Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
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Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
I know that there is another deceptive clause which seems to throw
certain safeguards around the election of delegates to the Convention,
_when that Convention shall be ordered by the Legislature_; but out
of this very clause do I draw judgment against the Usurpation which
the bill recognizes. It provides that the tests, coupled with the
electoral franchise, shall not prevail in the election of delegates,
and thus impliedly condemns them. But if they are not to prevail
on this occasion, why are they permitted at the election of the
Legislature? If they are unjust in the one case, they are unjust in
the other. If annulled at the election of delegates, they should be
annulled at the election of the Legislature; _whereas the bill of
the Senator leaves all these offensive tests in full activity at the
election of the very Legislature out of which this whole proceeding
is to come_, and it leaves the polls at both elections in the control
of the officers appointed by the Usurpation. Consider well the
facts. By existing statute establishing the Fugitive Slave Bill as
a shibboleth, a large portion of honest 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 pronounce 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 recognize 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 the
wolf which you ought at once to kill. The marvellous story of Baron
Munchausen is verified. The wolf which thrust itself into the harness
of the horse it had devoured, and then whirled the sledge according to
mere brutal bent, is recognized 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, self-evident title. It is a continuation of the
Crime against Kansas, and as such deserves the same condemnation. It
can be defended only by those who defend the Crime. Sir, you cannot
expect that the people of Kansas will submit to the Usurpation which
this bill sets up and bids them bow before, as the Austrian tyrant set
up the ducal hat in the Swiss market-place. If you madly persevere,
Kansas will not be without her William Tell, who will refuse at all
hazards to recognize the tyrannical edict; and this will be the
beginning of civil war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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