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Show 110 A PCLITICAL TEXT-DOOK FOR 180C ultimately given up by th: Jlou -c, save oue j a~op tio n of the Fre?·3tn.te constitution as afore. uppropriating 9,;:2.0,000 for the pay and expenses ~atd: had been prevtous~y beaten,. a_ftor prevail. of the next 1'crritorial Lcl0l 'islature which the tng tn the llouso-thc !Se ll <tte str1k1ng th em out Senate gave up, ou finding itself in ' serious dis- and the lio u;e (by urn.~ tl o f' n car Iy all th? sup-a(\" reemcn t with the IIou e aud thus secured porters of 1! tllmot·e wtth nearly or qu1tc all tl~c pas~age of the Civil 1 Appropria.tion bill. tho e supporting llucll:wan) finally a cquiescing. .l<'itutllv the two Houses were at odds, on a pro- The 3·:1.Lh Congress reas~emblcd 011 the 1 tof vi o fo;.bidtlin ll' the employment of the Army to December. Since the adjoun1111ent from tbe enforce tlte ac~s of the Shawnee .Mis ion as em- last session the presidential election had taken blnll'e cl::timinO' to be a. T erritorial Le00'isluture place, resulting in the cl •ct ion of Jantc3 ,.., , 0 p . 'I'l of Kansas, \\'hen at noon on the 18th of Au- lluchanan as r es1dcnt. IC popular vote gave gu t the speaker's hammer fell, nnouncing the neither of the three c an.tlida.Les a IIJ;Ijority. Jn termination of t he sc:-~. ion, lenving the Army the Free Stntcs the elecLIOn was hotly contc ted bill unpassed. But Prcsideut Pierce jmmc - and a very la rge vote polled. In tho Southern diately issue<l a. proclamation conveuing an cxtrll States the vote was SnHtll, as no is'uc wa pra· se sion on the 21 t ('l'hursd<ty), when the two sented to the people, it being clai tucJ by llou:cs t'econveued according ly,and a full quo- tbeir respective partistws, that boLh the candi· rum of c:lch was found to be present. '£he dates (Ducltanan and Fillmore) voted for in Uouse promptly repa~ 'ed the army bill, again that section we re equally Pro· lavery. But the aflixi ug a proviso forlJitling the usc of the anny pro- lavery lenders had d eclared iu favor of to ct1force the disputed T erritol'ia.llaws, which Buchannu, and he conseqncutly r eceived large proviso the .. en:Lte ns promptly truck out, and majorities in n early every Slave State. the llou'c a.· promptly reinserted. The Senate On the first Jn_y of the session, Kansas affairs ia~istcd on it rli:::agreetnent, out a, k ed no con- cn.me up in the House on an o bj ection to admit fc rence, and the House (Aug. :!2tl) by a c lose J. W. Whitfield to n. seat as a d elegate, the ob· vote decided to adhere Lo itl'l proviso: Y c as, 97; j ection beiz:g that the border rufri.Ln lu.ws under Nay~, 93 ; but ouc of the yea (llot.:ocl~ of Va.) which he had been e lected were "null and was AO gi\'Cit in ordc1· to be able to lllOvc a re- void." c ou..:idcration; o that the true divi::;ion was .Mr. Grow spoke ngain t a.dmittiug Whitfield, % to 9-t, " hich was the actual divi~ion on a. :tnd quoted from a. speech of ~It·. Ulayton (a motion Lv .llr. CoiJb of Ga. that the Honse rc- s hort time before hi decea'e) in tho Senate. cede ft·o1i1 its positiou. Jo'innlly, a 111otion to llr-. Clayton, in speaking of these laws, saiu: reconsider was made aud laid 011 the table ; Now, sir, let me allude to that suhject which Is the Yt•a ', v7 j Xays, 96 j anJ Lllc llou·e thereupon great eause of a ll thi~ discord between the two Houses. adjourned. The ltii.I'L,~t iniquitous, oppre8sir~~ and in.fmno118lmo8 1 J S enacted b.v the l\ 1tnsas Lcgi.;lature, as It ill called, ought .r ng. 23 .-The cnate also voted to ad- to be repeiLle<l bcfo ewe adjourn." .•. •.. uere: Yea~, 35; Na.y~. !). What arc tllcse la.ws? Olio.: uf tl iL'ill :-:cndH a mall to hru·d Mr. Clayton propoRt·d a eomrnitLec of Confer - labor for uot less tllan two yeats tnr tla r 111; to discuss 1 1 ~ the question whether 'hLv e. ;, ex.st.•, ,, .. dol'o not exist, c.nee, to . w 1ie 1 Lr Seward ohjCl:lCU. No <l c- in Kansas: not less tlmn two year8- it lli<L.Y uc fifty; and tLOil if a man could live a ol rl as .l\lethu,elah, it 111ight be In tltc Tiou e, :\flo. C.lluphc ll, of Ohio. propo~cd over nine hurHli ed years. That act prohibits all freedom n imilia.r Coniiilittce of ()011fereuce. Ohiectcd of discussion in Kansas on the great suhj cct dlrcclly J'C< .J fe1-reu to the exclul:!ivc decision of the people In tha' to. Territory; trikes down the liberty of the 11l'e~s too; and )[r. Cobb, of Gu , moved thut the Ilou c rc- is an act egregiously t.yra.nnical as ever was attempt.ed cede front its Kansas pro\'i ·o. Defeated: y cal-l, by any of the Stua.rt.s, Tudor.:~ or Plant.agcncts of J<;n- 97 i .Ntl)'~ , l UO. Arlionl'llcd. gliLnd, nnd this Senate persists in Jeclaring that we art J uot to repeal that I The strngglc fo r the pas:-all'e of' the bill with Sir, let LIS tender to the Ilousc O( Representatives the or wi thout the proviso COllllll~cd until ~aturda_v, repeal of that and all other obj ectiona.IJle anti infamous A ., 1 1 laws t.hat were passed by that Legislature. llncludo In ugust ~Ot l, w I e ll, sevcml niCJJlbct·s, l10 ·ti le tilL> denunciation, without any hesitation, those acts to the proviso, :md hiLhcl'to abscn t, lilt pairt'd which prcl!cribe that a man shall not even practice law having .retu~·ned, the House aga j 11 j)<l.~~cd till: In the 'l'en·1tory unless he swears to support the t'ugitlve Army b1llwllh the p1·oviso lllOtlitied a . follow.~: l:llavc Law; tlHLt he shall not vote at a.ny election, or be 11. member of the J,egislature, unless he ~wears to supporL Provided, however, that no part of the rnilit:u·y force the l<'ugitive Slave Law; that he shall not hold any office or. tl~e United States, fo; the support of wllich appro- of honor or trust there uuless he swca.rs to support the pnat10ns are made by Uus act, shall be employed iu aid l<' ugitive 'lave Law; a~d you may as well impose jusL of the enforcement of any enactments heretofore made such a test oath for any other and e \'l!ry other law. · · by the body claiming to be the 'l'enitorial Legislature I will not go through the whole catalogue of the oppres· of Kansas. sive laws of this Territory. I have done that before to· The bill pa sed as r eported (unde r the Pre- day. There Me others as bad as th e!>e to whi ch I have now referred. . . . . I will not., on the oth er hnnd, vious Question) : Y cas, 99; Nnys, 79; and was ever degra1le myself by standing for an instant by those seut to tl1e Senate, where the above proviso abomin£tble and ·infumoU.J Jaws which 1 denounced was stricken out : Y cas, 26 ; Navs 7 . and tl.le here this morning. What I desire now is, t.hat the Senate bill thus r ctumed to the llouse \vb'en' tile Sctl- of the United 'tates shall was!.l its hands of nil partlclp~V , , tlon In these iniquities by repealing those laws. aN~aey ss , a9m7c. ndtnent was concurred in: Y eas, 101; On Dec. 2n<l, President Pierce sent his a1n nual So the proviso was beaten at last nnd the bill mcssoge to tl1e two House~ of Congl'css. n r 0 d · 1 ' fc l'l'itl passe , wn 1 no restriction on the ?resident's 01l' to the 1:-t te election, the Prestdcnt snys: discrct' · th f 1 A It Is Impossible to misapprehend the great pr!nciplef • lOB 10 c use 0 t 10 t'lll Y iu Kansns ; \vhlch, by their recent political action, the people of tbt Just as all attempts of the liouse to dit·ect United States have sanctioned and announced. ~he President to have a nolle prosequi entered They ha ve asserted the Constitutionnl equality ofeael tn the ca e of the Free-State prisoners in Kan- and all of the States of the Union as States; they har; I d affirmed the cont~titutlonal equa!Hy of etlch and all 0 sas c large with aiding the formation aud the citizens of the United States as citizens, whahwOI PRESIDE~'!' PIERCE 0~ KANSAS. ..IJ 1 oli loo wherever their birth or their residence; J problems o ( social institution~. politict.I economy, 1md t~e r ~av~ m'aintn.ined the Inviolability of the constltu- stat,ellmanship, th ey trent with unreasonable in lclllp&t ey 1 ri hts of the dllfereot ~;ections of the Union; and I ranee of thought ;LI!d language. !l:xtrcutes IJl·get cx t: onal a~e proclaimed their devoted and unalterable at- tremes. \'il)leut atlack fr om I he North Uud~ its incvitabl~ ~eh 1 /1 ~eernest tt o the Union and the Constitution as objects constqueace in the growth of a ~pi rit of angry deU11llce a~ superior to all subjects of local or sectional the South. 'l'hus, in tlte progreRs of eveut~, we had ~n~oversy, as the safeguard of the right of all as the reached the co.n:;ummation which the voice of the pet>ple lrlt and true essence of the liberty, peace, and great· hal! now 110 (Hllntedly r~huke<i, of t!IC ~ttc1upt of <t portion ~~of the Republic. of the States, hy ;t ~eeLIOIIILI orgaruzat1011 nnd rnovem~ut, In doing th is, they have, at the same time, emphatl- to usurp the colllr ol of the Oovernmcut of the Untted cnlly condemn ed the !<lea of organizing in tl.e:;e United States. . St~tes mere geographical parties; of marshalling In hos- . I cor.lfidently believe ~h at the great b?dy of those wilo t.Ue array towards each other the different parts of the mconsltlt::ratdy t(lok tl11s fat;Ll step arc amcerdy attached oountry, North or South, East or Wes t. to ~he C?nRtitut!on a_ntl the ~u!ou. '~b o.:y. would, upon Schemes of this nature, fraught with lncrL!culttble mls- ue.llbcra!IOn, shn.ok ' Y'th unntr~ c.tetl honor f1 om any con: chief and which the considerate sense of tliC people has SCIIlUS act of d1sun1on or c1 v1l war. Dut they have e'ected could have hatl countenance in no part of the entered into a p!tth wllich !earls nowhere, unless It b~ to ~;untry' had they not been disguised by suggestions civil war and disunion, and which ltaS no other poss1.ble pl:\usibl~ in appearance, acting U()OU an excitetl. !!tate of ?utlet. 'l'hey htLVe proceeded. thus far In tlla~ d1rectiOII the public mind, induced by causes temporary in their 111 c~useque r.tcc of t he su~cess1ve stages or. thetr p rogress character and it is to be hoped transiout in their iuflu- hav1ng cons1stcd of!\ senes of s~co.nda ry 1~ uc~, ea.ch of ' which profes cd to be coufiucd Wltllln conslltutiQn~l an1l en~:~rect liberty of nssociation for political objects and peaceful lin~it~, but whi~lt attempted indi reclly W:h<Lt. few the widest scope of ulscul:ll:lion are the received and or~li- 111e~ were Wllllng ~o d? d~rec.tly; that Is.' ~o !Let ~g~~ e~s1vely nary conditions of government in our country. Our Ill· aga1nl!t the coustttut10na.l nghts of neatly ouc-half or the stltutions framed in the spirit of confidence lu the Intel· thirty-one States.. . . . Jlgence a~d integrity of the people, do not forbid citizens, In the long ser1es or acts . of . rn1ltrect ~g.~resstOn, the either individually or associated together, to o.tt!LCk IJy first was the st~euuous agitation, by . Clllzt·ns of ~I.o writing, speech, or any other m<:thotls short of physical Northern Sta.tes .• In .Co n.gre~s nnd out of 1t, of thequestlt)n force the Constitution and the very existence of the of negro cmauc1putwu w the Southern tate:;. Unlo~. Under the shelter of this great liberty, and pro- In r fcreuce to the repeal of tbc ~fissou ri tected by th~ lf~-ws and usages or l.he government they Comr)romisc and the Iell'islativc power of Conassail, nssoc1nt10ns have been for·med in some of the ' , , . . o . . States, of individuals who , pretending to seek .o nly. ,t o grcss over the l Ct'l'tton e , the Prct1dcnt says . prevent the spread of the institution of Slavery rnto • 1e The enactment which establi~IJell the restrictive ~ropresent or fu ture inchoate StRtes of the Uuion, are really graphical line was llcquiesccd in ra1l1er than upprovr·tl, lnfla~e~ with desire ~? change tl~c dom~atlc i~1stitutions by the Sla.tes ~f the Uuion. Itst~od 011 the Ktatutc-buok, of ~x1stmg States. 1 o accomplish therr ObJects,, tl~e~ howcvPr, for a numuer of years; anti the people of th., dedtcatc thcmselTes t? tlJ.e od10.us task of .uep 1·ectat~ng respective States ac!J.uie!icell in the r •enactment ?f the the Governmer:t ?rgann;at!on. wh!c~ sta.nds_m the.lr way, principle as applied to the Slate of Tex;~s; ~wd rt wai and of calu.r~matmg, wilh. mdtscnmmatm~ mvecttvc, not proposed to acquiesce in its furthe~ apphcallon to .'he only the Cltl.zens or parttcui:Lr States, ~vtth whos~ .~tlWS terntory acquired by the Unitell tat~~ fi'IIIH MeXICO. they find fa.u lt, but a ll others of tbe1r fc.ll?w-crt1z~ns l.lut tills proposlliou wa.~ succe~::-fully res1~Le<l hy the rethrou~ hout the country, who do n~t ~artterpate ';tth prcsen tati ve:~ fro 111 lite N or1 hem late', who! r~gardlcS<J U1emm their assaults upon the ~o~stttuuon, fran~e~l and of the statute line, imisted UJJOn nr>rlying rcstnetwo to tne adopted by our fa the rs, and cl~um1~g for the pnv1leges new territ ory geuerally, whether lyi.ng north ur s.outh or It has secured, nnd the blessmgs 1t has cor~ferr~d, the it, thereby repealing it as a legislative COIIl[li'OilliSe, and, ateady support a~d gmt.eful reverence of tlle1r chtldren. 011 the part of th(: Nonh, pensistcutly viol~tllng U1e com- They seck an o;~J ect whtch they well know to be a revo: p;Lct, if compact there wtUl. . . . lutlonary O'_le. lhe~ ~rc perfectly ~ware that the ch:u.1~e 'l'li creupon, ! Iris ena.etwcnt cenaed to have t11n<hng virtue ln the relat1v~ condttiOn of t.he wlntc and bla.ck races 1!1 In any seusc, whether as respects theN ortt~ or the South ; U1e slavcholdmg States, whJch I hey would promote, Is and liO in eiTt:ct it was tretll.ed on the oc<:<Lswn of the all· beyond their law ful authority ; that to them it Is a for· 1n hs~ion of the State of California, and the organis ation eign object; that it c:Lnnot be ea·ected by auy peaceful of the Territories of New Mexico Utah a.nd W <Lsllington. instrument.ality of theirs; that for them, and the States Such was the state of this question when ti re time of which they arc citizens, the only path to its a ccom- a rrived for the organization of the 1'crrito ricl! of Kan~as pllshment is through burning cities, and ravaged fields, and Nebraska. In the progress of constilutilimd inquiry 1\nd slaughtered popu~ations, and a ll there is m~st terri- and rellect10n, it hatl now at length collle to . be. ~c.· a ble In forclgn, co mph~atecl wiU1 civil and serv1.lc wa:; clearly that Congress does not possess constitUtiOnal and that the first step m the attempt Is the Corctble dl!!· power to impolle restrictions of tltis character upo~r nny ruption of a. country embracing in Its bro<Ld bosom a. pre~ent or future Sta.te of the Union. I n a long Rcncs of degree of liberty, antl au amount of imlividual and pub- Llccislons on the fullest nrgulllent, n.nd after tl1e mo~~ lie prosperity to which there is no IJ:J.rallcl in history, delibemt~ considemtion, the Supreme Courto! tire United and substitutln~; in Its place hostile governments, driven States had finally determined this point in every form at once and inevitably into mutual deval!l at iou and under which the question could arise, wllcl!JCr as otf~ctlng fratricidal carnage, transforming the now pe<Lccful aocl public or priv&tc rights-In questions of the public d•J· felicitous brotherhood iato a vast permanent camp of uul.in of religion, of navigation, and of servitude. armed men, like the rivlll monarchies of .~<:uropc and 'l'h~ several States of <he Union are, by force of the Asia. Well knowing that such, and such only, are the Constitution, coequal. In d omestic lcgisl~tive po.wcr .. C<•nmeans nnd the consettuences of their ph1ns and purpo.ses, gress cannot change n, law o.r domest1c rdatwn . m th~ they endeavor to prepare tile people of the Umtetl. ~tate of .l\faine: no lllore can rt In the State of MtRso.un. States for civil war by doing everything In their rower Any st~tute which proposes to do this is a f!!ere n~llty; to deprive the Constitution noel the laws of moral it tttkes away no right, it confers none. If 1t remaws on authority, and to undermine the fabric of the Union by the statute-book unrepealed, it remains th ere. only as a. ap_Peals to passion .n.nd sectional prejudice, by lndoctrin- monument of error, aod a beacon of. wat:mng to the atmg its people with reciprocal hatred, anu by educa.t- legislator and the statesman. 1.'o repeal 1t w1ll be oni.:r to ing them to stand face to face as enemies, rather than remove Imperfection from the statutes, withou.t ~f!<!ctmg, &boulder ~o shoulder as friends. either in the sense or permission or of proluottLOn, the It. is by the agency or ~:~uch unwarrantalile interference, action of the Sta.tee, or of their citizens. . foreign. ~nd domestic, that the minds of many, otherwise Still, when the nominal r estriction of tlus nature, good Citizens, have been so inUamed Into the passionate already a. dettd letter in law, was In terms repe:'-led by condemnation or the domestic institutions of the Southern the last Congress, in a. ci;Luse of the act organi1111g the States, as at length to pass insensiuly to almost e:qunlly Territories of Kansas and N~:braska, that repeal ~as ~ade ~a.ssiona.te hostility toward their fellow-citizens of those the occasion of a wide spread and tlangerous agttat.wn. ~tates., and thus, finally, to fall into the temporary fd· It was all eged that the original ena~tment bemg a. lowshlp with the avowed and active eoemie11 of the Con- compact of l>~rpctual moral ?bllgatlon, us repeal coo· etltution. Ardently attaclwd to liber ty in the abstmct, stituted an odious breach of fl41th. Utey do not sto11 to co11sider practically how the obj ects . · h M d they would attain can be accomplished, nor to retlect On the motiOn to pnut t e essage an ac- ~hat, even If the evil were !l.S great as they deem It, they companying documents, Mr. IIale, or N. H.,. &Te no remedy to apply and that it can be only aggr~- . · . hted by their violence a'n<l unconstih:tional action. A satd · \UC.Lion which is one of the most tiHticult or all tlu~ I look on th~ measaeo o! the Pre.~~ident as & mott u |