The Kansas herald of freedom., 1858-08-07
VeE Important.

srs and dlsssHousiy % ~ may eHect tue
..,sr,sts of the Territory, it is nereytheless
80, that pe hare no pr0visioa Of The Legis
,..,r, for a succession Of the laW-making
.,-,,, The Council holds over for anothsr
,s.r but the lower house is elected for a
.ipgIe year, and 10 law was enacted a.
,bs last. or any former session OF the
legislature, providing for another election
care in state of chaos, so far as future
fsGslation is concerned. Those who are
5;.rosed to controvert our statement il
this particular, viii open to the organic
at. Section % provides that, at the
FIRST election, the Governor shall take
4 census. and apportion the representation
among the different counties, according to
q the population; Z" but thereafter, the time,
! place, and manner of holding and con
Quoting all elections By the people, ana
tie qgpoTtioning the representation in the
:sveral counties or districts, to the Cour
cil and House of Representatives, accord
irg 20 the number of qualified voters.
dali Je prescribed By laW, as well as the
day Of the commencement of the regular
sessions of the Legislative Assembly"
Gov. REEDER, agreeably to that provi-
SION of the Organic Act, caused census to
be taken in February of 1855. and imme-
dately after made the apportionment, and
ordered the election of the 30th of March.
The Legislature thus elected, was con-
ventd at Pawnee on the I'd of July, 1855,
and afterwards adjourned to the Shawnee
Manual Labor School, where they closed
their session. Before adjourning, they
made provision for another session Of their
arm number, which met at Lecompton OF
the first Monday of January, 1856. a.
that session, by act of February 20, sc,
they passed "An act to define and estab-
lish the Council and Representative Dis
aicts for the SECOND Legislative Assem-
bly," which may be found on pages 65.
4 IS and 81 of the laws of that session.
Throughout that act, provision is only
made ioF an apportionment for the frs
session of the second Legislative Assem-
bly, of the Territory" else for "the ne1l
legislative Assembly" No provision i:
made for any subsequent apportionment
aor for another election of members thar
the one which met in Lecompton last win
ter, and closed their labors in Lawrence
The House of Representatives of tina
legislature, in our honest opinion, ceaseC
to have legal existence after the 30th o
March last The Department at Wash.
: ington, we understand, claims that theil
existence extends to the first Tuesday o.
October.
The Topeka branch of that Legislature
had engrossed so much of the time of tha
body in getting themselves incorporated
as Bridge, Railroad, Town, Insurance and
Banking Companies, that they could no
give attention to such vital matters a.
providing for succession, until the eve o
the session; and then, with so many othe
important acts to examine, the Goyerno
had not sufficient time, before the lega
existance of that body terminated, tc
reach the act, so it failed to become law
and now as we stated at the outset, We
are il state of legal chaos, so far a.
future legislation is concerned. If tn,
Legislature did close its legal existene,
last March, there is 10 way of gettins
relief but by special act of Congress-
Ii its existence extends to October, thel
the defect may be cured by special ses
son, which Gov. DENVER has the authori
ty to convene by ProViso in the 50th sec
ton of the Organic Act. 1t has bee
suggested that the Governor. in the ab
sence of legislation, may make ueI
appOrtionment. We have looked througl
the laws, hoping to find something whicl
would give that officer such authority
eei it is not to be found. Ii be shoul,
do 1t ''On his own responsibility" as som
suggest, the Legislature thus eleete'
would have no legal existance, hence a
'aelr acts would be void y iilitio.
Unless We can have . lega! session c
ihe Legislature, it is better to have non
AZ all We can wait until the next ses
aoa OF Congress, when that body viii Civ
Us immediate relief, and by ordering a
election in February, and conyening tn
Legislature il March, it will only procras
uhAte the session some two months; j
however, the Governor is clear in regar
!" Ms authority in the premises, We hop
! aa Will be pleased to order a special Sc;
500 OF the Legislature at once, to prc
'ias Tor this extraordinary" contingenc,
IN conclusion, We feel disposed to adj
'ue ho-siavsfy Legislature, no doub
pafposely neglected to make provision
'0f future session, hoping, thereby,
"eesss'ty would occur for adopting an
p4'ihs In operation their Lecompto
Constitution. The T5pekaites, for Il
reason already given, aud stimulated sti
'A''aer with the hope that a necessii
would arise for putting their Leaven,eor7
q c'0satuaon in operation, delayed legisl'
q 'a until it was too late to aecomplis
'A!sning Thus the PEOPLE have bee
made the tools of these rival factions
Ne aie tired and disguised with tn
'as.'0a legislation. Let US away with
u Il an opportunity shall again occ'
which we can approach the ballot bo
tSseSdd nj