Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)Sumner, Charles
History
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 05 (of 20)
Sumner, Charles
Slavery -- United States; Speeches, addresses, etc., American
The Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate, of which Felix Grundy
was Chairman, after inquiry, recognized the competency of the popular
Convention, as “elected by the People of the State of Michigan,”
and reported a bill, responsive to their acceptance of the proposed
condition, for the admission of the State without further terms.[112]
Then, Sir, appeared the very objections 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.”[113] And a leading Senator, of great ability and integrity,
Mr. Ewing, of Ohio, broke forth in catechism which would do for the
present hour. He exclaimed:--
“What evidence had the Senate of the organization of the
Convention? of the organization of the popular assemblies who
appointed their delegates to that Convention? None on earth.
Who they were that met and voted we had no information. Who
gave the notice? And for what did the People receive that
notice? To meet and elect? What evidence was there that the
Convention acted according to law? Were the delegates sworn?
And if so, they were extrajudicial oaths, and not binding
upon them.… Were the votes counted? In fact, it was not
a proceeding under the forms of law, for they were totally
disregarded.”[114]
And the same able Senator, on another occasion, after exposing the
imperfect evidence with regard to the action of the Convention,
existing only in letters and in an article from a Detroit newspaper,
again exclaimed:--
“This, Sir, is the evidence to support an organic law of a
new State about to enter the Union,--yes, of an organic law,
the very highest act a community of men can perform: letters
referring to other letters, and a scrap of a newspaper!”[115]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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