Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-10-29
TERRITORY OF KANSAS, Douglas county, SIS.
PROCLAMATION.
To the People of Kansas:

10 inc feopte OF hdHSdS:
LECoMPToN, Oct. 10. 1857
BY the 32d section Of the organic act establish
ing this territorial government it is provided, in
reference to the election of delegate to Congress
that 4" the person having the greatest number of
votes shall be declared by the governor to be duly
elected, and certificate thereof shall be given
accordingly
By the 10th section Of the act OF the territorial
Legislature of Kansas, entitled " An act to repu-
late elections" it is made the duty of the secre
tary to examine the returns in the presence of the
governor, and to - give to the person having the
highest number of votes in their respective dis
trcts certificates of their election to the egsla-
tive assembly,
Under these two provisions of the laws prevail
Ing IN TINS Territory. the recent general election
has presented for the joint consideration of the
Governor and Secretary question of the gravest
Importance, not only TO our own people, but also
to those Of the whole Union This question
arises upon the extraordinary retrrns made from
toe precinct of Oxford, in the county of Johnson
What purport to be the returns of the election
held at that precinct on the 5th and 9th instant
have been received 10y the Secretary, containing
sixteen hundred and twenty-eight names Of pre-.
tended voters or nearly One-haf the number
Siven IN the whole representative district. The
disposition to be made of this supposed vote is
rendered all important by the fact that the poiti-
cal character of the Legislative assembly will be
controlled by the addition Of three councilmen
aud eight representatives to the strength Of one
party or the other, according to the adoption or
rejection OF the returns in question.
In point Of fact, il is well known that even the
y -.
pat OF Indian reserve, which, upon examination
OF the law, we find is not vet subject to settle
inent or presumption, can give no such vote as
that which is represented to have been polled at
this incOnsiderable precinct of Oxford But
while this unofficial knowledge, well established
and universal as 1T may be, could not become the
ground OF decision and action upon election re-
turns, in themselves regular and authentic. the
legitimate effect of an apparent enormity such as
that in question. would necessarily be to induce
close examination of the paper presented, and
tS a nor foot,
with all the essential provisions of the law Such
an examination Of this document, conscientiously
and impartially made, has brought us to the con-
clusion That the returns from oxford precinct in
Johnson county, must be wholly rejected for the
following reasons:
LIST. 1t does not appear on the face of the docu-
that the Judges Of election took the oath impera-
lively required by the statue to secure the 6 i'm
law.n
ID 1t does not appear that the paper presented
to us was one Of two original poll books kept al
the election. as required by law but, on the CON
trary, 1t does appear, from unmstakable internal
evidence that the paper is either a copy of some
other document, or has been made up for the oc-
casion and is not the genuine record of the votes
| taken at the election. The law requires one Of
the pol-books to be returned to the secretary; tn
othei to be deposited with the clerk of the board
OF commissioners of the proper county.
ID As the vote of each elector was to be re-
corded for each one of TWENTY-FIVE candidates
and in more than hundred cases for twenty-five
and that by a cira roee vote, it was a physical
imPossibility that the number of votes pretended
TO have been taken on the second day, being more
than fifteen hundred, with the name Of the voter
written and each of twenty two cand idates prop
erly designated, could have been taken and re-
corded within the time prescribed by law.
4th. 1t is an extraordinary fact, tending To
throw distrust upon the whole proceeding, that
OF the sixteen hundred and twenty eight votes
only one is given to the delegate eectt to Congress;
and only one hundred and twenty four are re-.
10 lOcal cap6i-
dates of the township.
Influenced by these considerations, and i'm
in regard to the fairness of the election and It's
freedom from all fraud susceptible Of detection
and prevention within the scope Of our duties
we deemed II essential to trnth and justice that
we should ascertain every fact calculated to re-
flute or confirm the conclusions derived from the
| face OF the papers. Accordingly we went to the
| precinct Of Oxford (Which is a village of six
houses, including stores, and without a tavern, }
and ascertained from the citizens of that yicintv
and especially those of the handsome adjacent
village ofNew Santa Fee, In Missouri, (separated
only by street, and containing ub0ut twenty
houses. that altogether not more than one. tenth
the number Of persons represented to have voted
| were present on the two days of the election.
mnch the smaller number, not exceeding thirty
or forty, being present on the last day. when more
than hfteen hundred votes represented as hay-
ing been given. The people Of Oxford, as well
as those ofthe 9eighboring village Of Santa Fe,
and all persons Of all parties, In both places
treated the whole affair with derision or indpna-
lion, not having heard the alleged result until
several days after 1t had occurred if5HHt-'8 80
In the course Of our journey to and from Oxford
we passed over much the larger part Of tue coun-
w OF Johnson, and we became thorough ly satis-
n d that there is no population in the whole
county from which more than oue-thiId the yo q
Of that single precinct could have been given
We learned that some very few persons, having
cibins on the reserve In Johnson county, and
sSsent ssd yotea ., sne.ein, though generally
county; but we are convinced that very incon-
Siderable number, not reaching, we believe, one
hund ed, q Missourisns Or other pepous having
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