:- .7 1 ....r";‘ 1 " 0 '"' i. -- !" ' ' - - i • . -i - - --- ' • - ,:,. - 7-01 , -' ~::-..- L - '--..-. - - --...,5,.,7- - ,...•'-• -•',. - --,y - 0, - • , . . - . - ... . , • • ,64- . - -• :v.- i .-:. ..---A.. , - ---:--:- . -4 '*' ' l ';1:' . • . , . . .. . , ~. • , . . - - - .. .., . - ...• • - , . • ..... . . al the liat the ;2— - - • ...9 , -. ...f .-. - , ...-. - , . , _ . . 44' '-- - Tirliva ior .Tills altiiPßß. . . . ' *odd hare Weft en 1 . tiio ,, rt_ . teeti delegates; ibt it ivill he, • - - --. iiiii-fipasors Is pnblieeedlikevery Monday 1 i--- Inorie4ll 4 l l lNlll -- J. B?ants, at. $1,75 per that forty-four delegates from • addient If d itrietly in an•Axna--$2,00 par districts signed the constitution. What • annini If -not. paid to advance. No entracrip- TH_ fl A ild • been dr - .heac . ' Clot `disconttned, unless at the option of the 1 AI - pelellslter, l until all arrearages are paid. • • Aims:amen- is- -nal r' _-.ttitte Inserted at the usual rates. Joe Patsresis done with neatness and dis patch, and at moderate prices. Orrice in South Baltimore street, directly opposite Wampler's Tinning Establishment, one sad a half squares from the Court Ilona.-- "Commas " on the sign. Jury List—April Court. GRAND ICRY. ilenallen—Abel T. Wright, Samuel noude- shell, Peter Rice. Hamilton--George Baker, Daniel Bender, Joseph Woods. Freedam—Abraham Krise, of D., John IL Harrigan. - 11amiltouban--Cornelius Daugherty, Edward Rusk, Christian Fry. Liberty—James Topper. Germany—Abraham Hamer, Lewis Stone- eifer. Reading--John Bosserman, of John, Single ton Liaoltz. Berwick Twp.—Michael Carl. Gettymburg—Samuel Itiuntplea.ant—Andrew Little. Iluntington—Eli Franklin—Samuel Hart. Butler—John Funt. Con mago—Franeis Krichten. Cumberland—Jacob .11.tring. GENERAL JERE Pending—Samuel Heiner, Jacob Aulabaugh Julia Brough, of J o hn. • Oxford—Francis Marshall, William Jenkins, David /I J.°. Franklin—Jacob Sterner, Peter Ketteman, John Throne, Benjamin Deardorff, Samuel Bucher, George Bushey, Jacob Lady. Cuinherl.ind—Lune Ltitper, George Oulp, Pltters.m. Menallen—Barnet Myers, George Minnig,b. L )re—Jieo. B. ,ionette, Conewl E. M N rrs. itiusiltimbat..—Win: T. B.ecd. Burner B g ham, .Jno. Baumgardner, Jacob Walter, J.ilin Gelb:lush. Stratian—Ephritim Deardorff. Ilirulkon--Levi Guise Berwick B ichael Hoffman. , ' FreeJoin—Du'iel Get tyshurz,—G , ,rge A. Color'. Ficke.,,,Adam Bream. Butl , 2r—Henry (;.‘ll,ro:th. Tyrone—Driiel S D: elll. C.in”w,Lzo—Enlw.ird Dalian°. 13..rwiek Twp.—tlet.rge Baker. March 13, 18:,8. New Coal & Lumber Yard, T N;w OXFORD, ADAms COUNTY, - FaAskt.tN linamt has received and will eon itanCy keep on loin large and well st.- 10,qed a.su.,:tment of Li...MISER, and a superior arti..le of COAL suit-111c for family purposes. Also, 13'ackatu;t'i's C oal of the I.c.zt, quality. All orders fur hawed lutuLear cadt Le tilled ut t:/e shortest notice. Fii..INKLIN lIERSIL. New Oxfori, Fel). 8. 18 8. it A Large Supply of Lumber, TSCLU,DING et ery finality uf River Pine, just civet,re,• and tor sale, at very low pri,el, at the 1:::rd t,f SHEA DS do E LER, o C'uratr ni* ;V" ,s dad Railroad S:reelr. just in Cue rear of the "E.tAle Hatel." Tarr have al=a un hand a large variety of P. I Lq!!/...t, Lathes, and Pic:;et (fur garilea fusing,) which they wilt sell low. tir.lers fur any amount cAn tie pruinptly ti.leil. Iluilders, before par eiming. elsewhere, will hnd it to their ad v.ant Lge tu exitinihe qua.itieA and pricee.— .A.s superior art:cle of Coal, at :Zeta. per bushel. tietty3lirg, Jan. 23, 18:iS. Bastress & Winter, 01F0:11), llona county, Pa., Pro -11 du.", znlia : laa 1 Cna mission Ware t.• W:10k,4,11d 11.•;:lora in Gro cerie uunstmitly oil haat, F.sh, Jilt, P las lir. Galan. Ft.,,rs, %Vas kr, Cuiv, RYE, ()tr... Ci.or tit nal S 11•1114'.1C et nll times, fur whi , !'i the hizli :it ouh prices are paid. Fe'l. 15, ti ro New Lunas3r Yard, AT NEW ONL'OP.D.—Tne unthfrhigned would inforni the public that he has ope - tel a LUMBER Y.UtU, on a lame scale, in the town of New Osf Adams county, to which the Gettysburg Railroad ha* been al ready extended. 1114 tt.,surttrent All kinds of Luta! ier—Panel, First and Secohd C on:a in and Callin4 .11,,Ir's, First and S!•ond C nuin , m and Ming Plank. Fencing Boards, ll.nli,ck J.,ists, line,' P.astering Lath, headed and plain Puling : • lle invites calls from those in want of Lumber, feeling assured that in quality or prico his stock CAN'T BE BEAT. He will en ilßAtior to deserre a large share of public at srougge. -JACOB ACL..BAUGII. Feb. 1, 1858. New Firm. 15IILY GROCERIES',4 CONFECTIONS. I: —The undersigned hare purchased the Gro cery Store of E. 11. JIINNIGii, on the Northwest corner of the Dianiott , l. formerly occupied by A. B. Kurtz, where they invite the attention of all who may wish Groceries, Confections, Fruits—Coffee, Tea, Satyr, Nlo lanses, Silt, Starch, Sdda. Spices of all kinds, Lesions, Figs, A'.itionds.,l.-c. Also, a fine ea (torment of chewing and smoking Tobacco, Segars, Snuff, .t.c. ;,' - 7,7*Coutitry Produce LA ;mu in exchange for Goods. September 7, 1857 Removed to Hanover. 'FRANCIS J. WILSON, late of the Wash ington Hoitse at Abbottstown, has taken HEaSHEY'SOLD AND POPULAR STAND, Hanover, where be will be happy to enter fain all wbo may patronize him. Ills Table ;it supplied with the best the market and gar ,den can afford, and his BAr with the choicest of liquors. His Stables are nominations, and attelided by careful Ostlers. Give him a call. "row will always find FIt4NC. on the spot, ready ani willing to make everybody com fortable. [April 27,1857. To the Country, Good News. T HAVE rented the Foundry for the ensu zty- lag year, and am prepared to make the different kinds of Castings usually made at 11, youndry. I will keep c.nistrintiv on hand the different kinds of PLOUGHS, PLints, Shares, ours, ,ke.; Pots, Kettles, Pans, Washing ,11acthines, ate.; Stoves and Machinery; Pur ities, Varandaterand Cemetery Feacing made pad put up with dispatch. All orders will be attended to promptly ; without capital, and money being seginunry to carry on the business, I will be stcinepelled to sell for cash, but on all coniktry srorks Rik cent. will be deducted. Suitable trade wilt be taken, if delivered at the tittle of pircbsiing. Give us a call. E. 31. WARREN. gettplburg, June 1. 1857. Hanover B. Railroad. Fr ILVINI Over tbe Remover Branch Railroad A-. sow ran as follows : • rest tab, Psalms liancrirer at 9 A. s. with Plispngsrs fiiv York, Harrisburg, Columbia, AlllllA'Pittisdeltkltis. This Train also connects laltintore, arriving %VM. BOYER. 3; SON. x: with pas inierolekliate pL tnore from York, LElB,Agent. azu, is* ziliteet int";"UAlb*, Sim*ftapoW Un ‘-kecis- tto.lisbint4ll( .z.:.:33o4fraL BT If. J.•STAIILE 407 YEAR. DK ?Od:S eoi•leh. Farewell.-mil Moog. lIT LILT LOCKHILART.LITINCISTON Air—" Good N:ght." Farewell, my friend 0; adieu, adieu! I no longer stay wi b yon— Farewell ; When I am gone remember me; I oft shall think of thee ; And oft recall my childhood's home, As through earth 1 sadly roam— Farewell. • How sad my lot will be when I, Far sway, shall sit and sigh, Farewell; My heart is breaking at the thought, Oh ! how can I depart, .o.' And see my friends, perhaps no more, "fill slur sorrows all are o'er,— Farewell. But duty calls me far away ; Ah ! how hard it Is to say, Farewell ; But if on earth we meet no more, We soon shall meet in Heaven; That blessed hope is now nayAtay, Cheerfully, I now can say, Farery , 111 Getty 'um, March, 108 select i)jiseeitlQD. Ilfir - Colonel Jones is a gentleman and a wit. The other day he was showing the town to some ladies from the bteeple of the Court House. One of them asking him why the lightning rid, where it eras attached to the build ing for support, was incased in a piece of horn, the- Colonel replied that horn was a non-conductor. " Oh, indeed !" said the lady, " I nev er knew that before." " To be sure," says the Colonel.— " Have you never observed that when the boys have bad a horn or two they cunt't conduct themei e s properly ?" Tho great height tho (rrouud prevented the lady from fainting. On another occasion the Colonel was asked by some ladies if it was not worse for the gentlemen to drink than for the ladies to use snuff? The Colonel replied that both were very bad ; and that if his wife should evor take to snuff, he'd !leer, certain! talirThe aggregate wealth of the United States amounts to twelve thous and millions of dollars, and the pop:da tion is twenty-four millions of souls. The wealth, divided by the population, gives five hundred dollars to each per son, young and old; and, counting five persons to each family, it would give the handsome little fortune of twenty- BYO hundred dollars to every family of the republic, not including the slaves. tiEtr-Miunegota should rightfully be called the "Lake State." A St. Paul paper publi.lies a list of eighty-four of the lakes of Minnesota, which vary in size from ono to thirty miles in length. There aro many more lakes in the ter ritory, hut they were omitted from the list because they had no names. Good Salary.—The L. S. Marshal for the District of Columbia receives emoluments to the amount of twenty: thousand dollars a year; and, therefore," it is infinitely better paid than the office of President, or any other in connection with the government there. Serred Rim Right.—A jury in Char don, Ohio, have found a verdict for $lO,OOO damages against John Sumner, who courted Susannah Garris for four teen years, had the marriage day ap pointed three several times, and then went to the State of New York, and carried home another wife. The French Exiles.—lt is stated that Louis Nap , loon has exiled thirty-two thousand men. Of these thirty thous and have been pardoned. The recent arrests are said to have boon made al most entirely from among the pardoned. The prisons of Paris are crowded with political offenders. Parson Brownlow.—The Parson seems to entertain serious misgivings about the claims of the Abolitionists to a place in the Kingdom ofjleaven.--" When I get there, as I expect to when I die," says the reverend editor, " if I find a regular built Abolitionist there, I shall conclude that he has practiced a frtud upon the door-keeper; for, in my opin ion, a Kansas agitator and freedom shrieker has no more business in our Father's Kingdom than Commodore Paulding had in Nicaragua when be captured the fillibusters." ,Measles.—Prof. Fishburn, of Wash ington College, Lexington, Va , died of measles on the 26th ult. About twen ty cadets, it is said, aro in the hospital with the same disease. - Beligious.—Tho religious movement is becoming general in Cincinnati.— Eight daily prayer meetings are now held, all of which are largely attended. At Norfolk, Va., also, several prayer meetings are now held daily. There is a secret belief among some mon that God is displeased with man's happiness; and in consequent* they slink about creation, ashamed and afraid to enjoy anythiug. noir" Good morning, Jones. how does the world use you ?" "It usos me up, thank you." . honest man is the noblest lynch of God; buts woman is the wet deft.- SPEECH OF HON. WILSON REILLY, OF PENNSYLVANIA, In Faroe of the Admission of Kansas, un der the Lecompton Constitution. /or Tb. Compiler DELIVERED IN THE AOI'!E OT REPRESENTATIVES The Hon% being in Commitee of the Whole on the state of the Union—Mr. Rarer said : Mr. CHAIRMAN : I have, up to this hour, refrained from n public expression of my views on the Kansas question, in the hope that some fair and honorable compromise would be effected which would settle it in'a way, satisfactory to all parties. I begin to fear that my h,ppe will prove a false one; and as I shortly be called upon to record my vote for or against the admission of Kansas, under the Lecompton constitu tion, it is but proper that I should make known to my constituents and my coun try the reasons which induce me to vote as I shall when the time arrives for me to give that vote. I confess, sir, that this question ha 3 given me more anxiety than all •others to which I have had my attention call ed, or on which it has been my duty to vote since I took my seat us a member of this House. Indeed, I consider it a question of more moment, and fraught with snore of good or evil to the coun try, than any other ever presented fur the consideration of Congress sine() the formation of our Government. It cer tainly demands an exercise of the best judgment, and must appeal to the pa triotism of every true American citizen. We may; perhaps, in a few days decide the fate of this Republic. How careful, then, ought we to be of our words, how sure that we do no act which will cause us regret in thofuture ! This subject has not occupied the minds and engaged the attention of those in authority ahne; it has two and is yet bcinm discussed at almost every fireside in our land. It has been, and Is now, a fruitful flip. for all of our citizens. The statesman and the politician; the minister, the mer chant and the mechanic; the farmer, the laborer, and the lawyer, barb all felt, and still feel, a 'deep solicitude for its rightful solution and peaceful settle ment. They fear, and perhaps not without jnst cause, that, if not settled now, it may for years to come, continue and increase the jealously and bitterness which now exist between our brethren of the North and South, and are, there fore, anxiously directing their attention and hopes to Congress for a speedy ttne., amicable termination of the agitation and excitement which this vexed and dangerous question has produced thro'- out our country, so that. peace and har mony may once more prevail among our peop;e, and the Union stand, as it has in time past, a monument to per pe tun t e the fame of those whose wis dom planned it, as also the pride and boast of the nation. How shall we meet the expectations lof our fellow-eitieens? How shall we Idrive from our political horizon the t clouds which lower o'er our house, and cause the sunshine of peace and happi- I peas to enter and keep possmsion of every dwelling in our once thrice happy land? We cannot do it by engendering land encouraging strife and contention between one portion awl another of our i teople. Wo cannot do it by calling each other harsh names and using op : probrious epithets ; by stigmatizing as base, mean, and vile, all those who may hold a certain class of human beings in servitude. We cannot do it by con demning in harsh, unmeasured terms of i abuse those who may honestly think that the institution of slavery is wrong. i No, sir, this will not heal the wound in ' flicted upon our country by the indis cretion of some and the madness of I others. This will only tend to widen the breach, already too wide, between our fellow-citizens of the North and the South. The circumstances in which 1 we are placed demand calm, sensilde I action, and unyielding devotion to the interests and welfare of the great peo ple whose representatives and servants we are. Mr. Chairman, in performing the dn ty which I undertook to discharge, I shall not detain the House by an elabo raw or lengthy argument to prove that Kansas ought to be admitted into the 'Union under the Lecompton constitu tion. Nor is it my purpose to go into a history of the settlement of Jiansas, to show that a portion or the people now there went there with the intent i on of making it a slave State, and another portion to make it a free State. In my judgment, the citizens of this free coun try have a perfect right to settle on any of the unappropriated territory of the 'United States; and, if the decision of the highest judicial tribunal of the nation is to be taken as the law, they have a right to take their slaves with them, and, if they can, oven establish slavery as one of their domestic institu tions. Nor will I pretend to show that the citizens of the North or of tho South have not the right to appropi iato money for the purpose of sending persons into a Territory to make it either a free or a slave State, provided such persons, after they have arrived in the Terri tory, set about the accomplishment of their work in a peaceful and orderly manner, and in obedience to the Con stitution of the United States. This part of the present controversy I shall hand over to others to discuss, if they feet inclined to do so, and shall proceed to stets a few facts, as I. understand them, and the conclusions I have ar rived at upon those facts. In the year 1854 an act of Congress was passed organising the Territory of Gmrernor and other officers for the Territory were appointed by tmarratir, -gtento mul mil enrnal. GETTYSBURG, PA.: MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1858. mAncH 20, 1858 "TRUTH I MIGHTY, AND WILL PREVAIL." the President then in power. In l's - 57 a Legislature was elected, and convened at Lecompton. Divers laws were pass ed by this Legislature, among them one calling a convention to frame a consti tution preparatory to the admission of Kansas into the Union as a State. This convention met at Lecompton, framed a constitution, and submitted it to a vote of the people. There are four gnestions arising out of this state of facts to which I will di rect the attention of the committee for a short time. First. Was the Legislature which passed the act calling a convention to frame a constitution a legally elected body Second. Was the convention which framed_ the Lecompton constitution a legally elected body?. Third. Was that convention bound by law, precedent, or otherwise, to submit the constitution framed by it to a vote of the peoplu for ratification or rejec tion,? h uurth. If Kansas shall be admitted into the Union, will the people of that State have a right to alter, amend, or abolish the Lecompton constitution in any other manner or at any other time than that prescribed iu thut constitu- Lien ? La answering the first of these ques tions, it seems to me that I need do very little more than read onl or two extracts from the inaugural address of Governor Walker to the people of Kan sas. I presume these will be consider ed good authority by those who rely with so much confidence upon his state ments. The extracts from the inaugural are as follows: "Under our practice, the preliminary act of framing a State con , :titiction .a uniformly per formed through the instrumentality of a con vention of delegates chosen by the people them selves. That convention t.. now about to be elected be you under the'eall of the Territorial Legislature, created and still recojecised by the authority of Congress, and 'lathed by it, in the comprehensive language of the organic law, with full power to make such an ena.stment.— The Teri itorial Legislature. then, in assembling this convention, were fully sit:Anil:RA by the act of Congress, and the authority of the conven tion bi diitinetly recomaked in my instructions from the President ofahe United States. Those who oppcse this course cannot aver the alleged irregularity of AL•e Territorial Legislutorr, wilost, I.m in towei and cite elections. in corpo rate franchi.es, and on nil other subjects but slavery, they aelsnowledge by their vctes and ncq taro cnce. If that Legislature was invalid, then are we without maw or order In Kansas— without town, city or county organizations ; all legal and judicial trac.sacti.•ns are void, all ti tles null, and anarchy reigns throughout our borders." .I:~iin "lint it is slid that the convention is not legally ealltd. an I that the election will not be freely and fairly conducted. The Territorial Legislature is the power ordained for this put pose by the Congress of ocl:tilted States; nnd. in opposing it, you resist the authority of the Federal Govactment. That Legislature was called into beg by the Congress of 1854, nod is recognised to the very latest congre4sional legislation. It is recognised by thepreseat Chief Magistrate of the Union, just ehostn by the American people, and tuany of its nets are now in operation here by universal assent. As the Governor of the Territory of Kansas,l must support the laws and the Constitution ; and I hare no other alternatite under tity oath - but to see that all constitutional laws are fully and fairly executed." The position hero taken by Governor Walker cannot, in my opinion, be over thrown. But, sir, both parties in Kan sas, have, by their acts; admitted that Legislature to have been a kgallv con stituted body, and the act passed by it, calling a convention, to be a Aiding statute. The pro-slavery party have admitted it by voting fat the constitu tion framed at Lecompton by the con vantion called into being by virtue of that act; and the free-State party ad mitted it by voting againAt the consti tution on the 4th of January last. For, if the Legislature which called the con• vention had no legal existence, it had no legal authority to pass any law; and it woeld follow, of coarse, that the act passed callino. b a convention was with out force and void, awl the convention which convened in pursuance of its pro visions had no legal existence, and all its acts were simply and absolutely void. Will any gelitlenian en the other site say that the free State party, with Governor Stanton at their hied, would act so unwisely as to have nn extra session of the Legislature cal led for the purpose alone of passing an act sub mitting the Lecompton constitution to a vote of the people for ratification or rejection, if that constitution wasn void instrument, as it certainly would be if the Legislature which passed the act calling the convention had no legal au thority to pass such an act? It will not, 1 presume, be denied that the ex tra session of the Legislature was call ed at the instance of those who opposed the Lecompton constitution ; and what was it called for, if the act which called the convention was an act passed by a body without legal existence or au thority?? It seems to me, therefore, Mr. Chair man, that the parties in Kansas are estopped by their own acts from deny ing that the Legislature, which passed the act referred to, was a legally elect ed body, and, if it was so, the laws passed by that legislature, not conflict ing with the Constitution of the Uni ted States, were valid and binding. The second question to an examina tion of which I will direct the at tention of members, is, Whether the Lecompten Convention was a legul:y elected holy, and if so, is the con stitution framed by it a local instru mentl It is said that tho Convention Was rot a legally constituted body, and the constitution framed by it a void instru ment for two reasons: Arsit because a number of the counties in the Territo ry were not represented in the conven tion, and cosh:1. 1 11ot be represented fur the reason that, the qualified citizens of those counties were not registered, and consequently could nut vote fur (li.le gates to the convention; and, secondiy, because the delegates who did al.sernble in that convention were not legally elected. Let us inquire whether or not these two positions are correct ; and if they are correct, how the constitut;on fram ed at Lccompton Would bo affected by therm By the nineteenth section of the ter ritorial act organizing the counties therein, there were created thirty-sev en counties. Three of these counties he on the extreme western frontier, and are said to have no population to be either represented or disfranchis ed. These three counties are Wash ington, Clay, and Dickinson. It may be said that this assertion that these - counties are without population is an assumption without proof to sus tain it. I would inquire, where is the evidence that. there is a single citizen residing iii either of these counties qual ified to vote P At a time when, of all others, they would have voted, there was not a single vote giFen. On the 4th day of January last, When the con stitution was submitted to ja vote of the people, in tho form in which the free- State party desired it tote submitted, not a single vote was cast in either or all these three counties: Where wore the qualified citizens at so important an election as this; an election at which, if there were any voters there. they could have voted and shown their opposition to the Lecompton constitu tion ?: The fair and legitimate, infer ersce-----at least, until it is proved to be otherwise—is, that these counties were without population. This would leave thirty-four counties to be represented in the Lecompton convention. These were arranged by law into election distrif:s for the election of delegates to the cOtrvention, as follows : Ist die&ict, Mumma county. 2d "*_ Brown nut! Netncha counties. 34 " .Atchi,eu county. 4111 ' " Learenvr.nrth county. sth " Jefferson: county. Gth — ' " Calhotut :county. 7th " Marshall county. Stit " Rileynnal'ott.twatomineo - nnties " Joh rwon county. " Dotagi.as co:anty. llth • u Shawnee., Richardson and Da ' cis counties. 12th " Likings tounty. • 13th " Franklin county. 1-111 " Weller, lireckinridge, Wise twat Madison counties. 15th " ,Butler and Coffee counties. lanta " Lynn county. 17th " Anderson county. 18th itatourbon, McGee, Dorn ■nd Al len counties. 19th " Woodson.Wilson,Codfry,Creen o wood and llunter counties. There were, as the returns made to the Governor will show, nine thousand two lootdred and filly-one voters reg istered in twenty-one of those thirty four Vottnties. Thl nu mem or these eottotteA, and the number or voters reg iKtereil in each, are us follows : Nn or dot tict No. of legal Wipe* of counties. •t.lers. ...Doulphan I,uti6 • :—Brown 206 Netaeha 140 3 ~.Afehison 840 4 Leavenworth 1'837 5 Jefferson 555 8 ...... 21/1 7 trahall 206 Riley ...... 3:13 ...... 205 9 Johnson 496 10 ....Douglas 1,318 11 ...... ...Shawnee, Richardson, and Davis ... 283 13 ...... ...Lykings 413 13 .....:..Franklin no return 14 ' 4 counties no return 15 • 2 counties no return 16 Lynn 413 17 ..l (Anderson) uo return 18 Byurhon. McGee, Allen, and Durn ...... ...... 645 19 5 counties no return Total Upein this registration being return ed to Governor Stanton, he made an apportionment of representation in ae (.ord:trice with law. That apportion ment is its - follows : 1,1 district. Doniphan delegates. 2,1 • " Brown:m.l Nemrha... 2 " 31 " Atchisua ss 4th . " Lenc:nworth 12 " sth " Jeffengon 4 " 6th " Calhoun 2 14 7th " Marshall 1 ct lEath " It.ileT and Pottawa- tomie 4 .1 94h " Johnson. jc,„ - ti 10th " DOUgla, ,Ir ' If IRh " " Skawnee, Richardson atuA Davis 12th " inch ,4 Lynn 18t11 ' 6 Bourbun,ilcGee,Dorn and Allen It will be seen, by this apportion ment, that twenty-one of the thirty four counties were represented in the Lecompton convention, leaving six teen not represented by their own dele gates. I have shown, L tbink, that in three of those sixteen counties them was no population to be represented. The citizens of the remaining 13 coun ties were not registered and conse quentry could not vote for delegates to the convention. It is right that the citizens of other sections of the country should know why these persons were not registered, and I will theretore en deavor to give that information. The act of the Legislature of Kansas pro vided that an enumeration of the citi zens, qualified to vote for delegates, should be taken. The sheriff of each county was required to perform his du ty, and was authorized to appoint dep uties in each election precinct for that purpose. If there was no Sheriff in any county, tho Probate Judge was re quired to perform the duty, and waa authorized to appoint deputies. If in an y county there was neither Sheriff nor Pebbate Judge, the Governor was to appoint persona to make the enum eration. Theomcers making the en um- TWO DOLLARS A-YEAR oration were required to return lists of ! the qualified voters in the Oleo of the ; Probate Juthze, and also to post lists at, certain public places for the inspection 'of all qualified citizens. The Probate J udge was required to continue his court for one month, so that the lists returned into his office might be correct ed at the in ! stanceof an y person who migh t request it. Is there any evidence that a single per son in either of these counties required his name to be pot on the list of voters and NA as refused? If there is such evi dence I have not seen it. In my own State each person who desires to vote at any State or 'county election, is re quired to see for himself that his name is on the list, and if he has not paid a State or county tux, within two years, 1 immediately preceding' the (lay of election, ho is not entitled to vote. If ' ho obstinately refuses to attend to his duty, in having himself assessed, it is Ins own fault, and no sympathy is felt for him by any one. The assessor is not boundto inform hint whether his name is on the list or not. lie mnst see to this himself. I ant of opinion that the people of my State are in eve ry respect ns good as the people in Kansas, and that, if the citizens of Kansas will not take the trouble to have their names put upon the list of voters, as we are required to do in the Keystone State, they have very little cause of Complaint. They could have been registered if they had pursued the proper course. Let us see, then, how many delegates the remaining thirteen of the so-called disfranchised counties would have been entitled- to if the citizens therein had been registered and entitled to vote fur delegates. At the election on the 4th of January last, when the Lecompton constitution was submitted for . ratification or rejec tion to a vote of all the qualified citi zens of Kansas, in the form desired by the free-State party, there were given in six of these thirteen counties ono thousand two hundred and twenty-five votes, all told, and in the .other seven not one vote was cast. I would ask again, where were the qualified voters of these seven counties at this time when they could have vowd, and, if op posed to thA Lecompton constitution, had nn opportunity to show that op position ? Were there qualified voters in these seven counties entitled to be I represented in the convention? Ifthere were, their 'conduct %as not only sin gularly strange, but affords strong ground for a presumption that they I were satisfied with what the conven tion had done, and approved the con stitution. TiWrO is a trite adage, and one generally true, that silence gives consent. Ii is certainly so in elections. I Gee. Walker assumed this - position in his inaugural address to the people of Kansas. He says: 'The law has performed its entire appro priate function when it extends to the people the right of suffrage, but it cannot compel the performance of that duty. Throughout our whole Union, however, and wherever free gov ernment prevails, those who abstain front the exercise of the right of suffrage authorise those who do rote to act for them in that contin gency, and the absentees are as much bound under the law and constitution, where there is no fraud or violence, by the - act of the majority of those who did vote, as ifall had participated in the election. Otherwise, as voting must be voluntary, self-government would be impracti cable, and monarchy or despotism would remain as the only alternative." I have not read this portion of the Governor's inaugural to show that the citizens of Kansas had a right to annul, by their votes on the 4th of January lust, the constitution which had been adopted by a vote of the citizens on the 2lst of December preceding. I only quote from this authority to establish the rule which I have laid down, be 'cease whatever the Governor says liow is taken by my friends on the other sido of the House as verity itself. If this rule be a correct one, does not a fair presumption arise, from the conduct of the citizens of these seven counties in not voting against the constitution on the 4th day of January, that they either approved it, or that they would not have voted for delegates if they could have done so? To my mind it is clear that., if they approved the consti tution, or if they obstinatelf refused to vote when they had the opportunity, they would have refused to vote fpr delegates if they had been permitted so to do, and in either case they are in law without remedy, and the Lecomption constitution is to be taken as an ex pression of their will. Let us inquire next to what number of delegates the remaining six of the disfranchised counties world have been entitled in the convention if' they could have elected delegates? The conven tion, by legislative enactment, was to consist of sixty delegates. Tho number of voters registered in the counties rep. resented in the convention was 9,251. Add to this number the whole number of votes given in these six Counties on the 4th of January- last, which was 1,225, and you have as the total, 10,- 746. This' number divided by 60 (the number of delegates of which the con vention was to be composed,) and it will show how many voters it required to elect a delegate. It will be seen that it, required 174.. / If we divide 1,225 (the number of votes polled in the six coun ties referred 'to) by 174, it will show that the six counties were entitled to just seven delegates. Now, sir, taking it as granted that all these counties would have elected free-State delegates, there would have been just that number of free-State de legates in the convention. But, sir, lot us go further, and admit, for the sake of the argument, that the thirteen coati- 1 ties said to be disfranchised, (not taking in tne account the threw where nobody lived,) had been entitled to all the dele gates, except those who took their seats DO 3 .1 3 i, 4 id coukt have Am done by t, sixteen delegates? Could they have controlled the' action of the convention! Would not the 'eonstitnt ion hare come from tha. conxention precisely as it did? It is but fair to presume that it would. The position assumed by some; that. the delegates who did agraemble in gra,. vention at Lecompton and frame a con stitution, were not legally elected; is not, in my_ judgment, sustained by tho facts, and is without support in law.' I brive nor yet heard it asserted, hero or elsewhere, that these delegates had not severally received a majority of all the legal votes polled at the delegate election. If such is the fact, I have not seen the proof. It is said, however, and perhaps truly said, that these dele gates received a great many fraudnlent votes. What effect Would this have on their right to seats in the convention ? If' they received a majority of all legal votes polled, were they leet \ legally eke ' ted? Whet is the inquiry before a committee appointed flx.,itScertain the right of a member of Congress to his seat ? Certainly it is not whether he . has received fraudulent votes, but whether he has received a majority of all the legal votes polled. It' he has, ho is declared elected. I know of no difference in an election of a mcmberof .Congress and a delegate to a conven tion which would render the election of one void and not that of the other. If all the offices were to be vacated now in our Union, by those filling them, who hove received illegal votes, there would be scarcely a c irprel'e.gaard of officiate in all the land. Ido not wish to be TM derstood as approving the frauds com mitted in Kansas. I hate fraud at elec tions, and heartily despise the men who can commit them. But We must not bo led to the other extreme, and pronounce all elections void because some Mop' votes may he polled by bad men. - Tide would destroy our liovernment itself, and leave us without law and all our . rights insecure. It is further urged as an argument against the Lecomptun convention, that a large number of the qualified citizens of Kansas refused to vote at the election of delegates, because they apprehended violence on the part of the pro-shivery men, and that they would be outvoted by fraudulent votes; and that even if they did poll a majority of votes, false p_d_fraudulent returns worn have been - NO. 29. de to defeat them. Would this plea inswer in a court of justice lithe ques. tion of the election of an officer teas being inquired into before it? Certain ly not. The mere apprehension of vio lence or fraud could not be alleged be fore a judicial tribunal so as to rendet void an, election. It is the same hero: We cannot inquire into the apprehen sions of citizens of fraud or violence to invalidate an election. Governor Walk er, when speaking of the act calling the convention, and entreating the citizens of Kansas to vote ut the election of de legates, was right when he said : I see in this act calling the convention nth improper or unco.astitutional restrictions upon the light of suffrage. I see in it no test-oath, or other similar provi.lons objected to in re lation to previous laws, but clearly repealed as repugnant to the provisions of this act, so far as regards the election of dcleg,atcs to this con vention. It is said that a fair and full vote will not be taken. Who can safely predict such a result? Nor'is it just for a majority, as they allege, to throw the power into the hands of a minority from A NIERF: AITELLIIENSIOX (I trust entirely unfounded) that they will not be per mitted to exercise the right of suffrage. If, by fraud or tioleocc, a majority should not be permitted to vote, there is a remedy, it is hop ed, in the wisdom and justice of the convent/op itself, acting under the obligations of an oath, and a proper responsibility to the tribunal of public opinion." These people who refused to vote foe -- this reason were badly instructed, and should have disobeyed their leaders, gone to the polls, offered to vote, at least; and if they had been turned away by violence, or defeated by fraudulent votes or returns, the convention would -- not have dared to sanction the outrage. By staying away from the polls they gave the right to those who did vote to secure a majority of the delegates to the convention, and that, too, in ac cordance with all the rules of law in 4 such eases 1 have already quoted what Governor Walker said to the people of Kansas on this point, and agree with him that " those who abstain from the exercises of the right of suffrage authorize those who do vote to act for them in thit contingency." If this rule wns not to be observed, all free government would soon be at an end. But, sir, it is doubted by some emi nent statesmen, as weil as lawyer*, whether wt. have any right to inquire into the right of a member of the Le compton convention to his seat. They say, and I agree with them, that such a body is the sale judge of the qualifica tions of its own members ; and- that if fraud was committed in the election of one or more of the delegates, the con vention alone could inquire into it. This is certainly the law with regard to members of CongresS, and of all the legislative bodies in the Union. Is it not the same with regard to the elec tion of delegates to a territorial conven tion ? I think I have shown that the delegates to the Lecompton conventkm wore legally elected; and if they were, and once took their seats, it will not be denied that they had the right to frame a constitution for the people of Kansas. That the Lccompton constitution is a legal instrument cannot, in my judgi mitut, be successfully denied.. All par ties in Kansas have, by their acts, ad ulated it to - be legal. The pro•slavery party admit it now, and ask for the ad mission of the State into the Union an der it. The free-State party has recoie. nised it as a binding instrument, nut only by voting on the 4th of Januar* last to nullity it, but also b y voting fur the o ffi cers provided for in it. U - tho constitution was, then rendered void, the officerS elected on that day are without authority, and if they attempt to exercise any autliority,,the peep te will be at liberty to disregard ail the do. If this be true, the people of Kati sasare without a government. le thee% any gentleman here. bold (moue!. t take this position ? It, is said, however, that if, the eon stitution framed atLe i speak L; pion win even legally framed, it Was tnadevind 'by the vote of the people 'oil Vie 4th of Janizary. Is this corroei any gentleman aline act that ealledthe-vsessintentntgan -11118 1010 •ZilteSaiiii4ll ly c igirthe'toll. ;
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