Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/793

 from the indulgence of bitter feeling; to begin anew; to devote themselves to the true and substantial interests of Kansas; develope her rich agricultural resources; build up manufactures; make public roads and other works of internal improvement; prepare amply for the education of their children; devote themselves to all the arts of peace, and make this territory the sanctuary of those cherished principles which protect the inalienable rights of the Individual, and elevate states in their sovereign capacities.

The foregoing is a brief summary of the principles upon which my administration was commenced. I have steadily adhered to them, and time and trial have but served to strengthen my convictions of their justice.

Coincident with my inaugural were issued two proclamations, the one, disbanding the territorial militia, composed of a mixed force of citizens and others, and commanding "all bodies of men, combined, armed and equipped with munitions of war, without authority of the government, instantly to disband or quit the territory, as they would answer the contrary at their peril." The other, ordering "all free male citizens qualified to bear arms, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, to enroll themselves, that they might be completely organized by companies, regiments, brigades, and divisions, and hold themselves in readiness to be mustered, by my order, into the service of the United States, upon a requisition of the commander of the military department in which Kansas is embraced, for the suppression of all unlawful combinations, and for the maintenance of public order and civil government."

The policy of these proclamations' is so evident, and their beneficial effects have been so apparent, as to require no vindication.

The territory was declared by the acting-governor to be in a state of insurrection; the civil authority was powerless — entirely without capacity to vindicate the majesty of the law and restore the broken peace; the existing difficulties were of a far more complicated character than I had anticipated; predatory bands, whose sole aim, unrelieved by the mitigation of political causes, was assassination, arson, plunder, and rapine, had undisturbed possession of some portions of the territory, while every part of it was kept in constant alarm and terror by the advocates of political sentiments, uniting, according to their respective sympathies, in formidable bodies of armed men, completely equipped with munitions of war, and resolved upon mutual extermination as the only hope of peace; unoffending and peaceable citizens were driven from their homes; others murdered in their own dwellings, which were given to the flames; that sacred respect for woman which has characterized all civilized nations, seemed in the hour of mad excitement to be forgotten; partisan feeling on all sides, intensely excited by a question which inflamed the entire nation, almost closed the minds of the people against me; idle and mendacious rumors, well calculated to produce exasperation and destroy confidence, were everywhere rife; the most unfortunate suspicions prevailed; in isolated country places no man's life was safe; robberies and murders were of daily occurrence; nearly every farm-house was deserted; and no traveler could safely venture on the highway without an escort. This state of affairs was greatly