The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1856-04-11


in my speech together with this other fact which is ia
tai 10 bis position that eVeyy other ease the STATE no0e
st ,eds IN ssbofdaton 10 s territorial 0utaorites Why
spend much time aud put forth sueh great efforts
proyea fact which is conceded and conceal from view
this other fact upon which the whole argument ress
II Is true that the senator from Vermont quotes one par
agraph from the opinion OF Attorney General Butler 10
the Arkansas 10 the effect that the territorial legsa
ture possessed authority to authorize the formation OF
constitution and State without the assent oil
Congress- but he might and think ought in fairness TO
have quoted another paragraph from the same opinion
that the people proceed under the constitution of the
United States peaceaby to assemble and petition govern
ment for the redress OF grievances and in their petition
might include constitution for State government with
this important provso which the senator did not deem IL
material to bring to the attention Of the Senate but which
will now read
Propiaea, apay,, That such measures shall be COM
aud PROSECUTED il geaceaAe aanasr IN sTpicT
sugoRDEArIoN EXISTING TRnaIToRtAL aoyERr-
MENr, and IN entire subserpemcy Ms Of Conyess
10 adopt, reject, or dsrsyard them at their p'easure
Had the senator quoted this proviso in conncxion with
what he did say on this point comment from me would
have been unnecessary These extracts clearly prove
far the legal opinion Of Benjamin r. Butler can be
deemed authority that the proceedings in Kansas
uonary, and when carried to the ultimate purpose will
constitute act Of open and undisguised rebellion!
will now pass from this point to another OF still graser
import The senator from Vermont has repeated with
air OF seriousness the old and exploded story that Kansas
has been conquered and legislature forced her by vo
ence lie ianccs that ne has made dscovery-that he
has opened mine, rich with proofshat Kansas
invaded and conquered by large bodies Of armed from
Missouri His proofs consist in the fact that Gov Reedcr
caused to be taken in February 1855 from which
it appeared that there little than 1900 legal
voterssay 5000 in round numbersin the whole Terri
tory whereas the returns of the election the 3oth OF
March of the year show that about 6200 votes
poed From these facts he ners and gravey argues that
the difference between 5000 and $500 the exact num-
Der oegal votes cast by persons from Missouri who COM
posed the invading This is ingenious and plausible
first view but be satisfactory the mind of any
impartial who has studied the history Of that ransac
ton2 It well known that emigration to Kansas COM
| n Iara nnp n am
grants from the western States had gone the previous
in anticipation of the organization of the Territory but
being stopped the border by the Indian agents and Uni
ted States troops whose duty to obey the orders of
the proper department in executing and enforcing the In
danntercourse laws, which still in force in that
Territory and by the terms of which all emgrants and
settlers be kept of the country these emgrants
took up temporary residence in the western counties of
Missouri waiting for the passage of the Nebraska bill SO
they received the that the country open
settlement they made their
the line and make choice of the best locations for their
future homes In the Of the and fall others
followed from Iowa. Illinois, Indiana Kentucky-in fact
from all the northwestern and southwestern States The
first companies sent out by the New England Emgrant
Aid Societies arrived in July and August and Others fol-
lowed at short intervals until winter set in. When
winter upon this large mass of men, and closed
the navigation and cut OFF their supplies they found
themselves without adequate shelter and many of them
without any houses shelter to protect them against
the severity of the climate and without food or the means
of subsistence for themselves or their animals They had
gone there become settlers and permanent inhabitants
had selected staked their caims had erected
shanties cabins in which they could stay until they
could build houses for themselves and their families TO live
but scarcely of them entered the Territory early
enough in the TO raise CROP while vast majority
too late TO make adequate arrangements for shelter
and food during the winter Under these circumstances
large majority of the emgrants after selecting aud mark
ing their claims TO the land upon which they intended TO
make their improvements, returned to their old homes
where they had left their families in Missouri Iowa. Hi
nos Indiana Kentucky and the other States with
the view Of going back to Kansas In the spring with their
families These facts well known to the senators from
the western States ask the senator from Iowa such
not the pursued by the engrants from his
State
Mr. JONES' Of Iowa. Certainly 1t was.
| Mr. DOUGLAS. might PROFOUND the same inquiry,
facts wei! known and notorious throughout the west
States The emgrants from the eastern States and
other remote portions of the Union who could not conye
niently return to their homes TO spend the winter
under the necessity of seeking shelter and food In the
settlements and border counties of Missouri The
Emgrant Aid Societies Of New England expended large
in purchasing hotels and renting boarding houses IN
the border towns within the State Of Missouri with the
view OF furnishing accommodations for their people whom
they had sent TO Kansas without the of obtaining
houses and food and sustaining life during The first winter
These things all resulted from the necessity of the case
The emigrans bad arrived in the Territory too late In the
season plant corn wheat and raise crop For thess
they could remain In the Territory during that
winter and consequently sought shelter and food else
where with the view Of returning in the spring, and be
coming actual settlers and Inhabitants of the Territory
Is not surprising, therefore, that when the governo
caused be taken in midwinter-in the mont
Of Februarybe found only three thousand legal voters
the whole Territory II surprising that he shouIc
have found onehaf OF that number while he had aker
the three months earlier three months later h
would n all probability have found three times that mum
Der Of legal voters-emgrans who had como to Kansas
with the view Of remaining and becoming permanent IN
abants but who had been forced TO leave in search
food and shelter and who did return TO the Territory anc
become actual settlers when the winter was over Ih
misfortune that the governor should have taken th
in the middle Of winter when hreeourths OF th
emgrants necessarily absent and should bave or
A.xn tla olsssinn a short mt IN
tho 3oth Of March, before they could all return. i
also unfortunate that the FIRST notice which th
/ emgrants in western Missouri received OF the tm
i when the election 10 be held came from Boston
through the agents Of the Emigrant Aid Societies Ih
fact calculated 70 excite suspicious that there mil
be secret understanding between the governor anc
those societies by which unfair advantages might b
obtained by sending forward large bodies OF enigrant
to ascend the Missouri river the FIRST boats afte
the opening Of navigation and to arrive In Kansas Just
time 70 vote at the election the Both OF March, Ih
proclamation dated the 9th Of March, ordering IN
election 10 be held the 3Oh Of the month"; thu
allowing but twenty-five days for the emgran 70 return
and vote. portion Of them did return-probaoy mos
of those who had spent the winter in Missouri and Iowa
while many who remote from the scene OF op
erstons did not get the notice in time to make tne ar
rangements and arrive In Kansas until after the election
Hence is very probable that for two or three days pre-
vous the election and perhaps on the morning OF tna
day certain points along the border and parncuary
where the ferries crossed the river there may have beer
witnessed bearing resemblance to an inva
ding army rushing into Kansas to vote and many OF nen
II may have returned the next day has been alleged
their their former homes there TO re
main until the spring fairly opened when they couc
take their families with them 10 the Territory, and i'm
prove their lands which they had selected for their funr