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to Congress was also prepared, praying for the admission of Kansas into the Union under that Constitution. The Convention also provided that the question of the adoption of the Constitution and other questions be submitted to the people, and required the Executive Committee to take the necessary steps for that purpose.

Accordingly, an election was held for that purpose on the 15th day of December, 1855, in com pliance with the proclamation issued by the Executive Committee. The returns of this election were made by the Executive Committee, and an abstract of them is contained in the following table:

ABSTRACT OF THE ELECTION ON THE ADOPTION OF THE
STATE CONSTITUTION, DEC. 15, 1855.

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The Executive Committee then issued a proclamation reciting the results of the election of the 15th of December, and at the same time provided for an election to be held on the 15th day of January, 1856, for State officers and members of the General Assembly of the State of Kansas. An election was accordingly held in the several election-precincts, the returns of which were sent to the Executive Committee.

The result of this election was announced by a proclamation by the Executive Committee.

In accordance with the Constitution thus adopted, the members of the State Legislature and most of the State officers met on the day and at the place designated by the State Constitution, and took the oath therein prescribed.

After electing United States Senators, passing some preliminary laws, and appointing a Codifying Committee and preparing a Memorial to Congress, the General Assembly adjourned to meet on the 4th day of July, 1856.

The laws passed were all conditional upon the admission of Kansas as a State into the Union. These proceedings were regular, and, in the opinion of your Committee, the Constitution thus adopted fairly expresses the will of the majority of the settlers. They now await the action of Congress upon their memorial. These elections, whether they were conducted in pursuance of law or not, were not illegal.

Whether the result of them is sanctioned by the action

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of Congress, or they are regarded as the mere expression of popular will, and Congress should refuse to grant the prayer of the memorial, that cannot affect their legality. The right of the people to assemble and express their political opinion in any form, whether by means of an election or a convention, is secured to them by the Constitution of the United States. Even if the elections are to be regarded as the act of a party, whether political or otherwise, they were proper, in accordance with examples, both in States and Territories.

The elections, however, were preceded and followed by acts of violence on the part of those who opposed them, and those persons who approved and sustained the invasion from Missouri were peculiarly hostile to these peaceful movements preliminary to the organization of a State government. Instances of this violence will be referred to hereafter.

To provide for the election of delegates to Congress, and at the same time do it in such a manner as to obtain the judgment of the House of Representatives upon the validity of the alleged legislative assembly sitting at Shawnee Mission, a convention was held at Big Springs on the 5th and 6th days of September, 1855. This was a party convention, and a party calling itself the FreeState party was then organized. It was in no way connected with the State movement, except that the election of a delegate to Congress was fixed by it on the same day as the election of members of a constitutional convention, instead of the day prescribed by the alleged

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legislative assembly. Andrew H. Reeder was put in nomination as Territorial delegate to Congress, and an election was provided for under the regulations prescribed for the election of March 30, 1855 excepting as to the appointment of officers, and the persons to whom the returns of the elections should be made. The election was held in accordance with these regulations, and A. H. Reeder received 2,827 votes.

had attended the meeting. Your Committee have deemed it proper to detail the particulars of this rescue, as it was made the groundwork of what is known as the Wakerusa War. On the same night of the rescue, the cabins of Coleman and Buckley were burned, but by whom, is left in doubt by the testimony.

On the morning of the rescue of Branson, Jones was at the village of Franklin, near Lawrence. The rescue The resolutions passed by this convention indicate the was spoken of in the presence of Jones, and more constate of feeling which existed in the Territory in conse-versation passed between two others in his presence, as quence of the invasion from Missouri, and the enact- to whether it was most proper to send for assistance to ments of the alleged legislative assembly. The language Col. Boone, in Missouri, or to Gov. Shannon. Jones of some of the resolutions is violent, and can only be wrote a dispatch and handed it to a messenger. As soon justified either in consequence of the attempt to enforce as he started, Jones said: "That man is taking my the grossest acts of tyranny, or for the purpose of guard- dispatch to Missouri, and by G-d I'll have revenge ing against a similar invasion in future. before I see Missouri.". A person present, who was examined as a witness, complained publicly that the dispatch was not sent to the Governor; and within half an hour one was sent to the Governor by Jones, through Hargous. Within a few days, large numbers of men from the State of Missouri gathered and encamped on the Wakerusa. They brought with them all the equipments of war. To obtain them, a party of men under the direction of Judge T. V. Thompson broke into the. United States arsenal and armory at Liberty, Missouri, and after a forcible detention of Captain Leonard (then in charge), they took the cannon, muskets, rifles, powder, harness, and indeed all the materials and munitions of war they desired, some of which have never been returned or accounted for.

In the fall of 1855, there sprang out of the existing dscords and excitement in the Territory, two secret Free-State societies. They were defensive in their character, and were designed to form a protection to their membe:s against unlawful acts of violence and assault. One of the societies was purely of a local character, and was confined to the town of Lawrence. Very shortly after its organization, it produced its desired effect, and then went out of use and ceased to exist. Both societies were cumbersome, and of no utility except to give confidence to the Free-state men, and enable them to know and aid each other in contemplated danger. So far as the evidence shows, they led to no act of violence in resistance to either real or alleged laws.

On the 21st day of November, 1855, F. M. Coleman, a Pro-Slavery man, and Charles W. Dow, a Free-State man, had a dispute about the division line between their respective claims. Several hours afterward, as Dow was passing from a blacksmith shop toward his claim, and by the cabin of Coleman, the latter shot Dow with a double-barreled gun loaded with slugs. Dow was unarmed. He fell across the road and died immediately. This was about 1 o'clock, P.M. His dead body was allowed to lie where it fell until after sundown, when it was conveyed by Jacob Branson to his house, at which Dow boarded. The testimony in regard to this homicide is voluminous, and shows clearly that it was a deliberate murder by Coleman, and that Harrison Bulkley and a Mr. Hargous were accessories to it. The excitement caused by it was very great among all classes of the settlers. On the 26th, a large meeting of citizens was held at the place where the murder was committed, and resolutions passed that Coleman should be brought to justice. In the meantime, Coleman had gone to Missouri, and then to Gov. Shannon, at Shawnee Mission, in Johnson County. He was there taken into custody by S. J. Jones, then acting as Sheriff. No warrant was issued or exam nation had. On the day of the meeting at Hickory Point, Harrison Bradley procured a peace warrant against Jacob Branson, which was placed in the hands of Jones. That same evening, after Branson had gone to bed, Jones came to his cabin with a party of about 25 persons, among whom were Hargous and Buckleyburst open the door, and saw Branson in bed. He then drew his pistol, cocked it, and presented it to Branson's breast, and said, "You are my prisoner, and if you move I will blow you through." The others cocked their guns and gathered round him, and took him prisoner. They all mounted and went to Buckley's house. After a time, they went on a circuitous route toward Blanton s Bridge, stopping to "drink" on the way. As they approached the bridge, there were thirteen in the party, several having stopped. Jones rode up to the prisoner and, among other things, told him that he had "heard there were one hundred men at your house to-day," and "that he regretted they were not there, and that they were cheated out of their sport." In the meantime, the alarm had been given in the neighborhood of Branson's arrest, and several of the settlers, among whom were some who had attended the meeting at Hickory Point that day, gathered together. They were greatly excited; the alleged injustice of such an arrest of a quiet settler, under a peace warrant by "Sheriff Jones," aided by two men believed to be accessory to a murder, and who were allowed to be at large, exasperated them, and they proceeded as rapidly as possible by a nearer route than that taken by Jones, and stopped near the house of J. S. Abbott, one of them. They were on foot as Jones's party approached on a canter. The rescuers suddenly formed across the road in front of Jones and his party. Jones halted, and asked, "What's up?" The reply was, "That's what we want to know. What's up?" Branson said, "They have got me a prisoner." Some one in the rescuing party told him to come over to their side. He did so, and dismounted, and the mule he rode was driven over to Jones's party: Jones then left. Of the persons engaged in this rescue, three were from Lawrence, and

The chief hostility of this military foray was against the town of Lawrence, and this was especially the case with the officers of the law.

Your Committee can see in the testimony no reason, excuse, or palliation for this feeling Up to this time, no warrant or proclamation of any kind had been in the hands of any officer against any citizen of Lawrence. No arrest had been attempted, and no writ resisted in that town. The rescue of Branson sprang out of a murder committed thirteen miles from Lawrence, in a detached settlement, and neither the town nor its citizens extended any protection to Branson's rescuers. On the contrary, two or three days after the rescue, S. N. Wood, who claimed publicly to be one of the rescuing party, wished to be arrested for the purpose of testing the Territorial laws, and walked up to Sheriff Jones and shook hands with him, and exchanged other courtesies. He could have been arrested without difficulty, and it was his design, when he went to Mr. Jones, to be arrested; but no attempt was made to do so.

It is obvious that the only cause of this hostility is the known desire of the citizens of Lawrence to make Kansas a Free State, and their repugnance to laws imposed upon them by non-residents.

Your Committee do not propose to detail the incidents connected with this foray. Fortunately for the peace of the country, a direct conflict between the opposing forces was avoided by an amicable arrangement. The losses sustained by the settlers in property taken and time and money expended in their own defense, added much to the trials incident to a new settlement. Many persons were unlawfully taken and detained-in some cases, under circumstances of gross cruelty. This was especially so in the arrest and treatment of Dr. G. A. Cutter and G. F. Warren. They were taken, without cause or warrant, sixty miles from Lawrence, and when Dr. Cutter was quite sick. They were compelled to go to the camp at Lawrence, were put into the custody of "Sheriff Jones," who had no process to arrest themthey were taken into a small room kept as a liquor shop, which was open and very cold. That night, Jones came in with others, and went to "playing poker at twentyfive cents ante." The prisoners were obliged to sit up all night, as there was no room to lie down, when the men were playing. Jones insulted them frequently, and told one of them he must either "tell or swing." The guard then objected to this treatment of prisoners, and Jones desisted.

While we remained in the Territory, repeated acts of outrage were committed upon the quiet, unoffending citizens, of which we received authentic intelligence. Men were attacked on the highway, robbed, and subsequently imprisoned. Men were seized and searched, and their weapons of defense taken from them without compensation. Horses were frequently taken and appropriated. Oxen were taken from the yoke while plowing, and butchered in the presence of their owners. One young man was seized in the streets of the town of Atchison, and, under circumstances of gross barbarity, was tarred and cottoned, and in that condition was sent to his family. All the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, se curing persons and property, are utterly disregarded. The officers of the law, instead of protecting the people, were

in some instances engaged in these outrages, and in no in- mine on his peril, we declined to give him any protection stance did we learn that any man was arrested, indicted, or take any action in the matter. He refused to obey the or punished for any of these crimes. While such offenses | writ, believing it to be a mere pretense to get the custody were committed with impunity, the laws were used as a of his person, and fearing, as he alleged, that he would be means of indicting men for holding elections, preliminary assassinated by lawless bands of men then gathering in to framing a Constitution and applying for admission into and near Lecompton. He then left the Territory. the Union as the State of Kansas. Charges of high trea- Subsequently, H. Miles Moore, an attorney in Leavenson were made against prominent citizens upon grounds worth City, but for several years a citizen of Weston, Mo., which seem to your Committee absurd and ridiculous, and kindly furnished the Committee information as to the resi under these charges they are now held in custody and are dence of persons voting at the elections, and in some cases refused the privilege of bail. In several cases, men were examined witnesses before us. He was arrested on the arrested in the State of Missouri, while passing on their streets of that town by an armed band of about thirty lawful business through that State, and detained until in- men, headed by W. D. Wilkes, without any color of audictments could be found in the Territory, thority, confined, with other citizens, under a military guard for twenty-four hours, and then notified to leave the Territory. His testimony was regarded as important, and upon his sworn statement that it would endanger his person to give it openly, the majority of your Committee deemed it proper to examine him ex-parte, and did so.

These proceedings were followed by an offense of still greater magnitude. Under color of legal process, a company of about 700 armed men, the great body of whom, your Committee are satisfied, were not citizens of the Territory, marched into the town of Lawrence, under Marshal Donaldson and S. J. Jones, officers claiming to act under the law, and bombarded and then burned to the ground a valuable hotel and one private house; destroyed two printing presses and material; and then, being released by the officers, whose posse they claimed to be, proceeded to sack, pillage, and rob houses, stores, trunks, etc., even to the clothing of women and children. Some of the letters thus unlawfully taken were private ones, written by the contesting Delegate, and they were offered in evidence. Your Committee did not deem that the persons holding them had any right thus to use them, and refused to be made the instruments to report private letters thus obtained.

By reason of these occurrences, the contestant and the party with and for whom he acted, were unrepresented before us during a greater portion of the time, and your Committee were required to ascertain the truth in the best manner they could

Your Committee report the following facts and conclusions as established by the testimony:

First. That each election in the Territory, held under the organic or alleged Territorial law, has been carried by organized invasions from the State of Missouri, by which the people of the Territory have been prevented from exercising the rights secured to them by the organie law.

Second That the alleged Territorial Legislature was an illegally-constituted body, and had no power to pass valid laws, and their enactments are, therefore, null and void.

Third. That these alleged laws have not, as a general thing, been used to protect persons and property and to punish wrong, but for unlawful purposes.

Fourth. That the election under which the sitting Delegate, John W. Whitfield, holds his seat, was not held in pursuance of any valid law and that it should be regarded only as the expression of the choice of those resident citizens who voted for him.

This force was not resisted, because it was collected and marshaled under the forms of law. But this act of barbarity, unexampled in the history of our Government, was followed by its natural consequences. All the restraints which American citizens are accustomed to pay even to the appearance of law, were thrown off; one act of violence led to another; homicides became frequent. A party under H. C. Pate, composed chiefly of citizens of Missouri, were taken prisoners by a party of settlers; and while your Committee were at Westport, a company chiefly of Missourians, accompanied by the acting Delegate, went to relieve Pate and his party, and a collision was prevented by the United States troops. Civil war has seemed impending in the Territory. Nothing can prevent so great a calamity but the presence of a large force of United States troops, under a commander who will with prudence and discretion quiet the excited passions of both parties, and expel with force the armed bands of lawless men coming from Missouri and elsewhere, who with criminal pertina-ber city infest that Territory.

In some cases, and as to one entire election district, the condition of the country prevented the attendance of witnesses, who were either arrested or detained while obeying our process, or deterred from so doing. The Sergeantat-Arms, who served the process upon them, was himself arrested or detained for a short time by an armed force, claiming to be a part of the posse of the Marshal, but was allowed to proceed upon an examination of his papers, and was furnished with a pass, signed by "Warren D. Wilkes, of South Carolina." John Upton, another officer of the Committee, was subsequently stopped by a lawless force on the borders of the Territory, and after being -detained and treated with great indignity, was released. He also was furnished with a pass signed by two citizens of Missouri, and addressed to "Pro-Slavery men." By reason of these disturbances, we were delayed in Westport, so that while in session there, our time was but partially occupied.

Fifth. That the election under which the contesting Delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held in pursuance of law, and that it should be regarded only as the expression of the choice of the resident citizens who voted for him.

Sixth. That Andrew H. Reeder received a greater numof votes of resident citizens than John W. Whitfield, for Delegate.

Seventh. That in the present condition of the Territory, a fair election cannot be held without a new census, a stringent and well-guarded election law, the selection of impartial Judges, and the presence of United States troops at every place of election.

Eighth. That the various elections held by the people of the Territory preliminary to the formation of the State Government have been as regular as the disturbed condition of the Territory would allow; and that the Constitution passed by the Convention, held in pursuance of said elections, embodies the will of a majority of the people. As it is not the province of your Committee to suggest. remedies for the existing troubles in the Territory of Kansas, they content themselves with the foregoing statement of facts. All of which is respectfully submitted.

WM. A. HOWARD,
JOHN SHERMAN,

The Free-State Constitution framed at Topeka for Kansas, by the Convention called by the Free-State party, (as set forth in the fore going documents,) was in due season submitted to Congress-Messrs. Andrew H. Reeder (the Free-State Territorial delegate) and James H. Lane having been chosen by the first Free-State Legislature, Senators of the United States, and Mr. M. W. Delahay elected Representative in the House, by the Free-State men of Kansas. Of course, these were not entitled to their seats until the aforesaid instrument (known as the

But the obstruction which created the most serious embarrassment to your Committee, was the attempted arrest of Gov. Reeder, the contesting Delegate, upon a writ of attachment issued against him by Judge Lecompte, to compel his attendance as a witness before the Grand Jury of Douglas County. William Fane, recently from the State of Georgia, and claiming to be the Deputy Marshal, came into the room of the Committee, while Gov. Reeder was examining a witness before us, and producing the writ required Gov. Reeder to attend him. Subsequent events have only strengthened the conviction of your Committee, that this was a wanton and unlawful interference by the Judge who issued the writ, tending greatly to obstruct a full and fair investigation. Gov. Reeder and Gen. Whitfield alone were fully possessed of that local information which would enable us to elicit the whole truth, and it was obvicus to every one that any event which would separate either of them from the Committee, would necessarily hinder, delay, and embarrass it. Gov. Reeder claimed that, Topeka Constitution ") should be accepted by under the circumstances in which he was placed, he was Congress, and the State thereupon admitted privileged from arrest except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. As this was a question of privilege, proper into the Union. This Constitution, being form. for the Courts, or for the privileged person alone to deter-ally presented in either House, was received and

referred to their respective Committees on Territories; but the accompanying Memorial from the Free-State Legislature, setting forth the grounds of the application, and praying for admission as a State, was, after having been received by the Senate, reconsidered, rejected, and returned to Col. Lane, on the allegation that material changes had been made in it since it left Kansas. The Senate, in like manner, rejected repeated motions to accept the Constitution, and thereupon admit Kansas as a Free State-there never being more than Messrs. Hamlin and Fessenden, of Maine, Hale and Bell, of New-Hampshire, Collamer and Foot, of Vermont, Sumner and Wilson, of Mass., Foster, of Connecticut, Seward and Fish, of New-York, Wade, of Ohio, Durkee and Dodge, of Wisconsin, Trumbull, of Illinois, and Harlan, of Iowa, (16) Senators in favor of such admission, and these never all present at the same time.

Mr. Stephens's substitute, as thus amended by its adversaries, was abandoned by its original friends, and received but two votes-those of Messrs. George G. Dunn, of Indiana, and John Scott Harrison, of Ohio--Nays, 210.

Mr. Dunn had previously moved a reference of the bill to the Committee of the Whole on the state of the Union. This was now defeated: Yeas, 101; Nays, 109.

Mr. Jones, of Tennessee, now moved that the bill do lie on the table, which was defeated. Yeas, 106; Nays, 107; (Barclay of Pennsylvania, Dunn of Indiana, Haven and Williams, of New-York.-Yeas: Bayard Clarke, of NewYork, Hickman and Millward, of Pennsylvania, Moore, of Ohio, and Scott, of Indiana.—Nays: Scott Harrison, of Ohio, not voting, Wells of Wisconsin, absent). The House now refused to adjourn by 106 to 102; and, after a long struggle, the final question was reached, and the bill rejected: Yeas, 106; Nays, 107. So the bill was lost.

In the House-the aforesaid Constitution and Memorial having been submitted to the Committee on Territories-its Chairman, Mr. Grow, July 1st.-Mr. Barclay, (Dem.) of Pennsyl of Penna., from a majority of said Committee, vania rose to a privileged motion. He moved reported in favor of the admission of Kansas a reconsideration of the preceding vote, by under such Constitution, as a Free State; and which the Free-Kansas bill had been rejected. after debate the Previous Question thereon was A stormy debate ensued, in the midst of which ordered (June 28th) by a vote of 98 Ayes to Mr. Howard, of Michigan, rose to a question of 63 Noes. Previous to this, however, Mr. Ste- higher privilege (as affecting the right of a phens, of Georgia, had proposed, as an amend- member [delegate] to his seat) and submitted ment or substitute, a radically different bill, the report of the Kansas Investigating Comcontemplating the appointment by the Presi-mittee (already given). The Speaker sustained' dent and Senate of five Commissioners, who the motion, and the House sustained the should repair to Kansas, take a census of the Speaker. The report was thereupon presented inhabitants and legal voters, and thereupon pro-and read, consuming a full day. ceed to apportion, during the month of Septem- July 3rd.-The question of reconsidering the ber, 1856, the delegates (52) to form a Consti- vote defeating the Free-Kansas bill was again tutional Convention, to be elected by the legal reached. Mr. Houston, of Alabama, moved that voters aforesaid; said delegates to be chosen it do lie on the table; defeated: Yeas, 97; on the day of the Presidential election (Tues- Nays, 102. The main question was then orderday, Nov. 4th, 1856), and to assemble in Con-ed: Yeas, 101; Nays, 98; and the reconsideravention on the first Monday in December, 1856, to form a State Constitution. The bill proposed, also, penalties for illegal voting at said election. To this substitute-bill, Mr. Dunn, of Indiana, proposed the following amendment, to come in at the end as an additional section:

tion carried: Yeas, 101; Nays, 99. The previous question on the passage of the bill was now ordered: Yeas, 99; Nays, 96; a motion by Mr. McQueen, of South Carolina, to lay the bill on the table was defeated: Yeas, 97; Nays, 100; and then the bill was finally passed: Yeas, 99; Nays, 97.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That so much of the fourteenth section and of the thirty-second section of Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, moved the recon the act passed at the first session of the Thirty-Third Consideration of this vote, and that the motion to gress, commonly called the Kansas and Nebraska act, as reconsider do lie on the table, which was perreads as follows: "Except the eighth section of the act

preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, mitted, without further division. approved March 6, 1820, which, being inconsistent with June 30th.-Mr. Douglas reported to the the principle of non-intervention by Congress with Senate on several bills submitted by Messrs. Slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by

Clayton, Tombs, and others, for the pacification of the Kansas troubles, as also decidedly against Gov. Seward's proposition to admit Kansas as a Free State, under her Topeka Con

the legislation of 1850, commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate Slavery into any State or Territory, or to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their stitution. Mr. Collamer, being the minority of own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United the Territorial Committee, made a brief and States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall Mr. Douglas gave be construed to revive or put in force any law or regula-pungent counter-report. tion which may have existed prior to the act of 6th of notice that he would ask for a final vote on the March, 1820, either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, day after the next. or abolishing Slavery," be, and the same is hereby, repealed. Povided, That any person or persons lawfully held to service within either of the Territories named in said act shall be discharged from such service, if they shall not be removed and kept out of said Territories within twelve months from the passage of this act.

Mr. Dunn's amendment to the Stephens amendment or substitute, was carried: Yeas, 109; Nays, 102.

July 1st.-Bill debated by Messrs. Thompson of Ky., Hale of N. H., Bigler of Pa., Adams of Miss., and Crittenden of Ky.

July 2d-Debate continued through the day and following night, the majority resisting all motions to adjourn. Messrs. Wade, Pugh, Briggs, Bigler, Toombs, Clayton, Crittenden, Bell, Seward, Hale, and nearly half the Senate

participated. An amendment moved by Mr. Adams, of Miss., the day before, striking out so much of the bill as secures the Right of Suffrage, in the proposed reorganization of Kansas, to alien residents who shall have declared their intention to become citizens, and renounced all allegiance to foreign governments, was adopted: Yeas, 22; Nays, 16..

Some time in the morning of July 3d, the following amendment, reduced to shape by Mr. Geyer, of Mo., was added to the 18th section of the bill-only Brown, of Miss., Fitzpatrick, of Ala., and Mason, of Va., voting against it: Yeas, 40. It provides that

No law shall be made or have force or effect in said Territory [of Kansas] which shall require any attestation or oath to support any act of Congress or other legislative act, as a qualification for any civil office, public trust, or for any employment or profession, or to serve as a juror, or vote at an election, or which shall impose any tax upon, or condition to, the exercise of the right of suffrage, by any qualified voter, or which shall restrain or prohibit the free discussion of any law or subject of leg slation in the said Territory, or the fee expression of opinion thereon by the people of said Ter

ritory.

Mr. Trumbull, of Ill., moved the following: And be it further enacted, That it was the true intent and meaning of the "act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," not to legislate Slavery into Kansas, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free through their Territorial Legislature to regulate the institution of Slavery in their own way, subject to the Constitution of the United States; and that, until the Territorial Legislature acts upon the subject, the owner of a slave in one of the States has no right or authority to take such slave into the Territory of Kansas, and there hold him as a slave; but every slave taken to the Territory of Kansas by his owner for purposes of settlement is hereby declared to be free, unless there is some valid act of a duly constituted Legislative Assembly of said Territory, under which he may be held as a slave.

The Yeas and Nays being ordered, the proposition was voted down-Yeas, 9; Nays,

as follows:

patrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa,
Mallory, Mason, Pratt. Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell,
Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller,
Wright, and Yulee-86.

Mr. Foster, of Connecticut, moved the following amendment:

SEC.-And be it further enacted, That, until the inhabitants of said Territory shall proceed to hold a Convention to form a State Constitution according to the pro

visions of this act, and so long as said Territory remains a Territory, the following sections contained in chapter one hundred and fifty-one, in the volume transmitted to the Senate, by the President of the United States, as containing the laws of Kansas, be, and the same are hereby, declared to be utterly null and void, viz :

"§ 12. If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory, such persons shall be deemed guilty of felony, and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than two years. "§ 13. No person who is conscientiously opposed to holding slaves, or who does not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a juror on the trial of any prosecution for the violation of any one of the sections of this act."

This was rejected [as superfluous, or covered by a former amendment,] as follows:

YEAS.-Messrs. Allen, Bell of New-Hampshire, Clayton, Collamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson-13,

NAYS.-Messrs. Bayard, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee-32.

Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, moved that the whole bill be stricken out and another inserted instead, repealing all the Territorial laws of Kansas.

Rejected: Yeas, 8, (Bell, of New-Hampshire, Collamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Foster, Seward, Wade, and Wilson ;) Nays, 35.

Mr. Seward moved to strike out the whole

34-bill, and insert instead one admitting Kansas as a Free State, under the Topeka Constitution: Defeated-Yeas, 11; Nays, 36-as follows:

YEAS.-Messrs. Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson-9.

NAYS.-Messrs. Adams, Allen, Bayard, Bell of Tennessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller Wright, and Yulee-34.

Mr. Trumbull then proposed that the KansasNebraska act

was intended to, and does, confer upon, or leave to, the people of the Territory of Kansas full power, at any time, through its Territorial Legislature, to exclude Slavery from said Territory, or to recognize and regulate it there

in.

This, too, was voted down. Mr. Trumbull then proposed the following:

YEAS.-Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Collamer Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson-11.

NAYS.-Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Tennessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Clayton, Crittenden, Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Mason, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell,

Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller,
Wright, and Yulee-36.

The bill was now reported as amended, and the amendment made in Committee of the Whole concurred in. The bill was then (8 ▲. M.) ordered to be engrossed and read a third time; and, on the question of its final passage, the vote stood-Yeas, 33; Nays, 12—as follows:

YEAS-Messrs. Allen, Bayard, Bell of Tennessee, BenClay, Crittenden, Douglas, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Hunter, Iverson, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Mallory, Pratt, Pugh, Reid, Sebastian, Slidell, Stuart, Thompson of Kentucky, Toombs, Toucey, Weller, Wright, and Yulee-83.

And be it further enacted, That all the acts and pro-jamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, ceedings of all and every body of men heretofore assembled in said Territory of Kansas, and claiming to be a Legislative Assembly thereof, with authority to pass laws for the government of said ferritory, are hereby declared to be utterly null and void. And no person shall hold any office, or exercise any authority or jurisdiction in said Territory, under or by virtue of any power or authority derived from such Legislative Assembly; nor shall the members thereof exercise any power or authority as such.

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This, too, was voted down, as follows:
YEAS.-Messrs. Bell of New-Hampshire, Collamer,
Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull,
Wade, and Wilson-11.

NAYS.-Messrs. Adams, Allen, Bayard, Bell of Tennessee, Benjamin, Biggs, Bigler, Bright, Brodhead, Brown, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, Dodge, Douglas, Evans, Fitz

NAYS.-Messrs. Beli of New-Hampshire, Collamer, Dodge, Durkee, Fessenden, Foot, Foster, Hale, Seward, Trumbull, Wade, and Wilson-12.

The bill was then sent to the House. It provides that five competent persons appointed by the President, shall take a census of the legal voters of the Territory on the 4th of July, 1856, these to be apportioned into 52 districts, for the Constitution; it imposes penalties for using purpose of electing delegates to form a State force or threats to influence any qualified voter

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