The Crime Against Kansas

Id or done in this vast circle of Crime radi-' Ls from the One Idea, that Kansas, at all Izards, must be made a slave State. In all [3 manifold wickednesses that have occurred, Id in every successive invasion, this One lea has been ever present, as tlio Satanic inpter—the motive power—th-^ causing To accomplish this result, three things were Bempted: first, by outrages of a 1 kinds to ve the friends of Freedom already there t of the Territory; secondly, to deter others >m coming; and, thirdly, to obtain the com- hte control of the Government. The probs of driving out, and also of deterring, has fled. On the contrary, the frien Is of Free- m there became more fixed in their resolves stay and fight the battle, which they had ‘ver sought, but from which they disdained [retreat; while the friends of Freedom else- riere were more aroused to the duty of time- succors, by men and munitions of just self- fence. * But, while defeated in the first two proves proposed, the conspirators succeeded in b last. By the violence already portrayed the election of the 30th March, when the Lils were occupied by the armed hordes from .ssouri, they imposed a Legislature upon the 'rntorv, and thus, under the iron mask of y, established a Usurpation not less com- He than any in history. That this was done, proceed to prove. Here is the evidence: Pl. Only in this way can this extraordinarv ’pedition be adequately explained. In the -Srds of Moliere, once employed by John hincy Adams in the other house, Que diable Vaient-ils faire dans cette gaUre? What A they go into the Territory for ? If their w C I * frposes were peaceful, as has been suggested, Viy cannons, arms, flags, numbers, and all s violence? As simple citizens, proceeding the honest exercise of the electoral fran- • I kse, they might have gone with nothing Are than a pilgrim’s staff. Philosophy al- Vys seeks a sufficient cause, and only in the *'e Idea, already presented, can a cause be Vmd in any degree commensurate with this Vime; and this becomes so only when we '•isider the mad fanaticism of Slavery. >£, Public notoriety steps forward to con- •n the suggestion of reason. Tn every place ^ere Truth can freely travel, it has been Verted and understood, that the Legislature ‘ys imposed upon Kansas by foreigners from Ssouri; and this universal voice is now Reived as undeniable verity. ;3* It is also attested by the harangues of conspirators. Ilere is what Stringfellow <yl before the invasion : To those who have qualms of conscience as to violating hs, State or National, the time has come when such impo- qbns must be disregarded, as your rights and property are in danger; and I advise, ane and al'^ to entei' every election district in Kannasin defiance of Reeder and his vile myrmidons^ and vote at the point of the bowie- knife and revolver. Neither give nor take quarter, as our case demands it. It is enough that the slaveholding interest wills it, from which there is no appeal. What right, has Governor Reeder to rule Missourians in Kansas? His proclamation and prescribed ’oath must be repudiated. It is your interest to do so. Mind that Slavery is established where it is not prohibited.” Here is what Atchison said after the invasion : “Well, what next? Why an election for members of the Legislature to organize the Territory must be held. What, did I advise you to do then? Why, meet them on their own ground, and beat them at their own game again; and, cold and inclement as the weather was, I went over with a company of men. My object in going was not to vote. I had no right to vote, unless I had disfranchised myself in Missouri. Iwas not within two miles of a voting-place. My object in going was not to vote, but to settle a difficulty between two of our candidates; and the Abolitionists of the- North said, and published it abroad, that Atchison was there with bowie-knife and revolver ; and by God it was true. I never did go into that Territory—I never intend to go into that Territory—without being prepared for all such kind, of cattle. Well, we beat them, and Governor Reeder gave certificates to a majority of all the members of both Houses, and then, after they were organized, as everybody will admit, they were the only competent persons to say who were, and who were not, members of the same.” 4. It is confirmed by the contemporaneous admission of the Squatter Sorereign, a paper published at Atchison, and at once the organ of the President and of these Borderers, which, under date of 1st April, thus recounts the victory : “ Independence, Missouri, Afar ch SI, 1S55. “Several hundred emigrants from Kansas have just entered our city. They were preceded by the West port and Independence brass bands. They came in at the west side of the public square, and proceeded entirely around it, the bands cheering us with fine music, and the emigrants with good news. Immediately following the bands were about two hundred horsemen in regular order; following these were one hundred and fifty wagons, carriages, &c. They gave repeated cheers for Kansas and Missouri. They report that not an Anti-Slavery man will be in the Legislature of Kansas. We have made a clean sweeps 5. It is also confirmed by the contemporaneous testimony of another paper, always faithful to Slavery, the New York lieraid, in the letter of a correspondent from Brunswick, in Missouri, under date of 20th April, 1855: “ From five to seven thousand men started from Missouri to attend the election, some to remove, but the most to return to their families, with an intention, if they liked the Territory, to make it their permanent abode at the earliest moment practicable. But they intended to vote. The Missourians were, most of them, Douglas men. There were one hundred and fifty voters from this county, one hundred and seventy-five from Howard, one hundred from Cooper. Indeed, every county furnished its quota ; and when they set out, it looked like an army.” * * * * “They were armed.” * * * * “ And as there were no houses in the Territory, they carried tents. Their mission was a peaceable one—to vote, and to drive down stakes for their future homes. After the election, some one thousand five hundred of the voters sent a committee to Mr. Reeder, to ascertain if it was his purpose to ratify the election. He answered that it was, and said the majority at an election must carry the day. But it is not to be denied that the one thousand five hundred, apprehending that the Governor might attempt to play the tyrant—since Lis conduct had already • been insidious and unjust—wore on their hats bunches of hemp. They were resolved, if a tyrant attempted to trample upon the rights of the sovereign people, to l ang him.”

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