Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-04-01

The senate having under consloeiaiioi
the bill Is. 967) TO provide forthe admission
of the state of Dakota into the union ane
for the organization Of the territory of Lin
coin
Mr.. Plumb said:
Mr.. PREsIDENT:-I do not wish tC
detaiu the senate at this late hour tC
any considerable length, nor, in fact
to make set speech on this subject
after the very thorough manner il
which il has been discussed by tho
Senators on both sides Of the Cham
Der, but there are some facts bearing
upon the attitude of parties TO thi;
question which seem to have been
overlooked in the discussion and
which think are pertinent to il that
/ shall be glad to bring to public at
tention.
So much has happened since 1861
that the memories of very few persons
90 back Of that very important period
in the history of the country. So
MANY important events have trans
pired since that date that what oc-
Cured before il has come 10 be quite
ancient history. At this moment i;
seems wise to refer 10 1t.
In 1857 the Legislature of the Ter
ritory Of Kansas, then being in the
hands Of the pro-slavery party, under
government which was instituted
not by the people of the Territory OF
Kansas, but by the people Of South
Carolina and Missouri chiefly, passed
an act tor the assembling Of a conven-
ton to frame a constitution for the
proposed State of Kansas. The men,
bers of the constitutional convention
were elected in the spring Of 1857 and
at that election ONLY about 1900 votes
were cast; that is 10 say, the entire
vote cast for members of the conven-
. ton to frame the constitution was
only about 1000. The convention met
in the succeeding summer, and then,
for reasons which il is not necessary
to enumerate. adjourned until octo-
Der. Pending their reassembiing the
regular annual Territorial election for
the choice OF members OF the Terrific
rial Legislature was held, and at that
election for the first time III the his
tory OF the Territory the Free State
men prevailed and elected a very con-
siderable majority of the members of
both houses of the Legislature not
withstanding the fact that there were
q very large number OF fraudulent
votes cast in behalf Of the pro-slavcry
OF Democratic candidate, ! 500 votes
for the Democratic candidates having
been returned from Oxford, a village
of six houses, on the line between Mis-
souri, and Kansas, where it was shown
only about fifty people lived and where
but about thirty votes were actually
cast: and | 200 votes being returned
for the Democratic candidates from
Niece county, in which not ever
twenty families resided and in which
not a vote WAS cast and 10 election
held.
The constitutional convention thus
called met a; lis adjourned session in
the month of October and continued
in session until sometime in Noycm-
Der following. IL framed constitu
ton, which was subsequently submit
ted 10 Congress. and which is known
in the history OF that time as the J.
compton constitution. BY the ordi-
nance OF that constitution there was
TO be submitted 10 the people of the
Territory Of Kansas, at aH election
caled-sYd tc bc held on December 2l.
1857, not the question of the adoption
of the constitution nor The question
as TO whether the people desired To be
admitted into the Union under it, but
simply the question as 10 v neither they
would have the constitution with siay-
erv or the constitution without siav-
cry. They were 10 have the conslliu-
ton and admission under ii in any
event. The form of the submission
was this: After stating that the vote
should be by ballot. and naming how
the Judges and clerks of the election
should be appointed, &c, the ordi-
nance goes on 10 say:
The president, wiihtwo or more members
of this convention, shall examine said poll
books, and if if shall appear upon said cx-
animation that majority of the legal votes
cast at said election be in favor of the soon
stitution with slavery" he shall Immediately
have the same transmitted to Congress Of
the United States, as hereinbefore provided;
but if. upon such examination of said poll
books, If shall appear that majority OF the
legal votes cast a: said election be in favor of
the constitution with no slavery" theE the
article providing for slavery shall be stricken
from this constitution by the president of
this convention, and slavery shall no longer
exist in the State of Kansas, except that the
right of property in slaves now IN this Ter
ritory shall in no manner be intertered
with, &c.
The submission, il will be seen, was
not for tHe purpose OF ascerfaining
the sense of the voters of the Ter
ritory of Kansas as 10 whether they
desired 10 be admitted into the Union
at all, nor as TO whether they desired
10 be admitted into the Union under
the constitution, but only whether III
case they had TO be admitted, that be
ing assumed they desired to be admit
ted under the constitution with slay-
cry or the constitution without slay-
cry: and il was so framed as will be
observed by the language which ] have
quoted, that slavery in any event was
10 be maintained ia the State of Kan
sas. By the terms of the constitution
II could not be admcnded until the year
1861. Ii was well understood that a
large majority of the people of Kan
sas were for making il free State,
and that as soon as they could get
their hands on the constitution, if they
should be admitted under it, they
would make il an instrument OF free
doom and not an instrument OF slay-
cry: but the constitution. as | said, |
was so framed that If could not be |
amended before the year 1864, and |
thus if the people of the Territory of |
Kansas voted for the constitution |
with slavery they were certain to have |
that institution with them as a part of
the fundamental law until that year : |
and if they voted for the constitution
without slavery then they were 60
have slavery forever to the extent that
they then had il +: in other words, i'll
the very expressive and happy laI-
guage OF Mr.. Seward in his speech on
the subject i'll the senate:
Each voter was permitted TO cast a ballot
"for the constitution with slavery or "for
the constitution with no slavery" and it
was further provided, that the constitution
should stand entire, if majority of votes
should be cast for the constitution with slsv
ery, while on the other hsnd, if the majority
of votes cast should be "for the constitution
with no slavery" then the existing slavery
should not be disturbed. but should remain,
with IFS continuance, by the succession of
its unhappy victims by descent forever.
A. ,la election, u-kinb ,ro- I,iA al