The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1858-02-20


sskns6A's spsee4as. /,
Mr.. Stanton alludes to che attcmpt made
by the minority to revive and enforce the tax
qualification law, which had been previous
ly repealed, the effect of which would have
been to exclude from the polls, at the Octo-
Der election, then coming on, ut least nine
tenths Of the Free State party, who of course
would refuse to pay the tax on the ground of
its being unjust and illegal. In this move
ment the minority were over ruled by Gov.
Walker, with the appreciation and consent
Of the President. Mr.. s. then goes on. fur
Their to remark upon this October election and
tho monstrous frauds then practiscd by the
| Pro-Slavery party:
"The first-the absolutely most important
and indispensably essential thing to enable |
the people to get control OF their own affairs |
was TO remove those difficulties and en-
barassments in order hat they might ut the |
poels assert their rights. 1t is true that up
| to the time of the October election l could |
not believe-l did not altogether believe
that the complaints Of the people of Kansas
were juss-were true. No man could have
credited the outragcs which they asserted had
been perpetrated upon them. But, immedi
ately after the October election had trans
pired; when the minority which had had en-
tire control Of the Government from its in
cePtion, saw that the power was about to de-
part from them l was astoundsd-my eyes
were opened-when received at the Execu-
tive Office in Lccompton the celebrated re-
turns from Oxford and McGhec. Laughter
and applause.
IL found the returns from Oxford to be q
roll Of paper Az or so feet long, containing
names as thick as they could be written
J [Laughter.l In utter astonishment l took it
and rolled it along the floor; it extended
from one end Of the building in which the
Office was, TO the other; it came from coun-
ty in which had been, and where after
wards went with Gov. Walker 10 ascertain
: something about the facts. l knew that
johnson county was very largely occupied
by Indian reservations, upon which there
could be no voters; knew that the rest of
, tho land in that county was comparatively
unsettled. But when went into the county,
passing down one of the main roads through
1t, was still more astorished to find that
would sometimes ride ten miles without find
, ing o single house upon tho road! Looking
. over these beautiful unduating prairies ut
the distant hills, would once in iour or i've
miles see little clump Of cabins, probably
four or fve cabins upon as many quarter
sections Of land; ard upon going up to these
. cabins, would find some Of them without
roofs, without doors, without windows, with
out chimneys-and this when Winter was
4 approaching. This vas the county from one
single precinct of which l,62s votes had been
, returned! lGreat laughter and arplause.1
!, "Gov. Walker and I went to the village
of Oxford. We found there half. dozen
houses. This was separated by a single
4 street from little village called Santa Fc,
in the State of Missouri. We went over there
: and talked with the people. We said to
,fI them, without telling them who VIC wcro or
:, what we were after, '.why you must have
u had q great crowd here last Monday They
= would say, swell, don't know; didn't
!. see any very great crowd" "How many
. people did you see here about that timei"-
|. well, there might have been fifty or sixty
there might have been as many as hun.
) dred on the first day OF the election" & for ii
Il was held open for two days!) Some of them
told us they had heard the officers at the
window, on the second day, crying out al
most the whole day, calling upon voters to
= in the meantime the clerks were busy. OF
somebody else was busy, in writing up l,62s
" names upon that long roll of paper.
"A 1t was perfectly plain, therefore, that this
was great, moment0us fraud; and from
n that day TO this in that county has
n seriously attempted TO maintain that it wal
- not. AZ YOU all know, those returns were
n rejected for informally in themselves. Short
n ly after there came from another county, IN
distant part of the Territory. McGhee county
70 similar returns of about 200 votes. These
T. were still more informal, and we rejecteJ
of them, because we knew perfectly well thai
they were of the same character. I have no.
% o doubt that il Gov. Walker and myself iol
,. 1t was my duty as Secretary TO net upon then
rs we'll as his duty rs Governor) had winked
y at this fraud if We had overlooked the in
formality Of the affair-if we had stood upor
technicalities. and said that we could not 90
behind the returns, have not doubt tina
a. many more would have been brought IL
from other parts of the Territory, in order u
n elect q member of Congress, well as tn,
IL whole Legislature. johnson county was q
n that time attached to Douglas county, which
~ had q very large bono tide population, and b,
- this tremendous fraud at Oxford. eight Rc.-
he resentatives and two or three Councilmei
Il. were given to the minority, throwing tn
a majority OF the Legislature into their hands
" Their purpose was still tc maintain the powc
oi of the minority by these immense frauds.
he al now discovered fer tho first time, to m,
va entire satisfaction, why il was that the grea
y dissatisfied with their Government and wer
MS ready to rebel and to throw il of.
y, "The President Of the United States, in hi
special message, had declared that the peopl
Us Ut the Territory had fair opportunity 20 de
SO eide whether the st te should be Slave Stat
I'D or Free State. Without intending to impug
u.
ton his veracity, Governor ST anton felt boun
to say that the statement was, in his judg
ment, utterly incorrect.
"Hc would make the same declaration (
lat an audience of Southern men. Leaving on
to Of view the mode in which the Constitutio
Ct was submitted, that single question upo
=. which they might vote was not prcsente
"e fairly. The people could merely determin
ng whether or not they would permit the intro
of duction Of more slaves into the Territory; ft
- tho right of those already in the Territor
could not be interfered with. should blusl
N said the speaker. to present in this way sue
list . question rs this to any community upo
M. this continent, and say that it fairly prs
sented to them the question whether the
oe should live under State Government wit
The Slavery or with no Slavery. [Great applause
''If the people Of Kansas had been fairl
dealt with, he did not believe they woul
nal have thought tor moment Of confscatin
8. the property of the Shareholders in the Tel
Us ritory; they would have dealt with thel
mt generously.
raj at had beec said that the sole object
"a the people Of Kansas in demanding the rigl
TO vote upon their Constitution, was to vo
7 10 it DOWN right or wrong. Mr.. s. did not b,
ain lieve the assertion. Some such there micl
the have been, but such was not the sentiment
=, the people. The men who have deep il
terest in the prosperity of the country we
I'M disposed to take the Constitution and vo
BILE upon it on its merits.
,er- 1.-The Convention understood the will
-