TERRITORIAL HISTORY, Part 50

LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT.

July 18, Gov. Walker received the apportionment for the Legislature. It was as follows:

APPORTIONMENT OF THE COUNCIL.

DIST.  COUNTIES COMPRISED IN EACH DISTRICT               MEMBERS
----------------------------------------------------------------
1  Leavenworth ................................................3
2  Atchison ...................................................1
3  Doniphan                                               ]
4  Brown, Nemaha, Marshall, and all that part             ]....2
   of the Territory of Kansas West of Marshall,           ]
   Riley and Davis Counties                               ]
5  Jefferson and Calhoun ......................................1
6  Douglas and Johnson ........................................3
7  Shawnee, Richardson, Davis, Wise and Breckenridge      ]
8  Bourbon, Godfrey, Wilson, Dorn, and McGee              ]....2
9  Bulter, Hunter, Greenwood, Madison, Weller,
   Coffey, Woodson and
10 Anderson, Lykins, Linn and Franklin,
   and all that part of the   
   Territory of Kansas West of Wise,
   Butler and Hunter Counties .................................1

Total ........................................................13

Thomas Johnson, President of the Council
William G. Mathias, Speaker of House of Representatives at Session of 1853

FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

DIST.  COUNTIES COMPRISED IN EACH DISTRICT               MEMBERS
----------------------------------------------------------------
1  Leavenworth ................................................8
2  Atchison ...................................................3
3  Doniphan ...................................................5
4  Brown      ]
5  Nemaha     ]................................................1
6  Marshall ...................................................1
7  Jefferson ..................................................2
8  Calhoun ....................................................2
9  Pottawatomie and Riley .....................................1
10 Douglas and Johnson, with all that part of
   the Territory of Kansas west of the counties
   of Wise, Bulter and Hunter .................................8
11 Shawnee ....................................................1
12 Richardson, Davis, Wise and Breckenridge   ]
13 Weller, Madison, Butler and Hunter         ]................3
14 Bourbon, Godfrey, Wilson, Dorn, and McGee  ]
15 Woodson, Coffey and Allen                  ]
16 Anderson and Franklin                      ]
17 Linn .......................................................2
18 Lykins .....................................................2

Total ........................................................39

Thomas Johnson, President of the Council
William G. Mathias, Speaker of House of Representatives at Session of 1853

This unfair apportionment was no more attributable to the apportioning officers that to the law, and the imperfect census which it prescribed as the only basis on which it could be made. The following diagram illustrates the defects of the apportionment as made:

--------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
6TH DISTRICT        | 4TH & 5TH DISTRICTS | 3D DISTRICT
MARSHALL            | NEMAHA & BROWN      | DONIPHAN
(1Member)           | (1 Member)          | (5 Members)
--------------------+---------------------+-----------------------------
                    |                     | 2D DISTRICT
                    |                     | ATCHISON
                    |                     | (3 members)
                    |                  +--+--------------+--------------
9TH DISTRICT        | 8TH DISTRICT     | 7TH DISTRICT    | 1ST DISTRICT
RILEY & POTTAWATOMIE| CALHOUN          | JEFFERSON       | LEAVENWORTH
(1 Member)          | (2 Members)      | (2 Members)     | (8 Members)
--------------------+------------------+-----------------+--------------
12TH DISTRICT       | 11TH DISTRICT    | 10TH DISTRICT
DAVIS & RICHARDSON  | SHAWNEE          | DOUGLAS & JOHNSON
WISE & BRECKENRIDGE | (1 Member)       | (8 Members)
                    +------------------+-----------------+--------------
                    | 13TH DISTRICT    | 16TH DISTRICT   | 18TH DISTRICT
                    | WELLER           | FRANKLIN &      | LYKINS
                    |                  | ANDERSON        | (2 members)
--------------------+------------------+-----------------+--------------
                    |                  |                 |
13TH DISTRICT       | COFFEY           |                 | 17TH DISTRICT
BUTLER & MADISON &  |                  |                 | LINN
                    | 15TH DISTRICT    |   BOURBON       | (2 members)
         GREENWOOD  | WOODSON & ALLEN  |                 +--------------
                    +------------------+
HUNTER              | 14TH DISTRICT
                    | GODFREY & WILSON & DORN  & M'GEE
--------------------+---------------------------------------------------

The preparations thus far made could not have been better adjusted for fraudulent voting if they had been designed especially for that purpose. Ten of the thirteen Councilmen and twenty-nine of the thirty-nine Representatives were apportioned to the Missouri border counties, and Shawnee and Douglas Counties attached to Pro-slavery counties that might counteract their heavy Free- State vote. The Lawrence district was also handicapped by the addition of a vast district lying west of Wise, Butler and Hunter Counties, sparsely settled by Indian traders and isolated families, of which so little was known that the returns from there, however much they might be questioned, could not be successfully contested. It would have been strange, indeed, had there not been most serious misgivings on the part of the Free-State men. The conflict was waged with intense earnestness, until the contest was finally decided by the convention appointed to meet for that purpose at Grasshopper Falls.

FREE-STATE ELECTION (AUGUST 9).

THE GRASSHOPPER FALLS CONVENTIONS.

The Mass and Delegate Free-State Conventions met at Grasshopper Falls on the 26th of August, to decide the important question of participating in the election. During the summer it had been the all-absorbing topic of conversation; many local meetings had been held, at which the subject had been thoroughly considered in all its phases, and the minds of the people were so thoroughly made up that the conventions had little to do except to ascertain the will of the majority and pass resolutions embodying good and sufficient reasons for their decisions.

The officers and committees of the mass convention were as follows: President, George W. Smith, Vice Presidents, Dr. James David, of Leavenworth, and ---- Foster, of Mapleton; Secretaries, R. G. Elliot, Dr. C. T. Knobb, --- Miller and E. G. Ross; Business Committee: A. A. Griffin, Manhattan; J. M. Duffie, Delaware; Stephan A. Sparks, Eason; G. S. Hillyer, Grasshopper; John B. Hatterscheidt, James Davis and F. A. Adams, Leavenworth; Col. James H. Lane, Doniphan; W. T. Roberts, Wyandotte; Col. --- Owens, C. W. Baback and Robert Morrow, Lawrence; William Jessee, Bloomington; Cyrus K. Holliday, Topeka; --- Russell, Council City; H. M. Seldon, Wabaunsee; W. Austin, Centropolis; Dr. --- Still, Blanton; Capt. --- Bell, Pacific City; D. Jackman, Hyatt; Dr. H. Smith, Ottumwa,; G. A. Cutler, Leroy; Anderson Johnson, Indianapolis; Samuel Stewart, Cofachique; P. P. Elder, Ohio City.

The following were the resolutions as finally adopted:

Whereas, It is of the most vital importance to the people of Kansas that the Territorial Government should be controlled by the bona-fide citizens thereof; and

Whereas, Gov. Walker has repeatedly pledged himself that the people of Kansas should have a fair and full vote before impartial judges, at the election ti be held the first Monday of October, for Delegate to Congress members of the Legislature, and other officers; therefore,

Resolved, That we, the people of Kansas, in mass convention assembled, agree to participate in said election.

Resolved, That in thus voting we rely upon the faithful fulfillment of the pledge of Gov. Walker; and that we as heretofore, protest against the enactment's forced upon us by the voters of Missouri.

Resolved, That this mass-meeting recommend the appointment of a committee to wait upon the Territorial authorities, and urgently insist upon a review and correction of the wicked apportionment endeavored to be forced upon the people of Kansas, for the selection of members of the Territorial Legislature.

Resolved, That Gen. J. H. Lane be authorized and empowered to ender to Gov. Walker, the force organized by him under the resolution passed by the convention held in Topeka, on the 15th of July last, to be used for the protection of the ballot-box.

AT A SUBSEQUENT STAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS, THE FOLLOWING, PRESENTED BY Col. Lane, was adopted:

The committee appointed was as follows: James H. Lane, Doniphan; C. K. Holliday, Topeka; James Davis and J. Miles Moore, Leavenworth; O. E. Learnard, Burlington; Anderson Johnson, Indianapolis; G. W. Hutchinson, G. W. Brown and C. W. Babcock, Lawrence; W. F. M. Arny, Hyatt; G. Gillpatrick, Pottawatomie; J. P. Root, Wyandottee; Alexander Jamieson and Robert Riddle, Grasshopper; W. R. Frost and G. W. Smith, Franklin; J. K. Goodin, Centropolis; P. C. Schuyler, Burlingame; Dr. Robertson and Edward Lines, Wabaunsee.

The discussion pending the passage of the resolutions was earnest and somewhat acrimonious on the part if the opposed. Among those who most earnestly opposed them were Martin F. Conway, James Redpath, and William A. Phillips. Charles Robinson, G. W. Brown, Cyrus J, Holliday and many other stanch leaders supported them.

Col. Lane, who at the Topeka convention, held in May, had declared his radical opposition to any participation in the election, had gradually grown reticent and considerate, and now came fully over to the other side, making a most ingenious and, to his followers, telling speech in favor if the resolutions. He said this is a convention of the people and not of the Free-State party- he was in favor of the Topeka Constitution, had planted himself upon it, and would go all lengths o set it in notion when the party said so. The party was not responsible for what we (the people), may do in this convention. "There are prudent men in this Territory - men with wives and children and property, and here are their homes and their all. They are confident they can regain their lost liberties by another effort at the ballot box. They wish to try their hand at this peaceful remedy, and we must concede to them the right to do so. If they fail they will join us in sustaining the Topeka Constitution."

Phillips offered the following resolution, which was referred to the Business Committee, from whose hands it did not re-appear in a recognizable condition:

Resolved, That should any power, legislative or otherwise, be obtained by any force of Free-State men, or Free-State sites, at the proceeding called an election in October next, that this convention resolves that such power shall only be used for the destruction of usurpation, that a Territorial Constitution is the only legitimate government.

Gov. Robinson defined his position, which had doubtless come to be that of a large majority of the Free-State party. In his speech favoring the resolutions, he said:

We started out on the Topeka Constitution, and I shall work under it; but here is a battery all the time at Lecompton, playing upon us. Let us take the battery and use it for our own benefit, without defining the use we shall put it to, and thus avoid side issues in every county in the Territory. If we get the battery and spike it so it cannot be used against us, we shall have accomplished a purpose. I do not feel that there will be any backing down in doing so. I am more hopeful than some, and not quite so hopeful as others; but I have no doubt we shall be triumphant. From the census returns U an satisfied there is not a district in the Territory in which we have not a large majority of voters. If we are defeated by fraud, we shall be in position to show up the fraud. It has been said in favor of voting with the least show of success in our favor.

The Delegate Convention met on the adjournment of the mass convention. It organized by election of the following officers: Chairman, W. Y. Roberts; Secretaries A. D. Richardson and E. G. Ross,

Marcus J. Parrott was unanimously nominated for Delegate of Congress.

The Executive Committee appointed was as follows: J. H. Lane, C. K. Holliday, Dr. James Davis, O. E. Learnard, Anderson Johnson, George W. Goodin, Dr. J. H. Gillpatrick, P. C. Schuyler, Dr. Robertson, Edward Lynde and C. W. Babcock.

An eloquent address from Marcus J. Parrott closed the proceedings. The acquiescence in the result was general throughout the Free-State party, the opposition thereafter being confined to a few Eastern newspaper correspondents, and a class small but most terribly earnest and conscientious in their opposition to slavery, not as a political evil to be controlled, but as a sin against God, to be destroyed root and branch. A most radical man of that class was Richard Realf, an admirer and follower of John Brown, then a resident of the Territory. Concerning the opposition which emanated from them, he wrote under date of January 30, 1860.

Nor, was Brown himself, nor any of his coadjutors, committed to the Republican creed, Henry Wilson, in 1857, advised that party to secure the Legislature by voting under the laws of the Territorial Legislature. Not one of Brown's original party voted. Some of us were at that time of correspondents of the Eastern press, and in the interim between the Grasshopper Falls convention, at which it was decided to vote, and the day of the election, we opposed the action of the party in every possible way, by letters, speeches and in every available manner, for which we were denounced as abolitionists by the leading Republican journal of the Territory.

LECOMPTON CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (FIRST SESSION)

The Constitutional Convention met at Lecompton on September 7. On the 8th, a permanent organization was effected by choice of the following officers: President John Calhoun; Secretary, Thomas C. Hughes; Assistant Secretary, James H. Norman; Reporter, P. H. Cary; Sergeant-at-arms, Samuel Cramer.

There were present forty-five members of the sixty elected, and also two delegates, each form the counties of Anderson and Franklin. The committee reported in favor of granting seats to the gentlemen from Anderson (Dr. R. Gillpatrick and J. T. Campbell), as the census taken showed that the county would have been entitled to two delegates; and rejected the claims of the Franklin men, on the ground that no census was taken, and the certificates were not in accordance with the law. The reports were laid o the table. Subsequently, Mr. Elmon, Chairman of the Committee on Credentials, at the request of the gentlemen claiming seats from Anderson County, withdrew their certificates of election, which took with them a withdrawal if their claims.

It being deemed neither practical nor polite to enter upon the work of framing a constitution until after the approaching election, the convention adjourned on the 11th to meet at Lecompton on the 19th of October.

GOV. WALKER'S PROCLAMATION

To re-assure the people and to hold them steadfast to their decision to participate in the coming election, Gov. Walker issued a proclamation to the people renewing his pledges of a fair election in such unqualified terms as left little doubt of the sincerely of his intentions. Its conclusion was as follows:

In as much as our ensuing election on the first Monday in October next, is of momentous consequence to this Territory and to our whole country, as the two parties of Kansas it is hoped, will first measure their strength now, not as in former elections, at different times and places, or upon the field of battle, but at the same times and places, in giving in their votes as in other States and Territories; and as it is of the utmost importance that this election should be free from everything which would lead to excitement or commotion, I most earnestly request the chief officers of our different towns, cities and municipalities to resort to those means, which have so often in similar cases proved efficacious, by removing for that day all causes which would interfere with a calm and dispassionate election.

And now, may that overruling Providence, who has crowned our beloved country with so many blessing and benefits, including the inestimable privilege of self- government, and without whose aid we cannot look for success in any enterprise, enable us so to conduct this contest as to secure His sanction, and the approval of our own conscience, is the fervent hope of your fellow-citizen,

R. J. Walker, Governor of the Kansas Territory