The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1856-02-05


Office of chief executive magistrate Of the
Territory.
Before the requisite preparation was &C.
complished for election of Territorial
Legislature an election of Delegate to Con
gress had been held in the Territory on the
29th day of November, 1854, and the Dele
gate took his seat in the House of Repre-
sentatives without challenge. IF arrange
ments had been perfected by the Governor
SO that the election for members of Legis-
lative Assembly might be held ia the several
precincts at the same time as for Delegates
to Congress, any question appertaining to
the qualification of the persons voting as
people of the Territory would have passed
| necessarily and at once under the supervl-
| sion of Congress, as the judge of the validity
of the return of the Delegate, and would
have been determined before conflicting
passions had become infamed by time and
before opportunity could have been afforded
| for systematic interference of the people OF
| individual States.
This interference, in so far as concerns
its primary causes and its immediate COM
menccment, was one of the incidents of that
perlciOus agitation on the subject of the
condition of the colored persons held to
service in some of the States which has SO
long disturbed the repose of our country,
and excited individuals, otherwise patriotic
and Iaw-abiding, to toll with misdlrected
zeal in the attempt to propagate their social
theories by the perversion and abuse OF the
powers of Congress.
The persons and parties whom the tenor
of the act to organize the Territories OF
Nebraska and Kansas thwarted III the en-
deavor to impose, through the agency of
Congress, their particular views of social
organization on the people of the future new
States, now perceiving that the policy OF
leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge
for themselves in this respect, was ineradi-
cably rooted in the convictions OF the people
of the Union, then had recourse, in the
pursuit of their general object, to the ex-
traOrdinary measure of propagandist colo
nization of the Territory of Kansas, to
prevent the free and natural action of its
inhabitants in its internal organization, and
thus to anticipate or to force the determina-
ton of that question in this inchoate State.
With such views associations were or
ganized in some of the States, and their
purposes were proclaimed through the press
in language extremely irritating and often
sive to those of whom the colonists were to
become the neighbors. Those designs and
acts had the necessary consequence to
awaken emotions of intense indignation in
States near to the Territory of Kansas, and
whose hs' domestic peae6"R State of MissaHri,
directly endangered; but they are far from
iustifying the illegal and reprehensible
counter-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 Governor according to
Jaw.
Angry accusations that illegal votes had
been polled abOunded on all sides, and i'm
putations were made both of fraud and
violence. But the Governor, in the exer-
else of the power and the discharge of the
duty conferred and imposed by law on him
alone, officially received and considered the
returns, declaring large majority of the
members of the Council and the House of
Representatives ''duly elected" withheld
certificates from others because of alleged
illegality of votes; appointed new election
to supply the place of the persons not certi-
fed; and thus at length, in all the forms of
statute, and with his own official authenti-
cation, 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 con-
ceded that each House of the Assembly must
have been competent to determine, in the
last resort, the qualifications and the elec-
ton of its members. The subject was, by
its nature, one appertaining exclusively to
the jurisdiction of the local authorities 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 tho least
possible legal authority been possessed by
the President of the United States. For all
present purposes the Legislative body, thus
constituted and elected, was the legitimate
assembly of the Territory.
Accordingly, the Governor, by proclama-
ton, convened the Assembly thus elected
10 meet at place called Pawnee City,
The two Houses met, and were duly organi-
zed in the ordinary parliamentary 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 legislation
was entered upon by the Legislative As
sembly.
But, after a few days, the Assembly re
solved to adjourn to another place in the
Territory. A law was accordingly passed,
against the consent of the Governor, but in
due form otherwise, to remove the seat of
Government temporarily to the Shawnee
school," Tor missiOn,) and
thither the Assembly proceeded. After this,
receiving bill for the establishment of
ferry at the town of Kickapoo, the Gov
ernor refused to sign it, and, by special
message, assigned for reason of refusal, not
any thing Objectionable in the bill itself, nor
any pretenee of the illegality or incompe-
tency of the Assembly as such, but only the
fact that the Assembly had by its act trans
ferred the seat of government temporarily
from Pawnee City to Shawnee Mission. For
the same reason he continued to refuse to
sign other bills, until, in the course of
few days, he, by official message, commu-
ncated to the Assembly the fact that he had
received notification of the termination of
his functions as Governor, and that the
duties of the Office were legally devolved on
the Secretary of the Territory; thus to the