The true Democrat., 1856-02-19
tremely irritating and offensive to those ofwhom

tremely irritating and offensive to those ofwhom the colonists were to become the neghbors- | Those designs and acts had the necessary con- sequence to awaken emotions of intense ndig- nation ln States near to the Territory of Kansas, and especially in the adjoining State of Missouri, whose domestic peace was thus the mostdirectlv endangered; but they are far from iustifying the illegal and reprehensible cout ter movements which ensued.
 | Under these inauspicious circumstances the primary elections for members of the legislative assembly were held in most, if not all, of the precincts at the time and the places, and by the persons designated and appointed by the gover- nor according to law.
 Angry accusations that illegal votes had been boiled abounded on all sides, and imputations were made both of fraud and violence But the governor, in the exercise of the power and the discharge of the duty conferred and imposed by law on him alone, officially received and con- sldered the returns; declared large majority of the members of the council and the house of representatives "duly elected," withheld certi- lcates from others because of alleged ilegality Of votes; appointed a new election to supply the place of the persons not certified and thus at length, in all the forms of statute, and with his own official standardization, complete legality was given to the first legislative assembly of the Territory.
 Those decisions of the returning officers and of the governor are final, except that, by the parliamentary usage of the country applied to the organic law, it may be conceded that each house of the assembly must have been compe- tent to,determne, in the last resort, the qualifi- cations and the election of its members The subJect was, by Its nature, one appertaining eX- al l,,ci,,c1,, +o +l,. ( 4l. ties of the territory. Whatever irregularities may have occurred in the elections, it seems too late now to raise that question: At all events, It Is question as to which, neither now, nor at any previous time, has the least possible legal authority been possessed by the President of the tinted States For all present purposes the legislative body, thus constituted and elected, was the legitimate assembly of the terrrory
 Accordingly, the governor, by proclamation, convened the assembly thus elected to meet at a place called Pawnee City; the two houses met anu were duly organized in the ordinary par
 iamentary form; each sent to, and received from, the governor the official communications usual on such occasions; an elaborate message opening the session was communicated by the governor; and the general business of legisla- tlon was entered upon by the legislative as- sembly.
 But after few days, the assembly resolved to adjourn to another place in the territory law was accordingly passed, against the con- sent of the governor, but in due form otherwise, to remove the seat of government temporarily to the Shawnee Manual Labor School,'' Cor Mlsslon,) and thither the assembly proceeded. After this, receiving a bill for the establish ment Of ferry at the town of Kickapoo the governor refused to sign it, and, by special mes sage, assigned for reason of refusal, not any thing objectionable in the bill itself, noranv pre- tence of the legality or incompetency of the assembly as such, but only the fact that the as sembly had by its act transferred the seat of government temporarily from Pawnee City to Shawnee Mission. For thesam reason he con-
 lnued to refuse to sign other bills, antil, in the course of few days, he, by official message, communicated to the assembly the fact that he had received notification of the termination of hS functions as governor, and that the duties of the office were legally devolyed on the secretary ol the territory; thus to the last recognizing the body as duly elected and constituted legis- latve assembly.
 It will be perceived that, if any constitution al defect attached to the legislative acts of the assembly, 1t is not pretended to consist in ire gulanty of election or want of qualification of the members but only in the change of its place of session. However trivial this objection may seem to be, it requires to be considered, because upon it is founded all that superstructure of acts, plainly against law, which now threatens the peace, not only of the Territory of Kansas but of the Union.
 Such an objection to the proceedings of the legislative assembly was of eXceptionabe ori- gin. for the reason that, by the express terms of the organic law, the seat of government of the territory was C located temporarily at Fort LcaVenworth," and yet the governor himself re- named there less than two months, and of his own discretion transferred the seat of govern ment to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact was at the time the assembly were called to meet at Pawnee City. If the governor had any such right to change temporarily the seat of government, still more had the legislative as sembly. The objection is of exceptionable ori- gln for the further reason that the place indi- cated by the governor, without having any cx- elusive claim of preference in itself, was proposed town site on y, which he and others were attempting to locate unlawfully upon land within military reservation and for partici- patonin which illegal act the commandnat of the post-a superior officer of the army-has been dismissed by sentence of court martial
 Nor IS It easy to see why the legislative as- sembly might not with propriety pass the ter ntoral act transferring its sittinss to the Shaw nee Mission. If it could not, that must be on account of some prohibiting or incompatible provision of act of Congress. But no such pro- vision exists. The organic act as already quo ted says "the seat of government is hereby To- cated temporarily at Fort Leavenworth'' and it then provides that certain of the public build-
 ngs there "may be occupied and used under the direction of the governor and legislative as- sembly." These expressions might possibly be construed to imply that when in a previous sec. tion of the act it was enacted that the first legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the governor shall appoint" the word "place" means place at Fort Leav- enworth, not place any where in the territory. If so, the governor would have been the first to err in this matter, not only in himself having removed the seat of government to the Shawnee Mission, but again removing 1t to Pawnee City. If there was any departure from the letter of the law, it was his in both instances
 But however this may be, it is most unreason- able to suppose that by the terms of the organic act of Congress it was intended to do impliedly what it has not done expressly y-that is, to forbid to the legislative assembly the power to choose any place it might see fit as the temporary seat of its deliberations. That is proved by the signi- cant language of one of the subsequent acts of Congress on the subject, that of March 3, 1855, which, in making appropriation for public build ings of the territory, enacts that the same shall not be expended "untl the legislature of said territory shall have fixed by law the permanent seat of government" Congress in these ex- prdssions, does not profess to be granting the power to fix the permanent seat of government, but recognizes the powera as one already granted. But how? Undoubtedly by the comprehensive provision of the organic act itself, which de- clares that the legislative power of the terri tory shall extend to alrghtful subjects of legis- lation consistent with the constitution of the