The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-03-11

years Of age, whose residence in the
county where he offers to vote, shall
have been three months next before
said election, shall be entitled to
vote.
Sec. IL. Persons authorized to
take the census, to administer oaths,
&c.
Sec. Is. Provides for the punish
ment of unlawful attempts to infu.
ence votes.
Sec. IA. Provides punishment for
illegal voting.
Sec. Is. Provides punishment for
those who fradulently hinder fair
expression Of the popular vote.
Sec. l6. Delegates are required
to assemble in Convention at the Cap
itol on the first Monday Of September
next.
Sec. II. Provides for an election
by the Convention of its officers.
Sec. Is in relation to the salaries
of sheriffs and other officers.
Sec. 10 relative to the location of
the election district.
Sec. 30 requires all votes to be
rara rOce
Sec. 81 gives a tabular form for
the returns.
Above bill passed over Governors
veto on the 10Th of Feb. 1857.
A registry Of the votes was &C
cordingly taken, in pursuance Of the
act of the Territorial Legislature, so
far as it was possible, under the Pc
culiar state of things then existing,
to do So 1t appears that portion
Of the inhabitants refused to be reg
istered some gave fictitious names,
and others prevented the officers
from complying with the law.
Mr.. Stanton, then Acting Governor
of Kansas, says, on that subject
1t is not my purpose to reply to
your statements Of facts l cannot
do 80 from any personal knowledge
enabling me either to admit or deny
them. may say, however, have
heard statements quite as authentic
as your own, and in some instances
from members Of your own party,
(Republicans,) to the effect that
your political friends have very gen.
orally, indeed almost universally,
refused to participate in the pending
proceedings for registering the
uames Of the legal voters. In some
instances they have given fictitious
names, and in numerous others they
refused to give any names at all
You cannot deny that your party
have heretofore resolved not to take
part in the registration, and it APP
pears to me that without indulging
ungenerous suspicious Of the integ-
rity Of officers, you might well at
tribute any errors or omissions of the
sheriffs to the existence Of this well
known and controlling fact.
But, Notwithstanding all these diff
culties in making the registry Of
voters, 9,25l names were legally re-
turned in the following counties and
districts, viz: Doniphan, Brown,
Nemaha, Atchison, Leavenworth,
Jefferson, Calhoun, Marshall, Potta-
watomie, Johnson, Douglas, Shawnee,
Lykins, Linn, Bourbon, McGee, Dorm,
Allen.
In the following counties, Richard
son, Davis, Franklin, Weller, Breck-
inridgc, Wise, Madison, Butler, COT
fey, Anderson, Woodson, Wilson,
Godfrey, Greenwood, Hunter, reg
istry was taken, on account Of the
facts above stated. All of the last
named counties together, contained
but very small population or vote.
1t is believed that many Of these
counties did not contain ten votes.
and all of them together not so many
as 800. The counties were marked
out by description of boundaries,
and named some of them were with
out inhabitants, and many Of them
were attached to adjacent counties
for civil and military purposes.
All of them were equally pro.
vided for by the law calling the Con-
vention, and any omission that may
have occurred resulted from causes
not in the control Of the majority of
the people.
The largest vote ever had in the
Territory, up to December last, is
about $4,000. So that it appears
from the facts before the Committee,
Notwithstanding the refusal to com
ply with the law on the part of those
opposed to it, only about 5000 or
less, possibly, have been omitted in
the registration ; and even that omis-
sion was the result Of their own acts.
n,a v,hola month MA, aftaruarJ,