New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-05
ARGUMENT OF B0N. A. d. REEDR,
CoyrEsrANr IN THB KANSAS ELECTION CASE.
Head before the United States House sf Repre-
..r,.tives, Aus. I, 1855, BY tho Clerk.

r,o oro., mas, of conclusive evidence before the
uon.s ard the country hos established 40 undsn,sby
and 40 clearly that the Territorial Legislature Of Kan
sss was fraudulent, usurping body, elected IN man.
no, disg,. ceiul 10 the sgc and the country and tht
corsequently its whole code of laws Is utterly in'
v.Hd ard worthless tina, shall not coosume any of
the time allotted me in any superduous elucidaon OF
these points. assume that the law under which my
opncn.1t was elected ia absolutely void and ensctc
der circumstances which call for its stern eondemns.
ton as part Of stupepdous fraud aud outrage. sd-
nit that my election, so far as time and place aud
technical forms concerned, vas without any prev-
ops law to authorize il. assume, under the mInute
and copous snd conclusive evidence before tne House
that received large majority of the legal votes ot
the Territory, and that my opponent Is backed only
by meaeer little band Of actual resident voters and
greater acct ssion of the citizens OF Missouri falling
short, even in the Aggregate Of my legal vote. These
positions cam OF be successfully denied.
At the commencement of this contest TO vindca'e
the rights of myself and my constituents, pre-
sented to this House and 's committee two papers, IN
which my position was already defined. | insisted
that nv opponept was an intruder into the seat which
he occupied; that he sustained neither oy the
form of law nor the popular will. claimed that tue
prefer ded law under which be claimed to be elected
wos Invalid; first because the Legislature who enacted
il had no better title TO their Offices than frauds usup
ation and outrage: second tha, their statutes were
psssed at place where they sat 10 Viosilou u 'o
organic act and where, for that reason aobe' they
could make no valid legs saton; aud thT1, because
this ed election law 10 its essential and material
VIOLATES the organic act by opening the pc Is
TO a cses Of voters 10 whom Congress had posltiNe!
and dti1c city ohibt@d the ght of suffrage II tee
Territory cannot forbear 10 express my hlgh grduh
cation al the emphaiic manner 10 WHICH all thtse po'
ticns have beer verif d. Boldly and bitterly, SIR,
were they cont adiced and denounced 80 long Us ire
deIuncators were allowed TO furnish their own te't
mopy TIE sworn evidence now before the House,
relieves me ON the necessity of correcting their STATE
merts and establishes, to their Gi.comhtuie ana Iny
vii dicatioD the truth of my every allegation.
Nv opponent is left. then, with no shadow OF claln
TO the seat which he has illegally hled from the cooi-
mtnceneLt of the Session; and It plain tnst must
remain vacant or be awarded 10 me. If the House
will sanction no election held in the absence OF law
authorizing its details, |, too, must iall.
sLall slow, however, that such elections can Dc
su.iaintd upon principle; that they nave oee9 sus
taI I'd in undar ce OF precedents, and that II any
such Gaze be sustained, either upon prhclPe VI
pr CcdeIt this Is the one.
When the organic act was passed, congress pro-
Weed all the cttas of the first elec on either olrecuy
or through The Executive OF the Territory, ana toen
Greeted that all the details of form, at subsequent
81, c;iops s. OuId be prescribed by Legislature u Dc
el, cfed according 10 the organic act ana very natu
rally supposed they had covered the whole grounc
contii eency occurred, however which was entirely
ulforst en ana pnprovided foI. No Legislature Was
eltci.d according To the act of Congress. hostile
force of thousaD0, OF meD nvadtd the IertoIy tovh
posse ion oi polls, and perverted the eiect'h OF
L. gislaime as contemplated by the ac' thus exclud-
irg tie o. portuIity OF providing for the details OF
secepd election. The night of Representations IN this
House remained however. unimpsifed. That was
expr SLY given by Congress, and old not depend upon
the Legislature and thus the Distinct alternative was
prtseotd TO our people, wheCher this acknoweo ged,
ul ID, che rished right should perish foi
WA nj the technical detail which was to sur.
ropId its exercise, or whether It had vitality and
power enough TO supply its own forms - save
itrelf from obstruction They knew that a.
regarced ttese details, the subsequent sanction
OF this Hoie was a. good as its previous Direction
They did ths House the justice TO believe that they
regarded asubftantai light OF representation ABOVE
tec IicBlity aid that they would sanction any forms
VT ch hey would have previou-ly directed. They &C
corCi gly eICeavored TO ascertain what this House
would sve provided could they have foreseen thi. un
expected cot gtncy. For qualifications of voters they
c,pied nom the o'garic act the words OF Congress
For election districts they adopted those which had
been legally prescribed under the direction OF the ac
al hch still existing upcha' ged, oniy makiog
" bin some Of them aOCitional voting ptecibcts 20 ace
&C mn oc ate on increased populsion. For forms OF
poll book osihs, aid returns, and manner oi conduct
ing they followed what, under authority OF the or
eopc net had been prescribed for the first election
u,
ID. day Of The et cion ana few additional votog
ieclct. nj d. although have made no such celcdla-
ior is highly pr babe thai these additional pre-
circts can be stricken out without Altering IN result
A proc tmstiOn VAS prepared snd lssuer which, Tor
precision and careful attention to iorm vii compare
iavoiably with any document Of the kind from any
quarter stain tee facts, setting forth the exlgency
Of the case and che for the proceeding; COZ
airiDg the mOet full and detailed notice OF erything
h.cessay to the correct conduct of the election aud
requesting all the citizens Of the Territory to pGrtic-
pare as the only means OF preventing lOss Of repre-
seniatlon. 1bls proclamation was signed by more
than ole thousand acius citizens OF the Territory ADD
with al the original osths list of voter and returns
Is sp oDg the evidence before the House; an Ven.
trre to ray that the House has rarely hsd cor
rect oideily aud uLInpeachable set Of election pape.s
before them.
As to the inherent right of the people 10 provide 10
Their primary ueetiDgs for the makiug of laws aud
frau Is o government, whenever necessity exists for
It, based on the idea that the people in the
souIce OF oil power, and that their will rests the
whole fabrc OF government, the authorities are so
abundant Il at days might be consumed 10 citations
hom standard weeks of lesrUed experienced and able
mel-not the hippaDt asd unoigested matter OF har.
igue and d'cnmaton for popular applause epdem-
eral purpose; but grave, deliberate and scientific
essays snd chcussors, the procuct of scholarship.
thought and research and intendedto define and la.
nate the social rights OF man, and the science of gov
elImeIt as well a. to eng ghftn successive generations
IL tine permitted | should delight TO make some
pointed arc applicable quotations. At prerent shall
refer to some Of the authorities only III general way
together with some Others OF different character but
entitled to DO less respect They are: Sidney Gov
IN melt; Locke on Governme nj; Burgh's Political
Dissertation; Stoiy's C"Dme ntaris-; Wilson's Works.
The Feoerall>t; Paley = Moral aud Political Phioso-
ply; DR.. Price on Civil Liberty; Roger Williams On
Cnil Llb,ry; Rswe on the Constitutions E1io.s
Debstes the Works o: jefferson, OF Madison ano of
John Tay of Caroline be-ide the Constitutions OF
the several States and Of he II tied States and num-
b'rles decisions OF the State ard Federal Courts and
The opinions of our creates Statesmen in the debates
OF Congress. lId.ed l may ray that all the hshes,
Judicial legal aid polite 81 summaries OF our country
have in deliberate juclc'a options, itse papers and
ahoIatt tssal. and De bars assert.d and mnn,