4 I may peaceably meet together in primary assembly, or in conven-ions chosen by such assemblies, for the purpose of peiiiiouing Congress to abrogate the Territoiial Gov- ernm nt. 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 mere right of petitioning, and conduct all their proceedings in a peaceable manner. And as the power of Congress over the whole subject is plenary and unlimited, they may acct pt 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 petition by a wti'ten Constitution, framed and agreed on by their primary assemblies, or by a convention of delegates chosen by such assemblies, I perceive no legal obj-. ction to their power to do so; nor to any measures that may be taken to collect the sense of the people in respect to it.” Dees the Constitution meet the sense of the people 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 io arrest the members of the Legislature, and the Slate officers, for treason, as soon as this address is received by you. In such an event, of course, no resistance i will be offered to the officer. Men who are ready to de- i fend their own and their country’s honor with their lives, | can never object to a.legal investigation into their action, nor to suffer any punishment their conduct may merit. We should be unworthy the constituency we represent, did we shrink from martyrdom on the scaffold, or at the stake, should duly require it. Should the blood of Collins and Dow, of Barber and Brown, be insufficient to quench the thirst of ihe President and his accomplices in the hollow ftohk^y of ‘ squatter sovereignty ’ they are practicing upon the people of Kansas, t'.en more victims must be furnished. Let what will come, not a finger should be raised against the F> deral authority until there shall be no hope of relief but in revolution.” The people of Kansas, relying on their constitutional 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 nb other, unless a sectional one, except the allegation of informality in her proceeding, in not having a., previous act of Congress authorizing them. I have shown that such an 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 Union against them, having entirely supright to do. The people of any Territory have a right, under 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 State Government, and apply to Congress for admission into the Union. The right of a people “ to alter or abolish ” their form of Government is an inherent one, and is classed in the Declaration of Independence, as indispensable to the inalienable rights of man. The mode and manner of accomplishing it in organized States properly belongs to the forms of law, to be prescribed by the State Government; but in the Territories, Congress is the only power that can prescribe the forms; for a Territorial Government emanating from Congress can be changed, modified, or abrogated, only by its consent. That consent, however, can be expressed as well after as before the action of the people. 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 grievances. 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 electing members to a convention to form a Constitution and State Government, nor to do any otner act, directly or indirectly, to create such new Government. Every such law, even though it were approved by the Governor of the Territory, would be null 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 by the citizens of Arkansas, to form a Constitution and State 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 UNLAW- ful. 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 undoubtedly possess the ordinary privileges and immunities of citizens of the United Slates. Among these is the right of the people ‘ peaceably to assemble, and to petitibu tfie t^bvBTntnMit for the. redress of'grievances? In tteeexe«4»e wf tiais th® inhabitants dt Ark'a'ise&e
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