Newspaper Page Text
i$ 3 ©sa *lll*. fa a © s?
110 A Verir -
-1
*| OF 110N. JOHN BELL, OF TEXN. !
1 mission, of Kansas under the. Le- j
‘ f , Constitution. Delivered in the
‘of the United States, March 18,
. 1 no t at tin's time enter into a full
of the facts connected with the 1
of members to the first Territorial;
f]jre w hich took place in 1855, or
the armed intrusion of the people of
* ltQ ‘ n borders of Missouri into Kan- )
!I, f ,'tliat election The Senator from
a - asavs that the statements which
[* WT5 ,’ “ made on this subject are entitled j
W jit He ridicules them so far as
tprare made on the authority of individ- j
, !jir;V r ( din that invasion, as it has
i railed, as the idle boasts of vain-glo- !
. Jlis individuals. 1 admit that, as a gen
,a| ru \ e; Jit tie credit is to be attached to
fleh statements; hut 1 will lay before the i
Senate some facts that are founded upon !
•at sort of record which the honorable
senator says will last as long as society
I shall refer to authentic well-con- j
jnned facts, proved at the time of their
occurrence by contemporary evidence—tes
oniooy taken by men of credit and good
character. J refer, in this particular case,
w the investigations of members of Con
and of both sides in politics, com
missioned and authorized to investigate,
flow what are the most material and
prominent tacts connected with the elec
tion in 1855 ? 1 may, possibly go into a
fuller statement of the circumstances of j
nat election before I close my remarks, j
A census was taken under a provision of
tkorganic law oi Kansas, one month be-j
the that election, and the returns showed j
that there were twenty-nine hundred and
three (2,903) qualified voters then in the j
Territory of Kansas. The election came
on. and six thousand three hundred and
• eu (6,307) votes were polled, as appear
; from the poll-books. Os the twenty'-
:;ne hundred and three (2,903) returned ,
tithe census list, only eight hundred and i
:mety-eight. (898) voted. Where were ;
the remainder of the twenty-nine hundred
and odd reported in the census returns?)
As the honorable Senator from Kentucky
cis spoken of interviews he has had with
gentlemen connected with this transaction, j
I will tell what 1 have learned from simi-)
cviinvs. I understand that the census ;
returtb were, in part, made out in the bor- j
a r counties ot Missouri ; and it appears ;
trim an examination of the poll-books,
‘h*.two thousand persons, and upwards,
fcli'Wnames were on the census lists did
r . oiein the election. We cannot draw
•"Jtvtoiin inf re nee from this fact whether
it*two thousand who did not vote were J
in u who were driven from the )
i,s - li ‘Vv -.herwise. I only slate tlie J
■hbt but about mue hundred)
” * v.i.cti The argument on the
wrside i>, that of the twenty-nine bun |
if’ ! persons whose names wereou the ceu- |
‘is returns, sewn teen hundred were emi
rinis from the Southern States, and but
’ ive hundred from the Free States. We
Dot know what proportion of the nine
■‘•lulled who voted were Free State men
■ dm ho Northern States, or what portion
nmo from the Southern States; nor is it.
DiMTial to decide that question, for only
u oTle 'thinl of the whole voted. The I
■ morahlo Senator has spoken of intrinsic)
.'f ‘ nce i he has appealed to what he cou
i" lers j ‘ mental record that is to
m long as society lasts. I appeal to
• u o:>ibs. Do I understand my
to say that of the twenty-nine liun
-7 ‘] )fers recorded on the census only
voted ?
* I>ell. Yes, sir.
soombs. I assure my triend he is
Ln, for my friend from Vermont,
* Collamer) said in his report that
‘and voted. His complaint Was that
% doubled.
A -'k.. Bf.ll. I see that my friend from
]” r p la does not understand the question
and I was utterly astonished when
* ard him in his statement passing over
J ‘ieDying the principal fact of the case.
Collamer. Will my friend irom
■ lessee allow me to say a word 1
( Jlr. Bell. It is needless ; I know the
‘: but I will allow the Senator from
.ont to say a word, as he was alluded
the Senator from Georgia.
.yi Collamer. The names of thesis
Jl : who voted are all o ti the roll, and
i count the names there are but
Lm’ Wired of them who are on the cen
tos hst.
J Pi - t oombs. Ido not uridersand that.
Bell. Does the honorable Sena
irom Georgia slty that he has examined
llle names ?
R - Toombs. They hare been exsra-
A v a l’rieud of mine.-
■ .! ELL - I s it not a fact that only
nine hundred of those whosb names
u on s he census list voted ?
*e. loombs. I say this is a mistake.
w R - Bell. I can refer to the evi
nce.
Ap p OOMBS - What evidence ?
kit jELL ’ the report ot the names
•; 4 “ L ‘ re polled, compared with those on
v ° ens us list.
y h ‘ Coombs. That, I think, you will
to a record. That is the diffi
!L /)’ KLL - But it shows the returns of
C% lon ’ andis evidence,
in the\-°n IBS ’ There is no stfch record
me explain to my friend
wag * rneail. The census that was taken
by whiri° - : for all these accounts,
tight L,/ V ls , ma de to appear that only
a *hed ot those who were on the
census list voted, they do not appear by
any lawful authority—by any record. Has
any person, on whom the Senator from
Tennessee relies, ascertained the fact ?
Mr. Bell. Yes, sir.
Mu. Toombs. It was never ascertained
by any authority.
Mu. Bell. The Committee of Investi
gation of the House of Representatives
ascertained it.
Mr. Toombs. I do not consider their 1
report as a record ; hut perhaps I do not
understand what a record is.
Mu. Bell. Perhaps I do not know
what a record is. J refer to ail the record
that could exist in such a case, and I say
that this fact is stated on sworn evidence.
\\ ill that pass for evidence ? It was tes
timony 7 taken by authority of the House of
Representatives, by members of both polit
ical parties.
Mr. loombs. If it is evidence in itself,
it is evidence for the purpose—not other
wise.
Mr. Bell. The Clerk of the Commit
tee ot Investigation compared the names in
the census rolls with those on the election
return lists or poll books, and of the twen
ty-niue hundred returned on the cehsus
rolls in I ebruary, 1855, he could find only
eight hundred and ninety-eight names re
corded on the poll-books or list of voters
returned in March. Now, the question is,
where did the other five thousand and odd
votes that were polled on the 30th ot
March, 1855, come trom ? From over the j
borders, of course, or made up by forged
returns. These are the facts, as well au
thenticated as facts of the kind could be—
not in ancient times, not in the dark ages,
but in the present day light. These facts
were ascertained under the supervision of
a joint commission of partisans on both
sides of the q uestion. Ido not desire, how
ever, to pursue this inquiry now, for I
mean to resume it at another time. I will
merely say here, that at this election, by
these means, every member of the Council
and House of Representatives elected, ex
cept one, was of the pro-slavery party. —
Governor Reeder set aside the election cer
tificates in several cases, on the ground of
irregularity of fraud, and new ellfctions
were ordered ; but in those cases where
Free State men were returned elected, the
legislature rejected their claims to sit as
members, and admitted those who had been
set aside by the Governor. The pro-slavery
party thus secured the whole legislature,
except one member, as I understand the
history oi the case.
Mu. Toombs. That is true.
Mr Bell. The honorable Senator ad
mits that iu he true. It was aii a one
sided ait’air, and made so by the live thou
sand and •da voters in that < hcli< n not
found on the census returns. The honor
able Senator in the course of his speech ap
} enled to the judgment of the impartial—
to such as Have no connect ion with either
of the parties in Kansas—and asked what
would he their decision upon this question.
I appeal to the same impartial tribunal.
I hat legislature was elected chiefly by vo
ters from Missouri—by citizens who had
no right by the organic law, to internose
in the election. lr was irregular, and un
lawful in every sense of the word.
But, sir, I am anticipating my argument.
I thought, however, that I would travel
out of my course for a few moments, in
order to show that the honorable Ken a tor
from Georgia was totally mistaken as to
the tacts that 1 considered fundamental in
coming to a right understanding of this
question. I saw that the honorable Sena
tor from Kentucky* not having looked into
these points as carefully, perhaps, as 1 had
done, was utterly amazed—he seemed to
be confounded, when his friend from Geor
gia gave such a totally different version
and coloring to the facts connected with
the election of 1855, from what he had un
! derstood.
The honorable Senator from Georgia has
furnished me in the course of his argument
With some points for consideration, for
which I thank him. He tells us in sub
stance, and plainly, that it is victofy which
is now to be contended for. This measure
! mtlst be carried, now that an issue is made
upon it.
) o it n ? v - c- -ft
Let us now examine the grounds upon
which this application stands, according to
the principle I have tints laid down. I atn
atraid I shall be somewhat tedious, be
cause I propose, at the risk of some repe
tition of what I have before said, to note
all the leading facts and circumstances con
nected vsith this subject to he found in the
brief and disorderly annals of Kansas.
W hen the Kansas-Nebraska bill was first
i brought forward in the Senate in January,
1854, there were probably not over a hun
dred white inhabitants in the Territory,
excluding some few United States troops.
As soon as the bill passed, the whole Ter
ritory, except the Indian reservations, was
thrown open t< free competition between
the North and the South, between anti
slavery men aud pro-slavery men, to settle
by superiority of numbers, whether Kansas
should be a free or slave Territory ; for, at
that time, the popular understanding and
interpretation of the Kansas-Nebraska act
was, that the people of the Territory were
; authorized to settle that queseion by an
j act of the Territorial legislature, and be
fore they should come to form a State Con
stitution. To be sure, there was a clause
in the organic law that this power was to
be exercised, subject to the Constitution of
the United States; but the Constitution
had been in existence more than half a
century, and there had been no judicial in
terpretation of the Constitution which
‘THE UNION OF THE STATES: —DISTINCT, LIKE THE BILLOWS; ONE, LIKE THE SEA.”
TIIOMASTON, liEORiilA, SATURDAY .VOliMNli. JULY 21, 1860.
could lead the people to suppose that they
were not fully authorized to decide the
question of slavery by a Territorial enact
ment. A considerable portion of the peo
ple of the North and Bast, in resentment
of the repeal of the Missouri compromise,
and resolving that the £Vmth should not
derive any benefit from what they consider
ed the wrong inflicted upon them by that
measure, in the establishment of anew
slave State, resorted to the organization of
an emigrant aid society, by which they
were enabled to furnish large facilities in
money, and in other modes to quicken em
gration, with a view to provide a sufficient
number of settlers to control the election
ot members to the first legislature, which
it was supposed would decide the question
of slavery in the Territory.
The people in the western counties of
Missouri, living in slaveholding communi
ties, and feeling a deep concern that Kan
sas should not become a free Territory or
a free State, formed associations on their
part, and adopted such other measures as
they thought necessary to secure the as
cendency of the pro-slavery settlers in the
election of members to the legislature.
V hen the day of election came on the
30th day of March, 1855, many armed com
panies of Missourians appeared at the polls
in most of the election districts and pre
cincts ; and where they found the judges
of election opposed to their views, by
threats of violence drove them away, and
substituted others in their place ; where
they found the judges friendly to their
views, they allowed them to remain in the
discharge of their duties. The result,
without going into further details on that
point, was, that every pro-slavery candi
date but one was returned as elected. The
returns of the census, taken under a re
quirement of the organic law, one month
before this election, showed twenty-nine
hundred and three (2,903) qualified voters
then in the Territory. At the election
six thousand three hundred and seven
(0‘,307) votes were polled. Os the 2,903
whose names were upon the census rolls,
only 898 voted at the election. This fact
appears by the comparison of the names on
the poll-books with the census returns.
These facts speak for themselves. Eitheir
the census returns were false, or the Free
soil voters were driven from the polls. But
be that as it may, it appears certain that
some four or five thousand Missourians vot
ed at the election, or the returns were
fraudulent-.
Complaints Wore made from several pre
cincts ihat the election was carried by vio
lencej and Governor Reeder set aside the
returns in scverAl cases and ordered new
elections ; and in all these cases except one,
i candidates were returned elected.
W lit . i legislature met, however, they
weiv . rejected, and the persons first re
turned as <.lected allowed to take their
seats —so that the legislature may be said
to have been a unit on the slavery ques
!on.
That body proceeded to enact a code of
laws. No act was passed establishing or
prohibiting slavery. The question was not
put to a vote in any form, except on the
passage of stringent laws for the protection
of slave property ; and among othetSj a
law was enacted, making it a felony, pun
ishable by two years’ imprisonment at hard
labor, to assert, either by speech or writ
ing, or to circulate pamphlets, magazines,
or any printed matter, asserting that it was
not lawful to hold slaves in Kansas. Test
oaths were prescribed for voters, and other
regulations for the conduct of subsequent,
elections, well calculated, if not designed,
to enable the pro-slavery party to carry all
elections, and to keep the government of
the Territory under their control; and
they succeeded in that object until October,
18j1
In explanation of, and in justification of,
these high-handed proceedings, commenc
ing with the election in March, 1855, it is
alleged that a gigantic fraud was commit
ted by the Emigrant Aid Society in at
tempting, by unusual and violent means,
to make Kansas a tree State. I have no
defence to make of the proceedings of that
society ; but it is material to state that,
upon investigation, I find before the first
election in March, 1855, only one party or
company of emigrants arrived in Kansas
under the auspices of the society, consist
ing of 169 souls, men, women and children,
and that 37 of them voted at that election.
I deplore, as much as any man can do, the
spirit in which this Emigrant Aid Society
was gotten up. 1 believe that it tended
strongly to promote and foment discord,
not only in Kansas, but throughout the
country.
The Territorial legislature having passed
acts of the chaiacter and tendency 1 have
stated, from that time forth, it is fair to
both sides to state that the mass, at least
much the largest portion of the Freesoil
party, or the Abolitionists, as gentlemen,
according to their tastes, choose to call
them—and no doubt many of them wefe
Abolitionis—avowed their determination
never to submit to the authority of the
Territorial government, nor to yield obedi
ence to its laws. That spirit of resistance
aud rebellion against the Territorial au
j thonttes ‘continued to exist to October
last.
f fnrst that f have, so far, given the his
! tory of Kansas affairs truly and fairly. I
agree with the Senator from Virginia (Mr.
Hunter) that, as a question of duty and
public morals, the Free State men ought
to have submitted to the authority of the
Territorial Goveenment, and to have awai
j ted, like good citizens, with patience, a re
aredy, for their grievances, which time
could not fail to bring, or, at leant, so long
as any hope remained that relief would
come in a reasonable time ; for, as the Sen
ator from \ irginia saVs, anil says truly,
whether a government be founded in fraud
or usurpation or not, there is a necessity
for some government; no society can en
dure in a state of anarchy ; civil war and
bloodshed are worse evils than the endur
ance of an unjust government for a short
period.
To resume my narrative. The second
election for members of the legislature
and delegate to Congress came on in Octo
ber, 1856. The territorial legislature hav
ing passed an act in 1855 for taking the
sense of the people upon the call of a con
vention to form a State Constitution, at
the election in October, 1856, a vote was
taken accordingly on that subject. The
number ol votes polled at that election was
almost twenty-live hundred, (2,500) the
Free State party not voting. All the votes
cast, I believe, were in favor of the call of
a convention, and none but pro-slavery
men were elected to the legislature.
1 have omitted to state in the regular
order ol time that the Freesoil leaders call
ed a meeting of the people in 1855, at which
delegates were chosen to meet in conven
tion at Topeka, in September of that year
to form a State Constitution. The con
vention met, formed a Constitution, and
application was made to Congress for the
admission of Kansas into the Union as a
State, under it. The House of Represen
tatives, in 1856, passed a bill to admit
Kansas into the Union under that Consti
tution, but it was rejected in the Senate.
What the motive was for this proceeding
on the part of the Freesoil party may well
be supposed to have been, as many alleged
il wufc, t u Lo rclLvird fi win llic unjuot l<-'g
islation of the Territorial government.
The Topeka constitution has been stig
matized as a revolutionary movement. If
a government had been set up under it, it
would have been so undoubtedly. But,
though there had been two elections of a
governor and members of the legislature
under that constitution, yet no government
has been putin operation under it; though
I have no doubt that some of the more des
perate leaders of the party which formed
the constitution were prepared to take that
step, and would have done so if they had
not been overruled by the more moderate
portion of their followers. The Senator
from Virginia (Mr. Hunter) took nonotice
of the formation of the Topeka constitu
tion, except to ridicule it. as Gen. Lane’s
production,
I am not sure that he was warranted in
treating it with so much disrespect, when
the President put forth the doctrines to he
found in his special message upon the sub
ject of the right of the people at all times
to change their form of government ; un
less you deny the people of a Territory a
right which you concede to those ofa State
in that respect, which would be contrary
to the principle of popular sovereignty so
strongly maintained by the authors of the
organic law of Kansas.
The legislature elected in October,
met in Jantiary, 1857, and, in conformity
With the vote of twenty-five hundred of the
people in the preceding October, they pass
ed an act providing for tho election of del
egates on the 15th of June to a convention
to meet in the following September. Gov.
Walker made nis appearance in the Terri
tory in May. He published an address to
the people of the Territory, which was de
clared to be in conformity with the views
of the President and his cabinet. In that
address he assured the people of his deter
mination to use every means in his control
to prevent all disorder and violence at the
election to he held on the 15th of J une, and
earnestly advised the Freesoil party to go
to the polls and vote for delegates to the
convention ; warning them, that although
he would use all his influence to have the
Constitution, when framed submitted to a
vote of all the bona fide inhabitants, and
had no doubt but that it would be submit
ted , yet he had no authority to dictate
that course. By the act of the legislature pro
viding for the election of delegates to the
convention, the most obnoxious of the test
oaths prescribed by the first legislature
was repealed, aud a census directed to be
taken, and a register made of the qualified
voters in each county, which was to be the
basis of the appointment by the governor
ot delegates among the several election dis
tricts into which the Territory was divid
ed. anifalso the test ofa risrnt to vote in
the election Cue objection to going to the
polls, as stated by the Free State party,
was that of the thirty-eight counties of the
Territory, including Arappahoe, in which
there was no population, there had been no
register made of the qualified voters in nine
teen of them as the law required a’nd that
no census had been taken in fifteen of those
nineteen, and that, as a matter of course,
the people in those counties could not vote.
Gov. Walker and Secretary Stanton con
firmed this statement, and the fact is in
disputable. Ido not see what could be a
greater or more fatal irregularity in getting
up a convention to form a State Constitu
tion. .Sir, one-half the counties <?f a Ter
ritory left unrepresented—billowed no voice
in the convention ; is that no objection to
a constitution formed by a convention so
constituted ? The Senator from Georgia
passed this irregularity over as a matter
of slight or no consequeuce. It had, he
said, been satisfactorily answered and ac
counted for. Where is the explanation or
justification to be found of this gross ir
regularity ? Upon what evidence does it
rest ? I have seen or heard of none which
does not appear to me a mere pretence —an
evasion. To say that some Free State
men in someone, two or three of these
counties refused to be registered, and threat
ened the officers with personal violence if
they persisted in tho discharge of their du
ties, was a sufficient reason for taking no
census ami making no register in all tho
nineteen counties, appears tome to be pre
posterous, When gentlemen talk of there
beihg ho irregularity in forming the con
vention, I must believe that they have not
examined into the tacts connected with the
subject. It is alleged that the population
in the nineteen neglected counties was
small. In many of them that no • doubt,
was so; but still after deducting the nine
thousand two hundred and fifty-one legal
voters returned on the,register made out in
the Other nineteen, judging from the votes
polled in October, 1857, and again in Jan
uary following, there cannot have been less
than three thousand legal voters in the
neglected counties. Thus it appears that
the sixty delegates to the convention were
elected by the nineteen counties in which
registers were duly made out, while not a
single delegate was voted for or elected in
the other nineteen counties of the Territo
ry. Gov. Walker, in one of’ his letters to
Secretary Cass, states, that in some of the
neglected counties the people made out a
registry on their own authority and elected
delegates to the convention, but they were
not allowed seats on the ground that their
election was irregular; and the further sig
nificant fact is stated by him that in the
election of October, 1857, more votes were
cast in three of the neglected counties than
were given to the twenty-eight delegates
who formed the Lecompton constitution.
But lam debarting from the order of
my narrative. The election of the 15th of
June Aji tv) llu l/UU \1 11 l/lUil V* tin
held. The Free State party did not par
ticipate in it, assigning as a reason for their
refusal to do so, besides the one I have just
mentioned, that they had no confidence in
the officers, who were to hold the election,
and the opinion given by Governor Wal
ker. that any constitution which might he
framed would be submitted, for the ratifi
t-ation or rejection, to a vote of all the peo
ple in the fall, whether they voted at this
election or not. At this election, when it
may be presumed the pro-slavery party put
forth their whole strength, only t\Venty
two hundred (2,200) votes were polled—
less by three hundred (300) than the vote
polled in October, in 1856 ; but the loss
may be fairly accounted for by the exclu
sion of the pro-slavery voters iu the nine
teen counties in which there was no regis
ter.
The convention met on the sth of Sep
tember, hut adjourned to a day in Octo
ber, as it was understood to await tlie re
sult of the Territorial election fixed for the
first Monday of that month. Gov. Walker
had given the strongest assurances of his
purpose to use all the nteans iu his control
to preserve order and prevent violence in
that election. Conventions were called
nominating candidates on both sides. On
the one side they were called National De
mocratic candidates ; on tho other side,
Free State candidates, or if you please.
Abolition candidates; it is no matter by
what name they were called. By that time
two thousand regular troops had arrived in
the Territory, sent at the earnest request
of Gov. Walker, who stated that that was
the only mode of preserving peace and pre
venting bloodshed. He stationed them at
different and the most exposed points, on
election day, to prevent inroads from Mis
souri, or any other disturbance at the polls.
The result was. that the Free State party
proper cast some seven thousand six hun
dred (7,600) votes ; and the National De
mocratic party, composed of pro-slavery
men and such of the Free State Democrats
as united with them in the election, polled
some three thousand seven hundred (3,700)
votes. It is material to state that Ran
som, the candidate for delegate to Con
gress, dominated by the National Demo
cratic party, was Freesoil in his principles.
Although there were upwards of eleven
thousand votes cast in that election, after
rejecting some twenty-eignt hundred (2,-
800) votes, found to have been fraudulent
ly returned ; sixteen hundred ,1,600] from
the famous Oxford precinct, and twelve
hundred v?ere opened. These are all strong
facts, but the Senator from Georgia can
see nothing in them. That Senator aSked
for the evidence by rlijch these alleged
frauds were proved. He said that Gov.
Walker and Secretary Stanton were not
entitled to any greater credit than common
witnesses, and by courtesy alone did he
concede that. He said they travelled over
the country, looked about, and came to the
conclusion that so great a number of voters
could not be there. This was a sort of ev
idence upon which his friend from Ken
tucky held his immense fabric of fraud and
unfairness. Sir, not only did Governor
Walker and /Secretary /S'tanton examine
the matter, but others of undoubted integ
rity have confirmed the existence of the
frauds alleged. A cehsus has been taken,
and forty-nine is returned as the rttimber
of residents in the Oxford precinct.
Mr. Wilson, There are forty-three vo
ters in the precinct of Oxford, according tq
the actual census returns.
Mr. Bell, ‘ihere could not be hi any in
that county, because the /Shawnee Indians
own nearly all the land). How many are
there in the whole county ? •
Mr. Wilson. Three hundred or four
hundred voters in the whole county.
Mr. Bell. I have examined the proof,
hut I cannot retain all the facts in my me
mory. The Oxford return were rejected
by Governor Walker on the ground of ir-
jPaynble in Advance.
regularity in the returns Singular as it may
seen), he uppers to have considered it new
cssan, to justify his interposition, to find
out some irregularity in the certificate oi;
return, although he was convinced from
the first that the returns were fraudulent;
Well might the eloquent £bMtoF frotii.
Kentucky exclaim that fraud seems to have
become native to the region of Kansas, and
to claim the privilege ot being a sort of es
tablished institution there.
‘ldie-result of the wari
that nearly every member elected to the
TerMtorial legislature was a Free State
man. „
$ V vs O O
. • . , •. : . J ’
The convention re assembled in October,
according to adjournment and formed the
constitution which is now before us. When
the fact transpired that theconvention had
submitted the whole constitution Lq a vote
of the people, and that the question of sla
very alone was to be submitted, and that
in a form and under the restriction of a test
oath, which would prevent the Free State
party from voting, such a commotion im
mediately arose as threatened to. lead td
bloodshed ami civil war. In this eondi
tion of affairs. acting Goycra,or; s\v\tqq{
as a means of averting such a calamity,
called ao extra session, of the Territorial
legislature. That body, when assembled,
passed a law for taking the sense of the
people upon the constitution recently form
ed, on the 4th of January last—the day
fixed by the constitution for an election of
State officers and members of the legisla
ture under that constitution. The 21st of
December last was appointed by the con
vention to take a vote of the people upon,
the slavery clause of the constitution in
this form : “the constitution with slavery;’
<* l. 1.1 .. ’ , mi
were C,793 votes returned as cast oh thfLi
day—6,226 for the constitution with slav
ery, and 567 for the constitution without
slavery. The remarks of the Honorable
/Senator from Kentucky in regard to that
election wove justified by the circumstances
of the ease. Votes enough were rpturnfcd
in favor tis the constitution to overcome
any majority that bad ever before both giv
en iii the Territory. There had Feen elev
en thousand and odd votcQ given in the
October election, and it was arranged to
Show a vote to exceed one half that num
ber. It is wtfil established by ji comniis*?
sion appointed to invcgtigfttti tlie subject
under authority of the leg : slaturc that 2,-
700, or ucaily one-half the six thousand
and odd votes returned as having been cast
on the 21st of December, in favor of i\m
constitution, were fraudulent ; and,,abotit
an eqtial Hlitfibef rfctiirriea as polled for
/Slate officers and members of the legisla
ture on the 4th January last. In the vote
taken by the authority of the Territorial
legislature, on the4th of January,on the
Leeompton constitution, there,were tefi
thousand majority against it. The Sena
tor from Georgia says that on the samo
day there were over ten thousand votes cast
i for State officers and members of the leg
islature under the constitution ; and that
to sustain the fairness of the votes against
the consti(u ion the joint vote should* hatffe
been twenty thousand. 1 must conclude
that on that point the honorable Senator
from Georgia made bis statements alto
gether in the dark, and at random, in re
gard to facts and circitmstauees attending
the votes taken on the 4th of January. He
asks the reason why these ten thousand
claimed as a majority voted against the
constitution did not vote iri the election for
State officers titl'd members of the legisla
ture,, The explanation must be obvious
to all those who pretend to know anything
about recent evefits iti Kansas. A conven
tion was called by tlie Free State party to
decide whether they should vote or not iu
the election for /State officers; And mem
bers of the legislature, biilheyith of Jan-,
liary. It was contended that Iff hey voted
it would be taken as a ratification of the
constitution jdst ae the TANARUS: recitleiit now con
strues the vote actually given iii tjiat ejec
tion by a portion of that party. This view
being taken by a majority, the c’oiVyentjon
came to a resolution not to tote; but after
the regular c, •nveUtiori adjourned, the mi
nority got together, and, after considering
the question fully among themselves, deci
ded that it was l v e£t to’make an effort to’
carry there elections ; and those who chose
—more than halftheir party —voted under
the recommendation of the minority of the
convent iorf.
I believe that no attempt has been made,’
front any respectable source, to cast a’
doudt on the genuineness of the vote cast
against the constitution on the 4th of Jan
uary last. The result of the vote ciid&fi,
incontestably, that there must be a major
ity of at least four or five to, ofie, of the
people of Kansas against this constitu
tion.
, ——— 1 * + •— 1 .
Good Advice. —Girls, let us fell you a
stubborn truth. Ko young woman ever
looked so well to a sensible man as when
dressed in a plain, neat modest attire, with
out a single ornament about her person. —•
She looks then a3 though she possessed
worth In herself, and nee Jed no’ artificial’
rigging to give her value, if a! young \vo
man would spend as much time In cultiva
ting her mind, training her tem'p'e?; ?rod
cherishing kindness, meekness,- meroy £ntf
other good qualities, as most of them ando 1
in extra dress and ornaments to increase
theif personal charms, she would at a
glance be known among a thousand —her
character would be read in her Counte-’
nance. That’s so.
Number 38