, over whose cradles has shone the North Star, owe it to themselves, to their ancestors, and to Freedom itself, that this right should now be asserted to the fullest extent. By the blessing of God, and under the continued protection of the laws, they will go to Kansas, there to plant their homes, in the hope of elevating this Territory soon into the sisterhood of Free States; and to such end they will not hesitate in the employment of all legitimate means, whether by companies of men or contributions of money, to swell a virtuous emigration, and they will justly scout any attempt to question this unquestionable right. Sir, if they failed to (do this, they would oe fit only for slaves themselves. God be praised! Massachusetts, honored Commionwealth that gives me the privilege to plead fior Kansas on this floor, knows her rights, and will maintain them firmly to the end. This is not the first time in history, that her public a,tts have heen arraigned, and that her public men h'le been exposed to contumely. Thus was it wieeni, in the olden time, she began the great battle whose fruits you all enjoy. But never yet }li,s she occupied a position so lofty as at this hour. By the intelligence of her populationby the resources of her industry-by her cominerce, cleaving every wave-by her manufactures vasrious as human skill-by her institutions of education, various as human knowledge-by her institutions of benevolence, various as human suffering-by the pages of her scholars and historians- O by the voices of her poets and orators, she is now exerting anl influence more subtle and command ing thn ever beforeshootinl f er fFary.:.the, rays whereveeer ignorance, wretchedness, or K tn., prevail, and flashitng light even upon those wtho travel far to persecute her. Such is Mass lchlr setts, and I am proud to believe that you nmay as well attempt, with puny arm, t o to pple down the e arth-rooted, heaven-kiss ing granite which crowns the historic sod of Bunker Hill, as to change her fixed resolves for Freedom everywhere, and especially now for Freedom in Kansas. T exult, too, that in this battle, which surpasses far in moral grandeur the whole war of the Revolution, she is able to preserve her just emi nence. To the first she contributed a larger number of troops than any other State in the Union, and larger than all the Slave States to gether; and now to the second, which is not of contending armies, but of contending opinion, on whose issue hangs trembling the advancing civilization of the country, she contributes, through the manifold and endless intellectual activity of her children, more of that divine spark by which opinions are quickened into life, than is contributed by any other State, or by all the Slave States together, while her annual productive industry excels in value three times the whole vaunted cotton crop of the whole South. Sir, to men on earth it belongs only to deserve success; not to secure it; and I know not how soon the efforts of Massachusetts will wear the crown of triumph. But it cannot be that she acts wrong for herself or children, when in this cause she thus encounters reproach. No; by the generous souls who were exposed at Lexington; by those who stood arrayed at Bunker Hill; by the many from her bosom who, on all the fields of the'first great struggle, lent their vigorous arms to the cause of all; by the children she has borne, whose names alone are national trophies, is Massachusetts nlow vowed irrevocably to this work. What belongs to the faithful servant she will do in all things, and Providence shall determine the result. And here ends what I have to say of the four Apologies for the Crime against Kansas. III. From this ample survey, where oeDe obstruction after another has been removed, I nowv pass, in the third place, to the consideration of the vat ioas remedies proposed, ending with the TREE RE-rIED)Y. The Remedy should tee co-extensive with the original Wrong; and since, by the pa,ssagre of the Nebraska Bill, not, only Kanisas, but also Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington, and even Oreg,on, have been opened to Slavery, the original Prohibition should be restored to its complete activitythroughout these various Territories. By such a. happy restoration, made in good faith, the whole country would be replaced in the condition which it enjoyed before the introduction of that dishonest measure. Here is the Alpha and the Omega of our aim in this immediate controversy. But no such extensive measure is now in question. The Crime against Kansas has been special, and all else is absorbed in the special remedies for it. Of these I shall now speak. .1fe I As the Apologies were four-fold, so axe the Retedies proposed four-fold, and they range themselves in natural order, under designations which so truly disclose their character as even to supersede argument. First, we have the Remedy of Tyranny; next, the Remedy of Folly; next, the Remedy of Injustice and Civil War; and fourthly, the Remedy of Justice and Peace. There are the four caskets; and you are to determine which shall be opened by Senatorial votes. proper and effectuat for carrying into execttnol the laws which were passed, in the last session of the late Parliament, for the protection and security of the Commerce of my subjects, and for the restoring and preserving peace, order, and good government, in the Province of the Iassochusetts Bay."-Amzerican Archives, 4tlh series, vol. 1, page 1 465. The King complained of a " daring spirit of resistance and disobedience to the law;" so also does the President. The King adds, that it has " broke forth in fresh violences of a very criminal nature;" so also does the President. The King declares that these proceedings have been "countenanced and encouraged in other of my Colonies;" even so the President declares that Kansas has found sympathy in "remote States." The King inveighs against " unwarrantable measures"u and " unlawful combinatio ns; " even s o i nveighs the President. The King proclaims th at he has taken th e necess ary steps " for carrying into execution the laws," passed in defianc e of the constitutional rights of the Colonies; even so the President proclaims that he shall " exert the whole power of the Fede ral Execut ive " to support the Usurpation in Kansas. The parallel is complete. The Message, if not copied from the Speech of the King, has been fashioned on the same original block, and must be dismissed to the same limbo. I dismiss its tyrannical assumptions in favor of the Usurpation. I dismiss also its peti tion for addit ional appropriation s i n the affected desire to maintain o rder in Kansas. It is not money or troops that you need there; but simply the good will of the President. That is all, absolutely. Let his complicity with the Crime cease, and peace will be restored. For myself, I will not consent to wad the National artillery with fresh appropriation bills, when its murderous hail is to be directed against the constitational rights of my fellow-citizens. There is the Remedy of Tyranny, which, like its complement, the Apology of Tyranny-though espoused on this floor, especially by the Senator from Illinois-proceeds from the President, and is embodied in a special message. It proposes to enforce obedience to the existing laws of Kansas, "whether Federal or local," when, in fact, Kansas has no "local" laws except those imposed by the Usurpation from Missouri, and it calls for additional appropriations to complete this work of tyranny. I shall not follow the President in his elaborate endeavor to prejudge the contested election now pending in the house of Representatives; for this whole matter belongs to the privileges of that body, and neither the President nor the Senate has a right to intermeddle therewith. I do no t touch it. But now, while dismissing it, I should not pardon myself, if I failed to add, that any person who founds his claim to a seat in Congress on the pretended votes of hirelings from another State, with no home on the soil of Kansas, plays the part of Anacharsis Clootz, who, at the bar of the French Convention, undertook to represent nations that knew him not, or, if they knew him, scorned him; with this difference, that in our Amertcan case, the excessive farce of the transaction cannot cover its tragedy. But all this I put asideto deal only with what is legitimately before the Senate. I expose simply the Tyeranny which upholds the existing Usurpation, and asks for additional appropriations. Let it be judged by an example, from which in this country there can be no appeal. Here is the speech of George III, made from the Throne to Parliament, in response to the complaints of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which, though smarting under laws passed by usurped power, had yet avoided all armed opposition, while Lexington and Bunker Hill still slumbered in rural solitude, unconscious of the historic kindred which they were soon to claim. instead of Massachusetts Bay, in the Royal cpeech, substitute Kansas, and the message of the President will be found fresh on the lips of .he British King. Listen now to the words, which, in opening Parliament, 30th November, 1774, his majesty, according to the offic ial report, vas pleased to speak: I~y Lords and Gentlemen: "It gives me much concern that I am obliged, at the opening of this Parliament, to inform you that a most darin, spirit of resistance anid disobedien,ce to the law still unhappily prevails in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay anid has in divers parts of it broke forth in fresh violences of a very criminal nature. These proceedings have been countenanced in other of my Colonies, and unwarrantable attempts have b.en made to obstruct the Commerce of this Kinedom, by unlawful combinations. I have take n such measures and given such orders as I have;udged most Next comes the Remedy of Polly, which, indeed, is also a Remedy of Tyranny; but its Folly is so surpassing as to eclipse even its Tyranny. It does not proceed from the President. With this proposition he is not in any way chargeable. It comes from the Senator from South Carolinta who, at the close of a lon g s peech, offered it as his single contribution to the adjustment o f th i s question, a nd who thus far stands alone i i n its support. It might, therefore, fitly bear his name; but that which I now giv e t o it is a more suggestive synonym. This proposition, nakedly expressed, is that the people of Kansas should be depri ved of the i r arms. That I may not do the least injustice to the Senator, I quote hi s p recise words: "The President of the United States is under the high. est and most solemn ol)ligationis to interpose; and ifI were to indicate the manner il which he should interpose in Kansas, I would point out the old common law process. I would serve awarrant on Sharpe's rifles, and if Sharpeds rifles did not answer the summons, and come into court on a day certain, or if they resisted the sheriff, I would summon the posse comitatus, and would have Colonel Sumher's regiment to be a part of that posse comitatus.11 Really, sir, has it come to this? The rifle has ever been the companion of the pioneer, and, under God, his tutelary protector against the red man and the beast of the forest. Never was this efficient weapon more needed in just self-de 2. 23 fence, than now in Kansas, and at least one article in our National Constitution must be blotted out, before the complete right to it can in any way be impeached. And yet such is the madness of the hour that, in defiance of the solemn guaranty, embodied in the Amendments to the Constitution, that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," the people of Ktansas have been arraigned for keeping and bearing them, and the Senator from South Carolina has had the face to say openly, on this floor, that they should be disarmed-of course, that the fanatics of Slavery, his allies and constituents, may meet no impediment. Sir, the Senator is venerable with years; he is repilted also to have worn at hornme, in the State which he represents, judicial honors; and he is placed here at the head of an important Committee occupied particularly with questions of law; but neither his years, nor his position, pa st or present, can give respectability to the demand he has made, or save him from indignant condemnation, when, to compass the wretched purposes of a wretched cause, he thus proposes to trample on one of the plainest provisions of constitutional liberty. keeping this great question open, to distract and irritate the countr y. Clearly this is not what is required. The country desires peace at once, and is determined to have i t. But th is objectio n isl slight by t h e side of th e gl aring Tyranny, that, in recognisin g th e Legis lature, and confer ring upo n it the se new powers, the Bill recognises the existing Usurpation, not only as the au thentic Gover n m ent o f the Territor fo r th e t ime being,e but also as possessing a creative power to repro - duce i tself in th e new State. Pass this Bill, and you enlist Congress in the conspiracy, not only to keep the people o f Ka nsas in thei r presel subjugation, throughout their Territorial existence, b ut a lso to protract thi s subjuration in.t) their existence as a State, w hile you lexalize and perpetuat e the veryforce by f e bwhich Slave r has been already planted the re. I know that there is another de ceptive clause, which se ems to throw certai n safeguards around the election of delegates to the Convention, when that Convention shall be o rder ed by the Legislature; but out of this very clause d o I dr aw a condemnn atio n of th e Usurpation whic h the Bill recognises. It provides that the tests, coupled with the electoral franchise, shall no t pre vai l in the election of delegates, and thus impliedly coIndemns them. But if they are not to pre vai l on this occasion, why are they permitted at the elec-t ti on of t he Legislat ur e? If the y are uno just il the one case, they are unjust i n the othe r. If waniulled at the election of dele gates, t hey should be annulled at the election of the Legislature; it nerere the Bill of the Sen a tor leaves tll these ofaens ite tests in full ac tivity at thie elec tion of th e very Legislatzre out of which this whole proceeding is to come, and it leaves the polls at both elections in the con trol of the officers appointed by the Usurpation. Consider well t he f acts. By an existing statute, establishing the Furitive Sl ave Bill as a shib boleth, a large portion of the h on es t citizens are excluded from voting for the Legislature, while, by another statute, all who present themselves with a fee of one dollar, whether from Missouri or not, and who can utter this shibboleth, are entitled to vote. And it is a Legislature thus chosen, under the auspices of officers appointed by the Usurpation, that you now propose to invest with parental powers to rear the Territory into a State. You recognise and confirm the Usurpation, which you ought to annul without delay. You put the infant State, now preparing to take a place in our sisterhood, to suckle with the wolf, which you ought at once to kill. The improbable story of Baron Mfinchauisen is verified. The bear, which thrust itself into the harness of the horse it had devoured, and then whirled the sledge according to mere brutal bent, is recognised by this bill, and kept in its usurped place, when the safety of all requires that it should be shot. In characterizing this Bill as the Remedy of Injustice and Civil War, I give it a plain, selfevident title. It is a continuation of the Crime agfainst Kansas, and as such deserves the same condemnation. It can only be defended by those who defend the Crime. Sir, you cannot expect thlat the people of Kans'as will submit to the Usurpa-tion which this bill sets up, and bids them Next comes the Remedy of Injustice and Civil ar, —organized by Act of Congress. This proposition, which is also an offshoot of the original Remedy of Tyranny, proc eed s fro m the Se nato r from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] vith the sancti on ,Lf the Commi-ttee on Territories, and is embodied in the Bill which is now pressed to a vote. By this Bill it is proposed, as follows: " That wheifsver it shall appear, by a census to be take,, und(ier tle di-ection of thB Governor. by the authority of the [,egislalure. that there shall be 93,4:'0 inhabxitanlts (th,at tig, the nuimber required by the present ratio of repres++~atiol i for a member of Corigress) within the limniis lier,after cdescribed as the q erritory of Kanisas, the Legislature of said Territory shall be,. and is hereby, authorized to provide by law for the election of delegat,es, by thic p)eople of sai;d Territory, to assemble ill Conivenitioni anid form a Conistitution and State Governirment, prep-,rator, to their admission into the Uniioni on an equal footing,, wvith tiie origfinial States in all respects whatsoever, by the nlaine of the State of Kansas." Now, sir, consider the se wor ds c ar efully, and you will see that, however plausible and velvetpiawed they may seem, yet in reality they are most unjust and cruel. While affecting to iiiitiate honest proceedings for the formation of a State, they furniish to this Territory no redress tbr the Criime under which it suffers; nay, they .,ecoffarise the very Usurpation, in which the Cirhne ended. and proceed to endow it with new ,i'~rog'atives. It is by the authority of the Legislatt'e that the census is to be taken, which is the f-'.rst step in the stork. It is also by the authority of tie Leyi,d tizre that a Convention is to be call,1 for the fobrmation of a Constitution, which is tile second step. But the Legislature is not obliged to take either of these steps. To its absolute wilfillness is it left to act or not to act in thie premises. And since, in the ordinary course or bousiness, there can be no action of the Legisture till January of the next years all these steps, which are preliminary in their character, are postponed till after that distant day-thus 24 bow before-as the Austrian tyrant set up his within the jurisdiction of another State, nor cap in the Swiss market-plac(e. If you madly formed by the junction of two or more States or persevere, Kansas will not be without her Wil- parts of States, without the consent of the Legis liam Tell, who will refilse at all hazards to rec- latures of the States. Kansas is not within tle ognise the tyrannical edict; and this will be legal jurisdiction of another State, although the the beginning of civil war. laws of Missoutri have been tyrannically extend ed over her; nor is Kansas formed by the junc Next, and lastly, comes the Remedy of Justice tion of two or more States; and, therefore, Kan and Peace, proposed by the Senator from New sas nmay be admitted by Congress into the Union, York, [Mr. SEWARD,] and embodied in his Bill for without regard to population or preliminary the immediate admission of Kansas as a State of forms. You cannot deny the power, without this Union, now pending as a substitute for the obliterating this clause of the Constitution. The bill of the Senator from Illinois. This is sus- Senator from New York was right in rejecting all tained by the prayer of the people of the Territo- appeal to precedents, as entirely irrelevant; for ry, setting forth a Constitution formed by a spon- the power invoked is clear and express in the taneous movement, in which all there had op- Constitution, which is above all precedent. But, portunity to participate, without distinction of since precedent has been enlisted, let us look at party. Rarely has any proposition, so simple in precedent Character, so entirely practicable, so absolutely It is objected that the population of Kansas is within your power, been presented, which prom- not sufficient for a State; and this objection is ised at once such beneficent results. In its sustained by under-reckoning the numbers there, adoption, the Crime against Kansas will be all and exaggerating the numbers required by precehappily absolved, the Usurpation which it estab- dent. In the absence of any recent census, it is lished will be peacefully suppressed, and order impossible to do more than approximate to the will be permanently secured. By a joyful meta- actual population; but, from careful i.quiry of morphosis, this fair Territory may be saved from the best sources, I am led to place it now at outrage. 50,000, though I observe that a prudent author If you who hear are Deities indeed; If ~tlPhoheala~ Diilihe~ietre es ned, ity, the Boston Daily Advertiser, puts it as high Gape earth. a,td make for this dread foe a tomb. as 60,000, and, while I speak, this remarkable Or chIange myform, whence all my sorrows come." population, fed by fresh emigration, is outstrip In offering this proposition, the Senator from ping even these calculations. Nor can there be New York has entitled himself to the gratitude a doubt, that, before the assent of Congress can of the country. He has, throughout a life of un- be periected in the ordinary course of legislation, surpassed industry, and of eminent ability, done this population will swell to the large number of much for Freedom, which the world will not let 93,420, required in the Bill of the Senator from die; but he has done nothing more opportune Illinois. But, in making this number the condition than this, and he has uttered no words more of the admisston of IKansas, you set up an extraoreffective than the speech, so masterly and ingeni- dinary standard. There is nothing out of which ous, by which he has vindicated it. it can be derived, from the beginning to the end Kansas now presents herself for admission with of the precedents. Going back to the days of a Constitutionrepublicaninform. And,independ- the Continental Congress, you will find that, in ent of the great necessity of the case, three con- 1784, it was declared that 20,000 freemen in a siderations of fact concur in commending her. Territory might "establish a permanent ConstituFirst. She thus testifies her willingness to relieve tion and Government for themselves," (Journals the Federal Government of the considerable pe- of Congress, Vol. 4, p. 379;) and, though this cuniary responsibility to which it is now exposed number was afterwards, in the Ordinance of 1787 on account of the pretended Territorial Govern- for the Northwestern Territory, raised to 60,000, ment. Secondly. She has by her recent conduct, yet the power was left in Congress, and subseparticularly in repelling the invasion at Wakaru- quently exercised in more than one instance, to sa, evinced an ability to defend her Government. constitute a State with a smaller number. Out And, thirdly, by the pecuniary credit, which she of all the new States, only Maine, Wisconsin, and now enjoys, she shows an undoubted ability to Texas, contained, at the time of their admission support it. What now can stand in her way? into the Union, so large a population as it is The power of Congress to admit Kansas at proposed to require in Kansas; while no less once is explicit. It is found in a single clause of than fourteen new States have been admitted with the Constitution, which, standing by itself, with- a smaller population; as will appear in the folout any qualification applicable to the present lowing list, which is the result of research, showease, and without doubtful words, requires no ing the number of "free inhabitants" in these commentary. Here it is: States at the time of the proceedings which end "New States may be admitted by Congress into this ed in their admission: Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected with- Vermont - - 85,416 Illinois - - 5,000 hi the jurisdiction of any other State, nor atiy State be formed by the junction of two or more States or parts of Kentucky - - 61,103 Missouri - - 56 586 States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the Tennessee - - 66,649 Arkansas - - 41,000 States concerned, as well as of the Congress." Ohio - - - - 50,000 Michigan - - 92,673 New States MAY be admitted. Out of that lit- Louisiana - - 41,890 Florida - - - 27,091 tie word, may, comes the power, broadly and ful- Indiana - - - 60,000 Iowa- - - - 81,921 ly-without anylimitation founded on population Mississippi - - 35,000 California - - 92,597 or preliminary forms-provided the State is not Alabama - - 50 000 25 is respectfully urged, tnat a rue or pri-eil e which woUld not justify thle e.rplsion of a State with a d(CfiCient pomp latioii. on the grouid of ilicolsistc, ey vitith tilie CO.-titu tioI n, should abot xclude or prw,liuit arnis."-kEe. Doc., 27th Conlg., 2d sess., Vol. 4 wVo. 206.) Thus, sir, do the people of Florida plead for the people of Kansas. Dist r usting the o bjection from iniadequacy of population, it is said that the proceeding.sfor t/v formation of a netw State are fatally dejective in form. It is not asserted that a previous enabinlg Act of Congress is indispensable; for there are no torious precedents the other way, among whic,h are Kentucky in 1791; Tennessee in 1796; Maine in 1820; and Arkansas and Michigan in 1836. But it is urged that in no instance has a State been admitted, whose Constitution was formed without such enabling Act, or without the au thority of the Territorial Legislature. This is not true; for California came into the Uniion with a Constitution, formed not only without any previous enabling Act, but also without any sanction from a Territorial Legislature. The proceedings which ended in this Constitution were initiated by the military Governor there, acting under the exigency of the hour. This instance may not be identical in all respects with that of Kansas; but it displaces conmpletely one of the assumptions which Kansas now encoun ters, and it also shows completely the disposi tion to relax all rule, under the exigency of the hour, in order to do substantial justice. But there is a memorable instance, whi(ch con tains in itself every element of irregularity which you denounce in the proceedings of Kansas. Mich igan, now cherished with such pride as a sister State, achieved admission into the Union in per sistent defiance of all rule. Do you ask for pre cedents? Here is a precedent for the la,rgesc lati tude, which you, who profess a deference to pre cedent, cannot disown. Mark now the stages of this case. The first proceedings of Michigan were without any previous enabling Act of C(o gress; and she presented herself at your door with a Constitution thus formed, and witlh Serna tors chosen under that Constitution-precisely as Kansas now. This was in December, 1835, while Andrew Jackson was President. By the leaders of the Democracy at that time, all objec tion for alleged defects of form was scouted, and language was employed which is strictly applicable to Kansas. There is nothing new under the sun; and the very objection of the President, that the application of Kansas proceeds from " persons acting against authorities duly constituted by Act of Congress," was hurled against the application of Michigan, in debate on this floor, by Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana. This was his language: "But the people at Michigan, in presenting their Seniat aId House of Represeitatives as the legislative power es isting titere, showed that they had travmpled upon and violated the lals,f the United States establishing a Territorial Government in Michigan. These laws were, or outfit to be, ill ~ull force there; bitt. by the character anid position assumed, they had set up a Government antagonist to that of the Unlited States." —( Congress. Deb., Vol. 1", p. 2388 2!4M Cong., 1st session.) To this impeachment M~r. Benton replied in to effective words: But this is not all. At the adoption of the Federal Constitution, there were three of the old Thirteen States whose respective populations did not reach the amount now required for Kansas. These were Delaware, with a population of 59,096; Rhode Island, with a population of 64,689; and Georgia, with a population of 82,548. And even now, while I. speak, there are at least two States, with Senators on this floor, which, according to the last census, do not contain the population now required of Kansas. I refer to Delaware, with a population of 91,635, and Flor ida, with a population of freemen amounting only to 47,203. So much for precedents of population. But in sustaining this objection, it is not un common to depart from the strict rule of numeri cal precedent, by suggesting that the population required in a new State has always been, in point of fact, above the existing ratio of representation for a member of the House of Representatives. But this is not true; for at least one State, Flor ida, was admitted with a population below this ratio, which at the time was 70,680. So much, again, for precedents. But even if this coinci dence were complete, it would be impossible to press it into a binding precedent. The rule seems reasonable, and, in ordinary cases, would not be questioned; but it cannot be drawn or implied from the Constitution. Besides, this ra tio is, in itself, a sliding scale. At first, it was 33,000, and thus continued till 1811,when it was put at 35,000. In 1822, it was 40,000; in 1832, it was 47,700; in 1842, it was 70,680; and now, it is 93,420. If any ratio is to be made the found ation of a binding rule, it should be that which prevailed at the adoption of the Constitution, and which still continued, when Kansas, as a part of Louisiana, was acquired from France, under solesmn stipulation that it should "be incorporated into the Union of the United States as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution." But this whole objection is met by the memorial of the people of Florida, which, if good for that State, is also good for Kansas. Here is a passage: " But the people of Florida respectfully insist that their right to be admnitteid into the Federal Uiiioi as a State is not depeideit upoii the fact of their having a populaIdion equal to such ratio. Their right to admission, it is coniceived, isauaranitied by the express pledge ie the sixth article of the treaty l before quoted; aid If any rule as to the number of the population is to govern, it should lie that in existenice at thie time of the cessioni which was thirtyfive thousand They submrt, however, that any ratio of represei-tatioii, depenideit upon legi.-lative action, bacased solely oni conveniiience and expedieicy, shifting atid vacillating as the opinion of a majority of Co.,gress may make it, now gr,:ater than at a previous itpportionimeit, but which a future Congress may prescrioe to be less caninot be one of the constitutional " PRINCIPLES referred to in the treaty, conisistenicy with which. by its terms, is required It is, in truth, but a mere regulation, iiot foundl e1 on principle. No specified number of population is required by aliy recogniised principle as necessary in thei establishment of a free Goveriment. "It is ill n.:l -wise' inconsisten,t with the principles of the Federal Constitution,' that the population of a State shouldl be less than the ratio of Congressional represenitation. The very ease is provided for in the Constitution. WViih such deficientt population, she would be cintitled to one Representtative. If ally event should,cause a decrease of tile population ofoue of th e States even to a number betow the minimum ratio of representation prescribed by tile Constitutioin, s?.e would still remain a member of the Confederacy, atid be entitled to such Represenitaive It 26 their sovereign capacity, without any authority from State or Territorial Legislature; nay, sir, according to the lang ua ge of the p resent President, " against authorities duly constituted by Act of Congress;," at least as much as th e recent Conven tion in K ansas. Th iirregularity of this Conven tion was in crease d by the circumstance, that two of the oldest counties of the State, c o mprising a population of some 25,000 souls, refused to take any part in it, e ven to the e xten t o f not opening the polls for the election of de legates, claiming that it was held without warrant of law, and in defiance of the legal Conventiobj. This po pular Convention, though wantin g a popular support co-extensive with the State, yet proce e ded, by formal act, to give the assent of the people of Michigan to the f undam ental condition proposed by Congress. The proceedings of the two Conventions were transmitted to President Jackson, who, by mes sage, dated 27th December, 1836, laid them both before Congress, indicating very clearly his de. sire to ascertain the will of the people, without regard to form. The origin of the popular Convention he thus describes: "This Convention was not held or eleeted by virtue of any act of the Territorial or State Legislature. It origina ted from the People themselves. and was chosen by them in pursuance of resolutions adopted in primary assembies held in the respective counties." —(Sem. Doc., 2d sess, 24t/ Cong., Vol. 1,.No. 36.) And he then declares that, had these proceed ings come to him during the recess of Congress, he should have felt it his duty, on being satisfied that they emanated from a Convention of delegates elected in point of fact by the People of tlw State, to issue his proclamation for the admission of the State. The Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate, of which FELIX GRUNDY WaS Chairman, after inquiry, recognised the competency of the popular Convention, as " elected by the People of the State of Michigan," and reported a Bill, respon~ sive to their assent of the proposed condition, for the admission of the State without further condi, tion.-(Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, p. 144, Act of 26th Jan., 1837.) Then, sir, appeared the very object tions which are now directed against Kansas. It was complained that the movement for immediate admission was the work of " a minority," and that " a great majority of the State feel otherwise."-(Sen. Doc., 2d sess. 24th Cong., Vol. 1, NVo. 37.) And a leading Senator, of great ability and integrity, Mr. EWING, Of Ohio, broke forth in a catechism which would do for the present hour. He exclaimed: "What evidence had the Senate of the organization or the Collvention? Of the organization of the popular assemblies who appointed their delegates to that C(,onvcietion? None o 1 earth. Who they were that met and voted, we had no information. WVho gave the notice? And(i for what did the People receive the notice? To meet and elect? What evidence was there that the Convention acted according to law? Were the delegates sworw? And. if so, they were extra-judicial oaths, and not b~ind. ing upon them. Were the votes counted ~ In fact, it wirs not a proceeding under the forms of law, for they were totally disregarded." —(Cong. Globe, Vol. 4, p. 60, 2d -sess. 24th Gontg.) And the same able senator, on another occasion, after exposing the imperfect evidence with regard to the action of the Convention, existin~g only iu " Conventions were original acts ofthe people. The, depeinded upon inherent and inalienable rights. The people of any State may at any time meet in Convention, without a law of their Legislature, and withouit ally provision, or against any provision in their Constitution. and may alter or abolish the whole frame of Government as they please. The sovereign power to govern themselves was in the majority, and they could not be divested ofit."-(bid., p. 1036.) Mr. Buchanan vied with Mr. Benton in vindicating the new State: ' The precedent in the case cf Tennessee has completely sileiced all opposition in regard to the necessity of a previous act of Congress to enable the people of MNichigati to form a State Constitution. It now seems to be coltceled that our subsequent approbation is equivaleut to our previous action. This can no longer be doubted. We have the unquestionable power of waivring any irregularities in the node of framing the CotLstitution, had any such existed."-(Ibid., p. 1041.) " He did hope that by this bill all objections would be removed; and that this State, so ready to rush into our arms, would not be repulsed, because of the absence of some formalities which perhaps were very proper, but certainly not indispensable."-(bid., p. 1015.) After an animated contest in the Senate, the Bill for the admission of Michigan, on her assent to certain conditions, was passed, by 23 yeas to 8 nays. But you find weight, as well as numbers, on the side of the new State. Among the yeas were Thomas H. Benton of Missouri, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, Silas Wright of New York, W. R. King of Alabama.-(Cong. Globe, ['ol. 3d, p. 276, 1st session 24th Cong.) Subsequently, on motion of Mr. Buchanan, the two gentlemen sent as Senators by the new State received the regular compensation for attendance throughout the very session in which their seats had been so acrimoniously assailed.-(lbid., p. 448.) g In the House of Representatives the application was equally successful. The Committee on the Judiciary, in an elaborate report, reviewed the objections, and, among other things, said: I "That the people of Michigan have. without due authorty. formed a State Goveritinentl but, nevertheless, that Congress has power to waive any objections which might, on that account, be entertained, to the ratification of the Conissitutionl which they have adopted. and to admit their Senators and Representatives to take their seats ill tie Con, tress of the United States."-(Exec. Doc., 1st sess. 24th Co n1g., Vol. 2, No. 39O.) The House sustained this view by a vote of 153 yeas to 45 nays. In this large majority, by which the title of Michigan was then recognised, will be found the name of Franklin Pierce, at that time a Representative from New Hampshire. But the case was not ended. The fiercest trial and the greatest irregularity remained. The Act providing for the admission of the new State contained a modification of its boundaries, and proceeded to require, as a fnezdamental condition, that these should "receive the assent of a Convention of delegates, elected by the people of th e said State, for the sole purpose of giving the aswnt herein required."-(Statutes at Large, Vol. 5, p. 50q, Act of June 5th, 1836.) Such a Convention, duly elected under a call from the Legislature, met in pursuance of law, and, after consideation, declined to come into the Union on the ~ondition proposed. But the kction of this Convention was not universally satisfactory, and in order to effect an admission into the Union, another Convtnion was called professedly by the people, in 27 way, by a vote of 148 yeas to 58 nays; ir among the yeas is again the name of FRANKLIl PIEIMCE, a Representat ive from New Hampshire. Thus, in that day, by such triumphant votes did the cause of Kansas prevail in the name oD Michigan. A popular Convention-called abso lutely without authority, and containing dele. gates from a portion only of the populationcalled, too, in opposition to constituted authorities, and in derogation of another Convention assembled under the forms of law-stigmatized as a caucus and a criminal meeting, whose authors were liable4o indictment, trial, and punishment-was, after:ample debate, recognised by Congress as valid, and Michigan now holds her pl ace'in the Union, and her Senators sit on this floor, by virtue of that act. Sir, if Michigan is legitimate, Kansas cannot be illegitimate. You bastardize Michigan when you refuse to recogniz Kansas. Again, I say, do you require a precedent. I give it to you. But I will not stake this cause on ally precedent. I plant it firmly on the fundamental principle of American Institutions, as embodied in the Declaration of Independence, by which Government is recognised as deriving its just powers only from the consent of the governed, who may alter or abolish it when it becomes destructive of their rights. In the debate on the Nebraska Bill, at the overthro;, o- the Prohibition of Slavery, the Declaration o- Independence was denounced as a " self-evident lie." It is only by a similar audacity that the fumnda mental principle, which sustains the proceed ings in Kansas, can be assailed. Nay, more you must disown the Declaration of Independence, and adopt the Circular of the Holy Alliance, which declares that " useful and necessary changes in legislation and in the administration of States ought only to emanate from thefree will and the intelligent and well-weighed conviction ot those whomn God has rendered responsible for power." Face to face, I put the principle of the Declaration of Independence and the principle of the Holy Alliance, and bid them grapple! " The one places the remedy in the hands which .feel the disorder; the other places the remedy in. the hands which cause the disorder;" and when I thus truthfully characterize them, I but adopt a sententious phrase from the Debates in tke Virginia Convention on the adoption of the Fed eral Constitution.-(3 Elliot's Debates, 107 —M. Corbin.) And now these two principles, embodied in the rival propositions of the Senator from New York and the Senator from Illinois, must grapple on this floor. Statesmen and judges, publicists and authors. with names of authority in American history, espouse and vindicate the American principle. Hand in halnd, they now stand around Kansas, and feel this new State lean on them for support. Of these I content myself with adducing twoe onlly, both from slaveholdingf Virginia, irn days when Human Rights were not without support in that State. Listen to the language of St. George Tucker, the distinguished commentator upon Bl1ackst~one, uttered from tile bench in a j uCdiciaolr opi'n: "This. sir, is the evidence to support an organic law of anew State about to enter inlo the Unios! Yes. of an organiic law, the very highest act a communuity of men can perform. Letters referring to other letters and a scrap of a newspaper."-(Coeng. Debates, Vol. 13, Part I, p. 233.) It was Mr. Calhoun, however, who pressed the opposition with the most persevering intensity. In his sight, the a dmi ssion of Michigan, un der the ci r cumstances, " would bee the most monstrous proceeding und er our Constit ution that can be conceived, the most repugna n t to i ts principle s and dangerous in its consequences."-(aConn. Debates., Vol. 13, p. 210.) "' There is not," he exclaimed, "o ne part icle of official evidence before us. We have nothing but th e pri vate l e tters of indivi(luals, who do nsot know even th e number s that voted on either occasion. They know nothing of th e qualifications of voters, nor how their votes were received, nor by whom counted."- (lbid. ) An d he proceed ed to characterize the popular Convention a s "not only a par ty caucus, for party purpose, but a criminal meeting-a meeting to subvert the authority of the State and to assume its sovereignty "- add ing, " that the actors in that meeting might be indicted, tried, and punished "and he expressed ast o nishment that " a self-creat ed meeting, convened for a crimin al object, had dared to pres en t to this Government an act of theirs, and to expect that we are to receive this irregul ar and c riminal act as a fulfilment of the conditi on w hich we had presented for the admissionl of t he State I "-(Ibid.,_p. 299.) No stronger wo r ds have been employed against Kansas. Bu t the singl e qu esti on on which all the proceedi ngs t hen hin ped, and which is as pertinent in the case of Kansas as in the case of Michigan, was thus put by fir. MORrIS, of Ohio-(Ibid,,. 215)-C' Will Cotgess re s cognnize as v alid, constitutioaal, an d obligatory, without the c olor of a law of etic h iga n t o sustain it, an act done by the People of that State in their primary assemblies, and acknowledge that act as obligator/ on the constituted authorities aCnid Legislature of the S tate b " This question, thus distinctly pre s ented, was answered in debate by able Senators, among whom wer e tir. BENTON and Mr. I.ING. But the re was o n e person, who has since enjoyed much public confidence, and has left many memorials of an industrious career in the Senate and in diplomatic life, JAMES BUCHANAN, who re ndere d himself conspicuous by the ability an aardor with which, against all assauIts, he upheldth as the cau se of the popular Conveiltiorl, which was so strongly denounced, and the entire conformity.*of its proceedings with the genius of American Institutions. His speeches on that occasion contain an unanswerable argumnenit, at all points, m~ztato nomiine, for the imimedliate admission of Kansas under her present Constitution; nor is there anything by which h~e is now distinguished that will redound so tzuly to his fame —if he only continues true to them. But the question was emphatically answered in the Senlate by the fimkK vote on the passag~e of the Bill, where we finld 25 yeas to only 10 nl~ay3. In the Itouse of Representatives, after debatbe, the qiuestion was answered in the same f 11 11 p e e s e s t s r t f I t 6 letters ai,.d in an article from a Detroit newspaper, agziiii exclaimed: 28 these proceedings under this supreme safeguard, which you will assail in vain. Any opposition must be founded on a fundamental perversion of facts, or a perversion of fundamental principles, which no speeches can uphold, though surpassing in numbers the nine hundred thousand piles driven into the mud in order to sustain the Dutch Stad-house at Amsterdam I Thus, on every ground of precedent, whether as regards population or forms of proceeding; also, on t he vital principle of American Instituitions; and, lastly, on the absolute law of seldefence, do I now invoke the power of Congress to admit Kansas at once and without hesitation into the Union. "New States may be admitted by the Congress into the Union;' such are the words of the Constitution. If you hesitate for want of precedent, then do I appeal to the great principle of American Institutions. If, forgetting the origin of the Republic, you turn away from this principle, then, in the name of human nature, trampled down and oppressed, but aroused to a;ust self-defence, do I plead for the exercise of this power. Do not hearken, I pray you, to the propositions of Tyranny and Folly; do not be ensnared by that other proposition of the Senator from Illinois, [Mlr. DOt.GLAS,] in which is the horrid root of Injustice and Civil War. But apply gladly, and at once, th- Trise Remedy, wherein are Justice and Peace.. t",e pointer of convening the legal Assemblies, or the 'r inary constitutional Legislature, resided solely in the E.cecutice. They could neither be chosen without writs issued by its authority, nor assemble, when chosen, bu ,under the same authority. The Conventions, on the conIxary, were chosen and assembled, either in pursuance of recomntenldations from Congress, or from their own bodies. or by the discretion and common consent of the people. They were held even whilst a legal Assembly existed. Witness tilhe Cottvetttion held at Richmond, in March, 1775; after which period, the legal constitutional Assembly was convened ill,Villiamsburg, by the Governor, Lord Dullmore. I, * * Yet a constitutional dependence on the British Govemnment ewas never denied until the succeedinig May. * * The Co.nvenitioni, then, was not the ordinary Legislature of Virgin,ia. It was the body of the people, impelled to assemble from a sense of common danger, consulting for the common good. and acting in all things for the common safety."-?(1 Virginia Cases, 70, 71, Kamper vs. Hawkins.) Listen also to t he l anguage of James Madison: "That il a ll great changes of established government, fortms olght to give way to substance; that a rigid adherence il such cases to the forms w oul d r end er nominal and nutgatory the iranscendent an d prec ious right of the people ito abolish or alter thei r Goverment, as lo them shall see ro most likely t o effct thei r saf ety and happiness.' * * Nler can it halve bee n forgotten. that no little all-tined scruplea, o zeal /or adhering to ordinary forms, were anywhere oen, ex copt in those who wished mo induhle under these masks tHeir, secret es nthity to thsane substance contended for "-(The Fedleralist, iND.40 ) Proceis hs tined, a nings thus sustained, I am unwilling to call revoluttionary, although this term has the sanction of th e S ena tor from New York. The y are founde d on a n unqu estionable American raight, declared with I ndepend ence, c onfirmed by the blood of the fathers, and expounded by patxiots, whi(h c annot be impeached without impairiln,g the lib erties of all. On this head the language of thr. Bu chanan, in reply to Mr. Calhoun, is explicit: " Does the Senator [Mr. Calhoun] cornend, then, that if, in one of tile S ates ot' this Uiioi, the Gover,~rmenit be so ~rganized as to utterly destroy the right of equal represelftai(, al. wher e is no mode of obtainir redress, but by an tat of the L,e, islature authorizi esgr a Convert ioni, or by qenlrelbellioi? tMust the people siep at once from oppression, to open war? Must it be either absolute submiss.oii. or absolute revolution? Is there no middle coursee? I cannot agrate with the Senator. I say that the whole history of our Government establishes the principle that Be people are sovereign, and that a majority of them (-an iter or cihani,e their fundamental laws at pleasure. Idecay Lst this is eiter reblellion or reVolutioa. It is at essential f'nd a rero "sised principle it all our forPs o f gote rnent." — (Congress. Delb., Sol. 13, p. 313, 24th Cog,,., 2d session.) Surely, sir, if ever there was occasion for the exercise of this right, the time had come in Kansas. The people there had been subjugated by a horde of foreign invaders, and brought under a tyrannical code of revolting barbarity, while property and life among them were left exposed to audacious assaults which flaunted at noondlay, and to reptile abuses which crawled in the darkness of night. Self-defence is the.frst law of mature; and unless this law is temporarily silenced-as all other law has been silenced thereyou cannot condemn the proceedings in Kansas. Here, sir, is an unquestionable authority-in itself an overwvhelmning law —which belongs to all countries and times-which is the same in Kansas as at Athens and Rome —which is now, and will be hereafter, as it was in other day s —in presence of Mwhich Acts of Congress and Constitutions are powverless, as the voice of m~an against the thug.. der which rolls through the sky —which whispers itself coeval with life-whose avery b~reath is life i~.t$pf; and nowv, in the last resort; do I place all Mr. President, an immense space has been traversed, and I now stand at the goal. The argument in its various parts is here closed. The Crime against Kansas has been displayed in its origin and extent, beginning with the overthrow of the Prohibition of Slavery; next cropping out in conspiracy on the borders of Missouri; then hardening into a continuity of outrage, through organized invasions and miscellaneous assaults, in which all security was destroyed, and ending at last in the perfect subjugation of a generous people to an unprecedented Usurpation. Turning aghast from the Crime, which, like murder, seemed to confess itself " with most miraculous organ," we have looked with mingled shame and indignation upon the four Apologies, whether of Tyranny Imbecility, Absurdity, or Infamy, inr which it Was been wrapped, marking especially the false testimony, congenial with the original Crime, against the Emigrant Aid Company. Then were noted, in succession, the four Remedies, whether of Tyranny-Folly-Injustice and Civil War —or Justice and Peace, which last bids Kansas, in conformity with past precedents and under tihe exigencies of the hour, in order to redeem her from Usurpation, to take a place as,a sovereign State of the Union; and this is the True Remedy. If in this argument I have not unworthily vindicated Truth, then have I spoken according to my desires; if imperfectly, then only according to my powers. But there are other things, not belonging to the %r-ument, which still press for,jtte s i t 0 0 i 0 ai p i s 0 i a n 0 ci e s d v t i Sir, the people of Kansas, bone ot your bone and flesh of your flesh, with the education or freeiuen and the rights of American citizens, w.-w 29 stArid at your door. Will you send them away, liament. And still another petition from Mas or bid them enter? Will you push them back sachusetts Bay was dismissed as " vexatiouis to renew their struggles with a deadly foe, or and scandalous," while the patriot philosopher ill y(.u preserve them in security and peace? who bore it was exposed to peculiar con umely. Will 3y,u cast them agairi into the den of Tyranny Throughout the debates, our fathers were made or will you help their despairing efforts to escape? the butt of sorry jests and supercilious assump Th ese questiotis I put with no common solicitude; tions. And now these scenes, with these Iprt-cise for I feel that on theii just determination de- objections, have been renewed in the Aiuerican pend all the most precious interests of the Re- Senate. public; and I perceive too clearly the prejudices With regret, I come again upon the Senator in the waylv, and the accumulating bitterness from South Carolina, [Mr. BUTLER,] who, omni against this distant people, now claiming their present in this debate, overflowed with irage at simple birthright, while I am bowed with mortifi- the simple suggestion that Kansas had applied cation, as I recognise the President of the United for admission as a State; and, with incoherent States, who should have been a staff to the weak phrases, discharged the loose expectoration of and a shield to the innocent, at the head of this his speech, now upon her representative, and strange oippression. then upon her people. There was no extrava At every stage, the similitude between the gance of the ancient Parliamentary debate which wrongs of Kansas, and those other wrongs he did not repeat; nor was there any possible against which our fathersrose, becomes more ap- deviation from truth which he did not make, parent. Read the Declaration of Independence, with so much of passion, I am glad to add and there is hardly an accusation which is there as to save him from the suspicion of intentional directed against the British MIonarch, which may aberration. But the Senator touches nothing not now be directed with increased force against which he does not disfigure-with error, some the American President. The parallel has a times of principle, sometimes of fact. lie shows fearful particularity. Our fathers complained an incapacity of accuracy, whether in statintr that the King had " sent hither swarms of offi- the Constitution or in stating the law, wh-ether in cers, to harass our people, and eat out their sub- the details of statistics or the diversions o' stc}:ul stance;" that he "had combined, with others, arship. He cannot ope his mouth, but out t}c,e to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Con- flies a blunder. Surely he ought to be fatne.i, stitution, giviiy hiis assent to their acts of pretended with the life of Franklin; and yet he eferletid:c le,yi.slation;" that "he had abdicated govern- this household character, while actint,g a ni mient here, by declaring us out of his protection, of our fathers in England, as above susp i'ii and waging war cyaimst us;" that " ha. had exci- and this was done that he might give I1)oiLt to tkl domestic insurrection among us, and ezdeav- a false contrast with the agent of Kaansas —tot ored to briny on the inhabitants of our frontier the knowing that, however they may differ in genius cierciles.s.szvayes; " that " our repeated petitions and famne, in this experience they are alike: that have been answere(l only by repeated injury." Franklin, when intrusted with the petition ol And this arraiga.minent was aptly followed by the Massachusetts Bay, was assaulted by a fouidaminning words, that "a Prince, whose charac- mouthed speaker, where he could not be heard ter is thus marked by every act which may define in defence, and denounced as a " thief," even as a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." the agent of Kansas has been assaulted on this And surely, a President who has done all these floor, and denounced as a "forger." And let things, cannot be less unfit than a Prince. At not the vanity of the Senator be inspired by the every stage, the responsibility is brought directly parallel with the British statesmen of that day; to him. His offence has been both of commis- for it is only in hostility to Freedom that any sion and omission. He has done that which he parallel can be recognised. ought not to have done, and he has left undone But it is against the people of Kansas that the that which he ought to have done. By his ac- sensibilities of the Senator are particularly arousttvity the Prohibition of Slavery was overturned. ed. Coming, as he announces, "from a State"By his failure to act, the honest emigrants in aye, sir, from South Carolina-he turns witt Kansas have been left a prey to wrong of all lordly disgust from this newly-formed communi kinds. Nullunt flagitium extitit, nisi per te; nul- ty, which he will not recognise even as " a bod. lumrn lagitium sine te. And now he stands forth politic." Pray, sir, by what title does he indulge the.' most conspicuous enemy of that unhappy in this egotism? Has he read the history of "the Territory. State" which he represents? He cannot surely As the tyranny of the British King is all re- have forgotten its shameful imbecility from Sla newed in the President, so on this floor have the very, confessed throughout the Revolution, fol. ocld indignities been renewed. which embittered lowed by its more shameful assumptions for Slaand fomented the troubles of our Fathers. The very since. He cannot have forgottenits wretched early petition of the American Congress to Par- persistence in the slave trade as the very apple of hlament, long before any suggestion of Inde- its eye, and the condition of its participation in pendence, was opposed —like the petitions of the Union. He cannot have forgotten its ConstiKansas —because that body "was assembled tution, which is republican only in name, con:,ithout any requisition on the part of the firming power in the hands of the few, and foundsSupreme Power." Another petition from New ing the qualifications of its legislators on"a setcork, presented by Edmund Burke, was flatly tied freehold estate or ten negroes." And yet the re,ected, as claiming rights derogatory to Par- Senator, to whom that "State" has in part corn 30 mitted the guardia:nship of its good name, instead the Fathers and the spirit of the Constituttlu of movint, with backward treading steps, to cover in order to give new spread to Slavery. Let the its nakedness, rushes forward, in the very ecsta- Senator proceed. It will not be the first time in cy of ma(lness, to expose it, by provoking a com history, that a scaffold erected for punishment parison with Kansas. South Carolina is old; has become a pedestal of honor. Out of death Kansas is voun,. South Carolina counts by cen- comes life, and the "traitor" whom he blindly tories, whlere Kansas counts by years. But a executes will live immortal in the cause. ).eneficent example may be born in a day; and I For Humnanity sweeps onward; where to-day the inartvr venture to say, that against the two centuries of stilads, tole oglder f tc"myhaledseo thet momrr,ow crouches Judas, with the silver in his V(' " of tri.tl evolving corresponding virtue, in White the hoo,,iig mob of yesterday in silent awe retulr,li,: toie younger community. In the one, is the long To gleanl up) the scattoered asits inito tittory's golden urnl. wail of Slavery; in the other, the hymns of Freeldoin. Aul if we glance at special achievements Among these hostile Senators, There is yet anit will be difficult to find anything in the history other, with all the prejudices of tg Senator from o f S,' uth- Carolina which presents so much of ~ of 5Suth Carolina which presents so much Of South' Carol mabut without his generous impulses~ heroic spirit in an heroic cause as appears in who onaccountofhischaracterbeforethecoun that repulse of the Missouri invaders by the be- try, and the rancor of his opposition, deserves to be leaguered town of Lawrence, where even the named. I mean the Senator from Virginia, [MD. women gave their effective efforts to Freedom. MIASON,] who, as the author of theFugitive Slave The matrons of Rome, who poured their jewels Bill, has associated himself with a special act of into the treasury for the public defence-the inhumanity and tyranny. Of him I shall say litwives of Prussia, who, with delicate fingers tie, for he has said little in this debate, though clothed their defenders against French invasion_ within that little was compressed the bitterness the mothers of our own Revolution, -who sent of a life absorbed in the support of Slavery. He forth their sons, covered over with prayers and hlds the commission of Virginia; but he does blessings, to combat for Human Rights, did noth- not represent that early Virginia, so dear to or nohepres, hc aentou the peayVignia sof Jefearston,,e ing of self-sacrifice truer than did these women on hearts, which gave to us the pen of Jeffersond this occasion. Were the whole history of South by which the equality of men was declared, and Carolina blotted out of existence, from its very w srd, by which ldepentthto e beginning down to the day of the last election of was secured; but Ahe represents that o her Virthe Senator to his present seat on this floor, civ- ginia, from which Washington and Jefferson now ilization might lose-I do not say how little; avert their faces, where human beings are bred but surely less than it has already gained by as cattle for the shambles, and where a dungeon the example of Kansas, in its valiant struggle rewards the pious matron who teaches little chilagainst oppression, and in the development of a dren to relieve their bondage by reading the Book itew science of emigration. Already in Law- of Life. It is proper that such a Senator, reprence alone there are newspapers and schools, resenting such a State, should rail against Free including a High School, and throughout this in- Kansas. fant Territory there is more of mature scholarship But this is not all. The precedent is still more fant Territory there is more of mature scholarship,clnhn.TufaIhaefloeexlsv in proportion to its inhabitants, than in all South clinching. Thus far I have followed exclusively Carolina. Ah, sir, I tell the Senator that Kansas, the ipube documents laid before Congress, an welcomed as a Free State, will be a "ministering alustrated by the debates of that body; but welt angel" to the Republic, when South Carolina, in authenticated ficts, not of record here, make the the cloak of' darkness which she hugs, "1lieIsprceiginKnaardeetv,bcuete the cloak of darkness which she hugs, "lies case stronger still. It is sometimes said that the cowling." proceedings in Kansas are defective, because they The Senator from Illinois [I[r. DoUGLxs] nat- The Senator from Illinois L\tr. DOUG;LAs] nat- originated in a party. This is not true; but even orally joins the Senator from South Carolina in if it were true, then would they still find suppor# 'I the example of Michigan-, where all the pro. this warfare, and gives to it the superior intensi i te example of Michigan' where all the pro ty of his lature.'He thinks that the National ceedings, stretching through successive years, Government has not completely proved its power, began and ended in party. The proposed State a s it has never hanged a traitor; but, if the oc- Government was pressed by the Democrats as a casioti requires, he hopes there will be no hesi- party tesf; and all who did not embark in it party test; and all who did not embark in it tation; and this threatis directed at Kansas, and were denounced. Of the Legislative Council, even at the friends of Kansas throug~hout thew es-en atthefrind of5 al l a were Demwhich calleda the first Constitutional Convention country. Ag.ain occurs the parallel with the in 1835 allwereDemocrats;andinthe Conver los of our Fthers, and I borrow the lan- tion itself, composed of eighty-seven members gatge of Patrick Henry, when, to the cry from only seven were Whigs. The Convention of th nator, of "treason," "treason,' I reply "if 1836, which gave the final assent, originated in tuis be tretson, make the most of it." Sir, it is emocratic Conventio on the 29th OtOtr easy to cli names' but I beg to tell the Senator ain the county of Wayne, composed of one htntoi i~t if the word "traitor" is in any way applica: dred and twenty-four delegates, all Democrat a, [ie to those cho refuse submission to a tyran- ho proceeded to resolveti cal U~solrnD ltiool whether in Kansas or else-' "'That the delegates of the Democratic party of $Vav e. n;,cal Usm'm~~~~~~~~~tioen,wehrin asso ls-~sllv impressed with the spreadinig evil~s and a.,g,r whvre, then nmust some new word, of deeper whiich1 arefiusal togo l'ltOt the Union has brouni,lt tipoi-thyi color, be invented, to designate those mad spirits p reople of Michigan, earitestlv reeon tmetcie neeliiis lo!te who wvouldl endean rer and degrade the ft,epulblic,+ itninediately cotnveiteit hy their feliow -citizes ii, every while wo~th e. er - d degra de tl h Republcl ii t{- ttco,i,y cthe State, with a view to the expressitn of t[eiir wlile they betray'ail the cherished sentiments of setidients int favor of tha electioni and call ofa:,4 31 Conveni,,on, in time to secure our adminssion into the Union before the first of Jainuary next." {~hortly afterwards, a committee of five, ap pointed by this Convention, all leading Demo crats, issued a circular, "under the authority of the delegates of the county of Wayne," recom mending that the voters throughout Michigan should meet and elect delegates to a Convention to give the necessary assent to the Act of Con gress. In pursuance of this call, the Convention met; and, as it originated in an exclusively party recommendation, so it was of an exclusively party character. And it was the action of this Con vention that was submitted to Congress, and,' after discussion in both bodies, on solemn votes, approved. But the precedent of Michigan has another fea ture, which is entitled to the gravest attention, especially at this moment, when citizens engaged in the effort to establish a State Government in Kansas are openly arrested on the charge of trea son, and we are startled by tidings of the mad dest efforts to press this procedure of preposter o-is Tyranny. No such madness prevailed under Andrew Jackson; although, during the long pendency of the Michigan proceedings, for more fthlan fourteen months, the Territorial Govern rnent was entirely ousted, and the State Govern ment organized in all its departments. One hun dred and thirty different legislative acts were rassed, providing for elections, imposing taxes, erecting corporations, and establishing courts of justice, including a Supreme Court and a Court af Chancery. All process was issued in the name of the people of the State of Michigan. And yet no attempt was made to question the legal validity of these proceedings, whether legislative or judicial. Least of all did any menial Governor, dressed in a little brief authority, play the fantastic trilcks which we now witness in Kansas; nor did any person, wearing the robes of justice, shock high Heaven with the mockery of injustice now enacted by emissaries of the President in that Territory. No, sir; nothing %of this kind then occurred. Andrew Jackson was President. Senators such as these are the natural enemies of Kansas, and I introduce them with reluctance, simply that the country may understand the character of the hostility which must be overcome. Arrayed with them, of course, are all who nite, under any pretext or apology, in the propgandism of Human Slavery. To such, indeed, the time-honored safeguards of popular rights can be a name only, and nothing more. What are trial by jury, habeas corpus, the ballot-box, the right of petition, the liberty of Kansas, your liberty, sir, or mine, to one who lends himself, not merely to the support at home, but to the propagandism abroad, ofthat preposterous wrong, which denies even the right of a man to himself! Such a cause can be maintained only by a practical subversion of all rights. It is, therefore, merely according to reason that its partisans should uphold the Usurpation in Kansas. To overthrow this Usurpatioa is Dow the speclal, imnportunate duty of Congress, admitting of no hesitation or postponement. To this end it must lift itself from the cabals of candidates, the machinations of party, and the low level of vulgar strife. It must turn from that Slave Oligarchy which now controls the Republic, and refuse to be its tool. Let its power be stretched forth to wards this distant Territory, not to bind, but tc unbind; not f or the oppression of the weak, but for the subversion of the tyrannica l; no t f or the pro p an d maintenance of a revolting Usurpation, but for the confirmation of-Liberty. These are imperial arts, and worthy thee! Let it now take its stand between the living and dead, and cause this plague to be stayed. All this it can do; and if the interests of Slavery did not oppose, all this it would do at once, in reverent regard for justice, law, and order, driving far away all the alarms of war; nor would it dare to brave the shame and punishment of this Great Refusal. But the Slave Power dares anything; and it can be conquered only by the united masses of the People. From Congress to the People, I appeal. Already Public Opinion gathers unwonted forces to scourge the aggressors. In the press, in daily conversation, wherever two or three are gathered together, there the indignant utterance finds vent. And trade, by unerring indications, attests the growing energy. Public credit int Missouri droops. The six per cents of that St.ite. which at par should be 102, have sunk to 84~ thus at once completing the evidence of Clime, and attesting its punishment. Bisinq s, ear turning from the Assassins and Thlgs, that inl fest the Missouri River on the way to Kansts, to seek some safer avenue. An(, thlis, tlhough3 not unimportant in itself, is typical of greati,er changes. The political credit of the men who uphold the Usurpation, droops even more than the stocks; and the People are turning from all those through whom the Assassins and Thugs have derived their disgraceful immunity. It was said of old, " Cursed be he that re. moveth his neighbor's Landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen." —(.Deut. xxvii, 17.) Cur sed, it is said, in the city, and in the field; cursed in basket and store; cursed when thou comest in, and cursed when thou goest out. These are terrible imprecations; but if ever any Landmark were sacred, it was that by which an immense territory was guarded forever against Slavery; and if ever such imprecations could justly descend upon any one, they must descend now upon all who, not content with the removal of this sa. cred Landmark, have since, with criminal complicity, fostered the incursions of the great Wrong against which it was intended to guard, But I utter no imprecations. These are not my words; nor is it my part to add to oI subtract from them. But thanks be to God l they find a response in the hearts of an aroused People, making them turn from every man, whether President, or Senator, or Representative, who has been engaged in this Crime-es. pecially from those who, cradled in free institum tions, are without the apology of education or social prejudice —until of all such those othel words of the prophet shall be fillfilled-a" I will set my face against that man, and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him him off from the midst of my people." —(Ezekiel xiv, 8.) 32 Ti'rnii,-g thus from the authors of this Crime, the cause itself there is angelic power. Unisee'' of Pt'eole will finite once more with the Fathers of men, the great spirits of History combat by the thle Republic, in a just condemnation of Slavery- side of the people of Kansas, breathing a divine determined especially that it shall find no home courage. Above all towers the majestic form of in the National Territories-while the Slave Washington once more, as on the bloody field, Power, in which the Crime had its beginning, bidding them to remember those rights of Human and bv which it is now sustained, will be swept Nature for which the War of Independence was into the charnel-house of defunct Tyrannies. waged. Such a cause, thus sustained, is invinci In this contest, Kansas bravely stands forth- ble. the stripling leader, clad in the panoply of The contest, which, beginning in Kansas, has Ainerican institutions. In calmly meeting and reached us, will soon be transferred from Conadopting a frame of Government, her people gress to a broader stage, where every citizen will lhave with intuitive promptitude performed the be not only spectator, but actor; and to their duties of freemen; and when I consider the diffi- judgment I confidently appeal. To the People, culties by which she was beset, I find dignity in now on the eve of exercising the electoral franher attitude. In offering herseffor admission into chise, in choosing a Chief Magistrate of the the Uniioz as a FREE STATE, she presents a single Republic, I appeal, to vindicate the electoral issuefor the people to decide. And since the Slave franchise in Kansas. Let the ballot-box of the Power now stakes on this issue all its ill-gotten Union, with multitudinous might, protect the supremacy, the People, while vindicating Kansas, ballot-box in that Territory. Let the voters will at the same time overthrow this Tyranny. everywhere, while rejoicing in their own rights, Thus does the contest which she now begins in- help to guard the equal rights of distant fellowvolve not only Liberty for herself, but for the citizens; that the shrines of popular institutions, whole country. God be praised, that she did now desecrated, may be sanctified anew that the not bend ignobly beneath the yoke! Far away ballot-box, now plundered, may be restored; and on the prairies, she is now battling for the Lib- that the cry, "I am an American citizen," may erty of all, against the President, who misrepre- not be sent forth' in vain against outrage of every sents all. Everywhere among those who are not kind. In just regard for free labor in that Teri;iinsensible to Right, the generous struggle meets tory, which it is sought to blast by unwelcu,e a generous response. From innumerable throb- association with slave labor; in Christian Syibing hearts go forth the very words of encour- pathy with the slave, whom it is proposed to task agement which, in the sorrowful days of our and to sell there; in stern condemnationi of the Fathers, were sent by Virginia, speaking by the Crime which has been consummated on that pen of Richard Henry Lee, to Massachusetts, in beautiful soil; in rescue of fellow-citizens, now the person of her popular tribune, Samuel Adams subjugated to a tyrannical Usurpation; in du "CHANTILLY, VA., June 2.', 1774. tifu respect for the early Fathers, whose as "1 hope tilhe good people of Bostoi will not is(e theit i pirat,ns are now ignobly thwarted; in the spitrits, under their presenit heavy oppressioni, for they will certainly be supported by the other Colonies; anid the cause name )f the Constitution, which has been outfor which they suffer is so glorious and so deeply iitttr- raged-of the Laws trampled down-of Justice estin,g to the present and future generatiols, that all banished-of Humanity degraded-of Peace ica will owe, in a great measure, their political salto the present virtue of Massachusetts Bay."-M;? s stroyed-of Freedom crushed to earth; and, in Archives, 4th series, Vol. 1, p. 446..' he name of the Heavenly Father, whose service In all this sympathy there is strengtl!..; - i rfect Freedom, I make this last appeal. +r THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES NOT TO BE EMPLOYED AS A POLICE TO EN FORCE THE LAWVS OF THE CONQUERORS OF KANSAS. SPEECH OF WILLIAM H. SEWARD THE ARMY 4 IN TUE SENATE OF THIE UNITED STATES, AUGUST 7, 1855. WASHINGTON, D. C BUELL & BLANCIIARD, PRINTERS. 1 8 5 6. ON B I L L]. I 0 SPEECH OF MR. SEWARD. IN SENATE, AUGUST 7, 1856 may not be able to act with wisdom, I am sure I can so far practice self-control as to debate with d ecenc y, and d epor t my self with dignity. I shall neither defend nor arraign any political party, because I should vote on this occasion just as I am now going to vote, if not merely one of the parties, but all of the parties in the country, stood arrayed against me. I shall not reply to any of the criticisms which have been bestowed upon the inhibition proposed by the House of Representatives, nor shall I attempt to reconcile that inhibition with other bills, which have been passed by the House of Representatives, and sent to this House for concurrence. I shall not even stop to vindicate my own consistency of action, in regard to the Territory of Kansas; because, first, I am not to assume that what now seems an opening disagreement between the Senate and the House of Representatives, will ripen into a case of decided conflict; and because, secondly, if it shall so ripen, then there will be time for argument at every stage of the disagreement; while its entire progress and consummation will necessarily be searchingly reviewed, throughout the length and breadth of the country, and the conflict itself will thereafter stand a landmark for all time in the history of the Republic. I shall endeavor to confine myself closely to the questions which are immediately involved, at this hour, in a debate which, in the event which has been apprehended, will survive all existing interests and all Mr. PRESIIDENT: This is a bill appropriating about twelve millions of dollars, to defray the expenses of the military establishment of the United States, for the ensuing fiscal year. Its form and effect are those which distinguish a general appropriation bill for the support of the army, such as is annually passed by Congress. Only one exception to it, as it came to' the Senate from the House of Representatives, has been taken here. It contains what is practically an inhibition of the employment of the army of the United States, by the President, to I enforce the so-called laws of the alleged Legis-i, lature of the Territory of Kansas. The Senate regards that inhibition as an obnoxious feature, and has, by what is called an amendment, proposed to strike it from the bill, overruling therein my vote; and.the Senate now proposes to pass the bill thus altered here, and to remit it to the House of Representatives, for concurrence in the alteration. In the hope that that House will insist on the prohibition which has been disapproved here, and that the Senate will, in case of conflict, ultimately recede, I shall vote against the passage of the bill in its present shape. In, submitting my reasons for this course, I have little need to tread in the several courses of argument which have been opened by distinguished Senators, who have gone before me in this debate. Certainly, however, I shall attempt to emulate the examples of the honorable Senators from Virginia and South Carolina, [Mr. HUNTER and Mr. BUTLER,] by avoiding re- marks in any degree personal, because, on an occasion of such grave importance, although I I 4 House of Representatives proposes, and which l the Senate disapproves, grows out of the conflict of opinion which divides the Senate unequally, which divides the House of Representatives itself nearly equally, and which, if the prohibition itself expresses the opinion of a majority of that House, separates it from the Senate, and from the President of the United States., It is manifestly a conflict which dividesi the country by a parallel of latitude. In this conflict, one party maintains, as I do, that the legislation, and the Territorial Legislature itself, of Kansas, are absolutely void. 'he other party, on the contrary, insists that the legislation and Legislature of the Territory of Kansas are valid, and must remain so until they shall be constitutionally superseded or abrogated. The Senator from Virginia [Mr. HUNTER] argues that the act of the House of Representatives, in inserting the prohibition in this bill, is revolutionary, and that persistence in it would effect a change of the Constitution of the Government. I refrain from arguing that question elaborately now, because, while I am satisfied, from my knowledge of the temper and habit of the Senate, that it is likely enough to adhere to the course which it has indicated, I am at the same time by no means so certain that the House of Representatives will not ultimately recede from the ground which, by the act of a bare majority, at all times unreliable during the present session, it has assumed. I speak with the utmost respect towards the House of Representatives, and with entire confidence in the patriotic motives of all its members; but, I must confess that, in all questions concerning Freedom and Slavery in the United States, I have seen Houses of Representatives, when brought into conflict with the Senate of the United States, recede too often and retreat too far to allow me to assume that in this case the present House of Representatives will maintain the high position it has assumed with firmaness and perseverance to the end. I saw a House of Representatives, In 1850, which was delegated and practically pledged to prohibit the extension of Slavery within the unorganized Territories of the United States, then newly acquired from Mexico, refuse to perform that great duty, and enter into a compro mise, which, however intended, practically led to the abandonment of all those Territories to uni versal desecration by Slavery. I saw a House of Representatives, ill 1854, forget the sacred rever ence for Freedom of those by whom it was consti tuted, and abrogate the time-honored lawV under which the Territories of Ksarsas anld Nebraska had until that time remained safe, amid the wreck which followed the unfortunate compromise of 1850, and thus p repare the way fo r that invasion by Slavery o f a ll that yet remained for the sway of Freedom in the a ncient domain of Louisiana, which has since taken place in Kansas. Sir, ever since I adopted for myself the policy of opposing the spread of Slavery in the train of our national banner, consecrated to equal and uni versal Freedom, my hopes have been fixed, not on existing Presidents, Senates, or Houses of Representatives, but on future Presidents and future Congresses-and my hopes and faith grow stronger and stronger, as each succeeding Presi dent, Senate, and House of Representatives, fails to adopt and establish that policy, so eminently constitutional and conservative. My hopes and my faith thus grow on disappointment, because I see that by degrees, which are marked, although the progress seems slow, my countrymen, who alone create Presidents and Congresses, are com ing. to apprehend the wisdom and justice of that beneficent policy, and to accept it. The short comings of the present House of Representatives do not discourage me. I do not even hold that body responsible. I know how, in the very midst of the canvass in which its members were elected, the public mind was misled, and diverted to the discussion of false and fraudulent issues concerning the principles and policy of thi3 Church of Rome, and the temper, disposition, and conduct, of aliens incorporated into the Republic. But although I hold the present House of Representatives excusable, I must, nevertheless, in assigning its true character, be allowed to say of it, that it is like the moon, which presents a broad surface, all smooth and luminous when seen at a distance, but covered with rough and dark mountains when brought near to the eye-by the telescope. I shall vote, therefore, on this occasion, with the House of Representatives, against a majority of the Senate, careless whether that House itself shall, like other Houses of Representatives which have gone before it, renounce and repudiate its own decision which I thus sustain, and complaisantly range itself with the Senate and the President of the United States, against myself and those Sen ators who shall have gone with'me to its support. Mr. President, the subject under consideration is legitimately within the jurisdiction of Con gress, and consequently within the jurisdiction of the House of Representatives. There must be authority somewhere to decide whether the Territorial Legislature of Kansas is a legal and A constitutional body, and whether its statutes are 5 valid. The President of the United States has no authority to decide those questions definitely, because the decision involves an act of sovereign legislation within the constitutional sphere of Congress. The Judiciary cannot decisively determine those questions, because their own determinations, in such a case, may be modified or reversed, and set aside, by a constitutional legislative enactment, and'because the Judiciary has no power to apply the means necessary to give effect to its decisions. The subject is an actual Government of the Territory of Kansas, to be established and maintained by constitutional laws. All legislative power over Kansas, as well as all legislative power whatever permitted by the Constitution of the United States, is vested in Congress, and of course in the House of Representatives, co-ordinately with the Senate, and subject io a veto of the President. The House of Representatives may.! constitutionally pass a bill abrogating the pretended legislation and Legislature of Kansas, or declaring them to be already absolutely void. The greater includes the less. The House of Representatives may therefore lawfully pass a bill prohibiting the employment of the army of the United States in executing laws in Kansas, which it deems pernicious, no matter by whom th ose laws were made. Since the House of Representatives has power to pass such a bill distinctly, it has power, also, to place an equivalent prohibition in any bill which it has constitutional power to pass. And so it has a constitutional right to place the prohibition in the annual army appropriation bill. I grant that this mode of reaching the object proposed is in some respects an unusual one, and in some respects an inconvenient one. It is not therefore, however, an unconstitutional one, or even necessarily a wrong one. It is a right one, if it is necessary to effect the object desired, and if that object is one that is in itself just, and eminently important to the peace and happiness of the. country, or to the security of the liberties of the people. The House of Representatives, moreover, is entitled to judge and determine, for itself, whether the proceeding is thus necessary, and whether the object of it is thus important. It is true, that the Senate may dissent from the House, and refuse to concur in the prohibition. In that case, each of the two House~s exercises an independent right of its own, an/d upon its own proper responsibilitv to the people. If the conflict shall c ont inue to the end, and the b ill therefore shall fail,e m the peopl e will decide between the t wo Houses, in the elections which will follow, an d they will take care to bring them to an a nreement in harmony wi th the popul ar dec ision. The proceeding in the preaent case is t hu s necess ary, and its object i s thu s impor tant. Pretended but in valid laws are e nact ed by usurpation, and enforced by the President of th e Unit ed States, in the Territory of Kansas, with th e terror i f n ot with an actual applica tion of the military arm of the Government. At least, this is the case assumed by the Hous e of Repre sentatives. The case is altogether a new one. It has not occurred before. It h a s never even b e en supposed possible that such a case could happen in a Territory of the U nite d - S tates. The idea has never bef ore e ntered int o the mind of an American statesmen, that citizens of one State coul d with armed force enter any other Stat e or Territory, and by fraud or force usurp it s g overnment, and establish a tyranny over i ts p eople, much less th a t a President of the United States would be found to sanct ion such a subversion of State authority or of Federal authority; aid still less, that a President thus sanctioning it would employ the standing army to maintain the odious usurpation and tyranny. Sir, the mere fact, in this case, that t he ar my is required to be employed to execu te alle ged laws in Kansas, is enough to raise a pres umption that those laws are either wrong in principle or destitute of constitutional authority, and ought'not to be executed. The Territory of Kansas, although not a State, is or ought to be, nevertheless, a civil community, with a republican system of government. In other words, it is de jure, and ought to be de facto, a Republic —an American Republic, existing under and by virtue of the Constitution of the United States. If the laws which are to be executed there are really the statutes of such a republican government truly existing there, then those laws were made by the people of Kan: sas by their own voluntary act. According to the theory of our Government, these laws will be acquiesced in by that people, and executed with their own consent against all offenders, by means of merely civil police, without the aid of the army of the United States. The army of the United States is not as mere institution of domestic police; nor is it a true or proper function of the army to execute the domestic laws of the several States and Territories. Its legitimate and proper functions are to'repel foreign invasion, i il 6 and suppress insurrections of the native Indian tribes. It is only an occasional and incidental function of that army, to suppress insurrections of citizens seldom expected to occur. This Capitol is surrounded by a national metropolis, and its streets, lanes, and alleys, are doubtless filled with misery and guilt, adequate to the generation of all sorts of crimes. Yet the laws prescribed for municipal government within the District of Columbia are executed without the aid of the army of the United States. Neither House of Congress, nor the Common Council of Washington, nor the Common Council of Georgetown, nor the President of the United States, nor the Marshal of the District of Columbia, nor yet the Mayors of either of those cities, nor any court within the District, is attended by any armed force or detachment, or protected even by an armed sentinel. Why is this so? It is because the people acquiesce, anderweeut the laws execute themselves. This case of the Distric t of Columbia is the strongest whic h c an be presented against the principle for which I contend, for the people of th e District are actually d isfranchised, out of regard to the security of the Federal Government. Look into the States-into Maryland on one side of the Federal Capital, and into Virginia on the other; into Delaware as you ascend northward, into North Carolina as you descend southward, into Pennsylvania and into South Carolina, into New Jersey and i nto Georgia, ev en into Maine and' in to Texas; go eastward-go westward, throu ghout all the States, throughout even the Territories, Minnesota, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and New Mexico-everywhere throughout the Republic, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific ocean-everywhere, except in Kansas, the people are dwelling in peaceful submission to the laws which they themselves have established, free from any intrusion of the army of the United States. The time was, and that not long ago, when a proposition to employ the standing army of the United States as a domestic police would have been universally denounced as a premature revelation of a plot, darkly contrived in the chambers of conspiracy, to subvert the liberties of the people, and to overthrow the Republic itself. The Republic stands upon a fundamental principle, that the people, in the exercise of equal rights, will establish only just and equal laws, and that their owvn free and enlightened public opinion is the only legitinmate reliance for the maintenance and execution of such laws. This principle is n ot even pecu liar to ourselves-it lies at the foundation of the government of every fre e people on earth. It is public opinion, not the Imperial army, that executes the laws of the realm in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Whenever France is fre e, it is public opinion that executes the laws of her republican legislature. It is public opinion that e xe cute s th e laws in all the Ca nto ns o f Switzer land. The British c onst itution is quite as jealous of stan ding armies as a police, as our own. Government there, indeed, maintains standing armies, as it does a g reat naval force, but it employ e ne a i e s the one, as it does the other, exclusively for defence or for conquest against foreign States. Fearful les t the armed power of the State might be turned against the people to e nforce o bnoxious edicts or statutes, the British constitution forbids that any regular army whatever shall'be tolerated, on any pretence. The considerable military force which is maintained in different and distant parts of the Empire, only exists by a suspension of that part of the constitution, which suspension is renewed by Parliament from year to year, and never for more than one year at a time. Civil liberty, and a standing army for the purposes of civil police, have never yet stood together, and never can stand together. If I am to choose, sir, between upholding laws, in any part of this Republic, which cannot be maintained without a standing army, or relinquishing the laws themselves, I give up the laws at once, by whomsoever they are made, and by whatever authority; for either our system of government is radically wrong, or such laws are unjust, unequal, and pernicious. Such is the presumption against the pretended laws of Kansas, which arises out of the proposition in debate. I shall not, however, in so grave a case, leave my argument to rest upon mere presumption. Listen to me while I recite some of the principas teas of the Territorial Legislature of Kansas, which the Senate, differing from the House of Representatives, proposes to enforce at the point of the bayonet against citizens of the United States: "No person wh9 is conscientiously opposed to the holding of slaves, or who does not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall be a juror in any cause in which the right to hold any person in slavery is involved, nor in any cause in which any injury done to. or committed by, any slave, is in issue, nor in any criminal proceeding for the violation of any law enacted for the protection of slave property, and for the punishment of crime committed against the right to such property." Here is an edict which subverts that old Saxon 7T: this place, and at other posts of public duty, spoken, written, printed, published, and circulated speeches, books, and papers, which constructively would be pronounced felonious, if such a law as this had been in force at the place where that duty was performed. I have not hesitated, in the spirit of a free man, and, so far as I can claim such characters, under the responsibilities of a statesman and a Christian, to scatter broadcast over the land, and even throughout the Territory of Kansas itself, statements, opinions, and sentiments, which, though designed for a purpose different from that mentioned in this edict, I doubt not would by prejudiced judicial construction be held to fall within its inhibition. Whatever other Senators may choose to do, I shall not. direct the President of the United States to employ a standin g army in destroying the fruits of Freedom which spring from seeds I have conscientiously sown with my own free hand. This statute, sir, if so you insist on calling it, subverts the liberty of the press and the liberty of speech. Where ow earth is there a free Government where the press is shackled and speech is strangled? When the Republic of France was subverted by the First Consul, what else did he do, but shackle the press and stifle speech. When the second Napoleon restored the Empire on the ruins of the later Republic of France, what else did he do, than to shackle the press and strangle debate? When Santa Anna seized the Government of Mexico, and converted it in t o a dictator ship, what more ha d he to do than shackle the press and stifle political debate? Behold, Senators, another of these statutes. In the chapter which treats of the writ of-habeu corpus we have this limitation: institution, whicn is essential and indispensable, not only in all republican systems of government, but even in every free State, whatever may be the form of its government. The question has been asked a thousand times, Why does the republican system fail in Spanish America? The answer is truly give n as often, that the republican system fails there, because the trial by jury has never existed in Spanish America, and cannot be introduced there. Lend your ear, if you please, while I repeat another of these statutes of the Territory of Kansas: "All ofcers elected or appointed under any existing or subsequently-enacted laws of this Territory, shall take and subscribe the following oath of office:'I, -, do solemnly swear, upon the holy Evangelists of Almighty God, that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and that I will support and sustain the provisions of an act entitled " An act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," and the provisions of the law of the United States commonly known as the " Fugitive Slave Law," and faithfully and impartially, and to the best of my ability, demean myself in the discharge of my duties in t he offic e of; s o help me God.' h o Here is a n edic t w hich establishes a test oath, based on political op inion, and, by disfranchis ing on e class of c itizens, devolves the government upon ano t her class, and thus subverts thatlprinciple of equality, without which no truly republican gover nment has ever existed, or e ver can exist. Excuse me, Senators, for calling to your notice a third chapter in the Territor i al co de of Kansas: If any free person, by speakin g or by writin g, asser t or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slates in this Territory, or shall int roduce into this T erritory, p rint, publish, write, circulate, or caus e to be introduced into this Territor7, written, print ed, publish ed, or circulat ed, in this Territory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons t o h old slaves in this Territory, s uch person shall be deemed GuILTY OF FELONY, a nd p unished by imprisonme nt at hard labor for a ter m of not less than two years." "If any person print, write, introduce into, publish, or circulate, or cause to be brought into printed, written, published, or circulated, or shall knowingly aid or assist in bringing into, printing, publishing, or circulating, within this Territory, any book, paper, pamphlet, magazine, handbill, or circular, containing any statements, arguments, opinion, sentiment, doctrine, advice, or innuendo, calculated to produce a disorderly, dangerous, or rebellious disaffectioit among the slaves in this Territory, or to induce such slaves to escape from the service of their masters, or to resist their authority, he shall be guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment and hard labor for a term not less than five years." " No negro or mulatto, held as a slave within this Territory, or lawfully arrested as a fugitive from service from another State or Territory, shall be discharged, sor..sr! his right offreedom be had, under the provisions of this act." This is an edict, whic h s us pends the writ of ha - beas corpus. It relates indeed to a degraded class of s ociety, but still the writ which is taken away from that class is the writ of habeas corpus, and those who are to be deprived of it by th e e dict may be freemen. The State that be gins with de - nying the habeas corpus to the humblest and most obscure of freemen, will not be long in reaching a more indiscriminate proscription. It ought to be sufficient objection here, against all these statutes, that they conflict with the Constitution of the United States, the highest law recognised in this place. I myself denounce them for that reason. as I denounce them also Sir, ever since the debate about the extension of Slavery in the Territories of the United States began, I have from year to year, from month to month, and sometimes even from day to day, in 8 priation to maintain the army of the United States for a single year. The Kansas code rises, as you advance through it, to a climax of inhumanity. Here is the next chapter: because they are repugnant to the laws of nature, as recognised by nearly all civilized States. Pardon, I pray you, Senators, the p rolixity of the next chapter, which I extract from the Kansas code: " If any person shall aidoer assist in enticing, decoying, or persuading, or carrying away, or sending out of this Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to procare or effect the freedom of such slave, or wikh intent to deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, he shal l be adjudged guilty of grand larceny, and on cojnviction thereofshall suffer deah, or be imprisoned at hard labor.for not less than ten years." *Every person who may be sentenced by any coturt of competent jurisdiction, under any law in force within this Territory, to punishment by confinement and hard labor, shall be deemed a convict, and shall immediately, under the charge of the keeper of such jail or public prison, or under the charge of such person as the keeper of such jail or public prison may select, be put to hard labor, as in the first section of this act specified, (to wit,' on the streets, Roads, public buildings, or other public works of the Territory'-[Sec. 1, page 146;] and such keeper or otherperson, having charge of such convict, shall cause such convict, while engaged at such labor, to be securely confined by a chain, six feet in length, of not less than four-sixteenths nor more than three-eighths of an inch links, with a round of irout, of not less than four nor more than six inches in diameter, attached, which chain shl.il be securely fasteled to the ankle ofsucti convict with a Strong: lock and key; and such keeper, or other person, having charge of suchconvict, may,ifnecessary, confine such convict~while so engaged at hard labor, by other chains, or other means, in his discretion, so as to keep such convict secure, and prevent his escape; and when there shall be two or more convicts under the charge of such keeper, or other person, such convicts shall befastend together by strong chains, with strong locks and keys, during the time such convicts shall be engaged in hard labor without- the-walls of any jail or prison." Pray tell me, Senators, what you think of that. 'This statute has been promulgated in Kansas, .a Territory of the United States. It can have become a law there only, directly or iAdrectly, through the exercise of the legislative power of the Congress of the United States. The Constitution of the United States confers upon Confgress no power whatever to consign any human being to a condition of bondage or slavery to another human being, but, on the contrary, pro hibits the exercise of a power so inhuman and barbarous. The Constitution of the United States, contsequently, confers on Congress no power, directly or indirectly, to make it a crime in one man to per suade another, reduced to bondage or slavery, to seek his freedom. I repudiate this pretended law, therefore, and I will not consent to send the army of the United States to Kansas to exe cute- it. IMr. MASON. Will the Senator allow me to ask him whether the law to which he has just adverted is not a law of the State of Missouri, adopted by the Territory of Kansas? Mr. SEWARD. I presume it is, but I do not know that -fact. Mr. MASON. Does not the Senator know the fact, that it is part of the body of laws of the, State. of Missouri, adopted by the Territory of Kansas?... 4 Mr. SEWARD. I say I presume it to be so; I do not know the fact. Sir, I am here asked, swhile voting twelve millions to support the Federal army, to make it a crime against the United States, punishable with death, to persuade a>slave to escape from bondage, and,to command the army to execute that punishment. I cannot do that. ]Mr. REID. I dislike to interrupt the Senator, but there is one point on which I desire to —kn-oW his opinion,- for it'is important, certainly, tO one' section of the Union. The course of the Sen ator's argument seems to incline to the opinion, I have devoted, heretofore, no unimportant part of my life to mitigating the severity of penal- codes. The Senate of the United States now informs me, that if I desire the privilege of voting for this bill, which is designed to maintain the army of the United States in its integrity,-:t must consent to send that.army into the Territory of Kansas, to fasten chains of iron six feet long, with balls of iron four inches in diameter, with strong locks, upon the limbs of offenders guilty of speaking, printing, and publishing, principles and opinions subversive of the system of Slavery. Sir, I have no excessive tenderness in regard to taking life or liberty as a forfeiture to the majesty of the laws, for the invasion of the ,peace and safety of society. Yet I do say, nevertheless, that I regard chains and balls, and all such implements and instruments of Slavery, with a detestation so profound, that I will sooner take chains upon my own frame, and wear them through what may remain of my own pilgrimage here, than impose them, even where punishment is deserved, upon the limbs of my fellow-men. I cannot consent to go backward, and restore barbarism to the penal code of the United States, even for the sake of an apuro 4 9 [respect. It has vindicated the Constitution of my country; it has vindicated the cause of Freedom; it has vindicated the cause of humanity. Even though it shall tamely rescind this vindication to-morrow, when il shell come into aonflt swith the Senate of the Unite d Sta te s, yet I shall neverthe less regard this proviso, :st anding in that case only for a single day, as an omen of more earnest and firm legislation in that .great forum. When, hereafter, one shall be lookixgthrough the pages of statute laws affecting the Afri can race, for a period of more than a quarter of a c entury, he will regard thi s ephemeral recognition of the equality of men with th e ffection and hope which the e traveller feels when approaching a green spot in the deserts of Arabia. It must be other Senators, not I, who shall con.sent to blast this oasis, and disappoint all the hopes that already are bursting the bud upon it. Mr. President, although the fact is clear, that the pretended laws in Kansas can only be executed by armed force, and therefore are obnox ious to a presumption that they are founded in injustice; andtalthough those laws, upon search!ing examination, are found to be subversive of the Constitution, and in conflict with all the sen timents of humanity, the whole case of the House of Representatives has nevertheless not yet been :stated. The proceedings which have hitherto taken place in -executing those laws have been -unconstitutional in their character, and attended' with grinding oppression and cruel severity. The Senator from Virginia has asked me, whethe' such laws do not exist in Missouri. Mr. MASON. The Senator from Virginia asked you whether a law on which you were comment ing was not a law of the State of Missouri, copied by the Territory of Kansas. Mr. SEWARD. Take the question in the shape -in which the honorable Senator repeats it. I suppose such laws exist in that State, and in ,other- States. I have' this to say for those States, and for the United States-that a Federal ;standing army has never been employed in exe cuting such laws in those States. And how have these atrocious laws been executed in Kansas? The marshal of the Territory, an offi cer dependent or-the President of the United States, has enrolled as a volunteer- militia, at the expense of'the Federal Treasury, an armed band? of confessed propagandists of Slavery from other' States; and this so-called militia, but really un constitutional regular force, has-been converted into aposse corniraks to execute these atrocious statutes by intimidation,'or by force, as the ns^ on his part, that it is no crime to persuade or to entice a negro slave to run away from his master. Is that the opinion of the Senator from New York? Mr. SEWARD. There is no Senator for whom I have more respect than the honorable Senator from North Carolina, but I have a rule-which is, to adhere to my own lineof argument. I am defending my vote, on a bill before the Senate. I shall go into the discussion of no collateral question, further than it is necessarily involved in the argument which the occasion requires. I call your attention to another of these enactments: "If any person shall ntice, decoy, or carry away out of this Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, or with intent to effect or procure the freedom ofsuch slave, he shall be adjudgpd guilty of grand larceny, and, on conviction thereof, shall suffer DEATU, or be imprisoned at hard laborfor not less than ten years." There is no larceny of property, of any kind, which in my judgment demands punishment by death. Certainly, I shall not agree to a law which shall inflict that extreme punishment for constructive larceny, in a case where it is at least a disputed point in ethics, whether the offence is malum in se. Here is, another chapter: " If any slave -shall commit petit larceny, or shall steal any neat cattle, sheep, or hog, or be guilty of any misdqmearor, or other offence punishable under the provisions of this act only by fine or imprisonment in a county jail, or by both such fine and imprisonment, he shall, instemd pf.uch punishrneent, be punished, if a male, by stripes on his bare back not exceeding thirty-nine, or if a female, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding twenty-one days, or by stripes not exceeding twenty-one, at the -discretion of the justice." With repentance and atonement, Mr. President, I may hope to be forgiven for inflicting blows upon the person of a fellow-man, equal in strength and vigor to myself. I should have no hope tos be forgiven, much less to retain my own selfrespect, if; on any occasion, under any circumstances, or upon any pretext, I should ever consent to apply, or authorize another to apply, a lash to the naked back of a weak, defenceless, helpless woman. Sir, call these provisions which I have recited by what name you will-edicts, ordinances, or statutes-they are the laws which the House of Rtepresentatives says shall not be enforced in Kansas by the army of the United States. I give my-thanks to the House of Representatives, sinoere and hearty thanks. I salute the House of Representatives with the homage of my profound I I "II 10 ture of the resistance encountered seemed to re quire. This has been the form of Executive ac tion. What has been the conduct of the Judicial department? Courts of the United States have permitted grand juries to find and have main tained indictments unknown to the laws of the United States, to the common law, and to the laws of all civilized countries-an indictment of a tavern as a nuisance, because the political opinions of i ts lodg ers were obnoxious; an indictment of a b ridg e ov er a river for a nuisance, because those who pass ed ove r it were of o pinion that the es rblishn ent of Slavery in the Territory was injurious to its prosperity; indictm eents even of printing presse s as nuisances, b ecause the political opinions whichuyo se,Sntr,ta they promulgated were favorable to the establishment of a Free State Government. Either with a warrant from the courts, ar without a warrant but with their connivance, bands of soldiers, with arms belonging to the United States, and enrolled under its flag, and directed by its marshal, combining with other bands of armed invaders from without the Territory, and without even the pretence of a trial, much less of a judgment, have abated the alleged nuisance of a tavern by levelling it tohe g o d n the ground, and thepretended nuisances of the free presses by casting "This Territorly was organized by an act of Congress, and, so far, its authority is from the United States. It has a Legislature, elected in pursuance of that organic act. This Legislature, being an instrument of Congress by which it governs the Territory, has passed laws. These laws, therefore, are of United States authority and making; and all that resist these laws, resist the power and author ity of the United States, and are therefore guilty of higk treason. " Now, gentlemen, if you find that any persons have re sisted these laws, then you must, under your oaths, find bills against such persons for high treason. If you find that no such resistance has been made, but that combina tions have been formed for the purpose of resisting theinb and individuials of influence and notoriety have been aid ing and abetting in such combinations, then must you still find bills for constructive treason," &c. What will it avail their defence, before such a court and such a judge, that the Constitu t i on of the United States declares, di rectly and, ex plicitly, that trea son against the United States shall consist only in levinng war against them, or in adhering to t he ir enemies, givingthem aid and comfort. Thus you see, Senators, that the Execu tive authority, not content with simple oppression, has s eized upon the Judiciary, an d corrupt ed and degraded it, for the purpose of execu ting these pr ete nded and intor a lerable laws of Kansas. The judge who presides in the Territo rial courts s a creature of the Pr esident of the United States, a nd h olds his office by the tenure of Exe cutive pleasure. While the sword of Executive power is converted in Kansas innto an assassin's dagger, the e rmin e of Justice is stained with the vilest of contaminat ion s. What cause is th ere for surpriseen, the i n the administrationof Government in Kan sas, under such laws, and in a manner so intolerable, that a civil war has been brought about by affidavits, an armed force has been employed in executing process f or contempt, and an unauthorized and ille gal de tachmen t is enrolled in the service of the United Sta tes, and employed in abating domes ti c, s ocial, an d political institu tsd h name of nuis ances? What wonder is it that a city has been besieged with fire and sword, because it was supposed to contain within its dwellings individuals who de. nied the legality and obligation of the pretended laws? What wonder that a State, a provisional Sta te, erected in harmony with the Constitution and with custom, and waiting our assent for admission into the Union, has been subverted by a mingled process of indictments and martial demonstrations against constructive treason? Who can fail to see, through the cloud which Executive usurpation and Judicial misconstructioa have raised, for the purpose of cover type and presses and compositors' desks into the Kansas river. Moreover, when the citizens, whose obedience to these laws was demanded, sought relief in the only constitutional way which remained open to them, by establishing conditionally, and subject to the assent of Congress, to be afterwards obtained, a State Government, provisional Executive officers, and a provisional Legislature, indictments for constructive treason were found in the same courts, by packed grand juries, against these provisional Executive officers, and a detachment of the army bf the United States entered the Legislative Halls, and expelled the representatives of the people from their seats. During the intense heat of this almost endless summer,. a regiment of Federal cavalry performs its evolutions in ranging over the prairies of Kansas, holding in its camp, as prisoners under martial law, without bail or mainprize, not less than ten citizens, thus indicted in those Federal courts for the pretended crime of constructive treason. The penalty of treason, under the laws of the United States, is death. What chance for justice attends those citizens? I will show you. The judge who is to try them procured the indictments against them, by a charge to a packed grand jury, in these words 11 ing these transactions in Kansas, that it is devotion to Freedom which alone constitutes any crime in that Territory, in the view of its judges, its ministerial officers, and of the President of the United States? And that that crime, in whatever it may be committed, in their judgment, constitutes treason? Who does not see that devotion to Freedom, applauded in all the world besides, in Kansas is a crime to be expiated with death? I have argued thus far, Mr. President, from the nature of the pretended laws of Kansas, and from the cruel and illegal severity with which they are executed. I shall draw my next argument from the want of constitutional authority, on the part of the Legislature which enacted these laws. The report of the Kansas Investigating Committee of the House of Representatives, consisting of the evidence of witnesses, numbered by hundreds, and biassed against the conclusion at which the House of Representatives has arrived, has established the fact upon which I insisted in opening this debate on the 9th of April last, that the Legislature of Kansas was chosen, not by the people, but by an armed invasion from adjoining States, which seized the ballot-boxes, usurped the elective franchise, and by fraud and force organized a Government; thereby subverting the organic law and the authority of the United States. Sir, at another time, and under different circumstances, a single invader, after the manner adopted by Colonel William Walker in Nicaragua, might have entered the Territory of Kansas with an armed force, and established a successful usurpation there Let me suppose that he had done so, and had promulgated these identical statutes in the name of the Territory of Kansas, would you hold, would the Senate hold, would the President of the United States hold, that such a Government, thus established, was a legal one, and that statutes thus ordained were valid and obligato ry? That is the present case. It differs only in this: that in the case supposed there is a a revolution. When honor able Senato rs from th e other side of this Chamber tell me th at I am leading the people of Kansas into revolution, I fearlessly reply to them, that they have stood idly by, and s e e n a revolution effected there. Doubtless, they have acted with a sincerity of purpose and patriotism equal to my own. They see the facts, and the tendency of events, in a light different from th at in which thes e facts and transactions present themselves to me. They therefore insist upon maintaining that revolution, and giving it the sanction of Congress, by authorizing the sta n ding ar my o f the Un ite d States to execute the laws which that revolution has promulgated. The House of Representatives, on the contrary, denounces the revolution, and stands upon the authority of the United States, and, for the purpose of putting an end to that revolution and restoring Federal authority, insists that these pretended laws shall not be executed. In this great controversy, I leave the majority of the Senate, and take my stand by the side of the House of Representatives. You warn me, that if we do not recognise these revolutionary authorities in Kansas, the Terri tory will be without an organized State at all' and will relapse into anarchy. The House of Representatives meets you boldly on that issue, and replies, that if there are not laws in force, exclusive of'these pretended statutes, adequate to the purposes of civil government in Kansas, they have invited you, in two separate bills, which they have sent up here, widely variant in character, but each adapted to the case, to pro vide for the restoration of regular and constitu tional authority in Kansas. One bill proposes to recognise and establish the State of Kansas, under the Topeka Constitution, and the other proposes to reorganize the Territorial Legisla ture, with proper amendments of the organic law. Thus far, you have practically refused to accept either of these propositions. If, when Congress shall have adjourned, the result shall be that Kansas is left without the protection of adequate laws and civil authority, look you to that. The responsibility will not rest on me, nor on the House of Representatives. I desire, Mr. President, on this great occa sion-perhaps the last one of full debate during the present session of Congress-to deliver my whole mind upon this important subject. I add, therefore, that the tendency and end —I will not say object-of the revolution which has been ef fected in Kansas, which has been effected by her conquerors through the countenance and aid of single conqueror, only one local and reckless usurper, while in the case of Kansas an associated band are the conquerors and usurpers. The Territorial Legislature of Kansas stands on the foundations of fraud and force. It attempts to draw over itself the organic law enacted in 1854, but it is equally subversive of the liberties of the people of Kansas, and of that organic law, and of the authority of the United States. The Legislature and Territorial Government of Kansas stand on no better footing than a couv d'etat, 12 the President of the United States, areanot of such I do it. Humanity forbids me to do it. And the a character as to reconcile me to that revolution.! Constitution of my country-wisest.of all Con I stitutions-most equal of all Constitutions-most humane of all Constitutions which the inventive genius. of man has ever framed-forbids me to do. it. I have arrived now, Mr. President, at another question much debated here, namely, whether the inhibition which is contained in the bill as it came from the House of Representatives. and to which the Senate objects, is germane to the bilL If that.inhibition really has the importance with which I have invested it, then the question whether it is germane or not. is wor t hles s and trivial. Sir, in an act of such high necessity as the re sistance and suppression of revolution subversive of civil government and public liberty, questions of parliamentary form sink into insignificance But the question s germane. It is a normal, pro vision, of a character identical with the bill itself. The bill proposes an appropriation. to defray the expenses of the army of the United States for one year, and necessarily contemplates the character and nature of the, service in which the army is to be employed. It is framed with such foresight as the House of Representatives can exercise of the places where the army shall be employed, whether in the States or in the Territories, or in foreign campaigns, and of the nature and character of its employments-whether training in camp, building fortifications, suppressing Indian insurrections, repelling invasions, or carrying the banner of our stars and stripes in conquest ofver an enemy's battalions in hostile countries. It is confessed that Congress, and:not:the President of the United. States, has power to direct the destination and employment of the army in all these respects. And, now, what does the provision propose? Simply this,: thatwhile it leaves the discretion of the President free exercise. to employ the army where 1 think fit i maintaining Federal laws, and, consistently with existia- tatutes, the laws of every State in the Union, and of every Territory in the Union, he shall not do this one thing-employ that army in executing the pre. ternded and obnoxious statutes of thelusurpation in Kansas. On the point whether this inhibition is germane to the bill, you,, Senators, think that you., are making an issue with the- House of Rep_ resentatives, on which, when you go down before the people, the Senate will stand and the House will fall. I know well th~e conservative power that is lodged in- twelve millions of dollars, Span. ish milled dollars-* but I know also the virtue. the That end is the establishment of human slavery within the Territory of Kansas. If I should go with you and the majority of the Senate in emas culating this army bill, as it came from the House of Representatives, I should thereby show that I was at l asst i ndiff eren t on so gre at an issue. Sir, I could nev e r forgive myself hereafter, when reviewing the course of my public life,:if I had assented to infli ct upon even the pres ent settlers of Ka nsas, f ew and poor, and scattered through its fo re sts and prairies, as they are, what I deem the mi schiefs and evils of- a sy stem of compul sory la b or, excluding, as we know by experience that it a lwa ys d oes, th e intelligent labor of free men. But it is not me rely on to-day and on this generation that I am looking. I cannot restrain my eyes f rom the effort, at least, to penetrate through a period of twenty-five years-of fifty years-of a hu nd r ed years-of even two hundred years-so far, at least, as a statesman's vision oug ht t o reach beyond the. horiz on tha t screens the future fro m common observation. All along and thr ough that dimly-explored vista, I see rising up before me hundr eds o f thousands, millions, even tens of millions, of countrymen, receiving their fortunes and fates, as they a re be ing shaped by th e action of t he Congress of the Unite d States, in thi s hour of languor, at the close of a weary day, n ear the end. of a protracteand and tedious session. I shall not, indeed, meet them here on the earth, bu t Iashall meet them all on that day when I shall give up the final account of that stewardship which my country has: confided to me. If I wer e n ow to c on sent to such an act, with my opinio ns and c onvictions, the fruit of early patriotic and Christian teachings, matured by reading of hi story; by ob servat io n in States wh ere Freed om flour ishes, as well as in societies where Slavery is tolerated; by experience throughout a lif e which already napproac he s the climact eric; by travel in my own and foreign lands; by reflection under the discipline of conscience and the responsibilities of duty; by social converse; an d by a t hous and collisions of debateI should b e obliged, when that last day shall come to me, (as it must come to all,) to call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall upon me, and crush me and my name, detested then by. myself, into that endless oblivion which is the most unwelcome of all evils, real or imaginaxy, to the thoughts of a generous and illuminated human mind. Policy forbids me to do it. Justice forbids me to 13 arrested, on whom will the responsibility fall? Must the House necessarily surrender its own convictions, and adopt yours, in all cases, whether they are right or wrong? Ifso, pray tell me Senators, what is the use of a House of Representatives at all? Sir, the Senate will find, if it shall assume the position of defiance against the House, that it has not weakened the strength of the House of Representatives, but perilled its own. By the letter of the Constitution, the House of Representatives has exclusive right to originate all bills for raising revenue. By custom, inherited from Great Britain, and unbroken since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, the House of Representatives, exclusively, originates all general appropriation bills. This exclusive right and custom of originating general appropriation bills involves at least an equal right, on the part of the House of Representatives, to limit or direct the application of the moneys appropriated. The House, in view of the revolution inaugurated in Kansas by the President, with the aid of the army of the United States, and maintained by the Senate, might lawfully, if in its discretion it should deem such a course expedient, refuse to appropriate, any money whatever for the support of the army. The greater includes the less. The House may therefore attach the prohibition as a condition of the grant of supplies for the armry. The:honorable Senator from Maine [Mr. FEssEN'DEN] has sagely said, in the co urse of his excel lent speech, that the House has, by reason of i ts constitution~ a peculiar and superior fitness for passing on the question involved in this debate. Its members are fresh from the people, and they go hence directly, to render an account to the people of the administration of the National Treasury. yWe of the Senate are so far removed, by the dura tion of our terms of office, as practically to be in a measu rep irreonsible. The House of Represent atives is constituted by direct election by the pe ple themselves. We of the Senate are sent -here by the LegislatUres of the respective States. Th. are great political bodies and justly represented here as such, to. check,.if; need be, the too vola tile action of the people through the House of Representatives. But they are corporations nevertheless, and the Senate is a body repre senting corporations. Moreover, the Senate, by force of its constitu~ tion as a council of the Bresident,'in appoint — ments to office and in the conduct of foreign affairs, is more readily inclined tow'ards -combDi nation wi.th the President, and of course to- de pendence upon him, t-han the House of Repre~ conservative virtwe, which resides in the hearts and consciences of twenty-five millions of American freemen. The people of the United States, in this case, will never stop to ask whether the inl hibition was germane or not. They are not yet prepared to:rceive their own money back at your hands, on condition of the surrender of liberty or the denial of justice. But if I grant that the people will stand by you, and condemn the House of Represent.atives, still in that case I take my stand with the House of:Representatives. The American people-have a persevering way of correoting to-day their error of yesterday. When the temporary inconvenience which they shall have suffered from your act of withholding' from them the twelve millions of dollars which ought to be disbursed to them through the operations of the army, shall have passed away, they will call you to account for the injustice which will' have inflicted that injury, and will then vindicate their fidelity to Liberty and Justice, while sternly bestowing upon you the censure you have provoked. Wb atever may be the decisieon, early or late,- of th e Americ an people, the judgment hnow to be given will go for review to the tribunal of the civilized world. It needs little of-either learnin'g, or foresight, to anticipate the, decision of- that tribunal, on the issue whether the Senate is right in using bayonets and gunpowder to execute unconstitutional and tyrannical laws, tending to, earry Slavery into free Territories, or the House of Representatives is right! in maintaining the Constitution and the universality of Freedom. Thihe whole question of the p ropr ie t y of the inhibiti o n hinges on the point whe ther, under the circum stances, it i s necessalry. I appeal on thea point to the Senate i tself, to the country, and to the world. Eithethehe inhibition must b e co ntinued in the - bill axd so take effect, or else the army will be employed to en force these atrocious laws. Every the r o ther effort to defeat nd to abrogate them has failed. T his attempt is the last that can be made. It is terre therefore this remedy for the revo lution in Kansas which we must adopt, or no remedy. I go, therefore, with the House of Rep resentatives, for the inhibition which it proposes. You reply, that if-the House of.Representatives persevere, th e bill will fail, and thus the ac tion of the Government will be arrested. But although the House -shall persevere in the right, the bill will not fail, and the' action of the Gov ernment will not be arrested, unless the Senate shall persevere in the wrong. If both shall perse vere. and the action of the Government shall be 14 BentativeS. It is to the House of Representatives, But, whether in peace Or war, we maintain it not therefore, that the people must look, and it is without some measure of hazard to constitution npon that House, and not upon the Senate, that al liberty. Happily, the Indian disturbances the people must rely mainly for the rescue ofi within our borders have been suppressedi and public Liberty, if the time shall ever come if they had not been, the smallest measure of when that Liberty shall be endangered, with del gentleness and charity towards the decaying sign or otherwise, by the exercise of the Execu- tribes would more effectually secure the blessings tive power. of peace, so far as they are concerned, than the Thus far, Mr. President, I have treated this employment of many legions. Happily, also, the subject as one involving only the interests of the I dark cloud that seemed gathering over us from people of the Territory of Kansas. But you will the East, when this session commenced in De see at once, without any amplification on my part, cember last, has been dispersed, and we have that you are establishing, by way of precedent, now a sure prospect of peace with all foreign a system of government for not merely that Ter- nations for many years to come. The army of ritory, but all the Territories, present ahd future, the United States is therefore immediately use within the United States. It is worth while to ful or necessary now only as a police, to execute see what that system is. It is the system of municipal laws. If the founders of the Consti popular sovereignty, founded on the abnegation of tution had been told, that within seventy years Congressional authority, attempted by the Kan- from the day on which they laid its solid found sas and Nebraska Act of 1854. But it is that ations, and raised its majestic columns, a stand system of popular sovereignty, with the principle ing army would have been found necessary and of popular sovereignty left out, and that of Ex- indispensable merely to execute municipal laws, ecutive power, exercised with fraud and armed they would have turned shuddering away from force, substituted in its place. Since we have the massive despotism which they had erected. entered upon a career of territorial aggrandize- Sir, eleven days hence, Congress will adjourn, ment, as Rome, and Britain, and Spain did, re- and it will come back again one hundred and spectively, we can look forward to no period eight days after that time. No serious disaster, when what we call Territories, but what they nor even any great public inconvenience, can called Provinces or Colonies, will not constitute happen within that period. Congress will be a considerable part of our dominion, and be a here in ample time to provide, if it shall be theatre for the exercise of cupidity and the dis- necessary, for the public safety, for expelling play of ambition. Let Congress now effectually Great Britain from Central America, for conquer resign the Territories to military control by the ing Cuba, and for bringing into subordination President, or by Generals appointed by him, and any insurrectionary Indian tribes. Everybody two more acts will bring this grand national will know that every dollar we owe to contract drama of ours to its close. The first of those ors, purveyors, merchants, makers of gunpowder acts will be the subversion of Liberty in the er muskets, or founders of cannon, as well as remaining Territories; and then, the Rubicon every dollar we owe to soldiers or officers, easily passed, the second will be the establish- for pay or for rations, is guarantied by the ment of an Empire on the ruins of the whole national faith, anTo-n- that fi ey can be Republic. raised without any considerable discount. But how is the Government to be arrested, And, now, what other inconveniences are to even if this army bill should fail, through your result from a failure to pass the army bill? We persevering dissent from the House of Represent- are told that law and order will be lost, and atives? Is the army of the United States, indeed anarchy will prevail in the Territory of Kansas, and essentially, a civil institution-a necessary if the army be not employed there to keep and indispensable institution, in our republican the peace, and execute'lthe Territorial laws. system? On the contrary, it is an exception, an Look, I pray you, through this report of the Inanomaly, an antagonistic institution, tolerated, vestigating Committee, drawn out to the length but wisely and justly regarded with jealousy and of twelve hundred pages, filled with details of apprehension. We maintain a standing army in invasions, robberies, mobs, murders, and confit time of war, to suppress Indian insurrections, or grations, and tell me what anarchy could happen} to repel foreign invasions; and we maintain the in the absence of martial law, worse than the ansame standing army in time of peace, only be- archy which has marked its establishment in cause it is wise in peace to be prepared for war. the Territory? 15 consistent with the preservation of constitutional Liberty. It would be a hard alternative, but, if the Senate should insist on forcing on me, or on the people I represent, the choice between peace under despotism, or turbulence with Freedom, then I must say, promptly and fearlessly, give me so much of safety as I can have, and yet remain a freeman, and keep all quiet and all safety beyond that for those who are willing to be Answer me still further, what measure of anarchy could reconcile, or ought to reconcile American citizens to a surrender of constitutional Liberty in any part of the Republic? Answer me further, what is that measure of tranquillity and quiet that a republican people ought to seek, or can wisely enjoy? It is not the dead quiet, the stagnant tranquillity of cowardly submission to usurpation and despotism, but it isl just so much of peace, quiet, and tranquillity, as, i4 I slaves. CIRCULATE THE DOCUMENTS. The Republican Association of Washington city, in order to afford every facility for a profuse distribution of documents during the campaign, have made extensive arrangements for publishing speches and documents favoring the principles of the Republican Party, and will furnish them to individuals, or clubs, at the bare cost of publication. The following is a list of those already published; and, being stereotyped, we are enabled to supply any number of copies at short notice: vill be kept for sale till the end of the Campaign Freedom National, Slavery Sectional.-Hon. J. J. Perry. The Army of the United States not to be Employed as a Police to Enforce the Laws of the Conquerors of Kan sas.-Hon. WV. H. lSeward. Modern " Democracy" the Ally of Slavery.-Hon. M. W1 Tappan. At $2.50 per 100 copies, free of postage. Crime against Kansas.-Hoii. Charles Sumner. Report of the Kansas Investigating Committee. Life of Fremont, illustrated. The Nebraska Question, containing the Speeches of Doug las, Chase, Smith, Everett, Wade, Badger, Seward, and Sumner together with the History of the Missouri Compromise, &c. Price 20 cents, free of postage. Political Map of the United States, designed to exhibit the comparative area of the Free and Slave States and the Territory open to Slavery by the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. With a comparison of the principal Sta tistics of the Free and Slave States, from the Census of 1850. Hig,hly Colored. Price 20 cents, free of postage. List of Documents already pub:. i, At 62 cents per 100 copies, free t,.' Poor W~hites of t'ne South. —WVeston. Will the South Dissolve the Union?-WVeston. The Federal Unioln, it must be Preserved.-W-eston. Southlierni Slavery reduces Northern Wages.-Weston. Who are Sectional? —Veston. Review of the Kansas Minority Report.-Hon. J. Sher man. Reasons for Joining the Republican Party -Judge Foot. Kansas Contested Election.-Hon. J. A. Bingham. Admissio-n of Kainsas.-Hon. G. A. Grow. Cellarne-rs Report tiad Speech in favor of Free State Colstttititii, for Kaissas. Kansas Affairs.-Hon. H. Waldron. Defenice o"f tCasas.-Rev. Henry Whard B-echer. Defence of lassaclusetts.-Hon A. Burlingame. Privile:e of the Repre sen tat iilege of the People. [Ion. J. R. Giddings. Dem Acradtisc iarty anas it Was and as it IsS-Ho. T. C. Day. Tiie l{ oannsu s an i d the Realityt-Hon. T. C. Day. Blair. s Letter to the Rep)i)lican Association. rtihe Slavery- Question.-Hon. J. Allison. biaverd Ulconsti tutional.-BHon. A. P. Granger. At $1.25 per 100 copies,free ofpostage. Kansas in 1856: A complete History of the Outrages in Kansas not embraced in the Kansas Committee's Re port.-By all Oficer of the Commission. Immediate Admission ofKansas.-t-lon. WV. H. Seward. Admission of Kansas, and the Political Effects of Slave ry.-Hon. H. Belnnett. Affairs inl Kansas.-Hon. L. Trumbull. Wrolgs of Katosas-Hon. J.P. SHale. Admissi,on of Ka h nsaas.-tmon. B F. W sade. State of Aliairs in Kansas.-Hon. H. Wilson. Admissi l of Karcsas.-Hon. James Harlan. The'i Laws " of Kaisas.-Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Organization of th e Free State Governmen t in Kansas, and Inaugatural Address of Governor Robinson. Plymouth Orationl.-Hon. W. H. Seward. The Dangl,ers of Extending Slavery, and The Contest and the Crisis; two Speeches in one pamphlet.-Hon. W~. II. Seward. Politics of the Country.-Hon. Israel Washburn. Cornplaitits of the Exteiisionists; their Falsity.-Hon. Philemon Bliss. The Slavery Qaestionl.-Hon. Edward Wade. Extravagant Exipenlditures. —Hoi. E Ball. In the German Language, Crime against Kansas.-Hon. Charles Sumner. Price $2.50 per 100. Life of Fremont, illustrated. Price $92.50 per 100. The "Laws" of Kansas.-Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Price $125 per 100. The Dangers of Extendilg Slavery.-Hon. W~. H. Seward; Price *I. 265 po~. She Contest and the Crisis.-W. 1.-Swa-rd. Price St.25 per 100. The Immediate Admission of Kansas.-Hon. W. H. Sew ard. Price 81.25 per 100. Address of the National Republican Committee. Prioe $1.2.5 per 100. Francis P. Blair's Letter to the Republican Association. Price 62 cents per 100. Slavery Uelconstitutioiial.-Hon. A. P. Granger. Prioe 62 cents per 100. Poor Whites of the South. -G. M. Weston. Price 62 cents per 100. Report of the Kansas Investigating Committee. Price $82.50 per 100. Em- A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by the thousand copies. address L. CLEPHANE, Secretary, Washington, D. C. AFFAIRS3 IN KAN S\ S TKERRI'OTO Y SPEECH HON. LYMAN TRU_MBULL, OF ILLINOIS, DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, MARGH 14, 1856, On the motion to print thirty-one thousand extra copies of the Reports .f the Majority and Minority of the Committee on Territoris, iii reference to Affairs in Kansas. WASHINGTON, D. C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 1856. 0 4 OF I# i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AFFAIR S IN KANSAS. : In the remarks which I have to make, I have no idea of putting myself, or the State which l have the honor in part to represent, in the posi tion of defending any such doctrines as the majority report seeks, by argument rather than by, direct assertion, to attribute to those who differ from its conclusions. I do not intend to justify interference in the Internal affairs of Kansas by the people of any portion of the Union, contrary to law, and in vio lation of the Kansas-Nebraska act. I do iat design to justify either insurrection or treason in any quarter; nor am I to be frightened from a statement of what I believe to be the true cond tion of things in Kansas, by the cry of insurrection and treason, where none exist. While opposed to insurrectionists and traitors, I am equally opposed to tyrants and usurpers; and would be as ready to assist in putting down the one as the other. I deny, sir, that there is occasion to speak-,of any of the inhabitants of Kansas as traitors to this Government, or that there is any insurretion in that Territory, such as has been indicated in some of the documents which have been sent to this body. In discussing this matter, it is important to keep in view the distinction between a State andl a Territorial Government. Much is said in the report before us of the injustice of one State interfering in the domestic affairs of another-much about the impropriety of attempting to impose an inequality on any of the States. Is there any man in this land who ever thought that the ckizens of one'State had a right to interfere with' the domesti~ institutions of any other State, or Is there one who denies that the States of this Union are entitled to equal rights? Is that the position of those who have opposed the measure which has caused the present agitation, and is threateing us with civil war? Sir, the people whom'I in part represent ente~ tain no such views. The people of the State of Illinois, permit me to awy, are loyal to this Union to the Constitution, and all provisions of the Con-: stitution; and when tlel, fltluled th*'it Oe 1N SENATE, FRIDAY, MARCH 14, ]6856. Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I ask leave to make, a report on the resolution referred to the Committee on Printing on Wednesday last, to print sixty-two thousand copies of the majority and minority reports of the Com-. mittee on Territories in relation to Kansas affairs. The eost of printing sixty-two thousani extra copies, as pro posed by the Senator from Ohio. [Mr. PUGH,] will be $213. The Committee on Printing have authorized me to report in favor of printing thirty-one thousand instead of sixty two thousand-just half the number. Sixty-two thousanid would give one thousand copies to each Senator; but we have thought that five hundred would he sufficient. It is for the Senate to judge, however. WVe report in favor of printing thirty-one thousand of those two reports from the Committee on Territories, the cost of which will be $1,106. The PRESIDENT. The question is on concurring in the report of the committee. Mr. TRUMBULL said: Mr. President, I cannot consent, entertaining the views which I hold, that this report shall go before the country without expressing my dissent. I am aware, sir, that it is here accompanied by a minority report, which, in my judgment, presents this Kansas question in a masterly manner. It utterly refutes the majority report upon the great question at issue; but having been prepared without an opportunity to examine the majority report, it was impossible that it could meet and expose all its unfounded assumptions. Had the two reports gone out together, I would have been content; but, sir, the report of the majority has already been placed before the country, unaccompanied by that of the minority. It was sent out in advance of its delivery to the Senate, and has appeared in a newspaper published in the city of New York before it cold be printed in Washington; and containing, as in my judgment it does, many unwarranted assumptions, many inconsistencies, many false deductions from admitted premises, and advance ing many erroneous propositions, I cannot consent that it shall now pass from our consideration unnoticed, inasmuch as, losing this opportunity, we may not aoon have another to express our views upon it. I of Kansas, in order to admit it into the Union, shows that the first act was not passed with that view. The first act does not provide for the admission of Kansas as a State; and yet we are gravely told, in this document, that the only power which the Congress of the United States has to form a Territorial Government, is that which is derived from the power to admit a new,State I I have no difficulty mysef, in finding the power in that other clause ot' the Constitution which declares that " Congress shall have power to make all needful rules and regulations respect' ing the territory or other property belonging to the United States." I see no propriety in limitin g the word "territory" merely to lend. The men who framed our Constitution understood the English language. They would not have used more words than were necessary to express the idea they had in view. If the de sign wnas simply to allow Congress under that provision to mako needful rules and regulations respecting the property of the United States, why, say "the territory or other property?" It would have been sufficient to have said, simply, " they shall have ' authority to make all needful rules and regula tions respecting the property belonging to the United States." But, sir, they did not stop there. They said respecting "the territory" as well as the "other" property, and it should be borne in mind that the framers of the Constitution were laying the foundations for a political Government. The great object in view was to prepare a Constitution for the government of persons, not merely to regulate the sale of lands. At that very time there was belonging to the United States the NortlhNvestern Territory, and provision had then been made for its government. Some of the very men in the Convention which formed the Constitution had co-operated in passing the Ordinance of 1787 respecting that Territory, and they doubtless incorporated this clause in the Constitution, with the very intention of continuing the power to govern it. In. view of these facts, is it reasonable to suppose that they intended the word " territory" in that limited sense which the committee have thought proper to give it? Sir, there are other clauses in the Constitution of the United States from which this power might be derived. There is the treaty-making power. Can it be.said that this great Gover nment was formed with authority to declare war and make peace, and yet was left without the power to provide a temporary Government for the countries it might, at any time, by the chances of war, conquer and possess? We should not be an independent nation if we had not this power to acquire territory by- the'force of arms, and, when we obtained it, to protect and govern its inhabitants until they should become sufficiently numerous to form a State Government for themselves. But, sir, I will not dwell on this. The power is admitted, but it is admitted to a very limited extent. H~ere I wish to point out one of the in'consistencies of the report...;.It says:' " So far as the organizatt(}n,of a Territory may ' be necessary and proper as a means of carrying ' into effect the provision of'the ConStitution for ure from the measures of 1850 by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the opening afresh ofthis dangerous Slavery question- wh ich, to use the language of the distinguished Senator from Michigan,-IMr. CASS,] is the only question " which can ever put to hazard our Un ion and safety "t they had not the remotest idea of interfering with the domestic institution s of the States. Why, I ask, is it etern ally thrust in th e faces of those who oppose the extension of Slavery into free territory, that the y ivant to produce an inequality among t h e States? Whether Slaver y sh all be permitted to ex tend into Territories belonging to the United States, from w hic h it w as exc luded b y acts of Congress for more th an a generation, is quite another thing fr om going into the States, and in terferino with the instit ution there. Persons who wer e opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Com promi se, and who ar e now oppos e d to the spread of Sla very to the Territory it made free, are not Abolitionist s, though they may be falsely so called. T he expression "abolitionize " appear s in this report, is sometimes used in this Chamber, as, also the epithet " Black Republican; " but I trust that neither Senators nor the people are to'be driven fr om a just consideration of pub lic m e asures by the febar of incurring s ome opprobrious epithet, appl ied to them by those wh o have no other argu ment to offer. The veriest simpleton in your streets may cry out " Black Republican " or" Ab olitionist." I do not design applying offensive names to the people of any part of this country, n or is it my intention to say anything offensive to any gentleman up on this floor, or to advocate any other doctrines than those which have been handed down to us by the Dem ocr at ic fathers of the Republic. iy position on th e s ubjec t of Slavery is the e one occupied by all parties, but a v ery few years ago-by men in the Sout h as well as in the North. Having said thus much, I propose to refer to some portions of t his report. And the first propo sition to which I desire to call attention, is the argument to show that the power of Congress to regulate th e Territories of the United States.is derived from that clausite in the Constitution w hich authorizes the admission of new States into the U n ion. I think it is not very material whence tie powera of Co ngre ss to regulate the Territories is derived; it is enough that it exists; but in hunting for tha t power i t occurs to me that one o f th e last causes from which it can be' properly deduced is that from which the committee seek to derive it. The power "t o admit new States " in to the Union gives to Congress, says this report, the power to govern Territories! Why, sir,'the very action recommended by the committee con tradict s t he assumpt ion. The report'concludes with the statement that a bill is to be i ntrodu ce d toauthorize the people of the Territory of Kansas, when its population shall have attained a certain numnber, to form a State Governm~ent, preparatory to admission into the Union. The power to pass such an act may be-derived, perhaps, from the clause in the Constitution of the United States \,which authorizes the admission of' new States; land the peril fact that a new law is necessary ~ince the act was passed organizing the Territory 4. the admission of new States, and when exercised latitude, and not to the States to be formed out of ' with reference only to that end, the power of it. I have'not the provision before me, but ] ' Congress-is clear and explicit; but beyond that know that it provides, substantially, that "in all ' point the autlhority cannot extend." that territory" north of 309.30', Slavery shall be The proposition is here broadly laid down, that, forever prohibited. The word "forever" occurs beyond the point of providing the means of carry-. in it; and that word seems to be very potent, ing into effect the provision for the admission of in the estimation. of some gentlemen; but, like new States, the power to govern the Territories the word "hereafter," or any other word used in ddes not exist. Is that true? Can it be main- a law in reference to a Territory, it ceases to have tained? Is it one of the necessary means, in order effect whenever the Territory ceases to exist. to admit a Territory into the Union as a State, After the Territory is admitted into the Union as that Congress should govern it before it comes a State, the laws providing for its government in? Is the exercise of the power conferred by while a Territory become nugatory, unless some the Kansas-Nebraska act necessary for the ad- provision be made for their continuance. mission of those Territories as States into the. It is conceded by all, that any of the old States Union? What is that act? A long law, contain- may abolish or establish Slavery at pleasure; and, ing thirty-seven sections, and providing for those as a new State is admitted into the Union on an Territories Governors and Legislatures, judges equal footing with the originalStates, it has, when and marshals; defining the jurisdiction of justices admitted, the same right, whether there had been of the peace, and providing all the machinery for an inhibition'against Slavery while it was a Ter the Territorial Governments. I desire to know ritory or not.. The Missouri Compromise would what the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, or therefore have an end as fast as the Territory any of these provisions, have to do with the ad- north of 36~ 30' was formed into States and ad mission of Kalsas into the Union as a State? mitted into the Union. The provision applies Can the position be maintained for a moment, in terms to the "territory," and not to the States that it is necessary or proper, as preliminary to which might afterwards be formed out of that the admission of a State into this Union, that territory. The constant attempt to make prom Congress should declare that a Territorial justice inent the equality of the States, as if somebody of the peace should not have jurisdiction in cases doubted it, and to assimilate States to Territories, exceeding $100, or relating to real estate? If is only calculated to confuse the mind. It is de the assumptions of this report are correct, such sirable that the people of the South should un is the case; for we are told that it is only when derstand that there is no disposition in the North the power of Congress is exercised in reference to interfere with the rights of the people in any to the admission of a new State, that it has any State of this Union in reference to Slavery. They, right to legislate for a Territory, and of course it should cease to believe that thereis'any.contid will not be contended that the Kansas-Nebraska erable number of persons entertaining such a sen act is not constitutional. timent; for I leave out of my remarks that little Again, it is said: fraction of fanatics, some of whom may be found "The act of Congress for the organization of both North and South, who are hostile to the the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska was Union of the States, who bear no considerable designed to conform to the spirit and letter of proportion to the people of this Union, North or ' the Federal Constitution, by preserving and South, and with whose disorganizing schemes the maintaining the fundamental principle ofequal- great mass of those who are to-day opposing the 'ity among all the States of the Union, notwith- spread of Slavery have no more sympathy than ' standing the restriction contained in the eighth the slaveholders themselves. ' section of the act of the 6th of March, 1820, Mr. TOUCEY. Will the Senator all,ow me to preparatory to the admission of Missouri into ask him a question for information? '.the Union." Mr. TRUMBULL. Certainly. I would like to know from the committee what Mr. TOUCEY. I wish to ask the Senator under heaven the organization of a Territorial whether, in his opinion, a restriction of thist kind Government in Kansas has to do with equality can be imposed on a new State, as a conditlo)n of among all the States? What has it to do with admission into the Union? the equality of right between New York and Ohio, Mr. TRUMBULL. I shall be very happy to Illinois and Georgia? Still, that is the object answer the Senator. The propriety of admitting which is avowed, to preserve equality among the a State into the Union is to be determined when States, and that " notwithstanding the restriction that State makes application for admission. It is ' contained in the eighth section of the act of the not an absolute right. Congress is not bourndto ' 6th of March, 1820, preparatory to the admission admit into the Union every new State which pre of Missouri into the Union, which assumed to sentsarepublicanConstitution,whether tolerating ' deny to the people forever the right to settle the Slavery or containing a provision prohibiting it. questionofSlavery for themselves, provided they It is a matter to be decided under the circum' should make their homes and organize States stances existing at the time; and if ever an ap' north of 36~ 30/ north latitude." Did the eighth plication shall be made, while I have the honor to section of the act preparatory to the admission of hold a seat here, either by a State presenting a Missouri into the Union assume what is here free or a slave Constitution, and I shall believe charged? That provision, in my judgment, has that the admission of such State~'into this bnioi been very much misunderstood. It is a provision will seriously endanger its existence, I wiJ.l nave} relating to the "territory" north of 36~ 30' north | give my vote for its admission. If Utah with her 5 0 6 plurality wife system, and other obnoxious, provisions in her Constitution, tending in my judgment to sap the foundations of our institutions if admitted to an equal heritage with us, should ask admission, Congress would have the right, as I conceive, to refuse it until the obnoxious provisions were stricken out. In advocating these views, I am committing nobody but myself, for I am not speaking for any political organization in the country. I would aot undertake to speak for Senators on the opposite side of this Chamber, although from childhood lip I have always maintained, to the extent of my ability, Democratic principles, and sustained Democratic men. I have done so on principle, believing the policy of the Democratic party best for the interests of the corntry. I never was one of those, however, who supported a measure without examination, merely because it was proposed by political friends; or condemned it without investigation, simply because it came from a political opponent. Having, myself, been united with none of the new parties of the day, whether they be called Republican-or American, or by any other name-having been associated with no political organization in my life, public or private, except the Democratic party, it will not be understood that, in the views which I advance, I profess to speak for anybody except for myself, and the constituency I in part represent. Ano ther branch of th is rep ort, to which I desire o call attention, is in these words: w ir In obed ience to the Constitution, the Kansas' Nebraska act declared, in the precise language ' of the Compromise Measures of 1850, that I when ' adm it ted as a State, the said Territory, or any ' portion of the same, shall be received into the a Union with or without Slavery, as the ir Consti' tution may prescribe at the tim e of their ad' mission.' o F rom thi s clause, w hich has no prac tical effect wh atever, either in th e Conpromise Me asures of 1856 or the Kansas-N ebreska act, it has been contended that the Compromise Measures of 1850 we re in consistent with the Compromise of 1820. I d eny t he position. T here is no inconsistency betwee n them. The Missouri Compromis e, as al read y shown, did not prevent the admission of a State into the Union with or without Slavery, as its Const itution might prescribe at the time of its admission. The clause i n corporated into the Kr ansas-Nebraska ac t do es not have the effect to bri ng a State in to the Union, ethe ither with or with out Slavery, or to bind any future Congress to do so. Congress will act on that question when it arises. When Kansas shall present herself, with a Constitution either establishing or prohibiting Slavery, is there any Sen ator who will consider him selfd bound by a decla ra tory provisio n inserted in the act organizing her Territorial Government? I presume not. This report concludes with the recommendation of the passage of a bill to enable the people of Kansas to form a State Government. Is it not competent for Congress, if it should think proper, to insert in that bill a provision that this particular clause shall be repealed, or to insert a clause, that Slavery shall not e xist in Kansas while a Territory? The assumption, then, that the clause which I hav e cited, a nd whi ch was inserted in the'Territorial acts of 1850, is inconsistent with the Missouri Compromise, is not maintainable, unless you sa y that the Missouri Co mpromise, prohibitoing Slavery in a Territory, is t o h ave effect.a fter that Territory beco me s a State, whi ch I deny. This report proceeds to quote further from th e K ansa s-N ebra ska act, as follows: "It being the true intent and meaning of this N act, not to legislate Slavery i nt o any State or Territory, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leav he the people thereof perfectly free to form 'and regulate t heir d o me s tic institutions in their m own way, subject onl y t o the Const itution of the United States." Why thrust into this pr ovision the wor d St ate p as if there were somebody in there ee s e oy n country who wanted Congress to legislate Slavery into a State or out of a State? No person, as far as I know, maintains such a position; and it is well known that this clause in the Kansas-Nebraska -act, couched in the language in which it is, has given rise to various constructions in different parts' of the Union. I believe it is the universal understanding with Southern men, that under'this provision they have a right to go with their slaves into the Territory of Kansas, and hold them there as such. A, majority of those Who voted for the Kansas-Nebraska act, and who car ried it through Congress, understand that the moment the Missouri Compromise was repealed, those Territories- were open to the admission of Slavery. This has been the practical operation of the law. I have in my possession the proceed ings of a mass meeting held in the Territory of Kansas, as early as September, 1854, before any Territorial, Legislature convened, and of course before there was any legislative action in the Territory on the subject of Slavery. Among their resolutions I find these, endorsing the principles of the Kansas Squatter Society: " That Kansas Territory, and as a consequence c the State of Kansas, of right should be, and ' therefore shall be, Slave Territory. " We hereby declare that, as this [Squattersl] society embraces nine-tenths of the present set tlers of this Territory, we are entitled to and ' will exercise the right of expelling from the Ter' ritory, or otherwise punishing, any individual 'or individuals who may come among us, and ' by act, conspiracy, or other illegal means, en' tice away our slaves, or clandestinely attempt in any way or form to affect our rights of prop c erty in the same." How did it happen that there were slaves in the Territory at that early day, and that nine tenths of the settlers should resolve to expel from the Territory any individual who should attempt to affect their right of property inl the same, un less, in the absence of any local law on the- sub~ ject, the pro-slavery'party supposed they had a right to hold slaves in the Territory? This ace tion of the Squatters' Society took place before the first emigrants who went to Kansas under the Patronage of the Emigrant Aid Society had ar~ 7 rived in the Territory, and shows, not only the in the Union, and upon which opposite construcIonstruction the Squatters' Society put on the- tions may be put with equal plausibility, to suit' Kansas-Nebraska act, but a fixed determination, the peculiar views of each locality, is the law from the outset, to force Slavery into Kansas by which is.so much extolled in this report, which, vi.olence. however, omits to explain the meaning of the I am aware that the Kansas act was differently principle it so much eulogizes, and about whioh understood in some other parts of the Union. so much controversy has arisen; but its author, The distinguished Senator from Michigan [Mr. [Mr. DOUGLAS,] in a speech delivered in this CAss] believes, if I understand his position cor body, in 1850, showed the fallacy of the positions rectly, that Slavery cannot exist without a mu- now assumed by the South, and that to prohibit nicipal law to protect it; and that, in the absence Slavery in a Territory was no violation of South,of any local law on the subject, Slavery cannot ern rights. He then said: legally exist in any of our Territories. That was " What share had the South in the Territories? the doctrine of the whole country a few years'or the North? or any other geographical divisago. The committee have not thought proper to ion unknown to the Constitution? I answer, tell us, in this lengthy report, whether it is the' none; none at all. The Territories belong to doctrine now. Such was formerly the law, South'the United States as one people, one nation, and as well as North. I wish to read an extract, not' are to be disposed of for the common benefit of however from this report, which I have taken'all, according to the principles of the Constituupon this subject. It'is this:' tion. Each State, as a member of the Confed "The relation of owner and slave is, in the' eracy, has a right to a voice in forming the rules "States of the Union in which it has legal exist-'and regulations for the government of the Ter' ence, a creature of municipal law. Although,' ritories; but the different sections-North, Souti, "perhaps, in none of them a statute introducing' East, and West-have no such right. It is no "it as to the blacks can be produced, it is be-' violation of Southern rights to prohibit Slavery: ' lieved that in all, statutes were passed for reg-'nor of Northern rights to leave the people to ' ulating and dissolving it."' decide the question for themselves." Here is a direct assertion that Slavery, in the Again, in the same speech, my colleague sa: k... Again, in the same speech, my colleague said: States where it exists, is a creature of municipal law; and from what source do you suppose it "Some species of property are excluded b)r comes? Probably the "New England Emigrant' law in most of the States, as well as Territories, Aid Society" have advanced- that opinion. No,'as being unwise, immoral, or contrary to the sir; it is the doctrine promulgated in the State'principlesofsoundpublic policy. Forinstanc~ of Louisiana, by its Supreme Court, (14 Martin's' the banker is prohibited from emigrating to MinLouisiana Reports, 401.) Again, I read from an-'nesota, Oregon, or California, with his bank. other decision:'The bank may be property by the laws of New "Slavery is condemned byreason and the laws'York but ceases to be so when taken into a ' of nature; it exists, and can only exist, through' State or Territory where banking is prohibited ' municipal regulations."'by the local law. So, ardent spirits, whisky, Whence do you suppose this sentiment comes' brandy, all the intoxicating drinks, are recogwhich, if promulgated in Kansas, would subject'nised and protected as property in most of the its author to punishment? It was proclaimed' States, if not all of them; but no citizenr as law by the courts of Mississippi, and is to' whether from the North or South, can take this be found in 1 Walker's Mississippi Reports, at' species of property with him, and hold, sell, or page 86. I could detain the Senate for hours in' use it at his pleasure, in all the Territories, bereading fom the opinions of courts, in various' cause it is prohibited by the local law-in Oresections of the Union, establishing this same prin-' gon by the statutes of the Territory, and in the eiple; but a change has occurred. The entire'Indian country by the acts of C('ongress. Not South, so far as I know, and some even in the' can a man go there, and take and hold his slave. North, now repudiate the' doctrine, and those who' for the same reason. These la s. and manF still adhere to it are stigmatized by many as Ab-' others involving similar principles, are directed olitionists. This is an evidence of the advance' against no section, and impair the rights of no which pro-slavery sentiments are making in the' State of the Union. They are laws against the country.'introduction, sale, and use, of specific kinds c4 But, sir, the Kansas-Nebraska act is under-'property, whether brought fiom the North (o stood differently in different sections of the Union,' the South, or from foreign countries." in another respect. In the North, it is very gen- The distinguished Senator from Michigan, in erally insisted, that under that act the Territorial his speech when the Kansas-Nebraska act w,as Legislature has the right to establish or abolish under consideration, devoted a large portion of if Slavery; but in the South, that position is con- to this question, and proved conclusively that troverted. The assumption is now put forth, that the exclusion of slaves from a Territory was no Slavery, by virtue of the Constitution of the encroachment upon the equal rights of the people United States, may lawfully exist in the Territo- of the South. ries, and that the Territorial Legislatures have Now, sir, I assert that the boasted principle ox no power to exclude it. Ithe Kansas-Nebraska act, which is claimed to let' The Kansas-Nebraska act, having, as has been of such vital moment, has no sort of importance shown, no fixed and certain principle, but subject except for evil, in'consequence of ik~ vaguc,ness to as many different versions as there are sections and uncertainty that it is a principle which is 8 not understood alike in the North and in the South; and that, while much pains is taken in the report to discuss constitutional questions, it does not inform us whether, under the Constitution and the Kansas act, slaves may rightly be taken to and held in that Territory, in the absence of any municipal law on the subject. Nor are we told distinctly, in the report, whether the Territorial Legislature has a right to prohibit or to establish Slavery. I admit it does tell us that the people of the Territory are to regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way; but when, is not said. This clause is understood by some to apply to the people of a Territory when they come to form a State Government, and that they are to be p)ermitted then, and not before,.to regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way. That I believe to be the Southern understanding of the bill. But the author of the report has riot thought proper to tell us distinctly whether it is his understanding or not. I come next to that portion of the report which assails the Emigrant Aid Society. Sir, I am not the apologist of that society. There are Senators here much better acquainted with its operations, and much more capable of defending it, if it needs defence, than I am; but I wish to look at it in the light in which it is presented in this report. I will not travel out of the record after rumors, as has sometimes been charged, but will take the statements of the report itself, and then call the attention of the Senate to the doctrines which were promulgated when the Kansas-Ne t I)raska act was passed, and ask whether there be anything in the action of the Emigrant Aid Society, as set forth, no; as argued, in the report, at a~ll inconsistent with the doctrines which were promulgated on all sides of the Senate when that act was under c,nsideration. The report says: " Although the act of incorporation does not * distinctly declare that the company,was formed for the purpose of controlling the domestic in-m '.st,utions of the Territary of Kansas, and forc, ' ing it into the Union with a prohibition of *Slavery in her Constitution, regardless of the ' rights and wishes of the people, as guarantied by the Constitutio n of the United States, and secured by their organic law, yet the whole history of 'the movement, the circumstances in which it - had its origin, and the professions and avowals of all engaged in it, render it certain and unde niable that such was its object." Thus the charge is distinctly made, that the object of the Emigrant Aid Society was,' regard less of' the rights and wishes of the people, as guarantied by the Constitution of the United : States, and secured by their organic law," "to ' force Kansas into the Union with a prohibition ' of Slavery in her Constitution." Let us see ilow that charge compares With the declarations of Senators at the time the bill was under consiideration. Thle Senator from New Hampshire [Mir. HALE] took the trouble, a few days since, to read to the Senate the opinions of Senators, both from the North and the South, delivered when that bill was pending, and I th~ink he reead from the remarks of ten or a dozen Senators, in which they stated in the strongest language that th e question of the repeal of the Misso uri Com promise was of no practical importance, and that Slavery could never go to Kansas. It was the n asserted, by some of the advocates of the bill, t hat every sensible man knew, and ever y candid man would admit, that soil and climate forbade the introduction of slaves in to the Nebraska-Kansas region, which is all above 36~ 30/. This opinion was sustained as the Senator from New Hampshire proted, by Mir. Pettit, of Indiana; Mr. Hunter, of Virginia; Mr. Toucey, o f Con nec ticut; Mr. Thomson, of New Jersey; Mr. Brodhead, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Badger, of North Carolina; Mr. Everett, of Massachusetts, (who quot es, as sust aining him in hi s opinion, "what everybody knew; ") Mr. Douglas, of Illinois; Mr. Dixon, of Kentucky; Mr. Jones, of Tennessee;. and Mr. Cass, (w ho quote s all these.) All'these Senators, except Mr. Everett, were advocates of the billw; and it was proclaimed on all sides of the Senate that no practical importance attached to the repeal of the Missouri Compromis e, bec ause Kansas was not intended to be a sl av e Territory, and Slavery would n verer go there. One Senator,s on a previous occasion, had said, " I know of no man who advocates the extension of Slavery ' over country now free." This was very strong language, and it is to be found in a speechkdelivere d in the S en ate, in 1849, by the author of the report upon w hich I am c ommenting, and afterwards reported in the Congressional Globe. It was proclaimed to the world, by the advocates of the Kansas,Nebraska bill, that Kansas was to be a free Territory. It was said on the face of the bill that its intention was " tot to legislate Slavery into " the Territory. Then, let me ask, how did the'Emigrant Aid'Society, as is charged in this report, act -11 regardless of the rights and Wishes of thq people," as secured by the organic act, in aiding to settle Kansas with'a Free State population.? -It was proclaimed to the citizens of Massachusetts, that Kansas was to be a free State. Gentlemen from the South said they expected nothing else. Still1, when a society is formed for the purpose of aiding emigrants to settle in it as a free Territory, and to make it a free State, they are charged With acting " regardless of the principles" of the Kansas-Nebraska act! Again, the report states that the society secured the color of legal authority to sanction their pro ceedings, and acted "' in perversion of the plain provisions of an act of Congress." The objects of the Emigrant Aid Society, as set out in the report, are said to be, to aid emigrants going to Kansas, with the expectation that it will be a free State. Was not that your expectation here? Now, it is charged upon those who went to work to accomplish the very object which you yourselves said was to be brought about, that they acted " in perversion of the plain provisions of' an act of Congress." A plain statement of facts is all that is necessary to expose the unfairness of this part of the report. Let the people —the Xcandid and the considerate, those not led by imI pulse an~d prejudice, bult by~ their reason and judgment-look at the facts, and ask themselves against in this report. It is against assumptions if the persons assisted on their way to Kansas by pf this kind in the report that I am speaking. the Emigrant Aid Society did anything wrong- Here is another specimen of its fairness: if they violated any provision of the organic act When the emigrants sent out by the Massawhen they went there to do that which, upon all chu'etts Emigrant Aid Company, and their afsides, it was admitted was to be done 7? ~ tsEirn i Cmay n hi f aides, it was admitted was to b e done? filiated societies, passed through the State of Again, this report, after admitting the right of'Missouri, in large numbers, on their way to Kanpersons from any quarter to go to the Territory' sas, th e violence of their l anguage, and the unand settle as independent freemen, says: and sl e' mistakable indications of their determined hos "But it is a very different thing where a State' tility to the domestic institutions of that State, 'creates avast moneyed corporation for the pur-'excited apprehensions that the object of the ' pose of controlling the domestic institutions of' company was to abolitionize Kansas." ' a distinct political community, fifteen hundred What I " abolitionize Kansas I 1" It was said, on 'miles distant, and sends out the emigrants only all sides of the Senate Chamber, that it was as a means of accomplishing its paramount never meant to have Slavery go into Kansas. ' political objects. When a powerful corpora- What is meant, then, by abolitionizing Kansas? 'tion, with a capital of $5,000,000 invested in Is it abolitionizing a Territory already free, and houses and lands, in merchandise and mills, in which was never meanttobe anything butfree, for ' cannon and rifles, in powder and lead, in all the Free State men to settle in it? I cannot understand 'implements of art, agriculture, and war, and the force of such language; but they were to ab' employing a corresponding number of men, all olitionize Kansas, according to this report; and 'under the management and control of non-res- for what purpose? "As a means for prosecuting ' ident directors and stockholders, who are au-' a relentless warfare on the institution of Slavery ' thorized by their charter to vote by proxy to' Within the limits of Missouri." Where is the 'the extent of fifty votes each, enters a distant evidence that such wasthe design? I wouldlike ' and sparsely-settled Territory with the fixed to see.it. It is not in this report; and if it ex purpose of wielding all in its power to control ists, I will go as far as the gentleman to put it ' the domestic institutions and destinies of the down. I will neither tolerate nor countenance, Territory"- by my action here or elsewhere, any society And so it would be a very different which is resorting to means for prosecuting a h as anvey desuch thing occurred;? Never. The pro- "relentless warfare upon the institution of Slahas any such thing occurred? Never. The pro-ve ceeding,s of the Emigrant Aid Socieey, which are ver y, within the limits of Missouri," or any other incorporated in the report, do not set forth any State. But there is not a particle of evidence of such state of fact. They do not show that the any such intention in the document which prosuch state of fact. They do not show that the fse ostfrhteat fteEirn i Emigrant Aid Society has invested a capital of fesses to set forth the acts of the Emigrant Aid $5,000,000, oi one cent, in powder and ball in Society, and which is incorporated into this re$5,000,000, or one cent, in -powder and ball, in -h eotge ute,adsy cannon and rifle. Oh, no! The report is very port But the report goes further, and says far from charging that. Such a charge, if made, "The natural consequence was, that immedi~,)uld be met and refuted. What is charged?' ate steps were taken by the people of the westIt is alleged in the report that an Emigrant Aid' ern counties of Missouri to stimulate, organSociety was incorporated, &c.; and then it de-' ize, and carry into effect, a system of emigration claims against a society that should invest its' similar to that of the Massachusetts Emigrant means in powder and cannon, rifle and ball to' Aid Company, for the avowed purpose of councontrol the domestic institutions of a distant Ter-' teracting the effects, and protecting themselves ritory. This is not charged directly upon the'and their domestic institutions from the conseEmigrant Aid Society, but by inference only.' quences of that company's operations. When a society shall be found so enraged in "The material difference in the character of fact, I will unite with the committee in opposi-' the two rival and conflicting movements contion to its insurrectionary movements; but I am' sists in the fact, that the one had its origin in not Quixotic enough to combat with windmills' an aggressive, and the other in a defensive poland shadows.'icy; the one organized in pursuance of the pro A society relying upon force and ammunition' visions and claiming to act under the authority for its success would more nearly resemble those' of a legislative enactment of a distant State, which were organized in western Missouri; and' whose internal prosperity and domestic security the mistake on the part of the author of this' did not depend upon the success of the moveelaborate report seems to have been in assigning' ment; while the other was the spontaneous the formation and existence of the society he de-' action of the people living in the immediate scribed to a wrong locality.' vicinity of the theatre of operations, excited We might take up the charter of the Coloniza-' by a sense of common danger to'.e necessity tion Society, and, after reading it, proceed to de- i' of protecting their own firesides from the appreclaim against the abomination of getting up an' hended horrors of servile insurrectio- and inorganization to produce insurrection among the' testine war. negroes; but the Colonization Society and insur- I could bring the President of the United States rection would have no more to do'with each other as a witness against these assumptions; for he than good and evil. They are as far apart asthe has told us, in his special message on Kansas poles; and so is the real action of the Emigrant affairs, in alluding to the action of the Emigrant Aid Society and that action, which is argued Aid Society,that its action was "far from justi "e,. 0 10 'fying the illegal and reprehensible counter' movements which ensued." Now, sir, what are the facts? Will those two movements bear comparison at all? Are they of the same character? The report sets forth, in its most objectionable features, no doubt, the acti on of the Emigrant Aid Society, and it amounts sim ply to this: that it was taking measures to aid persons on their way to Kansas for the settlement of the country, to remain there as settlers. There is not a particle of evidence in the report-it is not even asserted-that the emigrants who went forth under the patronage of the Emigrant Aid Society did not go to Kansas to reside. There may be an argument in the report against per sons who went there under the patronage of that society without the intention of residing; but there is no allegation that any such did go. Well, sir, what are the facts in reference to the organizations in the western counties of Missouri? I shall not detain the Senate by going ov er a mi -ygoing over a mi-hlth nute history of.the transactions on that border. The Senator from Massachusetts, [Mr. WILSON,] a few days -ago, did that; and he showed that men went into Kansas from Missouri iT m organized companies, with music be at ing and banners flying; that they went to the polls, took possession of them, and voted; that in that Territory, where there were but 2,877 voters when the census was taken in February, more than 6,000 votes were cast in the month of March following. He read from papers to show that the Missourians returned in companies to their homes, after the election was over. The matter was of public notoriety. Everybody knew it. Is there any instance where the Emigrant Aid Society, or persons sent out under its patronage, ever drov e a man'from the polls? It is not pretended. Is there any comparison between the peaceabl e emigrant who goes into a Territory to settle and reside, and an army of invaders who go there to impose laws on its defenceless inhabitants? To show the spirit of the men upon the Missouri border, and those affiliated with them in Kansas, I will read an article from the Squatter Sovereigie of May 29, 1855, which was before the Legislature met; this is it: * "From reports now received of Reeder, he never intends returning to our borders. Should he do so, we, without hesitation, say that our people ought to hang him by the neck like a traitor ous dog as he is, so soon as he puts his unhallowed feet upon our shores. " Vindicate your characters and the Territory; and should the ungrateful dog dare to come among us again, hang him to the first rotten 'tree. "A military force to protect the ballot-box I Let President Pierce or Governor Reeder, or any ' other power, attempt such a course, in this or any portion of the Union, and that day will ' never be forgotten." The paper which contained this article has flaunting at its head these words: "In this pa' per the laws of Congress are published by au' thority." The editors of the paper are "String' fellow and Kelly." It will be remembered that "INDEPEXDENCE, March 31,' 1855 "Several hundred emigrants from Kansas h: ' justentered our city. They were preceded 't he Wesport and Independence brass ba n The y ca me i n ae t the wes t side of the pu 's quare, and p roc eeded entirely around it, bands cheer ing us with fine mu sic, and the ero ' grants with good news. Immediately follo ' ing the bands were about two hundred ho — ' men, in regular order; following these were c ' hundred and fifty wagons, carriages, &c. T]' gave repeated cheers for Kansas and Missort ' They report that not an Anti-Slavery man -w ' be in the Legislature of Kansas. We have mo ' a clean sweep." Had the Emigrant Aid Society been guilty half the outrages which-are here published to t world with impunity by the Missourians do y believe the facts would have been smothered by this report?: The most objectionable featui in the transactions of that Society are set forth the report; and is there anything in them to c) pare with what the Missourians boast ef havy done? Two hundred horsemen were following the rear of the army as it returned from Kansan the army which, in the language of Govern Reeder, while Governor, had "conquered a. subjugated" the people of the Territory. A this we are told was an organization similar the Emigrant Aid Society. Next, Mr. President, the report gives in detr the proceedings of Governor Reeder preparato to the election, the orders which he issued fprotecting the polls, and various matters co nected with the election. Bear in mind that does not deny this invasion from Missouri. N sir, that fact is too well authenticated; bit argues that the persons elected as members of t' Territorial Legislature received certificates election from Governor Reeder, were recognis~ by him as a Legislature, and therefore its a, are binding! That is the substance of the arg ment. It does not pretend to deny that the eletions were carried by fraud; that the people Kansas were conquered and driven from the poll as was published and alleged all over the cou: try, and is a fact as well known to every intellgent man in the land as it is that the'English ar the Russians have lately been at war. I But, sir, it is said that the laws passed by th spurious Legislature are binding, and are to enforced at the point of the bayonet; and tho.who deny their validity are to be treated as i. surrectionists and traitors. The action of Govelr, or Reeder is referred to as giving validity to t] Legislature of the oppressors. Can that give a-} force to these acts, if the facts alleged be true Does the report meet the real question at issue If it be true that,the elections in any Territoi of this Union were carried by people from neighboring State, or from a foreiga country, an a Legislature were thereby imposed upon tk people of the insulted Territory, I ask, is the, 'the election for members of th 'e Legislature tplace on the 30th of March, 1855. In the Squatter Sovereign of April 1. follow. is published this article: 1i a man in America who would have the hardihood to say that the acts of the Legislature must be obeyed, because the Governor of the Territory had recognised it, or because those elected by the invaders decided their election to be valid? Of course the Legislature so decided. Did you ever know a tyrant or a despot trampling on the necks of his subjects deny his own right to do so? Such an act would be the most remarkable exhibition the world ever saw. And yet it is gravely argued in this report, that, because the oppressors decided that they had the right to oppress, we cannot, therefore, inquire into the fact whether they were oppressors or not. It has been contended, in debate here, that we are estopped from looking into the transaction, in consequence of the acts of Governor Reeder. Sir, who was Governor Reeder? An instrument in the hands of the Executive, appointed by the President of the United States, and removable at his will. It has been contended that the Kansas-Nebraska act established the principle of selfgovernment and popular sovereignty in the people of the Territory; but when you look into the act,' you find that the Governor is not elected by the people, that they have no voice in his election, or in his removal, but that he is the mere instrument of the President, and liable to be removed at any moment. I deny that a Territorial Governor can make valid the acts of an assembly of usurpers, by recognising them as a Legislatere. The great fact remains, and it is not met by the report, that the people of Kansas have been conquered, as the Governor himself once said, and a Legislature has been imposed upon them by violence. Without denying this, the report, to use a legal phrase, demurs to the declaration, thereby admitting the charge, but denying that it affords any reason why the acts of such a Legislature should not be enforced! But, sir, an attempt is made to get rid of the odium justly attaching to many of the acts of this spurious Legislature, not by directly denying the existence of the obnoxious acts, but by introducing into the report the proceedings of a Convention of the people of Kansas, composed chiefly of office-holders, as it would seem-the Governor, judges, marshal, and district attorney, being present-which undertook to say that the laws of the Legislature had been most grossly misrepresented. I wish to look a little at the justification thus set up, and see whether it is warranted by the facts. That Convention declares: " It has been charged, and widely circulated, ' that the Legislature, in order to perpetuate their' ' rule; had passed a law prescribing the qualifica' tion of voters, by which it is declared' that any ' one may vote who will swear allegiance to the ' Fugitive Slave Law, the Kansas and Nebraska ' Bill, and payr one dollar, sulch is declared to ' be the evidence of citizenship, such the qualift': cation of voters. In reply to this, we say that ' no such law was ever passed by the Legislature. ~ The law prescribing the qualification of voters " expressly provides that to entitle a person to ' vote, he must be twenty-one years of-age, an ' actual iiliab;,iitt of this Territory and of th ey 'county or dis trict i n which he offers to vote, ' and shall have paid a T erritorial tax. There ia' ho law requiripc i him to pay a dollar tax as a qual-. ' ification to vote." We h appe n to have the laws here, and I wish to call attention to some of the ir provisioni. In chapter 138 of the Kansas Statut es i s this provision: " In addition to the pr ovisions of t he act enti — ' tled I An act for the collection Of the revenue,' ' the sheriff of each and e very county shall, on ' o r before the firs t Mo nday of Octo ber, 1855, col lect the s um of on e dollar, as a poll taxr, from ' each person in the said Territory of Kansas who ' may be entitled to vote in said Territory, as is ' provided in the sai d act to w hich this is supple mentaory." In chapter 66 of the same book, the qualification of voters is prescribed as follows: "Every free white male citizen of the United ' States, and every free male Indian who is made ' a citizen by treaty or otherwise, and over the ' age of twenty.one years, who shall be a]a in' habitant of this Territory, and of the county or 'district in which he offers to vote, and Shall ' have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified ' voter." Section 13 declares: "It shall be the duty of the sheriff to have his ' tax-book at the place of holding elections, and ' to receive, receipt for, and enter upon his tax' book, all taxes which may be tendered him on the day of any election." Do not these statutes prove the truth of the allegation which the office-holders' Convention has undertaken to deny? Is it not true that any inhabitant may vote who will pay his dollar tax? Is not every voter required to pay the tax? Is not the sheriff required to be present at the polls to receive it? Is any residence necessary? Not a day. It is enough if he who claims the right of suffrage is at the time an ".inhabitant " of the Territory and district where he offers to vote. We all understand how this word"inhabitant" may be construed so as to require nothing more than inhabitancy at the moment of voting. Mr. COLLAMER. I will remark to the gentleman, if he will allow me, that the law requiring a poll tax, and providing for Its collection, was to take effect immediately; and the other law which he has read was to take effect in October, 1856. One was the dollar tax, and the other a fifty cent tax; and, provision Was made for paying at any time a man pleased. Air. TRU.MBULL. I think, then, that the allegations which have gone abroad are fully sustained by an examination of the statutes themselves, and that the Convention of Kansas officeholders were themselves mistaken. Another section of the election law declares that any person offering to vote shall be- presumed entitled .to vote; but if his right is challenged, he is required to swear to support the Kansas-Nebraska act and the Fugitive Slave Law. There are many persons who would object to swe~aring to sus'tain the Fugitive Slave Law; and are theyr to be deprived of the right of suffage on that account? 12 J will not unde.'ake to j itif. people who set at defiance the Fugitive Slave Act. M,y opinion is, that under the Constitution of the country the owners of slaves have a right to a reasonable law for their reclamation when they escape. These are my views. I avow them here and everywhere. But, while such is my opinion, I do not think it proper to prevent an individual who thinks differently, and who believes the Fugitive Slave Law to be unconstitutional, from voting. There are persons, South as well as North, who believe it to be unconstitutional; and to require of such persons, or any person, an oath to sup port it as a qualification to vote, is oppressive. There are features in the Fugitive Slave Act re pulsive to many persons. No man wants to take aa oath to assist in apprehending runaway ne groes. Again, it is said, in reference to this election law: "It is difficult to see how a more guarded law 'could be framed for the purpose of protecting' 'the purity of elections arid the sanctity of the ' ballot-box." It is difficult to see how a more guarded law could be framed than that which permits any male citizen of twenty-one years of age to vote, who is an inhabitant of the Territory, and pays a dollar! That is a guarded law, in the opinion of the offi cials of Kansas. Again, they say: " It has also been charged against the Legisla'ture, that they elected all the officers of the Territory for six years. This is without any foundation. They elected no officer for six' ' years; and the only civil officers they retain the election of, that occur to us at present, are the Auditor and Treasurer of State, and the district ' attorneys, who hold their offices for four, and not six years. By the organic act, the commis sions issued by the Governor to the civil officers of the Territory all expired on the adjournment of the Legislature. To prevent a failure in the 'local administration, and from necessity, the ' Legislature made a number of temporary ap' pointments, such as probate judge, and two county commissioners, and a sheriff for each ' county. The probate judge and county com-rn' missioners constitute the tribunal for the trans action of county business, and are invested with 'the power to appoint justices of the peace, con stables, county surveyors, recorder, and clerk, 'kc. Probate judges, county commissioners, sheriffs, &c., are all temporary appointments, 'and are made elective by the people at the first annual election in 1857." " Now for the facts: chapter 93, section 4, of the Kansas Laws, is as follows: "Every justice of the peace shall hold his office for the term of five years, and until his succes sor is duly chosen and qualified." That is very plain. Justices of the peace are to hold their offices for five years, and that is, I suppose, considered but temporarily in Kansas. Another act, chapter 37 provides for the organization of Arrapahoe county, and section 2 is as follows: "Allen P. Tibetts is hereby appointed judge of the probate court of Arrapahoe county." Section 4 declares:. " The said judge of probate shall have pow to appoint suc h officers of the county oas 'specified in this act, a nd not appointed, R 'justify the same. All such app oitentments m. 'by the judge of probate sshai be ente re d record." Section 8 declares: "The said judge of probate shall have f 'power to appoint a justice or justices of ti ' peace withi n and f or sai d c ounty. Section 'There shall be appointed by said judge o, ' sheriff, one treasurer, (who shall be ex offl. assessor,) and one surveyor." The Legislature create a judge, who is auth( ized to appoint the sheriff, the treasurer, justic of the peace for five years-all the officers; a this is what is denominated the " self-gove, ment," and "popular sovereignty," guarantied' :the Kansas-Nebraska act to the people of the Territories:, and these are the laws which are be enforced at the point of' the bayonet. I come now to a portion of-this report wi which I am very much gratified, a part of it whir I can endorse, as enunciating the true doctrine reference to the rights of a people in a Ter, tory; but it is very much at war with that oth. doctrine which has been proclaimed througho the land on nearly every stump in the West,, th the people of a Territory possess the power. self-government and the right of sovereignty The question has been asked over and over agai. by every village politician advocating the Kansa: Nebraska act, " Wh;)y does not a man possess jui: as much power to govern himself when he movw out of a State into a Territory, as he did when I lived in a State?" The question has been askc of assembled thousands, " Do you lose your sensc when you go into a Territory, that you cann govern yourselves-?'" The "g vreat principle" C the Kansas-Nebraska bill was said to be, that - guarantied ", sovereignty " and " self-government to the people of the Territory. The idea th, self-government could be derived, and sovereign ty conferred, was, of course, an absurdity; b-, " self-government and popular sovereignty " wer captivating terms, and well calculated to mislead They have answered their purpose, and are no-, cast aside. The report says: "The sovereignty of a Territory remains i ' abeyance, suspended in the United States, i: ' trust for the people, until they shall be admit ' ted into the Union as a State." Never was a truer sentiment advanced; an. I hope never again to hear of " squatter sover 'eignty," " popular sovereignty," and " self-gov ' ernment," as applied to the people of a Territok, under a Territorial Government; but the veld next sentence of the report has the word "self government " crowded into it, as if it would no do to omit it altogether. Hence it is asserted that the people of the Territory "are entitled t, ' enjoy and exercise all the privileges and right~ ' of self-government, in subordination to the Con ' stitution of the United States, and in obedienc' to their organic, law, passed by Congress i: 'pursuance of that instrument." Nobody ever doubted that they had a right t( exercise all the privileges, not of self-government Secretary of War, to enforce the laws in any part of the country at the point of the bayonet. The policy of 1850 was a let-alone policy. Congress at that time found the territory which we had acquired during the Mexican war with an exist ing law prohibiting Slavery; and what did Con gress do? Did it repeal that law? Certainly not; but it organized the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, leaving the law as it Found it. It was then contended on this floor by Senators North and South, and I could read by the hour from the opinions of the most distinguished men of this body at that time, to show, that the Mex ican laws by which Slavery was abolished were left in full force. That was the opinion of the distinguished Senator from Michigan. The Committee on Territories, who reported-fhe first Nebraska bill, stated that it would be a departure from the policy adopted in 1850, which was to leave the Territories of Utah and New iMexico as Congress found them, with the Mexican law untouched, if they were now to introduce a provision to repeal the eighth section of the act for admitting Missouri into the Union; and, there fore, they recommended not to repeal that pro vision. Afterwards different counsels prevailed, and it is to those different counsels that we owe all the excitement, and all the agitation, and all the danger, which have grown out of this ques tion. Such was the epinion of the distinguished Senator from Michigan at the time the Nebraska bill was under consideration; and, in the com mencement of his remarks on that occasion, he expresses his regret that a provision should have been introduced to repeal the Missouri Compro mise, and open again the agitation of this dan gerous question. Now, sir, what is the remedy? It is obvious. If we could approach this question calmly and dispassionately, without excitement; if Senators could be actuated by that feeling which seemed to animate them some years ago, when they said they had no expectation of Slavery going into Kansas, and which animated our fathers when the Missouri Compromise was adopted, it seems to me they would consent to restore it, and in so doing they would, in my opinion, in thirty days give peace to the country. If we could forget the excitement growing out of misapprehension, in different parts of the country, as to the views entertained in other parts, and look upon this question as friends of the Union, as lovers of the Constitution, as men willing to do all that lies in our power to perpetuate the glorious heritage which has been handed down to us, I think we should be willing to do this. I shall not, however, make the proposition, for the reason that I cannot see any probability of its passage ac this time. It should have my vote, and I should be exceedingly glad to see it proposed with a prospect of success, and coming from Senators residing in the South.~ But, sir, if that cannot be done, what is it our duty to do? Shall we sit still and leave these obnoxious laws which have been alluded to, and many others to which I have not alluded, but to which the attention of the Senate has been heretoo fore calledtin this'discussion, in full force? Is that L of government, conferred upon tkemu by the an ic act. If t he word "selt" had been left , the sentence w ould have been complete, and ,sistent with the on e wh ich p r ecedes it The ort says: 'These rights and privileges are all derived om the Constitution, through the act of Con:ess, and must be exercised and enjoyed in ;bjection to all the limitations and restrictions hich that Constitution imposes. Hence it is ear that the people of the Territory have no herent sovereign right under the Constitution 'the United States t annul the laws and resist e authority of the Territorial Government hich Congress has established in obedience to le Constitution." 'here is the whole doctrine clearly stated. people of a Territory have no inhereitt rights ,ass laws except in accordance with the charter nted them by Congress. This was the doce of the fathers of the Republic; and I rejoice cedingly that the committee have come to conclusion in their report. I hope we shall r no more about this idea of sovereignty in a i-itory-an idea utterly inconsistent with its ;tence as a part of the Union. Two sovereigncaninot exist within the same dominion. One st be subject to the other. 'he committee attribute the origin of the diffi' i,ies in Kansas to an attempt to violate the ci21e of the organic act. What thisprinciple l]e report does not explain, except in the con;( language of the Kansas-Ne'braska act, oh, as has already been shown, is understood : retitly in different parts of the Union. :ir, I (lo not trace these difficulties to violations he mong'rel principle of the Kansas-Nebraska That act contains no definite, fixed, and aini principle. It is admitted in the report ill the powers of the people of the Territory in subordination to Congress, and are held bevance by Congress so long as the Territory s. There is no principle established by the -itorial act, which has been violated. That professed to throw the whole Territory open ouepetitioin, or rather the authors of the bill .esged to believe, and informed the country, Slavery was not intended to go into Kansas :ebraska; that nobody expected it. It was natural, then, that those persons who were 9sed to Slavery, and who preferred to live in .mmunity where Slavery did not exist, should e flocked to that Territory which they were was to be free. This violated no principle ie law. -hat, then, sir, is the occasion of the excitet now existing throughout the length and -dth of this land? I will tell you. It has its in solely in that one fatal mistake made two -s ago, when the Missouri Compromise was aled. If the policy adopted in 1850, wh~ich to leave the question of Slavery in adountry, .-organized into a Territory, in the conditon ~ress found it at the time, had been adhered ;ere would have been no difficulty; wre should .had no Slavery agitation; and at this time e would have been no occasion for procla;ons from the President, nor orders from'the 'i- 8 statute to remain in force in the Territor. which makes it a penal offence, punishable by imprionment for two years, for a per,on to say that Slavery does not rightfully exist in Kansas? Why, sir, before God, I believe it does not rightfully exist there. Every manwho believes that the Territorial Legislature which sat in Kansas was-imposed upon the people by fraud and violence-that it was a usurpatfiq.- and that Slavery cannot exist without a municipal law to protect it,-must belieye that,ilavery does not rightfully exist in. Kasaa; and yet he is liable to puiiislment'for avowing. that opinion; and not only for avowing it, but for circulating a document that avows it I Instead of meeting this question in a fraternal spirit, with kindness upon all sides, we hear it said that these laws are to be enforced at the point of the bayonet; and the President is commended by Senators for the course he has taken in reference to this matter. Now, I wish to review the President's action upon this subject. I know it has been said that the laws are to be enforced, and thast we must put down traitors and insurrectionists. True, sir; but we must find traitors before we hang them; there must be an insurrection before we undertake to quell it. As yet, that state of things has not arisen, in my judgment, which makes it proper to denounce as traitors the settlers of Kansas, who have resorted to the only means left in their power to escape the despotism which is being imposed upon them. I do not understand them to have organized anyresistance in the General Government. I recognise the authority of Congress to govern the Territories of this country while they remain Territories, and deny the right of that or, any other Territory to set at defiance the action of Congress. Were the people of Kansas to do that, and levy war against the United States, they would be guilty of treason, and the whole power of the Government should be exerted to reduce them tosubjection and enforce the laws. But that case has never arisen, and I trust it never may. It is a very different thing from treason for the people of Kansas to resist the acts of usurpers and tyrants. Sir, we are told, by an authority little less than Divine, that "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." If the Legislature which sat in Kansas was composed of men who were elected, in defiance of the act of Congress, by an army of invaders from abroad, I say there is n o obligation on anybody to obey their laws; and so tfar from condemning as insurrectionists those who resist them, we should strengthen the hands of the men who are seeking to set them aside. The message and documents the President has sent us are said to contain "all the information on the subject" of Kansas affairs in the Department of State. This was on the 18th of February, 1856. We have, then, before us all the informa-, tion in the possession of the Executive on the 18th of February last. To show how the people of Kansss have not only been imposed upon by a spurious Legislasure, but also the means which have been resorted to toeembharrass and place them in a false position before the counaty,, and in an attitude of hostility' to the General Government, I beg attention pa. ticularly to th e docu ment s whi ch have been lai before us; and I will undertake to show, to tL s atisfaction of any in telligent mind, that the re wc no just occasion for the invasi on o f Kansas December last; that itwas gotten up, as appear from the documents themselves, upon false ru mors, and without sufficient cause. The first v. know of this difficulty is in a telegraphic dispute from the Governor, Wilson Shannon, as follows t WESTPORT, MISSOURI) December 1, 1855. "I desire authority to call on the United Stat' forces at Leavenworth to preserve the peace. ' this Territory; to protect the sheriff of Doug]' county, and enable him to execute the legal prc 'cess in his hands. If the laws are not execute, ' civil war is inevitable. An armed force of onr - thousand men, with all the implements of wa. c it is said, are at Lawrence. They have rescue ' a prisoner from the sheriff, burnt houses, an= ' threatened the lives of citizens. Immedia. ' assistance is desired. This is the only mecr' to save bloodshed. "Particulars by mail. WILSON SHANNOM~ " His Excellency,Franklin Pierce." Now, sir, on what was Governor Shannon' dispatch founded? On Sheriff Jones's letter telling him that Branson, a person arrested on peace-warrant, had been rescued by an arme. body of between forty and fifty men, as the Gov ernor writes; but of between thirty and forty as Buckley, who was present at the time of th' rescue, swears. This was the immediate and the main cause,, that modest request of Sheriff Jones for " thr - ' thousand men to aid him in the execution of th ' warrants in his hands, and to protect him an: ' his prisonerfromviolence." The prisoner allude. to was Coleman, who had killed Dow, but wh. does not appear from the papers communicateto have been at the time in the sheriff's custody The affidavits of Jones the sheriff, of Buckley who sued out the peace-warrant against Branson of Hargis, and the letter of Clarke to the Governor all bear date subsequent to the Governor's di. patch to the President, and could not, therefore have furnished the grounds on which it was sent To go still further back, we find there was a ve', slight excuse, either for the suing out of th — peace-warrant, or the conduct of Jones in arresing Branson. At the risk of making myself some what tedious, I will read a portion of Buckley? affidavit, made on the 6th of December, 1855, ~ he gives the origin of the siege of LawrenceHe swears: " That he was iyzformed on good authority, an, ' which he believed to be true, that Jacob Bran 'son had threatened his life, both before an. after the difficulty between Coleman and Dow ' which led to the death of the latter. I under stood that Branson swore that depon~ent shou!t ' not brent i~ the pure air three minutes after ' returned, this deponent at this time having gore ' down to Westport, in Missouri; that it we ' these threats, made in various shapes, that mad~ ' this deponent really fear hiis life, and which in_. 'cduced F~ine to malts affidavit against the s~.s i three or four hundred of the militia of the Territot assembled at the call of Generals Richardson and Strickler, but that their forces were soon swelled by men from Missouri to near two thou sand men, and that "the great.ldanger to be ap ' prehended was from an unauthorized attack on 'the town of I;awrence." What a change was wrought on Governor Shannon, when he saw how he had been imposed upon by false rumors, and learned the real truth I - is great fear now was, that the - law and ord men, -whom he -had unnecessarily assembled for the protection of Jones, would make an unauthorized attack upon the people of Lawrence l Governor Shannonrepaired to that place, satisfied himself that no one against whom a writ had been issued was in cLawrence, had no difficulty in coming to a satis.factory arrangement with its inhabitants as to the execution of the laws, which a large majority of the people claimed they had always beenwilli ng to uphold, though they denied the validity of the acts of the bogus Legislature. A treaty was then concluded between Governor Shannon and the people of Lawrence. They were authorized by him to protect themselves against the army assembled at Wakarusa under Generals Richardardson and Strickler, which subsequently diabanded, and the disturbances in the Territory were quieted, as the President tells us in his spetcial message, " in a satisfactory manner." The history of this whole disturbance, from its inception in the issuing out of a peace-warrant for an insufficient cause, till the fitnal disbanding of the invading army, when the Missourians returned grumblingly to their homes, has more the appearance of a conspiracy, on the part of the officials and others in Kansas, to place the Free State settlers in a false position, that an excuse might be found for attacking and exterminating them, than of an honest effort to enforce the laws. Branson seems to have been a quiet, inoffen. sive man, who needed not to have been put under bonds to keep the peace, when he was fleeing as for his life. Sheriff Jones needed no army fbr his protection, for no one seems to have been disposed to molest him; nor was an army necessary for the maintenance of law in Lawrence, for the .people professed themselves willing to submit to the laws, save those of the assumed Legislature, which, by the treaty of peace, which seems to have been satisfactory to the President, they were not required to acknowledge. It is manifest that Governor Shannon acted without sufficient cause when he assembled an army, chiefly of Missou-. rians, to enforce the laws against the citizens o Lawrence; and this is virtually acknowledged by the treaty of peace which he subsequently made. The disturbances of December last, the Presi dent tells us, "were speedily quieted, without the effusion of blood, and in a satisfactory manner." What occurred afterwards, and before the 11th of February last, to justify the President in issuing a proclamation, placing the troops of the United States at the service of Govrernor Shannon?[':We have all the papers before us, and they contain no application from Governor Shannon for U~nited States forces, since that of December last in refereuce to a disturbance which was satisfactorily Br ans o n, and procure a peace-warradt to issue, and be placed b a t he hands of the sheriff of Douglas county W[hat this deponent was iwith the said sh eriff (S.'J. Jones) at the time the said Branson was arrested, which took place aboutr er two or three pclock in t he mo rning; that Branson was in bed^,vhen he was arrested by said sheriff; that no pistol or -other weapon was present ed at the said Branson, by any one; that a fter the arr est, an aafter the company with the sheriff had proceeded about five miles in the direction of Lecompton, the county seat, of Douglas county,the said sheriff and his posse were set upon by about between thirty and iorty men, who came out from behind a house, all- armed with Sharpe's rifles, and presented their guns cocked, and called out who they were; and said Branson replied, that they had got-him aprisoner; and these armed men called on him to, come away. Branson then went over on their side,: and-Sheriff Jones said they were doing something they would regret hereafter, in resisting the laws; that he was sheriff of Douglas county., and as such had arrested Branson.. These armed men replied, that t-hey.had Huo laws, no sheriff: and no Governor; and that they knew no laws but theirguns. The sheriff, being overpowered, said to these men, that if they took him by force of arms, he had no more to say, or something to thatimport, and then we rode off." Jones's account of the forcible rescue agrees abstantially with that of Buckley. Buckley's e,mplaint against Branson was founded upon amor. It scarcely amounted to sufficient to .stify a justice of the peace in issuing a war~nt. When the warrant was issued, it afforded o sort of excuse for the arrest of Branson at the :me and place and in the manner it was made. Branson was the friend of Dow, who had been ;lled a few days before by Coleman, who had -caped; the neighborhood was excited, party -.eling ran high, Branson was quietly sleeping - home, when, at the dead hour of night, his .welling was entered by Jones and his posse of — n men, of whom Buckley, who had sworn out :,e peace-warrant was one ithe arrrestiwas-made, nd Branson was hurried off inlthe darkness of ight in the direction of a distant county:seat:. ~ s neighbors, learning that a body of men had catered Branson's house, had seized and were prrying him they knew not whither, nor for what ~urpose, very naturally gathered together to learn .hat these things meant. While assembled, ones and his party, having Branson in custody, ame passing by. The assembled neighbors call cut in the darkness to know who is there, and, :n being answered by Branson, they tell him to ;ome with them, which he quietly does; and this s the rescue of the prisoner, to recapture whom, end for his own protection when no man pursued, ~heriff Jones calls on Governor Shannon for three ~housand men, and the Governor responds to his :all by issuing orders to Generals Richardson. and Strickler to fly to his protection with the militia, and calls on the President ibr the additional assistance of United States troops. Governor Shannon, in his letter of December 11th to the President, says that not more than b 16 ' and never satisfactorily answered,. TIle ordl.r is iunfortunately worded, to say the' least; and it is much to be regretted that it should have been -so framed as to give color even to the idea that the Genera Government was mre willing to use its power to put down insurrecns in the Territory -than invasion fromn witout. Senators have justified-snd —adconmeded the entire action of the Ex ecutive in reference -to-:ansos affairs,,but,for uamy part, I can:-e.n6 jstification in the documents before us forsuch. a proclamationr and such orders as haver beenr issu ed. When an invading army inrched into, Kansas, and controlled itu _elections by driving its inhabitants from the polls fwe werea told t he President s had no s uch offici. knowledge of t he fact, as would justify his interfrn, aod to protect thaballot-box., How is it tha t he cou ld neither seer hea of th ose invasions, in utter disregard of an act of Congress, and yet -is so re ad y, without any official information, tc take notice of an opposition. to the enactments: o@ a slUrious T'rritorialLegislature? The fact that Goverfior Reeder did- not officially,notify him ol the Missouri invasions is no excuse. It is the duty of the President, to see that the laws of the Uni. ted States be faithfully executed; and if Reedei neglected -his duty, he should have removed him. It cannot be that the President was uninformed of the manner in which the elections in Kansas were carried;'the facts were proclaimed'through. out t]# land:, and known to everybody. I -would not censure the President for making use- of the army of the United - States to pevent civil war in Kan'as,-ot to' It down resistance to acts of Congress;, butts hope, never to see the United States soldiers engaged in forerng submission to the barbarous and inhuman acts of that spurious. Legislature which was forced upov the people: oF' Kansas- by violence and agains( their will. ~' -As -,remedy for existing evils, ia Congress will not, restore the Missouri Compromise, it ought at least to annul the-present Territorial acts, and give the actual settlers. an oppor? tunity to elect a Leisature for themselvea privilege which they assert has thus. far -,been denied them,'and which assertion this report doe not venture to deny. termi n ated long before the proclamation waa issued. I take it, then, the proclamation musthave been issued upon the information communicated to the President by Lane and Robinson, informing him that anc'inoverwh elnciLng for cet of t he citizens of Mais*i s we" ere organszing upon toe brders m fl ianse, or the purpose Of demo I — ishing the towns and murderinag the unoff ending Free State citizens of the: — Teroitory If tit was upon th at information that the- proclamation was founded, mnen it is cruelly unjust to the ree eatState men w ho aske d for p rote ction. for it is mainly directed,ia not -iagainst aggression from Missouri, buit agains t some fancied insurrection w i thin the Territory, when there is no evidence ofany such con temp lated insuretion in any, of th e edocu-i ments communicated; and: we have dil the information whi ch —was in th e State Departmen t a t the time the procla matio n w as i ssued. h But te de f the order of the Secretary of War to Colonels Suminer and Cooke is Lstill more objectionable-thana-r tthe: President's ps belamat n. T heb material part of it is as follows: "If therefor e the-eGovernor of t he T erritory, ' findinig the ordinary c urse of judicial proceed' ings an d the p owers vested in,Unite d States ' marshals inaclquete fo r th e sSuppression of in' surrectionary combination or armed resistance ' to the execution of the law, should make requi' sition upon you to furnish a military force- to aid him in the performance of that official duty, ' you ar e hereby directed to employ for that pur' pose such part, of your command as may in your ,judgment consistently be detached from their. ' ordinary duty." Would the officers to whom this order is directed be authorized t o go to the assistance of the-n Governor, -to repel the.expected.invasion from M3issouri, should it be. attempted? If not, and .he order is -only designed-. to, allow the Unit6d — 3tates forces to be used to preventthe-Free. State - men within the- Territory from org;nizfng and arming to protect themselves against the apprehended invasion, it is both cruel and unjust. I can hardly think the order could have been so intended. But the point has-. been m&de before,. 4 I AFFA IRS. SPEECH OF HON. HENRY WALDRON, OF MICHIGAN, IN THE HIOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 8, 1856, In Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union. poweled by the citizens of an adjoining State that they have been driven from their polls by violence-that they have been den ied their appropriate rights and privileges- th at an invading force has placed over them, and in defian ce of them, a Legislature that is the c reat ure o f usur pat ion, and to which t he y o we no fealt y. It is further charged, that th is a ssem bly of us urpe rs, chosen by non-residents, has given the form of law to enactments that conflic t w ith the organic act of t h e Territory, as well as with the eConstitution of the Union- enactments that are unworthy o f a fr ee people, and a disgrace to an enlightened age-enactments such as no legislators, who were the se rvan ts of a free people, would presume to pass, but whi ch are the appro - pria t e instruments of men, who se ek to oppress a Territory, and force upon it institutions, that its citizens justly abhor. And, as t he result of this invasi on and usurpation, we read, in the memorial of a gentleman who comes herese as the agent for the residents of Kansas, tha t "T lhe will of men has been already almost entirely substituted for the administration of justice." * * * * 0 ' There seems to be no dispositions on the part of those wiho have seized upon the legislative power, to put in motion any system of law in the administration of justice. Trespasses, assaults, and murders, are openly committed, and no one thiniks of appeal for redress to the law, because from that source no redless can be had." And the same memorial, as embodied and endorsed in a report of a standing committee of this House, alleges " In a word, menace, intimidation, and improper influences, are rife in the Territory, especially along the border; men's rights are held in no regard; official authority commands no respect, and seems to have no restraining tendency or power; and the peace of the country hangs by a thread." Mfr. WALDRON said: Mr. CHAIRV-AN: I do not rise for the purpose of taking part in any discussion, relative to the right or duty of the General Government, as connected with the institution of Slavery. The State that I have the honor in part to represent, has made known her sentiments on that subject too clearly and distinctly, to render any additional testimony necessary in her behalf. Her people have, amid all the changing fortunes of partisan warfare, expressed but one opinion and maintained but one I)osition in vindication of the right of the Genera) Government to prohibit the extension of Slavery; and I do not deem it necessary now to reaffirm, by words, the convictions that my constituents have so often embodied in their votes. But I occupy the floor for the purpose of addressing myself to the practical questions that are now before the House-questions that concern tihe interests of my fellow-citizens on the ,other side of the Mnissouri-questions that involve the peace and prosperity of a vast domain; and I leave the discussion of abstract political issues to :gentlemen whose tastes and inclinations run in that direction. My business now, as a legislator, is w ith th e re side n ts of Kansas- their troubles and their trials, their wrongs and their grievances. It is to the se m at te rs that our a ttention has been c alled by a variety of official communic ations, and they constitute legitimate subjects for our consideration. I shall refer briefly to the origin and nature of these troubles, and then cite precedents in our past history, that justify the immediate admission of Kansas as a free State, as their just and appropriate remedy. The troubles in the Territory of Kansas were the subject of an Executive communication to this body before it was organized, or in a condition to give it appropriate consideration; and besides that message, there have been other communications to this House, that discloseda state of affairs unknown and unparalleled in the history and experience of a Territory. It is disclosed here, in a memorial duly presented and referred, that the residents of that Territory have been over And, now, how are these questions and embarrassmetnts met by the men who passed and sanction the act organizing this identical Territory? And here allow me for a moment to refer to the legislation that preceded the passage of that act. Two years ago, a solemn compact was in force, that had fixed the character of that Territory, and defined its institutions. It was a compact entered I KA SAS 2 possessed under that bill has been "crushed out "-their rights usurped by invaders; and the Territorial Government, designed, as they supposed, lor their protection, is made an instrument of oppression in the hands of strangers; and now, having been forced to form an organization that shall be effectual for the purposes of good governm ent, having resorted to elections and conventions as expressions of their will, they ask you, who were so loud in your expressions of regard for their rights, to evince your sincerity by redressing their wrongs and recogniising their claims to protection. Yes, gentlemen, your professions have been put to the test. You denounced us, who opposed the violation of our fathers' compact, as enemies of genuine Democracy, as unwilling to concede to the residents of a Territory their just rights, while you assumed f or yourselves the proud position of champions in behalf of their privilege to govern themselves. Now the cup has been returned to your own lips-why do you not drink? Now the question assumes a practical form, and what is your response? Why, the Executive of this Union has sent to the country and to the residents of Kansas his answer. He has given us his construction of the doctrine of popular sovereignty. He was the atpprover and endorser of the act organizing the Territory, and he was, from his position, the guardian and protector of its citizens; yet, under his Administration, that Territory has been invaded by armed banids of strangers, its elections made a mockery, its li)allot-boxes outraged, its legislative power usurped, and the form and semblance of law given to barbarous and unconstitutional edicts, and no word of remonstrance lfalls from his lips; and when the Governor of that Territory interposes in behalf of its citizens, he strikes him down, and substitutes a man who proclaims, in advance, his sympathy with the designs and purposes of the invaders. The President has no syllable of condemnation to utter, until the time arrives when the citizens of Kansas assemble together peaceably, and form a State Constitution-as under the circumstances was alike their right and their duty-and then he maklies it the occasion of a special message to Congress, in which he refers to their proceedings after this fashion: into after deliberate counsels, an d under circum st ances that rendered it of more than ordinary obligation. It wsa s a compac t that came dow n to us with many hallowed associations and recol lections clustering around and about it, conmmend ing it alike to the conscience and the judgment. I t was a compact thatshielded this Territory from the ag itation, the strife, and the turmoil, that are the resul t of conflicting interests; for i t conse crated it to Freedom, and left no contingenthazards as occasions for discord and commotion. It was a compact between conflicting interests of Free dom and Sla very, i n whic h S l davery secured every th ing that was at the time of positive and prac tical advantage; while Freedom gained only a guarantee for herself in a wilderness that civili zation had made no attempts to penetrate. It wvas a compact that conceded but little to the side of Freedom-and only conceded that little for a con sideration, thatwvas a costly equivalent, in return. Freedom paid dearly and doubly for all the rights she acquired under that compromise, but she abided by the terms of the bond-Slavery taking the consideration, and enjoying it; and if, on the co nsummation of this c ompromise, in 1820, any Nor ther n man had prophesied, that the slaveholding i nt erest would, in time, repudiate this compromise and trample upon this compact, he would have been denounced as a vilifier of the fair fame and chivalrous reputation of a section, that assumes for itself a sense of honor and propriety incompatible with an unjust and dishonorable act. But before a single generation has passed away, while many of the makers of that compromise are still on the stage of action, the compact is violated, and the seal torn from the bond. The legislation of 1854, organizing the Territory of Kansas, breaks down the barrier which was and would have been the guarantee of peace, of concord, and of freedom; and we have, as the result of that legislation, violence in Kansas, agitation in Congress, and excitement everywhere. Such are the fruits of the Nebraska bill. Now, what was the pretence set up in its justification? W9shy, that the settlers in that Territory should be left perfectly free to form for themselves their domestic institutions; that there should be no checks, no hindrances, no invidious distinctions, to tranimel or embarrass them; and that their right of self-government should be as flfil and complete as the Constitution and laws of the land allow. It was a plea of popular sovereignty that was made use of to palliate and justify the wrong; it was a regard for the rights of the people, and a desire to free them from restraint, that men professed and urged as their motives for passing the Nebraska bill. Now, if these professions were sincere, there is a peculiar fitness and force in the appeal which the residents of Kansas make to them. You, gentlemen, who are the friends of that measures are the very men who should regard with favor the appeal of these settlers;* they went there on your invitation; they went there! relying upon your assertion, that they would be sovereigns in the land of their adoption. And how have their just expectations been met? They find that the pitiful remnant of sovereignty they " I1l extenuation of these illegal act,- it is alleged that the States of California, Mkichsigani. alla ohers,, ere selfor,-amiized. and(1, as sueht, were admi,ted inlo the Un-ion, w,illhout a previous elmalblling act of Congress. It is trioe frtht whilea. ina a majority of cases. a previous act of Conwsre.as has been pa-sed to autilorize the Territory tit present itself as a State, and tlet his is delet med tle most regular course, yet such al act lihas no110t l)eell held to be iiidispensalble, and. ii some cases. the Territ( ry tias proceeded with. out it, alid as everlheiess beein adrit.ted into the Union as a Stale. It lies wilh Congress to authorize befor hand, or to comfirr afterwards, in its discretion1; I)ut il no insIa.ce has a State been admilted upoii the applieation of persons aeling agai,,st authorities duly constituted by act o! Congress. In every case, it is the people of the'Territiory, not a parWy arnonlg tlem. who have the power lo form a Constilution. ai(t ask for admission as a State. No principle of public law, n o l,atiee or precedent under the Conslitution of the Unlited States, i;o rule of reason, igiht. or co, non- sense. conifers ally such power as that Jtow claimed by a mere party in the lTerritory. Ih fact what has been done is of revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in motive and in aim, as re.spects the local i t t i s 3 'shake the paper certificates of the Governor in our faces, as concluding that branch of the inquiry, and they hold up to us a volume of Territorial statutes, the fruit of their own usurpation, as evi dence of the enactment of valid and obligatory laws. Yes, Mr. Chairman, the residents of that Territory have their demands for substantial jus tice met by cobweb sophistries and technical objections, urged by the very men who profess to claim this doctrine of popular sovereignt y as th e corner-stone of their political creed; and, n ot con tent with an effort to close the door in their faces, and to turn a deaf ear to their complaints, they go one step further, and denounce their peaceable efforts, as incipient steps towards anarchy and revolution. Now, this may be genuine, unadulterated De mocracy, in 1856, but I will show the Committee that it differs widely from the article that was recognised and endorsed as Democracy in 1837. I will go back scarcely a score of years, and show gentlemen that a Democratic Congress utterly scouted and repudiated the position that gentlemen are driven to here, in their desire to defeat the Free State men of Kansas. I will condemn their votes and their doctrines from the mouths of their own leaders and champions-men who still enjoy their confidence, and, what is more, expect to receive their votes. In the year 1835, the people of the Territory of ~Iichiga-n adopted a State Constitution, under and b)y virtue of which they elected State officers, United States Senators, a Representative to the [louse, and put in motion the machinery of a State Government. They did this without any previous act of Congress authorizing or justifying it, but after repeated failures to obtain such an act. They did it in accordance - ith what they claimed to be their rights in default of any such legislation, and they exercised the power as one that they possessed, independent of' Congressional or Executive will. At the ensuing session of Congress, their application was presented for admission; and the gentlemen who were selected to represent them in Congress claimed their respective seats; and I now call your attention to the votes and arguments, when this application was before the Twenty-fourth Congress, as furnishin, a complete vindication of the Free State men of Kainsas, and as admninistering a scathing rebuke to the men who seek to defeat and embarrass them. When the application of Michigan was prev,ented to the Senate of the United States, there were two objections raised to the approval of her Constitution, and her admission into the Union. One was, that she included within her State boundaries a large strip of territory that was claimed by adjoining States, and the other related to the alleged irregular and revolutionary character of the proceedings; and in urging objections, Senator Hendricks remarked: lawv of the Territory. It will become treasonable insurrectiot, if it reach tie lelirth of organized resist n(e. I av force to the f iIl'mntdi or av~ ohl Or Fe'leral lawy aCnd to the authority of tlhe Geniiral Goverinit nmeit." Now, Air. Chairman, I pass by the unfair assumption Of the Executive, that the rulers of that Territory are " aotthorities duly constituted b?y act of Congress;" neither shall I stop to comment on the injustice of stigmatizing the Free State Constitution, as the work of a " mere party among the people of the Terr itory," as if that party was an insignificant minority; but I shall, before I take my seat, show, from the official records, that if the application to which the President refers is "an application ofpersons acting against authorities delt. constituted by act of Congress," then there have been applications of that kind before to-day, and such applications have been regarded and recognise(l; and States have been admitted on sutich applications, and the President himself has voted to admit a State applying under the same circumstances that he now denounces as being of' "revolutionary character." I will also endeavor to show that the recollection of his Excellency is at fault, when he asserts that there is " no precedentor practice, under the Constitution,"' conferring such power as that now claimed; for, if I re,d history aright, he himself helped to make such a precedent in this very Hall; and his own votes are on the record, condemning the very positions and arguments of his message-votes that are in direct conflict with what hle is now pleased to designate as the rules " of reason, right, and conontoz sense." But, leaving for the present the record of the Executive. let us inquire what is the response from the Congress of the United States to these appeals from the residents of Kansas? Let us come nigher home, and ascertain the position that gentlemen occupy upon this floor, in reference to the grievances complained of. I refer to tho se gentlemen who took occasion, at the commencemnient of the session, to plant themselves squarely upon a Nebraska platform-who announced to the country that they abided by the principles of the Nebraska bill, and that they had adopted them as the cardinal doctrines of their political faith. What is their position when their attention is called to the embarrassments and complications that are the result of the repeal of the Missouri Comp)romise? Why, when this House is asked to purge itself of a Delegate, who is alleged to have been the chloi(e of an invalid election and of illegal votes, and when a committee ask for an investigaltion, as essential to a fair and just decision, we find th-e friends of the Nebraska bill denyoing the propriety and pertinency of an investigation, and voting agatinst it. We find them meeting the assertions of the settlers, not fairly and squarely upon their merits, but with technicalit ies and special pleadings, with a view to prejudge the case and stifle inquiry. When the assertion is made, that the actin.g Legislature of the Territory wvas not its eightful Legislature, the reply is, that the President has recognised it as such, and that estops any questioning on our part. When the charge is made that the members of that Legislature were elected by fraud and violence, these gentlemen u "But th, people of Nicligai,n: in presenting their Senate and Holse of Represenltalijres as the legislative power exialiti, tiere. showed that they lid trampled upon and violate(i the laws of the Uhadte( States establishing a Territorial Govern,menit ill Michigani. These laws were, or ought to b)e, ill full forte there; -but, b)y the chara(cter and position assumed, they had set up a Government arttag 4 been pa.!sed by Congress for the purpose of enabling the i,ople of Michigan to form a Slate Constitution. in obe dlienlce to whtat. had been supposed to be the custom in re galrd to other State., that have lbeeni admi'ted into the Uieion. No,-, was there, he would ask. aiiy reason for )assing such ai act? 7as it required by principle. or was it required ty former practice? He utterly denied that it was required either by the on e or the oier, before 'a new State may tIe admitted into the Unioll; and u helher it wa s gtvew previously or subsequently to the applic.;ion of a State for a(ldmissioi into the Uriosi. was of no earthly wrniporia, ce. He adimitted that the passage of such an act previously to the admission of a tiew Stale was the best cours to adopt; but. if a people had fornied a relpullican reorstitutioil, atid if Coiingre-s should think that they had assumed proper boundaries, was there any ebjeclilo to their admiission-, whelher the preliminary law hlad been oassed or otherwise?* onist to that of the United States. If, before they had put their Government in motion, they had presented them selves here, and asked admission ilnto the UTTi:i i-ill, matter ofbounidary out of thle questior-the re would have been no d ifficul ty in tile ease; if thei y wished now a,b become a member of the Union. and are cotlterit to com, inl at th e right door, it is probable they will have leo diffi culty." But the select committee of the Senate to w hom the ma t ter was referred-and which, by the way, was Democratic in its composition, with a South ern D e mocrat (Felix Grundy) for its chairman re port ed a bill provi ding for the admission of M ichigan into the Union, with the Constitution then submitted, and. with only o n e p roviso at tached to it, viz: that the citizens of Michigan should assent to a change of the boundaries. This was t he only modification insiste d upon; an d this Democratic committee expressly refused to recog nise the objection s urged on the score of irregu lar and revolutionary proceedings. When the bill came up for considera tion, Mr. Ewing proposed, as a substitute, a bill which a utho rized the c itizens of the Terr itory to hold an election for d elega tes, meet in Convention, frame a Constit ution, a nd sen d it to Co ngress for ap proval; and he urged his substitute upon the Senate, as the only p rop er and legi tim ate pla n u nder the circumstances. Mr. Ewing's plan was t he same as that now recommended to us by the Exec utive in the case of Kansas; and let us see what favo r it me t from a Democratic Senate. In reply to Mr. Ewing, Mr. Benton said: "The object of the amendment offered by the Senator from Ohio [Mr Ewing] was to turn the people of liliehiga n back, to cons ider a s nothins, all that they hid donme. and t o r equire them to begin anew, under the tanction of an act of Congress, with holding elections, meeting iof Convention, fr amingr a Condtitution, and seadicg it on to Congress. This (he said) waq the object, and wha t related to the boundary was subordinate at d incidental, w h ich m igh t b e considered under th e committee's bill as well as under t he proposed a mendm ent. T he great object was, to turn the people of Michig an back, aiold make there co mmence in a r egular manner, as it wa s c alled, ill contradistinction to the irregular. disorderl), and rea olutionary mann er of c onducting themselves, whic h h ad been imputed to them." "Mr. B. th en entered into an ample vindication of the rights of the people of Michigan and Arkahisaso to meet in Convention, without a preliminary law from Con.gressadopt Coistitutions, and send them her e fo r exanmilation. C onvention s were original acts of the people. They depended upon in herent and ibdalienabl e rights. The po ople of any State may, at any time, meet in Convention, whithout a law of their Legi sl ature, antd without any provision, or against any provision in their Constitution, and may alter or abolish t he whole frame of Gover nment, as they pleased. Th e sover eign power to govern thems elve s was wa the majority, and they co t ld n ot be dives ted of it." Now, Mr. Chairman, listen to the remarks of the champion of Democracy who followed Mr. Benton in that debate, and who is entitled to most respectful hearing from gentlemen oln the other side of the Chamber, for it was no less a man than the Hon. James Buchanan, then Senator from Pennsylvania. Hear his comments upon the proposition to turn back the residents of M1ichigan, as General Pierce now advises us to turn back the people of Kansas: "He had good reasons for,decsirilusf that the bill might be very speedily decided on, and 3therefor% in what he had to say, he should tak~ up as little of the time of the~ Senate as possible. The first objec tionl he ~,houldt consider was the one suggested, rather than insisted on~, by the Senator from Delaware; and that was: that no act had ' Ought they to be offended with the eag-ern-ess of the newv States for admission into all the rights, privileges, and lietiefits, of this ULiioii, at a time wihei some of the old State. were ihreatcniilg to leave it? Ought ae not (said he) to hail the coming in oi these new States, our own flesh and blood aid, on accounit of the absence of a little torm, not send them dissatisfied from our doors? " ' He did hope that lby this bill all objections would be removed; an0 that this State. so ready to rush into our arms, would not be repu sed, because o' the absence of some forma;i, ies, which, perhals, were very proper, but c ertainly n ot indispensable." The gent leman who closed this dis cussion was IMr. Niles, of Connecticut-a Democrat, who, with honorable consist ency, maintains the rights of the residents of Kansas to-day as gallantly as he de f en de d the pi one ers of Michigan twe nty years a g o. In fact, his remarks apply so per tinently to the p resent case, t hat it onl y r equires to substitute the word' Kansas "for " Michigan," to make it a capital Free State speech, as will be seen by the following extract: " Not being able to be admitted in the way they sought, th, y have been forced to take their ov ni course, and stand upon their rights-rights secured to them by the C-onistitu tioin, and a solemn, irrepealable Ordinance. They have taken the census or' the Territory; they have formed a Constitution, elected their officers, and the whole ma chiniery of a State Government is ready to be put in ope rationi; they are only awaiting your action. l-lavivg assumed this attitude, they now demand admission as a matter of right —they demand it as an act of justice at your hands. Are they now to be repelled, or to be told that they must retrace their step- and come into the Uniion in the way they at first sought to do, but could not obtain the sanction of Congress? Str, I fear the consequences of such a decision; I tremble at an act of such injustice. " There is a point beyond which a free people cannot be driven. Why are the people of Michigan to be vexed and harassed in this way? They feel that they are treated harshly-that great injustice is done th m; they have been opposed and resisted il every course they have pursued .to ot)tain admission into the Union; and you have now divided their Territory, and taken from them a part of it, to which they attach great value. In these meas-ures of opposition to Michigan, the Senator from Ohio has acted a prominent part. He has succeeded in opposing their former applications, and in keeping them out o( the Union; he has carried through a bill to divide their Territory, of the justice o0 injustice of which I will not speak, but the people of Mlichigani regard it as an act of great inijustice. tWill the gentleman still persist in his opposition? Does he wish to dri; e that people to desperation-to force them into acts ot violence? Does he think that, by breaking up what has been done, by creating an exciterpenet, and forcing the people to organize their Government,gain, the result may be different? —tlat it may be more favorable to a certain party or portion of the op)ulation, which, he insiniuates, took no part in the proceedings in orgaiiiziig the State Government? Whatever may be the object, such a course is f-aught with much danger. Let us not presume too much in the forbearance of the people under measures which, in whatever light we may view them, they will regard as unjust and oppressive. Who is willing to be responsible for al act operating on a whole people, with their passions excited and inflamed, anid cal 5 anv such State admitted into the Union? Can we recog ni-e her as a Slate? Certainly not. Either she is a T'rer ritory or a i.tae? If a State, howcomes it that she is rep resetrited t)y a Territorial Delegate in (Congress? If she is a'I'erritory, how comes this memorial from a State? Coni gress would be traitscendiitg her powers ly receiving the memorial as coming from a State. If wve receive this memorial. we need inot attempt to treat her as a Territory.' Mr. Kinnard said: "He felt as ardent an attachment to the right of petition as a ny other member; he would lnot surreluler. ii behalf of hlis own constiiuents, its fair and constitutional exercise; and he would not vote to deny tlte same sacret privilege to, any portioni ofthe Americani people. But. iii l)ealf'ofhis coistiuenlts. hlie claimed'ithe authority to distinguish be tweeefi the petitions of the people of the Territory of Mich igart, and the illegal, uicostiitutional demianids of the self styled Senate andl House ofRepresentatives fMichiigan,, particularly, as in the present case, when those demands are not onily ill contempt of the authority of the Uilo, i id erogatio,n of the iidep)endeice and vested rights of the State of Indiana, but altogether mischievous and itexpe dieint." It would reasonably be expected, after a peru sal of the Kansas message, that its author would be found sustaining these gentlemen in their ef forts to avoid any recognition of an authority in Michigan, such as he now so earnestly depre cates in the case of Kansas; but the record shows precisely the contrary. Mr. Pierce voted against the motion to reject; and with him voted a large majority of that House. Mr. iHannegan then moved to amend a motion to receive and refer the memorial, by a declaration that the House " r ega rd the same in no other light than as the vol mtntary act of private individuals," so as to avoid any recognition of a State organization; and this qualifying clause was adopted; but it was adopt ed with the vote of Franklin Pierce recorded against it. I submit, with these votes on the record, whether the President is not the last man who should arraign the people of Kansas, for their peacable efforts to secure a Government? But, to return to the history of the act provi ding for the admission of Michigan-this act rati fied and confirmed the Constitution and State Government, which the people of Michigan had formed for themselves, with only one condition and proviso, to wit: that the people, through a Convention of delegates, elected. especially for that purpose, should assent to the change of boundaries as specified in the act; and, whenever such assent was given, the President of the United States was to announce it by proclamation; and thereupon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of the State was considered as complete, and her Senators and Representatives were entitled to seats without further delay. Under,the provisions of this act, the Legislature of Michigan called a Convention of delegates, and provided for their election. The election was held, and the Convention met in pursuance of the law, every organized county being represented. This Convention refused to give its assent to the change of boundary, and declined the boon of admission into the Union, on the terms proposed. The official evidence of such "dissent" was transmitted by the officers of the Convention to the President, and there, for the time beinga, the matter rested. This Convention was held in the month of Sep ulated to rekindle the extinguished flames, and to pro- 'uce evils worse than the bor,,.er war whiich has happily arsided? m hould the amehndment oflhe Senator prevail. lieasy respomhsil)ility will rest somewhere; apid I fear s much of it will pall on that honorable Senator as he .ill fi ad it convenient to b ear." And wh en the vote was taken on the subst itut e ,ffered by Mr. Eswing, it received only seven afrmative votes, (page 2l 6, vol. 3,) an d amo ng the egative vo te s I find such names as Mr. Ben ton, 'r. Buchanan, Mr. King of Alabama. Mr. Grundy, nd others of like fame and s e ntiment-men .-hose claims to Democracy can no t well be dis*uted; and the bill providing for admission was .rdered to a third reading with only'eight votes , the negative; and it was subsequently orderd to a third reading in the House of Representtives by a vote of 153 to 45; and Frankiin 'ierce, then a Representative from New Hamphiire, made one of the onte hundred andfift.y-th7ree! And here let me call the attention of the Com_ittee to the decisions of a Democratic House P Representatives, when the application of Michan was first made to that body. I find, by ref-ence to the Congressional records of that day, at, in January, 1836, a member presented a emorial from the Senate and House of Reprentati% es of the State of Michigan; and this, be remembered, was months previous to its ad,ssion into the Union. It was not a memorial jm citizens of the Territory of Michigan-not a 3morial from the Territorial Legislature-not a .emorial from any Territorial authority known Congress-but it came from a sovereignty, selfganized and of revolutionary origin, according modern political ethics, as expounded by the esident in his message. When this memorial was offered, a motion was once made " that it be reyected;" and a few {.racts from the speeches on that occasion will it show the reasons why that motion was urged. Mr. Hannegan, who moved to reject the peti% remarked: The memorial purports to come from a power which ther himself nor the House could recognise. If it came t- the Territory of Michigmab, assuminag no powers, he i d willingly let it go to t'e committee. Il what situat would this House place itself by accepting this memoc, coming, as it purported, from the sovereign State of -higan? It would be recognising her right to send her ,inuuiiealions here as a sovereign State. If we accept (~ommuniication. we must accept all she chooses to :! Us.,here is somethintg in this beyond the mere aclance of the memorial." -ITr. Bond said: Tle memorial did not purport to come from citizens of Territory of Mlichigani, but from the Senate and House ,eprese italives of the State of Michitga. Ve ought to care how' we establish precedents of this imture. If memorial wail from the citizens of the Territory of higaii, he would admit their right to have it referred; this memorial was not from the citizens of Michiganas from the Legislature of a State whtieh had never i recogrnised by Conigress,. If tiere was such a State, as unknown to thl Constitution and laws. Let us, then, fi.,dful that we make no precedeut ill this case. Mich has a RepAresenitative on this floor, and any petitions people may have to present through that Represenltshe would be ready to receive and refer." 'r. Pinckney said: Hie would have no objection to the memorial, if it came _;titutionlally before Us. VWhat does it purport to be? A -,orial from the Senlate anld House of Represe~natives e State of M~ichigran. He would ask whether there ally such Legislature knsown to the Hdouse? Is there tember; and its refusal to give any assent to the change of boundary was unsatisfactory to a portion of the people. There was a party in favor of giving assent to the terms proposed; and that party demanded another Convention, and determined to hold it. This last Convention assembled in the month of December, not held or elected by virtue of any act of the Territorial or State Legislature, but originating from the people themselves, in pursuance of resolutions adopted in their primary assemblies. Two of the oldest counties in the State, comprising a population of some twenty-five thousand souls, refused to recognise the validity of this December Convention, claiming that it was held without warrant of law, and in defiance of the regular Convention, which had previously expressed the sentiments of the people. There was not a poll opened in either cf those counties, although they comprise, in Iopelation, one-sixth of the entire number; but this self-constituted Convention was held without any delegates from these counties, and that Convention gave its assent to the terms proposed by Congress, aid transmitted to the Executive its proceedings, as a compliance with the act, and as entitling the State to admission. Now, I refer to these two elections for delegates, because, in some respects, they resemble two elections in the Territory of Kansas, that have been the subject of earnest discussion in this Hall. The Septemberelection, like the election that chose Mr. Whitfield, had the benefits that the forms of legal authority confer, and it had the additional merit, that no fraud or violence perverted or disgraced it. The December election, like the election that chose Mr. Reeder, was the spontaneous act of the sovereigns themselves, done without the interposition or assent of the constituted authorities, but with an avowed determination not to recognise their acts. Now, it is important to ascertain which of these elections was regarded by a Democratic Congress as expressing the will of the citizens of Michigan, and what rules they adopted as precedents for our action in this case. First, what did a Democratic President do with the proceedings of these two conflicting Conventions? Did he presume to endorse one of them as the valid, legitimate Convention under the law, and denounce the other as an " illegal': and " revolutionary " assemblage? Did he make them the occasion of a special message to Con gress, in or der to justify one Convention at the expense of the other? Not at all. General Jack son met these questions with fairness, with man liness, with dignity-with a desire to mete out substantial justice to the citizens of Michigan. lie transmits the proceedings of both Conven tions to Congress, and takes occasion to inform it that the first Convention "was elected by the people of Michigan, pursuant to an act of the State Legislature passed on the 25th of July last, in consequence of the above-mentioned act of Congress, and that it declined giving its as sent to the fundamental condition prescribed by Congress, and rejected the same." He further informs it, that the second Conven tion, that did give assent, "was not held or elect ed by virtue of any act of the Territo rial or Sta Legislature: it originated from the people the.selves, and was chosen by them in pursuance resolutions adop ted in p rimary assemblies held the ir respe ctive counties; " and then, as indicatir his own views as to the propriety of' recoginisir this last Convention, he says that, if its procee. ings had reached him during the recess of Co. gress, he should have issued his proclamati( under the law, on being satisfied that they eman ted from a Convention of' delegates elected, " point of.~act," by the people of the State; but, Congress was in session, he deemed it most appr priate to refer the matter to them. And it went to the Senate, and the Senate I ferred it to the Committee on the Judiciary Democratic committee, instituted for the expr~ purpose of investigating questions of law; but raised no such questions on that occasion. Li the Committee of Electtions in this HJouse; loo ing into the Kansas elections, it wanted facts wi a view to determine which Convention should' recognised as binding and obligatory upon t people of Mlichigran; and in order to obtain the the chairman (MIr. Grundy) addressed a letter several citizens of Michigan, asking them for i formation as to the aggregate vote given in St tember and December, respectively; and as to t true wishes of the people of Michigan in reft ence to the acceptance of the terms prescribt The answers to this communication were sent the Senate as part of the report; and the comm tee, concluding, from the facts presented, that! second Convention, with all its irregulariti truly expressed the will of the people, introduc a bill recognising it in preference to the first Cc vention, held under legislative authority, and 9 mittirg Michigan into the Union by virtue its act. When this bill was under consideration in f Senate, it was assailed on the same groun and for the same reasons, that are resorted to order to prevent the admission of Kansas wits Free State Co)nstitution. Mr. Bayard said: " But it seemed to him that lhis trill, with its pream: involved the most moinst,,ous political heresy,wwhich to ed., i,,ci(le.l.ally, lo the adol)tioni of a doctrine sul)verof'all re,ilar goverinmenit anid elitertaininig this opin'as he di, he shioild vote against the till. tBy passinlg I)ill, the Senate would be s, lioning the most obinoxi p,riieiple, alid woul(d inflict a vital il,jury oil ihe caus Freedomr. Mr. B. argued that, accordinig to the Drovisi of the Ordinianice of 17$7, which regtulate s the a s-Iosi of tile Territory niorlhwest of the Ohio, and east of Mississippi, Mi chigan lhad. io right to form a Conisitui at all, without the leave ofCottgr, ss. "He maintained that the Coiivei,tioni, which was I in Decemb er last., was lot a Conivenitioni according t~ rightful signification of that word. It was al} arsue ihe term. If the Seniate passed the bill unider the pre: state of filcts, they were settiarg up a most monstrous atrocious pri]ciple. He contended that the first Coin, tionI swas legally and properly organiized. bveiiig bro, together byr all act of the L.egislature The legisla power was the o-ly exponent of the pubic still." Andl Mr. Preston said, in reply to Mr.:z chanan: i'The sweeping'nullification1 of llhe gentleman,_ Pennlsylvanlia [Mtr. B~uthallanl] goes to:he amnllhilaticD the Govermntlent of Alit.higran-to the i~reakilmS dowv all her solemns charters anid enlgagemenits." Mr. Calhoun said; 6 considered but mere forms, which we have waived in repealed iinstainees." And Mr. Benton sums up the merits of the controversy as follows' " The people thiire had held a Conivenution, by their own power, to ace, pt a furdIarnetet,l codtio ni-of ht ir adinistioet ilto;hlie Utioii. They have accepted t e coniditionll and the ol)ject1,11 is, that the Coltveliioi was a lawless t v ind revoluoiotiary mot), and tiat a law ouhlit to be made to suppress anf pm)u,ish l sit cht assemtblages iii future. Mr. B. twoeld hold a p opositioii for such a law to l-e the q,uiitesselice, tl ot of Er,pe but of Asiatic despoti-m; aud sdre e i was it would re ceive I o couyih eliate 1)y thel vote of ibis Cihnl)er. I sayil,- tls, hle spoke upoti a recol Il,et.t o ot'tie 1a-t, as w el as ui)oit a view of the presectt. At the last ssi. r ot Cogress, all this de:.ufciatio of Alwllewss aterd revt luttionary umoi)s had beenl lavished upon thle Conlverttie is, both of Arkan.'sas anid Michig,ant, be cause, baei ag'lerritories, they had held Cotivetit otis, asnit f ramed Costitutios. without the autoily of Cottgress. Our apswe to the.se denun ciat ions wer e tle samre that we gi ve IIow. rtiairely: 1.''lhat triey had a rigi,t to do so without our authority, attd all thlat e couli require w as. that hltey slhould send us the ir Coihstitulious, that we might ee they -ere reputblicait; and, 2. I'hat these Territories had several titm,h s apj>lied to otg res fi,r ai act to regulate the holricog of tlelir Co. iventionse, which were always ref'used ty the political party wlich thtb held the su,-renact s y i his Celatrae, acd ttat to refuse thefa ait act to regtulate the tholdinig of a Coinveinti.i, wlhei they a-sklied for it. aid ilheni to deO,,ounice thiem for holding a Coniveiitio without law, was unireasonal.1e aiid contradictory, ause suttjeeted ourse ves to tll reproach both of injustice anod i, cosseistehey. These were our es thec, aid(l, w te adled, that those lwho detiouiced the Arkat sas atid M\richiga n d,'oive:,tions as lawless atld revolutionary moi)s, would fitid themseilves unsupported by the vote of the Senazte.!< "' The result of this controversey was the passage of the bill recognising the second Convention as binding Michigan by its assent, and with only ten Senators voting in the negative; while such statesmen as Benton, Buchanan, Silas Wright, Tallmadlge, Niles, and William R. King, voted in the affirmative. The bill then was considered in the IHouse of Representatives, where the same objections and arguments were urged as in the Senate. But the bill was ordered to a third reading by the strong vote of 148 to 58; and a reference to the y.eas and nays will show the name of Franklin Pierce recorded in the q/irmative. Yes, sir; the President, who now regards the pe ace able elections and Conventions in Kansas as ' "illegal," and of "revolutionary character," then voted to recognise a Convention that was held confes sedly without authority that only claimed to'represent a part of the settlers, and that assumed to speak where the legal Convention had already declared its determination. He voted to make the decisions of that Convention binding on the people of Michigan, in reference to the most important interests that a Convention could ever pass upon; and, having done so, I cannot realize the force of his recommendations in the case of Kansas, when they differ so widely from his own practice in the case of Michigan. I have thus briefly and hurriedly referred to the circumstances that characterized the admission of Michigan. She was met, to some extent, by embarrassments and obstacles, but, in despite of them, she fought her way into the Union; and, now that she is there, she is disposed to help Kansas in, with tlhe same free institutions that have been sanctioned in her own experience. And Michigan only regrets that statesmen, who :c He had said that the movement of Michigani was revitioiary; that she threw off the authority of the U ion callii,g a Conive~,lio,,ogo(ther ald forming a Cohstitu-I. Itl that we -ere at perf ct lilierty ei!her to treat i, a revolutionary nmovecit,t; as it,as, ill polit of fel,ct to offer he r coidit ios upo whici she light be a(lit1 l,to tihpe Usuioei. ies olt.ioni, as. lliat hte Slillig could utdome t eatl n as d o e; that ioe hitah coulad go back her oriniltal p(osition. a h hd that syie should come in ucrr tile usual ft,rm, as did Ohio, Illiinoi,., lld Il(lialla. li ;)er wor's. til.et thie {; tove riiineit shoul d hav e leav e Lo ect herselfiito a State. "A gre at questin next arose-a ouestio itn of immeinse p)ortantce: }3;tl the Coivenltioni ot Dece-milber a rig-ht to -elit tor the co utilio t,s, a end did it spe,ak le voice of' ictli? A)lid litd Cote, tge a righilt to recogeiise its lceedigs? It wit we ll k!Uowio tu hat the Coh vetio-. !(I at A,t1l Arbor did in( t r, presen t one-third of the p,eo All knew, to,. t. at it (did )iot retareselit til,e cosIitu:1 attihori its. No,-,, lhad Collgress a rihIit to admit icl)iga,. uipoln such procee itigs as these? Coulh a,y tit cn,,ceive it to be a Coniven.tioll of the people of Michi ,tilil? No. it wa,, imposib)l. It e_ae-ther rmiore no, -.s than a cgacus, got up t0y party machiner. It was a iminal caucus.'Phe Coinvetiololl of DOeetml)er lad ino ht to supelsed,Ie the act.-, of lhe Coltvenitio,t hell inl Sep)aider; lid he enitertainell the opinion that those menl -rIlpos!)ha it might be indicted at comimi, law, and, what as more, they ought to be." It seems, by this extract, that the residents of anmsas are not the first of our ftellow-citizens who wve been denounced as liable to indictment beuse they made peaceable efforts to get into the nion. It seems that there were like anaithemas irled at the citizens of MIichigan from the Fedal Capitol; but my constituents survived them, ,d, I presume, the citizens of Kansas will be ;ually as fbrtunate. I now turn to the other side of the argument the Senate of the United States-to the gallant ndication of the citizens of Mlichigan in reply the extracts I have quoted above. Mr. King said: " But some gentlemen, admitting this, insisted that the oceedicli,n was revolutionary, anld that to allow the peo i:i iprimnary assem fIiest, to set themnselves up above legis;Itive autlhorityf (to use their ~wt laniguage.) -uck at the very foullnlationi of our inisli'ufionis. -This ds strangi,e doctrinie at the present day. It was the doc,ie of the house of Stuart ai-nd of Bourbon, of Austria d of Branlde,lbtirg. It was Ille doetri, e of the Holy Alnice; it was the doctrine of (despotism; it was a docne long sinee exploded, he had thought, by all free ,ver..nrieiits, particularly our own; anld if he Ihouaht .re were anly material portioni of the peo,ple of the U-ii-I States who eintertaine0, such doctrines, he should feel mnucIl real alarmn as geiitlemren hald intaeirted they felt the pgoposilioil of the coaymittee.'l'he whole of our '-tiullions ~both State and Federal, were based upon *s' lslrouls principle' and had no other right to rest l iTe deal),te had beeni a most extr,aordiiiarn o lle; gert.meni haids conjured up frightful pictures, and then got ghrte,,ed at the works of their own imaginations." Atr. Buchanan made an elaborate argument in -;fence of the second Convention; and much of s speech has a direct application to the present ,ndition of Kansas. He says: '; If it were neecessary to place the claims of Michig-an .on other grounds, it might,,e done with great force. rp)ose we were to admit that their proceedings had been egular. ougrht that to excludie her from the Un,ioni? ()O s sut)ject we ought to actlike statesmeni acquainted wilh history of our own country. We ought not to apply the :lid rules of ab~stract political science too rig,orously to c,. ca, es. lt h1as beenl our practice he~etofore to treat r ialfaut Trerritories witlt parental eare, to nurse them ith kinldness, ande, when they h~ad attained the age of :tlllhood, to adm-t them inlto the famuily without requirin~g ~m them a rigrid adtherenc(e to formns.'['rne grreat questions b~e dcci~ ed are, do they cont~ainl a sufficienlt populationll? ve they adop~ted a republican Conlstitutionl? anld are they illinlg to enlter the Ultt0ll upon the terms whieh we pro.se? If,o, all the preliminary proeeechlags have b~een 7 8 vindicated her pioneers, and fought their battles in the Capitol, now strike their flag and ground their arms when the interests of Slavery stand in their way. But it is a satisfaction to know that, though men may falter, principles never change. The doctrines thatwere enunciated in behalf of the rights of Michigan, are as sound to-day as when mortal lips first gave them utterance; and thle precedents established in the past will outlive all the shortcomings and inconsistencies of their authors. Mir. Chairman, every reason and every consideration of necessity that justified the admission of Michigan, applies with tenfold force to the case of Kansas, in view of the unprecedented difficulties that surround it, and which can only be obviated by its admission as a free State. And ifit be true, as now alleged, that the citizens of Kansas are traitors and revolutionists, then it is equally true, that the citizens of MAlichi e gan were traitors and revolutionists, and Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and their associates, were apologists and defenders of the treason. I leave to the friends of those gentlemen, to justifyv and reconcile their record. That is no matter of mine; but it is a part of my duty to deny and repel the aspersions that are cast, by implication, upon the settlers of Michigan; for, when gentlemen attack the Free State men of Kansas, they assail, over their backs, the pioneers of my own State; and, -as a citizen of Michigan, regardful of her high fame and unspotted escutcheon in the past, I hurl back all imputations upon her orderloving and law-abiding citizens, while I also, as a legislator, ask that the precedents established in her history, may be made the standard of our action in this case; and I make the appeal more especially to gentlemen on the opposite side of the Chamber, as these precedents come down to us with. high Democratic sanction and authority. These precedents were made in the palmy, better days of Democracy, before it had degenerated into a mere organization to do the bidding of tiea slaveholder, and at a time when Northern men were not compelled to outrage sentiment at home by their bids to secure Southern votes. There are other considerations that induce me to ask for the' settlers of Kansas that guardianship and protection which the General Government owes to its citizens. There are many in that Territory who were but lately citizens of my own State-men who have gone there to open a wilderness to prosperity and civilization; men around whom the grateful recollections and kind regards of my constituents still cluster; men who have gone there on a mission as high and holy as that which the Pilgrim Fathers undertook when they shaped their course for the rock of Plymouth; for they go there to plant the institutions of Freedom, and to lay broad and deep the foundations of a free State, where the curse of oppres.sion never shall enter as a blight and a mildew. These men have breathed the free air of the Northwest from their childhood-they have ex perienced the blessings that flow from the policy of Slavery prohibition-they have witnesse, changes and progres s in the Northwest Ter r itory such as no other section of our Union can boastw of-they have, in the Sp ace of one generation seen the wilderness reclaimed and subdued, and under the genial influences of free institutions become strong and powerful in all the element. that constitute true national greatness; and they realize that, for this onward career in the pathway of progress, they are indebted mainly to the wis dom and patriotism of the statesmen who enacted the Ordinance of 1787, which made labor honor able, and proved to them a shield and a barrio. against the incursions of Slavery. They regar,d that Ordinance as the corner-stone of their pros perity; and having realized in their own experi ence these benefits, and appreciating their origin they naturally demand for themselves and thei. children the same guarantees of prosperity, i, the new homes they make in the wilderness. For such purposes, and with such motives, bavy hundreds gone to the Territory of Kansas fron my own State, and hundreds more are preparinto follow. They disclaim any intention of inva ding the rights of others; but they know tlhei, own, and will not be slow to maintain them They go there, not as transient trespasserS for a,r unlawful purpose, but with a determination t, cast their lot and link their fortunes with its fu ture destinies. And I assure members of thi. House, that when the attempt is made to " subi due " them, it will be found that they value lift less than the rights of freemen. Of that fact, gen tlemen, an incident of the past winter is conclu sive evidence; there are now blood-stains an th+ soil of Kansas, marking the spot where one o,f it. pioneers sacrificed life in defence of his rights a man from my own district, who took with hinqualities and virtues that would render him a.acquisition to any land. He was overpowered and murdered by numbers, for no other crimr than that he loved Freedom better than Slavery and his blood, from that day to this, has calleel in vain upon your officials, for the vengeance o! the law,. His manly bearing in the hour of con flict was worthy of the cause for which he suf fered, and is an earnest of the temper and char acter of those who follow him. They may br overpowered, but they never surrender; and when invading forces attempt to wrest from then the right of self-government, or impose upon then institutions against their will, they will meet th. issue as becomes men who were born and nurtur ed amid the institutions of Freedom; and, whe-,aggressions and usurpations present to them thalternatives of slavery or blood, they will fall, lik: Brown of Leavenworth, with their faces to th.foe, and their blood, like the blood of martyrs will be the seed of Freedom, yielding, in no distan: future, a glorious return. Prinnters, Washington, D.C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, ORATION, B'Y WILLIAM H. SEWARD, AT PLYMOUTH. DECEMBER 21, 1855. Society and government are mutually related and inseparable. The mate rial, intellectual, moral, and spiritual conditions of every people, determine, through either a direct exercise of their will or their passive consent, the nature and form of their government. Reasoning from the attributes of the Creator and from the constitution of man, we justly conclude that a high stage of social happiness is attainable, and that beneficent government is therefore ultimately possible. Any different theory makes the hopes which sustain virtue delusive, and the Deity, who inspires them, a demon equally to be feared and hated. Experience, however, teaches us that the advances of mankind towards such happiness and government are very slow. Poetry, indeed, often presents to us pleasing scenes of national felicity; but these are purely imagi nary, while history is an almost unrelieved narrative of political crimes and public dangers and calamities. We discover, by induction, moral laws as inflexible as the material laws of the universe. We know, therefore, that the tardiness of political progress results from a failure thus far to discover or apply those moral laws. The failure, at first view, excites surprise. Social melioration is apparently an object of general and intense desire. Certainly, the arts which subserve material safety, subsistence, and comfort, have been eminently improved. We construct useful engines recently conceived; we search the whole surface of the round earth with comparative ease; we know the appointed courses and seasons of worlds which we can scarcely see. It is doubtful whether the arts of architecture, painting, sculpture, and poetry, are susceptible of higher perfection. Why, then, does political science remain obscure, and the art of government uncertain and perplexed? It happens, in some degree, because material wants have hitherto exacted excessive care; in some degree, because the advantages which result from political improvements are indirect and diffusive; but chiefly because the science is in its nature recondite, and the art intrinsically difficult. Metaphysics is a science confessedly abstruse, and generally regarded as irksome and fruitless. Lord Bacon so pronounces, and he explains: "For the wit and mind of man, if it work upon matter, which is the contemplation of the creatures of God, worketh according to the stuff, and is limited thereby; but if it work upon itself, as the spider worketh his web, then it is endless, and brings forward, indeed, cobwebs of learning, admirable for the fineness of thread and work, but of no substance or profit." How could the study of groups be either easier or more satisfactory than that of individual man? The same philosopher confesses that "government is a part ofknowledge secret and retired." Consider only one State. Its magnitude is immense, its outlines are indisct, it is without symmetry of parts-its principles and dispositions are a 0 c c ri itgg rgegoite of the impelfeetly-understood principles and dispositions i van ty thio,sa,:s or even many millions of diverse men. The causes which h)te chiefly i forml and direction to these principles and dispotitions are ,'thke o u nknown or forgotten; those which are now modifying them are too ~ubtle for our exam.ination. The fuiture of States involves further conditions, ihich lie outsit.e of the rancee of human foresight, and therefore are called iccidenIts. H+ain0n life is short, hile the process of induction in political cice realces through generations, and even aoes. Philosophers seldom enjoy faci.lities for that process. He'nce, they make imaginary laws for iainarv Comonweaiths, and their dis courses are as the stars, which give little ligi, ht, because they are so high." Stttesmen, on the contlrary, write, accordiin to the States where they live, what is received law, and not whlat ought +to he law.," A constitutional alteration is often necessary, to se cur e dsae social improvemrent; hbut such an alteration cannot be made without a previous Ehnor of public opinion in the State, and even of opinion in surrounding ftatc; are s'+1o'. ocia l personIs, d memb ers of an universal Common e lt ih. tbit resists such changes. Timidity, though lookingfl forward, is 1+iort-sighed; and with far-sighted veneration, which always looks back ad, opposes such changes. Laws, however erroneous, or however arbitraLiiy established, acquire a supposed sanctity from the ceremony of their enactn it, and derive great strength from protracted acquiescence. In a despotic State, no subject can move changes. Inl a free one, each mnemiber may (oppose, antd opponents more easily combinie than advocates. Ambition is the ruling,p)assion of States. It is blind to defects and dangers, while hiirrvying on in careers of aggression and aggrandizement. The personal interests and mhbitions of many effective members of the State cling to its institutions, hoe-er erro neous or injurious, and protect them against inuovation. Reform (-an only appeal to reason and conscience. Conservatism arouses prejudice, ~:upioity, and fear, and adroitly excites suspicion and hatred against the person of the reformer. Retaliation too naturally follows; and so the controversy, w,hich properly ought to be a public and dispassionate one, changes imp)er*.eptibly into a heated conflict of factions. Humanity and benevolence are .eveloped only with increasing knowledge and refin,ement. Hence, castes and elas es long remain; and these, although all equally interested in a proposed mligration, are, by an artful direction of their mutual antipathies, made to de-feat it by their implacable contentions. Material interests are immediately oi,sedl and combined in opposition, because they suffer from the least disturb unce. The benefits of asocial change are more distant, and therefore distrusted and undervalued. The law of progress certainly does not require changes of institutions to be made at the cost of public calamities, or even of great pri vate inconveniences. But that law is, nevertheless, inexorable. A necessary Deformation will have its way, peacefully if favored, violently if resisted. In this sense, the Founder of Christianity confessed that he had come upon the earth to bring, not peace, but a sword. Revolutions are not divinely appointed attendants of progress, nor is liberty necessarily born of social convulsion, and baptized with blood. Revolutions, on the contrary, are the natural penalties for unwise persistence in error, and servile acquiescence in injustice and op pIression. Such revolutions, moreover, are of doubtful success. Most men engage readily enough in civil wars, and for a flash are hot and active; but they cool from natural unsteadiness of temper, and abandon their objects; and many, destitute alike of principle, honor, and true courage, betray them selves, their associates, and even their cause, however just or sacred. Hap pily, however, martial revolutions do not always fail. In some cases, the tem pers and dispositions of the nation undergo a propitious change; it becomes generous, brave, and self-d(enying, and freedom consequently gains substantial and enduring triumphs. It is hard, in such cases, to separate the share of fortune from that of merit, in analyzing the characters of heroes. Nor is it absolutely necessary. The martial heroism of such revolutions is wisely honored, even with exaggeration, because such honors stimulate a virtuous I l 3 atad healthful emaulation. Manikind seek out thle noblest among the successful champions, and, investing him with imaginary excellence in aidciticis to his real iPerit, set him apart as an object of universal veneration to the world's end. We recoguise sucl impersonations in Tell and Alfred, in Wallace and \W ashlinton. These successful martial revolutions, however, only consummate changes which wtere long before projected and prepared, by bold, thoughtful, earnest, and persevering reformers. There is justly due, therefore, to these reformers, at least some of the homage which redeemed nations award to their benefiactors. We slhall increase that tribute, if we reflect that the sagacity -which detects tie roots uand causes finom which national calamities and thraldonms sp ing, and proceeds calmily to remove them, and to avert the need of an ultima'te s:;nguinary remedy, or else prepare that remedy so that it shlall be effectalI, conbines the merits of genius, of prudence, and humanity, with those of patriotism. Our admiration of these reformers will rise still higher, then -emem i(-nbeir that they always are eminently good men, denied the confidence and synlpathies of the country which they are endeavoring to save. Thev are n-ecesarily good inea, because unly such can lose freeomn henriily. All oIleis love inot freed(m. Li t ieuse. hich iever Mcr i r trath Ircc Fe:r i]!:t e e~l;u c~c to ravls. }ctnesee i is hat tyr,i,ts are Iont oftein tf de:r s, t uord mu (!o ~i l~ade mrL. Aus!.<-i2 all ~,a:alj lx servile; b1 t ill w]-oti virtue alt' re tt st is Etiic T,,;y. tljtse Thsy tear il. c, est. as l y ri ht their riasat ri. Agcist ee lie all eir te :!sFwcir>l I. i C<';y niciher 1 bad ohedichae y r, bt,t ( a0e v een ti iwtr y S ieadliest, w {;1h ti~cii.Gi.iiiedl niame os of,o-a'ty an.dl obedieu,ce, to (color over their base ccmplianc (;s. 1 Tihe devotion of thes*, the real authors of all beneficent revolutions, to the melioration of human societet is therefore the most perfect and imnpressivse form of magnanimitt. I knotw very well that this estimate is not generally allowed; nor is the injstice of the case peculiar. It occurs in all other departments of activity. We juistly honor the name of Watt, who applied the ascertained mechanical power of steam to the service of the useful arts of social life-and the memory of Fulton, who converted the steam engine into a marine power, and sent it abroad on all lakes, rivers, and oceans, an agent of commerce, knowledge, civilization, and freedom. Yet we seldom recall the previous and indispensable studies of the Marquis of Worcester, who modestly announced his invention of the steamii engine itself in those words, as full of piety and benevolence as ofjoy: X Tli:~',1,~ weVft shalll ii';e he~re: asz. ns rina ourselves lhat the tlh in! t:-::t a.t~ r,};abil.~ t:(.1r i or SO dvi::4';-''.::i[ b,~ a t:'.i 3':).ty t.~ the work! that [4rea l r4 w~:tr.:t is Il3 t~lp L ItO its 1 ti[;t-ve.tl, Wll,e:5ird W oub)t no't but to res[ f0r,er' itlh tloe that lhae befo our (!,I-.,;,red cf)r t~3 il.','. Conitr.st i thse sentiments, so profoundiy self-renooincing and reverential of God, Awih the blasphlem0ouis egotismi of t'ea French rev olutionists of 1798, and contr.,st'ilso toe slowvlv formed and slowly mrituriug, but always luilt'iplyllg ad ripenain, fi uits of the Puritan reformation, with the blasted anT iirveled benefi,[ of that other great modern convulsion, and you have an instreti e and memLorable leson upon the elevation and purity of spirit whic,h alone ,ran alvaLLnce hum-an progress. Inretse of wealth and commerce, and he enlargiement of empie, ar oo truly pri11iry objects of the Americani patriot. These are, inldeed, worthay of his efforts. But the first object is the preservation of the spirit of fceedomi. which is the soul of the Republic itself. Let that become languid, and tei IRepnbli itself must languish and decline. Let it become extinct, and the Republic must disastrously fall. Let it be preser-ed and invigorated, and the. Repu)lic will spread wider nd wider, and its noble institutions will ower highier and higher. Let it fiall, arnd so its example fail and the nations will retrodr}ce. Let it endure and the world will yet be freo, virtuousn and happy. I-Hitherto, nations have' raised monuments to survive liberty and empire. And they have been succesful. Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and Italy, are full of those monuments. Let our ambition be the nobler one of establishin, liboerty and empire, which shall survive the most stupendous iiateri.l structures which genius can devise, or art erect with all the fwillitie of incre,asing knowledge and priblic vealtlih. Here my reflections on a subject infinitely sugrgestive come to an end. Thoey w\ill not be altog,ether fiuitless, if I have been at all successful in illustratin trhe truths that continuial meliorations of soiety a. nod govertnmenlt are not oly po-ysile but certain; that hutamn progress is slow, because it iS only ,he unfoldlino? of the divine providence concerning man; that the task of dlecti,ng a,nid aidiirn that progrress is rendered tne most difltcult of all our laborse, by rea son of our im,perfect knowledge of the motives and principles of hu-m:t conduct, anid of countless unforeseen obstacles to be encoointere(ld, that thiis progress, nevertheless, must and will go onl, whether favored or resi.:te; thatt it will go on peacefully if wisely favored, and through violence f unwiselv resisted; that neither stability, nor even safety, can be enjoyed by any State, otherwise than by rendering exact justice, which is nothing else than pure equality, to all its members; that the martial heroism, which, invoked after too long passiveness under oppression and misrule, sometimes achieves the deliverance of States, is worthy of all the honor it receives; but that the real authors of all benign revolutions are those who search out and seek to remove peacefully the roots of social arnd political evils, and so avert the necessity for sanguirnary remedies; that the Puritans of EnLgland and America have given the highest and most beneficent illustration of that conservative heroism which the world has yet witnessed; that they have done this by the adoption of a single true and noble principle of conduct, and by patient and persevering fidelity to it; that they thus overcame a demoralizing political and social reaction, and gave a new and powerful impulse to human progress; that tyranny is deceitful, and mankind are credulous, and that therefore political compromises are more dangerous to ilberty than open usurpation; that the Puritan principle, which was so sublime and so effective, was nothing else than the truth that men retain in every state all the natural rights which are essential to the performance of personal, social, and religious duties; that the principle includes the absolute equality of all men, and tends to a complete development in pure republican systems; that it has already modified the institutions of Europe, while it has brought into existence republican systems, more or less perfect, tlrrougl-hout 15 te Ailericanl. contilieit, and is fixini and shanping such nslitulin wherever civilization is found; that hindrances, delays, and reactions of political, pro,ress, are nevertlheless unavoidable, but that they also have corresponding benefits; that it is our duty to labor to advance that progress, elhiefly by faith, constancy, and perseverance-virtiues which can only b. acquired by self-renunciation, and by yielding to ttie Inotives of the fear of God and the love of mankind. (omie foriLard then, ye Nations, States, and 1Races-rude, savage, opT,ressed led despised-enslaved, or mutually warring aimong yourselves, as ye areupon whom the morning star of civilization hath either not yet daiwned or hath only dimly broken amid clouds and storms, and receive the assurance -hat its shiin shall yet be complete, and its lilght be poured clown on all alike. Receive onr pledges that we will wait and watch 2nd strive for the fullness of that lilght, by the exercise of faith, with patience and perseverance.. And ye reverend men, who,ose precious dust is beneath our uinwvorthly feet, pilgrillis aidc scjourners in this vale of tears no longer, but Kings and rinces now at tlih rigt iland of the tihroine of the God you secrved so faithflllv whren on tlie.earth -gather yourselves, immortal and awful shades, around us, n wit1nss, nlot thle useless hlonors we p'y to your memories, but our resolves of fidelity to truth, duty, and freedom, which arise out of the coantemplation tf the eefice,ent operation of you,r own great )iinciple of conduct, and'the. eve~r-widen/h idouence of your holy teachings and Goa.llke example. DOCUMENTS PUBLISHIED BY THE RPEPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION OF WASHIINGTON CITY. Speeches of Hon. William H. Seward at Albany and Buffalo, in one phmphlet, at $2 per 100 copies. Speech of Hon. W. H. Seward at Albany, in the German language, $2 per 10( copies. Speech of Hon. Charles Sumner. delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, November 2, 1855, $2 per 100 copies. Speech of Hon. W. H. seward at Buffalo, in the German language, $2 per 100 copies. Oration at Plymouth, Mass., by HIon. W. H-. Seward, $2 per 100 copies. Letter of Francis P. Blair, Esq., to the Pepublican Association of WVashington, D. C., in English antd German, $1, cach, per 100. The Association will also direct and mail them singly, free of postage, to such names as may be furnished, at the above rates; of they will send them in packages, at the expense of the person ordering, at the very low price of $1.25 per 100 copies for the Speeches and Oration, and 62 cents per 100 for Mlr. Blair's Letter. Address L. CLEPHANE, 'Secrelcry f t/he Republican Assoeciaion, Wo.~higt', D. C. WASHINGTON, D. C. BUIILL AND BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 1856. A Review of the President's Message. SPEECH OF HION. CHARLES BILLINGHURST, OF WISCONSIN, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 9, 1856. much put-on unction, "What is the voico of history?" He should have paid some heed to the old maxim, "sufficient unto the day is -he evil thereof," before he turned historian. Sins enough in the practical administration of th e government were daily committed, at'is hands, without adding to them the falsifi,:a tion of the history of our country. The honest historian chronicles the virtues as well as the vices of the times and of the country; but President Pierce, like a feed attorney, appears as the advocate of one section Qf his country against the other, and that of the section in which he has ever had his home, and where he was born and reared. "What is the voice of history?" he asks, and then talks of Florida as an acquisition demanded by the whole Union! of Louisiana, and declares it a mere delusion to say that she was an acquisition in the special interest Gf the South! of Texas, whilst out of the Union, and of the efforts made to prevent her annexation, as a "systematized attempt to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section ot the Union in defiance of their rights as States and of the stipulations of the Constitution." But he boasts that the Constitution triumphld over sectional prejudice and the political I-rrors of the day, and that Texas came into the Union with the chosen institutions of her people. In the passage of the compromise measures of 1850, he again eulogizes the Constitu,;,fa as signally triumphing, and is especially gratified that among those measures the I-ag[ MR. CRAIRIIAN:-Availing myself of the present occ a sion to submit a few observations to the House and to the conuntry, I shall mainly tak e for my text the last annual mes s ag e f tin of the President of the U nited States, or passages in said message which I think are justly entitled to unsparing animadversion. That executive pronunciamento was, a s is well rememb er ed, thrust upon us, the representa tives of the people, most ungraciotisly, and it will also be remembered that it found none here so poor as to do it reverence. It has never been received-never read in the House -a just rebuke of a tyrannical executive who forgets the "decent respect" which is ever due to the popular branch of government. The people make and unmake Presidents, and sometimes Presidents unmake themselves.There is no way so sure to accomplish this last act as for the President to treat the people or their chosen representatives with contumely. Inasmuch as the President seems to have no friend in the House to bring to light this most remarkable document, I propose to dig it up from the mass of matter under which it lies buried on the speaker's table, that I may review some of its salient points, fairly and with even-handed justice, that the friends and defenders of the President, (if indeed he has any remaining since the assembling and terrible, if not most ungrateful, action of the Cincinnati convention,) may have an opportunity to defend the great rejected candidate. The President, in his message, asks, with 2 tive slave law has invaded the rights of the States-that is, that that law of Congress, whether unconstitutional or otherwise, which was framed and passed to please the South, with the knowledge that it would be distasteful to the North, does invade and attempt to nullify the guaranteed State rights of his ownt section of the Union. For the passage of this act, lie assumes to rejoice and be most glad. The territories of Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Nebraska and Kansas are prominent points of historical review. Incidentally the President alludes to an antiquated piece of legislation called the "Ordinance of 1787," for the government of the territory northwest of the Ohio, as having had a place upon the Statute Books, for two or three years, and then been superseded by the Constitution, when it ceased to remain as a law! He is certainily entitled to credit for magnaninmity in admiiting that a recollection of that ordinance existed down to the year of our Lord, eighteen hundred and twenty; but there, at that point the Executive historian loses all sight or recollection of it. He however finds another piece of mere formal legislation upon the Statute Books at that period, growing out of an " evanescent controversy 1, called the " Missouri Compromise," of ", most doubtful constitrtionality," and hp styles it "the dormant letter of the statute." Capital idea, that! "I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word!" Yes, it was dormant. It did sleep, guarded, watched over, protected, undisturbed but revered by the great and good men of the nation for thirty-three years, until 1854, when it was about to a wak e and take on vitality. Thero it wa s that the President and his reck less coadcjutoo'ave it the death-blow. " Dor mant," did he say? Yes, it slept and had another class of as vigilant watchers who made it the sleep that knew no waking. I will not now go further with his Excel lency into other points of history to which he alludes, although it might be both profitable and interesting to do so, but will say, just here, that if his history had been accurate as well as complete, it would have saved me much labor. It is a duty we all owe to our coiin try, as it seems to me, when we find its his tory falsified bv authors, or men in high pla ces, to expose and correct it, and thus, as co temporaries, occupying responsible positions in the councils of the nation, supply any ma terial omissions which we may discover. As the humblest of the body I am a mem ber of, I will cheerfully undertake to execute myr part of this duty. Andl first, I shall speak of the Ordinance of 1<87, which the Presi dent says swas superseded b~y the Constitutioni and ceased to remain as a lawr, &c. This Ordinance was adopted by the ConT tress of the confederacy. It related to territory which had been ceeded to the confederacy. Tahe territory was 6utside of the States. The Ordi nance w as an act o uts ide of the articles o f co nfederation, and that portion of i t relating to the slavery question was, in terms, an express and solemn comipact, as follows: "It i s her eby o rdai ned and declared bv the authority aforesaid, that the follrwing articles shall be considered as articles of a compact between the o r iginal State s a nd the people and States in said Territory, and for ever remain unalterable, unless by comlmion consent." ARTICLE SIX. "There shall neither be slavery nor involuntary servitud e in the said Tliy erritory, otherwise tha n i n punishecnt of crima e, whereof thepart y shall have been duly convicted' provi ded, always, that any person escaping i nto the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claigmed in any one of t he original State s, such fugitive may be lawfu l ly reclaimed and convey ed to the person claiming his or he r labor o r ser vice as aforesaid." Now I beg to ask what article or section of the Constit ution rep ealed th is Ordinance, or how did the Constitution, which was framed for the governme n t of the States (and not for territori es) supersede this organic law of the territory? Was it that claus e which reads as l follows: "Congress shall have o power to dispose of and make as, ne edful rules and regulations respect ing the Territory and o the r pr ope rty belongin g to the United States." It co uld not be, for this relates to the -ter ritory as p roerty. It is inde ed difficult to un derstasd h ow the Constitutio n super seaded th is Ordinance. So far as the Constitution contra venes any of the provision s of the or dinance, the Constitutio n is unquestionab ly pa ramo unt. As States have been, from time to time, formed from this territory, their Constitutions, so far as they have trenched upon the ordinance, have superseded that instrument; but in every one of the States formed therein, this same ordinance, in some of its features, is now self operative and so recognized by judicial decis ions. I ask, who of the north-western States does not recognize the validity of the follow ing, clause in it, viz: " The navigable waters leading into the Mis sissippi and St. Lawrence and the carrying places between the same, shall be comnmiioni high ways and for ever free, as well to the inhabitants of said Territory as to the citizens of the United States and those of any other States that may be admitted into the confederacy, without-any tax, impost or duty therefor." Repeatedly has this ordinance been held to be in force by the courts. No new or other legislation has been had to give it vitality. As States have been formed, from time to tinge, 3 out of this territory, or within its boundaries, the ordinance has been in force over what of said territory still remained, and more than once has it heen extended to other territories. It was extended over Louisiana, with the exception of the sixth article already referred to. In relation to this sixth article, and the Missouri compromise, the President discourses thus: tion of Congress and the pe ople thereon at different periods since its ena ct ment. He should know, if he does not, what every intelligent American citizen knows, tha t the first Congress, assembled under the cons titution, reenacr ste di n an e this very ord inance by the following ac t, be in g the eighth act of that s ession, viz: " CHAP. 8. An act to provide for the government of the territory north west o f the sOhio river. Whereas, in order that the ordinance of the United States in Congress assembled, for the gove rnment of the ter rit ory north-wes t of the river Ohio, may contin ue to have full effect, it is requisite that certain pr ovisions should be mad e, so as to adnit the same o t o the present constitution of the United States. SECTION 1. Be it enacted b y the Senate and Ho use of Representatives o f the United Stat es of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases in which by the said ordinance any information is t o b e gi ven or c ommunication made by the Governor of the said territory to the United States i n Congress assembled, or to any of their officers, it s h all be the duty of the said Governor to give such inform ation, and t o make such communication to the President of the.r States, and the President shall nominate and by and with the advice a nd consent of the Senate s hall appoint all officers which, by t he said ordirhuance, were to have be en appointe d by the United States in Congress assembled; and all officers so appointed shall be commission ed by h im, an d in all cases where the United States in Congress assembled might by the said ordinance revoke a ny commission or remoove from any office, the President is hereby dec l are d to have the same powers of r evocati on and removal. SEC. 2. And be it further en acted, That in case of the death, removal or resignation, o r necessary absen ce of the goveror o f the said territory, the Secretary thereont.all be and he is hereby authorized and required to execute all the powers and perform all the duties of the governor during the vacancy occasioned by the removal, resignation or necessary absence of the said governor." All cause of cavil was removed by this act. But President Pierce -says, to Congress and to thlecotintry, " it ceased to remain as a law." I will not insult the good sense of the House by attemipting to reftite this Executive declaration, as every body knows that the validity of the Ordinance of 1787 is not to be thus repudiated. Mr. President Pierce may discharge his puny arrows at it from now uintil the 4th of March next, and the old Ordinance will still stand unhurt, and unbattered even. Now, Mr. Chairman, I propose to call to the minds of those Who hear me or who may take the trouble to read my speech when published, some recollection of sundry points in our legislative history omitted by the historian-President. "This provision ceased to remain as a law, for its operation as such was absolutely superseded by the constitution. But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism in some sections of the confederation; and, when a second State, that of Missouri, came to be formed in the Territory of Louisiana, proposition was mnade to extend to the latter Territory the restriction originally applied to the country situated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. "Most questionable as was this proposition in all its constitutional relations, nevertheless it received the sanction of Congress, with some slight modifications of line, to save the existing rights of the intended new States. It was reluctantly acquiesced in by Southern States as a sacrifice to the causes of peace and of the Union, not only of the rights stipulated by thetreaty of Louisiana, but of the principle of equality ambong tthe States guaranteed by the constitution. It was received by the Northern States with angry and resentful condemnation and complaint, because it dida not concede all which they had exactingly d emanded. Having passed through th e form s of legislation, it took its place in the statute book, standing open to repeal, like any other act of d oubtful co nstitutional ity, subject to be pronounc ed null and void by the courts of law, and possessing no possible efficacy to control the rights of the States which might thereafter be organized out of any part of the original Territory of Louisiana. "In all this, if any aggression there were, any innovation upon pre-existing rights, to which portion of the Union are they justly chargeable? "This controversy passed away with the occasioni, nothing surviving it save the dormant letter of the statute. But, long afterwards, when, by the proposed accession of the republic of Texas, the United States were to take their next step in territorial greatness, a similar continency occurred, and became the occasion. for systematized attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section of the Union, in defiance of their rights as States, and of the stipulations of the constitution. These attemnpts assumed a practical direction, in the shape of persevering' endeavors by some of the Representatives of both houses of Cono'ress to deprive the Southern States of the supposed benefit of the provisions of the act, authorizing the organization of the State of Missouri. "But the good sense of the people, and the vit.al force of the constitution, triumphed over sectionhal prejudice, and the political errors of the day, and the State of Texas returned to the Union as she was, with social institutions which her people had chosen for themselves, and with express ao-reernent, by the re-annexing act, that she should be susceptible of subdivision into a plurality of States. Thus discourses Mr. President Pierce on the subject of the ordinance of 1787, and the ac 4 The legislation for Oregon finds no place treme portions of the Union.- But, luckily, in his history; the Union was saved by a string of compro That for Minnesota has no place in his mises-one of which stopped the slave trade history; in the District of Columbia, another of which That for the two free States to be formed admitted California into the Union as a free out of the territory of Texas finds no place State; two others organized Utah and New in his history; Mexico, where slavery was already prohibited That for California, as a Iree State, finds by the local or Mexican law, giving them none; permission to come into the Union, in proper The legislation relative to the Proviso con- time, as States, with or without slavery. nected with the settlement of the boundary What else occurred in the meantime? Ah, I line between Texas and New Mexico, finds have it. Two Presidential Conventions asno place in his history; sembled, each resolving solemnly to abide by The local Mexican law prohibiting slavery those compromises, every one of them. Was in Utah and New Mexico finds no place there any other new matter to be acted upon? there; No. What novel principle had taken such Nor does the legislation to suppress the fast hold of the public judgment as to be inslave trade in the District of Columbia, one troduced, by common consent, into the govof the Compromises of 1850, find any place emrnment of WVashington Territory, making in his history. the nation jubilant? Was it the prohibition Oh, no; this most impartial historian-Pres- of slavery therein? No, that is not the President could'not condescend to give a truthful ident's meaning, by a long shot. He finds no and an impartial history of the legislation of joy, nor consolation, nor hope of reward in the country, relative to the vexed question of that direction. His thoughts were running slur;ry.- It was too much for his nerves to another way. Theingenuity of his mindlies4n b.;ar Just as he was framing his message with finding out the fact that this glorious princia view to make a strong and most desperate ple of his had, by common consent, found its bid for the whole Southern vote in the Cii- way into Washington Territory. And when cinnatiConvention. So he framed his history did he find this out? It was news to Conto tickle the ears of Southern politicians. gress-news to the people. How did he keep And how have his labors been rewarded? so prominent a fact concealed for so long a The President, however, deserves to be time? What evidence has he of this common credited with the ingenious discovery of a consent? I will tell you, Mr. Chairman, conpoint entirely new in our legislative history. fidentially, what I think of it. I think that Or, if he did not discover or invent it, he had the authors of the bill for Washington Territhe honor of learning it and first spreading tory shot beyond the stone-ezel, as spoken of it before the public, in a most grandiloquent in the Bible, or over-shot the mark. They strain. It suyds the clause in the message were altogether too keen, or, to use a Yankee in which h -lonsecrates the Compromise expression, too smart for themselves, and thus measures of 1850, and thus reads: failed to accomplish what they intended. "Vain declamation regarding the provisions That they intended to leave off from Washof law for the extradition of fugitives from ser- ington a wholesome restriction, long the setvice, with occasional episodes of frantic effort to tled policy of the government as to territories, ot-.st uct their execution by riot and murder, con- I have not a doubt and that the present tirnue- for a brief timne to agitate certain leeall- ** i ou- for a brief time to agitate certain locai- President was let into the secret and safely i/es," The, r l if no. kept it until he wrote his message I have just There-that's rhetorical, if not historical. as little dobt. I ncw come to the point. Further on the. .. come to thepoin. FuWhat are the facts in the case? Look at hiistorian-President says* hitra*rs n them. Oregon Territory was organized Aug "But the true principle, of leaving each State ust 14, 1848, including what is now Washandcl Territory to regulate its own laws of labor ington Territory and a part of the Oregon according to its own sense of right and( expedi- ency, had acquired fast hold of the public judg- Act reads as follows ment to such a degree that, by common consent, " Sec. 14. That the inhabitants of said territory shall it was observed in the organization of the Ter- be entitled to enjoy all and singular, the rights, privileges ritoi'y of Washington." and advantages granted arid secured to the people of the of Washngto was o territory in the United States north-west of the river 5ite Territory of Washington was organ- Ohio, by the articles of compact contained in the OrdiiY,(i March 2, 1853-two days before Presi- nance for the government of said territory, on the thir teenth day of July, 1787, and shall be subject to all the conditions and restrictions and prohibitions in said arti'roars before this, the Union was thought to dles of compact imposed upon the people of said territory." be in danger. The throes of the body politic Here the slavery prohibition, in the form and were keenly felt from the centre to the ex- express terms of a compact, unalterable, except 5 my own political associations had unwaveringly been with the Democratic party, and as this pestiferous measure originated with Democrats and became one of the tenets of the party, I felt imperatively called upon to cxainine it with all the care its importance to tbe country seettied to me to dlemand, a'nd from mny party associations and affinities I reviewed and considered it from the ,most favorable point, I am sure. In candor I confes that I could find no mnierit in it, or any thing to justify the very grave act of repealing the Missouri Compromise, (which had stood revered and nearly as sacred as the Constitution itself by the whole people of the Union for some thirty-four years,) and of re-opening the slavery question, which had been so solemnly settled, according to President Pierce's inaugural address, by the Compromise Measures of 1850. 1 could not sanction or support it. I could not longer act with a party which would adopt it as a cardiinal feature in its creed. I felt as no doubt Mr. Presidentt Pierce felt when the measure was first sprungin the Senate upon the country, and when his official mouth-piece, the Uii,i)n newspaper, repudiated and denounced it. But I held on to omy opposition to so unwise, unjust an,] wrongful ia measure, whilst the President and his offingial omouth-piece turned to the rightt-a-bout face and hugged and embraced the identical measure which they had in good set terms, but a little while before, no doubt honestly, condemned. But beyond this, and as a graver question than even the repeal of this timne-honored compact, there was a measure incorporated in that act by way of explaining or interpreting the intent of Congress, in passing the act, more alarming in its character than any act of Congress since the foundation of the government. I w i ll no w pro ceed to strip this measu re o f the in gen i ous con trivances of languag o i e t o hide i ts meaning, and expose it in all its enormnity. I have always, Mr. Chairbmanu, re garded slavery as a local, s ectional, and not a n ational institu t ion, and th at the nation not on ly h ad, but as was it s duty to thsiita t e s pirit andf the letter of tbe consti tution, always should avoid any thing and every thing even looking like a recognition of its nationality. But, sir, by the Kans as andthebraska act sla ver was expressly legalized within those territories. Now for the proof: " It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into anty State or Territory, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof per fectly free to form and regulate their domestic institu tions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.', What mhere twaddle it is to contend that Con gress does not intend to legislate slavery into the territories. How could Congress legislate it in ally more than it could legislate money in, or crime or virtue? This form of expression is not inconsistent with a system of legislation that would brin_ about a state of things-by which sla very might slide into a territory that was free. Slavery was never legislated into any locality; but it has been taken in by virtue 6f legislation. Let us consid er the other branch of this legis lative-judicial interpretation. Congress has so leninly declared its,, true intent to be, not to ex clude slavery from the territories, but to leave the people thereof perfee tly free to term arnd regulate their domestic inslira; fiens in their own way A domestic instiresit en may be the creature of law or a mere conlventi~ tel regulation. Af~.rra,!'..::, by consent of all the parties, is extended over all Oregon, the north half of wh ich is now Washington Territory. It is not th e ordinary e Wilmo t Proviso," a simple ac t of legislation, but an expressly declared compact, unalterable and unlepealable, except by the co n sent of all parties int er este d. Mr. Chairman, I leave g entlemen to judge how far a cow pact can be impaired by a,in ordinary act of legislation. The strewdness of the authors of the Washington Territorial bill, specially known to the President and highly appreciated, in secret for a long time. is to be found in the peculia r phrasby"seseloy of the 12th semtion of said bill. Here it is. Listen and ponder: — th slnd be itfurther exacted, That the laws now in force in the Territory ot O regon by virtu e of th e legislation of Congress, which have been enactled and passed subsequlent to the first day of September. 1848, * * * * be and otey a e hereI cowtiluec in ftice in thei Teoritory of tashingto i n until they shall be rep eale d or am einded byt future legislation." By continu ng in force the laws of Congress relatitno to Oregon, passed s1ybseqaent to the first day,f September, 1848, the design of the framers of the Washing ton Territorial bi ll was, manifestly and clearly, to shut out the organic lawof Ore,on; passed August 14, 184S. Does any body be lieve that ten member s of Congress understood the object and purpose of this curious hiatus of s ixteen days? And it is b y such legislatio,n tha t a "great principle " has been introd aced into WVas hington Territory, to the general joy of the American people, as Mr. President Pierce, the self- appointed historian of the legislation of this country, would have it. The organic law of Oregon, already referred to, has never been repealed, as it regards Washingt,n Territory, and although Congreas did declare that its laws passed subsequent to the first day of September, 1848, should be in force in Washin_htoti Territory, it does not necessarily follow that other laws previously in force there are repealed. Far, very far from it. They stand and will exercise their binding force, in spite of the ingenious contrivance of the authors of the WVashington Territorial act, over which the Pres ident seems to think the whole country is rejoic ing. I hardly can conjecture to what extent this ad ministration will carry its new doctrine of repeal ing laws by "superseding" them. It may be that the solemn compact extended over Washington Territory has been superseded. That the people may have their attention called particularly to this novel doctrine, I will recapitulate the in stances of its application under the present ad ministration. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was " super seded " by the Compromise measures of 1850, but not known until 1854. The Ordinance of 1787 extended over Oregon in 1848, was; superseded " in 1853, by the Wash ington Territorial bill, but not known until 1856. The Ordinance of 1787 was " superseded " by the Constitution of 17X9, but not known until 1856. It is at least a convenient Executive doctrine, as it keeps the people in the dark. The next passage in the message which I shall notice, is an extract from the Kansas and Ne braska act, and the part which, ever since its en actmen t, has been uttering', to this Gad minist ra. tion and its adherents,. "Signs of woe, that all *a Mst. 5 Until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 6 school, a church, a state of servitude, is a domestic lisTitution. Ia fact, the word domestic, from do,nu, a house, or home, residence, or family, as domestic concernts, domestic life, domestic du ties, domestic affairs, domestic happiness, domestic worsh p, and in a substantive sense, " one who lives in the family of another, a servant or hired laborer." A careful consideration of the word "domestic" will enable us readily to solve this lav, and to understand its true intent and meaning. When the word "people" is used in connection with "form," that is, to introduce or establish, it is to be taken to intend the people as iedividuals, bn,t when used in connection with the word "regula'e," it intends to refer to therm collectively. The pecple of slave states individually "foirm" their domestic institutions; collectively, as represented in toe legislature, they regutlate them. Before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise slavery was prohibited in Kansas and Nebraska, and, according to mny understatding of the law, sla.vcry can exist legally only by express legislation permitting it, so that, it Congress had contented itself with simply repealing the prohibition, slavery could not have legally existed in the territories in question. Now to put this law to a practical test, to determnine whether Congress has legalized slavery in the territories and thus given to it nationality of character, I will put a case. iature have the consti tu tion al power to prohibit slavery in the territories. The democrats of the north ma intain tha t the re is nothing in th e Ka n sas and Nebraska bill which authorizes sl avery, w hile some contend that the sovereignty conl ferred upon the people of the t erritory is to legis late upon the s ubject of sla very, pro and con, and others still insist that no legislati on can be h ad on the subject. Some ther re are who mainta in that the act means slavery, and o thers that it means freedom. All these views, with other s too numerous to name are divided and s ubdivided into innumerabl e grades and shades, so that scarcely any two minds can be found to agree in the matter. And stir I the President proclaims that the scope and i ntent of this famous and in iquitous act were not left in doub t! "And he played upon a harp of a thousand strings, Sperits of just mtjeni made perfec." Mr. Chairman, I have now done with the Pr-es ident so far as relates to his historical legislative facts and omissions, but I shall endeavor to hold him up to the public as he is, and to place before him his own mirror, that he may take a retro spec.tive glance at himself. I call attention to another part of his message, and it is a most hu miliating duty that I now feel called upon to perform. When I look back no longer ago than the year 1852, two years after the passage of the fugitive slave law, when the two great political parties of the country, comprising nearly our entire population, manifesting a spirit "that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abol ishing the forms to which they are accustomed," agreed to abide by the compromises of 1850, as afinality, and that, under this agreement the present Chief Magistrate of the nation was elect ed by an unprecedented majority, my heart sick ens at his subsequent political depravity. He has to answer for a willful and audacious viola tion of the solemn promise he made to the coun. try and upon which he was elected to the Presi dency. He has to answer for a gross and sidden violation of the promise he made in his inaugural address, at the time he was sworn into fmice, that he would take care to see that the Cofmpro mise measures, to stop agitation on the slavery question an(] to give peace to the ct,untry, anid all other laws, faithfully executed. Instead of keepitng his sworn pledge, he has re-opened the old controversy, greatly fomented and embittered public feeling, and forfeited the respect of the people. The President's course having involved him in; difficulties,3 he seeks to extricate himself by mlisstatements, suppressions, and false reasonings,. and to divert attention froth his own perfidy, charges back uipon Americans freemen who hall; Dr. Stritngfellow's slave Cato sues out a writ of h';tbss Corpus before Judge Lecompt to procure I)ts Ireedom on the ground that slavery is not recognized by the organic law. On the hearing, the(, Judge examines the law and finds, in section 23d thereof, that he has been required in his oath A, MTice, to swear that lie would support the Con st:tution of the United States and the provisions o. toe Kansas and Nebraska act. He then turns to the 32d section and reads that Congress has de e'i.'lrd that they did not intend or mean to excl'ude s, azo,ry from the territory, but to leave every man wt/m emigrated to it perfectlyfree to bring his own &t,5s~tic institutiosh with him, and that the territ.r'al legislature is invested with power to regulate.such institutions. The Judge turns to C ato and says to him, "I am sworn to support this law oi Congress and cannot discharge you." Stript of all disguise this modern democratic doctriti of " popular sovereignty" amounts to titis: the extension of slavery into free territories, by sttealthy legislation, or by ruffian force. Each successive extension is a triumnph of the Constitutitn and the Union, in the estimation of the 1'r —siDesnt, or it was so, previously to the assem[;h..) ot the late Cincinnati Convention. And yet lie tells us that the scope and effect of the repeatl of the Missouri Compromise was not left in .,: i:dt. Does it, or will he tell us whether slavery Call go into the territory or not? Does it, or will he, tell us whether or not the territorial legialat:-'- can establish or prohibit slavery? The doct,,"tiu maintained by our Southern brethren, is, that neither Congress nor the Territorial Legis from following him in his iniquitous career, calumnies like the following: " It has been a matter of patinful regret to see States con-picuo(us lor their services ilk loulidlig this republic, and equally snarinig its a,Ivanrtages, disregard their constlitutioIial obligations toi it. Althougli consctous of their iliability to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their own. aid which are comnpleteiy within their jurisdiction, they engage in the olteiislve and hopeless undertaking of rel)orliiiig the domestie institutions of other States, wholly beyond their control and authority. In' the vain pursuit ot ends, by them entirety unattainable, and wliic, they miay not legally attempt to comlpass, they peril the very *Xisteluee o' the constitution, and all the countless benefits which it has ce()terred. While the peo)ile ot the S,butherni States confilne their attention to their own aff:irs, not presuming officiously to iiiterineddle with the social institutions ot theNotherni States, too many ot tile inhabitants ol the latter are permanently orgaiiized in assoclati 0-s to inflict injury on the former by wronigful acts, which would be the cause of war as betwee,. foreigni powers, aid on.ly tail to be such in o ur system because perpetrated under cover of the union." " is it possible to present this subject as truth and the occasiiiin require withlout noticilig the reiterated but groundless aslegation, that the South has persistenitly asserted cliaiiiis and obtained advantages ill the practical adriiiiiistratioi in tile general goverinimeit to thie prejuaeice of tihe N)rLh, and in whichi the latter has acquiesced?Triiat is, tihe States which either promot e or tolerate attacks on thie rights of persons and of property in other States, to disguise their own ilijustice, pretend or imagitie and co.stanstly aver, that they whose constitutional rights are thus systemnatically assailed, are themselves the aggressors. At the present time, this iiiipuved ag-ression resting, as it does, only in the vague declamatory charges ol political aiitat.is, resolves itself iniito misapprehension or misrepresentation ot' the principles and fhtets of the political orgaiiizationi of the new territories of the United States." Mr. Chairman, much of this I have answered, and I do not read it now so much to comment upon it, as to call to it especial attention-to ren der it conspicuous. Do States disregard their constitutional obligations by enacting laws to compel postmasters to rifle the mails-by passing laws to imprison free citizens of other States be cause of their color, and then to sell them into slavery to pay their jail fees? Is not the thrusting of slavery upon Kansas, by ruffians.of slave States, a departure of attention fro.n tir own affairs and an officious intermeddling, h social institutions of other localities? Is the formation of an association to correct public sentiment by moral suasion and the spread of truth just cause of war? Has the South no advantage in the practical administration of the general govern ment. when by the settled policy of the Senate for more than a quarter of a century, no Northern man who has spoken the truth of slavery can pass the ordeal of its approval? It has been to each and every of our country men a proud reflection to be enabled to say, " I am an Atnierican citizen," but after an American President has sent forth to the world such a mes sa ge, truly our pride has departed, an d w e c ould not in our manhood, andt retain our self-respect, say, "II amn an American citizen," even as a pass port in a foreign land. It is a new and a curious idea which the South ern portion of the present Congress, with the Ex ecutive, entertain, that all who favor the exter.~sio of slavery in any way are the thoughtful frir.ends of the Union, the true lovers of the country, the real defenders of the const itution, the true and only patriots of th e land. This is th e burden oa the son g which the President sin gs all ti rour ih his message, whilst he statigmatizes as " fattics," *' agitators," " disturbers of the peace," "1 enemies of the co nstittitution," &c., all those who rove free dom better than slavery, the prosperity of the country better than their o wn indolent ease, and wh o believe that the c onstitution was framed and intended to secure the blessin g s of li)erty and who would defend the t er r i tories a gainst the blighting curse of slavery. But, sir, the issue is made up. This new party test of " popular sovereignty, alias slavery extolrt sin, that has been itaug ura ted by this adroiwni3 * tration, has gathered to its suppor t the federai ot frice- holders-th e conservative men, par excellenncs, whether whi gs or democrat s —all tihe old fotiesn - and, s Stealing the livery o f he aven to serve the devil it," they take the natne of Democracy a nd agree to support James Buchanan, in every aspect a r6st appropriate candidate for such a fusion. He is federal-he is conservative-both whig and demnocrat, and is eminently an old fogy. The convention that nominated him, adopted a platform of about this purport: 1. Opposition to the improvement of rivers and harbors. 2. Opposition to a National Bank. 3. In favor of the veto power. 4. Free religion. 5. Slavery is national. 6. The fugitive slave law must be enforced at all hazards. 7. No t.more agitation of the slavery question. 8. Endorses Kentucky and Virginia Resulu tions of 1799. 9. Supports Missouri border ruffianism and ia favor ot extending slavery into Kansas by such means. 10. Compromise Measures of 1850. 11. New States with or without slavery. 12. Kansas and Nebraska ditto. 13. In favor of free seas and free trade the world over, except the Gulf of Mexico, which shall be tree only to Amnerica. 14. Europe, Asia and Africa, keep hands off from the western hemisphere, or we'll fight. Axe are the biggest toad in this puddle, and can es-iii age all the tad-poles if let alone. 15 We want Cuba —we are strong enough to take her; therefore she is ours. 16. We will support Walker's government. 17. In favor of building a rail road to Califor nia, but for the constitution. I believe this enumeration presents, nest un fairly, the spirit of the Cincinnati platforrn- gs,reen of the seventeen points go to show their att twh ment to slavery. In process of fusion anld to be fused withl this ~ party, isi the Know Nothing or American party, e 0 r0 0 t h t a a a b t s t t 8 7 8 * erty or slavery. There is no half-way work-no half-way house-no compromise in this struggle. It is the beginning of the end, and "may God prosper the right." Col. John C. Fremont of all men is the man for the crisis. He is no hackneyed politician-but is fresh from the people. The laurels that crown his brow were earned in no partisan contest, but were awarded him by the entire country, for his achievements in science-his intrepidity of char acter-his vast discoveries-for benefits conferred upon his country and tlte world. He opened up to view and settlementa vast empire in the West. He scaled the Rocky Mountains, and at his bid ding California sprang into existence, and now out of her abundance, is filling the world with wealth. His spirit hovered over her in her in fancy, and taught her the lessons of freedom. He discovered and pointed out the "passes" through which she has received her population. He brought her into the sisterhood of States, and, as United States senator, provided her with whole some laws. He has called the commerce of Asia across the Pacific to our Western shore. By his own almnost unaided achievements he has estab lished a world wide reputation for himself, re flecting honor and glory upon his country. "In the vocabulary of youth, There is no such word as fail.~ This was his motto in early life, and most faithful'ly has he lived up to it. When stout hearts quailed and weather-beaten cheeks blanch ed, hi, cry was "onward," and his career has been onward and upward, surmounting all dilliculties. The voice of resolution kept uttering within him, "there is no such word as fail." HisI character, for it is formed, belongs to the Amer,-,: people, and if we desired a model for you -.,.!low, we need not go abroad for the cone*. o,?;j If it were asked what has he Mdov e off. f: the p l entitle him to be President, I '~ Y~E IHAS MADE HIMSELF A MAN.:~:n oui~r country, and if Fremont has done nothing for its greatness-it fame-its wealth-where lives the man who has done more? ~ A Bonaparte in energy and endurance-a Jefferson in intellect-a Jackson in firmness, are qualities he possesses, fitting him for the exalted station of Chief Magistrate, and are requisite to recover for our common country the glory that has been lost by real-administration. with Millard Fillmore as its nominee for the time being. As this party, like the Buchanan party, makes slavery the leading or controlling element in its creed, and being the weaker, it will natu rallyd fuse with the stronger. As evidence of what it will do in the future, we may judge by the past and present. In the c ontest in this H ouse t hese two parties fused in their votes for Speaker on Smith of Va., Oliver of Mo., Porter of Mo., and Aiken of S. C. Since the election of Speaker, on all questions where slavery was in any way in volved, the y havee ac ted to gethe r as naturally as if the y we re consolid ated. In the Brooks, Keitt and Herbert cases they were to g ether. In the contested elec tion case s of Allen and A rcher of Iil., of Chapman and Bennett of N:braska, of Whitfield and Reeder of Kansas, they co-operated. In the Senate, Benjamin, Jon es, Pearce and Pratt have gone over to Bu chanan. In view of these facts for all practical purposes of the approaching Presidential elec tion, i t is safe to say t ha t the Knownothings o r American party will unite with the Pro-slavery Buchanan party. Oppos ed to this combination the people have presen te d C ol. Jo hn Cp. Fremont, upon a p latform embodying the following declaration of princi ples: 1. Opposition to the extension of slavery into free territories, the admission of Kansas as a free state. and the restoration of the gc,vernment to the principles of Washington and Jefferson. 2. Maintenance of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the chief end of. gov ernlllen t. 3. Congress has no power under the constitution to legalize slavery in the territories. 4. It is the duty of Congress to prohibit polygamy and slavery in the territories. 5. That it is our-duty to punish the frauds, outrages and usurpations in Kansas. 6. In favor of River and Harbor Improvements. 7. In favor of the Pacific Railroad. Mr. Chairman, this movement of the people to bring the government back to the control of first principles, is imperiously demanded on account of the wickedness of this administration. It is no party movement-no contest, as of old, between whips and democrats, about questions of Bank and Tariff, but, sir, it is a struggle for civil liberty-for the rights of man. It reaches fundamnental principles, the very foundation of our government. It is to decide whether the best energies, indeed the entire power of this g overnment shall be devoted to the perpetuation of lib- [ WASHINGTON, D. C. BlELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS, 1856. I As this pamphlet may reach some persons not familiar with the position of the writer, it is proper to say, that Mr. BLAIR was the editor of the Washington Globe, during the administration of GENERAL JACKSON, the trusted friend of that great man, and of the first men of the Democratic Party. Since then, he has resided in Maryland, taking no part in political strife, but the present crisis is such as to bring him forth from his retirement. LETTER FRANCIS P. BLAIR, ESQ. TO THE REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON, D.C. REPUBLICAN ROOMS, WASHINGTON, December 10, 1855. The annexed letter from Francis P. Blair, Esq., was presented and read at the regular meeting of the Republican Association of this city, Saturday evening, the 8th instant, and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted, and also one urging Mr. Blair to reconsider his determination to decline the Presidency of the Association. Resolved, That the thanks of this Association be presented to Francis P. Blair, Esq., for his able and highly satisfactory letter, showing that the present Administration has departed entirely from the Jeffersonian principles relative to the governmentof the Territories of the United States, and has become but. little better than a working model of John C. Calhoun's Nullification and Disunion doctrines. Resolved, That a copy of the letter and resolutions be offered the city papers for publication, and be issued in pamphlet form for general circulation, to strengthen the hands of Republicans, to unite all discordant opinions, and induce good men of all parties to use their influence —to bring this Government back to its original principles of Freedom, and to stand upon the issues therein presented, in the next Presidential election. LEWIS CLEPHANE, Secretary. SILVER SPRING, MD., Dec. 1, 1855. GENTLEMEN: Having relinquished political employment, andc to avoid encountering again its anxieties, addicted myself to country life, I am constrained to decline your invitation to join ,the Republican Association of Washington City, although or ,Or 2 tmpted by the hor of bming its presiding officer. Yet I feel it my duty to say, that in the main I concur in the aims of the Association. To exclude Slavery from the Territories of the United States, and to rebuke the violation of the Compromises, which were made to stand as covenants between the Slave and Free States to effect that exelusion, are, in my opinion, the most important movements which have engaged the public mind since the Revolution. The extension of Slavery over the new Territories would prove fatal to their prosperity; but the greatest calamity to be apprehended from it, is the destruction of the Confederacy, on which the welfare of the whole country reposes. Every conquest of tlus element of discord, which;Was so often threatened the dissolution of the Union, increases the danger. Every surrender of te- Statfe invites invasion. The cause which your organization is intended to promote may well draw to its support men,of all'parties. Differences on questions of policy, of constitutional construction, of modes of administratio, may well be merged, to unite men who believe that nothing but B -eat of action on the part of those who would arrest the sprad of Slavery, can resist the power of the combiuation ow embodied to make it embrace the Continent firom oceail to ocan. The repealing clause of the Kansas'Bill is predicated on the mdlity of the clause in the Constitution which gives Congress the power "to make regulations respecting the Territories" of the United States. Yet nothing is clearer in the history of our Government, than tht this phrase, giving lpower to Congress t to make reguIations respecting the Territorles," was meant to fgve it the poWer to exchade Slavery' from them. Mr. Jefferson's resolutions of 1'784, declaring " that there shall be neiter Svlaery nor in'vuntary servitude in any ofthe States" laid olf in the Western Territory, was subsequently renewed in the Congress of 1785, which added, " that this regulation shall bean article of cmpaet; and it was so voted unanimously y tihe deleations of eight States out of twelve. It was passed by the unanimous votes of all ithe States by the :-' ~ -at bontemporaeously with the Con v~0tion forming the Constitutioni, aad. that Constitution gave Congress the'power "to make regulations respecting the Ter ritories.," and moreover a -m the valldity of "the engage ments entered into before the adoption of the Constitution," by the Confederation-one of which engagements was that made by the regulation exclnding Sl-very from the Territories. Thus ,m: Congr es of the Coafederation and the Convention framing ie Cot' tion asted iV giving a doAble sanction to the exclu' The first eerted the er of eaacting Mr. Jefferson's in 3 terdict of Slavery in the Territories then held by the United States, to which it had previously given an impressive sanction by adding, " this regulation shall be an article of compact? &c.; and the Convention guarantied this " engagement," entered into under the Confederation, by declaring it " validI" and employed the same terms, " regulation of the Teiritories' to transmit the power here exerted to future Congresses. In the face of this history, and the letter of the Constitution granting the power to make whatever regulationa it deemed it respecting the Territories of the Unitd State. ti authors of the Kansas and Nebraska Bill deny the constitutionality of all the regulations which exclude Slavery from the Territories, and set at naught all the precedents that confirm them, which have followed in uninterrupted succession, fry the bndantion of the Government. That other clause in the Constitution empowering Congress to pass laws to prevent the "migration o importation" of slave after 1808, shows the fixed purpose of th ounders of our Union to limit the increase of this evil. The consequence was an inhibition, which prevents a South Carolina planter, who hau slaves in Cuba, from bringing them to his home plantation; and to remove this obstruction to the increase of Slavery within the Union, and open Africa to supply the demand made by the new act, the Northern nullifiers are already called on by their South ern allies to lend their aid; and certainly those who embrace Mr, Calhoun's doctrine, as stated by Mr. Douglas, that " every citi zen has an inalienable right to move into any of the Territories with his property, of whatever kind or description,' the Con stitution and Compromises notwithstanding, can hardly refuse it. It was on the annexation of the Mexican Territories that Mr. Calhoun asserted this principle, to unsettle the fixed policy of the Nation, beginning with the era of the Declaration of Inde. pendence; and he applied it alike to the Compromises of 1820 and 1850. Mr. Douglas thus sums Alp the position taken, and the result: " Under this section, as in the case of the Jexiean law in JNew Mlexico and Utah, it is adisputed.point whether Slavery is prohibited in the Nebraska country by valid enactment. The decision of this question involves the constitutional power of Congress to pass laws prescribing and regulating the domestic institutions of the various Territories of the Union. In the opinion of those eminent statesmen who hold that Congress is invested with no rightful authority to legislate upon the subject of Slavery in the Territories, the eighth section of the act pre paratory to the admission of Missouri is null and void, while the prevailing sentiment in a large portion of the Union sustains the doctrine that the Constitution of the United States secures to every citizen an inalienable right to move into any of the 4 Territories with his property, of whatever kind and description, and to hold and enjoy the same under the sanction of law. Your committee do not feel themselves called upon to enter into the discussion of these controverted questions. They involve the same grave issues which produced the agitation, the sectional strife, and the fearful struggle of 1850." From this it appears that the Compromises of 1820 and 1850 involved the question of the validity of the law of Mexico ex cluding Slavery from the newly-ceded Mexican Territory, and the law of our own Congress excluding it from that north of the line of 36~ 30'. Mr. Douglas's Committee Report recommended that as Congr flm wise and prudent to refrain from deci ding the matters in controversy then, either by affirmingor re pealing the M.exican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of the Constitution, and the extent of the protection afforded by it to slave property in the Territories, so your com mittee are not prepared now to recommend a departure from the course pursued on that memorable occasion, either by affirming or repealing the eighth section of the Missouri act, or by any act declaratory of the meaning of the Constitution in respect to the legal points in dispute." These passages are quoted to show that the issues made by Mr. Calhoun, as to the constitutionality of the two Compro mises of 1820 and 1850, were expressly left open for judicial decision, by the committee, who nevertheless swept away, by a clause subsequently added to their bill, not only the Missouri Compromise of 1820, but also -the Compromise of 1850, which left untouched the Mexican laws prohibiting Slavery in the ceded Territories, and which Webster, Clay, Benton, and all the leading lights of the Senate, (with the exception of Mr. Calhoun,) pronounced valid, and an effectual restriction. This repeal was the adoption of Mr. Calhoun's nullifying doctrine in extenso. The power of Congress to make laws excluding Slavery forever from its Territories, as such, was denied, and all t ies wore-opened to Slavery, on the ground of the " inalienable right " of every citizen " to move into any of the Territories with his property, of whatever kind or description;" and the law of squatter sovereignty was superadded, and substituted for the sovereignty of the United States over the public domain. Thus fell, at the dictation of Mr. Atchi son, supported by the coalition effected between the Whigs ana Democrats of the South, under the pressure and through the intrigues of the Nullifiers, Mr. Jefferson's noble principle, endeared to the country both for its moral grandeur and political wisdom. It is the first thought uttered in the Declaration of Independence; and to the denunciation of the King of Great Britain for the crime of bringing Slavery to our shores, tLe 5 original draft adds, as the deepest aggravation, that "' he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. The first legislative attempt to restrain the progress of the mischief which the King of Great Britainr visited upon this country, was Mr. Jefferson's resolution excluding,Slavery from the Territory of the United States in 1784 —the next was that introduced by Rufus King, in 1785-the- third, that of Nathan Dane, in 1787-all receiving the vote of two-thirds of the States of the' Confederacy, and the last the unanimous vote. The fourth movement was that of the Convention, in the Constitution itself, providing against the importation of slaves after 1808, declaring the binding validity of the engagements entered into by the Congress of the Confederacy on the, Government of the United States, to exclude it from the Territory, and securing to the new Government the power of making similar provisions for future acquisitions of Territory. The fifth regulation to restrain the progress of Slavery was that of the Compromise of 1820-the sixth, that of 1850. It is remarkable, that although these great measures had their origin with Democratic leaders, Federal and Whig leaders of greatest renown united in their support. The constitutional provisions on the subject had the unanimous suffrage of all the illustrious men in the Convention who framed the Constitution of the United States; and from the silence on the subject in the State Conventions called to ratify the Constitution, it may well be presumed that these also were unanimous in their approval'of what had been done under the Confederacy and in the new Constitution to restrain the introduction and limit the extension of Slavery. And may not men of all parties now unite to restore, what the patriots of all parties, during the first seventy years of our Government, contributed to establish? The work of restoration is simple and easy, if the men who abhor the late innovation on the long-settled policy'of the nation can be induced to relinquish petty differences ontransitory topics, and give their united voice, in the next'Presidential election, for some man, whose capacity, fidelity, and courage, can be relied upon to oppose the issue which the present Administration has made to control it. The contest has grown out of Presidential aspirations. The decision of the People at the polls, in choosing a Chief Magistrate, will end it. Senators will easily comply, when the Nation's demand is backed by the existing Presidential power and patronage, and hopes of the future succession, which always animate the leading members of the body. The Administration has staked itself on the support of the party of privilege-of class interest-which makes it a unit. It confides in the success which has crowned the oligarchy everywhere in the Old World, and secured its triumphs on the max 6 im, "Divide and conquer."' The Whigs and I)emocrats of the South are a combination, to carry into the oxt Prwidency some candidate absolute in maintaing the repealig, clause of the Kansas Bill, which nullifies the principles of the Ordinance, the provisions of the Constitution made to give them effect, and all the Conprom rises which have been made iti pursuanee'pf them, with the'sanction of all sections of te Union. JIf the' majority favorable to the"poliey built up'with' Govet nmeto will unite, accept the issue tendered by the' Administrati'on, and make THiE REPEAL.Q?'THE RPEALEALING CLAUSE OF THE KANSAS ACT pIamount in the impending contest for the Presidency, a1 will be restored. -th$ ~- bee s -t fre instiatidose by opening the Territories North and South, to Slavery. The Compromises of 1820 and 1850 bding restored, there will not be an inch' of the territory of the United States, once exempt from Siavery, on which it canlegally intrude; and Mr. Atchison's'tte:pt by an armed force to carry oiut the nullifiation plotted of th'" caucus which gave birth to the Kansas Bill, will, like the attempt of his prototype, Mr. Calhoun, to give effect to South Carolina nullification, be paralyzed by the frown of an indignant nation, made potent by an honest and firm Executive. And there will end the career of those gentlemen who arrogate to themselves the exlusie tutege of the Democracy of the country, as ended that of Mr. Calhoun and his proselytes, who took the peculiar charge of the "State Rights" party. They sunk, under the universal eonviction that their zeal for State Rights was an ardent passion to reach political power, at the hazard of extinguishing in the blood of the people the wise and free institutions it had cost so much to establish. Our innovating Democrats, who put under foot the representative principle; who violate the known will of their constituents; who scorn their instrutions to redress the wrong they have committed; who reply to the suffrages that condemn their conduct, that they are not Democratic suffrages; who, in the plenitrded,g t,hir i lty, infliy, read out -of the Democratic party, Maine, New Hampshire, Conuwticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indian,, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, beause they will not submit to the will of these, their Representatives; who have set up a test which must forever exclude Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont; who have bartered away the rights secured to them all by compacts-will soon learn that Democracy does not reside in the organization of intriguers, but in the mass of the people. It is the glory of our great Republic, that its Democracy springs up from the soil and flourishes in the fresh air of our wide-spread country; and that its rich harvests, imparting health, strength, and spirit, to our whole system, are gathered annually at the polls. The Democracy which is bred in can 7 cuses and Cabinets is a sort of hot-bed species-a delicacy suited to the taste of epicurean politicians, whose appetites are their principles. Incumbents and expectants of offices and dignities claim a sort of patent right in the machine of Government to create a Democracy adapted to their purposes. Their innovations in the machinery are contrivances to renew their privileges for new terms, and the people are the subjects who are to be used up in it-to pay tribute for this privilege, and take pride in the skill of the operators. The telegraph wires and the Cincinnati Convention are to bring all the masterly combinations of the Administration in contact with the masses at the appointed time. But, will the wires work? Undoubtedly the people, far and wide, will have their instructions from the operators; but the response will probably be a thunderbolt to those who have violated their rights, spurned their remonstrances, and, as a consequence, have arrayed b)rothers from the different sections of the Union to shed each others' blood, in civil war, on the plains of Kansas. Yours, respectfully, F. P. BLAIR. To Messrs. DANIEL R. GOODLOE and LEWIs CLEPHANE, Corresponding Corn.' Rep..ssoc'n, Washington City. DOCU.MENTS PUBLISHED BY THE REPUBLICAN ASSOCIATION OF WAHINGTON CITY. Speeches of William H.?eward at Albany and.Buffalo, in one pamphlet, at $2 per 100 copies. Speech of William H. Seward at Albany, in the German language, $2 per 100 copies. Speech of gon, Charles Sumner, delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, 2d November, 1855, $2 per 10Q copies. Letter of Francis P. Blair to the Republican Association of Washington, $1 per 100 copies. The Association will also direct and mail them singly, free of postage, to such names as may be furnished, at the above rates; or they will send them in packages, at the expense of the person ordering, at the very low prie of $1.25 per 100 copies for the speeches, and 62 cents per 100 for Mr. Blairs Letter. Address L. CLEPHANE, Secretary of the Republican Association, Washington,I D. C. WASHINGTON, D. C.: BUIJELL & BLANCHARD, PRINT-l.'RS. 1856. v * "I I I * * *ee me ** 4 . i I It.. k JEFFERSON AGAINST DOUGLAS. SPEECH OF HON. A. H. CRAGIN, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRIESENTATIVES, AUGUST 4, 1856. structure of a free Republic in this Western land, they laid its foundations broad and deep in the eternal principles of right. Its materials were all quarried from the mountains of truth; and, as it rose majestically before an astonished world, it rejoiced the hearts and hopes of man kind. Tyrants only cursed the workmen and their workmanship. Its architecture was new. It had no model in Grecian or Roman his tory. It seemed a paragon, let down from Heaven to inspire the hopes of men, and to demonstrate the favor of God to the people of a new world. The builders recognised the rights of human nature as universal. Liberty, the great first right of man, they claimed for "all men," and claimed it from "God himself." Upon this foundation they erected the temple, and dedicated it to Liberty, Humanity, Justice, and Eqqality Washington was crd(*ned its patron saint. The work completed was the noblest effort of human wisdom. But it was not perfect. It had one blemish-a little spot-the black stain of Slavery. The workmen-the friends of Freedom everywhere-deplored this. They labored tong: and prayerfully to remove this deformity. They applied all the skill of their art; but they labored. in vain. Self-interest was too strong for patriotism and the love of Liberty. The work staod still, and for a time i t was doubtful whethe r ther experiment would succeed. The blot must rem main, or the whole must fail. The workmen revarnished their work, to conceal and coer: up. the stain. Slavery was recognised, b ua not sanctioned. The word slave or slavery: must not mar the Constitution. So great an inconsistency must not be proclaimed to the world. All agreed, at that time, that the anomaly should not increase, and all concurred in the hope and belief that the blemish would, gradually disappear. Those noble men looked forward to the time when Slavery would beahboished in this land of ours. They believed that the principles of liberty were so dear to the people, that they would not long deny to others what they claimed for themselves. They newer dreamed that Slavery would be extended~ but firmly be The House being ill Committee of the, W hole on the state of tie Uoioni Mr. CRAGIN said: Sir. CHAIRMXN: If these were ordinary times, I should b e quite cont ent to return to my con stituents, at the clos e of this s ession, wit h the simpl e record of my votes. But, sir, these ar e ex traordinary times; times when great principles are at stake; t i mes that call for words as well as acts. A t such a cr siis, wh en the theory of our Governme nt is questioned and denied, when ev en freedom of speech is denied in the Hwalls of Congress, the commission of a free and generous people, which giv es me an equal privilege upon this floor, commands my voice, if for nothing else, to demonstrate an d vindicate their right of free discussion. Iihy own inclinatio n, as well as mcy sense of d uty,. l eads m e t o the discussion of the one great q u s w pestion that now occupies the public mind. The subject tha t ha s e ntered so largely into the d ebates in this hall for the past six mon ths, will claim my atten tion w hile the clock shall measure the passing hour. Mr. Chairman, the demands of Slavery for extension and political power have become so unreasonable, persistent, and violent, that no man who values the welfare of his country, and desires the perpetuity of the great truths established bv the Revolution, can be a silent or indifferent spectator in the momentous struggle now pending. The issue that is to decide the future history of our country now presses upon us. We are called to a great responsibility. The rights of the people are in danger. The same great rights which our ancestors battled for are threatened and denied. If these rights were worth half the price paid by the noble patriots of the Revolution, they are worth preserving now. God helping us, we will preserve them, and hand them down to posterity unimpaired. I propose to contrast the past with the present, and show how far the Government has departed from the principles and policy of Washington and Jefferson, on the question of human rights. When our forefathers feared the magnificent 2 " The Lowtver Coetnties, Aewcastle, 4c.-Ctsar Rodneyy Thomas AlcKean. George Read. " Maryland.-Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, jr. W'illiamn Paca, Samuel Chase. " Virginia.-Richard -IHenry Lee. George Washington, Patrick Henry. jr., Richard Bland, Betjamill Harrison, Edmund Pendletoti. N orth Carolinta.-William Iooper, Joseph He es, Richard Caswell. "South Carolina.-Henry Midd(leton. Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, Johit Ruiledge, Edward Rutledge, Ordlered. That this association be committed to the press, and ihat one hundred and twenty copies be struck off." " Continental Congress, Friday, October 21, 1774. "The address to the people of Great Britain biing brought in, and the amen(imetlts directed beiing made, the same was approved, and is as ifoll6ws: "To the people of Great Britain, from the delegates ap poinlted by the several English Colonies of New Ht-mip shire, Mass chusetts Bay, Rhode Island anid Providelce Plaiitationis, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pellllsylvania, lhe Lower Courmties on Delanoware. Mary l a lnd, Virgitia, North Caroliia, and South Carolina, to consider of their grievanes in General Cong,ress, at Phila,' elphia. September 5tli, 1774. Friends and Fellow-citizens: When a nation, led to greatness by the latid of Liberly, and possesst d of all tihe glory that heroism, murnitficence, anid lumatity, ca be-e stow, descends to the ungrateful task of lorging chaits for her friends and children, and, instead of giviug support to Freedom, turns, advocate for Slavery and Oppression, thiere is reason to suspect she has either cea,sed to be virtuous, or been extremely negligent in the appointment of her rulers." —Pages 914 to 917. This is the language of our forefathers, struggling for Liberty. Suppose the people of Kansas should address this same language to the people of the United States to-day; with what force and truth would it come I Who will say it is not applicable-every word of it? lieved it would be wholly blotted out. I challenge any man to show me a single patriot of the Revolution who was in favor of Slavery, or who advocated its extension. So universal was the sentiment of Liberty then, that no man, North or South, could be found to justify it. Some palliated the evil, and desired that it might be gradually extinguished; but none contemplated it as a permanent institution. Liberty was then the national goddess, worshipped by all the people. They sang of Liberty, they harangued fbr Liberty, they prayed for Liberty, and they sacrificed for Liberty. Slavery was then hateful. It was denounced by all. The British King was condemned for foisting it upon the Colonies. Southern men were foremost in entering their protest against it. It was then everywhere regarded as an evil, and a crime against humanity. To prove this, let us appeal to history. The following extracts from the proceedings of the Continental Congress, and of meetings in Southern Stages prior to the Declaration of Independence, show the feeling of the people in the early days of the Republic. I quote from the American Archives, fourth series, vol. 1: "COQNTINEENTAL CONGRESS, "Philadelphia, October 20, 1774. a We do, for oursel ves, and the inhabitants of the several Colonies whom we represent, firmly agree and associate, under the sacred tie- of virtue, honor, and love of our country, as follows: * * * "'2. That we will neither import nor purchase anly slaves imported after the first day of December next; after which time. we will wholly discontinue the slave rade, and will neither be cotncerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it.-Page 914. 'ill. That a committee be chosen in every county. city, and town, by those who are qualified to vote tor Representatives in the Legislature, whose business it shall be atltentively to observe the coidutet of all personis touching this association; and when it shall be made to appear. to the satisfaction of a majority of any such committee, that any person within the limits of their appointment has violated this association, thati uch majority do forthwith cause the truth of the case to be published in the Gazette, o.tihe end that all such foes to the rights of British America may be publicly known, and universally cotitemlted as the enemies of American Liberty, and thencefbrth we respectively will break off all dealings with him or her,Page 915. I 14. And we do further agree and resolve, that we will have no trade, commerce, dealings, or intercourse whatoever, with any Colony nr Province in North Aimeril ca ,whichl shall not accede to or which shall hereafter vio tate this association, but will hold them as unworthy of the rights of freemen, and as inimical to the liberties of this country. * * * "The foregoing association being determined upon by O Congress. was orderedo to e subscribed by the several members thereof; and thereupon we -have hereunto set ouar respective names accordingly." "In Congress, Phil! delphia, October 20, 1774. '4.PBYTON RANDOLPH, President. "New Hampshire.-Johii Sullivan, Nathaniel Folsom. i Massachtusetts Bay —Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams,, John Adams, Robert Treat Payne. Ghotde Island.-Stephein Hopkins, Samuel Whard. Connecticut.-Eliphalet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Silas lDeane. " New York.-Isaac Low, John Alsop, John Jay, James Duane, Philip Liviugstotl, William Floyd, Hetiry Wishter, Simon Boerum. #elowTersey.-James Kiney, William Livingston, Ste phen Craie. Richard Smith, Johnll De Hart. IPcnnsyltania.-Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson, Charler Humphreys,TlThomasMtlliii Edward Biddle,John Mrtori, George Ros. DARIEN, GEORGIA, RESOLUTIO~NS. ': In the Darien Committee Thursday, Tanuary 1.2,1775. "'5. To show the world that we are not influenced by any contracted or interested motives. but a genletai philanthropy for all mankind, of(h w l ltever clinrate, lanf grlagew, or complexionr we he reby declare our disapprobation. add abe mrrencd of the unnatural pracaice of lavery in Amner ica, (however the uncul,ivated state of cur, country or other specious argum(mts may plead for it,}) a practicefouJnded in iNtjantstice and cr uelty, ansd highly da?w - Mgerous to our liberties, (as well as lives.) debasi ng par t fn oerfellow-crIatures below men, and coprJy sptipt g the bvirtue axed rnor-alas oftieret/ and is laying the basis of that Liberty we con tend for, (arid whi ch we pra y the Almighty to continue to the latest posterity,) upon a very wrong fouiidation. WVe therefore resolve, at all timyes, to ace our utmost erdea,vors for the manumnissioni of our slaves inl this Colony, upon the m-ost safe and equitable footing for the masters and themselves.': —Page 1136. I could fill pages with similar extracts, but the above are all that my limits will allow. I turn now to the sayings of the immo-rtal Washington and his co-laborers3 in the cause of human rights. "To the.4arquia de Lafayette.-ptril 5th, 1783. EExtract.] '"The scheme. my dear Marquis, which you propose as a precedent, to encourage the emancipation ot the black people in this country from the state of bondage in which they are held, is a striking evidence ofthe b,nevoiclee of your heart. I shall be happy to join you il so laudable a work; but will defer going into a detail of the business sill l havm the pleasure of seeig you." Here a scheme to emancipate the b.acks in this country from a state of bondage, is charace terized by the Father ofhis Country as a s1 Striking evidence of the benevolence': of the hea,.t. And Washington declares that he should be happy to join in so " laudab@le" work. If it be luadablo to abolish Slavery where it exists, what shall we Dominion?" Let the case of Underwood, latel say of the work which shall prevent its existence driven from Virginia, answer. on the virgin soil of the free Territories? Sit, I blush to say what is now on my lips. i In a letter to Robert Morris, dated Alount Ver, Washington was alive, and a candidate for th. non, April 12, 1786, he says: Presidency, with the Anti-Slavery sentiment "I can only say that there is not a mall living who that he held while living, he could not receive wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for single electoral vote south of Mason and Dixon' tile abtlilio of it. But there is only one proper and ef- line fectual tnode by which it cail be accomplished, and that is by legislative authority; and this, as far asmy suffrage The testimony of Jefferson is still stronger wtll go; shall never be wanting., He says In another letter to Lafayette, he says: "There must be an unhappy influence on the manne. ofourpeople, produced by the existence of Slavery amono The benevolence of your heart, my dear Miarquis, is us The whole commerce between master and slave' so coinspicuous of. all occasions, that I never wonder at a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous pasiiots, thi any fresh proof. ofit; but your la e purchase of an estate most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degr in the Colony of Cayennoe, with the view of emalecipating ding submissions on the other; our children see this, an the slaves on it, is a o,tierous and noble proof of your learn to imitate it." "The. inal must le a prodigy wh liuanatity Woud to God a like pirit might diffutse itsefy can retain his manners and morals undepraved by sue.' generally into the nminds ofthepeole of this country." circumstanices. And with what execration should th. In letter to John F. Mercer on this subject statesman be loaded, who, perrritting one-half the citizen In a letter to John F. erer, on this subject, thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms thos. dated September 9, 1786, General Washington into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the moral sai(l: of the one part, and the a2nor patrit of the other! " ",Wit, the morals of the people; their inidustry also is destroyed. "I never mean, unless some particular circumstances sho uld com,pel me to it, to possess another slave by ppr- Again, he says: chase.it being among my.,rst wishes to sde some plai "ItIleed, I tremble for mycountrywhenIreflectthatGod adopted by which Slavery, in this country, may be abol- is just, that his justice cantot seep forever; that, cond= ished by law." sidering numbers, natture, and natural means only, a revd Noble ptriot? He had seenhscutyv lution ofthie wheel offortuine, al exchange of itistitutioll, Noble pa,itriot! H e had seen his country vie- is among possible events; that it may become probable torious over British tyranny, and her independ- by supernatural initerference. T'he Almighty has no at ence established; and now his great heart, swell- tribute that cal take sides with us in such a contest" ing with humanity, proclaims it to be among his Again "first wishes" to see Slavery abolished in this " VWhatanincomprehensible macehineisman! who can ~~~~~~~~~country. ~endure toil, tamiiie, stripes. imprisonment, and deathit cou ntry. s elf in vinidication of his owns liberty;, and the Iext mo For entertainingthesamewishes-nay, less, sir, mont he deaf to all those motives whose power s'p for seeking to prevent the spread of this evil and ported himn through his trial, aid iinflict oil his fellow inet wrong-we are denounced as " traitors " and a bondage, one hour of wiichl is fraught with more misery i' Black Republicans." Whilst I follow the teach- than ages of that which lie rose in rebellion to oppose." ings of Washington, no threats or opprobrious In a letter to Dr. Price, of -London, who had epithets shall deter me from the conscientious interested himself in behalf of emancipation, he discharge of my duty. says: When this great and good man had finished " Northward of the Chesapeake, you msy find here and his work upon the. earth, he left in his will the there an opponent to your doctrinie. as you may find here following dying declaration, in testimony of his and there a robber atnd a murderer; but it no greater number." sincerity: In another letter, written to a friend in 1814 "Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire we find the following emphatic language that all the slaves which I hold in my own right shall re- eive their freedom. To emancipate them dri her "Your favor of July 31st was duly received, and read ,e e~~~~~~~~~~~~ivhthecuiar freedome. Toe semncptients e du~onritogher life would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended with peculiar pleasure. The sentimests dolhonor to the, with such insuperable difficulties. on accounit of their in- head and heart of the writer. Mie on the subject of the terntixture by inarriages with the dower negroes, as to slavery of inegroes have losg since been in the posses excite the most painful sensations, if not not disagreeable of the plic, and tine has only served to give them conisequenfes, from the latter, while both descriptiois are stroinger root." it the occupancy of the same proprietor,i i ll' The love of justice ani the love of country plead my power, under the teniure by which the dower negroes equally the cause of these people, and it is a reproach to ~~are held, to nij~ati~umit them." us at they should have pleaded it so long in vain." I understand, that when Mrs. Washington Again Again: learned, from the whill of W deceased husband " We must wait with patience the workings of an over led, fm ruling Providence, and hope that that is preparing the dethat the only obstacle to the immediate perfec liverance of these our brethren." tion of this provision was her right of dower, she Brethren I Brethren! do we hearfromthegreat at once gave it up, and the slaves were made founder ofthe Democratic party? The language free. Such a wife was worthy of even Wash- of Virginia statesmen now is, "Good and chatington.ofVriisttsenois 1Goancht ~~~~~inglt~~~~on. Xtels," " property," "human cattle." This is sufficient to show how the Father of H ea r him further our Republic regarded this subject. He has left ear h fuhe Whet the measure of their tears shall bs full. when his living and dying testimony against Slavery. their groans shall have involved Heaven itself i' darkWhat would be the language of the patriarch, ness, doubtless a God of justice will awaken to their could his pure spirit return and take a position distrts5. among us at this moment? On which side of In the original draught of the Declaration of this contest would he range himself? Let no Independence, he denounces the King for keeping man doubt; he would enlist with the friends of open the slave markets in the Colonies against Freedom. Let me press this inquiry a little fur- their will; he calls it an "execrable commerce." ther, How would he be received in the "Old In a letter to Mr. Sparks, February 4, 1824, he 3 4 " The presentqu stion con cerns not the imrportinig States alone. but tle WMoLW UNION. Slaverydis,courages arts and nmanufactures. The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. Th,,ey prevent the emigration of whites, who really enrich and stre,gthern a country. They produce the most per nicious effect on manners. E,ery master of slare is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of Heaven on a cousntry. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitablech,)in ofcalises and effects, Providence'iisl-es national sinis by national calamities. He lamented that some of our Eastern brethren had, from a lust'of gain, emb~arked il this nefarious traffic. As to the States being in p~ossession of the right to import, this was the case witt, matally other rights, now to be properly given up. He herd it essential. in every point of view, that the General Government should have power to prevent the increase on~Slavery ~f This is very good Republican doctrine. It sounds very like what we hear from this side of the Hall every day, for which we are called "Black Republic ans" and "Sectionalists." Strange to say, sir, the d escendants of this man, and the Rep r esentati ves from his then noble State, denounce this doctrine now as " treason" and " Northern fanaticism." More than this, sir; to utter such sen timents here at all, is a dangerous business. If I should say that " every master of slave s is born a petty tyrant," who would wa r ra nt my head? For uttering such sentiments now, in the State of Virginia, a man would be mobbe d, or -d riven from the State, within twenty-four hours. I have tarried longer with the father s of the Re p ubli c th an I inte nded. I love to travel back in s ldto d e o e those olden times, and pore over the rec ord of the acts and thoughts of the great high-. priests of Liberty. No man can read the history' of those times without being forcibly impressed with the strong opposition to Slavery that then existed. The record is full. You find it in the Declaration of Independence —the great charter of Human Rights; yqu find it in the Ordinance of 1787, so often referred to in the discussion of this question. I have often admired the wisdom and united action that secured all the territory, then owned by the United States, to Freedom. This act furnishes conclusive evidence that all regarded Slavery as an evil, and that they deter mined it should have no more land to blast and desolate. The men of that day determined, if they could not eradicate the evil where it then existed, they would at least prevent its exten sion. Virginia had then just ceded to the Uni ted States the territory northwest of the Ohio river, out of which has since been formed the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.. Thomas Jefferson, as early as 1784, with a foresight and a patriotism that entitles him to gratitude for all coming time, conceived the plan for excluding Slavery from this territory forever. The plan was not adopted that year; but in 1787 the Representativesipf the old Con federation, assembled from nearly all the States, revived and modified the plan, and adopted it, with a unanimity unparalleled in the history of the Government. At that time, South Carolina vied with Massdachusetts, and Virginia stood side by side with New York —all advocating the eter nal principles' of Human Freedom, and uniting their efforts to save a future Empire from the withering curse of Slavery. Would to God we could see the like once -ows his firm adherence to his opinions formed n early life on this subject. Such is the lan-ruage of the great Virginia statesman, the pride )f the free Democratic world. We have been ,aught to look to him as the exponent of Demo,ratic principles. They will stand the test and icrutiny of time, and must prevail. By the side of Jefferson, on this great question, stood Franklin, Rush, Jay, Adams, Gates, George Clinton, Madison, Monroe, and hosts of other leading and patriotic spirits. Mr. Jefferson has also left his dying record. In a letter to James Heaton, on the subject of Slavery, dated May 20, 1826, six weeks before his death, he says: " Mi/ sentimerts have been forty years before the public. Had Irepeated them forty times, they wcould hare only become the more stale and threadbare. Although Ishall not live to see them constemnated, they toill not die with me; but, ltiing or dying, they will ever be in my most fetrvent prayers." The eloquent Patrick Henry has left his record against Slavery. He says: " V"'ouldl any one believe that I am master of slaves of .niy own choice? I will nol, I canittot, justify it. I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil." Again, he says: "It would rejoice my very soul, that every one of my fellow-beiigs was emancipated. We ought to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow-.ien in bondage." Here is the language of a noble man. He did not call them "property," but "fellow-men." Virginia gentlemen do not use such language at this day. MIr. Monroe, in a speech in the Virginia Con vention, said: "X1Ve have found that this evil leas preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has been prejudicial to all the States iii which it has existed."o I shall refer to only one more patriot of the Revolution-the gallant and noble Lafayette. He perilled his life and fortune for our cause, and, in his last days, looked with anguish upon the system of Slavery in this Republic. In a letter to Mr. Clarkson, near the close of his life, he says: "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America, if I could have co)ceived that thereby I was founding a land of Slavery." In a remarkable and interesting letter, written by him in the prison of Mlagdeburg, he says: "I know not what isposition has been miade of my plantation at Cayenine; but I hope Madame de Lafayette will take care that the negroes who cultivate it shall pre serve their liberty." Himself in prison, in bondage, he was still anxious for the liberty of others-even a few "Africans.". I am fond of quoting from Southern men. There was a time when Liberty was national, and to that time I always turn with delight. In these degenerate times, we hear no note from Freedom's harp south of this Capitol. Let us cherish and preserve the music of better days. Colonel b in ason, a leadund witing cuished member of the Convention that formed the Con stitution, from Virginia, when the provision for prohibiting the importation of slaves was under eonsideration, said: b a The clause in the Constitution giving Congres: p "power to make all needful rules and regula a tions" respecting the Territories, &c., must hav. e been suggested by the Ordinance, and designed t to sanction and approveit. s This view is confirmed by the fact that the f first Congress under the Constitution, in which - were Madison and other members of the Consti. tutional Convention, passed an act confirming f'and re-enacting the Ordinance. The adoption e of the Constitution rendered some changes neces - sary, such as the appointment of officers for the l Territory, &c. The preamble of this act of Con r gress recites, that'"it is necessary certain pro visions should be made," &c., in order that the Ordinance "may continue to have full effect." This f act was signed by President Washington, who t was also President of the Constitutional Conven ftion. f I am willing to rest the constitutional power of Congress to'prohibit Slavery in the Territories on this action of Congress, sanctioned as it was by Madison and Washington. From this time down to 1850, Congress ex - ercised exclusive legislative control over the Ter ritories, prohibiting Slavery in every case where it had no existence at the time, and regulating it in cases where it existed. If I had time, I would refer particularly to the acts of Congress estab lishing Territorial Governments, and show how uniformly Slavery was prohibited in every free Territory. Such was the case in Michigan and Illinois, by acts passed under Mr. Jefferson's Ad t ministration. Such was the case in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Oregon. In the great contest in 1820, which resulted in the Missouri Compromise, the same principle was reaffirmed. Missouri was admitted as a slave State, on condition that the residue of the Territory north of 36~ 30' should be forever free. A majority of the Southern members, in both branches of Congress, voted for Slavery prohibi tion in this case. The Senate was equally divided between the North and South. Out of twenty two members from the South, fourteen voted for the restriction, and eight against it; and of the Northern Senators, twenty voted for it, and two against it. Of seventy-six Representatives from slavehold ing States who voted on the question of restric tion, thirty-nine voted for it, and thirty-seven against it. Of the Representatives from the free States, ninety-five voted for it, and only five against it. On the passage of the bill, as amended with the restriction, a very large majority of the Northern members voted against it. They were in favor of the restriction, but opposed to the admission of Missouri as a slave State. 1 very large majority of the Southern members voted for it, on its passage-all the Senators except two; and all the Representatives except thirtyseven. Thus was this measure passed. It was a triumph for the South. They gained the point they were then contending ibr,~viz: the admission of Missouri as a slave State. Writing of this restriction or Compromise, mnore! Would that this great nation could turo its energies and united voice to the building uo an Emp ir e, in the -central porti on of its domain wher e the tread of Slavery shall never blight the soil, nor degrade the image of God! Would tha! the descendants of noble sires could unite in this nobl e an d holy mission, as did their fathers o old! But the prayer is a vain one. Our South ern brethrentn turn a deaf ear to these appeals They have chosen another god than the god o Liberty. The Ioloch of Slavery has become beautiful and lovely to them, and they are seek ing to exte nd hi s dom inio ns. They have even c onverted the children of light; and, in thei kneading-trough, have t r ansforme d ma ny of them in dough. The Ordinance was re ported on the 11th of July, 1787. Thle commit te e which reported it consist ed of Mess rs. Carrington and R. H. Lee, oi Virgihia; Kean, of South Carolina; Dane, of Massachusetts; a nd Smith, of New York. The sixth section of the Ordi nan ce is in these words: " There shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servi tude ill the said Territory, otherwise than in th.e puniishi meait of e-imnes, whereof the party shall have been (Iuly con1victedl' Provided, always That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully elaim-ed in any one of the original States' such fugitive may be lawfully reclained and conveyed- to the person claiming his or her labor or service as atoresaid." The Ordinance was passed on the 13th of July. The Journal of Congress thus recites its passage: " According to order, the Ordinance, for the government of the Territory of thie Uniited States no)rthwest of the river Ohio was read a third time and passed, as follows: "Massachusetts -Hollton Aye. Danse -.-. Aye. New York - - Smith - Aye. WVa.ill. - -' Aye. Yales - - - -No New Jersey - - Clarke - Aye. Scharemai - - - Aye Delaware - - Keariey - - - Aye. Mlitchell - - Aye. Virginia - - Gray.so - - - Aye. R. H. Lee - - - Aye. Carrinigton - - -Aye. North Carolina - Blount - - - - Aye. Hawkins - - Aye. South Carolina - Kean - Aye. H uger -. -.-Aye. Georgia - - Few - Aye. Pierce. Aye." Every State represented voted in the affirma tive-every Southern man voted for it-.while but one single delegate from the North (Mr. Yates, of New York) voted against it. Thus was this great measure of Freedom car ried. No Southern rights were invaded then. The statesmen of that day thought only of doing their duty to their country and to posterity. The idea of property in man had not perverted their judgment. They rejected that guilty phantasy. This early policy of restricting Slavery was adopted two years before the adoption of the Constitution, but at the exact time when that instrumeat was being framed. The Convention that formed the Constitution Atnd the Continental Congress that passed the Ordina'nce were both in session at the same time-one in New York and the other in Philadelphia —nd there is no doubt there wras a full understanding on this subject. 6 Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, under the date of March 2, 1820, said: WXVe have carried the question to admit Missouri and all Lolisiana to the southward of 36~ 30' free of the restriction of Slavery, and give the South, int a shorte tine. an addition of six, and perhaps eight, members to the Senate of the United States. It is considered here by the slave holding States as a -reat trtumph. The votoes were closeninety to eighty-six, (the vote was so first declared)produced by the secedinz and absence of a few moderate men from the North. To the north of 36~ 30' there is to be, by the present law, restriction, which you wvill see by the votes I voted against; bht it is at present of no momenlt. It is a vast tract, uninhabited only by savages and wild beats, in which not a foot of the Indian claim to the soil is extinguished, ai,d in which, according to the idea' prevalent, no land office will be open for a great l ength of time." It was generally regarded as a Southern victory. The North was put off with a prospective consideration. The "uninhabited tract " was then regarded of little value. After enjoying all the benefits of Missouri and Arkansas, as slave States, fo r more than thirty years, and when a " land office" was about to be opened in Free dom's " tract," the South all at once discovered that there was great wrong in the bargain; that it was unconstitutional, und unjust to them. They do not propose to give up what they ob tained in 1820; but they coolly say to the North, " we will retain our portion of the Territory, and take that which belongs to you.'" Gentlemen should remember that some things are constitutional which are not for their pecu liar interests. It has always seemed to me that the South were very much disposed to call every th i n g unconstitutional that in an y way interfered with the interests of Slavery. There were no doubts of th e cons titutionality of the Missouri restriction when it passed. When this subject was under discussion in 1820, Mr. Taylor, a distinguished member of Congress from New York, remarked, in the debate, "1that he knew of no one who doubted the constitutional power of Congress to make the prohibition." Before signing the bill, President Monroe took t he op inion of his C abi ne t as to its constitution tality. It is well known t hat John C. Cal houn, John Q. Adams, and William Wirt, were mem bers of the Cabinet. I present the following facts upon this point, from Mr. Monroe's manuscripts. A paper endorsed, "Interrogatories, Ji,,souri, March 4, 1820. To the Ileads of Departments and Attorney Genepal."-Questions on opposite page: "Has Congress a right under the power vested iiY it by the Conislitution, to make a regulation prohibiting Slave ry in a Territory? "Is the eighth section of the act which passed both Houses on the 3d instant, for the ad(missioni of Missouri into the Uinion, consistent with the Co,msiitution?:'':! With the above is the original draught of a/ letter, in the handwriting of President Monroe. It. is not addressed to any one, but is supposed to have been written to Gen. Jackson. The let ter is as follows: " DxAR SmR: The question which so lately agitated Con gress and ~he putblit~ has been settled, as you may have seen., by the passage of an act- for the admission of Mis souri as a State unlrestrainled. and Arkansas, likewvise. whetn it reaches maturity, and the estab~lishment ofY:-6~ 30Y north latitude as a linle, north of which Slavery is prohib) itedl and permitted to the south. I took the opinlion, ill v,'ritin%o of the Adminlistration,! a s to the-col sti utionaslity of restrainling Territories. aced the vote of every mnetnber wtas unfnitmous, and* which was explicit in favor of it, andl as it was that the 8th section of the act M,'as applicable to Territories only, and not to States, when they should be .td mit tedinto the Ulnioni. O.. this latter point f had at first some doubt; but the opinions of others, whose opinions wer e entitled t o weight with me. supported by the sense in which it was vie wed by all who voted on the subject in Con'trress, as will appear by the Journ als, satis fied me respecting it." I w ill no w give the e viden ce of a distinguished member of the Cabinet: Extracts from the Diary of J. Q. Adams. "March 3, 1820.-Whein I came this day to my 6ffiee, I found there a nnots r, questing me to call ath o'clock at the Presidetn t's House. It was then one, and I immediately wReT over. He expec ted that the two bi lls, for the admission of Maine and to enable Missouri t o make a constitution, would have been brougit to him for his signyatYre., and lh e h ad summoneds a ll the members of the Ad minuistration, to a sk their opinions, in writig, to be ldepeosited in th e D epartment of State, up on two ( glesthio r: 1. Whether Congress has a constiutional right to prohibit Slavery in a Territory? Anid 2. Whethe r the 8th section of the Miss ouri bi ll (which iterdicts SstgverYt foJ,ver iA the territory north of 36 latit ude.) was app,i cable only to the territorial state, or Irould extend to it after it s hou ld become a State? Au to thee fir.st qusti'on i, it was UNANIMOUSLY agr eed that Cong ress have the power to prohibit Sla ver y in the T erritories.' a There being some division of o pinion i n regard to the second question, Mr. Adams c o nte n ding that it would ap pl y to a State, and th e other members holding differently, the second question was modified so as to re cei ve the unanimoris ap proval of the Cabinet. Th i s will appear from the followi ng extract s from the Diary of br. Adams: "March 5.-The President sert me yesterday the two questios in writing, upon w hich he, desired to have a n-'I swers, in writiug, to be deposited i n the Departmeeitaot State. He wrote me it would be in time if he sho uld have The answers to. morrow The first quaestion is in general terms, as it was stated to the meeting on Friday. The second was molified io an inlquiry whether the 8lh seelioe of the t lissouri bill is coi,en t with the Co stitution? To this I can without hesitation ans wer by a simple ad ffirmative and te so atosm e reflection, I c i - eluded to answer boih. * o, ~ March 6. * * * I took to the President's my an swers to his two constitutional questions. anti he desired me to have them deposited in the Department. together with those of the other members of the Administration. They differed' only as tlhey assigned lheir reasons for thinking the Sth sectioni of the Missouri bill consistent with the Constitution, because they considered it as onliy applying,- to the Territorial term, and I barely gave my opinion, without assigning for it any explanatory reasorn. The President signed the Missouri bill this morning.Y Comment upon these extracts is unnecessary. There was no doubting the constitutional power to prohibit Slavery then. Even Mr. Calhoun af firmed it. The invention is of later date and by smaller minds. To show the importance attached to the M~s souri Compromise at the time it passed, and its sacred character, I quote from Niles's ReeSter, published in a slaveholding State, under date of March 11, 1820, as follows: "There is no hardship in this; the Territories belong to the United States, and the Goveriment tnay rightfully prescribe the terms on which it will dispose of the public lanlds., "XThis great point Was a'greed to ill the S~enate —tlirty thlree votes to eleven- and in the House of Represenlta -tives, by one hundred ttlld thirty-four to fort —two, or really by one hundlred aid thirty-ninle to thirty-sevenl; andl we trust that ii'is determined' forev~er,' int respect to the ourftrio-s ]mwt subject to the 1o.,4islaion c -f the G:enl eral Gayveminment. It is true, the XComp)romlise is sup ~The words ill italics are erased in th~e draughit. 7 ported orTly by the letter of a law repealtb,e by the anthority wiiich enit acte! it; bltt the circtumsttances of the case sve to this late a moral force equal to that of a pssititce prov,i'io,n of the Constitietion; and we do not hazard anythinsA in saying that the Censtitution exists in its observanee. Both parties have sacrifiedl much to co:leilialion. IVe wish to see the compact kept in. gool faith, atnd trust that a kind Providcnce will open the way to relieve us of an evil which every goodl citizen deprecates as the supreme curse of this country." For more than thirty years the compact stood'! The Constitution itself was not more sacred l Men of all parties, and from all sections, acquiesced in its provisions, and admired the wisdom of those noble men who formed it. I verily believe, that ten years ago, a representative of the American people would have sooner set fire to this Capitol, than he would have voted to abrogate this covenant of peace. Even the Senator from Illinois, seven years ago, chanted its praises. In speaking of this Compromise at Springfield, Illinois, in 1849, Mr. Douglas is reported to have said: "The Missouri Comproini,e had then been in practical operation for about a quarter of a century, and had received the salqcti-n and approbtation of men of all parties in every section of thie Uttion. IL had;tllayed all seetioatal jealousies and irritations growinig out of this vexed questios, and harmonized and tranquilized the whole country. It had given to Henry Clay, as its ptmrninetnt cha.npion, the proud sobriquet of the * Great Pacifcater' and i)y that title, and for tiat service, his political f'rietds h.ad repeatedly appealed to the people to rally under his standard as a Presidential candidlate, as the man who had exhibited the patriotism and the power to sttpi)ress an oitiloly aid tr. asornable agitation, and preserve the Union. He was n ot avtnre that it ny md,n,or aly partv. front aiy section of the Uniot. had ever urged as an objection to Mr Clas,that he wa s thegreat champion of the Missoouri Compottu,se. O thie contrary, the effort was made by tho oppotnents of Mr. Clay to prove that he was not entitled to the exclusive merit of that great patriotic me'ssaure, ttd that the honor was equally due to others as ,edil as i. for securing its adoptions-that it had its origint in,h he hearts f all patrioti e.n who desitred to preserve and pfrpetuate the blessings of our gloritt.o Ubzion-awd origin akin to that of the Constitution of the United Stat's. conceived il the same Ispirit of fraternal affectioni, a nd calculated to remove forever the only danger which se-,me4 to thireaten, at some distant day, to sever the social bond of ua ion. I All the evidences of putblic opinion at that day seemed to indicate that thkt Compronise hae beco,,, ca' oaized in the hearts of the Amenrca, people, as a sacred thin, which to ruthless hand woul ever be reckless enough to dti sturb.t was intent only on it s own selfish a nd p erso nal aggrandizement. The chief man in this great con s piracy has his reward. After sanctioning and approving all nt he outrages in Kansas for the sa ke of a reno mi nation, he went to Cincinnati to claim wit the reward of felt to the Slave Power. He was denied even a compli mentary vote, ai nd was carried off the field by o nly three faithful followers-not on e of them from the South. I s ay nothing of Southern ingrat itude in this case, The funeral is n one of ours. Let thos e w ho mourn his " taking off," settle the account. I thank God, however, th at the pr ese nt occupant of the White House will have but one more opportunity in his annual m e ss age t o i nsu lt and belie the free, intelligent, and Liberty-loving people of the free States. The countr y knows why this w ork was done. It was for the benefit of Slavery. The Missouri restriction was repealed for the purpose of making more slave States-and for nothing else. This was not the avowed purpose; but any man with hal f an e ye could see that it was thi e reat purpose. If there was any doubt, whe n the Kansas and Nebraska bill passed, that this was the object, subsequent events in Kansas nust have removed all doubt. The country knows who did this work. It was the party called Democratic. Yes, sir, the Democratic party is responsible for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise-responsible for the strife and discord that now prevail in this land, as a consequence of that repeal. That party is responsible for all the outrages in Kansas. The murder of innocent American citizens-the wanton and cruel treatment of women and children,the burning of towns-the plunder of propertythe destruction of printing presses-the reizing of ballot-boxes by ruffian invaders -and a;ll the fraud and violence practiced in that Territory, are the result of tlie repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and chargeable to the Democratic party. The country knows, also, that the Democratie party now stands upon this measure, and makes it the test of party orthodoxy. No man, who refuses to sanction the Nebraska bill, can hold any place in the party. Every man must now subscribe to the Slavery-extending policy of the party, or be " read out." He may be sound on all the old principles of the party, but, if he falters on this Slavery plank, he is declared sparious, and must lose his standing in the par~ty. The gentleman from Mississippi, [Mr. BARKSDALE',] in a recent speech upon this floor, said: "The Democracy tolerate no man who is not sound oa the Slavery qttestion.." We all know what is meant by being "sound"' on the Slavery question. To question the right of Slavery to extend itself into new Territories is unsound. To deny the right of slaveholders to- carry their slave's from the States into the common Territories, and there hold, sell, anti use: them, is to violate the Democratic creed. This is the issue —the only issue —of the D~emocratic party at this time. Thle platform was built expressly to sustain this one idea. It has .not a single Northern plank in it. Buchanan The deed is d one I T he Com promise that was " canonized in the hearts of the American people," has been broken! The South has not kept faith with the North I In an evil hour, the ambition of " reckless " an d s elf ish men t empted he r! She upheld the "ruthless hand" that smote the compact, and disturbed the peace of the Union. She has some excuse-the prize of more slave States was too much for her patriotism. But what shall we say of the man whose "1ruthless hand" was uplifted for this work of destruction? Words fail me! History will give him a pare. The record will not vary much from that of another man, who sought to betray and sacrifice his country, when Liberty was in its birth-struggle. The country knows how wantonly this work was done. It knows the actors. It knows how an Administration-calling itself Democratic-lent all its powers of patronage and corruption to seduce the venal men of the North, and push on the work. Deaf to the prayers of the people: it 8 "I have been placed on a PLATFORM OF WHICH I HEARTILY APPROVE, and I must square my conduct by that platform." Then comes the victimized Franklin Pierce, "I congratulate you that your choice has fallen on a man who stands on the IDENTICAL PLATFORM THAT I OCCUPY, and that he will take the SAME, with the standard lowered never an inch! " stands squarely upon this single plank-or rather, he is absorbed in it, having lost his per sonal identity. All who suppor t him mus adopt the extension creed, and swear that Sla very is right-a God-appointed institution. The following extract from the Richmond En quire?, the organ of Governor Wise, and the great mouthpiece of the Southern Democracy proves what I say: "TiuE TH RUE TssSUE.-The Democrats of llhe South in the present canvass cannot rely on the old g~rounds of de ence and excuse for Flavery; for they seek not merely to retain it where it is, but to extend it into regions where it i W,,knou,w. Much less ca,, they rely on the mere constitu tioal guaran,ties of Slavery, for such reliaice is pregnant with the admission that Slavery is wrong, and, but fo Be Constitution, should be abolished.'1his coiistitu~ t,itonal ar,-umenem for Slavery, standing alone, fully justifes the Aboli ionists. ",Nor will it avail us aught to show that the negro is most happy and best situated in the condition of Slavery. If we stop there, we weaken our cause by the very ar gument il tended to advance it;for we propose to introduce into ntew territory human beings whom twe assert to be z':~Jit for Liberty, self-government, and equtal association with other men. We?mu,st go a step further. WVe must shw that African Slavery is a moral, religious, natural, and probably, in the general, a necessary institution of society. This is the only line of argument lhat will enable Southern Demoerats to maintain the doctrines of State equality and Slavery extension. "For if Slavery be not a legitimate. useful, moral, and expedlienlt institution, we cannot, without reproof of Coniscienfce and the blush of shame, seek to extend it or assret our equality with those Slates having no such institution. " Northern Democrats need not go thus far. They do not seek to extend Slat'ery, but only agree to its extension, as a mnatterofrig-htonourp-art. They mayprefertheir ownisocial systemi to ours. But while they may prefer their owin .c-cial system, they will have to admit in this canvass that ours is also ri,htful and legitimate, and sanctioned alike by the opinions and usages of mankind. and by the autirity an,d express injunctions of Scriptuere. They cannot eoiisistently maintain that Slavery is immornal. iniexpedient, and profan%e and yet continue to submit to its extei1sioil." I ask yo u, Mr. Chairman, and I ask the people of the free States, to mark this extract. I call attention to its concluding words. The people of the free States must " agree to the extension of Slavery, as a matter of right on the part of the South," and, while they may prefer free in;itutions, they must "admit in this canvass" that Slavery is right, " by the opinions and usages of mankind, and by the authority and express injunc,ions of Scripture." Here is the issue! Here is the platform! Governor Wise endorses it, and, -peaking of the candidate, says: Buchanan has been especially faithful on the subject of qtavery. I undertake to say that not only no man North ,ut no ma,s Souith, can show a better record than that of Iames Buchanan on that vexed and dangerous question." Wise tells us, if Buchanan is elected, Kansas is re to be a slave State. I have no doubt he is ight. For one, in that event, I shall regard the iuestion as settled. To make Kansas a slave Itate, and administer upon the political estates )f Pierce and Douglas, is all that is expected ff Buchanan, if he is elected. Buchanan agrees .vith Pierce and Douglas, and stands upon the ,!attbrm that they have made. Douglas says. ', Such is Democracy in the year'1856. The party has become the ally of Slavery-the supe porter of the worst aristocracy that ever cursed - the earth. It has repudiated its old principles. o It no longer follows Washington and Jefferson. It now swears by Calhoun and Douglas. t In the eyes of those who control and govern r the party, Slavery is no longer an evil-no longer s a curse to the State, and a crime against God and man; but it is right-sanctioned and approved by God, and a blessing to mankind. The slave : is no longer a man, but simply "property "-fit only for labor, and no better than a horse or a e mule. And I am sorry to say, sir, that the doct trine is fast gaining ground at the South, that , all who labor are fit only to be slaves. The great doctrine of equality of rights among all e men, as advocated by Jefferson, scarcely finds a believer in the South. eIf the Declaration of Independence was to be re adopted-to-day, how many men on the other side of the Hall, how many of the leading spirits of the Democratic party, would vote for its great cen tral Democratic truth, "That all men are created free and equal?" I fear the number would be small. To accord with the present notions of Southern men and Democratic leaders, the Dec laration of Independence should be.amended so as to read: "'All free white men, and especially slaveholders, and those who can live without labor, are created free and equal." In speaking of the trial, in this city, for the killing of Keating, a laborer at Willard's Hotel, the Charleston (S. C.) Standard says: "If white nmet accept the offices of menials, it should be expected that they wuill do so with an apprehension of their relation to society, and the disposition quietly to eccounter both the responstibilities and liabilities which the relation imposes." The " relation" of " menials" to society, "imposes" submission to insults from "gentlemen." The same authority says: " It is getting tbne that hotel-waiters at the iyorth were convinced that they are servants, a-id not Igentlssen' its disguise. We hope that this Herbert offair will teach then& pruden ce." Northern laborers should take notice t They must be "convinced that they are servants, and not gentlemen in disguise." This language of feudalism and aristocracy has a strange sound to me. Born and bred to toil, I have learned to look upon labor as honorable. I am a Northern laborer Many a time have I moistened the soil with the sweat of my brow; and in the work-shop I have paid my devotions. Before I look upon labor as degrading, I must despise my father and mother-I must tbforget my origin, and all the past years of my life. This I cannot do. But one thing I can do. I will never cease to despise and abhor an institution that first enslaves, degrades, and chattellizes man-then teaches the doctrine that labor is degrading, and 'Buchanan and my,-elf ht ive for several. years back, ver since I came into public life, HELD THE SAME 'OS TION on the Slavery question, from begtintiiing to -id.' N'ow, bear what Buchanan says' 9 and labelled "State Equality." This is a Southern intention, and I presume will have a longer life. "State Equality!" What does this mean? It has a popular sound. It means the right of slaveholders to carry their slave property from the slave States into the free Territories, and plant it there, on an equal footing with general property. The advocates of this doctrine begin by assuming, what is not true, that slaves are property by the Constitution and by common law; and then they reason that the owners of such property have the same rights, in all respects, as the owners of general property. They beg the question of property in man by universal law. and then construct their argument. Their superstructure has no foundation. There is no common law under Heaven that sanctions propert y in man This idea is contrary to law, and abhorrent to reason. If we admit the assumption of Southern menthat slaves are property at common law, and by the Constitution-the argument they build upon the premises is good, and they are right in their conclusions. If slave property has the same rights as other property, the owners of such property have a right to carry it where they please. If the sa me rights of property attach to slaves that attach to horses, the owner of the one can carry his property as rightfully into the Territories as the owner of the other, and, for aught I can see, into the States-even into the free States. The whole system of Slavery rests upon assumption. This assumptionof" property in man" underlies all the others. Heretofore, those interested in extending the system of human bondage have not ventured upon this ground. But finding that the monstrous iniquity has no other refuge, they now plant themselves boldly upon the odious and anti-Democratic principle, that "property in man" has the same rights as property in horses. The gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. KEITT,] in a recent speech upon this floor, in anticipation of the Cincinnati Convention, enunciated this doctrine in the following language: The South should establish in the platform the principle, that the right of a Southern man to his slave is equal in its lelngth and breadth to the right of a Northern malli to his horse. She should make the recogtnition of the rightfull, complete, and tidi,s1utable.'' Nearly every Southern man who has spoken this session has contended for the same principle. This is not law; neither is it right. Against this tyrannical assumption, I place the opinion of Lord Brougham. He says: " Tell me not of rights; talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. I deny the right; I acknowledge not the property. In vain you tell me of laws that sanetioni such a claim. There is a law above all the enactineitis of humant codes, the same throughout the world, the same in all times; it is the law writ,eu by the fih,nger of God on the hearts of oman; and by th-at law-, uichangeable and eternal, while ment despise fraud, and loatl rapinie, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild and guilty phantlasy that mans cans hold property in man." Such also were the sentiments of Wilberforce, Pitt, Burke, Martin, Fox, Granville, Grattan, Curran, and a host of others, who triumphed over the slave power in England, after a desperate struggle. Such are the sentiments of all classes in orthy a gentleman. I would rather have honest heart, the peace of mind, and the hope leaven, of one hardy son of toil, "than all wealth that sinews bought and sold eve r efd." r. Chairman, to show you that my view of C incinnati platform and the present is sue is ,gct, I give the following extracts from the ~ester Palladium, for many years one of the st Democratic papers in New England: ' he platform assert s the right of sl ave holders to carry -r y out of the slave State s, and plant it i the Territo F or t hat, we fin d no warrant ill t he Constitution, no sanietion in the opinions held by the Democratie or its leadilzng men, through almos t the w hol e period existence of the Republic. comparison with this i tem of the creed, the others uillted as otling. What, therefore, is the rre insfeihernce? antd it can be. nothingt more or less than. that the kncratic platform is narrowed down to one pointi-to lank —and that a full and explicit adoption of all the .' of no avail, so l,g as thisis discarded. The connr e i s the refore inevitable and irresistible. that a!l is in t he platform is surplusage, except the single k of SLAVEgY EXTENSIONS; and that while a man malyF ve everything that has been conisidered essential by arty and(4 its conventions il other days, he is to be ex:unicated,'read out,' as a Democrat, unless he is ,red to stand upon the single plank that is flow set the test of membership, and swear upon his coiice that Slavery Extensioni is and ought to be a carpurpose of the Democratic organization. -Ie are not going into any argument to show that the -cratic party has left us; nor do we assent to the ration that we lhave left them. But we do say,!hat, .onstructing- their platformr,iheyhave putirnanewand ';onal plank-, which they plainly tell us is more im'It, in their eqtimationi than all the others; and that will recoginise no man as a member of their party, s he mill stand square'upon that planik. That planlk very Extension. WFTE REJECT IT. We disown it. We sot stand upon it, if the whole world beside stand there. not Democratic. It is unchristian. It is a violation of :n rights. It is a charter to perpetuate human wrongs; we wipe our hands of all responsibility for it, in theory :=ctiee." Ow long the people of this country are to be bugged and misled by the name of Democ, E know not. But this much I do know: the principles of Liberty and Equal Rights _o be of short duration, if the present policy e Democratic party, and the moneyed inter,f the slave aristocracy, are to prevail and ome the settled policy of the Government. don what claim of right is this new article Smocratic faith founded? What reasons are . for the extension of Slavery? When the ouri restriction was repealed, we were told it was done by the right of " popular soveriy "-sometimes called " squatter sovereign These words were rung in our ears for ths, to justify that repeal. We were told, and over ag,ain, that the people have the L to " govern themselves;" that is, the right -tablish Slavery. I must say, Slavery always ed to me very much like governing others. was a Northern invention, designed to work stern dough. The South never admired the line, for it might work for Freedom. They ~ nded a new contrivance. The Richmond fairer said: " The squatter sovereignty gun . be spiked," and it was done. It will be in some localities at the North —but the at has been rejected, and the W'hole thing ;emned. Even its own fathers will not own A new invention was devised at Cincinnati, 10 England now. The contrary doctrine finds advo cates only in this Republic. 'Against this doctrine I place the decisions of the courts. The Supreme Court have repeatedly held that slaves are regarded as persons, and not property, in the "full, complete, and indispu table" acceptation of that term. In passing upon a case involving this point, the Supreme Court say: "The Constitution treats slaves as persons In the sec ond section of the first article. which apportions Represent atives and direct taxes among the St-tes, it provides that'the nulnmber shall be determined by adding to the whole numlber of free piersons, including those bound to service fo)r a term of years, aud excluding Indians not taxed, thre-c-fifths of all other persons' Aid agaiti, in the third section, of the fourth article, it is declared that'no person held to service or labor in one State. under the; laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequelice of any law or regulation thereiti, be discharged trom such service or lal)or, but shall be delivered up. on claim of the party to whom such labor may be due."' The courts of many if not all of the slaveholding States, have taken the same view of the subject. The Supreme Court of Mississippi says: "It has been determined ill Virginia that slaves are persons." "In the Constitution of the United State, sl,aves are especially desigilated as persons." " The right of the master exists, not by force of the law of nations or of iature. but It)y virtue only of the positive law of the State." In another case, the same Court says: "Slavery is condemned by reason, and [by the laws of nature. It exists, anid can exist, only through municipal regula,ions."a The Supreme Court of Kentucky, in 3 Marshall, page 470, says: "Slavery is sanctioned by the laws of' this State; but we coinsidler that as a right existing by a positive law of a mulnicipal character, without fouidation il the law of nature." The Supreme Court of Louisiana says: '"The relation of slave and owner, in the States of the Union in which it has a legal existence, whether free or slaveholcitig, is a creation ofmunicipal law." And they declared a slave, taken to France by her owner, and brought back to Louisiana, emancipated by the mere act of taking a slave to a country where Slavery was abolished. Judge Barbour, of Virginia, in delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States on this subject, says: "BuIt how canll this apply to persons? They are not th e subjects of commerce; and not beingl imilorted noods cannot fall withiii a train of reasoning founided on the constriuctioti of a power given to Co-ngress to regulate cornmmer-ce, atid the prohibition to the States from'imrnposiiig a duty upon imported goods." In giving a history of the adoption of the Constitution, Mfr. Madison informs us that the term "persons " was inserted by the Convention which framed it, and other phraseology stricken out, because "it admitted that there could be property in men;" an idea which Mr. Madison said "'he thought it wrong to admit in the Constitution." All, or nearly all, the slaveholding States have from time to time prohibited the introduction of slaves as merchandise, and some of them for any purpose; and- all their courts have maintained the validity of these laws. Yet, if slaves were mere property, like cattle and horset, cotton or iron, they could not be precluded by any State. I need not labor this bSoint further. There is no doctrine better settled, by State and National courts, and by legislative precedents, than t Slavery is the creature of State laws; that i c ontrary t o reason, the commo n law, the c( mton sense and gener al understanding of m kind; that it can exist only when State 1 s anction it. The mom ent the slave is kby c sent of his master, beyond the jurisdiction of State by which he is held, he is free. The rr ter has no property in the slave, that exists ove r the wo rld, but such on ly as exist s in State that, by positive law, sanctions Slavery: The decision in the case of Forbes vs. Cochi (2 Barn. and Cresswell, 463,) in the Court King's Bench, covers the whole ground. It is follows: 'The right to slave,- when tolerated b5y law, is fouin not on the ]aw of nature, but oni the law of the partic country. It is a law in vitiurn; and when a party - out of the pourer of his master, and gets under the pro: tion of another power, without any wroni,ful act done the party givinig that protection, the right of the ma. which is founde-d oil the municipal law of the partid. place only, does not continue. The moment a for; slaves puts his foot on our shores, he cease, to he a sla beca?4"e there is no law here which sa,,ctions his being heOf Slavery. An(d the local law, which held him in Slav against the law of iature, has lost its force." Then, sir, the slaveholder has no right of pr. erty in his slave, which gives him any right carry such property into any Territory where laws do not sanction Slavery. If he does, right at once ceases, and the slave is'as as f as his master. This is the law of Christendr It works no hardship to him who claims prope in his fellow-man. He knows the law.'f hardship is on the other side-that man sho be held in Slaver,y-anywhere. Southern -r talk about being excluded from the Territor. because they cannot carry their slaves the As well might a man who has one, two, f three-dollar bank notes, talk about being cluded from this District, because he cannot pr bank notes here of'less denomination than dollars. Is the slave so much a part of his m, ter, that the one cannot emigrate without, other? This is all idle talk. As before stat. Slavery exists by local law; and the moment y get beyond the locality where such laws ex' the shackles of Slavery fall. But I am not done with this doctrine of " Str Equality." It is not equality, but inequality, tb the South claim. They set up a claim of prc erty in man, and think it hard that such pr~ erty has not the rights of general property. Th complain that they cannot take this kind of m, chandise into the Territories. This compla; has no foundation. Do these complainants forl that this kind of property has a quality a confers rights which no other property has can confer? Do they forget that every slav reckoned by them as only property, is three-ift a man? This right of manhood for politic purposes, as well as property, belongs to t' slaveholder. The slave is no man for him7self, the eyes of Southern gentlemen or of the la: but every five human beings held ill honda, make three political men of their master. W!h other property has this wonderful faculty? know of none. To illustrate this point: Suppc: a Southern man goes to Kansas with five hnl 11 slaves, and Kansas is made a slave State;' one man, by his human property, becomes on this floor and in his vote for President, in all the political affairs of the country, to hundred and one hard-working, intelligent in New Hampshire, or in any other free e. Call you this " equality!" No, sir! It )wnright inequality. The extension of Slavery iuces an inequality of States. he principle of allowing parts of a nation tical power in proportion to the number of they hold in bondage, is so undemocratic detrimental to Liberty, that I am surprised t any man outside of the privileged States old be willing to extend it one inch beyond S tates to which it already applies. Such a nciple a s this woul d have been repudiated by heathen democracy of Athens long centu ago. Be the Constitution of the United States, in ; apportionment of Representatives to Con e-3, five slaves count the same as three free.n. Under this pr ovision of the Cons titutio n, gm 1789 to 1792, the South gained seve n Rep -entatives; from 1795 to 1813, she gai ned f our,n; from 1813 to 1823, she gained nineteen; jm 1823 to 1833, the gain was twenty-two; J)m 1833 to 1843, the gain was twenty-five. At is moment, the South has twenty additional Embers on this floor on account of this prin ple. The present ratio of representation is 93,731. be free States have 144, and the slave States 3 Representatives. The free white population f the free States, in 1850, was 13,438,667; and he free white population of the slave States was -,184,404. The number of free colored persons ;, the free States is about equal to the same lass in the slave States. The free States have 44 Representatives on this floor, or on an aver ge one Representative for 93,324 free white ,ohabitants. The slave States have 90 Repre:entatives, or on an average one Representative =or 68,715 free white inhabitants. This is the way this principle works. In the next Presidential election, the free States will have 176 electoral votes, or on an average one electoral vote for 76,356 free white inhabitants. The slave States will have 120 electoral votes, or on an average one electoral vote for 51,536 free white inhabitants. The South will have 20 electoral votes as a premium for Slavery. If we examine particular States, we shall find the contrast even more unequal than in the aggregate. For instance, South Carolina has a white population of 274,567, and; six Representatives, or one Representative to 45,761 fiee white inhabitants. She has eight electoral votes, o one for 34,321 white imhabitants. New Rampshire has a white population of 317,456, and thre~ Representatives, or onS' for 105,8'18 inhabitants She has five electoral tOtes, or oh6' for 63,491 free white inhabitants. It will be obse~rved-frotr these figures3 thait thee white men in South Carolina have as much ilafiuencee incthes votes upor this floor as- seven wh~ite' miesh in Ne'w Hampshire And this, sir, is the a"equality Of the States,'! s( much'talked of Oh the other side'of the House! Cragin. Keitt. Free whiles 103,615 43,759 Native adults who cannot read and write - w- 182 2,210 College - - 1 - Pupils - 273 - Acad,emies and schools - - - - 981 123 Pupils - - - - -i 28,746 2,746 Public libraries - - - -. 27 2 Volumes- 28.4015 5.700 Votes polled at the last election - 21,766 7,500 Georgia has a free white population of 521,572, and eight Representatives, or one for 65,196 white inhabitants. - Maine has a free white pop ulation of 581,813, (60,000 more than Georgia,) and six Representatives, or one for 96,969 in habitants. Virginia has a white population of 894,800, and thirteen Representatives, or one for 68,830 free white inhabitants. Massac(husetts has a white population of 985,450, (about 100,000 more than Virginia,) and eleven Representatives, or one for 89,586. But some one will sav: "The South pays di rect taxes in the same proportion, as an offset for this property representation." This is true. Let us examine this point, and see whether the South , has been the gainer or loser by this provision. A direct tax has been resorted to only four times since 1789i by the General Government, viz: in 1798, 1813, 1814, and 1816, and is not likely to be resorted to again. The whole amount assessed was fourteen millions of dollars. Of this, the South paid for her slaves only $1,256,553. In 1837, the surplus revenue of the Union, amounting to over $37,000,000, was distrib uted among the several States in proportion to their electoral votes. By the census of 1830, the North hiad 7,008,451 free persons, and the South had 3,823,289. The free States received $21,410,777.12; the slave States, $16,058,082.85. Every free mah of the North received but $3.50, while every free man of the South received $4.20, in that division. At that time, the South had 126 electoral votes, of which 25 were on account of slaves. She therefore received by that arrangetnent $3,186,127.50, on account of the representation of her slave property. From that, if we deduct the $1,256,553 paid by her as a direct tax on account of her slaves, there is left $1,929,5'74.50 as the I bonus which the South has received from the Treasury of the'nation, on account of the repre sentation, of slaves-Southern property repre. sented in Congress. Such has been the practical operation of this provision of the Constitution. In view of it, Mr. e t s ac St s r 8 p t 12 Pickering once said in Congress: "The terms were not bad for the South to take." So we should think. By it the South has had an extra representa tion in Congress of from ten to twenty members, and a corresponding extra voice in all the affairs of Government. In addition to this, she has re ceived nearly $2,000,000 out of the National Treasury, in consequence of: his unequal repre sentation-this representation of Southern property. But, sir, this is in the Constitution, and we abide by it. I have alluded to this subject, not for the purpose of making war upon the Constitution, but for the purpose of giving a practical reason why we are opposed to the extension of Slavery. We are opposed to the extension of the principle of property representation, and especially to a privileged class. Daniel Webster once said: "I have made up my mind, for oiie, that under no cir eumstainces will I consent to the exiension of the area of Slavery in the United States, or to the further increase of slave represenitation ii the House of Representatives."' So I say, and so say the people of the free States. I have gone into a somewhat tedious detail of figures, to show that the North is the sufferer that the people of the free States have reason'to complain of inequality, and not the South. The South have more than their equal rights. Two thousand millions of dollars of Southern prop erty-so called by them-is represented on this floor. It has twenty Representatives here; while not a cent of Northern property is represented. No man is here to represent our horses and cat tle, our iron, our ships, or our mills; and I thank God it is so. Free'and independent men-free, intelligent, and liberal thought-and the interests of free, educated, and well-paid labor-have their Representatives here from the Nqrth. Property representation is confined to the South. And yet, sir, we hear Southern men talking about " State Equality," as though the South did not enjoy equtal rights'with the North. We are told that Slavery must be extended, in order to secure and preserve to the South her equal rights. This argument is often presented in a different shape. We have been told many times this ses sion, that the Territories are common property, and that the Southern man has the same right to occupy them that the Northern man has. All this we admit. We admit that they are common prop erty, purchased by the common treasure; and that men from all sections have an equal right in them. But we deny that the prohibition of Slavery in the Territories impairs any man's right. Gentlemen talk as though they could not move into a new Territory without their slaves. They say that, unless they can take their slave property there, and hold and use it as they do in the States, they are excluded. Not so, sir. As well might the banker say.he was excluded, because he could not take his bank with him into the Territory. His bank charter is the creature of local law. Slave property is the creature of 1. Iowa, free - 50,914 2 2 The free States have received' one-fouirth the number of States-less than one-fourth the num ber of square miles-one-fourth the number of Senators, and one-seventh the Representatives. I call the attention of gentlemen to these figures. This looks as though the South had been exclu ded from the Territories. South of Mason and Dixon's line, this is called " State Equality.," We are taught a different system of addition in the free States; but, according to Southern calculations, our arithmetic is all wrong. Kansas and Nebraska constitute the balance of the Louisiana purchase; and, if they were made free States, there would be an equal division of this territory between the North and South. Against this the South are contending. Not satisfied with three-fourths, as the division now stands, they claim Kansas for Slavery; and this, sir, notwithstanding it was pledged to Free -the same law; and neither are property b-.r the locality governed by said laws. Bdt, sir, how stands the,account betwe North and South, in relation to the Territ acquired, and paid for out of the common T ury, since the adop#on of the Constitution't Since that time, territory has been purcl or acquired, out of whi(,h five slave States been formed, and only two free States. The Stat,es have paid more than two-thirds the of the acquisitions, and obtained less than third of the States. This is what.I sup,, Southern gentlemen call 11 State Equal'ity." T States have the following extent of territory representation no Congress Square miles. Senators. R. 1. Douisiana 41,346 2 2. Missouri 65,037 2 3. Arkansas 52,191 2 4. Florida 59,268 2 5. Texas - 325,369 2 Five slave States 5i3,369 10 I 1. Iowa - 5o,914 2 2. California - 188,981 2 2 Two free States 239,895 4 4 These figures show, again, the bauties State Equality.". But as the present contw,relates mainly to the Territory of Kansas, I p-.pose to show the 11 equality 11'that has been c served in the division of th6 purchase out of whi, this Territory was formed. In 1803, the Unit States purchased of France the territory know as the "Louisiana purchase," and paid theref fifteen millions of dollars-tbe North. paying, least, ten millions as her share. Out of this paticular territory, thus far, four States have beformed-three slave, and one free', as follows: Square miles. Senators. Reps. 1. Louisiana - 41,356 2 4 2. Missouri - 65,037 2 7 3. Arkansas - 52,191 2 2 Three slave States 1' 5 8,584 6 13 gist, except on the ground of necessity. If there be one who concurs with the gentleman from Brunswick [Mr. Gholsonl] in the harmless character of this institution, let me request hiri to compare the condition of the slaveholding portion of this Commonwealth, barren, desolate, and seared as it were by the avelginrg hand ot Heaven, with the descriptions we have of the same from those who broke its virgin soil. To what is this change ascribal)le? Alone to the withering and blasting effects of Slavery." Mr. Moore, in speaking of the evils of Slavery, said: "The first I shall mention is the irresistible tendency which it has to undermine and destroy everything like virtue and morality in the community. "In that part of the State below tide. water, the whole face of the country wears an appearance of almost u'ter desolation, distressiing to the bleholder. The very spot oni which ourancestors landed a little morethantwo lhuiired years ago, appears to be on the eve of again becoming the haunt of wild beasts." Mr. Ritchie, once the editor of the Union, in Speaking of Slavery in 1832 said: "It is probable, from what we hear, that the commit mittee on the colored population will report some pla!t for getting rid of the free people of color. But is this all that can be done? Are we forever to suffe r the greatest evil which can scourge our land, not onily to remain, but to increase in its dimensions? Yes, something mutstbe done, and It i, the part of no honest mallto deny it.s' "uWhe,i, within a period equal to that in which t e Federal' Constitution has been in existence, those iiuin beers will increase to more than two millions within Vir,oinKia; when this, the fairest land on all this coitiinent. for soil,'aud clinmate. ahid situation, combiiled, might be come at sor of garden spot if it were worked ty tihe haltds of white men alone an tee, oug,ht we, to sit quietly down. fold our arms, and say to each other,' Veil, well, this thing will not come to the worst in olir day.' Something ough t to be done; means sure, gradalssysteinatic, but discreet-ought io be adopted for reduacing the ias of evil that is presseing upon the South. " The disease is deep-seated. It is at the heart's core. It is colisurnilig our vitals."-See Richmond Enquirer oj January 7, 1832. I ask the attention of gentlemen to these ex tracts, and especially the last. Compare it with the one I gave in another place, from the same paper, of recent date. We advocate now just what was advocated in Virginia in 1832, and what was then the sentiment of the country; and f or this we are called enemies of the country, disunionists, &c. Comment is unnecessary. This is a true picture of nearly every Southern State to-day. We cannot consent that Kansas should be added to their number. Slavery has seared and blackened quite enough of this beau tiful land. No, gentlemen; you must not ask it. If you do, we tell you plainly, firmly, butt kindly, that we cannot and will not consent. If you insist, we must resist by all the lawful, constitutional, and moral power that God has given us. We cannot consent to do a wrong, or suffer it to be done, if in our power to prevent it. Before you can claim our co-operation in this work, you must blot out the history of the past. You must show us that our education is wrong; that our Christianity is wrong. In the language of the noble Henry Clay, in a speech on this floor, upon this subject, in 1827, we say: " If they would repress all tendencies towards Liberty and ultimate emancipation, they must do more than put down the benevolent efforts of this society. They must go back to the era of.our Liberty and Independence, and muzzle the can non which thunders its annual joyous return. thirty-six years ago, in consideration for !mission of Missouri as a slave State. An d -s e the North will not tamely submitto this, talk of aggr ession on the p art of the free .I' and threa ten a di ssolut ion of th e Uni on. e people of the N or th are not given to bragor to threats. They have other'modes of ng their courage and patriotism. They apto history. If ever a n a ttempt sho uld be . to dissolve the Union of these States, be Slaver y i s n ot allowed to spread over free tories, I presume the North will demonstrate .lly their lovo for the Union, but their ability mintain and defend it. e nan ia of Slav ery ex tens ion has seized the e South, and taken possession of the Democ party-once the advocate of Freedom and 1 Riihts. To se cure the extension of this L evil, th e Missouri Compromise was repudi, and the fires of agitation rekindled through:he land. The embankment against the furspread of human bondage, erected in 1820 ur patriotic ancestors, was broken down at command of the Slave Power, and the faith he nation violated. A compact as sacred as Constitution has been broken, and for the ,ose of making Kansas a slave State. nle South claim Kansas for Slavery. We canconsent! We will not consent! Knowing, God is the avenger of wrong, we dare not tent. By no agency of ours shall this beauI Territory be made desolate by the touch of ery. Knowing how our forefathers, appealto God for the "rectitude of their actions," lored his assistance in their great struggle l!iberty, we dare not offer up a different prayer . Knowving that the God of Liberty gave us victory then, we dare not mock and insult . now-as we should do by tamely consentto the enslavement of Kansas. We make no upon the South-we only defend against her -fare. They fight for Slavery-we for Liberty. ask them to look upon the effects of Slavery .he slave States. We ask them to compare free States with their own. We ask them to a back a few years, and read what their own resmen said, and then blame us for desiring .edom for Kansas. lovernor Randolph, in his address to the Viria Legislature, in 1820 said: We have been fitr outstripped by States to whom na has been far less bountiful. It is painful to consider ~at might have beenr under other circumstances, the audit of general wealth in Virginia.'' Mr. Curtis, in a speech in the Virginia Legisure, in 1832 said: There is a malaria in the atmosphere of these regions, ich the nev-coriier shunis, as being deleterious to his :ws and hal,its. See the wide-spreading ruin which avarice of our ancestral Governirmenit has produced the Soath, as witnessed in a sparse population of freen. deserted habitations, and fields without culture! =ange to tell, even the wolf; driven back long since by ;approach of mall. now returns, after the lapse of a =ldred years, to howl over the desolations of Slavery." Another member said: :.I am gratified to perceive that no grentlemana has yet -on ill this hall, the avowed advocate of Slavery. Thle y has gone by wvhenl such a voice could be listened to ith pa^tmalce. or even forbearance. I regret that we ould find ratne amongl us who enters the lists as aln apolo ... o k They must blow out the moral lights around us, and extinguish that greatest torch of all which America presents to a benighted world, pointing the way to their rights, liberties, and their happiness. And when they achieve all these purposes, their work will be yet incomplete. They must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the light of reason and the love of Liberty. Then, and not till then, when universal darkness and despair prevail, can you perpetuate Slavery, and repress all sympathies, and all humane and benevolent efforts among freemen, in behalf of the unhappy portion of our race doomed to bondage." Nor have we forgotten that the same great orator, in 1850, said: "I have said that I never could vote for it myself; and I repeat that I never can and never wCll vote, and no e arthly power erer will make me vote to spread Slavery over territory vwhere it does nzot exist." The South has forced upon us this issue, and we accept it. WVe claim Kansas for Freedom, by right and by compact. " Kansas for Freedom " is inscribed this day upon ten thousand banners, which float all over the free North. Her army of freemen are marching to the music of " LIBaRTY and Union." Our platform is the Declaration of Independence. Our candidate is the brave and gallant Fremont, in whose veins runs the same blood that vitalized Washington.- Ottr hopes are in God, whose aid we invoke, as did our fathers of old. We are in the midst of a political revolution. It is a necessary purifier. Let it'go on l When "Arise, a rise, ye b rave! And let our twar-cry be, Free Speech, Free Press, Free Soil, Free Menl Fa-O.N:T ard ~ViCToRY "' WASHINGTON, D. C. DIBULL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS, 1856, I the atmosphere becomes ptrid with diseai: thunder and lightning are necessary to rthe seeds of death. So- in this Republic. dangers lurk in every avenue to the cita Li'uerty, nothing but a political revolutic-, save us from calamity. The blood which has stained the free s Kansas and the floor of the Senate Chambcneeded as an atonement for the past servil Northern men. If the sacrifice shall prove cacious in exterminating the race of dough: it is not too much. The crisis' is one of awful moment-I V the free -North, the interests of Freedom are fided to you I The we.Ifare of the Re,ubli pends upon your action I The destinies of a tinent h,,tng' upon your decisioa I The horunborn millions survive -or perish by your v, Action in such a case becomes godlike, an, ting rises to the solemnity and dignity of pr Rear your defences, 0 freemen I Place upo the watchtowers br,%ve and true men-'' men know their rights,, and, knowing, dare maint The day that witnesses the triumpli of Lit, in this mighty struggle will be remembers all coming history; and posterity will call t' blessed who enlist for Freedom, as, it always those who, with brave hearts and- true, battle. the right. CIRCULATE THE DOCUMENTS. The Republican Association of Washington City, in order to afford ev facility for a profuse distribution of documents during the campaign, have i extensive arrangements for publishing speeches and documents favoring the p ciples of the Republican Party, and will furnish them to individuals, or clubs the bare cost of publication. The following is a list of those already published; and, being stereotyped, are enabled to supply any number of copies at short notice: List of Documents already published, and which will be kept for sale till the end of the Campal At 62 cents per 100 copies, free of postage. Poor Whites ofthe South.-vestoin. Will the South Dissolve the Unlion?-WVest'onH. The Federal U.ioi, it inust be Preserved.-WVestoi.n. Soitheril "laveiy reduces Nortberil Wages.-WVe.ton. WVho are Sectionial?-SVes,-, —, Review of thie Kansas Ai,{i::port.-Hot. J. Sher mal.'.,:.. Reasons for Joifing the Repui ~'; o re —Ju? ilsreot. Admissioni of Kanisas.-Hon. a..- 6%'.-:[-;~:W!' Collamer's Report a-id Speeca [:v-r re Staite Collstitutiott for Kansas.: - u o-t p e Kansas Allairs.-Hon. H. Wa,drroi. vB Defeice of Kansas.-Rev. Henry WVatceher. Defeice ofM.asstchusetts.-Hon A. Burliagame. Privilege ofthe Representative, Privilege of the People. Hoti. J. R. Giddicltgs. Democratic Ptrty as it WVas and as it Is -Hon. T. C. Day. The Humbtuig atld the Reality.-lion. T. C. Day. Blair's Letter to the Relpu')lican Associatiorn. The Slavery estto.-o. J. Allisonl. Si'avery UlnconstitutioaL. —Ion. A. P. Granger. At $1.25 per 100 copies free of postage. Kansas iri 1856: A complete History of the Outrages in lKansa s not erl,,rac(d in the lKansas Committee's Re port.-By an Olii er of the Commission. linrmediate Adnissin o n of Ca- 1sas.-lHoi. W. 11. Sewar(d. Adimission of Kainas? aind the Political Effects of Siave rv.-Hon. H. Beiinnett. Affairs izl Kansas.-Hon. L. Trumball. WVroiigs of Kan,sas —Hou,. J. P. Hale. Adlinissioni ofKansas.-Hon B F. Wade. State of A(thirs in KaCs-as.-Hon. H. PrVison. Admission of Katisas.-Hoi. James Htrlan. The "I,aws" of Kanrsas. —Hon. Schuy ler Colfax. Organizationi of the Free State Governmen t irn KaPie.sas and Inaug,ural Address of Governor Ro)biison. Plymnouthll Oratiot.i-Hoio. Wg H. Seward The Dangers of Extending Slavery, and The Contest andll the Crisi.-:; two Speeches in oue pamphlet.-Hon. W. H. Seward. Politics cqf the Country.-Honii. Israel W1asltl)urn. Conplaii,ts of the Extetisiitists; their Falsity.-Hon. Plilemon Bl-ss. The Slavery'4uestion.-Hon. Edward WVade. Extravagas,t 1 cpeiidttares.-Hon. E Ball. Freedom Nh tional. Slaver, Section,al. —Hon. J. J. Pr The' Arnty of the United States tiot to be iEnployed Poice to Etotorce the,aOs o f the aConiquerors-of sats.-Honi. NI. H. Seward. Mnoderni " Democrac) " the Ally of.Slavery.-Hon. Al. Tappan. -At $2.50 per 1 00 copies,.free of postage. Crime ag,rainist Kaiisas. -Hoti. Charles S;umnier. Report oflthe Kanisas Inivestigatin-g Commrntee. Life of Freinonit, illustrate(]. The Nel)raska Question. conitaininig the Speeches of Do las, Chase, Smith. Everett, NVa(te, Badger, Seward, Sumntier together wilh tthe llstory of tl imIissc Coinprom~s,,, &c. Price 20 cenits, free of postage. Political Mlap of the Uniited States. designed lo exhibit comparative area of the Free and( Slave States, and Territory openl to Slavery by the Repeal of tle AMissc Com,promise. Xitit-a comparison of te principal tistic,s of tlle Free a.,d Slave States, frormi the Cenisuis I15(., Highly Colored. Price'10 celtxs, Lce of posts: IH P th e Gero t an Langqu tayge. Crime a ga tinst Kasas. —Hoii. Cha,rles Suminer. Pr 142.0 per l(Ml. I,ife of Freemoa.t, illustrated. Price $2.50 per 100. 'I'he,' aws" of Ka -sas.-Hoi. S,h laiayler Colfax. Pr' $[.25 per 100. The Dangere of Extendingi i1avery. —}tn. AV. H. Sewa Price 81. 25 per 1]O). T'hle Contest and the Cri~ig.-AV. I}. Sevward. Price $1 per 100-. Tlhe IJrineiiale Admlission ofKanisas. —HIo. WV. Ht. Se ard Price p1.25 per 100. Add,Iress of thse Nationlii Repulblican Comnmittee. Pr[ $1.'25 per 100. Franicis P. 131air's L,etter ta the Reprul)licanl Associati~ Price Cri cenlts per 10). .Slavsery U,nconlstitutioiial.-Honi. A. P. Granger. Pri, G- cenlts per 1(0). PoDr -hite of the South. -G. M. W'eston. Price cenits per 100. Rcnort of the Kansas Investigatinig Comrnittee. Pri~ :2,50 per 100. 1F A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by t thousand copies. _ddress L. CLEPHANE, Secretary, Washington, D. C. 14' PRIVILEGE OF THE REPRESENTATIVE-PRIVILEGE OF THE PEOPLE. SPEECH OF MR. GIDIDINGS, OF OHIO, On the Trial of Preston S. Brooks, for an Assault on Senator Sumner. BEFORE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JULY 11, 1856. kind as my brethren. His happiness is as dear to my heart as that of any other individual outside the circle of personal friends. While these are my feelings toward the ac. cused, I recognise, also, the stern obligations which I owe to the Constitution of my country, to the People of these States, to Christianity, and to Civilization. Representing thirty-one sovereign Statesconvened, under our Federal Constitution, for the performance of legislative duties-we look to that instrument, which delegates to us our only powers, for our rule of action. That charter ofour Liberties provides, that "the Senate shall be composed of two members from each State." In the labors of that body, each of the several States-the people of all the States-have an interest. And to secure this service to the States, and to the people of the whole Republic, they proceeded to ordain, further, that, during the session of Congress, and in goiny to and returning from the same, such Senators shall be privileged from arrest, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace; and.for any speech or debate in that body, shall not be questioned in any other place. I repeat, that this was intended to secure to the nation the services of each and every Senator, by extending to the individuals elected this immunity from arrest-this personal security. This same charter, under which we are now acting, provides that each House may punish is members for disorderly behaviour, and by a vote of two thirds may expel a m ember; and that the freedom of speech sha ll n ever be abridged. Under this "Constitution," Massachusetts, in her sovereign capacity, some five years since, elected a Senator, and charged him with the maintainance of her interests, the support of her dignity, and the protection of her rights. He took his seat in that body with these special duties resting upon him'; but under equal ombi gations to exert his best efforts for the hobd of our Government, for the welfare of all t, people of this growing Empire, for the levi Mr. SPErK,ER: I feel oppressed with the responsibility under which we are acting. Constituting this high judicatory of the nation, we are sitting in judgment upon a fellow-m, mber. The eyes of the people are upon us, a' i the attention of civilized nations is directed toward us. We are about to discharge the highest, the most solemn duty, to our Government, to th e cause of Freedom and of Human Progress, which will probabl y ever devolve upon us. On every hand, we are admonish ed to divest ourselves o f every feeling o f partisan attachment; and, bringing wit h us a ll the intelligence, prudence, patriotisn, and justice, we can command, we should approach the question in the light o f that wisdom which shall guide us to a just and proper conclusion. Th e a ccused is a member of our body. Our sympa thies fo r him, at this most trving period, cannot and ought not to be withheld. Gentlemen have spoken of personal feelings. If I were consciou s o f' harbori ng u nkin d feelings tow ard a ny human being, I shoul d mys elf feel most unhappy. That man is morally disqualifi ed to discharge the duti es of a statesman, who can look upon any persoin in distress with other emotions a thae those which elevate and ennoble our common nature. I speak with more tha n ordinary feelings. Fifteen years since, I was myself arraigned b ef o re may pers of this House. I then stood where the accused now stands, but under a diffe~rent charge, and under different circumstances. I was denied the freed om of speech- not permitted to defed t o myself-nor was any friend permitted to utter a word in my behalf. I was condemned and driven from my seat under ani inexorable tyranny, which, thank God, is unknown at the. present time. I tender to the accused the kindest sympathies of my heart. Sooner should my own right arm be torn from its socket, than I would see'him treated as I was dealt with. I would deal out to him the same measure of justice that I would to a son or brother. Indeed, he is my brother; for I recognise God as our common father, ati man 6 i 2 tion of mankind to a higher intelligence, civil ization, and refinement, than that which we now enjoy. His duties had been performed to' the acceptance of his State, and to the satisfac tion of the nation generally. At the commencement of the present session of Congress, a matter of intense interest touch ing the civil war which now rages in Kansas, oc cupied the public mind. and continued to re ceive the attention of the Senate during most of its sittings for the last seven months. In relation to this subject the Senator from Mas sachusetts, acting in accordance with his judg ment, and the popular feeling of his State, was known to stand on the side of Liberty. A Sen ator from South Carolina, acting upon the dic tates of his own feelings and those of his State, was known to have espoused the cause of Sla very. I have taken some pains to ascertain facts as far as I could, and am assured, by one com petent to make the examination, that the Sena tor from South Carolina spoke on this subject thirty-six times during the present session. This includes his regular and irregular speeches, interruptions, and audible assertions. Ini each and in every instance, I am told, he threw out ideas intended to operate against Freedom in Kansas. On the 19th and 20th May, the Senator from Massachusetts spoke upon the same subject. As he was boun d by that respect which he owed to his State, to the people of the several States, and to his own reputation, he cam e to thie contest prepared —his thoughts arranged, and his argument elaborated. I am not about to speak of the merits of his effort-on that point his address speaks for itself-but I intend to say that, so far as he alludes to South Caro lina, or the Senator from that State, it is mere ly an answer, full and ample to be sure, yet, nevertheless, in answer to the thirty-six speeches of the Senator from South Carolina I refer to these facts, at this time, for the reason that gentlemen have attempted to justify the ac cused by reason of the severity of language used by the Senator from Massachusetts. But I think that every word uttered by the Senator from Massachusetts, in reference to the Sena tor from South Carolina, or his State, was call ed for, and strictly in response to the remarks of that Senator. Another important fact which I would call attention to is, that, during the de livery of that speech, a Senator from South, Carolina was present, and listened to it in pro fbund silence, not even intimating that a word, sentence, or paragraph, transcended the rules of the body, the parliamentary law, or the proper amenities of debate. It was the imperative duty of the presiding officer of that body to carl him to order, if in any respect he violated the rules of debate. Indeed, it was the duty of every member of that body-to preserve its dig nlity, and the proper decorum which is enjoin e d'on every member by the parliamentary law. ; But, sir, neither the presiding officer, nor the Adaator f~rom South Carolina who eras present? nor any member of that bodyn dreamed that the Senator from Massachusetts uttered a sentence or pa ra gr aph not strictly authorized by t he rules of that body. Nor was the Senator from Massachusetts supposed to t ranscend the rules of debate, through the forbearance or' inatten tion of gentlemen opposed to him in politics, I listened to the whole of that speech. I sat near the Senator who delivered it, nor was I an un interested s p ectato r. And t o show that he was watched with a c lose scrutiny, I will relate an incident. In one part of the ha ll, gentlemen conver sed so loudly a s to disturb the Senator who was speaking. He s topped, and, turning to the Sergeant-at-arms, mildly requeste d him to preserve order. But scarcely had the words escaped his lips, before a slaveholding member called him to order for a sking the Sergeant-at arms, instead of the presidi ng o ffice r, t o keep order. The Pres ident of t he Senate decided him out of order, and t he Sena tor apologized, saying he " supposed the Presid ent had not no ticed the disorder." The Presiden t assu red him he had not, and the Senator pro ceeded w ith his remarks. Why, sir, three-fourths of the Senate w ere o pposed, politically, to t he Senator from Massachusetts. They had the power to compel him to observe order at any moment, and to silence him if he er r ed in this respect, and it was their duty to do it. To assert tha t they pe rm it ted hi m to ut ter language not au thorized by the r ules o thehe Sena te, is to stulti fy every member of that body. It was under these circumstances that t he a c cused, a member of this House, imagined that his State and her abse nt Senat or ha d been im properly and unjustifiably assailed by th e Sen ator from Massachu setts; and, by a code of morals unknown to the more enlightened civil ization of the free States, he sat in judgment upon the case, and determined the Senator's guilt. He pronounced the parliamentary law, the rules of the Senate, the laws of the land, and that bighertribunal of our cou ntry- public opinion-defective and impotent in the admin istration of justice; and, assuming the right to avenge his supposed wrongs, he entered that inner sanctuary of the people, and,- while the Senator was engaged at his table, struck him down with a bludgeon, and in a barbarous manner continued to beat his prostrate and apparently lifeless form, until gentlemen came from distant parts of the hall, anll forcibly took him from his victim. Of these facts there is neither denial nor doubt. The record of the testimony and avowals of the accused have placed them beyond controversy, and it is no purpose of mine to aggravate or extenuate them. The natural result has followed the comnmission of this offeace. The State of Massachusetts has been thus far deprived of the services of her Senator. The people of our nation have lost the benefit of his' labors. The cause of Human Progress, of Civilization, of Christianity, have lost the efforts of an able advocate. We.ad? Bot tr~in~ a case of assault and bat 3 body. They first deny that the authority of the Constitution to punish for disorderly conduct, and, by a vote of two-thirds, to expel a member, extends to offences committed outside these walls. The long array of cases cited by my eloquent colleague, [Mr. BINGHAM,] and by the able chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, [Mr. PENNINGTON, hasnd by th e astute: gentleman who presides over the Committ e e o n the Judiciary, [Mr. SIMqMONS,] would seem to have placed this point beyond controversy. But, without referring to those authorities or precedents, I have no hesitation in saying that every court of justice and every legislative body is clothed with the inherent right, with the moral duty, and that.the political necessity rests upon it, to protect itself. Without the exercise of this right and power, no legislative body can exist. Gentlemen next meet us with the argument that this body cannot punish its members for contempt, or for offences, or disorderly con duct, unless we shall have defined the crime, and prescribed the penalty by existing rules or statute. This point has been often urged; perhaps I may say it has been brought forward in almost every case since the time of Jefferson, but never successfully. It has also been fully met by the gentlemen referred to. They have placed it in such a clear and distinct light, that it would appear very little remains to be said upon it. I would, however, add, that we are here as the Representatives of the people, for the purpose of legislating, clothed with' the ne cessary powers to discharge that duty. We are at all times equally supreme. We may make a law to-day, and repeal it to-morrow. We may establish rules to-day, and repudiate them at our next sitting. Our only law is that great fundamental law, the Constitution; and the only court in which our errors can be: re viewed or corrected, is the enlightened tribuaal of popular opinion, where retributive justice is dealt out to us, and to those whom we judge. We should bear in mind that we are not sitting as a nisiprius court, holding our sessions un der and by virtue of statute laws, and acting in conformity to the dictates and decisions of some more dignified tribunal. Yet this argument against the exercise of any and of all discretion by this body, is urged with great ability by gentlemen from the South ern section of our Union. Gentlemen from the slaveholding States are distinguished usually for what they term a c; strict construction of the Constitution;" and, On the present occa sion, this doctrine has been urged, and its ap plication insisted on, by every ~entleman from our slaveholding States. I have reason to know that they have not at all times been tenacious of either the doctrine, or its application. States men should have memories I Fifteen years since, I witnessed a differenit scene in this Hall. The H~on. John Quincy/ Adams, at that time a Representative;Eo Mlassachusetts~ was placed on trial. The'diff tery,'as some gentlemen have represented! The crime which we are investigating was committed against the most vital principles of the Constitution, against the Government itself, against the sovereignty of Massachusetts, against the people of the United States, against Christianity and Civilization. For these great crimes, the accused is now arraigned before the Representatives of the people. There are considerations which cannot be separated from this case. The Senator from Massachusetts was not the mere representative of a State, or party, or section. He labored for the elevation of our Government and of mankind. His efforts were not limited to the East orthe West, to the North or the South. In him and in his labors, the slaveholder, the abolitionist, and the slave, were equaily interested; and the blow which struck him to the earth, throbbed in the temples of twenty-five millions of people. He had travelled extensively in Europe, had made the acquaintance of her leading states men and philanthropists. In Great Britain and on the continent, he was known as an able and devoted friend of humanity; and when they learned that he had entered the Senate, they were strengthened in their belief that this grand experiment, which is now testing the ability of man to govern himself, would succeed. But when they read of this outrage, they felt the wound which had been inflicted upon the cause of truth, justice, and free institutions. Sir, the great and the good in other lands deeply sym pathize with the friends of Freedom in our own country. Their confidence in the success of that high and pure philanthropy, of which the Senator from Massachusetts was a devoted ad vocate, was impaired by this assault upon him., Wherever Christianity has friends, good men will lament, bitterly lament, this sad outrage. Borne down by the weight of these conside rations, we turn to the particular friends of the accused; we call on them for some excuse, or justifiation, or mitigating circumstance, at tending this violent assault upon our free insti tutions. They reply, that this is an ordinary case of assault and battery, punishable only by mtnicipal laws. After the very clear distinc tion shown by my colleague [Mr. BINGHAM] between the assault and battery which was an offence against the peace of the community, punishable in municipal courts, under municipal law, and this great crime against the Constitu tion, against the sovereignty of Massachusetts, and against the people of all the States, cogni zable only in this high judicatory, this argu ment on behalf of the accused does injustice to the moral and legal acumen of those who make it. The municipal court had no juris diction of this outrage upon the Constitution, nor have we jurisdiction of the offence against the municipal laws. We cannot fne t he e ieon sed, nor could that court expel him from this body. But I will not argue this objection fur ther, as it has been already folly answered by other gentlemen. Gentleme-n plead to the jurisdiction of this 4 sat, in the seat now occupied by his successor a man venerable for his age, for his great learn ing, for his exalted patriotism; venerable for his services to his country; around his brow clustered all the honors whicha faithful, upright, and wise administration of the highest office known to mortals could confer. Yet, sir, for thirteen days he was subjected to these assaults. During that time, the waves of slaveholding in vective, detraction, and calumny, rolled and dashed around him, in wild confusion, until the raging elements had spent their force; while, from the first introduction of the resolution to its final dispostion, not one word was uttered by a Southern Democrat, indicating the want of full and constitutional powers to act on the subjects without any rule or law prescribing the penalty. Then, sir, Massachusetts was on trial, and slaveholders were the prosecutors. Now, sir, a son of South Carolina is on trial for a wrong-a crime perpetrated against the sove reign right of Massachusetts. This change of position, by slaveholders, is very remarkable. There are yet lingering in this Hall two or three Southern members who then voted in favor of censuring Mr. Adams. I am curious to see how they will vote on the present occasion. I wish they were present at this time. I desire to address some thoughts to their considera tion, particularly. I ask this House and the historian to notice the different spirit in which this trial is proSe cuted, from that manifested on the trial of Mr. Adams. Since the attention of the House was first called to the resolution before us, to this hour, we have not heard an unkind word uttered against the accused. Every speaker has man ifested a sympathy in his behalf. We regard him as unfortunate in his education, his preju dices, and views of society and of human gov ernment; and I do not hesitate to say, that not a member from the free States feels the least impulse of ill-will toward him, or of personal revenge. We are borne along to our conclu si)ns by the irresistible force of public duty. This is but the reflection of that popular senti ment which prevails in the free States. It is founded upon the great doctrine so ably advo cated by the Senator whose injury we deplore that doctrine which teaches us the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man-that doc trine which purifies the human heart from its viler passions of revenge, hatred, and malice, and leads us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. So different are these manifestations from those which characterized the trial of Mr. Adams, that I commend the marked distinction to the House and the country. Another case, which illustrates this change in the position of Southern gentlemen ought not to pass unnoticed, although I feel embarrassed in calling it to the attention of the House, inasmuch as I wvas myself the victim. It is. not, however, entirely unknown to gentlemere, that while my venerable and ever-lamented friend, Mr. Adama we!aboring to regain the culty at that tim e, as w ell as on the present occasion, originated in the confl ict bet ween Freedom and Slav ery. Some of the people of Massachusetts, feeling burden ed wi th the exp e nses wh;ch the support of that institution had brought upon our Government, sent to this body a respectful petition, praying Congress to take measures for a peaceful dissolution of the Union. This petition was transmitted to Mr. Adams for presentation. In the true spirit of our institutions, he fe lt that the people, consti tuting te oere n w r o the sovereign power of the nation, were to be treated respectfully, and their petitions answered in candor. He moved the reference of the petition to a select committee, with in structions to report to the House, and through this body to the petitioners and the country, the reasons why such petition could not be granted. But, sir, he had not given full utterance to these words, before at least a score of Southern riembers were upon their feet, each demanding an opportunity to speak. In a few moments, a gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Gilmer] pre sented a resolution, declaring "that the mem ber from Massachusetts, by presenting to this House a petition for a dissolution of the Union, had-justly incurred the severe censure of this bodf." Mark the fact, that this resolu tion came from Virginia, that land of abstrac tions and of strict construction. It was brought forward by one of her most cherished sons. It was aimed at the distinguished member from Massachusetts. No Southern man appeared to doubt, and surely none denied, the jurisdic tion, or the power of the House to-censure Mr. Adams fbr this discharge of his constitutional duty. That night, a caucus of Southern members was held to, concert measures by which to insure the adoption of the resolution. Of course, I now speak from the information derived from thoie who attended, and from contemporaneous history, for I was not with them, either in body or in spirit. At that consultation, the. burden of supporting the Constitution was transferred from Mr. Gilmer, who was a Democrat, to Mr. Marshall, of Kentucky, who was a Whig; both of whom were Southern men; yet I never learned, nor did I hear it intimated, that any member in that caucus of Southern men doubt ed the full power of this body to punish Mr. Adams for performing his duty. The friends of Mr. Adams often inquired wherein that gen tleman had offended. Why, sir, he had offended the Slave Power; and the representatives of the of the Slave Interest felt that they had an excuse, a fact on which they could found an effort to strike down his influence, to destroy his fair fame, to deprive Freedom of its sternest advocate. They sought for no rules or law defining the offence, or declaring the penalty attached to it; but they assailed him in every Ivan which hatred could invent, or malice express. HEe was charged with treason to oulr Government, with moral perjury, and with almost every crime kMous i the catalogue of afence~ Tier he 6 right of petition, I was myself toiling, in a more humble sphere, to regain the freedom of speech, which had been stricken down in this Hall. For years I had sat ig this body, hearing my self and my people, and all lovers of Liberty, contemned, vilified, and slandered, for enter taining the views which Jefferson and Wash ington and Franklin and Hancock, and the whole Continental Congress, had proclaimed as the foundation of our Republic; yet our lips were hermetically sealed by "gag rules," as they were then called. The Slave Power ruled supreme in Congress, and no word was allowed to be spoken derogatory to that institution. At that time, a slave-ship, from Richmond, was taken possession of by her eargo of human beings, guided to Nassau, where they landed on British soil, resuming their God-given rights. The President directed our Minister at London to demand compensation for the bones and muscles, the blood and sinews, of these people. The Senate freely discussed the subject, and threatened war- bloody and exterminating war-unless England should hand over a full compensation tothose traffickers in human flesh. But here, sir, in this body, we could say noth ing. We were constrained to look on in silence l The constitutional guaranty that "the freedom of speech should never be abridged," was then repudiated and scorned. I had sworn to sup port the Constitution, but my voice was hushed by those rules, which are now remembered as a disgrace to this body. I was shocked at the indications of a war, with a powerful nation, to to sustain a coastwise commerce in human beings. In order to enter my protest against such a disgrace to our nation, and the age in which we live, I drew up a series of resolutions, to the effect that Congress possessed no rightful authority under the Constitution to involve the people of the free States in a war, and compel our Northern freemen to die on the battle-field, for the support of that infamous tra fec. These resolutions were regularly presented for the consideration of this body. But scarcely had they been read at the Clerk's table, when a slaveholaer rose and introduced a resolution of censure against me, for thus discharging a duty which I owed to my people and to the Constitution. He, too, was from Virginia —from that State which, in-such st4ong and eloquent lan,guage, has this day declared that we have no authority to punish or censure a member for any act which is not declared penal by some prescribed rule or law. True, sir, as Ohio was then being called, the member from Virginia could not bring his resolution regularly before the House;i and when the Speaker had thus declared, the author sassed it over to a dough~faced colleague of mine, who presented its and demanded the previous question. Gentleman from the slave States did not wait to inquire for the prescribed rusle or statute d~3luring the penalty attached to the crime of p;resenting resolutions. So far from that, they noted at an~b to seal my own'ht ~ndl the of my friends, and, without -permitting me gr any fri end of free speec h to say a word in t my de fence, the resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred and twenty three to sixtyenine. I was condemned unheard, tu and driven from m y seat. Sir, I spurned the tyranny, and appealed to the people. They hurled contempt at the efforts of the Slave Power t o strike down the freedorn of Speech, to extinguish the lamp of Liberty which was then flickering in its sockets casting but a dim light upon the legislati on of Congress. They ordered me back to my post, and directed me to maintain the freedom of, debate; AND AS THE LOAD LIVETH, AND AS MY' SOUL LIVETH, I WILL NEVER SURRENDER IT. But, sir, gentlemen from Vir ginia, nor from o ther slave States, hesitated to sealdmy lips and condemn me, unheard. Although no rule nor law had declared the presentation of resolu tions penal, in the w ho le of the slave S tate s but two gentlemen voted against the resolution these were Governor Pope and Hon. J. R. Underwood, of Kentucky. I mention their names with great pleasure, for they manifested an honest independence which commends them to my favorable recollection. I refer -to these cases to show that Southern members then held a totally different doctrine from that which they, now urge with such earnestness. Can they suppose this body will nowk change its rule of action, and face to the right about, to suit the latitude of the accused? I trust not. I Shall not, therefore, hesitate to follow the practice adopted by the Senate, and by this body, from the adoption of the Constitution. Indeed, the gentleman from New York [Mr. SIMMONS] has shown it to have been adopted under the old Confederation, as early as 1786. Having disposed of that point, I proceed to notice an intimation thrown out, as I suppose, to cast an imputation upon the Senator fr'om Massachusetts and his friends, rather than as a defence of the accused. The intimation has been iterated and reiterated by partisan presses, and has been repeated in this debate, that the Senator was not seriously injured by the beat ing which constitutes the crime for which the accused is now on trial; that he might have long since resumed his seat in the Senate, but has been deterred by a desire to represent his injury as more aggravated than it really is. I deeply regret this mean attempt to add insult to injury I I wish I had been spared the duty of referring to'facts which I feel constrained to state. I visited that worthy Senator on Tuesday, after he received the injury. He was sitting in his chair when I reached his chamber. s~is countenance appeared natural, and his conversation was cheerful. H{e had no fever, or very little, if any. He insisted that he would resume his seat in a few days, and manifested more anxiety to return to the Senate, and attend to his duties there, than for anything else. I left him with the impression that he would return to the Senate in two or three days, notwithstanding I had been assuredl 6 thatkere would be more or less inflammation And now, having disposed of these matters, of the wounded parts before the healing process I I approach the principal point relied on by the would commence. friends of the accused. They insist that the I again visited him last Saturday; but that speech of the Senator from Massachusetts concountenance, heretofore cheerful, and beaming, tains such gross attacks on South Carolina, and with intelligence, had become pale and hag- on one of her Senators, &*8 to justify the deadly gard. He appeared unable to sit up any con- assault made on him. siderable time. He told me that he felt so well, I stated, at the commencement of my rethe night after I left him on my former visit, marks, that the speech was in strict compliance that he retained no servant or- friend to remain with the parliamentary law; that, during its in the room with him. That, during the night, delivery, neither the President of the Senate, he was seized with severe pain through the'nor the member of that body from South Carohead, attended with high fever. The pain be- lina then present, nor any other Senator, had came so acute, that it appeared to him- he called him to order for anything said in his could live but a short time without relief. That speech, although they were authorized to do so. the Doctor, being called, opened the wounds, Again, no member who has yet spoken has atgave him an opiate, and in the course of the tempted to point out a word, a sentence, or next day he obtained some sleep, and the pain paragraph, in that speech, which, in the opinpartially subsided. That, soon as he could get ion of any man, transcends the strictest rules from the city, he went to the country. That he of debate. There is no such word, sentence, found himself unable to take much exercise of or paragraph, in the speech. either body or mind. Lying upon his bed, he Now, sir, if there be any one principle which described to me the singular sensations which I regard as clear and indisputable, it is, that occasionally gave him reason to apprehend that the "freedom of debate," which the Constituthe brain was affected, and looking me full in tion says "shall not be abridged," has no limthe face, with great solemnity of countenance itation inside the rules of debate established and deep emotions, he said, "I sometimes am by the Senate and by parliamentary law; and led to apprehend that I may yet be doomed to to say that a speaker, while he keeps within that heaviest of all- afflictions, to spend my time parliamentary rules, is also subject to tte cen on earth in a living sepulchre." The expres- sorship of indivituals who may feel aggrieved sion, the manner, and the tone of voice with at his remarks, would be so obviously absurc which this was uttered, filled my heart with that no argument could render its erroneou sadness. I pity the man whose feelings prompt character more apparent. Were such a doc him to impute to that gentleman a disposition trine to prevail, we should be constrained, no to represent his injury greater than it really is. merely to surrender the right of free speech It has also been said, and repeated, during -but with that surrender we must resign a] this debate, that the Republican party are en- hopes of a free Government. deavoring to manufacture political capital out But I will not stop at this point. I say of this affair. To effect that object, it will be with publicists and statesmen and jurists, th_ necessary for them to do rig7ht. We have no words, whatever may be their character reached that period in our history when no par- can justify an assault, even under municipe ty or political association of men can commend law. On this point, so plain to the comprc themselves to the poople, except by their in- hension of every mind, I will not quote authox telligence aibd virtue. To gain popular favor, ities, nor will I read decisions of courts or ~ we must do RIGHT-we must imitate that Divine legislative' bodies. If such quotations weL Being, one of whose attributes is JUSTICE. That necessary, that duty has been fully and we duty I hope every Republican and every Dem- performed by other gentlemen., ocrat may perform, not merely on this, but on This docrine of the right to avenge one' all occasions. The Republicans can make no own wrongs strikes at the existence of all go capital out of this matter, unless Democrats do ernment. If a man slander another, the la wrong? I would therefore advise each indi- is open, aud he should be made to respond vidual to act his own judgment, without refer- damages. But if the offended party be allowc ence to any party. Let him act in such man- to judge in his own case, and avenge his ow ner as to insure the approbation of his own grievance, society must at once resolve itse conscience. True, we constitute a high tribu- into its original elements, and might becorn. nal for the trial of a fellow member; but above the only arbiter between individuals. T. us is one more just, more dignified, more pow- weak will be subdued, and the selfishness erful-the tribunal of the people-who will not mankind will become their only rule of actio only judge the case before us, and correct any It- has therefore been found necessary to este errors we may commit, but they will also judge lish such laws as will, secure the weak R each of us, and determine whether we do our helpless in the enjoyment of their rights, - duty in regard to it, and will award both to restrain the strong and powerful fromencroac the accused and to ourselves the just merit or ing upon the rights of others. the appropriate penalty which he and we de- - These principles, however, have very llt serve. But if Republicans do right, and the to do with the case before us. They may ha Democrats wrong, the people will reward one, been agitated with propriety upon the trial and condemn the other. the accused before the municipal court. I 4 7 voting to confirm the action of the committee. Mr. Speaker, I feel humiliated, as a member of this American Congress, when I read the comments which have appeared in the Euro pean press upon this subject, and learn the pain and mortification to! which it has subjectcd the advocates of Liberty and free government in England and on the continent. Let those friends and presses in foreign lands know that the advooates of human progress in these Uni ted States feel deeply the reproach which this transaction has brought upon the Government instituted by Washington and his compatriots; yet* does not discourage them, nor does it imn pair their confidence in this greatest of all po litical experiments, to test the capability of man to govern himself. Grave as-the outrage must be regarded, it is but an incident in our politi. cal history, which, if properly regarded and condemned by the people, will not be likely to occur again. - It has resulted from the manners, customs, and habits, of our slaveholding population. Human bondage had its origin in violence, and is sustained by force. Persons bred up in slaveholding communities become accustomed to see the rights of personal security violated; God's image is daily assailed, disfigured, and. mutilated, before their eyes. The slave is scourged, beaten, and sometimes murdered, in their presence. These things beget a disregard for this body, this habitation of the human soul. Hence the frequent scenes of violence, the fisti cuffs, street fights, shootings, assassinations, and murders, among our slaveholding population. If a man speaks disrespectfully of another, the injured party seeks his revenge in vio lence. If a man insult another, the injured party feels at liberty to shoot him. With them, the remedy for personal injury appears to be the infliction of bodily pain, or suffering, or death, upon the offending party. - Mr. Jefferson, speaking on this subject, declared, "there must doubtless be an unhappy iinfluence on the manners of our people produced by the existence of Slavery among us. The whole commerce (says he) between master and slave is an exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism." Not so with the free population of our Northern States. There a higher degree of civilization exists. If a man treats another disrespectfully, the matter is referred, by common consent, to the judgment of their peers, the people around them. They censure or condemn, as justice requires. The penalty affects the moral, the social, and political position of the offender. From these penalties he cannotescape. If a man utters language offensive to another, either in a bar-room or drawing-room, in the pulpit or at the bar, or in the legislative hauls, he is held to answer for such violation of propriety before the tribunal of popular opinion. That opinion is always intelligent, impartial, and just. We place an unlimited confidence in its wisdom, and its judgments are always satisfactory. Nor does this system in was then on trial for his offence against the peace of the community, against the personal security of individuals, against municipal law. That case has been fully tried and determined. W ith it w e have othing to do. But here, in th is high ju dica etory of the People, the sovereign State of Massachusetts charges a member of our body with a violation of our Federal Con stitution. She declares that the accused has deprived her of the services of one of her Sen ators in the high councils of the nation-a crime of which the municipal court could not take jurisdiction-that he has, in fact, abridg ed the freedom of speech, by depriving her Senator of the power of speaking. That for debate in the Senate her representative has been questioned, and by physical violence held responsible in another place. The People of ,these thirty-one sovereign States are also com plainants. They allege that they have been deprived of the benefits which would have re sulted from the public labors of the disabled Senator. They charge the accused with hav ing profaned the Temple of Liberty, with vio lating the sanctity of her inner court, and with a barbarous hand striking down a minister, as he was serving at the altar of Freedom. The good and the great of all lands present their complaints, declaring that the cause of justice has been deeply wounded by the accused hav ing stricken down one Iof its most able advocates, thereby retarding the great work of civ ilization and Christianity. To this arraignment to these charges I have heard no response, in mitigation or excuse, either from the accused, or from any friend who has attempted to advocate his cause. On these charges they stand mute. They have advanced no plea. no answer, no argument, responsive to them. On the contrary, the facts stand confessed; the crime is one of great moral and political turpitude. And it now re — mains only to consider the penalty which ought to be awarded. We seek to inflict no corporeal punishment, nor to take from the accused his pecuniary means, nor to wound his feelings, nor to tarnish his honor. We are actuated by no such desire. Our present wish, our only purpose, is to vindicate the Constitution, the. rights of the States, and of the People; to lustrate our Government and our institutions from the stigma brought upon them by this great, this lamentable outrage. This can only be done by excluding the perpetrator from our body. The moral sensibilities of the nation have been shocked, and it is our duty to expel the member. That is recommended by the committee. They have reported a resolution expelling him from this House. I shall feel constrained to vote for it. I would have preferred a resolution not merely expelling him, but addlogt to that expulsion a clause declaring him incapacitated to hold a seat in the present Congress. I think that would more perfectly comport with the feelings and the expectations of the People. I shall, however, offer no amendment, but content myself with 8 were called, have been repudiated and stricken from our Manual, and for years we have spoken as freely in this body as we have in our popular assemblies. But now the contest has been suddenly renewed, and its renewal has been literally marked with blood; and howlong it will continue, is unknown. Sir, this renewed attempt to restrain free spech has awaked in my breast sad and painful recollections. It was my fortune to be one of the earliest victims of that illiberal arid proscriptive spirit. For years I sat in this body with my lips sealed. We were not permitted to speak of Slavery in any other than the most respectfuil terms. No member was allowed to utter the doctrines of Jeffersonq or F~ranklin, of Hancock or Adams. To regain the freedom of speech, I labored long and assiduously. I passed through many scenes-of excitement and interest. I have been assaulted with the fist. I have seen the bludgeon flourished over me while speaking. In this Hall, I have seen the bowie-knife menacingly drawn upon me, within striking distance of my person; and have heard the click of the pistol, as it was cocked, appa rently for my assassination. I do not think, however, that I was in danger; for persons who thus play the bully are generally suspected not to be very dangerous. - Those scenes now con stitute reminiscences, in no respect honorable to the habits and manners of those who justify them. They occurred, too, at times when the advocates of Freedom wer e socially ostracised in this c ity, and regarded with disfavor by all officers of Government. Against this social and official tyranny I con tended feebly, but steadily. The influence of popular opinion was at length brought to bear upon Congress, and our cause appeared to pro. gress in manner most encouraging to the, advocates of Liberty. This progress of Free dom appears to have aroused a spirit of corre sponding hostility, and we now find ourselves involved in this question of transcendent im portance. It is a marked incident in that great contest which has long been waged between the Slave Power and the spirit of Freedom. In that conflict, I have mingled until my head has become white with the fiosts of age, and my body begins to bend with the weight of years until the silver cord is becoming loosed, and the wheel moves slowly at the cistern, and the golden bowl is being broken at the fountain. Fellow-members! to you} to the younger and abler statesmen of our land, I must consign this cause in which I have so long labored in a humble sphere, but with a willing, earnest, and devout spirit. I must soon retire; but, while I may linger upon the verge of life, myr thoughts will often revert to-this Hall, and cluster around those friends with whom 1 have served; and, be assured, I will then perform the last service which an old man can render to his counltry: I will pray that Justice. may guide its legislation, that Liberty, and Progress, and Prosperity~ may mark its pathway in all coming time. terfere with judici al proceedi ngs. It is above the decisions of mu nicip al courts. They are bound down by statute laws, and trammelled by rule s of evidence; but no matter what their judgments may be, the popular mind will award t he appropriate penalty to all offenders against social, moral, and po l i tical propriety. Hence, affrays, s treet figrhts, s hootings, and violence, are unknow n am ong our people. I have resided more th an half a century in my Con gressional district; I have dc ring that time literally mingled w ith the pe ople; but I neverosaw a man strike a n other, in either of the counties which I represent. Suc h is the case in all dtmmunities of sufficient intell igence and refine.' meent to practice self government. T h is contrast which I have drawn between the manners and custom of the free and, slave States was never more marke d than it has been in this debate. Every' Southern member who has expressed an opinion on the qu estio n has declared t he severity of the language used by the S enator f rom Massachusetts good ca use fo r the assault made upon him; while every memb er f rom t he free States who has,spoken has exp ress ed his decided opinion that it could afford no cause, excuse, or justification, for suche an act. As I- h ave stated, Mr. But ler spoks e on the subject of Kansas thirty-six times du r ing h pe e i on the present sion; the people judged of the merits of his several s peeches. The speech of the Senator from Massachusetts was published, and the people will do justice~to that also; an d no act of t he accused can affect the opinion of the c ountry in regard to its merits. iHe, h owever, took upon himself the responsibility of avenging what he regarded a grievance, and popular op inion will also pass judgment on hi s act, and. thos e who c ome after us will do justice to all concerned. While my venerable associate from Massachusetts [Mr. Adams] was on trial for perform inig a plan constitutional duty, he was assailed with the bitterest invective by slaveholders. The member now on trial from South Carolina has heard from the Representatives of our free States no word of personal unkindness. Never was the contrast between our free institutions of the North and the Slavery of the South more distinctly marked, nor their effect on society more visible. Violence, brute force, appeal to weapons, and bloodshed, mark the pathway of one, while reflection, reason, justice, and the Gospel of Peace, control the other. Mr. Speaker, this case bas arisen from efforts to abridge the freedom of debate. The blows which fell upon the head of the Senator from Massachusetts were aimed at the freedom of speech.- That Senator had, in his place, dis charged the duty which he owed to himseelf, to his State, and to mankind. I feel that every word was true and j ust;- and such are the feel ings of nline tenths of th~e population of the free Northl. But, for this discharge of duty, he was barbarously stricken down in his place. I had supposed the freedom of speech in Congress to have been regained, Our "'gag rules," as they BUELL & BLANCHARD, Printers, Washington, D. a. ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE. SPE E C H HON$ J. R. GIRDDINGS, OF OHIO, IN T E'HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DEC, 18, 1855. ing of a supporter of the Nebraska bill; and another will Understand you to mean a supporter of slavery generally. I therefore submit whether we ought not to define these terms before we use them, so that we may each understand the speaker when he refers to the different parties, or to different members. If we but adopt this rule, we shall find ourselves agreeing upon many points on which we now appear t differ. Gentlemenn, when I spe ak of th e "eDemocratis party," I refer t to those who stand by the Nebraska bill,, and denounce the " American organ-ization" without a hearing: when I speak of -Republicans, I speak of those who take dising t and unmistakable issue with the Democrats on these points, holding that all men'and all parties, shall be respectfuly, heard; and when I refer to iKnow Nothings, I refer to those who seek to enlarge the time required for naturalizing foreigners under our laws, and who are now associated by secret obligations. There is one other point to which I would respectfully ask the attention of gentlemen. Yesterday we listened X0variousremarks from members ~having distinctive reference to sectional lines, speaking of North and South, of northern partie and southern parties, orthern men and southern men. This language ought not to be used heM. There are no such parties. I nlever use such phrases.,Il base my whole'moral, political, and, religious hopes and expectations upon distinci, unyielding, enduringpriinciples. I app)rehend that. others do the Same. It is well known that the southern States adhere to slavery, while those of the North are generally in favor'of liberty. -Thew is, however, nothing sectional in'these prinqitples or sentiments. Liberty is the same wherevbr it is enjoyed. Its elements pervadip the human race: they are broad as creatiw;/comprehensive as mankind. Slavery is als same, whether found in Africa, Brazil, or the United States. In this Union it has found an actual, permanent existence only in one sectionlof the country. At the commencement of otur Government, its found-; ers repudiated the doetriuw of dlavery; procgljl The election of Syeaker being the business before the House- Mr. GIDDINGS said: FELLOW-MEMBEFS: I address you in this manner for the reasowthat we have no officer to whom I can direct my remarks. As yet we are unorganized; withe at rules, without officers. WVhile in this condition the people are looking to us with inten,t interest, expecting us to proceed, as soon as ossible, to the discharge of th e important trusts confided to our discretion and patriotism s Still T am not opposed to those explanations to whch we have listened for some days past. i- uf deed, it is right and proper that gentlemen should place their vews before the country in order that the people, who are our constituents, our masters, may understand our positions. I am gratified at hearing gentlemen; speak out so plainly. It is am important era with our nation. The eyes of the country are upon each of us, and the popular approval or condemnation awaits every member. gentlemen will pardon me when I say there is one practice which, in my opinion, leads tot unnecessary misunderstandingg of each other, and th consequent delay of business. With all deleacy I suggest, that Instead of u sing temt and phrases which are so indefinite, on which differeint individuals place different constructions, which serve rather to confuse than to enlighten our understandings, we should speak of principles. In justice to ourselves and to each other, ought we not to refer to the doctrines which gentlemen hold, rather than call them" Whigs," "Democrats," "'Know Nothings," and "Free.Soil-' era?" When a gentleman speaks of a member as a Free-Soiler, what does he mean by it? No man can answer for another; or if different men answer the question, each will give a different definition of the term. So of all the parties. If you speak of a "Democrat," one member will understand you as referring to a gentleman who voted for Mr. Pierce; another weill believe you er to a gentleman holding the opinions ofJeffer; nd another Vill understand you as speak .!OF JDEIJVERED 2 t seventy-four; from a triumphant and dominant t majority to a minority that is feeble, inefficient, except to retard our organization. Yet, in all - kindness, gentlemen, you will permit me to say that your modesty and delicacy in your new con dition are not so apparent as would be desirable to some of us. You are rather too assuming Your propositions for us to resign may have been. quite acceptable under other circumstances; it had even been generous if made while you' haa the m! ajority. Yoa do not, however, appear con scious that the scepter of power has'passed fromi e oyou; you do not seem to understand your help tless condition. Your insensibility on that subject reminds me of a very solemn fact recorded by a theological writer-perhaps it was Swedenborg who states that he was entranced, and in that con dition his spirit visited the other world, where he met with many old acquaintances, among whom were a class of "Fogies," who, athough they had ben in that world "twenty, thirty, and even forty years, had not'yet learned that they were dead."' [Shouts of laughter.] I mention this for the instruction, the edification of the minority. I really think it were more modest for them to withhold these propositions to resign, and these assaults charging the majority with sectionalism. The dictatorial bearing which they manifest is not altogether agreeable.'They all understand that I have -myself heretofore acted with'a minor ity in this body, and spek froma experience on this subject. Gentlemen, we are in the midst of great con fusion. We came hiere unacquainted with each other, bringing with us different views and ple judices: it is absolutely necessary that we should, runderstand each other in order to act together. We must know wherein we agree, and where we disagree. This discussion would have arisen sove.r appropriately after our organization, but, as' it is conducted courteously and in good feeling, we }hall actually lose no tithe by entering upon it now. In 1849 tle discussion prior to the election of Speaker was more'constant and more unlimited than it has been at our present session. It then r resulted in good, and I think it will now. Ther real and indeed the only question of difficulty now before us is that of slavery. For twenty years it i,has occupied the attention and disturbed the action of tills body, exciting dissensions and call ing forth the wvarmer emotions of our nature. I well recollect that, fourteen years since, this body was thrown into the wildest confusion by the agitation of this question; the passions ofmember were lashedinto fury at thepresentation of a peti tion by the Hon. John uing y Adand. The a hafm of calumfiy, detraction, and slander, were hurled at: him: there he sat quietly in the se-at now occwu ied by my friend from Connecticut [Mr. W,oov RUur,]. while the waves of denunciation and detraction were rolling and da~shing around hiim in wild disorder: venerable for his age, with a countenance mild and placid as a summer morn ing,. he rose from his seat, and hasted obtained the floor,.called on thy Clerk to read lti''tirat pard' .graph of the Declaration of Indelendence. tn imitation of that example, I now ask the at tention of the House wh}ile I repeat that emanation from the intellect of the great apostle of American Republicanism, sncrstioned and approv. e~'by Haon' i cock, Franklin, the Adamnsea, anld, indeed, by the liberty to our territories, leaving slavery but a limited existence in the Sta which co'nstituted the Un ion. S ince that per iod i t ha s become more limited, and now actually exists in but one portion of the Confederacy. It is most emphaticlily a r sec tional" inst itution, embrac ing section teal interest s, and forcing sectional issues upon the country. T he se sectional interests are now pressed upon the considerati on of th is b ody, insisting that we shall elect a Spe aker of sectional feelings to pres id e over our deliberations, whose dut ie s are g eneral extending ovetr the who le country. Those who hold to the constitutional rights of the sever al States insis t th at th is sectional i nterest s hall be excluded from our national legislation, and left with the State s in which it exists; that we ishall elect a Speaker w hose v iews a re nationalt-who loves his whole country. And I appeal to members w h ether it were not mo ore just and more statesmanlike. Te for th sppoiteltoft a inatitution —rto call themselves, and be call ed, "I pro-slaveey men," or the pro-slavery party, while the advocates of freedom shall call themselves, and be called, the FRIENDS OF. LIBERTY,, rather than speak- of " sectional parties " and I I sectional issues? "' Yet if this sectional language muat be used, why, then, let justice be done, and let-it be understood that about sixty southern members, representing sectional interests, aided by some fifteen northern members holding to-the doctrines of slavery, now. constitute a sectional party, insisting that this Government -shall -legislate for that restitution, and protect sectional oppression; that a minority of sev~enty-four gentlemen, in a body consisting of two hundred and thirty-four meclers,- stand here and denounce the one hundred and sixty other members as "sectiontl;" that this minority, condemned by t he popular sentiment of the counitry, stand here preventing an organization of this. body; and while we, a large plurality, 4ite,endeavoring to organize and maintain the Government and continue its functions, these gentlemen have the effrontery to make proposition after proposition that we, the one hundred and sixty, shall resign our places, disappoint those who sent us here, refuse to perform the duties for which we were elected, and go hometo the people. To induce us to do this they say they will also resign, if we will. The proposition is about as fair as would be that of a criminal standing on the gallows, the drop supported by asingle cord, the rope around his neck, and fastened to the beam above him, the sheriff standing ready to execute the law, w:ith his hatchet raised to sever the cord that sustains the drop on which the culprit stands, when he coolly turns to the officer, and proposes:" Xow, Mr,, Sheriff, if you will stol at this point, lay down.' that hatchet, resign your place, and return to the people,l tiil do the same. " [Great laughter.] Gentlemen should understand that this question of the Nebraska bill has been tried before the people of the United States. They have passed upon it, condemned it, repudiated its authors, anad put their cervixa here to restore freedom to tat Territory; tyive securityr to: the people in that far distant Nylon; bid' this: A.dministration stay its hand, and hereafter to ~ield its powers. for fr-eedom and not fer Slavery. The D:emocratic mnembers of this body have been reduced, in twelve months, from one hundred and fifty to' I 3 , r ..r I a t 0 . a R i.: d F unanimous voice of the Continental Congress. They declared that: "When, in the qourse of human events, it becomes neces y for one people to dissolve the politiedl bands which have boundthem to another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind require that they should declare the causes which impel them to ,the separation." And what,were the causes Which led them to separate from Great Britain'? They placed those reasons on record, proclaiming to the world, that aWe hold these truths to be self-evident: that atll men axe created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among thein are life, PUBERtTY, and the pursuit of happiness. "rThat to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of governmerit becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new govermient, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem mst likely to effect their safety and happiness." - This Government was founded for the purpose, design, and end of securing " all men under its jurisdiction in the enjoyment of life, liberty, andhappiness." It is now placed in our hands. WVe, the Representatives of the people, are bound to wield its power and influence in accordance with those intentions of its founders. On this rock the Republican church was founded, and I speak reverently when I say, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This House and the country are aware that the present Executive, in his inaugural address, denies these truths, declaring that "'domestic servitude (slavery) is based upon the same prin- ciples as other recognized rights." That in the otAler end of this Capitol these "self-evident I truths" have been boldly declared to be "self-c evident lies." That in this Hall they have been tieated with contempt; and this Government, in- stituted to secure freedom to all men, has been, and now is, wielded to destroy the liberty of a portion of the people, and to rjnder them slaves. Against this prostitution of our national influ w ence the people have spoken in the most em phatic and unmistakable language. Yet the advocates of those doctrines of our fathers in this Hall are denounced as "fanatics," "section alists," "lbolitionists," and nearly all the epi thets furnished in the English language are heaped upon us. Gentlemen, in the paragraph quoted from that immortal instrument which, as it descends to coming generations, and its doc trines shall be better understood arid appreciated, will reflect greater and still greater honor upon its author,-in that, I say, you have the creed, the "platform," the doctrines of the Republican party of 1855. They are the same now as they Were held by the Republicans of 1775, and will continue the same while God shall govern the world. These doctrines were then sustained upon the battle-field; they are now upheld by the more peaceful operation of the ballot-box. Our fathers bled to sustain them, and we shall prove ourselves unworthy descendants of those noble sires if we shrink from the frown of slaveholders, or the miserable assaults of dough faces. d In are endowe wt the right o those patriots, we hold that | " all men are endorsed with this right to libe?rty by their CrEATOR;" trot by the President, not by Congress, nor by S/te Legislatures, nor by human constitutions, nor by human laws, bet by the " OMNIPOTENT MtNDo and that it is the office of hu man'lawts, and constitution s, and legat lation, "to secure these rIghti s;" not to robe men of them-'nor to suffer sxich'robbery to be perPe: trated under its jurisdiction or by its consent.. When we say "all men are thusendoWed," iour mean what we say. - We do not refer particularly to the h igh or sh a tees o the poor-,e tli nobl e or the ignoble, the man of light oru of d isky complexion; but we speak of all who bear thii image of God, whose countenances beam with immortality. All such are endowed by their Creator with the inalienable right to freedom. Mr. Pierce and the Democratic party, br-ytieir words and acts, deny these truths. $efferston and Pierce are at issue. Th'e Congress of 1776 laid down doctrines which were denied and repudiated bvythe Congress of 1854. Mr.:SMITH, o Virginia. Why is it that y6ur party has assumed the name of Republicas.? Mr. GIDDI NGS. For the reason that we ad, vocate the principles, stand upon the doctrines, and advocate the policy of the Republicans of 1776-the founders of our Government. They consecrated this Republic to the sutpport ofliberty we do the same. They exclude~d slavery from their Territories; we do the same. They left the States to guide their own governments within their own jurisdictions; we go the same. Their: doctrines are our doctrines; their name is our name; their God is our God. Mr. SMITH. Why did you not take the name before? Mr. GIDDINGS. Our party has just been formed. It yet stands at the baptismal font; christened "SREPUrBLICAN," and consecrated to the support of liberty by the most solemn obliga, ations resting on men, on christians, or statesmen. Mr. LETCHER. I want to know whether the gentleman drafted this resolution? " Resolved, That we will support no man for Speaker who is not pledged to carry out the parliamentary law, by giving to each proposed measure Ordered by the House to be committed, a nmajority of such special committee; and to orgaqize the standing comm7nittees of the House by placing on each a majority of the friends of freedom who are favor able to making reports on a'll petitiots committed to tnlem.'" If you are the author of that resolution, waS it adopted bv the caucus? Mr. GIDD)INGS. I will answer the gentlemlan.~.,, ~....' Mr. L ETCHER.'Tear me through. Mr. GIDDINGS. One question at a time. Mr. LETCHER. Very well, then; go on. Mr. GIDDINGS. I thank the gentleman for propounding the question. I drafted the resolu tion: it was adopted at a meeting for conference, but not at a caucus. There was no secrecy about it. It has long been in print, with all the circam stances attending its adoption. The constant perversion of the parliamentary law for the last twenty-five years, by the party to which the gen tleman belongs, called 10udlyun all lovers of rthe Constitution to stand forth lilty for the correcItion of the abuses which tIt party introduced and have so long, sustained. They have long deceived arnd insulted the peoplevof the free States. The parliamentary law and the rules of this House require our committees to consider and I i i I I II I i i i I I i 4 we longer submit to these insults. We demand the same respectful treatment for northern men and northern petitions that we grant to southern men and southern petitions. We are in earnest on the L subject. We discard the offensive sectionalism Which has so long been manifested. On this sub ect there is but one feeling-among our people. Not-a member of this body from the free States could be returned here again, if his constituents were conscious of his voting to continue this practice, so insulting to the self-respect of the people of the free States. Now, gentlemen, I feel some degree of. pride in having penned this resolution. I am perfectly willing the world should regard me as its author. It embraces two points. We vote for no man who by his character and conduct is not pledged to carry out the parliamentary law. This is the first point to which slaveholders object. They intend the Speaker shall violate that law, as they have done for the last twenty-five years. This constitutes the first issue. The next is, he shalt place on the principal committees a majority of the friends of freedom favorable to making re ports on all petitions referred to them; not merely petitions from the North, or from the South;-ynot merely those which pray for the abolition of the slave trade, and to prohibit the pr-actice of rearing children for market, but they shal l report o n all petitions referred to them, even those praying the cont inuance of the crime s referred t o. To this, the Democratic partyalso take excep tion. Thcy say the committees shall not report on petitions in favor of freedom, of civilization. This consti| tutes the second issue. We would deal out equal justice to all me n, and to allsections of the coduntr y. Pro-slavery men a nd pro-slaverv petitions shall be treated with the same kind attention which anti-slavery men and anti-slavery petitions receive. Equal rights,equalprivileges,and equal justice to all men constitute the whole substance of this resolution. It embrace s that pe rfect ruan of human conduct, of doing unto others as ane would have them do unto us. Under these cir-' cumestances, the resolution was drawn up andpresented, and unanimously adopted. I rejoiced at this unanimity, and am thankful to Go'd that I have lived to see Representatives from our free. States thus candidfy and firmly demand that the petitions of our people shall receive the respectful attention of this body.. And now, having given a distinct and categorical answer to the interrogatory of my friend from Virginia, [Mr. LETCHER,] I desire to propound a question to him: Would you, sir, vote for a Speaker that you believed would thus strangle petitions from the North? Mr. LETCHER. I will vote for a Speaker who will do his duty fairly and justly. Mr. GIDDINGS. I never knew my friend to be astride the fence before. [Laughter.] Mr. LETCHER. I will never vote for any man whose character and conduct are so doubtful that I must demand pledges from him that le will be honest. [Cries of " Go od, good! "] Mr. GGIDDINGS. I call on this House and the country to witness the fact that the gentleman evades my question. He dare not give a direct answer. He dare not say that he agrees with the resolution to which be referred- nor dare he ~saly that he is opposed to it, or would vote for a report on all petitions and other matters re ferred t o t hem fo r co nsideration. The people of the free St ates have cons tan ently sent their petitions here, praying Congress to repea l the laws of thi s national Legislat ure which sust ains t he slave trade in this Di strict, and upon our southern coast. A still mor e revolting practice has a tta ined in this Dist rict. Here boys and girls are reared for market, like sheep or swine, and sold at the proper age. This disgusting practice is sustained by congressional enactment; and the party to which the gentleman belo ngs has for twe nty-five years lent its influence to sustain and protect this infamous pursuit, as wel aas t o uphold this co mmerce in human flesh. This object has been effected by fraud, by violation of the parliamentary law, an d of the rules of this House. To maintain these atrociou s practices the Speaker arranges the committees by pla cin g on them a majority of members favorable to m aintaining th is slave trade and the rearing of slves..- Thousands of petitions come from the people of the free States, praying the repeal of the acts of Congress by which these flagrant ini quities are upheld and p rotected. They a re respectfully receivedd and ref erred to comm itt ee s selected for the purpose of holding them in perpetual silence. Being sent to thos e committees, they remain with them. They onstitute t hat b ourn from w hence no petiti n iton for the abolition of the slave trade returns; nor will therepty ereport thereon. The comittee, in flagir ant violation of the parliamentary law, and the rules of the House, and their constitutional duties, hold such petitions in perpetual silence. All memorials on these subjects since A. D. 1828, now lie entombed in the o ffic e of the Clerk of this body. Th e nor thern Democrat s vote for a Speaker of t his description. They know when they give their votes that such will be the action of the~ Speaker. The y, theref ore, as really vote to sustal t in the slave t rade and the rearing of children for market, as thou gh thei r v otes w ere given on the direct question of supporting those abhorrent crimes; but their people do not see the connection between the vote of their-representatives for Speaker, and the crimes which those votes sustain. The people are deceived, the rules of the body violated, the Constitution trampled upon, and humanity outraged. The people have the constitutional right to be heard. When they send respectful petitions to us, they are entitled to respectful answers. I do not say their peti,tions shall be granted. If the committee really think that the slave trade and the practice of raising human stock for market are of themselves just and proper in this civilized, this Christian nation, let them say so. If they agree with the Petitioners, let them say that also. But they are now held in silent contempt. We insist they shall be respectfully answered. An entirely different practice prevails with petitions in favor of slavery. Let a slaveholder send his memorial to this body, asking Congress to pay him from the funds collected from northern laborers for the lo~llpf his slaves, and such petition is at once conqidered, and respectfully reported upon. This invidious distinction between northern and southern petitionsq ought not, and, so far as my influence extends, shall not continue.We should desertve the contempt of our people if] I I I i i 1I ii ginia [Mr. SMITH] who preceded me, who spoke as one having authority. Mr. SMITH, of Virginia. If the gentlemn will take a word of advice- from me Mr. GIDDINGS. No, no advice. I ask a question. [Laughter.] Mr. SMITH. But alloame Mr. GIDDINGS. Sir, I ask no advice; God forbid that I should be driven to such a necessity. Mr. SMITH. I will tell you what I say it reference to that. But first let me make a sug gestion. Mr. GIDDINGS. No suggestions. Answer my question-yes or no! Mr. SMITH. If you wish to know how I would organize the comnmittees, I can only say that I would organize them so as to advance tie public business in strict conformity to the Con stitution and all its compromises, and none other. Now, you may make the most of that. Mr. QIDDINGS. Gentlemen will mark these facts. The gentleman f rom Virginia [Mr, SmiTH] can assail ho nor able Senat or s ashe has done here t day, while they are at a distance, with no oppor tunity to answver him He can denounce them and ta lk of the salvation of the Union; but when a simple interrogatory is propounded, calculated to draw out his honest feelings and show his principles and views to the country, he becomes nute. He evades my question and tells m;r mnake the most of it. I can make nothing of its wish him to learn th at here, a t this for um is annple roo m and verge for the display of hiL forensic talents. His lofty bearing, his dicta torial manner quails before a mere interrogatory calculated to unveil his motives and intentions. I again call the attention of the country -to this imiportant fact. I am here interrogated, and thosu -with whom I act are assailed, for adopting the determination expressed in the resolution which has been read; and now, when I turn and ask'our assailants whethel they will, or will not, sus tain its doctrine, they and their candidate stark speechless.- The picture thus presented to tlw American people is humiliating. Every gentleman is aware that the man of conscious integrity, who knows that he is right, that he seeks to do justice, to promote the public good, never did. and never will, fear to avow his doctrines; indeed, the more widely he is able to proclaim them, the more is lie pleased and gratified,'for the very promulgation of his doctrines tends to the attair;ment of his object; while, on the contrary, them can be but one motive to conceal the political sentiments which we entertalin —that motlve is to deceive the people. I squeak frankly and plainly, when I declare that lif slaveholdling gentlemen and their northern allies really believed it. just and right and proper to protect the rearing of children for market in this city, and to uphold the slave trade here and on our southern coast, they would say so frankly-they would; not ex.hibit before the nation thp humiliating spectacle presented here to-day: not daj~ng to define their position; fearing to let the tpplIe know whens they stand. Why, sir, a frank and open avowal of their intention to protect those crimes by th~ means adopted for the last twenty-five years, would consign to private life every such member from a free State, and many from our slave Staten Speaker who would arrange the committees so as to entomb northern philanthropy when it comes here in the shape of petitions. He thrust his interrogatory upon me. I gave him a direct categorical answer. I knew I was right. I know that the people, my own conscience, and God, will approve the course we have taken. And iow, in turn, I propound to him a plain and tmple interrogator*IHe, a slaveholder, dodges, evades, and gives no answer. He dare not meet truth and justice at this forum. I desire him to say here, before the country, that he wishes to protect and continue the abhorrent crimes of slave-breeding and slave-dealing in this District, at that he would permit our petitions on those subjects to be heard and respectfully treated. He dodges, evades, and takes no position on either side. He speaks of pledges. Why, sir, he would vote for no man who is not pledged by his life and conduct to continue this insulting treatment of our petitions. But as I stand here to be ques tioned, I hold the reciprocal right of propounding interrogatories; and if gentlemen will bear with me, I should like to inquire ofthe Democratic can didate for Speaker, [Mr. RICHIARDSON,] whether he will so arrange the committees as to give respectful answers to petitions which may be pre aented on the subject of the slave trade in this District, and in regard to the more detestable practice of rearing men and women for the market? or will he so arrange the Committee on the Dis tict of Columbia as to silence those petitions? Mr. LETCHER. That is an evasion of the isue; you were to question me. a Mr. GIDDINGS. I have to deal with your ndidate now. Mr. RICHARDSON. You and I are not equal; you are not a candidate-i1 am. [Laughter.] Mr. GIDDINGS. That gentleman stands before the coLuntry; the eyes of the nation are upon him. He is a candidate for Speaker. He wants my vote. I have a right to know his views before I vote for him, and so has every other member of this body; and now, when I propound to him a most respectful and important question, he stands mute. He dare not say to the friends of freedom, that he will, if elected, insult them by smothering their petitions; nor dare he say to the daveholders he will notthus violate theparliamnentory law, and the rights of the people and the spirit of the Constitution, in order,o maintain the slave trade, and the practice alluded to; yet he is a gallant raan; he quailed not on the tattle-field; but he lacks the firmness to speak out here the sentiments of his heart. He says I am not a candidate. God forbid that I ever should be a candidate if thereby compelled to lay aside my independence, my manhood, and fear to speak the honest convictions of my heart. Sir, when I hesitate to avow my detestation of the crimes to which I have so repeatedly alluded; when I hesitate to declare that all my influence, official and personal, moral and political, shall be constitutu)nally exerted for the eradication of such iniquities from this District- from our Territories, and from the world, I shall regard myself unworthy to be a candidate for any office before the American people. m And n ow? if gentleman please, I will propound tiffs same question to the gentleman from ~ir-, 6 I.. A, nation, for a great and increasing empire!-thba wwe are acting for coming: generations! When will statesmen understand that the laws of retribu tire'jutstice are fixed, determined, and infallible? Gentlemen of the Democratic party should reaIi* this great truth. Two year's. since they held' large and controlling majority in this Hall. Theythen took upon themselves the guilt-they perpo trated the crime of extendin $lavery into Biandy.> I then assured them that the retributive justice meted out by that "higher law" which they derided would visit them. They held my war ings in contempt, and now, lo! where are they'? Nearly every man of that party from the free States rests in that political sleep which know* no waking. Instead of a triumphant majority in this Hall, they now number in all seventy-fotu. The vengeance of the American people is working their destruction. They have been "weighed in the balances and found'Wanting." The sentence of "depart, ye cursed!" has beent pronounced against them. Their story is told, and their history may now be written. Pardon this digreS. sion in reply to my friend's reference to his "setionalism." I was just coming to the subject of our present condition before the country. The present Democratic minority have boldly and unmistakably placed themselves before tlm country on two ssues. First, the y pr ocla im to the world their intention to permit slavery to exist in all our Territo ries; that the power of Conegr ou shall not be whielde d fo r freedom in any Territory over which the Fed er al Government possesses exclusive jurisdiction. Second they denounce the "American order," or the" Know moth.gs' as they are called, repudiating them and their doctrines; pronouncing judgment against thym without a hearing. Opposed to the Democratic party on these issue stand the entire Republican phalanx, with all that, portion of the "American order," or "Know Nothings," who hold the Republican doctrine, that the power of the Federal Government should be exerted for freedom in the Territories; and that their order shall be respectfully heard on any measure they may bring forward, and treated in the same mnalnrner that all other men and associs, tions of men are treated. " Republicans" anld this portion of the " Know Nothings " agree on the restoration of freedom to Kansas, while each man entertains his own views on all other ma-t ters. These constitute the two principal part'n. They are distinctly arrayed against each other The issue is one of slavery or freedom to (mr Territories. Each party has raised its banner "LIsBRTY"'beingthe motto of'one, and "Slavery J of the other. Each is n6w active in arranging their forces, consolidating their ranks, and pre paring for the great presidential conflict of'the coming year. 5 Aside from these parties, standing in a separaft organization, is that portion of the " American order" who wish to let slavery remain undis turbed in Kansas, and wherever it now exits under the jurisdiction of' the Federal Government. They number some thirty members, most of them from slave States. Besides these three parties, ~there are some eight individuals who, as yet, have nov'taken their final position with either, but cast their votes on mean who are not voted X' by either organization. I now declare, that not a member from a free State ever wi ll admoit that he voted for a Speaker expecting him to arrange the committees in the manner stated, and so clearly -admitted to be their pre sen t intenti ons. But, gentlemen, the leading organ of the Demcratic party t ankes ex ce p tion to the resolution, for the reason that it insists that a majority of tho se committees shall be " fiends of libetty." T he t o the editoer thus puts the matter upon the p roper issue. He would hatamve the m aj o rity on our committees friends of slavery: friends of slave breeding and ofslavehdealing. That is the neat i ssue. The m an wh o votes with them, votes for the rotection, for the c on tinuan ce of these crimes. He may deny it to his constituents, but he can only acquit himself of this intention by stultifying h is judgment. Again: gent lemen should understand, tha t w e also adopted another resolution, declaring " th at it should be no objection to a Icandidate that he belonrgs to the' American organization,'providd e are t the carries out the resolution be fore adinpted." nhis was due, not onl y to the members of the American organization,' but t o th e c ountry. They had been discarded and denounced by the pDemocratic party in their resolutions. For the purpose of electing a Speaker, we associated with! t le " IAmericans' n I and "anti-Americans," and all o th ers, on terms of equal privileges and equal justice. te object to no man f or the reasont hil at lihe is a "k now-Nothing;" nor do they objec t to a candidate who is opposed to the order. From our Speaker, wh en elected, they are to receive the sa me m easure of justice which w e dem and f or ourselves. We, who are not of the order, will receive the same measure which is dealt out to the m; th ey de m and no more; we tan accept of nothin l ess. Thus, standin g on oequal g roun ds, we can act together without surrtender of our self-respect, or the just rights of ank individual. Nearly all those belonging to the "American order" agree with the Republicans in putting forth our united efforts to restore freedom to Kangas; that this is the great overshadowing issue now before e me icn ol. T the American people. They therefore n Wnot act in opposition td Republicans on the present occasion. There are others who hold to the 12th section of the Philadelphia platform, who differ from us. They prefer to let slavery exist in Kansas, yet are hostile to the principle of extending it further, While the Democrats would permit it to extend into Minnesota, Oregbn, Washington, and Nebraska. The course which those gentlemen will pursue is unknown to me. They will doubtless act under the guidance of their own best judgment, and to their own masters they must stand or fall. And now I will come to the more immediate object I had in view when I rose, unless my friend rom Virginia has further questions. Mr. LETCHER. I have got all I want to go to my section of Use country. Or. GIDDING~. Oh, my friend, with what emaotions do I hear that word "section?t" Instead ofr looking to the general good of our whole country, wie speak of "sebtioed," and Dander to' the prejudices of some particular " locality. " Would that we could all feel we are acting for a ii i t il I I i i 1 6 7 that I could truthfully proclaim that fact to every slave in the Old Dominion; that I could say to them truthfully, "You have the same right to defend yourselves that your masters posses; that as your masters may protect their persons even to the slaying of him who assails them, so you have the right to defend your persons, and, if necessary to such defense,- you may slay yotlr omasters when they assail you in the same aennher that your masters may defend themselves against your attacks on them." If such were the laws of Virginia, slavery could not be maintained there one week. I admit that this right of self defense, bei ng a natur al righ t, derived fromv nature-'s God, ca nnot be modified or repealed by Mruman enactments, that t he slave has ever hau, and still possesses this right; yet the laws of all slaveholdint communities inlict upon the'slaw punishment and render him liable to be slain by the master for exercising this right which G(oa has bestowed upon him.* Thi s riglit of self-defense constitutes the very gist, the essential feature of slavery; without it s lavery could not exist. Restore to the s lave the riglht of self-defense, and he at o nce becomes a free man. This power of one man over another constitutes the vilest despotism. the most perfect tyranny that ever' cursed the footstool of God. The master, at the instance of his own minLd, without trial, witlhout judicial investigation, pun ishes and even takes the life of his fellow-man. He thus holds the power pf life and death over his slave. You may look to Austria or to Ru. sia in vain for a parallel to such des)otismn; and we, the Republicans, insist that it shall not exist in Kansas. The Democrats say it shall be pro tected and permitted there; that this Governmere shall not prohibit it in that Territory. Let no man charge me with discussing slavery in the States where we have not the power t interfere with it, nor the right to legislate in re gard to it. The Democratic party have forced it into Kansas, and now insist that it shall remain there. They thus compel us to examine its moraL,, its political character; and now, as we are formill the great parties of the nation on this issue, and as gentlemen who have preceded me have under taken to denounce us as " agitators," as " sect'. alists," as "fanatics," I deem the present a fitting occasion to vindicate ourselves before the coun try. This authority of the master to scourge the slave, and to slay him if he resist, is but tha legalizing of murder; it is giving one man power and authority to commit the offense of assault and battery against his fellow-men, and if they resist he is authorized to slay them. The Demo cratic party insist that these crimes shall be per mitted in Kansas; that no protection shall be extended to the weak, the friendless, the helpless *While Mr. GIDDIN?;S was speaking, Mr. LETCHE:R denied tlis positioin,to which Mr.GIDDINOsireplied,tlhatifhe shoutld write out his remarks he would refer that gentleman to his authority. In accordance with this promise, Mr. GIDDINGS quotes troml the revised statutes of Virginia the following1 e~nactment of 1668:, "s Be it enacted and, declared by thisGeneral.,~ssemnbly, If any slave resist his master, (or other by his master's order correcting him:) and by the extremnity of the correction shoulld chance to die, that deatth shall not be acc~outnted: felony1, but the master (Or other persons appoinited bZ the Skater to punXish him) b~ aequit fromn m1olos~tioa."X This, then, is our position before the country. I am of opinion that, if we w ere or ganize d, we should have a working majority in favor of rest or ing freedom to Kansas; yeI at that is at present doubtful. W it hout such a majority we do not desire th e Speak er. It were useless t o us to elect that officer unless we can susta in him afte r elected. The tim e has, therefore, arrived when, in my optinion, ev ery man should stand rnforth boldly lt him take his position distinctly before the Ieontry, and let the nat ion know where he stands wlhat are his principles —where will he place hims e lf on the record now being made for coming time. Does he wi sh to stand before the nation, and before coming generations, as an advocate and defender of liberty will he inscribe his name on the roll of slavery's advocates? I know t ha t ma ny friends think we s hould say littie or no th ing ab ou t th es e great fundamental principles which now d ivide us from the Democratic party. I entertain a different opinion. I know of no time more proper for the avowa l of our individual views than the pres ent. As so on as we f ully understan d each other we shall be better prepared to take our positions. Far my own part, I would not deceive any tna n, and I would hale no man dece ive me. e are strangers to eac h other; for the first time most of us have now met. We are constrained to act tog ether, and, in order to prepare for that d uty, we must know each other, and the principles which each entertains. For myself, and 1 think I may speak for somne otllerts-indeed, f or the Republicans generally-I may say that the governme nt wh ich we constitute ill Kansas should secure all men of that Territory in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness. We holod, wi th the fathers, b that this is the object, the ulterior design of all Christian Go vernments. Th is d e sign the Republicans intend carrying ou t by constituting a government in K ans as tha t shall effect that purpose. My friend from Pennsylvania [;Mr. JONES] denies that we h av e t he ri ght t o prohibit slavery in Kansas. I wish to meet him on th is po int. [Laughter.] Mr. JONES. I do say that. M tr.. GID DNGS. I desire this issue to be understood by the American people. I ask his attention to what constitutes slavery. It is the aubjection of the mind and body of one man to the will of another. In the words of a southern jurist: "l slave is on e doom ed in his perso n and posterity to live:wighout knowledge, to toil that another may reap te benefit of his labor. Tie object t,s the mister's g ain: the instrument the perfect subjection of the slave." The right of self-defense against the chastisement of the master is taken from the slave. That first great law of nature, and of nature's God, is repealed, so far as the slave is concerned, and human enactments can do it. He is placed in the power of the ma-ster, who may scourge and torture him; and if the slave d efend s his person, th e law declares it an act of rebellion, and the master is at liberty' to take the life of the slave if necessary to reduce him to subjection. Mr. LETrCHERt. The criminal law which perote>cts me protects my slave. Mr. G IDDINGS.'Then; I would say to the slaves of Virginia, " Defend yoursel-ves!"* I would, I I I I i.i I I 8 poor of that Territory. I repeat that we, the Republicans, insist that protection to the weak and friendless should constitute the first and prineipal object, the great leading feature and end of tallGovernments, particularly of all Governments formed underour onstitution. With the founders of our Republic we hold "that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right, it is the duty of the people I to alter or abolish it, and erect new safeguards for their protection." "sr It is admitted that the people of Kansas derive their authority to legislate from Congress. The very title of the bill purports to give authority to the people there to erect a Government. We could not give themn, or a portion of them, powers which we did not ourselves possess, which we, may not now exercise. We have not delegated to them, nor to any portion of them, authority thus to scourge and slay another portion of their fellow-men; nor has nature, or, nature's God, be- stowed such right. But if, as contended, we have de,legated such powers, we are ourselves respons- ible for their exercise, and every member of this cody who now insists on permitting these crimes to continue in Kansas is involved in their moral guilt. -Now, for one, I will not bathe my hands in the blood, nor stain my soul with the moral guilt of these iniquities.! stand here before the nation, and, in the presence of God and my fellow-men, I declare I will not participate in such wickedness. As a man, a Christian, a statesman, my feelings revolt at the proposition. My judgment, my conscience, the example of the early Republicans, their declared objects, left upon the records af our Government, the Constitution of our country, the laws of God, unite in urging me to oppose the existence of slavery and its attendant crimes, rnot only in Kansas, but wherever we have power to prohibit it. The Democratic party insist that there the master may even kill his slave, if the slave resists him. Four thousand years since God himself, in a voice of thunder, proclaimed from Sinai, "Thiou SHALT' NOT KILL." The Democrats are endeavoring to repeal this law of the MOST HIGII, and to render that commandnient void.' In thus sustaining slavery they are fighting against God, and nature, and our comminon humanity. I repeat, that I embrace this opportunity of qeaking frankly my own views, and I trust the views of Repulblicans and Christians generally, in consequence of the unrestrained denunciations iterated and reiterated against us by the advocates of oppression. I could not ask a new member to perform this duty. Indeed I have been led to its discharge principally for the benefit of our new members. I desire to hear them speak boldby when they speak; to give utterance to their honest emotions; to speak their sentiments, and avow their doctrines without disguise, and I would say to them, they need, not fear a dissol. tion of the Union, of which: we have heard so many intimations this morning. I feel that this threat of dissolving the Union should be met promptly at the very threshold of our session. It has long been held up as thm "scarecrow," the "bugbear" to frighten doughfaces. These threats come from the slave States. They are not heard among the public men of tlw free States. They never have been uttered by the friends of Liberty. ~ A VOICE. Did not SUMNER threaten to dissoln ;the Union? Mr. GIDDINGS. Never,sir, never. While from the slave States, from the slaveholding portion of the Union, they' have been almost constantly proclaimed for the last quarter of a century. Even now, the leading Democratic paper of the slave States, the Richmond Enquire>, almost daily puts forth articles calling on the people of Virginia to prepare for a dissolution of the Union. While the public press and the poli. ticians of that portion of the Utnion are thus proclaiming their intention to dissolve it, they turn round and charge us of the North with efforts tD effect that object. The free States have ever been loyal to ttm Union-they will remain so. They will not only refrain from dissolving it, but they will not permit it to be dissolved by the people of the slavw States. It was founded by our fathers; it was cemented by their blood; and by all the hallowed recollections which cluster around their memories we are called on to maintain it. To those whip threaten its dissolution we present an unbroken phalanx. With unwavering determination wx say to those traitors, you shall not dissolve it. They should bear in mind that we have now th~ majority in this body; next yeat, with Gods blessing, we will have th e Presdent; and in twv years more we will have the Senate. And with the executive and legislative brancles of Government in our hands, I think we shall be able tD maintain the Union, and perpetuate the institutions of freedom in our land, until Christianity and Civilization, now so rapidly advancing, shal make not only our whole country free, but other nations shall be led to imital4 our example, and man shall become elevated, and liberty teha triumph throughout the world. Printed at the CoDgredoneal Globe Offic, I I I I i I LETTER FROM iTHIE HON. EPHRAIM MARSH, PRESIDENT OF THE CONVENTION WHICH NOMINATED FILLMORE AND DONELSON. SooL.Y's MOUWNL, N. J., Sept. 10, 1856. Kansas shall become a Slave State; and, finally, rESSRS. JOHN II. LYON, JosEPH W. ALLEN, L. that all these outrages were perpetrated with the (OTI E. H. GRANDIN, J. R. CORNELL, JOHN R. aid and approbation of a United States Judge WEEKS: and Marshal, and in the presence of United States troops. But these great wrongs, though arousing GENTLEMEN:-Having been constrained by the just indignation of freemen, have elicited no the course of public events, oc(urring since the word of reproof from Mr. Fillmore. On the con meeting of the American National Convention, trary. in his speech at Albany, he astonished the by which the Hon. Millard Fillmore was nomi- country in declaring that the election of Col. nated for President of the United States, over Fremont, by the spontaneous suffrages of a ma which convention I had the honor to preside, to jority of the citizens of the Republic, would oc renounce that nomination, you, as my colleagues casion a dissolution of the Union. And up to the in that convention, are entitled to my reasons for last vote in the called session of Congress, wllen so doing, and I will proceed briefly but frankly to the friends of freedom endeavoured, in the Army state them. Appropriation Bill, to protect the citizens of Kan It was known to my friends at Philadelphia sas by the adoption of a conservative provIso, that the pro-slavery platform there adopted, and Hon. Mr. Raven, the confidential partner,rnd which drove so many Northern delegates from partisan of Mr. Fillmore, voted with the prothe Convention, was repugnant to my sentiments slavery majority. Indeed since the ce-mmenceand sympathies. But, confiding in the principles muent of the just-closed session of Congress, slavery of MIr. Fillmore, who, in the Legislature of New has not obtained an advantage that it did not Y.)rk, and in Congress, had ever acted with the owe to the votes of Mr. Fillmore's friends: nor friends of freedom, I acquiesced in an exception- has freedom encountered a defeat that did not able ulatfo.-m. In view of the perfidious repeal come from the same quarter of the Ilouse of Reof ihe Missouri compromise, and the aggressions presentatives. His friends, holding the balance and outrages perpetrated by Missourians upon of power, turned the scale, when it would turn, lransas, with more than the approval of the gen- in l-avor of slavery. eral government, I looked for some expression of And whiere, or in what respect, has Mr. FilILhe sentiments which pervaded the whole North- ore I)roflited politically, by all these sacrifices of ;entiments that Mr. Fillmore had ever professed, principlIe?-all these violations of duty-all these in his letter of acceptance. But in this expecta- surrenders of independence-all this self-abaseion I was disappointed. There was a studied ment? What has been gained by bartering free'nd sig(nificant avoidance in that letter, of the dom for slavery? luestion upon which he knew, as we all know, His nomination, as you know, was demanded he Presidential election is to be decided either in by our Southern brethren, who would only con:tvor of, or against, slavery extension. Nor was sent, even to his nonination, upon terms that less disappointed in finding the friends of Mr. drove most of the Northern delegates out of the 'illmore in Congress, voting steadily, throughout Convention. It was painfully apparent in the protracted session with the supporters of ag- deliberationsof our Convention that Americanism :ressiOD and outrage in Kansas, and persisting in was but a secondary object. Slavery was with ach votes, after, by the report of the Kansas them the paramount consideration. While, ior 'ongressional Committee, it had been irrefrag- the sake of the broad American principles that bly prover that the elections in Kansas had been had taken deep hold of the public mind, we were airried by armed bodies of men from Missouri; prepared to ignore the slavery question, they in:-at an infamous code of Territorial laws had sisted on making i,, and did make it, theprimary een enacted in Kansas by Missourians; that free article of faith in oar platform. esses in Kansas had been destroyed by Mlissou- And how, after imposing terms which have ans; that settlers in Kansas had been robbed shorn the American party of its Northern id murdered by Missourians. that organized and strength, do the South Americans act? Have -med bodies of men from Missouri and other they kept or broken faith with us? In North lave States had sworn in secret societies that Carolina, whose eloctican is just over, the Ameri .0. 0 HON. EPHRAIMI MARSH'S LETTER. pies" ceases to be useful, lets Mr. Fillmore "slide," he must console himself, as did Cardinal Wolsey, with the reflection that, if he "had served freedom with half the zeal he has given to slavery, he would not now be left naked to his enemies." Nor is this poetic truth only, for while serving freedom. no inan was morehonored and prospered than Millard Fillmore; rising, as he did, from station to station, higher and higher, in the State and National governments, and enjoying, until tempted by ambition to abandon his principles and party, universal regard and confidence. Shall we, of the North, then be required to adhere to a nomination which has been deliberately abandoned by the South? Shall we cling to Mr. Fillmore after those most earnest in his nomination are supporting Mr. Buchanan? This is the pra ct ical question. L et us, therefore look it practically in the face: Even in the pres e nt state of the canvass,tall but one or two of the Souther n S tates are not only sure to vote for Mr. Buchanan, but are made sure by the vote s of Southe rn Americans, who were pledged to Mr. Fillmore. As the canvass progresses, an!l Northern sentiment develops and concentrates in favor of Col. Fremont, the remaining one or two Southern States frill declare unmistakably for Mr. Buchanan, on whom the whole South will be united. On the other hand, the Free States, with the exception of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have or in the progress of the canvass will, declare for Fremont. The nominee of the American party, abandoned by the South, though espousing its principles, and repudiated by the North because of his subservency to the South, is driven into New Jersey and Pennsylvania, two States upon which his friends hanD a " forlorn hope." But does Mr. Fillmore, or any sane man, suppose or pretend that he can carry either of these States? Assuredly not. It is certain, however, and it is conceded, that a union of the Americans and Republicans in both States, would take them from Buchanan and carry them where they belong, into brotherhood and fraternity with freedom. May I not, then, rely upon the patriotism of my American friends, appeal to them with confidence in favor of union here in my own State, and in our sister State of Pennsylvania, for the sake of that glorious Union which we all love and cherish as an inheritance more precious than any other gift, though encumbered, as portions of it necessarily were, with slavery? Does any one tell me in reply, that our American principles forbid this union? Of such let me inquire what has been done, or sought to be done, by Southern Americans in Congress, to carry out our principles? Have they passed, or attempted to pass any laws upon the American question? Or have their voices and their votes been given constantly in favor of slavery extension? In refusing to unite with other friends of free Kansas (the only [Vissue involved in the contyst), Americans in New can party is virtually disbanded. The Hon. Mr. Puryear, an American member of Congress from t hat State, concedes the State to Mr. Buchanan, though, aside from slave ry, there is an acknowledged p olitical majority against him. I n Kentucky, where was o ne year ago a triumphant American majority, our party is beaten, if no t annihilatedo. Col. Humphre y M arshall, a gallant leader, seems to have nailed his colors to the mast; but tha t only proves that he is "faithful among th e fai thle ss." The Hon. Mr. Wtalker, of Alabama, a member of our Convent ion, who was among the most zealou s ad voca tes of Mr. Fillmore's nomination, has, from his seat in Congress, proclaimed his abandonment of Mr. Fillmore and his adhesion to Mr. Buchanan. Senator Jones, of Tennessee, wi th Senators Pratt and Pearce, of Maryland, life-long opponentsof the democratic party, have proclaimed themselves in favor of Mr. Buchanan, a n o stand now stand along with Senators Cass, Douglas, Atchis on, &c., upon the Cincinnati platform. There has been, within the las t three months, and since the issue, which is to giv e freedom to, or f orce slavery int o Kansas, was made up, a regular political stampede from the Southern whig and American parties over to the support of Mr. Bucha nan. Now What, let me inquire, does all this mean? Mir. Fillmore, a s y ou well know, was the rominee of the Southern States. Those delegates were not cnly for him, but would take none else. Why, then, do they abandon him? Simply becau s e they, havinfM but one interest in politics, and watchfully consulting t he p oli t ical barometer, a re guided by its suggestions. The y calculate the chances and the cost of a Presidential election. The platform upon which they placed M r. Fillmore' offended Northern sen timent. The action in Congress, and the events in Kansas hav e awakened throughout t he N or th and West an indignation so deep and pervading, as to depri ve Mr. Fillmore of the votes o f every Free State. T o qualify himself for acceptance in Slave States, Mr. Fillmore had to take grounds which necessarily repelled the Free States; and having thus lost the North, the South, for that reason, abandons him. In this the South acts understandingly, and is true to herself. Mr. Fillmore became valueless to slavery the moment it was certain he could not subsidize the North. And although abandoned by those who nominated him, neither Mr. Fillmore nor his friends can justly charge the South with bad faith, for the terms of the compact were distinctly understood. They aimed, with Americanism as a cover, to extend slavery. He was to bring Northern strength. Unable from the stringency of the terms imposed, and the enormity of the outrages perpetrated in Kansas to do that, the consideration failed, and the South declares for Buchanan instead of Fillmore, as the most available candidate. iS, therefore, the South, as it has done whenever a "Northern man with Southern princi- 2. HON. EPHRAIM MARSH'S LE'TTER.. There are men who go about the country declaiming about the inevitable con-equences of the election of Fremont; and the question is asked, whether that simple fact is not sufflcient, not merely to justify butto require a dissolution of the Union? The question has been asked me to-day. That is a question which I do not regard as even a subject of discussion. It never will be done wihiile men have their reason. It never will be done until some party, bent upon acquiring party power, shall again, and again and again exasperate beyond the reach of reason the Northern and Southern minds, as my Southern friends have rvow exasperated the Northern mind. It would be an act of suicide, and sane men do not commit suicide. The act itself is insanity. lt will'e done, if ever, in a tempest of fury and madness which caunot stop to reason. Dissolution means death, the suicide of Liberty, without a hope of resurrection-death without the glories of immortality; wi th no si ster to mourn her'all, none to wrap her decently in her wi.,~iin,- sheet and bear her tenderly to a sepulchre-dead Liberty, left to all the horror ot corruption, a loathsome tiing with a stake through the body, which men shun, cant out naked on the highlway of nations, where the tyrants of the earth ws,o feared her living, will mock her dead, passing by on the other side, wagging their heads and thrusting their ton,ue-s in their cheeks at her saying, "Behold her, how she that was fair among nations, is fallen! is fallen!!I and only the few wise men who loved her out of every nation will shed tears over her desolation as they pass, and cast handfuls of earth on her body to quiet her manes, while we her children stumble about her ruined ha~,itations, to find dishonorable graves wherein to hide our shame Dissolution? lHow shall it be? Who shall make it? Do men dream of Lot and Abraham parting, one to the east and the other west, peacefully, because their servants strive? That States will divide from States, and boundary lines will be marked by compass and chain? Sir, that w 11 be a p rtentous comnii.sion that shall settle that partition, for cannon will be planted at the corners and grinning skeletons be finger posts to point the way. It whill be no line gently marked on the bosomiu of the republic, some meandering vein w heace generations of her children have drawn their nourishment, but a sharp and jagged chasm, rending the heart of great Commonwealths lacerated a nd smeared wfith f, aternal blood. On the night when the stars of her constellation shall fall from heaven, the blackness of darkness forever will settle on the liberties of mankind in this Western world. Jersey and Pennsylvania are, with their eyes open to the inevitable result, aiding Mr. Buchanan, whose national and State platforms contain open denunciation of the American party, to carry these States. Yes, nothing is more certain than that New Jersey and Pennsylvania can elect or defeat Mr. Buchanan. The responsibility, either way, rests with the Americans. YWe can beat or be beaten by the party that is avowedly hostile to freedom and to Americanism. We cannot elect Mr. Fillmore; and for one, after the course pursued in Congress by his immediate represenotatives, after his own disloyal declarations in favor of a dissolution of the Union in the event of Col. Fremont's election, I am free to say I do not desire his success. I have heard but two tangible reasons urged against Col. Fremont. The first is, that he is a sectional candidate. This is neither his fault nor the fault of those who support him. The repeal of the Missouri compromise was a national question and a national wrong. The extension of slavery beyond its constitutional boundary is a national question. If, as in the repeal of that compromise, national compacts were violated, may not the people seek national redress? In what way, or by what means, can that wrong be righled but in a constitutional manner, through the ballot boxes? The freedom of Kansas and Nebraska was violated by the action of the Executive and Legislative departments of the government. May we not, without incurring the reproach of sectionalism, endeavor to re-establish freedom in those Territories by re. forming the Executive and Legislative departs ments. Who set up the cry of sectionalism when General Jackson, from Tennessee, and Mr. Calhoun,. from South Carolina, were President and Vice President? Why, Mr. Fillmore himself, who now counsels a dissolution of the Union if Fremont and Dayton should be elected, supported sectional candidates for President and Vice President in 1828 and 1834. The idea of dissolving the Union for such a cause is, I am happy to see, denounced by enlightened and patriotic Southern men. General Houston, the distinguished Senator from Texas, in his closing speech in the Senate, said:-,"They tell me if Fremont is elected forty thousand bayonets will bristle about the Capitols -that the South, in fact, will secede. Mr. President, I scorn the suggestion. There will be neither bristling bayonets nor secession, if Col. Fremont shall be elected by a majority of the people. Though I am not his supporter, I shall respect the majority of the people; and to Col. Fremont, as the chief magistrate of their choice, I shall pay my respectful homage." The Hon. Henry Winter Davis, a talented and eloquent American member of Congress rom Maryland, holds the following sentiments, whicli are much more becoming an American than those uttered by Mr. Fillmore at Albany: — The other objection to Mr. Fremont, addresses itself particularly to Americans. It is alleged that he is a Roman Catholic. The force of this objection depends upon its truth or falsity. It is a simple question of fact. The charge originate d in the New York Express, and rested upon tie declaration of Alderman Fulmer, who says that when at Brown's Hotel, in Washington, in the winter of 1853, he saw Col. Fremont worshipping in a Catholic Church; that he conversed with the Colonel on the subject of religion, and that he defended the extreme doctrine of the Romish Church. By reference to the columns of the same Express, it is shown that Col. Fremont was, during the whole of the time Alderman Fulmer locates him at Washington, on board of ocean steamers. An examination of the register and cash books of Brown's Hotel, show that Col. Fremont was not, during the years of 1852 and '53, at that hotel. Here is conclusive, independent evidence that Alderman Fulner is mistaken. This testimony is confirmed by Col. Fremont's denial of the whole story.'The archives of the Episcopal Church at Washington show that Col. Fremont's children had Protestant baptism. Mr. LiviLngston, who was Col. Fremont's companion across the Rocky Mountains, says that he carried with him a pocket Protestant Bible. He presented his wife with a Protestant prayer-book before their marriage.' His preceptor says that he received a Protest I 3 HON. EPHRAIMI MARSH'S LETTER. ant education. Col. Fremont says to everybody that inquires of him, that he is and ever has been a Protestant. And yet, not only in the absence of all testimony, but after every allegation has been disproved, those who fabricated, continue to reiterate th e falsehood, and I am sorry to add, that t o o many intelligent, honest electors, who would require better evidence to convict a dog caught w i t h the wool in h is mouth, of killing sheep, be lieve that Col. Fremont is a Papist. It was said, you will rebember, by many of our friends at Philadelphia, that Mr. Fillmore's name would be used at the South merely to divide the friends of freedom at the North. I did not be lieve it then, nor do I know that such was their design; but that Mr. Fillmore's name is now only used for that purpose, is transparently certain. Nor should this surprise us, for it is just what the past has often revealed. Mr. Van Buren, who, for thirty years was de voted to the South, hesitated about the admission of Texas, and was thrown overboard. General Pierce, literally used up in promoting the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and in sustaining border ruffianism, was remorselessly sacrificed at Cincinnati by the South for " a n older, if not a better" doughface, whom they hope to elect. Differ as they may and do. in relation to all other questions, on this every extreme and shade of sentiment and opinion unite. They regard the banik-tM tariff-the public eredain, &c., &c., subordinate questiolis. and diver upon them; but in voting upon thle annexatien ofl Texas-the admission of California free — the fu gitive Slave Law-the repeal of the Missouri compromise, &c., &c., they always unite; or if a Southern member gives a wrong vote, like Cullum e of Tennessee, and IHunt of L,ouisiana, they are shot down. Why, then, shoul4 they not, as they have, make their Americanism subservient to their slavery? If, therefore, Mlr. Buchanan should be elected, I see no end to the encroachments and usurpations of the slave power-and hence I shall neither vote for him nor throw my vote away. In a contest which is to determine whether slavery or freedom is to be the governing principle ofl' this republic, I choose to cast my vote where it will tell for freedom.'These considerations lead me to the support of the republican nominees for president and vice president, nlot because I am less an American than when our National Convention assembled, but because tho; y)v who m Mr. Fillmore was nominated, from Southern States, have abandoned him for a candidate oipenly and avowedly arrayed against the American arty, thus sacrificing for slavery both their candidate and their Americanism; and because, furthermore, by voting for Mr. Fillmore, while the contest is between Buchanau and Fremont, I should indirectly aid the former, whose principles, as an anti-American and slavery extensionist, are obnoxious to all my convictionsof duty. ResPectfully yours, EPHRAIm[ MAR>SH. A reign of terror has hung out its black flag of sedition, treason, and nulification over one-half the American!Zion. In all our Southern States, excepting little Delaware, there is as little of political liberty'as In Russia; and a meaner, and more sneaking, and more remorseless espionage over the liberty of speech and the public press than in any of the Italian pro vinces of Austria. Under th e auspices of the Jacobin democracy, this invisible and lawless despotism of the South has become as inexorable as the savage Committee of public Safety of that horrible first French Revolution; and as bloodthirsty as Robespierre, Marat and Danton. Such is the fierce and shameless despotism which reigns over the South, and such is the government to which the rotten democracy are laboring to subdue the North, under threats of disunion, a robbery of the public treasury and civil war. So far Trom there being any abatement in the Southern Democratic policy of terrorism and nuli fication with the nomination of Mr. Buchanan, his name, his influence, his pledges and his authority have all been used to sink the constitution in Kan sas, at Washington, and in fourteen States of the Union, and to threaten us with disunion and an ar med i nvasion if the r e st d o not s ubmit. For practical purposes of their own-for opece, p rof it, spoils and pl under-Jeff. Davis. the demo ceratic lerhistopti iles at t-ashlin,ro r, afe ( Atchison, his right htnd mail ill iKansas, and( poor Pierce, their stlppli~lt,I' tool, set thils policy of ruln,an tyr allny in motion. T'h.e results have disgraced the country in the eyes of the whole world. Arm-ieS invasions of ruffian mere,,narit-s, terrorism, ballot stufdng, spurt ious Kansas Legislatures and their bloody laws, have been followed up by the dragoon's sabre, the rutua,n musket, pistol, bayonet, bowie knife; by murder, sealpinT, roblberlv, and other crimes too re volting to thi, k o.f'. tIntil the plains of Kansas have been redcloned ";.tli tt blood of its unhappy s3t* tilers, and biad k.: (:;l.fth the ashes of their houses burned to thli g;:.o _r 5' % 7X _; * _ _ Suc i are the bitter fruits of this wretched Pierce administration, and the demoralized democratic party, reduced to the wvhip and spur of the nigger drivir,&g disorganizers, and disuinlionists of the South. 3 this state of things any longrer to be endured? girill the people of the North-still fiee, still living up to the free gt'fts of the constitution, free speech, a free press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble in the discussion of public aftirs-will this free people of the free North thus consent to vote themselves under a Southern ni;cker driving despotism. scarcely less humiliating to a free born white man than African slavery itself? We say this in all seriousnless; for when a free bornl white man can consent to have his pen and his voice under the control of ai censorship like that of the ruffian Southern democracy, and can cry " hurrah" for the party which thus ties him up in bondage, he is ready to mounD the block and be sold at auction, like a nigger. We await, upon this question, the judgment to-morrow of the free people of Pennsylvania. 4 [ FRom Tim N. Y. H.E&UD.] - T REIGN OF TERROR. APFFAIRS IN KANSAS. SPEECH OF HON. GALUSHA A. GROW, OF PENNSYLVANIA, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCHI 5, 1856. olated no law, and are amenable for no offend any more than they would be to assemble and' discuss their grievances, and petition for their redress. In Rhode Island, where there was no question as to the regularity of the existing Government-for it had existed for almost two centuries-a call for a convention to form a new Constitution was issued by persons confessedly not constituting the body politic, and without law, for the purpose of transforming a charter Government into a State. They formed a Constitution, adopted it, and under it elected a Governor apd o the r officers, and a Representative to Congress. The members of the Legislature met, swore t o support the new Constitution, and the oath of office was administered to the Governor, and his message t ransmitted to the L egisla tur e. None of these acts were considered as illegal by the constituted authorities of Rhode Island; and no arrests were made till Dorr called out a military force to uphold his Government. The people of Kansas have thus far done only what was done in Rhode Island previous to an appeal to arms. Are acts. that are harmless when performed in a State, illegal and treasonable when performed under like circumstances in a Territory? It was not thought so by the country in the case of the admission of Michigan into the Union, where a convention of the people, called without law, accepted certain conditions of Congress, which had just been rejected by a convention of delegates assembled under authority of an act of the Legislature. But, sir, the undoubted right of the people of a Territory to call a State convention, without any act of the Territorial Legislature, or of Congress, for the purpose of transforming a Territory into a State, and to elect all the officers necessary to administer such State Government, has been settled not only by the practice of the Government, but by the opinion of one of its ablest L!egal officers and constitutional advisers of the President. During General Jackson's administration, the Governor of the Territory ofArkansas addressed him a letter, soliciting instructions for his guidance in case the people of said Territory should elect delegates to a convention without a law of the Legislature, and organize and put in operation a State Government without authority of Congress. The Governor informed the President, that unless otherwise instructed, The President's Annu al Mess age being under consideration inn th e Comp etittee of the Whole on the state of the Untionl, Mr. GROW said: MIr. CItAIRMAN: Rumors of a prospect of civil war in the Territory of Kansas have reached us, and filled the public mind with gloomy apprehension. The Pr esident, in his annual message, informed us, that " in the Territory of Kansas, there had been acts prejudicial to good order," but neg lect ed to t ell what those acts ewere; and at a later day he informed this House, by special message, that thTere had been " acts plainly against l aw which now th reaten the peace not only of the T errit ory of Kansas, but of the Union." It becomes the imperative duty of Congre ss, th en, to inqutire into th e causes of this state of things, and devise, if possible, soe me mean s by which to avert so di re a calamity. C ongr ess be ing the supreme legislative power for the Territories, giving them their organic law, exec utiv e a n d judicial officers, and prescribing the mode and manner of the exercise of all their legislative functions, it is our first duty to see that the inhabitants there of ar e secu re in the enjoym ent of all the rights and privileges guarantied to American fr eemen everywhere under the protection of t he Republic. The acts which the President r egarded as threatening the peace not only of the Territory of Kansas, but of the Un ion, ar e summed up in a paragraph of his message: "Persons confesa sedly not constituting the b ody poli tic or all ' the inhabitan ts, but merely a part y of the inI habitants, and without law, have undertaken ' to summon a convention for the purpose of ' transforming the T errit ory into a State, and ' have formed a Constitution, adopted it, and ' under it el ected a Governor and other officers, ' a nd a Representative to Congress; " all of which he pronounces illeqal, and of revolutionary character. Sir, the doing of any or all the acts in this enumeration would be no violation of just law or constitutional right; for the people, or any part of them, of a State or Territory, have a perfect right peaceably to assemble, at any time, and deposit their votes fgr any person they please, with such designation of office as they choose to affix; and unless they, or the person so chosen, commit some overt act against the Government under which they live, they have vi 2 ' convention of delegates chosen by such as' ' semblies, I perceive no legal objection to their ' power to do so." But, it may be said that this doctrine will not apply to Kansas, for there it is merely a party of the inhabitants who called the convention. In all cases, the call, in the first instance, must be by a part of the people; for it would be almost an impossibility to get the signatures of all the inhabitants of a Territory. The call issued for a State convention in Kansas was in this form: "To the Legal Voters of Kansas: "Wliereas the Territorial Government, as now 'constituted for Kansas, has proved a failure; ' squatter sovereignty under its workings a miser' able delusion, in proof of which it is only ne' cessary to refer to our past history and our ' present deplorable condition; our ballot-boxes 'have been taken possession of by a band of ' armed men from foreign States; our people for' cibly driven therefrom; persons attempted to be ' foisted upon us as members of a so-called Legis' lature, unacquainted with our wants, and hostile ' to our best interests-some of them never resi' dents of our Territory; misnamed lawts passed, ' and now attempted to be enforced by the aid of ' citizens of foreign States, of the most oppressive, ' tyrannical, and insulting character; the right of 'suffrage taken from us; debarred from the '.privilege of a voice in the election of even the 'most insignificant officers; the right of free 'speech stifled; the muzzling of the press at' tempted: And whereas longer forbearance with ' such oppression and tyranny has ceased to be a ' virtue: and whereas the people of this country ' have heretofore exercised the right of changing ' their form of Government when it became op' pressive, and have, at all times, conceded this ' right to the people in this and all other Govern'ments: and whereas a Territorial form of Gov' ernment is unknown to the Constitution, and is ' the mnere creature of necessity, awaiting the ac' tion of the people: and whereas the debasing ' character of the slavery which now involves us ' impels to action, and leaves us, as the only legal 'and peaceful alternative, the irmmnlediate es' tablishment of a State Government: and where' as the organic act fails in pointing out the course ' to be adopted in an emergency like ours: There' fore, you are requested to meet at your several 'precincts in said Territory hereinafter men' tioned, on the second Tuesday of October next, ' it being the ninth day of said month, and then ' and there cast your ballots for members of a 'convention, to meet at Topeka on the fourth ' Tuesday in October next, to form a Constitution, ' adopt a bill of rights for the people of Kansas, ' and take all needful measures for organizing a ' State Government, preparatory to the admission'of ' Kansas into the Union as a State.' Under it, all the legal voters of the Territory could participate; and who shall say that a majority of them did not? The fact that it was necessary for the Pro-Slavery party at a later day to summon armed men from Missouri, is almost conclusivre evidence that a majority of the people of' the Territory are in favor of the Free State movement. But to give validity to the action of the people of a Territory in any act which they have a right to do, it is not necessary that they he should feel "bound to consider and treat all such proceedings as unlawful." The Presidentfor General Jackson, it seems, had not adopted the "great principles of popular sovereignt yt," established b y the Compromise Measures of 1850-replied, through his Attorney General, B. F. Butler, on the 21st of September, 183s, that "It is not i n the p ower of the G e neral A ssem' bly of Arkansas to pass an y law for the purpose ' of electing members to a convention to form a ' Constitution and State Gove rnment, nor to do ' a ny o ther act, directly or indirectly, to create such ' new Government. Every such law, even though ' it were approved by the Governor of the Terri' tory, would be null and void." The people of a Territory have an undoubted right at any time to call a convention, frame and adopt a State Constitution, and elect all officers necessary to its action as an independent State, though it might be a question whether they could perform any official act as State officers until the action of Congress, though Michigan enacted laws and voted for President before she was admitted as a State into the Union. But the State must be formed before her admission; for it is States that are admitted, under the third section of the fourth article of the Constitution, and not Territories. Upon this point, I read from the opinion of the Attorney General in the Arkansas case: " This provision implies that the new State shall ' have been constituted by the settlement of a ' Constitution or frame of Government, and by ' the appointment of those official agents which ' are indispensable to its action as a State, and ' especially to its action as a member of' the U Union, prior to its admission into the Union. In t accordance with this implication, every State ' received into the Union since the adoption of' ' the Federal Constitution has been actually or' ganized prior to such admission." Now, I desire to call particular attention to the part of this opinion which applies directly to the people of Kansas; and had it been written expressly for their case, it could not have been more applicable. In defining the rights of the citizens of Arkansas, he says: " They undoubtedly possess the ordinary privi leges and immunities of citizens of the United ' States. Among these is the right of the people I peaceably to assemble and to petition the ' Government for the redress of grievances.' In 'the exercise of this right, the inhabitants of' ' Arkansas may peaceably meet together in ' primary assembly, or in conventions chosen by ' such assemblies, for the purpose of petitioning ' Congress to abrogate the Territorial Government, t and to admit them into the Union as an inde pendent State. The particular form which they may give to their petition cannot be material, so 'long as they confine themselves to the mre ' right of petitioning, and conduct all tlfeir pro'ceedings in a peaceable manner. And -as the ' power of' Congress over the whole subject is ' plenary and unlimited, they may accept any ' Constitution, however framed, which in their : judgment meets the sense of the people to be ' affected by it. If, therefore, the citizens of' 'Arkansas think proper to accompany their peti'tlion by a written Constitution, fr,amed and ' agreed on by their primary assemblies, or by a 3 I the Legislature, I desire to call attention to their , official acts, for these are the first fruits of pop - ular sovereignty, as established by the repeal of - the Missouri Compromise. Without inquiring f into the validity of that Legislature, on account of the mode of its election, or by reason of its t changing the seat of Government to Shawnee as MIission, the legislation itself is a sufficient justi - fication for the Free State men of Kansas to ap c peal, in the mode they have adopted, to Congress, to secure to them their rights and privileges. This Legislature, imposed upon Kansas by non-residents, has disfranchised a large class of its citizens, and deprived them of the right of , holding office, or of practicing as attorneys-at law in the courts, by imposing, as a condition, unwarranted oaths to support particular laws of Congress or of the Legislature, thereby destroy ing freedom of opinion and the right of private judgment, as to the constitutionality of the laws w of the country, which is the birthright of an American citizen. Mllr. SMIITH, of Virginia. Quote the acts. miMr. GROW. That is what I propose to do. f The voter, if required, must swear, in addition to L other things, to sustain the Fugitive Slave Law before he can vote — an unheard-of requisition, to require a voter anywhere, under our form of Gov ernment, to swear to support any particular law, as a condition to vote; for, in most cases, the very object of his going to the polls is to secure a the repeal or modification of such laws as he considers unconstitutional or unjust. And every person elected or appointed to office in the Ter, ritory must take the same oath. To be admitted to practice as attorney in the courts, the appli cant must swear to "support the Constitution of ' the United States, and to support and sustain ' the provisions of an act entitled,'An act to or' ganlize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,' ' and the provisions of an act commonly known as 'the Fugitive Slave Law," and to which I under stand the court has added all the laws of the Territorial Legislature. The Legislature has appointed or provided for the appointment of all officers, not already ap pointed by the General Government, for terms of from two to five years, including sheriffs, con stables, justices of the peace, county commission ers, and election boards; so that there is not an officer in the Territory of Kansas to-day, of any kind or description, civil, military, or judi cial, except the thirteen members of the Coun cil, who hold their office for two years, in the selec tion of which the people of the Territory have had any voice-nor can they have, under pres ent regulations, till the fall of 1857. The Legis lature has prolonged its own existence, by legis lative act, till the 1st of January, 1858; so there can be no change in the laws till after that time. This is the popular sovereignty that leaves the t people perfectly free to form and regulate their dom, mestic institutions in their own way. And under these circumstances, the people of Kansas are ; assured by the President, that " the constitutional ' means of relieving the people of unjust admin' istration and laws, by a change of public agents ;' and by repeal, are ample.'' But, in addition to invading the right of private B judgment, and of depriving the people of all voice should be unanimous, any more than it is neces s ary, in orderalt to give validity to a law of a State that every voter should be in favor of it. Ma jorities, under ou r sy stem of Government, consti tute the people, and their action is the action o[ the people. The members of the convention were elected at the sam e time a nd by about the same vote as th e Fr ee State Deleate to Congress, and h e re ceived almost three thou s and votes, at a time when there was no occasion for ilIegal voting. Judging by the census, and the other elections held in the Territory, that would be a majority of the legal voters. If the proceedings for a State convention were participated in by a party only, how did it happen that the delegates did not all hold one sentiment on the all-absorbing question before them-that of Slavery? Many of the delegates in that convention were never suspected of being Abolitionists or Free-Soilers before they went to the Territory, and some of them were well known to the country as earnest advocates of the Kansas-Nebrask-a bill, and of all the measures of this Administration. But why was it necessary for the people of Kansas at this early day, after their organization as a Territory, to call a convention to frame a State Constitution? What are the grievances that they seek in this way to redress? They claim that, under the act of Congress organizing the Territory, they were to have the right to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own w%ay; but, instead of that, a Legislature was elected by non-residents, the ballot-box seized by armed bands of men from Missouri, and peaceable citizens of the Territory were driven by violence fromn the polls, or shot down in cold blood. The President has failed, though devoting an entire message to Kansas, to give us anv information as to the mode or manner in which that election was conducted, but seemed more anxious to discuss questions involved in the contested seat of a Delegate on this floor, and to show, if nossible, inconsistencies of conduct in one of the officials whom he had appointed to office in that Territory. We are therefore left to rely on the history of those transactions, as they have reached us through the press and by private correspondence. But that the election was a fraud, and the Legislature a usurpation imposed upon the actual settlers of Kansas, is as well established as that there was an election held; for we have no different or better means of information of the one than of the other. The census of the Territory was taken in February, and the election was in the following March. By the census, there were but about three thousand legal voters. Yet, at the election, about six thousand votes were polled, while a large number of residents did not vote, owing to the threatened violence of the election, and every m-ember elected to the Legislature at that time, sav e one, belonged to the Pro-Slavery party. Is it to b~e supposed that, at a fair election in that l'erritoryr, but one Free State man would be 31ected to the Legislature, out of'thirty-nine ,rembers, and that he should be in the district ~urthest removed from Missouri? But, passing btr the election for members of~~~~ 4 in the selection of their rulers, the Legislature I has struck down freedom of speech, freedom of I the press, and the inalienable rights of men, and' enacted into a law a despotism as galling, if not as odious, as that of the House of Hapsburg. The rights of freemen are trampled under foot, while the right of slave property is shielded and protected by the highest sanctions of law. The penalty for advising or assisting an apprentice to run away from his master, is a fine of not less than $20, nor more than $500; but for enticing or carrying away a slave, death. For harboring or concealing an apprentice, one dollar for each day's concealment; but for harboring or concealing a slave, not less than five years' imprisonment at hard labor. For advising or verstiading an apprentice to rebel against or assault his master, not less than ;20, nor more than $500; but for advising or persuading a slave to rebel, death. Kidnapping a free man, and selling him into Slavery, an offence that should receive the severest punishment known to the criminal cal endar, unless it be for taking life-and I know not as that should be excepted; for what graver offence against the laws of a civilized com munity could be committed, than to seize a peaceable citizen, reposing upon its protection, and place upon him the chain and the manacle, and then consign him to hopeless bondage-yet the penalty for such an offence under the laws of Kansas is not to exceed ten years' imprisonment; while death is the penalty for aiding or assisting in persuading a slave to obtain his freedom. For decoying and carrying away a child under twelve years of age, in order to detain or conceal it from its varents, imprisonment not to exceed five years, or six months in county jail, or fine of $500, at the discretion of the court. Even the innocence and helplessness of childhood finds less protection under the sanct ion of these laws than is given to the right of property claimed in the souls and bodie s of men. d A MEMBER. The y do n ot sell the soul. MTr. GROW. Can it be separated at the auic tion block? Does i t not go with the body in this world's pilgrimage, till it passes the dark valley? Mir. Chairman, I have contrast ed some of thes e laws, for the purpps,e of showing what k ind of protection is thrown around the rights of freemen, compared with that given to a particular species of property. General Stringfellow, in a letter to the Mlont gomery (Alabama) Advertiser, uses this language, as to the character of the laws of the Territory in reference to Slavery: "They have now laws more efficient to protect ' slave property than any State in the Union. ' These laws have just taken effect, and have al'ready silenced Abolitionists; for, in spite of ' their heretofore boasting, they know they will 'be enforced to the very letter, and with the ut' most rigor. Not only is it profitable for slave' holders to go- to Kansas, but pvolitically it is all' important."' Not content with enacting laws more efficient to protect slave property than any State in the Union, they attempt to stifle freedom of speech an~ of the press, by enacting that "tIf any pierson print, write, introduce into~ or ' publish, or circulate, or cause to be moght into, ' printed, written, pu blis hed, or ilated, or ' shall knowingly aid or assist in_gi ng into, ' printing, pubising, or circulatsing or ith in this ' Territory, a ny book, paper, pamphlet, magazine, ' handbill, or circular, Containing any statements, ' arguments, opinion, sentimentie n, d octrine, advice, ' o r innuendo, calculated to produce a disorderly, ' dangerous, or rebellious disarffection among the ' slaves in this Territory, or to indu ce s uch s laves ' to escape from the service of their masters, o r ' to resist thei r authority, shall be guilty of felony, ' and b e pun ished by impris onment a t h ard l abor ' for a term not les s th an five y ears, "If any free person, by speaking or wri t in g, 'assert or maintain that p ersons have not the ' right to hol d slaves in this Territory, or shall 'introduce into this Territory print, publish, ' write, c irculate, or cause to be introduced into 'this Territ ory, written, printed, publis hed, o r 'circulated, in th is Territory, any book, paper, ' magazine, pamphlet, or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slave s in 'this Territory, such person shall be deemed ' guilty of felony, and punished by imprisonment 'at hard lab or fo r a t erm not l ess than two ' years. " No person who is conscientious ly opposed to ' holding slaves, or who does not admit the ri ght ' to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a ' juror on the trial of any prosecution for any vio' lation of any of the sections of this act. [Signed] "J. HI. STRINGFELLOW, " Speaker of the House. " THOMAS JOHNSON, " President o the Council," Such are some of the laws of the Territor~ of Kansas, which the President has announced must be enforced at the point of the bayonet, if ne cessary. The first gun fired by the armies of the Republic, in such a cause, would be but the echo of the British musketry in the streets of Boston, on the 19th of April, 1]]5, and its flash would light a flame that the floods of the " Father oi Waters " could not extinguish. Should a despot of the Old World issue an edict that any of his subjects who should de clare that he had not a divine right to rule, tc imprison, and to kill, should be incarcerated ir the dungeon, and that any one should be incom petent to try the accused, unless he believed i, the divine right of Kings, would not an execra tion go up from the heart of civilization, dee: and bitter as the wailings of the damned; an his name would head the infamous roll of th. world's Neros, Geslers, and Haynaus; yet in thi heart of the Republic, American citizens are to day required to submit to an enactment in th form of law not less odious. It is to free themselves from such wrongs, an, that they may enjoy the common rights of Amer can freemen, that the people of Kansas hay peaceably assembled and formed a Constitutio, ~in order to petition Congress for a redress ( grievances. The President informed us, in his special me~ sage, that associations were formed in some, the States, to promote emigration to Kansa: which " awakened emotions of intense indign'. 'tion in States near to the Territory of Kansa 5 and especiallyintheadjoiningStateofMissouri." I vast Territory, once consecrated to Freedom, Why this indignation at any effort to furnish set- was to plant upon its virgin soil the institutions tiers to the Territory, and thus to people the of human bondage, so that the domestic peace wilderness? For the first time in the history of of the Southern States might not be endangered. the country, has any effort to facilitate the settle- The repeal of the issou Compromise was, ment of new States excited indignation anywhere. from its inep tion, a coispir gainst Freedom. But the prayer of the patriot and philanthropist from ts in ception a conspiracy aga inst Freedom , The moving cause that abro'grated this timehas ever followed the hardy pioneer, as he went honored restriction was to seure the introducforth to subdue the forest, and convert the lair of' tion and est ablishment of Slavery, so as t o prethe wild beast into a home for civilized man. ven~~~t iposbea free State bordering aL slave But thile reason assigned for the special ndi vent, if possible, a free State bordering a slave naButi f the reaon gel for i the eal ig State on the West. For but one Territory was nation of the people of Missouri is, that their eeded for all purposes of fair settlement and 11 domestic peace was the most directly endan- such was the form of the bill first introduced. gered." Sir, how could the domestic peace of su e.. S. h od th.i p. Yet it was afterwards divided without any apany section ol this Union be endangered by any ecton o ths Uion e edan~redjoyparent rea~son, unless it was to enable Slavery building up new States in the wilderness, and parent reason, unless it was to enable Slavery . I ~~~~~~~~~~he more easily to make its C-*nquest. covering its desert waste with the homes of civil- the more easily to make its adnquest. ized men? Ihougtih the President Iailed to give Why was Kansas intrenched and hemmed in us that informatinn, General Atchison has, in a entirely by the State of Missouri, and restricted letter to the Atlal~ta (Georgia) Bxa?)iner, dated to a small area compared with Nebraska, with Platte City, December 15, 1855: an imaginary line for its northern boundary, Kansas and Missouri have the same latitude, when the Platte river, a few miles further north, climate, and soil, and should have the same in- was the great natural boundary that should have ' stitutions. The peace and prosperity of both de- divided the two, if a division was to be made.? pend upon it. Kansas aust have slave insutitutions, Was it because that would bring a part of Kan'or AIIssouri must havefree i?zs,itutions-bence the sas opposite Iowa, so that freemen could reach ' interest the'Border Ruffians' take in Kansas the Territory without the necessity of passing affairs. through a slave State? Why was the clause al "If the settlement of Kansas had been left to ways before inserted_ in every Territorial bill 'the laws which govern'"emigration, it would since the formation of the Government, requi have been a slave Territory as certainly as Mis- ring the laws of the Territory to be submittedto souri is a slave State; but inasmuch as those the supervision of Congress, omitted in this? ' laws have been violated and perverted by the Then, when the time comes for electing the Leg'force of money, and a powerful organization in islature, which is, of course, to give shape, by the North and East, it becomes the South Ito its action, to the institutions of the infant State, be up and doing,' and to send in a population it is secured to Slavery by an invasion of non to' counteract the North. residents, and then follows the legislation to "Let your young men come forth to Missouri which I have referred; a series of acts, all point'and Kansas! Let them come welel arned, with ing, from the first, to the consummation of one money enough to support them for twelve object-the fulfilment of the prophecy of Gen months, and determined to see this thing out! eral Atchison, made in the Senate of the United One hundred true men will be an acquisition. States, that ifthe Missouri Compromise was re The more the better. I do not see bow we are pealed, Kansas would be a slave State. And he to avoid civilwar; come it will. Twelve months has insisted upon that opinion from that day to will not elapse before war-civil war of the this. fiercest kind-will be upon us. We are arm- In addition to all this, the Secretary of the ' ing and preparing for it. Indeed, we of the Territory, who is required by act of' Congress to border countties are prepared. We must have transmit " one copy of the laws and journals of the support of the South. 1're are fighting the the Legislative Assembly within thirty days after battles of the South. Our institutions are at stake. the end of each session, and one copy of the ' You far Southern men are now out of the naive executive proceedings and official correspond of the war, but, if we fail, it will reach your ence semi-annually," to the President, and copies ' own doors, perhaps your hearths. We want of the laws to the Senate and I-louse of Repre men, armed men. We want money-not for sentatives, to be deposited in the libraries of ' ourselves, but to support our friends who may Congress, has neglected entirely to send the laws come from a distance." to Congress, orto furnish the President with the Is the domestic peace of Missouri endangered, executive proceedings. If so, the President has then, by an effort to make Kansas a free State? not transmitted them to the Senate, in answer Are the institutions of Missouri and the South to their call for them, and has not answered a staked on the issue, whether a free State shall join call made by this Ilouse more than three weeks a slave State on the West? Then the only vital since. So I take it for granted that they have question in the politics of the day is Freedom or not been furnished by the Secretary of the Ter Slavery to Kansas; for its destiny is to shape ritory, as required by law. So, no information and control that of all the territory west of it of the doings of the Territory reaches us of to the Pacific. For, with Slavery established in ficially till a late day, and then we are furnished Kansas, its institutions, astwell as those of the only such part as the officials choose to give. South, will be just as insecure with a free State on But this neglect on the part of one of the of its western border as would be Missouri with ficials of the Territory is passed by unnoticed by Kansas free. The moving cause, it seems, then, the President, while he removes other officers for abrogating the restriction on Slavery in this for alleged dereliction of duty.. Now if the 6 gentleman from Virginia [EIr. SMITH] wishes it, law and order, and to preserve peace and quiet I will yield to him. in one of the Territories of the Union. They Mr. SMITH, of Virginia. I do not desire to come for what? To demnolish a town, to burn its interrupt the gentleman at this point; I merely houses, and drive out its citizens from their made the rema:rk-rather sub rosa than other- homes at the point of the bayonet. wise-that I did not understand why the gen- Why is Alissouri fightipgthe battles of the South; tIeman should complain of the Secretary of the and how are her institutions at stake in the issue Territory for failing to put the House and the of Slavery or Freedom in Kansas? The capital country in possession of the Territorial laws, / ln vested!ina a one kind of property' has alwa-s when r found him using those laws, and arguing a common interest, and is moved by a common upon them. I thought it was rather unneces- motive. The three million slaves in the South, sary fault-finding. at an average price of $500 each, make a cap Mr. GROW. I suppose, then, Mr. Chairman, ital of $1,500,000,000. But, in addition, it is that it would not be necessary for the officials of the same interest that owns the landed and per the Government to do their official duty, because sonal property; so that the moneyed interest of the information they might communicate could the South, that acts together by a common sym be obtained in some other way. I take it for pathy, probably exceeds $4,000,000,000. What granted, that when the organic law requires an ever, then, tends to enhance the market value of officer of the Territory to do a certain duty, you the slave, moves this mighty interest with a com have a right to complain if he fails to perform monimpulse. Amoneyed interest,inanycountry, that duty, even though you may obtain the in- always struggles to seize upon its Government, formation by some other means. and to wield it for its own advantages. Hence But to return from the digression into which the innovations on the early and well-established I have been drawn by the gentleman's remark. policy of the Goverrnment, in restricting Slavery It seems, then, that but one object has actu- where it had not an actual existence. Hence ated this whole movement, from the inception of the efforts now making to overturn the settled the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; and that decisions of the courts, and to nationalize the in has been, to supplant free labor and free institu- stitution of Slavery, under the new doctrine, that tions, in order to establish Slavery on the soil of the Constitution carriep it wherever its jurisdic Kansas. tion extends, unless there be local law to l)re Why are men brought there face to face with vent it. the bayonet in their hands, and deadly hostility The Democracy of the country, in the days of in their hearts? Governor Shannon, in his dis- its glory and triumph, resisted the attempt of the patch to the President, giving an account of the moneyed interest of the country, invested in banktrouibles at Lawrence, says: inl, to seize upon this Government, to use it for "The excitement increased and spread, not its own purposes. They also resisted the attempt only throughout this whole Territory, but was of the moneyed interest engaged in manufactur' worked uip to the utmost point of intensity in ling to use the Government for its purposes. And the whole of the upper portion of Missouri. yet here is a united, concentrated moneyed in Armed men wvere seen rushing from all quarters terest-cqmpared to which either of those was 'towar,ls Lawrence, some to defend the place, but as a drop in the bucket to the ocean-en and others to demolish it." deavoring to use this Government for the pro "M.en rush with arms to demolish it!" From motion of its interests and the advancement of where? The State of Missouri. What interest its ends. iNow, sir, it is to resist any such has Missouri in enfoibrcing the laws of Kansas, attempt, on the part of the moneyed interest more than the State of Ohio or Virginia? Gen- invested in slaves, that the people whom I reperal Atchison tells us: Slave institutions for resent resist all attempts to plant Slavery in Kansas, or free institutions for Missouri. Sla- Kansas. very in Kansas secures Slavery forever in Mis- Regarding it, as did the Fathers of the Repubsouri. This is the motive which brings from lic, as a social and political evil, that retards the Miissouri, men to preserve law and order in Kan- growth and development of a country, by degrasas. From the description in another part of ding its labor, they believe it to be the duty of this letter, the "law and order" that such men Congress to do, in reference to the Territories, would preserve is like the protection the wolf what Madison desired it to do, more than a half would give the lamb. In another part of the century ago, in reference to the foreign slave despatch he says: trade. In urging its abolition, he says: "I found in the camp at Wakarusa a deep and "The dictates of humanity, the principles of settled feeling of hostility against the opposing' the people, the national safety and happiness, forces in Lawrence, and apparently a fixed de-' and prudent policy, require it of us. termination to attack that place, and demolish "It is to be hoped that, by expressing a nait and the presses, and take possession of their' tional disapprobation of this trade, we may de'arms.' stroy it, and save ourselves from reproaches, " To issue an order to the sheriff to disband his' and our posterity the imbecility ever attending 'posse, and to Generals Richardson and Strickler' on a country filled with slaves." 'to disband their forces, would have been to let And here, sir, I desire to read an extract from 'loose this large body of men, who would have a speech of mine in the last Congress, on the been left without control to follow the impulse Nebraska bill: ' of their feelicys, which evidently was to attack "But it is said that these Territories are com' and disarm the people of Lawrence."' mon property, and that all the citizens of the Those are the men who go forth to enforce' United States have common rights in them; 7 way, the mode and manner of its removal. That is a problem with the solution of which I tax not my brain. It has taxed in vain the wisdom and ingenuity of some of the wisest and ablest states men of the Republic. When, therefore, we find an institution that, once planted among a people, they are unable to devise any means to get rid of, even though they desire to do so, should we not hesitate in doing any act by which it would be fastened upon a people who have it not, and who would be much better without it? Would the people of Kansas, if left to their own free choice, to-day choose the institution of Slavery instead of free institu tions? It is said that the object of the bill organizing the Territory was to leave the people to do as they please. The people of Kansas to do as they please, when there is not an officer of the Terri tory in whose election they have had a voice, and cannot have for two years to come! The people of Kansas to do as they please, when by f torce you trample down their ballot-boxes, and deprive them of' the free exercise of the elective franchise! You have imposed on them a Legis la,ture which has enacted laws striking down the dearest rights of freemen; and you call it law and order to sustain the invasion, and enforce its enactments. And after the people of Kansas have been dis franchised at the ballot-box, and they have been deprived of their rights because they undertake to demand a redress of their grievances at the hands of the only body that can give it-the Congress of the United States-armed men are to be called in to shoot them down. Are the citizens of Kansas competent to take care of themselves? If so, why import men from other States to enforce their laws? The fact that men are imported to execute the laws of the Legisla ture is conclusive that those laws do not meet with the approbation of a majority of the people. Under -these circumstances, what is the duty of Congress? Is it their duty to sit quietly by, and behold these altercations in the Territory, without devising any means to avoid them? Is it the duty of Congress, which embodies the sentime n ts of this whole Republic, to sit quietly by, and allow the institution of Slavery to extend itself into territory under its exclusive jurisdiction, and which was once concecrated by solemn act to Freedom? In 1819, Louis McLane, of Delaware, during the discussion in the Senate that preceded the passage of the Missouri Com promise, though himself a slaveholder and from a slave State, declared that * Nothing can more gladden tle heart than the ' contemplation of a portion of territory conse crated to Freedom, whose soil should never be moistened by the tear of the slave, or degraded by the step of the oppressor or the oppressed." But, to-day, the soil whose contemplating so gladdened the patriotic heart is not only moistened with the tear of the slave, but is threatened to be drenched with fraternal blood. Itu this crusade to propagate Slavery, not only by changing the construction given to the Constitution for more than half a century, but by force of arms, permit me to call your attention to the a'most dying counsel of one of the country's most illustrious ' and that, therefore, no citizen can be excluded ' from emigrating to them, without injustice and degradation. No one proposes to exclude any person from emigrating and settling on the pub lic domain. The Territory, it is true, is t he common property of the whole people, but by the Federal Constitution they agreed to put it 'under a supervisory power. That power is ' Congress; Congress is made a board of direc' tion over this trust-fund, to use it in such way t a s, i n their sound disc retion, w ill be most ad'vantageous to the trust, and w ill be s t accoem' plis h the object of its creation, the promotio n of the real and permanent interests of the coun try. Whoever goes into the Territory, therefore, as a settler, must confor m to the h rule s and reg ulations' e stablished by th is supervisory board, created by the common consent and agreement of the whole country, and ma de on e of the arti'cle s of compact. No person ha s any separate, distinct individual right, that he can have set ' apart as his share, to use as he pleases, any ' more than he can take hi s shar e of the Presi dent's Hous e, or of this C apitol, and appropri ate it to his own use. It can be used only in such ' way as, i n the judgmen t of Congress, will con duce toe the advantage of the whole." If, then, this Go ver n ment should see that the Territories a re used i n such way as best to pro mote t h e p aramou nt interest of the country, to develop its physi c al strength and the mental re sources of its people, free labor can accomplish it better than slave. For Slavery, wherever it goes, bears a sirocco in front, and leaves a desert in the rear. Under slave labor, the soil, which is the me ans f or supporting the human race, and was given by the Creator for that purpose, is impoverished and made worthless. it is then abandoned, and virgin soil taken up again, to be in t he sa me way impoverished. And thus is he basis of natiohl greatness and g lo ry destroyed, and the energies of a people are palsied by degrading its labor. Mlr. Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, has given to the world its influence on society: "W With the morals of the people, their industry also is destroyed; for in a warm climate no man will labor himself, who can make another ' labor for him. This is so true, that of the pro prietors of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever seen to labor. "With what execration should the statesman 'be loaded, who, permitting one half the citi zens thus to trample on the rights of the other, ' transforms those into despots, and these into enemies; destroys the morals of the one part, and the amorpatrice of the other." I trust, sir, that Jefferson, born and reared amid the influences of Slavery, will not be regarded as a fanatic, for his views of the institution. As for myself, I have no sentimentalities, otlber than those which man should ever feel for the miseries and woes of his race, on the subject of Slavery as it exists in the States. If it be a good, those whlo have it are entitled to all its blessings; if an evil, they alone -have to answer for it to their own consciences, to the public opinion of the world, and to their God, I would leave it, then, to the people among whom it exists to devise, in their own time and in their oven 8 names. Though born and reared under Southern mind with what they wish to destroy, and upon influences, it is a sentiment tat will find a cordial them attempt to excite the prejudice of men. response in the patriot heart everywhere, and is Sir, the men of the North have not surrendered worthy to be inscribed on his tombstone. In dis- themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed cussing the Compromise Measures on the 5th of interests of the relatively few Africans in the United February, 1850, as if foreboding the present hour States, but they desire to gladden the heart of the in his country's history, Mr. Clay said: patriot forever with the "contemplation of a "But if, unhappily, we should be involved in' portion of territory consecrated to Freedom, ' war between the two parts of this Confederacy, in' whose soil shall never be moistened by the tear ' which the effort upon the one side should be to' of the slave, or degraded by the step of the op ne pressor or the oppressed." ' restrain the introduction of Slavery into the new pressor or the oppressed." ' Territories, and upon the other side to force its in- The rights ofthecitizens of Kansas are the rights troduction there, what a spectacle should of the weoity-five millions of Aneericans, and the < )resent, to the astonishment of mankind, in a,, wrongs of the one should be adopted as the wrongs effort, not to propagate rights, but-I must sa t the other. If the rights of one man in this coun effort, not ~~~~~~~to ropgt ihs u- uts y can be trampled upon by legislative en actmeiiqt, it, thoulgh I trust it will be understood to be sai y can e trampled upon by legislative enactent, the rights of' atl may. When men are disfranwith no design to excite feeling-a war to prop the rights of all may. When men are ist-an' ayate Inrones in the Territories thus acquired chised by law, and deprived of their nearest and 'from Mexico. t would inte a Tar in torich aie dearest rights, and that law rests upon the Gov'o exoshIwould have ao ^war s no gowahih ernment of the country for its validity and its wsh ou ld have no sympathies, no ood wishes-in sanction, it comes home to the bosom of every which our own-history itself would be against us; for, from the commencement of the Revolu - person, no matter in what part of the Republic tion down to the present time, we have con- he lives; and he who would sit quietly down, stantly reproached our British ancestors for the and permit wrong and injustice to be done to a ' introduction of Slavery into this country." citizen of the country, when he could prevent it, is guilty of a gross dereliction of duty. From the tomb comes the voice of your sainted The freemen of Kansas aire entitled to your dead, to rebuke the efforts making to-day to es- protection. They are entitled to your protection tablish Slavery upon the soilof Kansas; and is it against invasion at the ballot-box, to your profor the freemen of this country to turn a deafear tection against unjust laws which violate all not only to the safe counsels of the venerated their rights, your protection in the freedom of dead, but to stand in indifference to the best in- speech and the press. The supervision of all terests of the future? Will you carry into Kansas their legislation being under the control of Conthe institution of Slavery, under the protection of gress, let it then do its duty, and remove firom the flag of your country? For it is for Congress the people these odious enactments which the to say what shall be done, and what kind of President has declared must be enforced, and seinstitutions shall exist there during its Territorial cure to them the free and undisturbed exercise of existence. their civil rights and privileges. On some future occasion I hope to have an The men of the North are but resisting the atopportunity to discuss at length the constitu- tempt to subvert the spirit and genius of the intional power of Congress over the Territories; stitutionis of the Republic; and the effort now but at this time the only proper inquiry is, What making to overrun its well-established policy in is the cause of'the unprecedented state of affairs legislating for the Territories, the effort to rein Kansas, and what can be done to save that verse the decision of the courts making Slavery people from bloodshed and civil war? a local, sectional institution, resting upon local The President in his annual message, after re- law for its support, and to nationalize it by throwviewing the Slavery question, closes with this ing over it the shield and the protection of the rather singular summary of the cause of the Constitution and the Union, wherever it goes present excitement at the North: beyond the jurisdiction of the local laws which "If the passionate rage of fanaticism and par- gave it support-it is against this doctrine that tisan spirit did not force the fact upon our at- the men of the North war, and not in behalf of ' tention, it would be difficult to believe that any " the relatively few Africans" in the country. ' considerable portion of the people of this en- Their condition, however deplorable in the States lightened country could have surrendered them- where they exist, is beyond our reach. We must ' selves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed therefore leave them to those who have the con interests of the relatively few Africans in the trol of the laws under which they live. But we United States, as totally to abandon and disre- insist that the flag of the Union shall float, as gard the interests of the twenty-five millions of heretofore, the emblem of Freedom, and under its Americans." folds, everywhere, the freedom of speech and of The art of the lawyer and the politician is ever the press, and the inalienable rights of men, shall to associate names made odious in the public be protected. BUELL & BLANCHARD, Printers, Washington. SPEECH OF HON. RUSSELL SAGE, OF NEW YORK, On the Professions and Acts of the President of the United States; the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise; the Outrages in Kansas; and the Sectional Influence and Aggressions of the Slave Power. DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AUGUST 6, 1856. and seeing no mode by which such controversies can be avoided, except l,y a strict adherence to the settlement tlhere,.f, effleed by the Compromise passed at the last session of Congress, do hereby declare their inltention to mainitain the same settlelmenlt iitviolale. and to resist all altempts to repeal or alter the acts aforesaid, unlless by gen eral consent of the friends of the measure, and to remedy such evils, if any, as time and experience may develop. Ant for the purpose of making this resolution effective, they fuLthier declare that they will not support for the office of President or Vice President, or of Seniiator or ofRepre seitatlive in Cougress, or as member of a State Legisla ture, any mali, of whatever party, who is not known to be opposed to the disturbance of the sentiment aforesaid, and to the renew]l,i in any form, of agitation uponi the subject of Slavery hereafter. "Henry Clay, Howell Cobb, C. S. Morehead, H. S. Soot, Robert L. Rose, W Villiam Duer, N'illlam C. Dawson, James Brooks, Thomas J. Rusk, A. H. Stephens. Jeremiah Clemens, R. Toombs, J.mres Cooper, M. P. Gentry. Thomas G. Pratt, H. WV. Hilliard, W'~iliiam M. Gwin, i'. G. McLeane Samuel A. Elliott, A. G. Watkins, David Outlaw, R. A. Blnlard: C. H. Williams, T. S. Hammioi(d. J. Rhielps Phmlnix, A. H. Sheppard,' A U. Schermerhorni, Ecrnund Deberry. Johnt R. Thlurmnan, B. Marshall, D. A. Bokee, Daniel Breck, George R. An drews, James L. Jolrinsog WV. P. Malgum, J. B. Thompson, Jer emi ah atlorton, J. M. Anderson,o R. J. owie, Joh l BU. Kerr, E. C. Cabell, J. P. Caldwell, Alexalnder Evans, Allen F. Owein.? Now, sir, remember the distinguished men who signed it, the phraseology used, and the warninC made in it, " That a renewal of sectional controversy ztpon the subject of Slavery would be both dangerous to the Union and destructive to its objects;" and yet, Mr. Chairman, before the short space of four years has elapsed, some of the very men who had:signed this celebrated pledge were open and violent in denouncing the North, and urging the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, repealing the Missouri Compromise Act. But, sir, before I speak more specifically respecting the repeal of this time-honored act, I wish to call attention to the declaration of the President of the United States, as contained in his first annual message to Congress, in December, 1853, in which he says: Mr. ClITAIRMAN: When I took my seat I ere in December, 1853, I found a new Administration in power, having been elected by one of the largest popluar votes ever given to any previous one. It had over two-thirds of its friends in t he Senate tand in t his House. It received this power by professions and pledge s of adherence to the compromises of the past, a nd opposition to the agitation of the qu estio n of Slav ery in the future. T he c ount ry was in an unprecedented s tat e of prosperity. Our foreign and d omestic affairs were of the most pacific character; but in less than tw o month s a c hang e commenced, and instead of peace and quiet reigning, as had been promised, t he f ire-brand of Slavery and sec tionalism was introduced into the Senate of the United State s b o the S en ato r from Illinois, [Air. DOUGLAS;] and th e unf ortunate bitter and sec tiodal results tha t have followed it, is the subject which I propose to discuss during the time allot ted to me this evening, in the following or der, namely: ITS CAUSES.-ITS OBJECTS.-ITS RESULTS.-ITS IN FLUENCE AND REMEDY. First, its c au se was owing to the d eparture from the profess ions and pledges made prior to and a t the commencemen t of the pre sent Administration. It is a historical fact, that during the long and exciting s ession of the Congress of 1850, c erta i n Senator s and Representatives, then in Congress, got up a Congressiona l pledge, for the purpose of fib rever stoppinh the agitation of the subject of Slavery and of saving the Unwion, and that the present Administration came into p ower on the professions and pledge of ad herence to and support of this Congressional pledge and the Compromise Measures of 1850. Mr. Chairman, in order that we may:fully realize the fidelity of this Administration in its professions and pledges, I beg to read this memorable document, that the country may judge of the difference between professions and acts: Dec,aration and Pledge. "The undersigned, menibers of [he Tlhirty-first Coiigress of the United States, believing that a renewal of sectionial controversy ul0on the subject of Slavery would be both dangerous to the U?iion and destructite to its objects,, 2 'a Southern measure,, passed by Southern votes, and claimed as a Southern victory; that bill which was forced by the South on the North. But, sir, although the North —wronged, as she felt herself to be, by its passage-respected it and acquiesced in it, still the South, with their few doughfaced allies at the Norh, repealed it, after it had been sanctioned for a' period of over thirty years; and this, too, be it remembered, without there being a single petition presented to Con gress, asking for it, while public meetings were held throughout the country, denouncing the measure, and thousands and tens and hundreds of thousands of citizens remonstrated, in the most urgent manner, against its repeal; but it was all in vain; and then came the novel experi ment of submitting the subject to the people who should come into the Territory. This was done to admit Slavery into the Territory, which that Compromise forbid; and if the North ever sub mits to its introduction, she will deserve to bear all the reproaches that the South heaps upon her. But of this I have no fear. While the peop le of the free States are not easily aroused at trifling things, yet, when repudiation of plighted faith stalks abroad, and the black flag of Slavery hovers over the Territories once dedicated to Freedom by a solemn compact, and the thoughts of the oppression and degradation that follow in the train of this social and political curse, the free men of the free North, and free men from all climes, and all time to come, will arise and drive back the lawless invaders and their Border Ruffian army, and erect the star-spangled bannerthat emblem of Freedom-where all men may go and par take o f the benefits of our free institu tions, as provided for by our forefathers, and in accordance with the letter, spirit, and intent of the Missouri Compromise Act. Well, sir, this breach of faith in the repeal of the Missouri Act was effected by making another plight of faith; that is, by providing that the settlers of Kansas " should be perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way." On the strength of this last clause, and relying on the fidelity of the Government of the United States, many people from the different States of the Union emigrated to and settled in Kansas; and what has been the result? Has the Executive or Congress kept their promise and executed that law? No, sir; it has not been done; the facts disclosed by the report of the special committee sent to Kansas establish the fact, that, of the 6,331 votes cast in March, 1855, for the election of the Legislative Assembly of Kansas, 4,921 of them were cast by armed bands of the inhabitants of Missouri, who invaded Kansas for that purpose, on that occasion; that only 1,410 legal votes were cast, and a majority of those were for the Free State candidate, though most of the Free State voters were driven from the polls. This invasion extended to all the Council districts, and to all the Representative districts but one, and elected and controlled a large ma-. jority of both Houses. The people in the Terri-. tory have not been left free, but have had their homes invaded and subjugated; and they are% and their institutions has@ b~een~, controlled; by , It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judinent of the people. But while the present is bright with promise, and the future full of de mand and ind,Iucement for the exercise of active intelli gence, the past can never be without useful lessons of ad moiiitioli and instruction. If its dangers serve not as beacons. they will evidently fail to fulfil the object of a wise design.'Vhen the grave shall have closed over all who are now e,,diavoring to meet the obligations of duty, the year 1950 will oe recurred to as a period filled teth anxious ap prehension. A succesful war had just terminated; peace brought with it a vast a ugme ntatio n of territory, disturb ing questions arose, bearing upon the domestic in~stituitions of one portion of the Confedercy, involving the coastitu tioiial rights of the States. But, notwithstanding differ ences of opi!ionI and sentiment which then existed, in relation t o d e tails and specific provisiosus, the acquies ce1,c e of distinguis hed citizens, whose devotion t o the Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vib kgor to our institutioes, aa d re sto red a sense of repose and se curity to the public mind throughont the Confederacy. THAT THIS REPOSE IS TO SUFFER NO SHOCK DURING MY OFFI CIAL T eR Sn, IF I HAVE POWER TO AVERT IT, THOSE tVIhO PLACED ME HERE MAY BE ASSURED. THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION WHICH THE VOICe OF FREEDOM NVesI, NOT PRONOiUNCE UPON -US, SHOULD W'E PROVE FAITHLESS TO THIS GREAT TRUST.) Oh! sir, if these pat riotic declarations had been adh e re d to, how much of bitter sectionalism would have been averted I how many peaceful and happy homes would have been saved! how much of hum an s uff ering pre pen ted!-an d, Oh I sir, how many pr ecio us l ives would have been saved. But, alas I truth compels me to declare, that it was but a deceptiv e declarati on a figure of rhetoric. N ow, Mr. Chair m an, having shown what the profe ssion s of the leading men of the South were and the present Administration in particular, I proce ed to con sider the CAUSSES which have led to th e present deplorable state of things throughou t the length an d breadth of the country; and I c h arge that it is owing to th e v iolation of the d e c larations and pledges to which I have referred, in the re-opening of the Slavery agitation in 1854, by th e repeal of th e tim e-ho nored compact known as the " Missouri Compromise Act," from which all o f the p resent d omest ic t roubles have arisen, and has well-nigh seriously strained the stability of the Union. In January, 1854, a bill was introduced into the United States Se n ate, by the Senator from Illinois, [Mfr. DOvU LS,] providing for the organization of the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, but it did not provide for the repeal of the Missouri restriction; consequently, it was recommitted to the Committee on Territories, and the wishes of the South complied with, and an outrage perpetrated towards the free North, that will never be forgotten, even if it should ever be forgiven, because it was conceived in political bad faith and repudiation, and consummated by political intrigue, corruption, and partisan rewards. When this bill, establishing the Territorial Governments of Kansas and Nebraska, was passed, it was enacted that they should, when admitted as States, be admitted "1 with or without Slavery, as their Constitutions should provide." But this was not enough for the slaveholding States, and therefore the Missouri Compromise, which forbids Slavery forever north of 36~ 30' north latitude; that time-honored compact, that bill of repose, for which the i slaveholding States had received and secured:0 forever their consideration; that bill which was." 3 them of liberty and destroy their property. Under the form of sherifls posse, armed bands of people from with out the Territory prowl over it. and take and destroy prop eriW and lives, and intimidate and drive off the Free State people. These people have thus, for several months past, been harassed and scattered, and any attempt at self-defence has been repressed by the Army of the Uni ted States, or been declared constrctivte treason, and treated accordingly. The settlers hare thus, ii large numbers, been driven from their settlements, and from the T'erri tory. This is but abriefand feeble statementofthe facts. A lull picture of the public atrocities and private violence which hav e been committed with impuni y upon the Free State people of Kansas, would excite and arouse the deep est sentiment of indignation. "It would seem to he demanded by a sense of common justice, and by what th's nation owes as well to the cause of truth as to its own char:ceter and self-respect, that in quiry should be made, and usurpation be subdued, and the public faith be redeemed. by redressing all the wrongs produced by such means. This is nriot proposed, nior is the law of repose to be restored, or the Constitution al ready formed to be allowed. " But, instend of this. it is nowproposed to consummate the Whole, by leaving usurpationin possession ofitspower, and provide no security for those they imtrison, oppress, and disperse, but provide that those now there, and those only, shall determine the definitive condition ofthat Terri tory, by now forminig a State Constitution. This is but to encourage violence by rewarding it with success; that any result of such an experiment will produce definitive national peace and satisfaciion, is to suppose the people of this country blind to the power of ordinary discernment, or lost to every sentiment of justice and humanity." This, Mr. Chairman, is a brief historical state ment of the acts of outrage, violence, and crime that the poor unfortunate Free State people in Kansas have been compelled to submit to. Having thus spoken of the causes of the pres ent crisis in domestic affairs, I proceed to con sider the contemplated objects to be attained by the repeal of the 1"Missouri Compromise Act," which I believe to be THE EXTENSION OF HUMAN SLAVERY INTO KANSAS AND NVEBRASKA. Down to the period of the commencement of the first Congress under General Taylor's Ad ministration, when a small number of Representa tives fron the South, led by two Representatives from Georgia, [TOOMBS and STEPHENS,] defeated the re-election of Hon. Robert C. Winthrop as Speaker of this House, because he would not commit himself by a pledge on the subject of Slavery, such as no honorable man could give, the principles of the Missouri restriction had been v oted for or approved of by most of the eminent and leading statesmen at the South. Even President Polk had approved of it, in the act organizing the Territory of Oregon. But from this period a new doctrine was proclaimed in behalf of the right of the Slave Power to extend Slavery into any of the Territories of the United States, on the ground of its existence prior to the adoption of the Con stitution; and therefore it is claimed that Sla very is not dependent upon or subject to any of the provisions of the Constitution. Well, sir, this is a little ahead of any higher law that I know of. Ibelieve we have power over the subject of Slavery in the Territories. So thought and so acted the Congress, in 1820, when the South passed the " Missouri Compromise Act," and when Charles Pinckney wrote the following letter, rejoicing over the result of its passage: " CoNGREa~SS HALL, March 2, 18"20, " 3 o'clock at night. "DEAR SIR: I hasten to inform you that this mooment w~ have carried~ the question to admit Missouri, and all I, ouisiana~ to ~hle southward of 36i~ 30)'; free of the restric. the people of 3fissouri, the arms of that State have been used agai nst t he Free State emigrants going to Kansas, by the tyrannical laws passed by that Assembly, and more tyrannically en forced by the off ice rs by t hem appointed. The President of the United States has aided to en force these laws, passed by usurpation and fraud. The complaints and appeals of the people in said Territory have been made in vain; their repre sentati on s have been treated with indifference and neglect; the property of the Free State peo pl e has bee n des tro y ed and stolen; their build ings have been burnt; their printing offices have been supp ress ed, to prevent their making known the oppression, c rimes, and atrocities, under w hich te w r bbe they were subjected; the people have been hunte d out, they have b ee n hung, they have been murdered; their cattle killed in their pres ence; they hav e bee n w arne d out, one a fter anot her, to le av e the T erritory; they have been driven out of the Territory, by violence, in large umbers. Yes, Mr. Chairman, you may f ind them f leeing from th e midnight blaze of their own dw ellings. You may find their bones bleaching o n the g reen fields of this new countrv. You may find them drive n off t o a returnless distance from their country and their homes. You may find some of t hem here, at the capital of the nation, this very day, who have been indicted, by this mo ckery of justice in Kansas, for constructive treason, im ploring the Executiv e and be seeching Congress to do something, so that they may be allowed to have a fair and impartial trial, by a change of place of trial to St. Louis, or anv other place, except in Kansas, where there is not the first principle of justice adminis tered towa rds Free Sta te men. Th ey ask t his, that they may be t ried, and then re tu r n to their homes in Kansas. Well, sir, up to this time, no measure, except in this House, has been instituted to ferret out the wrong under which the Free State people in Kansas have suf fered; and, in my humble opinion, but for the sending out of the committee from this House, civil war would be now raging beyond the limits of the oppressed and outraged infant Territory of Kansas, and more bloody scenes would have been enacted outside than in said Territory. Fortu nately, however, for humanity's sake, a majority of this House were true to the great principle at the formation of this Republic, which was to establish LIBERTY AL\-D EQUALITY. Mr. Chairman, the people of Kansas, thus oppressed and subjugated, have appealed to Congress for relief; they have complained and struggled in vain. They have done as the people of the Territory of Michigan and California have done before them; that is, formed a State Constitution, inviting all to participate therein, and presented the same to Congress for admission; but all such attempts have but brought down on them the reproach of bei ng t r of authority, and, in the language of the Senate's report: ,,t Abandoned to their oppressors, the Free State people of Kansas have been pursued by them ill the same spirit which made the inlvasionl. The acts of said Assembly have b~y their officers been made the color for all forms of political persecution and oppression. Indictments for constructive treasons and pretended nluisances deprive 4 tion of Slavery, and give the South, in a short time, an addition of six, perhaps eight, members to the Senate of the United States. It is considered here by the slaveholding'States as a great triumph. * * * "' With respect, your obedient servant. " CHARLES PINCKNEY." So thought the Congress of 1784, whose powers on this subject, under the Articles of Confederation, were no greater than those of Congress under the Constitution, when Thomas Jefferson, from the committee appointed to prepare a plan for the temporary government of the Western Territory, introduced the following resolutions, which were adopted: " That the settlers withini the territory so to be purchased and offered for sale, shall, either on their own petition, or on the order of Cotngress, receive authority from them, with appointments of time and place for their free males of full age to meet togeltier for the purpose of establishing I temporary GovernmenLt, to adopt the Constitution and laws of any one of these States, so that such laws nevertileless shall be subject to alteration by their ordinary Legislature, and to erect, subject to a like alteration, counties or township for the election of members for their L tvislture. 1, That such temporary o overnimeiit shall only continue il force il any State until it shall have acquired twenlty thousand free inhabitats, wen. giving due proof thereof to Congress, they shall receive fromn them authority, with appoiitnents of time and place, to call a convention of, representatives to establ ish a permanent Cortstitutie bi and Government for themselves: Provided, That both the temporary and permanelit Governmelnts be estab lishlied on these princnples as their l)asst: "1.'I'hat they shawl forever remain a part of the United States ot' America. *' That ill their persons. property. and,erritory, they bhall be subject to the Governmeat of the United States in Congress assembled, and to the Aricles of Corifederation, in all those cases in which'he cri inal States shall be so subject. "'3. That they shall be subject to pay a part of the Federl] debts contracteld, or to be eoJltracted, to be apportiotted ott thlem by Cotigress, accordiing to the same comnmoi rule and measure by which sapportionmelints thereof shall be made on tile other Slates. "4. That their respective o,overinmenits shall be ill republicats forms. and shtall admit no tersoni to be a citizen i who holds any hereditary title. ''5.'I'hat after the year Il,00 of the Christian era, there shall be nieitiher Slavery ttorittvoluntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than il punisltment of erimes, wltereot'f the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty." This, Mr. Chairman, was Thomas Jefferson's view of the power of Congress over the subject of Slavery in 1784, not only in the Territories, but in the States to be formed out of the T e r ritories. So thought the Congress in 1787, when the Ordinance of that date was adopted, excluding Slavery from th,Northwestern Territory. So thought the Congress of 1789, under the Constitution, who recognised and confirmed the Ordinance of 1787, which was approved by Georg e Washington. So thought the Congress of 1800, who passed an act establishing a Territorial Government over the Territory of Indiana, which was approved by John Adams. So thought the Congress of 1805, in their act establishing a Territorial Government over Michigan. So thought the Congress of 1809, in their act establishing a Territorial Government over Illinois- both of which last-namned acts were approved by Thomas Jefferson. So thought the Congress of 1834, in extending the jurisdiction of Michigan over Wisconsin and Iowa, which was approved tby Andrew Jackson. So thought the Congresses of 1836 and of 1838, in their acts establishing Territorial Governments over Wisconsin and Iowa, which were approved by Martin Van Buren. So thought the Congress of 1848, in their act establishing a Territorial Government over Oregon, which was approved by James K. Polk-Mr. Buchanan being a member of his Cabinet. So thought the Congr ess of 1853, in their a ct establishing a Territorial Go v ernamenat over the Territory of Washington, anpproved by Millard Fillmore. In all of the aforementi on ed acts, the Slaver y r estrictio n or proviso of 1787 was inc orporat ed, a nd Slavery expressly prohibited. So thought Mr. Webster in 1850, wh hen he said " that these Compromises (1850) comprehend every inch of te rrito ry not disposed of by previous legislation." So thoug ht the court, in the case of Jones vs. Van Zandt, 2 McLean's Reports, 596. The court says: "Slavery exists only b y virtue o f the la ws of th e States where it is sanctioned; and if a slave e scape from such State to a free Sate, he i s free, accordin to the sprinGcirles of the common law; and recapture in a free State is authorized only by the Coanstitution an(s act of Congress. There i s no general principle in the law of nations which requires such surrenljer.?' So thought the court in deci ding the celebrated case of Prigg vs. the State of Pennsylvania, 16 Pete rs, 540. The court lays dow n the se propositions: "' By the law of nations, n,, State is bound to recogrise Slav, ry in another State. It is a matter of cod ityh. ind niot a mat ter o interati alright. The stale ofSlavery is deemed to be a Indre enlunicipal regulation, Jo fnded upon., anime d lt ate d ag t o, the range of the territorial laws." So thought ex-Pres ident Fillmore awhen he wrote the following letter, although he now sustains a very different opinion: -' BUFFALO, October 17, 1'38. "SIR: Your communicalioni of the 13th, instant. as chairman of the committee appoilnted by the IAnti-Slavery Society of the county of Erie.' has just come to handt. You solicit my answer to tle folloawin g interrogatories: "I. Do you believe that peti,ions to Congre ss on he subject of Slavery and tile slave trade ought to be received, read, and respectfully considered, by the Represeiitatives of the peoplee? " II. Are you opposed to the annexation of Texas t) thli U 0io, under any circuixnstallces, so long as slaves art.e held thereini? "111. Are you in favor of Congress exercising all the constitutional powers it possesses to abolish the ilnternal slave trade between the States? "IV. Are you in favor of' immediate legislation for the abolition of' Slavery in the District of Columbia? "Answer: I am much engaged, and have no lime to entt r inlto an atrgumeint or explain at length my reasons f'or my opinions. I shall therefore content myself, for the present` by answering all your interrogatories in the affirmative, and leave for some future occasion a more extended discussion on lhe subject. "1IILILLARD FILI,MORE." So thought ex-Chief Justice Greene C. Bronson, of New York, one of the most distinguished jurists in the country, and a leading Democrat of the Hard school. In a letter dated July 15, 1848, after declining an invitation to attend a political meeting, he says: "Slavery cannot exist, where there'is }lo positive laws to uphold it. It is not necessary that it should be forbiddenl; it is enough that it is n,ot specially authorized. If the own~er of slaves removes with or sends them into ally counllry, State, or Territory, wvhere Slavery does not exist by law. they will, from that momenet, become free men, and will have as good a right to command the mtaster, as he will hasve to command them. State lawvs havte no extra-territorial authcrity; and~ a law^ of Virginia, which makes a man a spume there: cannaot mnake him a 5 slave in New York. nor beyond the Rocky Mountains. "Eniertainiiing n1o doubt upon that question, I can Fee no occasion for asking ConDress to legislate against the extension of Slavery into free territory, and, as a que tstion of policy, I think it had better be let alone If our Southern lbrethren wish to carry their slav e s to Oregon, New Mexico, or Califorsia, they will be under the iteeessity of asking a law to warrant it; and it will then be in time for the free States to resist the measure, as I cannot doul)t they would, with unwavering firmies3. "I would not needlessly move this question, as it is one of an exciting nature, which tends to section al division, and may do us harm as a people. I would leave it to the slaveholintug Slates to decide for themselves, and on their own responsibility, when, if ever, the matter shall be agitated in Congress. It may be that they will act wisely, and nevermove at all, especially as it seems pretty generatlly agreed that neither Oregon, New Mexico. nior C,alifornia, are well adapted to slave labor. But if our Southeri brethren should make the question, we shall have no choice hut to meet it; and then,whatever consequteitees mtay follow. I trus' the peeple of the free States will give a utiited voice saiinst allowing Slavery on a single foot of soil where it is not now authorized by law. "I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "GREENE C. BRONSON. "To Messrs J. COCHRAN and others, Committee." who permitting one-half of the citizenis tlh,s to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into despots and these into enemies, destroys the mriorals of the one part and the amor patriot oflhe other! Can the liberties of a naticn be thought secure, when we lhave removed their only firm basis-a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God-that they are not violated but by his wrath? Itndeed I tremblefor mv cuntry when J refwect that Go d i s just, int d his h ustice c annot sleepforever.y In addition to this. I hold in my hand a copy of a letter written by Mr. Jefferson, only six weeks before his death, in which he reiterates all of his former opinions and views on'.ie subject of Slavery, and declares that,'-'iving or dying, they will ever be in my most fervent prayers." I regard this letter as one of the most important and valuable of the papers left by Jefferson. It reads as follows: ' MONTICELLO M'/Y 20, 1,?N I'DEAR SIR: Persuasion. perseverance, and patience, are the best advocates oni questions depending upon the will of others. The tevolution in public opinion which this case requires is not to be expected in a day, or perhaps in an age; hut time, which outlives all thingr, w.ill outlive this evil also. llly sentiments have beenforty years before the public. Haz I repeated them forty times, they wtould have only become the more stale ani threadbare. Althouoh Ishall not live to see them consum,nated, they will not die with me; but living or dyiug, they will ever be in my mostfervent prayers. This is written for yourself,t; and not for the public, in compliance with your request for two lines of sentiment on the subject. "Accept the assurance of my good will and respect. "THOMAS JEFFERSON. "Mr. JAMES HEATON, Middletown, Butler Co., Ohio." In Mr. Webster's celebrated Marshfield speech, in 1848, he said: "I feel that there is nothing unjust, nothing of which any honest. man can complain, if he is intelligent, and I feel that there is nothing- of which the civilized world if they take no t ice of so humble ant individual as myself, will reproach me, when I say, as I said the other day, that I have made up myn mind, for one, that under no circutnstances will I consent to the extension of the area of Slavery in the Uttited States, or to thle further incerease of slave representation in the House of Representatives.': It is true that we are not asked to enact laws to warrant the holding of slaves in the Territories, but we are called upon to admit that slaves may be rightfully held in the Territories without law. The very question is made in substance, which Judge Bronson said would leave the people of the free States no choice but to meet it, whatever consequences might follow. So thought Colonel Benton in 1854, when, speaking of the Compromise of 1820, he said that it "was but a continuation of the same national f eeling, th e same national principles, that dictated the Co mprom ise exte nding the l ine to the Territory which was then known as the Louisiana purchase." But, sir, what need of my quoting authorities to prove the power and practice of Congress over the subject of Slavery in the Territories? It is a power that has been exercised by Congress from the adoption of the Constitution down to and including this very Congress. Sir, it is the grasping disposition of the South to extend Slavery into the Territories, and with it to rule the Government in the future, as it has done in the past, that we have to meet; and while I regret the necessity to enter into such a conflict, now that the South has reopened it with renewed bitterness, sectionalism, and violence, I shall not shrink from any responsibility that it may impose upon me in combating it. Mr. Chairman, having presented such facts as I deem sufficient to establish the power of Congress over the subject of Slavery in'the Terr i - tories, I proceed to speak briefly of the opinions and testimony of some of the fathers of the Republic, and the ablest and most cherished of our recent statesmen, against the evils of Slavery and its further extension. In 1786, General Washington said: "I never mean, unless some particular circumstance should compel me to it, to possess another slave by purclia;e. it bei tmong my first wishes to see some plan adopted ity which Slavery in this country may be abolished by law." Said Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia: "-be whole commerce between master and slave is a co'ltintial exercise of the mo-t unremittinig despotism on tie one part, and degrading' submission on th,e other. * With what execration shlould the statesman be loaded: And again, in 1850: '-Sir. wherever there is a particular good to be donewherever there is a foot of land to be staid back from becomning slave thrritory-I am re ady to assert the principle of the exclusio n of Slavery.' Said the noble old statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay, in 1850: "I have said that I never could vote for it myself; and I repeat, that I never can and never will vote, an d no earthly power ever will make me vote, to spread Slavery over territory where it does not exist." With this declaration of Mr. Clay T take my sta nd. Itwas my pri vilege to be one of his humble but true supporters while living-even when Kentucky and the South forsook him in the National Convention at Philadelphia in 1848; and now that he is dead, I revere his memory, and will defend his illustrious fame. Air. Chairman, having spoken of the causes and objects of the Slave Power in the present crisis, and given the action of Congress, the decisions of the courts, and the opinions and views of Jefferson, Webster, Clay, Fillmore, Bronson, and Benton, respecting the power of Congress over the? institution of Slavery, and its extension into the Territories, I beg the attention of the Committee for a short time, while I proceed to speak of the results of the acquisition of territory by the United States, and the manner of its disposal: 6 Slave States. Sq. miles. Population. Sen. Rep. Territory of Louisiana (purchased of France in 1803) - - - $15,000 000 Interest paid - - - 8,327,353 Florida (purchased of Spain) - 5,000,000 Interest paid - - - 1,430,000 Texas (for boundary) - - - 10,000,000 Texas (for indemnity) - - - 1o0000,000 Texas (for creditors, last Congress) 7,750,000 Indian expenses of all kinds, say - 5,000,000 To purchase navy, pay troops, &c. 5,000,000 All other expenditures - 3,000,000 Expense of the Mexican war - 217,175,575 Soldiers' pensions and bounty lands, &C., say -- - -..15,000,000 Expenses of the Florida war, say - 100,000,000 Soldiers'pensions, bounty lands, &c., say... 77000,000 To remove Indians, suppress hostili- ties, &c., say - - - - 5,000,000 Paid by treaty, for New Mexico - 15,000,000 Paid to extinguish Indian tittles, say 100,000,000 Paid to Georgia - - 3,082,000 832,764,928 POPULATION. Fifteen free States contain Fifteen slave States contain - TERRITORY. Fifteen slave Sates contain - Fifteen free States contain - Difference - - The fifteen slave Statesr have now above five times the extent of territory, according fo population, that the free States have. Including slaves and all, they have about three times the territory of the free States, according to population. Sq. miles. Nine slave States have been added, con taining -.. - - - - — 722,922 Six free States have been added, con taining - -. -. -.- 290,264 Difference - -. - - 432,658 States. 1 Louisana - 2 Missouri - 3 Arkansas - 4 Florida - 5 Texas I have given the cost of the purchased territories, the disposition of the same, the population of the free and slave States, together with the extent of the entire territory embraced in said States in the Union, omitting California, as she was admitted without cost, and I may say by accident. It is also true, she was admitted as a free State, but her Senators and Representatives soon learned in whose hands the power of this Government is held, and have ever been, politically, the allies of the slave States; California "' forms no part of the territory where the struggle for and against the extension of Slavery has been carried on." I now submit a statement of 1 New York - 2 Pennsylvania 3 Ohio - - 4 Massachusetts 5 Indiana - 6 Illinois - 7 Maine - 8 New Jersey - 9 Michigan - 10 Connecticut11 N. Hampshire 12 Vermont - 13 Wisconsin - 14 Iowa 15 R. Island - 10 Connecticut- 4,750 363,099 2 4 States. in each._ Albma —--- _ —----— _ -99 11~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ N_apbr,3 1,5 rasa —----------- -79 Fifteen States 454,344 13,347,035 30 (Omitting California, as before.) 1. COST OF TERRITORY PURCHASED. I Viroinia - 2 Keniuckv - 3 Tennessee - 4 Missouri - 5 N. Carolina - 6 Geor-,ia - 7 Alabama - 8 laryland - 9 Mississippi - 10 Louisiana - Ill S. Carolina - 12 &rkansas - 13 Texas - 14 Delaware - 15 Florida - 61,352 37,680 44,000 65,037 45,500 58,000 50,722 11,000 47,151 41,34.6 28,000 52,198 325,520 2,120 59,268 894,800 2 761,413 2 756,836 2 - 5927004 2 .553,028 2 52115T2 2 426,514 2 41','-)432 295,718 2 255,491 2 274,563 2 162,189 2 154,034 2 71,169 2 47,203 2 6,184,404 30 13 10, 10 1 81' 8 7 6 5 4 6 2 I 1 90 Fifteen States 928,894 - 13,347,036 - 6,184,404 Sq.'miles. - 928,894. 454,344 -. 474,556 2. IIOW I:IAS TIIE PURCHASED TERRITORY BEEIQ DI VIDE, D? From the territory thus purchased and paid for by all the States,five new slave SIate3 have bee.n admitted, having the following extent of territory and representation in Congress: Sq. mile3. 41,346 65,037 52,191 59,268 325,369 543,369 Senator8. 2 2 2 2 2 10 Re.PS. 4 7 2 1 2 16 Five slave States The free States, if any, are yet to be admitted. 3. EXTENT, POPULATION, AND REPRESE.LNTATION, OF THE FREE A-N'D SLA.VE STATES. Free State8. Sq. miles. Population. Rep. 33 25 21 11 11 9 6 5 4 .4 3 3 3 2 2 142 46,000 47,000 39,964 7,250 33,809 55,409 35,000 6,851 56,243 4,750 8,030 8,' 000 53,924 50,914 1,200 3,048,325 2,258,160 1,955,050 985,450 977,154 846,034 581,813 465,509 395,071 363,099 317,456 ;,13,402 3 0 4,-,5 G 191,881 k43,8 7 5 THE SLAVE POWRR. Slaveholder,s in each. - 29, 295 - 5,999 - 809 - 3,250 - 38,456 - 38,385 - 20,670 - 16,040 - 23,116 States. Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland . Mississippi 7 ' South Carolina has six Representatives, with a free white population of 274,563. New Hampshire has three Representatives, with a free white population of 317,456. Vermont has three Representatives, with a free white population of 313,402. Vermont and New Hampshire, with a population of 630,858, have six Representatives. South Carolina has six also, with only 274,563 less by 356,295-not one-hftlf as much. At the ratio of South Carolina representation, these free States should havefourteen Representatives, instead of six. Is there not a wide difference in the political rights of' these States? Three Congressional districts in New York contain a larger free white population than the State of South Carolina; yet this is the State that is going to force Slavery into Kansas-the one that has so often complained of the hardships of remaining one of the United States, and threatened disunion! uri..19,185 Carolina - - - - - 28,303 Carolina -...25,596 ssee - - - - - 33864 - - - - - - 7,747 ia - - - - - 55,063 Total - - 346,047 "Thus it will be seen that the number of slave-owniers, inelud(i,t men, wonen, and children. is only about three hundred antd forty-six tlhousand, and the free white popu lationi over six millions, in the slave States-or only about one in twenty of the white populationl in the slave States are slave-owners. Yet this small slumber. by a union of interest, and by the political importance given to Slavervy, rule thest: States absolut,ly a,d d.espotically; the great majority of the people-a majority of nearly tuesty to one-are never heard of, iid have no snore power in those States. politically, thai the slaves its aristocratic rulers own!''his is truly astonishing! But the condition of the General Government is more so. The free population of the Unioni is al)o),t twenty millions.'hlie slave-owners now numb~er some three hundred and forty-six thousand. For the past sixty-years, their numbers would average from onie hunt(red and fifty to two hundred thousand; yet the Genleral Government is ill their hands, and has been for the past fifty years. when the majority against ~hem in the Union is as sixty to one; still they hold the pIower, and the Governmeit is directed aid controlled by them, and has been almo-t ever since it has been il operation. And during all that time, more thain one-half of all the important "lfices of the Govertment —and I believe nearly twothirds of those offices-have been filled by s aveholders, to the exclusion of the grtat mass of the people of the United States!" The five purchased slave States of Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri, contain 543,369 square miles. The whole fifteen free States contain 454,344 square miles. The territory added to the slave States, by purchase, is larger than all the fifteen free States, by 89,025 square miles. This excess is a larger territory than is contained in seven of the free States. And this was all purchased to extend Slavery, while the free States admitted have been formed out of te rritor y belonging to the United States when the Governmenit was established, and to which the Ordinance of Jefferson and of Freedom, prohibiting Slavery, was applied by the fathers of the Republic. Votes of eleven slaveholdling States at the election of 1852, when Mr. Pierce was chosen, a contrasted with the vote of New York. 1. Arkansas -. 19,577 2. Delaware -...12,673 3. Florida - - - - - 7,193 4. Georgia - - - - - 51,365 5. Maryland - - - - - 75,153 6. North Carolina - - - - 78,861 7. Texas - - - - - - 18,547 8. Alabama - - - - - 41,919 9. Louisiana - - -. - - 35,902 10. Mis s issippi - - - - - 44,424 11. Virginia.....129,545 Aggregate vote of eleven States 515,159 Vote of New York - - - 522,294 Being 7,135 votes more than all the others. These eleven States, (Virginia included,) that gave in 1852 a less vote than New York for Pres. ident, have twenty-two Senators-New York has only two.! Slaveholders have political advantages denied to all other men I A man who owns one thou sand slaves has the same political power over his slave property as six hundred inhabitants in the free States. His power is superior to that of most of the voters in a town of ordinary size. He has besides, individually, the same political power as the richest man in a free State. This additional right-six hundred strong-is solely in consideration of his owning one thousand slaves as prop. erty I Mr. Chairman it will be seen by the foregoing statements that the cost of territory purchased is $832,764,928. Out of all this territory purchased, but one free State (Iowa) has been admitted. Mr. Clay admitted this, in his speech made in the Senate in 1850. (See Appendix to Globe, vol. 22, page 126.) He said: " What have been the acquisitions made by this counltry, and 1o what interests haye tihey conduced? Florida, where Slavery exists, has been introduced. All the most vltuable part of Louisiaina has also been added to the extent and consideration pf the slavehpldin~ portion of the .Unicle REPRESENTATION. T he fif tee n fre e St ates have 13,000,000 of free whi te inhabitants, the fifteen slave States 6,000,000, yet each have thirty Sen ator s. True, the small States are entitled to two Senators each, as w ell as the la rger ones; but this number of slave S tates extended ov er a large territory, with a small population, makes the disproportioned -epresentation of the tw o se ctions in t he Senate too palpably unjust. In Senators, the slave States have, by this system, kept up a 7-evresentation in the proportio? of TWO to ONE as against the free States. I n th Hi the House, the slave States have ninety members, r epres enting 6,000,000 of popula tion; the free States one hundred and forty-two members, representing 13,000,000. Upon the same ratio with the slave States, the free States should have one hundred and ninety-jve members-a lose to then of fifly-three in the popular branch of the Government-that in which the popular voice is to be heard, and the popular will expressed. Misso North South Tenne Texas Virgi 8 of the United States. Section 12 of that chapter reads: "If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, write, circulate. or cause to be introduced into this Territory, written, printed, published or circulated, in this Territory, any book, paper, magaziLne, pamphlet, or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory-such person shall be deemed GLtILTY OF FELONY. and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a tern of not less than two years." Again: In violation of the Constitution of the United States, "abridging the freedom of the press," is the 11th section of the same law in the Kansas code, page 605: "If any person print, write, introduce into, publish, or circulate, or cause to be broug-ht ineto, printed, written, puL lished, or circulated. or shall kitowingly aid or assist in bringing i-to, pr:inting, publishing, or circulaling, within this Territory. any book, paper, pamphlet, miagazinre, hand bill. or circuilar, conmtait;ing any statements, arguments, opiniosr sentiment. doctrine, advice, or itttiuendo, calctla ted to produce a disorderly, dangerous, or rebellious disaf tectioln among the slaves in this Territory. or to induce such slaves to escape from the service of their masters, or to resist their authority-ha shall be guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment and hard labor for a term not less than five years." And, under this atrociously unconstitutional provision, a man who "brought into" the Ter ritory of Kansas a copy of " Jefferson's Notes on Virginia," which contains an eloquent and free spoken condemnation of Slavery, could be con victed by one of "Sheriff Jones's" juries as having introduced a "book" containing a "sentiment" "o calculated" to make the slaves dis orderly," and sentenced to five years' hard labor. On page 325, section 12, of this same law, there is a singular provision: "If the plaintiff be a negro or mulatto, he is required to prove his right to freedoma." On page 282 is the following: " SEC. 11. Every free white male citizen of the United States, and every free male Indian who is niade a citizen by treaty or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-onle years, who shall 1,e an inhabitant of this Territory, and of the county or district in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified elector for all elective offices. And all Indians who are inhabitants of this Territory, and who niay ijave adopted lthe customs of tihe white mnanl, and who are liable to pay taxes, shall be deemed citizens: Pro,.ided, That no sol dier, seaman, or marine, in the regular army or navy of the Un ited States, shall be entitled to vote, by reason of being on service therein: And provtided, further, That no person who shall have been conivicted of any violation of aliy provision of an act of Congress, entitiled'An set respectitig fugitives from justice, atnd persons escaping from the service of their masters.' approved February 1l2, 1793; or of an act to amenid and supplementary to said act, al)provedl 1Sth September, 1850-whetter such convictiin were by criminial proceeding or by civil action, for the recovery of any penalty prescribed by either of said acts, int any courts of the United States, or of any tt;.te or Territory, of aly offence deemed ilfanious-shall be entitled to vote at any election, or to hold any office in this Territory: And prot,ided, futrthler, That if an, person offering to vote shall be challenged and required to take anl oath or affirmationi, to be adminiistered by one of the judges of the election, that he will sutstais' the provisions of the above-recited acts of Congress, and ofthe act entitled I All act to o,ganize the Territories of Nebraska and Katisas,' approved May 30.1854, and shall refuse to take such oatth or aflirmationi, the vote of such person shall be rejected." Merely being an "inhabitant," if the person is in favor of the Nebraska bill and of the Fugitive Slave Law, qualifies him as a voter in all the elections of the Territory afecting National or "All Louisiana, with the exception of what lies north' of 36~ 30'. '-All Texas; all the Territories which have been ac quired by the Government, during sixty years of the ope rat,oni of that Government, have been slave Territories; theatres of Slavery, with the exception I have mentioned, lyilg north 360 30'.pr Not one inch of territory has ever been pur chased or acquired of any foreign Power, since the Constitution was adopted, at the instance of the free States, or which was intended for their benefit. Yet the free States have paid more than two thirds of the entire cost of all these acquisitions of territory, and the consequent expenditures since incurred. They have borne their full share in the wars which led to or resulted from these acquisitions, in the expenditure of money, and in the sacrifice of human life. Mr. Chairman, I have now finished this branch of my remarks, and proceed to consider, during the short time left me, the influences of Slavery, as illustrated by the acts of the bogus Legislature of Kansas, the wrongs and oppression inflicted on the Free State people in Kansas, in this House, and in th is city. Section 13 (page 378) of the laws passed by the P ro-Slav ery bo gus Legislature of Kansas excludes all but Pro-Slavery men from the jury-box, in all cas e s relating d irectly o r indi rectly to Slavery. Here it is: ': No person who is conscientiously opposed to the holding slaves, or who does slow admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall be a juror in any cause in which the right to hold any perston ill slavery is involved. nor ill any cause in which any injury done to or committed by any slave is in issue, nor in any criminal proceeding for the violation of ally law enacted for the protection of slave propert.,, al d forthe punishmenitofcrim,5comnmittedagains,t the right to such property." Again: The organic law organizing Kansas provides, in section 30, that the official oath to be taken by the Governor and Secretary, the Judges, a and all other civil officers in said territory," shall be, "to support the Constitution of the United States, and faithfully to discharge the duties of their respective offices." No more, no less. But the legislators of Kansas, with the same disregard of the Congressional law that marked their other acts, enacted another kind of official oath, on page 438 of their code, as follows: " SEc. 1. All fficers elected or appointed under an) existilng or subsequen,ly-eiiacted laws of this Territory, shall take and subscribe the following oath of office. "Ii I, do solemnly swear, upon the holy EvangelistsofAmighty God. that I will si.tpport the Corislitutioni of the Uniit,-d States, and that I will support and sustain the provisions of all act entitled'An act to organize tile Territories of Nebraska and Kansas.' and the provisions of the law of the United States commonly known as the'.Fugitive Slave Lawt,) and faithfully and impartially, and to the best of ny a)ility, demean myself in the discharge of ny duties in the office of -, so help me God." You cannot fail to notice that, in this new oath, framed by the bogus Legislature, the Fugitive Slave Law is elevated to a " higher law " than the Constitution; for the officer is merely to "'support" the latter, but is IRequired to swear that he will " support AND SIJSTAIN"7 the other. On pages 604 and 605, chapter 151, will be found "An act to punish offences against slave property." It is inl violation of the Constitution 9 Territorial politics. The widest possible door is, opened for the invaders to come over and carry each successive election as "inhabitants" for the time being of the Territory. But, turn to page 750, and notice the following provision, (section 8,) defining the qualifications of voters at the petty corporation elections of Lecompton: a; All free white male citizens who have arrived to the full age of twenty-one years,. and who shall be entitled to vote for Territorial officers, anid who shall have resided within the c ity limits a t least six noths n ex t precedilng any election, and, moreover, who shall hav e pa id a city tax or any city license acc ording t o ordinance, shall be eligible t o vote at any ward or city election for officers of the ci ty." l Being an inhab itant a d Pcclo thes a fpe rson with the right to vote for Del egates i n Congre ss a nd R epres entatives in the Leg isla tur e; but to vote at an insignificant election, in comparison, six months' residence is required I Am I wrong in judging that this inverting the usual rule shows that Missourians are wanted at the one election, bu t not at the oth er? If any one deem s this opinion unjust, let him stud y the following setions of t h e General Election Law, page 283: " SEC. 19. Whenever any person shall offer to vote, he shall BE PRE*SUMED to be entitled to vote. '; SEC. 20. WVhernever any person offers to vote, his vote may be challenged by one of the judges, or by any voter, and the judges of the election may examine him touching his right to vote; and if so examin,Leds No EVIDENCE TO CONTRADICT StHALL BE RECEIVED-, These provisions explain themselves without comment. Section 5 of the act punishing offences against slave property, (page 604,) enacts as follows: " If any person shall aid or assist in enticing, decoying, or persuading: or carrying away, or sending out of this Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to procure or effect the freedom of such slave, or with intent to deprive the o,a ner thereof of the services of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny; and oni convictioii thereof 5hall stiffer death, or be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten years." Time will not permit me to go further into these Kansas laws, which Senator Clayton declared to be an outrage upon "the rights of the people and the civilization of the age in which we live," while the Detroit tree Press, the organ of General Cass," declared: IBut the President should pause long before treating as I treasonable insurrectionI the action of those inihabitanits of Kansas who deny the binding authority of the I%Iissouri-Kansas Legislature; for, in our humble opinion a people that would not lbe inclined to rebel against the acts of a legislative body forced upon them by frau,d and violence. tou.!d be unwtorthy thl,,ameof American. If there was ever justifiable cause for popular revolution against a usu,rping,, and obnoxious Government, that cause has existed it,.Kansas.? But, sir, notwithstanding this appeal, the President of the United States has declared, in his special message to Congress, in his proclamation, and in his orders to Governor Shannon and Colonel Sumner, through his Secretary of' State and Secretary of War, that this code of Territorial laws shall be enforced by the full exercise of his power. He knows of their provisions. He knows these laws are in violation of the organic law organizing the Territory, which he signed. He knows they are in violation of the Constitution of the U~nited States. which hle and we have sworn to support; and yet, on the 27th of Janu ary last, in his s pecial message to Congress, he said: "Our sy,stem affords no justificationl of revolutionary acts- for the coTistitutional means of relieving lhe people of unjust Ldmlinistratioiis and laws, by a change of public agents and try repeal, ARE AMPLE?.:" Again: In his speech, as reported in the Union, of June 10th, made to the Buchanan ratification meeting, who marched to the White House he coolly told them: ' There will l)ee on your part. no appeal to unworthy passiolns, no inflammatory calls for a second revolution, like those which are occasionally reported as coming from men who have received nothing at the hands of their Goverl.menrt l.,ut protection and political blessings, no declaration of resistance to the laws of the land." But, Mr. Chairman, I will not stop to allude to the "protection and political blessings" which the people of Kansas have received from the "hands of their Government." Let the free citizens, driven from Kansas, with the sound of artillery ringing in their ears, and the light of their burning habitations flashing upon their eyes, as they turned to look back to the homes where they had been forced to leave their wives and children at the mercy of worse than barbarian foes, answer! Let the innocent blood of Dow, Barber, and Brown, and other murdered freemen, that has stained the soil of Kansas, rise up and bear witness against these false charges of. the President of the United States! The Democratic Convention at Cincinnati denounced "treason and armed resistance to these laws" in a marked and special manner. If there was any doubt as to the object of this declaration, the speech of the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] at the ratification meeting in thi s city, a short time since, removes it. The Washington Union of June 10th contained these extracts of that Senator's speech: "The platform was equally explicit it) reference to the disturbances in relation to the Territory of Kansas. It declared treason was to be punished, anid resistance to the laws was to be put down. i * * "He rejoiced that the Convention, lIy a unanimous vote had approved of thie creed that law miust and shall prevail [Applause.] He rejoiced that we had a standard-oearer [Mir. Buchainan] with so much wisdoim and nerve as to enforce a firm and undivided executioln of those laws." This, Mr. Chairman, leaves no room to doubt as to the course of policy to be pursued by the Democratic party towards Kansas. I confess, , sir, that on the announcement of the nomination of Mr. Buchanan at Cincinnati, I entertained some hope that he would rise above the party shackles of the day, and use his power and influence in restoring peace and order in Kansas. But these hopes were of short duration. On the 9th of June last, he made the following speech at Wheatland, which I copy entire from a leading Democratic paper, ptublished at Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Sspeech of Mr. tBucha, an. '-LANCASTER, PA., June 9, 1856. "The Keystone Club of Philadelphia, accompanied by Beck's Brass Band. arrived here onl Sunday, at 11 o'clock, A. M., and this morning paid a visit to the Hon flames Buchanan, at lWheatland, accompanied )y a procession of citizens, to the iiumber of two or three huidred. Upon their arrival at Whealland, Wm. B. Rankin, Esq., President of the club, was introduced to Mir. Bachaiiani, and said that on behalf of the Keystone Club, over which he had the honior of presiding, he codllgratulated him as the 10 ident of the United States in relation to the same. It is as well known as it is disgraceful to the nation, that a state of insubordination and anarchy has existed in that sovereign State for months; and that, instead of the laws of that State, or of the United States, being enforced there, a self-constituted committee has usurped the liberties of the people, set aside the ministers of the law, and taken the administration and the execution of their self-enacted laws into their own hands. The legally-constituted authority of th at State, by their Governor, has applied to the President of the United States for aid to enforce the laws, and restore order in California; but the appeal has been denied, and no one can now tell when order and the majesty of the law will again be restored in that unfortunate State. I enter into no speculation as to who is right or wrong for the existing state of things in California, or upon the motives of the President and his advisers, in refusing aid to the constituted authorities of that State, to put down the insurrectionists, and to restore peace and order. But I wish to say that his conduct in this case is very unlike that which he has caused to be enforced on the Free State men in the infant Territory of Kansas, in the execution of the bogus and unconstitutional laws passed by the bogus and illegal Legislature of that Territory. Mlr. Chairman, I now beg the attention of the Committee to the consideration of the nation's choice, adding, that the work which was but begun, they intended to carry on until victory should crown their efforts. Mr. Buchanan replied as follows: ' IGENTLEMEN OF THUE KEYSTONE CLUB: I give you a most hearty and warm welcome to my abode. I congratulate you, not upon my nomination, but upon the glorious lprivilege of tbeinig citizens of our great Republic. Your superiority over the people of other countries has been fully demonstrated by the conduct of a vast concourse assembled duri,,g the past week at Cincinnati Upon any similar occasion in Europe, the voluntary expression of the pecple would hlave been drowned in martial music, and their actions controlled bv.al-l army with banners How unlike the spectacle at Cincinnati, where delegates from the people of the different States met in convention, under protection of the Co nstitution and laws, and harmosiously de liberated uponi subjects of vital importance to the country. Genitlemnen, two weeks since I should have made you a lo"'er speech, but now I have cbe en placed upPon a plctform,y of whieh I most heartily approve, and that can speak for me. Being the representative of the g r eat Democratic party, and nott simply Jatmes Buchanran, I o u,t square my conduct according to the platform of that party, andl insert to new plank, nor take ole from it. 'hat plaorn is sfficiently broad aend natitonal for t he whole Democratic pa rty.' ihis glorious party. now more th an ever, has demonistrated that it is the tru e conservative party o f the Constitution and o f the Union. " PhILADcsLPHIL PA,. Jdne 9, P. fM. The Reytstone Club arrived in this city this eve nitg. They were met at P'sest Philadelphia by a deputation of citizens, who, with music, escorted them through the principal streets, the procession increasing ill numbers until the ranks numbered 2.'O. A salute of fifty gums was fired."' Ag,ain: In his speech at Baltimore, on the occasion of his recent public reception in that city, he said: "We have already reached and almost passed the dangerous crisis on the subject of domestic Slavery. The volcano is nearly exhausted. The material for conitiniued asitation no long-er exists. And why? Because I hold it to be quite impossible that any considerable portion of our people call long continue to contest the eletnentary republican principles recogmised in the Territorial legislation of Congress."D Well, sir, here we have him square on the Cincinnati platform; no longer James Buchanan, but merged into and "square" to this platform, which declares: " The American Democracy recognise and adopt the principles contained in the organic laws establishing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the Slavery question; that this was the basis of the Compromise of 1850." I have shown what the organic laws establishing these Territories were. I have also shown the violation of them by the bogus Legislature of Kansas, and their approval by the President, and now by the Democratic Cincinnati Convention. I have also shown the declaration and pledge of the Senators and Representatives in Congress in 1850, and its full endorsement by the President, in his first annual message to Congress in 1853. I have also shown the faithlessness in the President and his supporters in adhering to these pledges. I have also shown the repudiation of all these professions and pledges by the Presi-: dent and his supporters; and with this expos6 I leave him and them to reflect on their inconsistency and wrong, which he and they have inflicted on the rights of the people and the stability of the institutions of the country. Mr. Chairman, in passing to the consideration, of' other topics, I deem it proper to call the attention of the House to the state of affairs in the State of California} anld the conduct of the Pres-. ARROGANCE AND SECTIONAL INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY. During the long contest, at the commencement of the present session of Congress, for the election of Speaker, a leading and distinguished member from Alabama [Mr. WALKER] proclaimed: a Members from the North seem to think that the reason why the South kas had so large a share in our governmental operations, lies in the institution of Slavery. I tell them they are mistaken; it lies behind that institution. It is to be found in the administrative faculty belonging to the early settlers of the South-the Cavaliers and HguenottS- AND WHnCH THEIR DESCENDANTS HAVE INHERITED." Well,Esir, I rejoice in the boldness of this boast of superiority of birth and blood. I respect and honor the frank expression of one's sentiments, as thus given; but I tell the gentleman that he is mistaken in the true character of the people of the North. True, they have not enjoyed the advantage of experience that the people of the South have in the governmental affairs of the Government, but this is solely owing to the sectional and aggressive demands of the Slave Power. But, sir, the people of the North will not longer remain under this vain and boasting charge; they intend to demand and expect to receive and take their fair and just proportion of the responsibilities in the administration of this Government. They commenced this policy in the election of Spea ker Banks, without, I regret to say, the aid of a single vote from a slave State. Yet such is the power of Slavery, that even Representatives have to bow to its demands and behests, or to go into private life. If the people of the North are true to them. selves, true to the best interests of the country, 11 American citizen, at home and abroad; that en courages commerce, that twin-sister of civiliza tion, that encourages emigration; that contributes "labor, capital, art, valor, and enterprise, to per fect and embellish our ever-widening empire." These sir, are the aims and trophies of Freedom and Progress. Now, sir, may I not ask, What are the aims and trophies of the institution of Slavery? Is it not sectional and aggressive? Is it not a cruel, relentless tyranny? Does it not legalize "CHATTEL SLAVERvY"-that "execrable commerce," as Jefferson called it, " that makes merchandise of immortality; that smites the earth with barrenness; that blasts the human intellect, and blights the human heart; that maddens the human brain, and crushes the human soul; that crime which puts out the light and hushes the sweet voices of home, shatters its altars and scatters darkness and desolation over its hearth stone; that system which recognises the tearing away of joyful children from their mothers' arms, and selling them into eternal exile, withouthaving anything to say in- the premises; that system which dooms men to live withou t kn owle dge, to toil without reward, to die with out hope; th at system which send s little children to the shambles; " and, let me add, that system, which custom sanctions, of fathers selling their own children into Slavery. Mr. Chairman, in conclusion, I charge that Slavery is not only sectional and aggressive, but that ita social influence is corrupt and dangerous to the best interests of the community in which it exists. Why, sir, I have but to call the attention of the Committee to what has transpired lia this House and in this city, since the commencement of the present session of Congress, to establish these charges to the conviction of every candid and impartial mind. In this House there are three political parties-Democratic, Republican, and American. At the Congressional caucus of the Democratic party, a resolution was adopted, denouncing the American party, and proclaiming its adherence to the Kansas and Nebraska act. Well, sir, you and this House, and the country, know the long and bitter struggle that ensued, before the election of a Speaker; the denunciations that were uttered by the Democrats against the Americans as well as the Republicans; and yet, sir, notwithstanding all this, and the further consideration, too, that many members of the American party South were Anti-Nebraska men, and some of them opponents of it in the last Congress, yet, on the final vote, every member of that party present from the South voted for the Democratic nominee, except two members, [Mr. CULLEN and Mr. DAVws,] who voted for the American candidate. Why, sir, let me ask, was this sectional vote given? Was it not in consequence of the sectionalism of Slavery? Again: When the telegraph wires, day after day, brought the tidings of the invasion of Kansas by the border ruffians from the State of' Missouri, and the reign of anarchy and civil war in the Territory of Kansas, a proposition was introduced by the gentleman from Indiana, [Mlr. Du~.s,] appointing a committee from this House to go to Kansas and investigate the alleged frauds in that Territory. Well, sir, on this fair, true to the Constit ution and Union, as I know t hem to be,ll they wi take the affairs of this Gov ernment into their own hands on the 4th of March next,; and the n the gentleman from Alabama will have an opportunity of witnessing the honor, capacity, and jus tice, of the people of the North, to administer th e affairs of the Government. I know, Mr. Chairman, that the South sneer at the people of the North, and proclaim that, although they are the descendants of the Puritans of Plymouth Rock, and admit that the sods of L ex ington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, and Mlo n mou th, and Trenton, and Valley Forg e, are their forefathers' sepulchres, in fighting the battl e s and in achieving the liberties of th e co untry, yet they are only considered an i ndus tri ous and money-mak ing people, disqualified for administrative positions-fit subjects, I suppose they think, to be the hewers of wood and t he draw er s of wa ter for the South. Again: The honorable gentleman from Alabama continues: " Why, sir, I might ask, What gr eat s entiment, what great gov ernm ental princ ip le, originated at the North?" I answer the gerontleman's qu es tio n w ith great pleasu re and s at isfaction. T he gr e at " sentiment" of the North is FREEDOM, and their " governmental principle" PROGRESS. With these principles she started in the grea t race on this Con tin e nt. In th e v e ry tear the Pilgrim Fa thers landed on Plymou th Ro ck, slaves landed in Virginia; and, in the Ianguad,e of the el oquent g ent l em a n from Massachusetts, " Fr eedom has gone on, t rampling down barbarism, and planting States-buildingthe symbol s o f its faith by every lake, and every river, un til now the sons of the Pilgrims stand by the X shores of Pacific. Slavery has also made its wa y t oward the settin g sun. It has reached the Rio G ran d e on the South; and the groans of its victims, and the clank of its chains, may be heard, as it s lowl y ascends the wes tern tributaries of the Mississippi river. Freedom has left the land bespaigled with free schools, and filled the whole heavens with the shining towers of religion and civilization. Slavery has left desolation, ignorance, and death, in its path. When we look at these things; when we see what the zountry would have been, had Freedom been given to the Territories; when we think what It would hate been but for this blight in the bosom of the country; that the whole Souththat fair land God has blessed so much-would hlave been covered with cities, and villages, and railroads, and that in the country, in the place i twenty-five millions of people, thirty-five millions would have hailed the rising morn, exulting in Republican Liberty-when we think of these ihings, how must every honest man, how must _very man with brains in his head or heart in lis bosom, regret that the policy of old Virginia, n her better days, did not become the animating ,olicy of this expanding Republic I" FREEDOM AND PROGRESS. Sir, that develops the material resources of the C:untry; that builds railroads and canals; that .rotects and respects the labor of every citizen ,f the country; that protects the rights of every 12 just, and peaceful proposition-a proposition, in the Free State men in Kansas from their unlawful my opinion, that saved the lives and property of I imprisonment, and for reorganizing the Territohundreds and thousands of the people of that rial Government of Kansas, every Representative unfortunate Territory-not a man voted for it present and voting from the slave States voted from a slave State. against it. Again: When the gentleman from Maine [Mir. Again: On the report of the Committee on KNOWLTON] offered a resolution of inquiry re- Elections against the right of Whitfield, the Delespecting the murder of Thomas Keating, the Irish gate from Kansas, to his seat, on proof of the waiter at Willard's, by'MAr. HERBERT, a member of most reliable and unquestioned character, every this House, every member from the slave States, Representative present and voting from the slave except one, voted against it, as did every mem- States voted in his favor. I make no comments her present of the Democratic party, except two, on this extraordinary and sectional vote, but [Mr. KELLY and Mr. WILLIAMS.] Yeas 70, nays refer you to the testimony and report of your 79, was the vote. committee sent to Kansas to investigate this and Is Slavery not sectional and aggressive? Or is other cases of fraud. the nurder of a poor Irish waiter not wor invest- This, Mr. Chairman, brings me down to the gating. consideration of Again: On the vote admitting Mr. ARCHER, of THE SOCIAL INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY, AND ITS CORRUPT ANDEDANGEROU INFLUENCE TO'SLAERY ~ T COMMUNITY Illinois, to his seat, on the report of the Commit- AND DANGEROUS INFLUENCE TO TE COMMUNITY tee on Elections, every member present and vo- WHERE IT EXISTS ting from the slave States Voted against his ad- Soon after the commencement of the present mission. ARCHER is an American Republican. session of Congress, and before the election ot Again: On the vote to expel the Hon. PRESTON Speaker, a member of this House [Mr. RUST] asS. BROOKS, and to censure the Hon. LAWRENCE saulted and beat Horace Greeley with a cane. A M. KEITT, members of this House from the State few days later, another member of this House of South Carolina, for the brutal and murderous [ex-Governor SMITH, of Virginia] had a street assault on the Hon. CHARLES STUMNER, a Senator fight with the editor of the Star, (Mr. Wallach.) from the State of Massachusetts, for words spoken Next in order is the murder of Keatirg by a in debate, in the Senate of the United States, and member of this House, [Mr. HERBERT,] and the in reply to Senator BUTLER, of South Carolina, assault of SUMNER by Messrs. BROOKS and KEITT and of the institution of human Slavery in the of which I have heretofore spoken. slave States, and not for any act done or word TRIAL OF HERBERT FOR THE MURDER OF KEATING. spoken by that Senator; to or reflecting on either Mr. Chairman, I have but a few words more to of the members referred to above, and which as- u ,sayv on these to me -unpleasant subjects. But sault was proved to have well-nigh destroyed sy o we a un eandsut B that Senator's life,every menterpresent and votduty, as well as humanity, demands that some tha Seatr~sif~evrymenbepreent ad ottzgthing should be said respecting the murder or from the slave States, except one in each case, voted thing should be said respecting the murder vited Thomas Keating, the Irish waiter at Willard's aanst epelln Brooks and censrin Keitt. Hotel, by the member from California, [Mr. Well, sir, this is not all of this case. Themem- HERBERT.] and the extraordinary circumstance her from South Carolina [Mr. BROOKS] has since and facts connected with the action of Judge said to this House: Crawford, District Attorney Key, and Marshal "I went to work very deliberately, as I am charged- Hoover and this is admitted-and speculated somewhat as to ~ whlether I shlou,d employ a horse-whip or cowhide; but, The murder was committed in the city of the knowing that the Senator was my superior ill strengthl, it capital of the nation, by a Representative of the occurred to me that he might wrest it from my hand, and American Congress and under circumstances then-for I never attempt anything I do not perform-I 1 might have been compelled to do tha-t which I would have that has caused the attention of every citizen ot regretted the balance of my natural life." the country to it, and the eyes of the civilized Now, sir, without some further explanations, world upon it, in consequence of the place where there might be some doubt as to what the mem- it occurred, and the official position of the man ber refers to in saying, "I might have been corm- who perpetrated the act. pelled to do that which I would have regretted The magistrates who made the preliminary the balance of my natural life." I am credibly in- examination of the killing of Keating issued a formed as to what he did mean; and it is this, as warrant to commit Herbert to await his trial foil stated by that member to the honorable gen- murder. Judge Crawford admitted him to bail. tleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. DE WITT:] that The District Attorney, Mr. Key, did not attend the if Senator SUMNER had made an apparent suc- first examination before Judge Crawford, or make cessful defence, he would have shot him DEAD! any effort to resist Herbert's application for the And for the crime and damage of this unexampled privilege of being admitted to bail. On the assault in the history of our country, Judge Craw- morning when Judge Crawford made his orde ford, of the Criminal Court of the District of Co- admitting Herbert to bail, the District Attorney lumbia, fined the member from South Carolina was present, but said nothing. the enormous sum of $300! Mr. Chairman, it is well known that the Districi Is there no power and intluence of the sectionalism Attorney, Mr. Key, is a warm personal, political of Slavery in this? and bosom friend of Mr. Herbert; that he re Again: On the bill introduced by the gentle- fused to allow the friends of Keating to employ man from Indiana [Mr. DUNN] for restoring the any associate counsel to aid in the trial, until thc "Missouri Compromise act," and for liberating. day before the commencement of the first trial; 13 that he then said to the friends of Keating that "' -d. If the jury believe, from the evidence, that at he would make application to the court for a the time the pistol was discharged Herbert was being pressed by superior ttumbers, aind was in danger of death postponement of the trial for one day, to enable or of serious bodily harm, and from which he could not them to procure an associate counsel to aid him on safely escape; lie was justified in taking life. the trial, but that he omitted to make the applica-." 4th. If the jury entertain reasonable doubts as to ti' eo rl,l cut. O theatria omtte c mase the,pi,e,-, any material fact necessary to make out the case for the tlion to the court. On the trial of the case, the Dis- Government, they must give the benefitto the defendant.' " trict Attorney abandoned the charge of murder, p 1 1. TX Well, Mr. Chairman, I am no lawyer; but if and only asked a conviction for manslaughter. ll r h rmn It f this is law in the Criminal Court in the city of was under the legal advice and direction of this Washington, I do not consider it justice, and I same District Attorney that the grandjurors found intn, i o t o er t e a intend, the first opportunity that offers, to offer a an indictmentformurder. The motive for this par- >..... ~~~resolution which I have drawn up, directing the ticular form of indictment may not be certain, u .'Judiciarvy Committee to bring in a bill, before the but its effect and consequences were unmistakable. diciary Committee to bring in a ill, before the The, indn b n f r m, ge t e end of this session, to reorganize or abolish the The indictment being for murder, gave the de-C fendant the right of peremptorily challenging Criminal Court in the District of Columbia. fendant the right of peremptorilycThe result of the first trial was a disagreement thirty-six jurors. The power to set asid e that of the jury, and a second trial has since been had, number without assigning any reason, in con- wh d a rial has sr ee nection with the character of the whole body informed that jurors were thejuor*su meMarshal, really *swoaN and sERVED, who stated to the Court that the jurors summoned in by the Mearshal, really gavetorths smmbfome Cifn b ayrm tRh d they had "formed and had expressed and still gave to the member from California [Mlr. HE~BEm:]. . entertained opinions respecting the guilt or innothe selection of the jury who were to decide upon hi s fate. Did the District Attorney foresee or did cence of the accused." This jury acquitted the ..7..f o r d member from California, as might be expected he intend, p?recisely this result? he 2 inen,reislyhseltthey would, after such acts of the Court. This It is further said that Marshal Hoover, who ends my brief history of this most extraordinary has power to sumom jurors at discretion for trial. In passing, Mr. Chairman I beg to say a the Criminal Court of this District, is also a word or two to the people of Washington. If devoted personal and political friend, and here- such acts of violence and such decisions of courts tofore a frequent visiter, of the member from and verdicts of juries are to be continued, the California. It is further charged, that the bailof day is not far distant when a removal of the Herbert, before his indictment for the murder of capital of this nation will be demanded and conKeating, is a brother of Postmaster Berret, of summated by the people of the United States. the city post office, and an officer or subordinate Aan ve the.ae of t ni te in one of the Departments. Again: Even in the State of old Virginia, the in one of the Departments.< . — o,e of theDepmother of Presidents, two citizens —Mr. Under It is further charged, that the member from Califorthe[r.H i afried ofa the Ad- from wood and his associate delegate to the National California [Mr. HERuERT] is a friend of the Ad-r Republican Convention, held in Philadelphia on ministration; that he was a delegate to the Na- the 17th of June last-have been compelled to tional Democratic Cincinnati Convention; that flee from that State, to avoid acts of violence upDistrict Attorney Key, Marshal Hoover, and Mr. I ~~~~on them, for no other reason, that I have heard Berret, received their respective offices by ap- ' >.. >.... A...giv en, than for simply attending said Convention, pointments from the President and his Adminis- g en, than for simply attending said Convention, ~~~~~~tration. ~and giving utterance to their sentiments on the trotion.. Well, sir, on submitting the charge to the jury, political topics of the day. And yet, sir, public on the first trial, Judge Crawford, at the instance meetings have been held in that State, and resoon the first trial, Judge Crawfbrd, at the instance l u in.dptd.iigntc o hsetee and request of the counsel of the prisoner laid ions adopted, giving notice to these gentlemen down the following principle of law for the gui- that they must leave the State. I need not say daunce of the jury,namely: more; the facts are recent, and are before the dance of the Jury,namely:country. " Mr. Bradley asked the Court to instruct the jury upon Again, sir: We hear of and see letters from the points of law. anid Mr. Walker immediately rose with a set of iuislructions framed by the defence. which te son asked should lbe given to the jury. These Mr. Walker the slave States-men who have heretofore been proceeded to read, a,d then passed them up) to Judge Whigs or Americans-coming out in favor of the Crawford, whlo promptly reported them to the jury as the election of James Buchanan for the Presidency. illstructiol~sof the Court.election of James Buchanan for the Presidency. instructions of the Court. "These iistructionis are as follows: Among the most recent are Senators Pratt and "'1st. If a suddeni affray arose between the accused Pearce, of Maryland, both heretofore leading and the deceased, and afterwards seve ral other persons Wos - interfered to assist the deceased, and by these assailanits hgs; and to-nght, sr, we have heard from the the defendant was borie down and beaten, and had reason lips of the distinguished member from Alabama, to believe titat lihe was it imminent danger of great bodily [Mr. WALKER,] that he too follows in the train harm, front which he could not safely escape, aind while in this position fired the pistol by whicl the d- the supporters of Buchanan and for the same oeased was killed, it was in judgment of law a case of principal reasons assigned by the Senators from excusable homicide, and it is immaterital it the absence Maryland, namely the safety of the instituicon of of premeditation and malice, by whom the affray was c,ommenced. Aid it is also not material that the accused Slavery in the hands of the Democraticparty: a genmight have escaped before the imminent peril came upon tieman, allow me to say, wo, acs it is well known, him, if at the time the peril came he had reason to believe has heretofore acted with and been a member of himself in imminent peril of lifer or of great bodily harmt and when he fired the pistol he could not safely escape.' e Amercan party; and he has told us to-night "'2. To have authorized Herbert, to take the life of that he was a delegate to the National American Keaitig, the necessity for doing so need toot be actual; Convention that nominated Fillmore and Donelfor if the cirsumstances were s,uch as to impress his (Herbert's) mand with the reasonable belief that such he- son- Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'well recollect of the cesaity was ittpending, it is sufficient.. prominent part that gentleman took in that Con 14 tension of Slavery into free territory. On this question there are but two parties-those who are for it, and those who are against it. It is the great question before which all others sink into insignificance. It is not an unimportant question of the day, but-it concerns the stability of the Union, the preservation of the Constitution- that instrument of universal Free do m, contemplated as such by it s f r amers, and in terpreted as such by all men, South and North, u nti l within a few year s past. It ha s ever been considered a chart of Freedom, establishe d to secure thi s boon; giving liberty to the States to do what they think to be proper with in their own l imits, as to them shall seem to be right and just, but cla im o it an ocing no right nd conceding n o right to them to carry their own peculiar institutions beyond the limitations conferred by the sovereignty of States. Th e North asks for nothi ng more-sh e cannot and will not consent to anything less. How momentous the issue I How just and righteous the cause! How certain the result, if the friends of Freedom stand firm, as I have no doubt they will. Let the friends, then, of Free Kansas plant themselves firmly an d unit edl y on the o ld Jeffersonian p latform of LIBERTY, thie CO,STITUTIO.N, the UNION, the SOVEREIGNTY of the STATES, and their full and undisturbed RESEaRTED aIGHTS. It is on this platform that I plant myself in the approaching Presidential contest. I am for the fullest and amplest justice to the South, and claim the same for the North. Party ties with me are nothing, compared with duty. Yet I know full well that it requires some effort to break loose from our party associations; but I trust, where duty points the way, we shall be found willing followers. For one, I know no party so dear to me as -my country, no obligation so binding but to put forth all the energy, strength, and power, that God has given me, to preserve it. If we but do this, when the evening of life is upon us —and it will soon overtake us all-and the sands of this life fast washingaway, it will be a consoling thought to be able to cast our memories back to the part we took in this crisis of our country's cause I -ention, and of the fact of hi s being a promin ent' candida te, and w armly supported by delegates in that Convention, for the nomination of Vice President; a gentleman, let me add, who has recently distinguished himself as the counsel of the member from California, [iMr. HERBERT,] on the trial of that member for the murder of Thomas Keating, the Irish waiter at Willard's Hotel, to which I have heretofore referred. Well, sir, he has gone, and is now in the full embrace of the Democratic party. Is there no sectional influence in the institution of Hu.Yr- SLAVERY? THE REMEDY, THE REMEDY for the present unhappy state of affairs existi ng betwee n the different sections of t he c ountry i s in a ret urn to the principles of the early fathers of the Republic, in the admission of Kansas a s a free State, for which we have p rece dents in th e admission of Michig an and California, for which we have the approval of Jud ge McoLean, wh o said in his letter to Chief Justice Hornblower, of New Jersey, o n the 6th June last. " I have no h esitation in saying that the immediat e adm iss ion of Ka nsas as a State into the Union, under the Constitution already formed, comtinends its elf to me a s a meas u re of sound policy, and w ell calculated to bring peace to th e T erri tory and to the country." Or, sir, if the Senate a tro pass the Snt s bill sent to it, restoring the Missouri restriction, which protects the Territory to Freedom north of 36~ 30' north latitude forever, and liberates the freemen in Kansas that are unlawfully imprisoned there, and provides for the'reorganization of the Territory until it is admitted into the Union as a State. Are not these just, reasonable, and easy remedies-the true ones to restore peace and tranquillity in Kansas and throughout the country? THE ISSUE. Kansas never should and never can be admitted as a slave State. The South should not attempt to increase the evils that are upon us, and delay action in the vain hope of success. The great question now is, the extension or non-ex WASHINGTON, D, C. BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS 1856. CIRCULATE THIE DOCUMENTS. The Republican Association of Washington City, in order to afford ever facility for a profuse distribution of documents during the campaign, have mad extensive arrangements for publishing speeches and documents favoring the prinr ciplcs of the Republican Party, and will furnish them to individuals or clubs, a cipics o f rh Republiasat, an the bare cost of publication. The following is a list of those already published; and, being stereotyped, w are enabled to supply any number of copies at short notice: List of Documents already published, and which will be kept for sale till the end of the Campaig At 62 cents per 100 copies, jfee of postage. Poor *Vhites of the Sfu:h.-o eeston. WxVil lh H oe Dissole the UOtioti?-W1estoer. T[ile Federal U,Li,ot, It ulast be Preserved -\Veston. ~outler ytvey reldce s Northierin \v.-tg,.. t,NVesitop. ;\Vho are ~ccli,nal? —\Vestonl. Revie w oi tle M.itt ilority Report.-Lion. J. Sher tll o C mn. Reasoos f(r Joillila t}le R,pul)lican Party -Jttulge Foot. KI~aL s CtottesHoet Ale1CtiOll.-~lol. J. A. ]illutrte. Adi.t:ssiot oHf Ktsasc. —lo. G. A. Grow. Ctilatoer's Report aned Spleeh' i tfavor of Frs Stato e Co r:tti tt Itt ibWllt?r Kasa.,.lSl Katisas i.tir.lon. H. Valdron. Dete,mc, oa. a.-Rev. Het,ry Wtartd B-ecletr. De,nice o t.s t tusetts.-Ho A. furina ip;me. Privilege orthe iteresep tative, Privilege of tie People. Hon,..1. R. (;icdti,,gs. Deton-crmic r'rrt t as it Vas,and as itT s-ioni.T.C. Day. Tfie L ata l a l Reality -Holt. T. C. Dray. 3liat,'s Lettr lio t'e Rel)l)lican A,tsociationa. ThRte ttHSlav er y Qtnstlon.-Hon. J. A!isooei. Slavery U ostiio nal. -l. A. 1P. (ralger. At $1.25 per 100 copies. free ofpostage. Na71ms il t.;,6' A comililete Histoery of the Outrages ii K asas o e,r;Cee iot the:ts Coinmlttee's Re port.- y a; ()ier oa; ti. Commtission. fmmeite A!.i ssi, of - Ktuisas.-tioi. W. }1. Sewar(d. Adnissio of Is.ts. a(n the PIolitical IEtfect s of Siave rv.-si o s.Ht. I I.Be ritt Afars io'sas.-lo. L Trunl)ull. \Wrong s ot Ktttli s -Hon..I. P. Ila le. Adtnisi.oi of ss. — o B F. p Vadl. Statte of Altaist itt Katseas -Hoi. el. H Vilson. Ad(iissii;l- of K,,i.sas.- Hon. Jan- s Harla n. The'as of tsas. o. Schuyler Colfax. Orgat.iz.iniotl of;he Free State Goverinietit ini Kansas d atill Itatrtrtt doAdd.ress ot( r Rt otinison. Plyrmouti OratioI.-Ifon. \V H. Sew)ard Tioe Dane,drs of xle ain S1very, atid The Cotttest a rtd tihe Cris-; two pehe i ote pamlphlet.-Hoii. eV. 11.:Sevarli. Po'!ili(-s oi tie C [mii try. —Iot. Israel, Vashluirn. Comn-lai.its of the Exteisioi-ists- their Falsity.-HonP. Phlem ont l'l-ss. The S avery')uesiioit — Hoi. dward Wade. Extravage:.t 1: rpedtdtures.-lloit. E I3anl. FreeAdoi Noth tiotal Slavery Sectioial.-Hoi. J. J. Pens Thie Army of the Uifited States inot to b)e Fniployed as Polie lo E..torce tihe l.aws of ilha Coniquierors of Ka sas. —Hon. XV. H{. Sewa rd. Modle^r. sD~mocracy " the. Ally of Slavery. —Hol. M., T.appan i.. At $2.50 per 100 copies., fiee of postage. Crime agtinist Kansas.-Hoi. Ch,arles Su,mLner. Rep,ort ot the Kansas Investiga-tilng Coir,,mmittee. Life of Fremoii,, illustrated. A liberal discount is made from the above prices when ordered by tl thousandcl copies. Address L. CLEPHANE, Secretary, WVashi gton, D. C. The Nebraska O,,iestion. coitaiii'iig the rpeecbesofj)o, —, las, Clase, S.Y.Itli,. v.-ett, AV,,.,le, Se,ard, ax,,-'umi,,r together witli the 1-fisto,y of ttie Misso C,, &c. Price 120 ce.ts, free,fpost-.ige. P', jtie,,l ofthe Uii'ted States, iesigie,l io exhibit t, co,iil,,xr,,Iiye area ol' the Free a,,d Sl,,ve States, aijd tY 1',,.-r,'tory Pell 1. SI-liv,,rv by II-,e, Itel)eat ofti,e Missot p,o,,iise. NViti a c,npt,",Oi. ot' t!." I,,i,icip-ll St. tist'c, ot'the Free.d Sit-ve St..ttes, fi,,)n-i the Ciius 1.5t). 141,hly Colored. Price 2k) c,,iits, free of postag. In t7te Ger?i-i,a-ii Tang?.tt7,ge. Crime agiiii,t la.sas. - lioii. Cli,ries Sui-nner. Pri. 100. l,if,, of Fre,r.,,,,t, illustrated. Price 2.50 per 100. ,rh, - l,a,s " of Colfax- Pr,'-:. 100. -Da,,,,,er, f Fxte,,,Iiiig Slavery.-I-loii. IV. 14. Sewal P r'c, —',- t. 25 p e r I 00. 'I le Co,.t,st ,io ti,e Cr.i,is.-,V. 11,',-eward. Price $I i,er 100. 'Fl,e Ad,iiissioi, oflan,,.as.-Hoii. IV. H. Se ard 1'rice per 100. A,I-t-,ss of tie, Natio.i-,il R,,pul,lica Committee. Pr". 1),r 100. Fr-,,,i,-is P. Blairis I,,,,Iter t,, tl,.e Rel)ul)licaii Associat Price (32 ceiit,, p,r 100. A. P. Granger. Pr'& (32 ce,t, p,r 1.00. Po,,, Wi'te-,f ilic Souih.-G. AI. %Veston. Prioe cei,tg per 100. t' tl,, Ka,,sas Investigating Committee. Pr, — ,92.50 per 100. -1 SPEECIHES OF WILLIAM H. SEWARD ON TiHE ARMY BILL, AT TIlE EXTRAORDINARY SESSION OF THE SENATE. speed, but we think we shall be found to ha&v bottom. Acting on the same liberal and loyal principle, I afterwards cast a vote here, the ef tect of which, if it had been sustained by a majority of the Sen ate, wo uld hav e bee n to raise the ho norable Senator f rom Louisiana [Mr. BENJAMIN] firom the bar of New Orleans, which he so much adorns, to the b ench of the Supreme Court of the United States. That it was no t success — ful was the fault, not of the Free-Soilers here, but of others, into whose e mbra ces he has now cast himself, out of horror of th ose who then were his supporters. Were those votes disloyal? You accuse me of fanaticism-fanaticism on the subject of Slavery. I put the question to you, sir, [Mr. BUTLER]-to you, sir, [~Ir. BAYARD]-to yOU, sir, and you-.. to every Senator from a slave State, to answer on your word of honor, as a Senator and a geatleman, when I have given here even one sectional or partisan vote, other than on a question which divided, upon principle, your section and party from my own, and your constituents from the people I represent. Whether the question, involved railroads, rivers, harbors, protection ol land or on the sea, fortifications or armed force to defend your homes, or your cities, or your' coasts, or even the payment of expenses incurred by yourselves alone against uprising Indians or invading foreigners, refer to your records, and cast up into my teeth one solitary sectional or disloyal or fanatical vote I ever gave in the Senate of the United States. Nay, more, sir; remove the injunction of secrecy which makes your Ex. ecutive Journal a sealed book, and show one vote that I ever gave here, even when yourselves were divided, against any person nominated to any office, by any President of the United States, because he was a slaveholder, or because he belonged to a section of the country or to a party different from my own. Sir, my opinions are always maintained here by reason and argument) never by passion, prejudice, or retaliation. Sir, honorable Senators are silent. Standing, then, upon the character for equality, for justice, and for loyalty, which I have built, -to be a sure SPEECH AUGUST 27, 1855. Mr. PRESIDENT: b If the occasion were not a very grave one, I could find amusement in the dialogue between the Senators from Delaware [Mr. CLAYTON] and Louisiana [M,r. BENJAMIN.] They come from slaveholding States, and they agree in refusing all aid to us in arresting the extension of Slavery in the national territories. They agree, also, in declaring that the prohibition of Slavery, contained in the Missouri Compromise of 1820, was unconstitutional; and they concur also in opinions derogatory of the gentlemen here whom they with manifest self-complacency call Free-Soilers and Abolitionists. And yet, even here in our very presence, they make bargains and stipulations as to how and when we, the aforesaid FreeSoilers and Abolitionists, shall debate the questions they choose to raise in the Senate. By and by, I shall expect to see them dealing even in our votes to effect compromises between themselves. They take these liberties with us in our very presence, on the ground that we are fanatics. One of them compliments me at the expense of my associates, by distinguishing me as a leader of the fanatics in the Senate. Sir, I shall show you and them what sort of a fanatic, on the subject of Slavery, I am. From this statement, you can judge the fanaticism of my associates. I am, with little caution, also accused of treasonable opinions and sentiments. I will show you what sort of traitor I am. Hence you shall judge of the treason of my honored associates. Hear the evidence, and then answer whether we could be convicted even of constructive treason in your Pro-Slavery courts of Kansas. T he fir st vote I ever gave in the Senate of the United States was one to place at the head of the Cabinet of the President of the United States the honorable Senator at my right hand, [Mr. CLAYTON,] the same who deprecates the reproach of seeming co-operation with Free-Soilers and Abolitionists. Sir, he has told us to-day that Free-Soilers are sometimes long-winded. However that may be, we are firm men-,men of perseverance-we are sure-footed, we boast little of I I,II C-'I', - 7., -..I '. 2 foundation for myself, I can pardon the sensibilities of those who think that they iare to sutffer contamination now by ran accidental ag reement with me upon a question of vital imp)ortance to the country and to the rights of man. The time, you see, has been, when such association was not offensive, because it was not useless to them. That time is coming round again. It will have come when the Government of our country shall once more be intrusted to an Administration which will protect and defend the Territories and the States of this Union against force and usurpation, let it come from what quarter it may. Wait, if you please, for that time, now not far distant, I think, and then, if my associates and myself prove faithless to our country or to the Union, accuse us of disloyalty and fanaticism. Mr. President, there are two reasons why a Senator might speak to the question now before the Senate. First, that if possible he might by argument bring the Senate to adopt his own opinion. Second, that, failing in this, he might yet exert an influence upon the opinion of the country. Neither of these reasons serve to justify me in speaking. I have already said, during the late session of Congress, all that the question demanded from me, with a view to effect, either here or elsewhere. - But since I then spake, circumstances have occurred, which, in the estimation of the Sen a te, and possibly of the country, require that what was then said shall be reconsidered. The fi rst circumstance is, that the President, not co ntent with the failure of the Army bill by a disacreement of the two HIouses. has assumed the respoisnibility of convenling Congress to reconsider that important subject. The second is, thatwhile in one quarter of the Senate there is a persistent purpose to defeat the Army bill again, unless the House of Representatives shall recede, propo sitions of concession and conceiliation are offered in another quarter, while, at the same time, alarms of public danger are sounded in both t hes e quarters, calculated to induce the House of Representatives and the minority of the Senat e to surrender the opinions to which they have hitherto adhered so firnily. Now, sir, for myself, I have to say to the President of the United States, that neith er his proclamation nor his special message h as affecte d my judgmen t or changed my feelings on this great subjet in the least. The P resident has don e no thing which has mbde o r will make me take one divergent or evs en one hesitating step in the line of duty which I marked out for my self at the last sessi o n of Congress. I do not mean to say that he is a bad man-but I do say, upon the res ponsibility of a Senator, and as a mem ber of Congress, the grand Inquest of the Nation, that he is an unjust and tyrannical magistrate. At the last session, I found hinfemploying all his vast and almost boundless power and influence, as a civil magistrate and the head of the Army, to establish not merely unjust, unconstitutional, and tyrannical laws, but an armed foreign and seditious usurpation in the Territory of Kansas, organized for the purpose of subverting Constitutional Liberty, and establishing unconsti tutional and de spotic Slavery ther e. Whe n called t o account for that gr oss violation of dutv, the President avowe and nd justifie d tha t usurpation. The House of Represeltatives,.unable to obtain an agreements from the Sen ate on any adequate measure to overturn th at usurpations and restore constit utiona l Fre edom in th e Territory of Ka,insas, as a last resource inserted in the Army bill a provision which practical ly prohibits the President from employing the Army, of the United States to enforce the tyrannical laws of that unconstitutional and despotic usurpation. The Senate refused even that small act of grace to the people of Kansas; so the Army bill failed. That is the true state of the case made up by the House of Representatives and the Senat e at the late session of Congress, and that is the true state of the case be twee n the two Houses as it exist s n o w at thi s extra session. Now, sir, to the case thus stated. If the laws of that usurpation were as just and humane as th~ are confessedly unjust and barbarous, I still, deeming them the edicts of an usurpation, of an armed usurpation, would not give the President men, materials of war, or money, to enforce even one of them. I know the value of peace, and order, and tranquillity. I know how essential they are to prosperity, not to say enterprise. But I know also the still greater value of Liberty. When you hear me justify the despotism of the Czar of Russia over the oppressed Poles, or the treachery by which Louis Napoleon rose to a throne on the ruins of the Republic in France, on the ground that he preserves domestic peace among his subjects, then you may expect me to vote supplies of men and money to the President of the United States, to execute the edicts of the issoulri borderers in the Territory of Kansas. Next, sir, for the al',irms which are sounded forth throughout the Ilalls of' Congress. The President raises the key-note, by striking upon the fertile string of Indian depredations. The .lonor.,,ble and venerable Senator from MN'ichiganii [M)r. CASS] chiimes in. Never, in his ev —entf'ul life, ha he seen at period so portentous. And the honorable Senator from Delaware. seriously gives iorth the prediction that the Army must be disbanded, and the Union itself frill asunder. Sir, it is a piece of Executive stage management. Congress is called back into the theatre, the curtain rises slowly, amid the jarring discords which make the thunder of' the political play-house, and then the air is filled with signs and ghastly spectres. Sir, I do not doubt that honorable Senators are sincere. I know that sincerity is easier and more practicable than dissimulation, to all mankind. It is easier and more natural to me, and therefore I know it is more natural to others. I therefore hold (as a general truth) that all men are sincere and honest; and I hold him to be merely a fool, who esteems me to be otherwise. But, sir, these sincere Senators may dismiss their fears. They have been here now nearlyr nine months. In this Senate Chamber, the atmosphere has become thick, unwholesome, and oppressive. We are like an animal enclosed in an exhausted receiver. The fresh, pure air, such as pervades the country, is exhausted} and we are pinsing, suffer 9 ing, and suffocating. No wonder that the light grows dir, strange and unnatural noises rumble in outr ears, the pillars of the Capitol seem to us to be tottering, and the very stars of heaven ap pear to be shooting from their spheres. Our im agination is diseased by unwholesome confine ment. That is all. Sir, on the fatal day, the 18th day of Aug3ust, when at high noon this Congress adjourned, I too went forth from the Senate Chamber, haunted by spectres of discord which threatened to rend this country asunder, because the Army bill had failed;' and these spectres pursued me along the avenue s and humbler pathwvays to my own quiet dwelling on the bank of the Potomac. Then I sat down to meditate on that miglhty and fearful ruin which I had been warned was to fall on the Capital and on the country, in swift reveuge of the failure of the Army bill. The evening shades gathered around me, but they brought no notes or signs of sorrow, fear,' or sadness. The parlors of' my neighbor on the right resounded with the tinkling of the guitar. Fairy-footed children were dancing in the halls of my neighbor on the left, to the merriest notes the violin could breathe through its mirth-moving. strings. Across the way, the Russian Minister, always watchful of portents of dissension here, worthy the notice of his Sovereign, was entertaining a joyous company in his lordly halls, as undisturbed by the crashing and falling of this great Republic over his head, as the deaf mutes, who, on the opposite side of the way, were joining with happier youths than themselves in the amusements of the eventide. And, sir, though it is strange, it is nevertheless true, that this condition of happy ignorance of political evil or danger has continued in that neighborhood ever since. Mr. President, the state of the case is very different here in the Senate Chamber. You can understand the reality of this great ruin. Senators, you can repeat it to each other; you can impress each other With the truth of its existence. You can even produce conviction of that fearful fact upon the galleries. They are filled with y-our clients. The streets around the Capitol are filled with them. They perhaps will groan, or would, if it were respectful to do so, when I express a doubt whether the ruin is not exaggerated in your speeches. But, Senators, do not let their sympathy mislead and deceive you. They are interested clients and dependents. They all have long arms and widespreading fingers, to dip, by your gracious permission, into the Treasury, but no strong shoulders to support and bear up the Constitution of their country. If you rely on their applause and their sympathies, and go down with us before the People upon this issue, you may look out at the next session of Congfress for galleries filled with other clients just as patriotic, but, at the same time, just as well satisfied that this country canl only be saved from ruin by an administration of the Gov ernmenet ethic h will ov~erturn the Missouri usurpation, and restore " perfect freedom'? to thle people of Kansas. I know somnething of t,he temper of Legislative galleries, and of the atmosphere of Executive chambers. -I warn you not to rely too much on the puri ty o the one, or the constancy of the other. So, this Executive stage effect, then, does not change my resolution. What next occurs, to affect it? A by-plao is gotten up be tween two of the three part i e s in this house, who assume to act in the name of all. In a parliament ar y sense, there are thr ee parties here: 1st, the De mnocracy; 2d(, a branch of the opposition onoe known as Whigs, (now, I fea r to give offe nce by using a misnomer, and th er efore do not name it;) and, 3d, the Republicans, Black Republican s, o r Abolitionists, as the other t wo partie s ha ppily b agree in c alling us who cons titute t he other, and far the largest branch of the o ppositio n. But, although there are e hree parties here, yet, when it comes to a questio n of dividing the hou se into its three constituent parts, the figure 2 is always used as a divisor; and the Democracy and the aforesaid nameless band of the Opposition are found together, and the Republicans stand alone, in contrast to both. Just now, however, the two first stand apart, and an interlude'of conciliation and pacificationI is enacted between their repre seintatives, the Senators from Delaware and' Louisiana, [-Nlr. CLAYTON and Mr. BENJAMIN.] We Republicans are allowed to appear as super numeraries. not in original parts of our own, but just to give greater effect to the scenes. The Senator from Delaware presents a bill for which all the Republicans are to vote, without offering amendments or debate-for repealing certain obnoxious laws in Kansas; and the Senator from Louisiana presses the Democracy in the Senate to pass that bill. Then the House of Representatives is to be deemed refractory, if they do not at once yield their proviso, and pass the Army bill. Thus, this pretty little interlude, like the one gotten up by the clowns of Athens, that is incorporated into the Midsummer Night's Dream, happily moves forward the grand plot of the drama to a successful denouement. Certainly, I do not mean to assign to those distinguished Senators the parts belonging to any of the subordinates in the interlude. I recognise him from Delaware as Oberon, the king of an imaginary realm, and him from Louisiana as the sprightly and yet efficient Ariel, prime minister to that gracious but unequally-tempered sovereign. But, alas! the interlude drags. It does not advance the action of the grand plot, nor can it proceed itself. Democratic Senators, especially the stern and inflexible Senator from Virginia, [Mr. MASON,] refuses to concur in giving the necessary assent of the Democratic part of the house to the conciliation bill; and we Republican Senators cannot pass this bill of conciliation, even if we would. The two Senators who get it up are sure only of their own votes, reinforced by ours. But, sir, let us suppose that they bring their interlude to a happy termination. It is a rule in courts of equity>, in furtherance of julstic~e, that whnat ought to be clone shall be taken to have been done. We will suppose that this hill of co nciliatiori, which abrogates certain of the obnoxious laws of Kansas, haIS passed; and thereupon I amn asked to vote for the Army bill, without the proviso of 4. whole, or nearly the whole, argument of the Presr ident's message. The picture is drawn, I suppose, I from between the covers of the school-bo,,ks of past generations. Senators enlarge. They tell , us that the war in Florida, waged, as we know it is, by only two hundred or three hundred poor straggling Indians of that peninsula, is not yet ended. Well, it has lasted more than fifteen iyears; and if it has not yet been suppressed hy the Army, which has at all times been well supplied, in Heaven's name when will it end? Would it be unwise to change our policy, and try to bring it to an end without an Army? They tell us that Texas is suffering from Indian depredations; and yet, at this moment, the State of Texas is sending armed colonists to join in the sul-)jugation of Kansas. They insist that Indian wars are yet raging in California and Oregon, although Gen eral Wool writes to me that the war is ended, and would have been drought to a close much sooner, but for the misconduct of the civil au thorities there; while those civil authorities are sending creditors to us, with accounts amounting to four millions of dollars advanced to subsist the militia in their successful efforts at restoring peace and safety in those regions. Thus, sir, you see that these pretences of dan ger from the Indians are all moonshine, let in upon the Senate through artfully-prepared crevices in the walls of the Executive palace. If; however, Sen ators think the truth to be otherwise, and also think that the mechanics at Springfield, at Harper's Ferry, and at Cold Spring, are to be discharged, and the manufacture of muskets, rifles, and cannon, is to be arrested, and that the gontracts with the ma kers of powder on the Brandywine, and with the woollen drapers of New York and New England for clothing, are to be broken, and the army itself to be in fact disbanded, and that thewhole machinery of Government is to be suddenly stopped and brought to a dead stand, then I ask them this simple question, By what right and by what law can the President of the United States dis miss an officer, disband a regiment, or arrest the movement of a single wheel or spindle that in obedience to law he has actually put in motion? He can do no such thing, sir; at least, not lawfully nor rightly. He may in spleen do it wrongfully, but for that there is a public remedy. Officers, soldiers, mechanics, and manufacturers, may rest by a determination of their own, if th e y are not paid. But do you fear any such stoppage as that? Did you ever know any undertaking of the Government to stop at all, because there was a failure of the appropria tion bill for a month or two, or six, or more? No, sir; the Government labor will go on all the faster. Sir, gunpowder, lead, muskets, and rum, are pro fusely scattered among the Indian tribes every year, by enterprising traders, who take in payment drafts from the Indians upon annuities not e;-n yet accrued. I expose myself to the complaints of merchants and army contractors, who are found among my represenltatives, by joining the other House on this occasion. I will let you fully into a knowledge of the extent to which they are dis turbed. One house, with some hundreds of thousand8 of dollars of capital, ha's written to ask myr the Souse ot Representatisve. t cann ot do it. The objection to it remains just as before. Your b il l does not remove all th e unconstitutional and des potic law s of Kans as. The Executive courts in Kansas will deny that it irem oves a ny of the m, and, above all, the usurpation in K ans as. The forge in which those tyr annic al la ws were made remains in full blast, to produce others as tyran nical as these. Sir, there is nothing i n this new and ingenious d evi ce t o chang e my pur po se, and nothing, as I trust, to alter t he fixe d purpose of the House of Representatives. Wh at n ext? You come back to argument. You asser t that the cour se of the House of Rep resen tatives, in insisting upon this proviso, is un constitutional and revolutionary. My excellent friend from Massachusetts, in his very able speech, has given you the a u thority of the Fecl eralist for the ve ry power which the House of Representatives is thus exercising. The honorable Senator from Louisiana breath ed on those quot ations from the Federalist, and they dis appea red. Sir, he iseno an ingenious and elo quent advocate. When I saw this bar of iron, so rough and black when cold, come out from between his hammer and the anvil, it seemed perfectly smooth and sparkling. But now, when it has cooled again, it is just as rough and black as it was before. He argued that the power of the House of Representatives to annex a con dition to a money bill, was confined to the single case when the Senate should refuse its consent to an apportionment bill for raising the number of Representatives of the people with the advance of population. Now, a simple reading of the text will convict him of error: "' These considerations seem to afford ample c security on this subject, (namely, a conflict in ' case of augmentation of the number of mem bers of the House Representatives,) and ought ' alone to satisfy all the doubts and views which ' have been indulged in regard to it. Admitting, ' however, that they should all be insufficient to ' subdue the unjust policy of the smaller States, ' or their predominant influence in the councils 'of the Senate, a constitutional and infallible resource still remains with the larger States, by ' which they will be able at all times to accom' plish (what?) their just purposes." At what time to accomplish? At all times, to -accomplish their just purposes. Not at one time, one particular purpose only, but at all times, all t heir just purpooses. Then the House of Represent atives may have more than one just purpose. If nore than one just purpose can be indulged, then the provision is a general one, and applies to all such just purposes; and of the justice of any purpose, as well as of the necessity of resorting to the extreme remedy to accomplish it, the lqouse of Representatives, as a co-ordinate branch of the Legislature, has equal right with the Sen ate to judge. I think this a sufficient reply on that subject. And now, to treat more seriously than I have get done the argument that the army must and will be disbanded, and that the country will be abandoned to desolating Indian depredations. ~~t'rill remember that this constitutes the, 5 having repeated at all the arguments which I delivered on a former occasion, when that course was adopted. opinion whether the Army bill would pass; and it it should not, then whethe.r, at the next session, the Government will pay interest. I answer now, here, that I trust the Army bill will not pass at this session, and that at the next session full ap propriations for principoal aind int erest will be made. And nowa a word in ser ious earnestness on the subject of tihe alarn ms about t he Union. If there is dt efae r of it s dissolution, it rnuwt be dis over abl e in s ome qu a rter. There must be somewhere an enemy to his country aind to her Constitution. Where i s 1he-who is he? Wh o is it, where is the mnin, that proposes to scuttle this noble ark of the Corrstitution, that has rod e tfshe wss so gently in times of (alm, so prouidly in seaso,n of stornes an d tempests, and sitHk it into the depths of the sea, while he will transf er us, for safety, t o some gay-gilded f'-imtasltical craft of his own handi work? Sir, there is no such man in this country, in the N orth or i n the S outh, in the East or it the West. We are all on board together, and all equally watchful of our course, and jealous indeed of the pilo t whom w e station at the helm. Sir, these attempted alarms about the safety of the Union are factitious. Congress adjourned on th e 18th of Aauust, without passing the Army bill, and ye ther a n the country and the Constitution remain ed s af e; for w e found them so on the 21st. Congress ma y adjou rn to-morrow, to rea ssemble on the first oIonday of December next, and we shall find the country and the Constitution t he n jus t as safe as they are now. What w ill happen, will be simply this: You, the Senate, will go down & fore the people on the issue whic h y ou have'oade with the Hous e of Representatives. That issue will be tried. If the two Houses, after hearing the popular verdict, shall be unable to agree when th ey come togethe r at t h e next session in December, take my wor d f or i t, they will certainly agree at the f irs t s essio n of the n ewly-elected Co ngress afterwards. N ow, sir, this is just what the Constitution contempla tes, and what Congresses ar e m a de fore reo ato a ee ay. They are not made to aree always. The two Houses mu st agree, wh en they can agree in principle. They mus t differ, when t he flames o f truth that burn in th e i r consciences give out lights of differing hues. The conflict in such cases is necessarily inconvenient; but it is temporary, and is necessary to the true ascertainment andestablishment of t ru th. In such occasional conflicts dwells the safety, not the danger, of the Republic-the safety, not the peril, of the Union. On the contrary, danger, to both will be found the most serious, and the most imminent, when the three main departments of the Government —the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the President-shall unite and concurin establishing, by force, revolution, usurpation, and Slavery, in the Territories of the United States. When that shall happen, then look out for the safety of the States, the pillars of the Union, and for the liberties that dwell in that noblest of all edifices raised by human hands. Thlus, sir, I have explained the reasons for my adherence now to my former course, without AUDI U3T' 23. 18"16. This debate, Mr. President, mingles two very different, although kindred subjects. I shall not go at large into a discussion of either, but be ( content to inIrk for the consideration ol the Senate and the country some cardinal plaints. I address mniself first to the conflict between the two Hotuses of Congress on the Army bill, as that conflict now stands. The chairman of the Committee of Conference on the part of the Senate, [MIr. HUNTER,] is understood by me to say, that it is everyw here conceded truat the present majority in the House of Representatives is only an accidental one; and that this House, if' it were full, would concur with The Senate. I desire it to be understood, that I make no such concession. I have indeed, all through the debates on the Army bill, expressed doubts about the firmness and persistency of the House of Representatives. 1 have done so, however, with pain. But, on the contratry, I say now, with the utmost respect for the House, that I have seen it steadily, from thefirst day of the session, becoming firmer and more true and steadfast in the cause of Justice, F reedom, and Humanity. I from the first trusted that it would turn out so, for I knew the influences, originating, not, as Senators may suppose, here, but in the hear ts of the con sti tuency of that power, the American people, which, if they could not increa se the number of d(.fendem of that sacred cause in the House, were sure to animate those defenders with increasing zeal and devotion. I believe now, sir, and shall believe until a different conviction is forced upon me by events, that the more the number of that House shall be increased by the return of absentees, after consultation with the people, the firmer the House will stand on the issue you have made with it. I feel assured, now, that the House will stand until the end of this extraordinary session- ay e, if there shall be need, until the e nd of the term of the present Cong,ress, upon the noble position they have assumed, that the President of the United States shall not employ the Federal army to enforce the unconstitutional and tyrannical laws of the armed usurpers of Kansas. While I thus make this correction in regard to the matter of fact involved in the statement of the Senator from Virginia, I must take leave to say that the Senate of the United States to-day is not that possible body of men who would constitute it, if all its seats were full, but that actual body of men (being a quorum) who are now present and actually attending. Those Senators who are absent constitute no part of the Senate actually deciding on the great interests of the country. They are possible members only, but practically they perform no duty, and incur no responsibility; and their opinions, therefore, are not a subject of discussion. So it is in the House of Representatives. The two hundred members actually attending there, constitute Ibr all practical purposes the representative body of the American people. 6 rise to assert its own wrongs, the surer and mnore profound will be the pe ace that w ill p revail there Now, even if the peo ple of Kansas were willing to strike the flag of Freedom, which they have de fended throtgih so many perils, I have yet to say, that I am a representative of one of the States of this Union that claims the right to maintain the balance of Free do m i n th is Council Clwambev of the S t ates. I want Kansas he re a fre e State. New York wants her to come here free, if she shall enter the Confederacv at all. We may as well come directly to this issue, then. You want Kansas organized as a slave State, and you will give her peace if she will accept Slavery; if she do not accept Slavery, she must take war, with its dangers and its desolations. Senators propose this condition as if it were a new one, offered now for the first time. They express surprise that I am not alarmed, when they tell me that civil war, except on the condition of' Slavery, is inevitable and imminent. Sir, there was civil war in Kansas when we assembled here in December; a military revolution had been effected there, an armed usurpation was-established there, and there was opposition and resistance to it; there was commotion, strife, bloodshed, then and there. Every day the tragedy has been advancing steadily in the development of the horrors of civil war. Just as soon as I could get the vantage ground of tile Topeka Constitution to stand upon, I called your attention to the existence of that civil war, explained its causes, and with all the fervency that not merely love of peace, but love of Liberty also, could enkindle, I conjured you to arrest before it was too late, by removing the cause of tIl t civil war. Even no%, Senators refer to the appeals I then made, so truthfully, as exaggerations of a fertile imagination. Such was the answer you then gave me; and now the answer vou give me, now when I conjure you once more, and more earnestly than ever, to arrest fratricidal strife, by admitting Kansas under her own free Constitution, is, that that Constitution must be surrendered, or the flames of civil war must be suffered to burn with new intensity throughout that ill-fated Territory. It is true that I see a new campaign preparing in that quarter. But, just like those which have occurred there before, it is a campaign not organized by the citizens of Kansas against each other, nor yet organized by emigrants sent thither by the MIassachusetts Emigrant Aid Society, but by invaders who are going forth from all or many of the slave States, to extirpate the freemen of Kansas, to seize upon the ballot-boxes by force, to usurp the elective franchise, to create in that way a new Legislature and a convention that will organize a slave State, which even this Congress is expected to receive with open arms as a member of this Federal Republic. Sir, during all the period of that civil war that has been prevailing in Kansas, the armed bands that have demolished hlotels, sacked cities, overturned free presses, mobbed m'inisters of the Gospel,, and slain the farmer while enclosing lhis newly-marked field on the prairie, and the': perfectly iree'; imnmnigrant before he had slept one nighlt in the Territory which he had chosen for his homle, were not I make now another point: I thank the House of Representatives, and congratulate the country upon a happy turn of the last conference. The committee have simplified the issues between the two Houses, and reduced them to one plain, simple, and clearly comprehensible. Yesterday, and every day for nearly a month past, we have been told of the absurdities of the proviso adopted by the House, in proposing to authorize the President to keep open the national highways leading to Kansas, and requiring him to disarm the so-called militia of that Territory. We are now informed that both these conditions will be withdrawn by the House, and we can pass the Army bill, if the Senate will simply agree to a naked proviso that the Army shall not be employed as a police to execute the miscalled laws of the body which claims to be the Territorial Legislature of Kansas. There is an end, therefore, to declamation, as well as argument, on those collateral subjects, and we are brought o directly to the one simple issue thus stated. On that issue, taking my place by the side of the House, I am prepared and content to stand. I am, indeed, appealed to, to yield before the terrors of civil war. I am conjured to surrender my positions by the love which I bear to peace and harmony. .Mr. HUNTER. Did the Senator from New York understand me to say that the House Committee of Conference would have been contented with this alone? I said this was one of a series of propositions. *Ir. SEWARD. I understood the Senator to say that. Mr. HUNTER. I said this was one of a series; and the others were not submitted, when we failed to agree on this. Mr. SEWARD. The honorable Senator stated that was the condition of affairs. I understand that the honorable chairman of the committee of the House reported to that House substantially as I have stated the result of the conference here. I have verified the fact, and so I now stand upon it. Mr. President, I do indeed love peace; I do indeed fear the terrors of civil war; but that is not enough to make me surrender an object more important than peace-Liberty. Peace! The Senate will give peace to Kansas now on one condition-that Kansas will surrender Freedom, and accept Slavery. Is there anything new in this proposition? Is it not the very proposition that you made when you passed the Kansas-Nebraska law? If the people of Kansas would have accepted Slavery, they could have had peace at the hands of Congress eighteen months ago, and there would never have been a marauder, or even a hostile intruder, from Missouri, within the Territory. They have always had the option of peace; they have it now, independently of you; they have only to strike the colors of Freedom, and run up the black flaeof Slavery, and thereupon peace, order, and tranquillity, will reign throughout the prairies they have chosen for their abode. Aye, and the longer that SlaverWy shall last there, down to that period, I know not how distant, when the African race itself shall 7 citizens of Kansas, or adventurers from the free States. The armed bands that are forming along the banks of the Missouri, and in the cities of the Southern slave States, to renew the violence so briefly suspended, are of the same class. I need not be told here, sir, how desperate and reckless they are. Honorable Senators mistake me much, if they suppose that I look with complacency or calmness on the gathering of the storm anew, and that I do not fear for the safety of the people upon whom it is so soon to rain down new desolation. Why should I niot share all their alarms and fears? They are my neighbors, countrymen, and friends. But, at the same time, honorable Senators, in explaining their own positions in this crisis, will not disturb me by imputing to me responsibilities for the disasters of the times. Before the so-ealled Compromise of 1850 was enacted here, there was neither civil war in Kansas, nor any cause existing that could ever produce civil war or Slavery there. I expostulated against the Compromise, and implored Congress not to disturb the landmarks of Freedom. I was answered, that those landmarks of Freedom were in that case a mere abstraction, on which it was only fanaticism and folly to insist. I replied, that if you yielded that abstraction, and so tolerated Slavery in the possessions acquired from Mexico, that Slavery would invade the unoccupied territory which remained under the protection of the Missouri Cormpromise of 1820, and that it would crowd you out of all the Territories of' the United States, and engage you in a contest for Freedom even in the free States. The concessions then d anded were nevertheless made. In 1854, you took advantage of the concessions made in 1850, and proposed an abrogationi of the prohibition of Slavery contained in the Compromise of 1850, under the specious pretence of abnegating all Federal authority concerning DSl~lhvery over the Territories of the United States, and granting to the people in those Territories perifct freedoim to establish civil liberty there for themselves. I remonstrated and expostulated again, and warned you then that you were sendin, the demon of civil strife into the Territories. You persisted. At the beginning of this session, I directed your attention to the civil war then actually broken out in Kansas, and implored your interposition to restore peace there, together with that perfect freedom which had been subverted by the invaders. The civil war was then there; it remains there yet; it only grows more and more flagrant. What evil has happened, then, that I have not foreseen and endeavored to prevent? Who has held Executive power in this land? Certainly not I. Who has exercised Legislative power? Certainly not I. Who Judicial authority? Certainly not I. Whose counsels have directed Executive, Legislative, and Judicial powers? Certainly not,mine, but the counsels of those who have been constantly my adversaries. Yet th ere is civil war in Kan sas, and it is the result of unwise and pernicious legislation, tyrannical Executive action, and prostituted Judicial authority. Sir, He whose penetration no secret of the human heart escapes, no artful perversion of the truth baffles-He who makes the hearts of men to love Freedom even more than peace, and to seek i t w ith untiring perseverance thnrougshout age s of' suffering —Ie knows where the responsibility of the disasters that have o vertaken the R epublic belongs. My conscience, o n this subject, shrin ks not from His awful scrutiny. And now, sir, as I have here tofor e cou nse lled how to continue the re ign of peace before it was broken, and how to restore it when fir st it was broken, I will, wl ith deference, advise how to regain its sway, before it is too late, and before th e whole country rages with' the flames hitherto confined within the limits of Kansas. Yo u can do this o nly by removing the caus e of the civil war in Kansas, the revolutionary usurpation t hat exists there. In short, you can only effectually restore peace to Kansas, and harmony to th e country, by granting liberty, with new and sure safeguards. What Kansas wants, i s not merely peae, but that perfect freedo m anrd safety which you granted, or pro fessed to grant, by the Kan sas and Nebraska law. You must not merely repeal the laws of the con quer ors of' Kans as, but yo u must a bol ish the conquest it self Ther e is only one alternative-which is, that Missour ians will irrigate the s oi l of Kan sas with the blood of. its people, to fertilize that soil, and make it receive the seeds of Slavery. C onsi der well, I be - seech you, what a fearful alter native, how horrible an a lternati ve, this is! And consider -alas, that I must urge it-how dangerous an one it is! All the principles of ou r Cons titution, all t h e sent iments o f mankind, all nat ure itself revolts against it. Can it, then, be adopted with success and safety? Let the t rial, if it must come, determine. Some Senator asks, Who can tell what is to be the destiny of Kansas? I cahi tell. Sir, I do not know the fearful h orrors througha w hich either Kansa s o r the country' is to pass; but be they what t he y may, t he d estiny of Kansas is Freedom. I turn, for a moment, to the honorable Senator fiwom Kentucky, [pIer. CRITfTENDEN.] He has lai d his peace-off ering on the tab le of the Senate-I ought rather t o say, " on the altar of his country." His years, his eminent p osition, his unquestioned patriotism, entitle him to do so, and en t it le hi m not merely to forbearance on this occasion, but t o the homage dt oue to on e who sincerely desires to be a public benefactor. Although he has not s poken so charitably of me a s migh t become th e t office he has undertaken, I shall not attempt to thrust that offering from the altar, or to tear i t into p ieces. I will leitit lie the re, and calmly a wait the approval of it by the sl ave States, in wh ose name it is presen ted by h im, a s o ne with which the fre e States ought also to be satis fied. Sir, the slave States have committed themselves to the principle of Popular Sovereignty in the Territories so deeply, that they uphold and maintain even a revolutionary and usurping authority there as a legitimate one. We shall see whether they are ready, on the prayer of the Senator from Kentuck~y, to renounce this principle and its acceptable fruits, and transfer the legislative authority in Kansas to any depository which will restore 8 either perfect freedom, or any real freedom whatever, to the people of Kansas. I will wait, sir, and answer, after the Democracy on the other side of the Chamber shall have recognised the Senator's peace-offering as thei r own. In the mean time, I beg to say, wi t h te hihe st respect and the utmo st k indness to the ho norable Senator who leads in this solemn ceremony, that he is not likely to effect a truc e with the House of Representati ves by such denunci ations as he has indulged in against the fre e States of the North on this occasion. No, sir; to resume his own figure, le t me tell hi m that the priest who shall, in th is conjunct ure, lay on the altar of his country a peace-offeri ng acceptable to the American people, must be a man who not only love s public tranquillity and is w ithout tfear, but w ho also can respect the lov e of jus tice and truth and the devotion to F r ee d om which anim ate the free States of the North. The honorable Senator, after deploring the fanaticism of the North, an nounces his hope that it will grow more conciliatory. Sir, it is not the charac ter of the North star to change its position or to vary its light. The mariner singles it out from among all the luminaries of the heavens, and adopts it as t he guide to his cou rse, for its cons tancy. It will not change now. I t has been for a tirme partially covered with fleeting clouds; but they are passing away, and it will stand then and shin e stead ily up on this, n ation, until it shall conduct not only those States which receive its vertical rays, but even those which enjoy only its angular beams, into the haven of impartial and enduring Freedom. Sir, the Romans in their Southerni Capital, and under their sunny skies, thought, when the Northmen for a time withdrew from the borders of the city, that those Northmen would change and relent, and become m-re conciliatory. Did the Northmen indeed change? No, not until they had mingled their own blood with the blood of Italy, and restored it to a better and purer freedom than it had ever known before. I think that France and England, and especially Turkey, is expecting that the North of Europe will become more conciliatory, more generous. Do you believe this? No, sir; the North of Europe changes not. Itis again to spread overthe Southern plains, and reinvigorate the natives of the Ale'diterranean. No more will the North of America change. You may resist'it if you will, but it will persevere peacefully, if you will suffer it to do so; but it will persevere constantly, nevertheless, in the extension of Freedom in the Territories of the United States, and by its example in inducing the Southern States to abolish Slavery among themselves. And, now, what do Senators expect to gain by persisting in the miserable issue they have made up with the House of Representatives?-an issue upon our own relative power, under the Constitution, as a branch of the National Legislature-a question merely personal. Sir, I have no reason to despise, as I have no motive to undervalue, the power or the dignity of the Senate of the United States. Contrary to what I had ever before supposed or dreamed, I, myself, am a member of the Senate. MIy own fortunes and fame, such as they are, are bound up in the fortun es apd fame of t he Se nate. For me there is no hibj hler ambition than the place I hold in the Senate; there is no lan e or open way for me to any other department of my cotintry's service. As I would leave a fair. name, and, if possible, one that might in future times arrest the eye of the curious and inquisitive student who shall be prying into my country's history, so I am careful never to do an act, to speak a word, or think a thought, unbecoming to the Senate of the United States. I therefore stand with you all for the dignity, and honor, and independence, of the Serge. But, sir, I confess to you frankly my opinion, that the Senate will defend its dignity and independence effectually, not by joining puerile issues with the House of Representatives on questions of equality or preeminen,e, but in the same way that every citizen, who is a constituent of either House of Congress, maintains his dignity and independence-namely, by doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly, under all the vicissitudes and in all the scenes of human activity and endurance. WASHINGTON, D. C. BU ELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 1856. I 34TH CONGRES, 1st Session. 1st Session. No. 198. IN THiE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. JUNE 30, 1856.-Ordered to be printed. Motion by Mr. JoNEs, of Tennessee, to print 10,000 additional copies referrred to the Com mittee on Printing. Mr. DOUGLAS made the following REPO RT. [To accompany Bill S. 356.] Thie Committee on Territories, to which was recommitted " a bill to au thorize the people of the Territory of Kansas to form a constitution and State government, preparatory to their admission into the Union, when they have the requisite population;" and to which was referred " a bill to restore order and peace in Kansas;"'? and " a bill supplemen tary to'an act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,' and to provide for the faithful execution of the said act in the Terri tory of Kansas, according to the true intent and meaning thereof;" and an' amendment proposed by Mr. Seward, to the bill (S. 172,) 'to authorize the people of the Territory of Kansas to form a constitu tion and State government, preparatory to their admission into the Union, when they have the requisite population;"' and " an amend-' ment" proposed by iM[r. Toombs as a substitute for the last named bill, (S. 172,) have examined and considered the same, and beg leave to report: The existing government in the Territory of Kansas was organized in pursuance of an act of Congress approved Mlay 30, 1854, instituting temporary governments for the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, preliminary to their admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, so soon as they should have the requisite population. The organic law of Kansas is identical with that of Nebraska in all its provisions and principles. Each is based on that great fundamental principle of self-government which underlies our whole system of republican institutions, as promulgated in the Declaration of Indep)endence, consecrated by the blood of the revolution, and consolidated and firmly established by the Constitution of the United States. Each recognizes the right of the people thereof; while a Territory, to form and regulate their own domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and to be received into the Union so soon as they should attain the requisite number of inhabitants, on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever. These two Territories were thus SENATE. REP. Com. I No. 198. TERRITORY OF KANSAS. organized in 1854 under the authority of the same act of Congress7 with equal rights, privileges, and immunities, and with the same safeguards and guarantees for the quiet enjoyment of their liberties, without molestation by foreign interference or domestic violence. In Nebraska the inhabitants have enjoyed all the blessings which it is possible for a law-abiding people to derive from the faithful administration of a wise and just government. Life, liberty, and property have been held sacred, the elective franchise has been preserved inviolate, and all the rights of the citizen have been protected against fraud or violence by laws of his own making. These are the legitimate fruits of the principle, the practical results of fidelity to the provisions of the Nebraska organic act. There was no foreign interference with their domestic affairs, no fraudulent attempt to control the elections by non-resident voters. Emigrant aid societies, with their affiliated associations and enormous capital, did not extend their operations to Nebraska, and hence there were no counter schemes formedl to control the elections -and force institutions upon the Territory regardless of the rights and wishes of the bonajfide inhabitants. The principle of the organic law, the right of the people to manage their internal affairs and control their domestic concerns in obedience to tlhe Federal Constitution, was permitted to have fair play, and work out its natural and legitimate results. Hence peace, security, and progress, in all the elements of prosperity in this Territory, have vindicated the wisdom and policy of the Nebraska act. Fortunate would it have been for the peace and harmony of the republic, and still more fortunate for the unhappy people of Kansas, had they been permitted. in the undisturbed enjoyment of their acknowledged rights, to derive similar blessings from the same organic law. Your committee can perceive no reason why the same causes would not have produced like results in Kansas but for the misguided efforts of non-residents of the Territory, citizens of the different States, who had no moral or legal right to interfere with the elections and legislation of the Territory, to seize upon the legislative power through the ballot box, and thus control the local and domestic institutions of a feeble and sparsely settled Territory. Upon this point we have had no reason to doubt, but much to strengthen and confirm, the correctness of the views contained in the report of the Committee on Territories of the 12th of March last, to wit: "In tracing, step by step, the origin and history of these Kansas difficulties, your committee have been profoundly impressed with the significant fact, that each one has resulted from an attempt to violate or circumvent the principles and provisions of the act of Congress for the organization of Kansas and Nebraska. The leading idea and fundamental principle of the Kansa,-Nebraska act, as expressed in the law itself, was to leave the actual settlers and bona fide iihabitants of each Territory'perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutiont it their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.' While this is declared to be'the true intent and meaning of the'act,' those who were opposed to allowing the people of the Territory, preparatory to their admission into the Union as a State, to decide the slavery question for themselves, failing to accom 2 TERRItORY OF, KANSAS. plish their purpose in the halls of Congress, and under the authority of the Constitution, immediately resorted in their respective States to unusual and extraordinary means to control the political destinies and shape the domestic institutions of Kansas, in defiance of the wishes and regardless of the rights of the people of that Territory as guarantied by their organic law. Combinations in one section of the Union to stimulate an unnatural and false system of emigration, with the view of controlling the elections, and forcing the domestic institutions of the Territory to assimilate to those of the non-slaveholding States, were followed, as might have been foreseen, by the use of similar means in the slaveholding States, to produce directly the opposite result. To these causes, and to these alone, in the opinion of your committee, may be traced the origin and progress of all the controversies and disturbances with which Kansas is now convulsed. "If these unfortunate troubles have resulted as natural consequences from unauthorized and improper schemes of foreign interference with the internal affairs and domestic concerns of the Territory, it is apparent that the remedy must be sought in a strict adherence to the principles, and rigid en torcement of the provisions of the organic law." The correctness of this position in respect to the causes of "these Kansas difficulties," "that each one has resultedfrom an attempt to violate or circumvent the principles and provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska act," and that " the remedy must be sought in a strict adherence to the principles, and rigid enforcement of the provisions of that act," is recognized and affirmed in the provisions of " a bill to restore order and peace in Kansas," introduced by the senator from Illinois (Mr. Trumbull) and referred to this committee' The first section provides "that for temporary purposes, and till Congress shall otherwise direct, the Territory of Kansas be, and the same hereby is, annexed to and made part of the Territory of Nebraska, and all the laws now in force in the Territory of Nebraska, and not locally inapplicable, are hereby extended to and over the Territory of Kansas, and shall have the same force and effect therein as they now have in Nebraska Territory," &c. The second section provides that all offices in Kansas shall be vacated and recognizes the validity and binding force of the acts passed by the territorial legislature of Kansas, but contains a repealing clause to take "' effect on the passage of this act." The bill does not propose to repeal the organic act of Kansas Territory, nor to restore the Missouri compromise, for the obvious reason that its sole object, as stated in the title, is "to restore order and peace in Kansas." Inasmuch as the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act and the repeal of the Missouri compromise have produced "order and peace" in Nebraska, and could have had no influence in creating the present difficulties in Kansas, the repeal of the former and the restoration of the latter would not have accomplished the objects of the bill. On the contrary, the bill proceeds on the theory that the best, if not only, mode "to restore order and peace in Kansas,' is to place the people of that Territory directly under the protection of the Nebraska act, according to the true intent and meaning thereof, and thus leave them "perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic 3 4 TERRITORY OF KANSAS. institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, with the right to come into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may prescribe at the time of admission." Your committee fully concur in the objects of the bill, as thus un derstood and expressed, but perceive serious obstacles in the way of accomplishing those objects in the mode proposed. In the first place, the present difficulties in Kansas, although produced by the causes already stated, arise out of the fact that there is a'large body of armed men in that Territory thoroughly organized for the avowed purpose of resisting to "a bloody issue" the laws and constituted au thorities of the Territory, and to that end have established and put in partial operation an independent government in conflict with the government established by Congress and in defiance of its authority. If Kansas should be annexed to Nebraska, and still left under the same organic law, the difficulties are not removed so long as the re bellion continues and the revolutionary government exists in defiance of the authority of Congress. The effect would be to aggravate the evil and enlarge the theatre of its disasters. Your committee can perceive no wisdom or justice in making the people of Nebraska involuntary parties to an organized system of lawless violence which they have had no agency in producing, and from the calamities of which they are entitled to be exempted by their fidelity to the Constitution and laws of the land. Besides, if the rea sons assigned for refusing obedience to the laws of Kansas are well founded, the same objections would apply with much greater force to obeying the laws of Nebraska. If the assumption that some nonresidents participated in the elections, and to that extent affected the legislation of Kansas, be a sufficient justification for resisting all the laws enacted by the legislature, the fact that none of the inhabitants of Kansas had any voice in making the laws of Nebraska, which it is now proposed to extend over them by an act of Congress, without their consent, would furnish a much more plausible pretext for resisting the laws of Nebraska. If it be said that some of the enactments of the Kansas legislature are obnoxious to that portion of the inhabitants who resist the constituted authorities in the execution of the laws of that Territory, what assurance have we that the same persons would not find fault with some of the enactments of the Nebraska legislature, and assign the double reason for refusing obedience to them; first, -that they had no voice in making them, and second, that they were opposed to them, and would not obey any law they do not like. For the reasons stated, your committee cannot recommend the proposition to annex Kansas to Nebraska as a measure calculated " to restore order and peace in Kansas." The next proposition in the order in which they were referred to your committee is the "Bill supplementary to an act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," introduced by the senator from Delaware, (Mr. Clayton.) This bill embraces two leading ideas, the one to reorganize the legislature of the Territory, and the other to admit Kansas into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, in compliance with the principles and provisions of the KansasNebraska act, whenever it should be ascertained by a census that the 4 TERRITORY OF KANSAS. 'Territory contained a federal population of ninety-three thousand fouur hundred and twenty inhabitants. So much of the bill as relates to the admission of the State is, in substance, a copy of the one reported by the Committee on Territories on the 17th of March last, and hence may be assumed to possess all the advantages which may be fairly claimed for that proposition, and liable to whatever objections may be justly urged against it. That portion of the bill which provides for the reorganization of the legislature contains some wise and excellent provisions, especially those intended to guard the elective franchise against fraud and violence, and to ensure a free and fair expression of the popular voice through the ballot box; while others are liable to serious and fatal objections in consequence of their repugnance to the great principle embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska act, and affirmed in the preamble, although not sustained by all the provisions of the bill under consideration. The next in order is "a bill supplementary to an act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and to provide for the faithful execution of the said act in the Territory of Kansas, accord ing to th-e true intent and meaning thereof," introduced by the senator from Missouri, (Mr. Geyer.) This bill makes no provision for the admission of Kansas into the Union, and has for its main object efficient provisions for preserving the sanctity of the ballot box, and to throw such safeguards around the elective franchise as would effectually protect it from fraud, violence, intimidation, or any other improper influence, which would prevent a fair expression of the popular will in all elections in the Territory. Most of the provisions of this bill are admirably adapted to the objects in view, and, should it be determined to pass no law for the admission of Kansas into the Union, your committee would not hesitate to adopt most of them, with some modification, as the best solution of the existing difficulties in Kansas. The two remaining propositions referred to your committee relate to the same subject matter, and, although entirely different in their character, will be considered together. They are, first, an amendment in the form of a substitute, proposed by the senator from New York, (Mr. Seward,) to the bill reported by the Committee on Territories on the 17th of March last, and the other an amendment in the form of a substitute for the same bill, proposed by the senator from Georgia, (Mr. Toombs.) The amendment of the senator from New York, which he proposes as a substitute for the entire bill, provides for the immediate admission of Kansas into the Union, without making any provision for the formation of a constitution, or the establishment of a State government. It may be the intention of the author of this proposition to recognize and put in operation a paper framed at Topeka in October last, and called "a constitution of the State of Kansas," a portion of which has been presented to the Senate and referred to this committee, although the boundaries and territory described and embraced within the provisions of said pretended constitution are widely different from those described and provided for in the proposition of the senator from New York. For instance, while the State which the senator from New York proposes to admit is .6 TERRITORY OF.KANSAS. described in his proposition to be bounded on the west by the 10(Fd meridian of longitude, that provided for in the Topeka constitution ex tends several hundred miles beyond that meridian and joins the Territory of Utah, and meanders the summit of the Rocky Mountains for its western boundary, and thus embracing a Territory larger than the combined area of several of the New England States, which is not contained within the limits of the State proposed to be admitted by the amendment of the senator from New York. The fact that the amendment of that senator does not refer to the Topeka constitution, nor to any other constitution, nor to any supposed State government in Kansas, taken in connexion with this vast discrepancy in the boundaries and territory proposed to be embraced within the limits of the proposed State, would authorize the presumption that he proposes to ignore and reject the Topeka constitution and State government, at the same time that he subverts the territorial government established by Congress, and thus leave the inhabitants wvithout any government, or law, or protection of any kind, free to defend their rights and settle all matters in dispute by the arbitrament of the sword. Such, in the opinion of your committee, would be the fair interpretation and inevitable effect of the proposition of the senator from New York, if it should unfortunately become the law of the land. If, on the other hand, he should revise and reconstruct his proposition in such a manner as to recognize and legalize the Topea constitution and State government, it becomes important to inquire into the legality, regularity, and fairness of the proceedings, with the view of ascertaining whether it was the work of the whole body of the people of Kansas, or the act of a political party, or of a mere faction, being a small minority of the inhabitants, whose chief grievance consisted in the fact that they could not control the majority. It is not pretended that any of the proceedings which resulted in tih formation of the Topeka constitution were had in pursuance of law. The preliminary meetings, the calling of the convention, the appointment of delegates, the assembling of the convention, the formation of the constitution, the vot ing on its ratification, the election of officers under it-each and every step in the whole movement was not only without the authority of law, but a part of a scheme, openly and boldly avowed in their meetings and conventions, having for its object the subversion of the government established by authority of Congress in said Territory. They refused to recognize the validity of the laws of the Territory, or the authority of the officers appointed to carry them into effect. Hence there was no law prescribing the qualifications of voters, or excluding illegal voters, or prohibiting any person from voting as many times as he pleased, at as many different places as he chose on the same day. No law providing for the appointment of judges of elections, none prescribing the usual oath, no officer to administer the oath, and no law to punish its violation. In short, there was no regularity, no legality, no security for fairness, no safeguards against fraud in any of their proceedings. Besides, the whole movement was the work of a political party and not the action of the great body of the people irrespective of party. Their meetings were party meetings, their conventions were party conventions, their 6 TERRITORY OF KANSAS. remslutions were of a nature which necessarily precluded the co-operation of every man who felt it his duty to yield obedience to the laws and constituted authorities of the Territory under the organic act. HIence it was strictly a partizan movement-a movement of the lawresisting party in opposition to the law-abiding party It was not a question between those who approved and those who disapproved the laws of the Kansas legislature; for many good citizens preferred obedience to a code of laws, a portion of which they did not approve, so long as they were held to be constitutional by the courts and remained upon the statute book, as a less evil than armed resistance and lawless violence. Thus it was a partizan movement-an organization of the law-resisting party against the law-abiding party; and the most that can be claimed for it is, that it received the sanction of a decided majoity of its own party. The question now arises, whether a constitution, made by a political party, without the'athority of law, and under circumstances which afford no safeguards against fraud, and no guarantees of fairness, and raises no presumptions that it embodies the wishes and sentiments of a majority of the inhabitants, shall be forced, by an act of Congress, upon a whole people as their fundamental law, unalterable for nine years. In the opinion of your committee, whenever a constitution shall be formed in any Territory, preparatory to its admission into the Union as a State, justice, the genius of our institutions, the whole theory of our republican system, imperatively demand that the voice of the people shall be fairly expressed, and their will embodied in that fun damental law, without fraud or violence, or intimidation, or any other improper or unlawful influence, and subject to no other restrictions than those imposed by the Constitution of the United States. It is true that each party claimed, at the time the Topeka constitution was formed, and now claims, to have a large majority of the legal voters in Kansas, in opposition to the pre tensions of the opposite party. Each party has always professed a willingness to test and de cide this disputed point in respect to the majority at the ballot box, whenever the elective franchise can be exercised in security and protected against illegal voting, fraud, and vio lence, and a fair expression of the popular voice thus obtained. The amendment proposed by the senator from Georgia, (Mr. TOOMBS,) as a substitute for the original bill of the committee, has been prepared expressly with reference to attaining this desirable result. Your committee have carefully examined and revised the proposition of the senator from Georgia, and made such alterations in its details as in their opinion would promote its efficiency, and now present an outline of its provisions to the consideration of the Senate. It provides for the appointment, by the President, with the advice and consent ofthe Senate, of five commissioners, whose duty it shall be to take an accurate census of all the persons authorized by the act to vote, and make a fair apportionment among the different counties according to the number of legal votes, and to cause the said apportionment, together with a list of all the legal voters in each county, (specifying the name of each voter,) to be published and generally circulated throughout the Territory, and one copy to be deposited in the clerk's office of each county, and other copies posted up in at least three of the most public places in each voting precinct, to the end that every inhabitant of the Territory may have the opportunity of pointing out any error that may occur on said list, either of the omission or insertion of any name improperly, and apply to the commissioners to have the error corrected. The commissioners are then required to remain in session each day, (Sundays excepted,) until the 20th of October, at such places in the Territory as will be most convenient to the inhabitants, to hear complaints, examine witnesses, and correct all errors in the said lists of voters. When all the errors shall have been corrected, and the re vised lists shall have been completed, the commissioners are required to have them published and generally circulated throughout the Territory before the day of election, and one copy thereof to be deposited in the clerk's office of each county, one copy to be delivered to each JiXge of election, and three copies to be posted up at each place of voting in the Territory. 7 . TERRITORY OF KANSAS. The election of delegates to a convention to form a constitution is to take place in the month of November next, on the day of the presidential election, and no person is to be per* mitted to vote whose name does not appear on said corrected lists. Those who are entitled to have their names appear on said lists as legal voters, and who will have the right to vote, are all white male citizens of the United States, (including all persons who shall have taken the preliminary oath to become citizens in compliance with the naturalization laws of ther United States,) over twenty-one years of age, and who were bona fide inhabitants of the Ter ritory on the 4th day of Juily, 1856, and shall have been actual residents of the country three months next preceeding the day of election. No other qualifications or tests are required for' a voter. The delegates are to assemble in convention at the seat of government of the Territory en the first day of December, and then to decide, first, whether it be expedient or not for Kansas to come into the Union at that time, and if deemed expedient, to proceed to form a con stitution'and State government, which shall be republican in form, preparatory to admission' into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever.' The' board of commissioners, it is supposed, will be composed of men of the highest character for integrity and impartiality, and divided as nearly equal as may be between the great political parties of the country, with a view not only of ensuring entire airness, but also of furnishing' satisfactory evidence to the whole country that everything will be fairly and impartially done. There are many other provisions in the bill, mostly matters of detail, but well devised and adapted to carrying out the main design. Among these is a bill of rights, copied from the Constitution of the United States and the amendments to that instrument, declaring that' "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust;" that no law shall be in force or enforced-.in said Territory "abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or of the right of the people to assemble and to petition government for redress of grievances;" and that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," &c., &c. Your committee will not weary the Senate with a summary of all the provisions and de tails of the proposition of the senator from Georgia in its revised form. It is'believed to be well adapted to the object, and, if it becomes the law of the land, that it will insure a fair and impartial decision of the questions at issue in Kansas, in accordance with the wishes of the bona fide inhabitants of the Territory, without fraud, violence, or any other improper or unlawful influence. The point upon which your committee have entertained the most serious and grave doubts in regard to the propriety of endorsing this proposition relates to the fact that, in the absence of any census of the inhabitants, there is reason to apprehend that the Territory does not contain sufficient population to entitle them to demand admission under the treaty with France, if we take the ratio of representation for a member of Congress as the rule. If, however, we are to regard' this as the competing or antagonizing measure to the proposition of the senator from New York, (and we are inclined to'the opinion that such is the view of the senate,) your committee can have no hesitation in recommending its adoption. Nearly a whole year has elapsed since the initiatory steps were'taken for the election of delegates and the holding the convention for the formation of.'the Topeka constitution. Nearly a year's emigration has since poured into. that Territory, an emigration unparalleled in extent and character, stimulated in every portion of the Union by appeals to passion and interest, to ambition and patri6tism, to every feeling and sentiment which could induce men to aban don the scenes of their childhood and the graves of their ancestors, and seek a home in a new and distant Territory, with the hope ofimproving their condition and controlling its destinies. Under these circumstances, it is but fair to assume that the population has more than doubled within that period, and that each man has gone there with the expectation and understanding that he was to have a voice and vote in the formation of its laws, institutions,'and government, in accordance with the principles and provisions of'the Kansas-Nebraska act. The revised proposition of the senator from Georgia refers all' matters in dispute to the decision of the present population, with guaranties of fairness and safeguards against frauds and violence, to which no reasonable man can find just ground of exc'eptjon; while the senator from New York, if his proposition is designed to recognize and impart vitality to the Topeka constitution, proposes to disfranchise, not only all -the emigrants who have arrived in the Territory this year, but all the law-abiding men who refused to join in an act of open rebellion against the constituted authorities of the Territory last year, by making the unauthorized and unlawful action of a political party the fundamental law of the whole people. In view of all the difficulties and embarrassments which -surround the question, and with the anxious desire to restore harmony and fraternal feeling to the Union, and peace, quiet, and security to Kansas, your committee recommend that e following be adopted in lieu of Senate billNyou r lcom'~ olwn e adopted in lieu of Senate bill No. 172.' -''' Your committee ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the various bills and amendments referred to them in connexion with this subject, together with the Topeka constitution.' 8 z