This course would
not occasion much greater delay than that which the bill contemplates
when it requires that the legislature shall be convened within thirty
days after this measure shall have become a law for the purpose of
considering and deciding the conditions which it imposes, and gains
additional force when we consider that the proceedings attending the
formation of the State constitution were not in conformity with the
provisions of the enabling act; that in an aggregate vote of 7,776 the
majority in favor of the constitution did not exceed 100; and that it is
alleged that, in consequence of frauds, even this result can not be
received as a fair expression of the wishes of the people. As upon them
must fall the burdens of a State organization, it is but just that they
should be permitted to determine for themselves a question which so
materially affects their interests. Possessing a soil and a climate
admirably adapted to those industrial pursuits which bring prosperity
and greatness to a people, with the advantage of a central position
on the great highway that will soon connect the Atlantic and Pacific
States, Nebraska is rapidly gaining in numbers and wealth, and may
within a very brief period claim admission on grounds which will
challenge and secure universal assent.
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