The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1857-10-29


TIE DIS MoIxrs vAlLsr WIG is published
every Wednesday At this ofe-, 10 enc Of the aidss
paper 10 lows, and has very iasge and inereas
Ing clroui alton Throughout. the Dcs Mcines Val
ley, Northern Missouri, and Western Illinois.
&c THE xLEcrrvE FRANCHISE WOULD BIZ UT
fKRLy vALrKLKss, AND FREE GOVERNMENT II
SELF WOULD RECEIVE A DEADLY BLOW, " 81
GREAT An OUTAGE As THIS SHOULD BE sHIKLDkI
UNDER xRRE FORMS AND rKcHsIcAIiriEs."
The above is forciblc annunciAtion Of
the effects OF fraud and outrage upon thu
elective franchise MS set forth in the recen
Proclamation of Governor Walker in refer
ence to the fraudulent returns OF the OXFORD
Precinct. No people on earth have had bet
ter opportunities of realizing the truthful
ness OF this statement than the people Of
Kansas. Every election held in that Terri.
tory, from that for Delegate to Congress in
1854 down to the recent returns for Members
OF the Legislature, has been carried against
the citizens Of the Territory by means OF
fraud and force. The "elective franchise
has been utterly valueless'' to them, and
g free government itself has received a
deadly blow" in the fact that these repeated
outrages have been shielded and sanctioned
by the government of the United States.
The attempted frauds Of the late election
bear no comparison in extent and boldness
to those that have been perpetrated with
inpunity at all previous elections in Kansas.
But to pass over for the present all other
elections, let US recall the attention Of our
readers to the general manner in which the
election of March 80, 1855, was conducted
and carried. II will be remembered that the
Legislature which enacted the bogus laws
wns chosen at that election.
The Congressional Committee appointed
to investigate matters in Kansas make the
following statement in regard to the matter,
and il is amply sustained BY the testimony
taken on the occasion
By an organized movement, which extend.
ed from Andrew county in the north, to Jas
per county in the south, and as far eastward
as Boone and Cole counties, Missouri COM
panies Of men were arranged in irregular
parties and sent into epery council district
in the Territory, and into every representa-
/ tius district but one. The numbers were so
distributed as 10 control the election in each
district. They went to vote, and with the
avowed design to make Kansas a slave State.
They were generally armed aud equipped,
carried with them their own provisions and
tents, and so marched into the Territory.
Now let our readers look again at the
principle announced by Walker. II it be
true that fraud in one district renders the
elective franchise valueess and strikes a
deadly blow at free government, what shall
We say Of carrying the elections in all the
districts Of the Territory, with one exception,
BY invasion and violence of overwhelming
numbers from beyond the limits of Kansas.
Yet by just such means was the Legislature
OF Kansas elected; and il is the infamous
laws and asurped authority Of that Legisia-
ture, that Governor Walker is now using the
army of the United States to enforce aud
uphold. Upon his own showing Governor
Walker, backed BY the Administration, is
engaged in carrying out and rendering per-
s"~nShtsy CASSbfc outIbkcS sucu As nc ut-
clares renders the elective franchise yalue-
less and deals a deadly blow a, free govern
ment itself. Compare the outrages in some
OF the districts at the election in March.
1855, with that at the Oxford Precinct Mt
the recent election, which Governor Walker
alleges strikes deadly blow at free govern
ment. The testimony taken in reference to
the election Of 1855, shows that 900 men
from the western counties OF Missouri in
wagons and on horseback, with arms, can
non, tents and provisions, arrived and en-
camp in rayine near Lawrence on the night
before the election. And thar on the day Of
election, under the command of Col Young,
distinguished politician of Missouri, they
proceeded to the polls and voted, some Of
them changing their hats and coats and yo-
ting hall dozen times. On the morning Of
election three companies, $50 TO 900 each, of
These same men were detached and sent to
hickory Point, Bloomington, and Tecumseh.
80 much for the first district. In the sec
ond district, at Bloomington, five or SIX hun.
dred Missourians came in on the morning Of
election in wagons, carriages and on horse
back under the command Of Samuel j. Jones,
then postmaster Of Weston, Missouri. They
approached the polls with loaded guns in
their hands and bowie knives displayed on
their persons, and on the refusal of the iudg-
es 70 receive then votes smashed in the win
dows- Jones, with band Of followers.
rushed into the room, presented their pistols
and demanded that the judges should resign
or die, and gave them five minutes to de-
eide. Ia the meantime, however, the Mis-
sourians bore of the ballot box, elected new
judges and proceeded with the election.
The character Of the election in the frs,
and second districts is precisely that of all
the rest OF the districts. Everywhere the
same spirit, similar violence and like exhibi.
lions Of crowds OF armed Missourians char.
acterised the proceedings and controlled the
result at the polls. OF the SAT- Pro- Slavery
votes east in the eighteen districts at the
election Tor members Of the Legislature in
1922, there were 490s Illegal votes cas-, by
Missourians. And yet the Legislature so
elected has been sustained and shielded by
the Administration, and Gov. Walker. with
three thousand United States troops, has
sought to enforce the infamous bogus stat
utes enacted by tina, body. And, more than
that, he u now UNFOLDING and defending d
Border Rufian convention, elected BY fraud
ulent apporsionment under the laws of this
same Legislature, 70 make Consultation for
the people Of Kansas.