[Page 1 qc11a]
Quindaro Chindowan.
A Free-State Paper.
Vol. I. Quindaro, Kanzas, Saturday, July 25, 1857. No. 11
Printed and published by
J. M. WALDEN & CO
J. M. Walden. Edmund Babb.
SUBCRIPTIONS may be sent either to EDMUND
BABB, Gazette Office, Cincinnati, Ohio, or to J.
M. WALDEN & Co., Quindaro, Kanzas, and re-
ceipts will be returned in the first number of the
paper sent to the order.
TERMS:
ALL subscriptions payable invariably in ad-
vance.
SINGLE COPY, Two Dollars per annum. TEN
Copies to one Post Office address, $15. TWENTY
copies, and one to the person forming the Club,
$30.
CLERGYMEN who will interest themselves
in our favor, will upon notifying us, be furnished
with our paper, as an acknowledgement of our
obligation to them.
--Specimen copies sent to persons requesting
it.
HOTELS.
CARVEY HOUSE,
Corner Kanzas and Fifth Avenue,
Topeka, K. T.
C. C. Tuttle, - - - Proprietor.
Board:
Per Day, . . . . . . . $1,50
Per Week, . . . . . . . 6,00
Single Meals, . . . . . 50 cts.
QUINDARO HOUSE,
Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5, Kanzas Avenue,
Quindaro, Kanzas.
Colby & Parker, - - Proprietors.
A line of Hacks starts every morning for Law-
rence, connecting there with routes to every part
of the Territory.
May 4, 1857.
WYANDOTT HOUSE,
No. 2, Kanzas Avenue, Quidnaro,
E. O. Zane, - - Proprietor.
The above House is now open for the accom-
modation of the traveling public.
May 4. 1tf.
PHYSICIANS,
DR. R. M. AINSWORTH,
Office
No. 10 Kanzas Avenue.
1tf.
J. B. WELLBORN,
Physician and Surgeon,
Tenders his professional services to the citi-
zens of Quindaro and vicinity. The Doctor has
spent several years in practice in the West, and
flatters himself that he is thoroughly posted in
the modifications of disease in this climate.
Also, special attention paid to diseases of the
Eye.
Office, No. 38 Kanzas Avenue.
Quindaro, May 20, 1857. 2tf
DR. GEO. E. BUDDINGTON,
Offers his
professional services to the citizens of Quindaro
and vicinity.
Boards at the Quindaro Hotel.
Office, No. 1 Kanzas Avenue. 1tf
LAND AGENTS.
R. P. Gray.
J. M. Walden.
R. P. GRAY & CO.,
Real Estate & Land Agents,
No. 76, Levee, Quindaro, Kanzas,
Will promptly attend to all business entrusted to
their care.
1tf.
M. B. Newman.
R. M. Ainsworth.
Newman & Ainsworth,
REAL ESTATE AGENTS,
Quindaro, K. T.,
Will attend Promptly to all Business in their line.
Office, No. 10, Kanzas Avenue.
References:
Hon. M. H. Nichols, M. C.- - - - - - - Lima, O.
Hon. Wm. Lawrence, C. P. Judge, Belfontaine, O.
Hon. Wm. White, C. P. Judge, Belfontaine, O.
Dunlevy, Drake & Co., Bankers, Cincinnati, O.
Henry Kip, Supt. U. S. Express, Buffalo, N. Y.
J. F. Ritcherdson, Mo. Express, St. Louis, Mo.
May 4, 1857. 1tf.
Chas. Chadwick.
H. J. Bliss.
Chadwick & Bliss,
GENERAL LAND AGENTS,
Quindaro, Kanzas.
City and Town Lots, and all kinds of Real
Estate bought and sold.
Office – On Kanzas Avenue, near the Quin-
daro House. 1tf
Kanzas Land Agency.
BLOOD, BASSETT & BRACKETT,
General Land Agents,
Surveyors and Civil Engineers,
Quindaro & Lawrence, Kanzas.
Prompt attention given to all business en-
trusted to our care.
Information given concerning every im-
portant locality in the Territory.
Refer to
Henn, Williams & Co., Bankers, Fairfield, Iowa.
A. J. Stevens & Co., Bankers, Ft. DesMoines, Iowa.
Coolbaugh & Brooks, Bankers, Burlington, Iowa.
White, Cook & Co., Bankers, Burlington, Iowa.
Col. T. A. Walker, Ft. DesMoines, Iowa.
Col. C. Bassett, Kewanee, Ill.
Hon. G. S. Boutwell, Groton, Mass.
C. Gerrish, Groton, Mass.
L. F. Potter, Cincinnati, Ohio.
May 4th, 1857. 1tf
S. K. WOOD & CO.,
General Land Agents,
Lawrence, Kanzas,
Will invest money, and locate Land Warrants
In all parts of Kanzas, and guarantee from 50 to
100 per cent. on investment.
Letters of enquiry promptly answered.
S. N. WOOD,
Commissioner of Deeds for Ohio.
Office, No. 27 Mass. St., Lawrence, Kanzas.
E. D. Ladd,
S. B. Prentiss.
LADD & PRENTISS,
Real Estate Brokers and General,
Land Agents.
E. D. Ladd,
Notary Public, Reg’r of Deeds, & Commissioner,
Will take acknowledgments of deeds and oth-
er papers.
Office, No. 18 Massachusetts St.,
Lawrence, Kanzas.
May 13, 1857. 1y.
Quindaro Chin-do-wan.
Saturday, July 25, 1857.
THE TOPEKA CONSTITUTION.
The Free State Constitution of the State of Kansas.
PREAMBLE.
We, the people of the Territory of Kanzas, by our delegates in Convention assembled at Topeka, on the 23d day of October, A. D. 1855, and of the Independence of the United States the eightieth year, having the right of admission into the Union as one of the United States of America, consistent with the Federal Constitution and by virtue of the treaty of cession by France to the United States of the province of Louisiana, in order to secure to ourselves and our posterity the enjoyment of all the rights of life, liberty and property, and the free pursuit of happiness, do mutually agree with each other to form ourselves into a free and independent State, by the name and style of the STATE OF KANZAS, bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point on the western boundary of the State of Missouri where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence west on said parallel to the eastern boundary of New Mexico; thence north on said boundary to latitude thir!
ty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the eastern boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains; thence northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of said latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the State of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said State to the place of beginning; and do ordain and establish the following CONSTITUTION and BILL OF RIGHTS for the government thereof :
ARTICLE I. – BILL OF RIGHTS.
SECTION. 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and seeking and obtaining happiness and safety.
S. 2. All political power is inherent in the PEOPLE. Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit; and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they may deem it necessary; and no special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted that may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the General Assembly.
S. 3. The people have the right to assemble together, in a peaceable manner, to consult, for their common good, to instruct their Representatives, and to petition the General Assembly for the redress of grievances.
S. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security, but standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.
S. 5. The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate.
S. 6. There shall be no Slavery in this State, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime.
S. 7. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any form of worship against his consent; and no preference shall be given by law to any religious society; nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required as a qualification of office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.
S. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless in case of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it.
S. 9. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offenses where the proof is evident, or the presumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, or excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
S. 10. Except in cases of impeachment, and cases arising in the army and navy, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger, and in cases of petit larceny and other inferior offenses, no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. In any trial, in any court, the party accused shall be allowed to appear and defend in person, and with counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process to procure the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed; nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.
S. 11. Every citizen may freely speak write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of the right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall he acquitted.
S. 12. No person shall be transported out of the State for any offense committed within the same; and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
S. 13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, except in a manner prescribed by law.
S. 14. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons and things to be seized.
No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civilian action, or (???) or final process, unless in case of fraud.
S. 16. All courts shall be open; and every person for an injury done him in his land, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and justice administered without denial or delay.
S. 17. No hereditary emoluments, honors or privileges shall ever be granted or conferred by this State.
S. 18. No power of suspending laws shall ever be exercised, except by the General Assembly.
S. 19. The payment of a tax shall not be a qualification for exercising the right of suffrage.
S. 20. Private property shall ever be held inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare. When taken in time of war, or other public exigency imperatively requiring its immediate seizure, or for the purpose of making or repairing roads, which shall be open to the public use, without toll or other charge therefor, a compensation shall be made to the owner in money; and in all other cases where private property shall be taken for public use, a compensation therefor shall first be made in money, first secured by a deposit of money, and such compensation shall be assessed by a jury, without deduction for benefits to any property of the owner.
S. 21. No indenture of any negro, or mulatto, made and executed out of the bounds of the State, shall be valid within the State.
S. 22. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people; and all powers not herein delegated shall remain with the people.
ARTICLE II. — ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
SECTION 1. In all elections by the people, the vote shall be by ballot; and in all elections in the General Assembly, the vote shall be viva voce.
S. 2. Every white male person, and every civilized male Indian who has adopted the habits of the white man, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, who shall be at the time of offering to vote a citizen of the United States; who shall have resided, and had his habitation, domicile, home, and place of permanent abode in the State of Kanzas for six months next preceding the election to which he offers his vote; who, at such time and for thirty days immediately preceding said time shall have had his actual habitation, domicile, home and place of abode in the country in which he offers to vote; and who shall have resided in the precinct or election district for at least ten days immediately preceding the election, shall be deemed a qualified elector at all elections under this Constitution, except at elections by general ticket in the State or district prescribed by law, in which case the elector must have the aforesaid qualifications, but a residence in said district for ten!
days will entitle
him to vote; Provided, That no soldier, seaman, or marine of the regular army of the United States shall be considered a resident of the State in consequence of being stationed within the same.
S. 3. The General Assembly shall, at its first session, provide for the registration of all qualified electors in each county, and thereafter, from time to time, of all who may become qualified electors.
S. 4. The Legislature shall have power to exclude from every office of honor, trust or profit, within the State, and from the right suffrage, all persons convicted of any infamous crime.
S. 5. No person shall be deemed capable of holding or being elected to any post of honor, profit, trust or emolument, civil or military, or exercise the right of suffrage under the government of this State, who shall hereafter fight a duel, send or accept a challenge to fight a duel, or who shall be a second to either party, or who shall in any manner aid or assist in such a duel, or who shall be knowingly be the bearer of such a challenge or acceptance, whether the same occur or be committed in or out of the State.
S. 6. No person who may hereafter be collector or holder of public moneys shall be eligible to any office of trust or profit in the State until he shall have accounted for and paid into the proper public treasury all sums for which he may be accountable.
S. 7. No state officer or member of the General Assembly of this State shall receive a fee, be engaged as counsel, agent or attorney, in any case or claim against the State.
S. 8. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term of office for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office or profit in this State which shall have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been increased during such term, except such offices as may be filled by election by the people.
S. 9. All officers, civil and military, in this State, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I—— —— do swear [or affirm] that I will support the Constitution of the United states, and of the State of Kanzas; that I am duly qualified according to the Constitution to exercise the office to which I have been elected [or appointed,] and will, to the best of my abilities, discharge the duties thereof faithfully and impartially, according to law.”
S. 10. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of honor or profit in this State who shall have been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to procure his election, or who shall have made use of any undue influence from power, tumult, or other improper practices.
S. 11. All civil officers of the State shall reside within the State, and all district and county officers within their respective districts and counties, and shall have their offices at such places as may be required by law.
S. 12. Returns of elections for members of Congress, the General Assembly, and all other officers not otherwise provided for, shall be made to the Secretary of State, in such a manner as may be prescribed by law.
S. 13. Electors shall in all cases be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections, and in going to and returning therefrom, except in case of felony, treason, and breach of the peace.
ARTICLE III. — DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
SEC. 1. The powers of the Government shall be divided into three separate departments — the Legislative, the Executive, including the Administrative, and the Judicial; and no person charged with official duties under on of these departments shall exercise any of the functions of another, except as in this Constitution expressly provided.
ARTICLE IV. — LEGISLATIVE.
SECTION 1. The Legislative power of this State shall be vested in the General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
S. 2. The Senators and Representatives shall be chosen annually by the qualified electors of the respective counties or districts for which they are chosen, on the first Monday of August, for one year, and their term of office shall commence on the first day of January next thereafter.
S. 3. There shall be elected at the first election twenty Senators and sixty Representatives, and the number afterward shall be regulated by law.
S. 4. No person shall be eligible to the office of Senator or Representative who shall not possess the qualifications of an elector.
S. 5. No person holding office under the authority of the United States, or any lucrative office under the authority of this State, shall be eligible to, or hold a seat in the General Assembly; but this provision shall not extend to township officers, justices of the peace, notaries public, postmasters, or officers of the militia.
S. 6. Each House, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, shall choose its own officers, determine its own rule of proceeding, punish its members for disorderly conduct, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member, but not the second time for the same cause; and shall judge of the qualification, election and return of its own members, and shall have all other powers necessary for its safety, and the undisturbed transaction of business.
S. 7. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same. The yeas and nays on any question shall, at the request of two members, be entered on the journal.
S. 8. Any member of either House shall have the right to protest against any act or resolution thereof; and such protest and reason therefor shall, without alteration, commitment or delay, be entered on the journal.
S. 9. All vacancies which may occur in either House shall, for the unexpired term, be filled by election as shall be prescribed by law.
S. 10. Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the General Assembly, and in going to and returning from the same; and for words spoken in debate they shall not be questioned in any other place.
S. 11. A majority of all the members elected to each House shall be necessary to pass every bill or joint resolution, and all bills and joint resolutions so passed shall be signed by the presiding officers of the respective Houses, and presented to the Governor for his approval.
S. 12. The doors of each House, and of Committees of the Whole, shall be kept open. Neither House shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting, except for personal safety.
S. 13. Every bill shall be read by sections on three several days in each House, unless in case of emergency. Two-thirds of the House where such bill is pending may, if deemed expedient, suspend the rules on a call of the yeas and nays; but the reading of a bill by sections on its final passage shall in no case be dispensed with; and the vote on the passage of every bill or joint resolution shall be taken by yeas and nays.
S. 14. Every act shall contain but one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. Bills may originate in either House, but may be altered, amended or rejected by the other.
S. 15. In all cases where a general law can be made applicable, special laws shall not be enacted.
S. 16. No act shall ever be revived or amended by mere reference to its title; but the act revived or the section amended shall be set forth and published at full length.
S. 17. No act shall take effect until the same shall have been published and circulated in the counties of the State by authority, except in case of emergency, which emergency shall be declared in the preamble, or the body of the law.
S. 18. The election and appointment of all officers, and the filling of all vacancies not otherwise provided for by this Constitution, or the Constitution of the United States, shall be made in such a manner as shall be prescribed by law; but no appointing power shall be exercised by the General Assembly, except as provided in this Constitution, and in the election of the United States Senator, and in these cases the vote shall be taken viva voce.
S. 19. The General Assembly shall not have power to enact laws annulling the contact of marriage in any case where, by law, the courts of this State may have power to decree a divorce.
S. 20. The General Assembly shall not have power to pass retro-active laws, or laws impairing the obligation of contracts but may, by general laws, authorize courts to carry into effect, upon such terms as shall be just and equitable, the manifest intention of parties and officers, by curing omissions, defects and errors in instruments, and proceedings arising out of a want of conformity with the laws of this State.
S. 21. The style of the laws of this State shall be: “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Kanzas.”
S. 22. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate, and, when sitting for the purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Senators present.
S. 23. The Governor, and all other civil officers under the laws of this State, shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor in office, but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, profit or trust under this State. The party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
S. 24. Within one year after the ratification of this Constitution, and within every subsequent two years thereafter, for the term of tem years, an enumeration of all the white inhabitants of this State shall be made in such manner as shall be directed by law.
S. 25. All regular session of the General Assembly shall be held at the capital of the State, and shall commence on the first Tuesday of January annually.
S. 26. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives subject, however, to amendment or rejection as in other cases.
S. 27. The members of the General Assembly shall receive for their services the sum of four dollars per day for each and every day they are actually in attendance at any regular or special session, and four dollars for every twenty miles they shall travel in going to and returning from the place of meeting by the most usually traveled route; and no session of the General Assembly, except the first under this Constitution, shall extend beyond the term of sixty days, nor any special session more than forty days.
ARTICLE V. – EXECUTIVE.
SEC. 1. The Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, a Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, and Attorney General, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State at the same time and place of voting for the members of the General Assembly.
SEC. 2. The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney-General, and State Printer, shall hold their office for two years. Their terms of office shall commence on the first Tuesday of January next after their election, and continue until their successors are elected and qualified — neither of which officers shall be eligible for re-election more than two out of three consecutive terms; nor shall any person be eligible for the office of Governor who shall not have attained the age of thirty years.
SEC. 3. The returns of every election for the officers named in the foregoing section, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the seat of government by the returning officers, directed to the Secretary of State, who shall lay the same before the General Assembly at their first meeting thereafter, when they shall open, publish and declare the result thereof, in the presence of a majority of the members of both Houses. The person having the highest number of votes shall be declared duly elected, and a certificate thereof given to such person, signed by the presiding officers of both bodies; but if any two or more shall be highest and equal in votes for the same office, one of them shall be chosen by the joint vote of both Houses.
SEC. 4. The supreme executive power shall be vested in the Governor.
SEC. 5. He may require information in writing from the officers in the Executive Department upon any subject relation to the duties of their respective offices, and shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.
SEC. 6. He shall communicate at every session, by message, to the General Assembly, the condition of the affairs of the State, and recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient for their action.
SEC. 7. He may, on extraordinary occasion, convene the General Assembly by proclamation, and shall state to both Houses when assembled the purposes for which they were convened.
SEC. 8. In case of disagreement between the two Houses, in respect to the time of adjournment, he shall have power to adjourn the General Assembly to such time as he may think proper, but not beyond the regular meeting thereof.
SEC. 9. He shall be commander-in-chief of the military in the State, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
SEC. 10. The pardoning power shall be vested in the Governor, under such regulations and restrictions, as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 11. There shall be a seal of the State, the device of which shall be fixed upon by the Governor and other State officers, be kept by the Governor and used by him officially, and shall be called “The Great Seal of the State of Kanzas.”
SEC. 12. All grants and commissions shall be used in the name and by the authority of the State of Kanzas, sealed with the great seal, signed by the Governor, and countersigned by the Secretary of State.
SEC. 13. No member of either House of Congress, or other persons holding office under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall execute the office of Governor except as herein provided.
SEC. 14. In the case of death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or other disability of the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall exercise the duties of the office of Governor, until another Governor shall be duly qualified; but in such cases another Governor shall be chosen at the next annual election for members of the General Assembly, unless such death, resignation, impeachment, removal or other disability shall occur within three calendar months immediately preceding such next annual election, in which case a Governor shall be chosen at the second succeeding annual election for members of the General Assembly, and in case of the death, impeachment, resignation, removal, or other disability of the Lieutenant-Governor, the President of the Senate pro tem shall exercise the office of Governor until a Governor shall be duly qualified as aforesaid.
SEC. 15. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be President of the Senate, but shall vote only when the Senate is equally divided, and shall be entitled to the same pay as the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and in case of his death, impeachment, resignation, removal from office, or when he shall exercise the office of Governor, the Senate shall choose a President pro tem.
SEC. 16. Should the office of Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, or Attorney-General become vacant, for any of the causes specified in the fourteenth and fifteenth sections, the Governor shall fill the vacancy or vacancies until the disability is removed or a successor is elected and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election, at the first general election that occurs more than thirty days after such vacancy shall have occurred, and the person chosen shall hold the office for the full term fixed in the second section of this article.
SEC. 17. The officers mentioned in this article shall, at stated times, receive for their services compensation to be fixed by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected.
SEC. 18. The officers of the Executive Department, and of the public state Institutions shall, at least ten days preceding each regular session of the General Assembly, severally report to the Governor, who shall transmit the same to the General Assembly.
SEC. 19. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses shall be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign the same; but if he shall not approve, he shall return it with his objections to the House in which it shall originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journal, and proceed to reconsider the same. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which, likewise, it shall be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall be a law. But in such case the votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered upon the journals of the Houses respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within five days (Sunday excepted,) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless th!
e General Assembly, by their adjournment, prevented its return, in which case it shall also be a law, unless sent back within two days after the next meeting.
SEC. 20. Contested elections for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Judge of the Supreme Court, and all other State officers, shall be determined by the General Assembly in such a manner as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 21. The General Assemlby shall have power to provide by law for the election of a Surveyor-General, State Geologist, and Superintendent of Common Schools, whose duties shall be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE VI. – JUDICIAL.
SECTION 1. The Judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, Courts of Common Pleas, Justices of the Peace, and in such other Courts inferior to the Supreme Court as the General Assembly may establish.
SEC. 2. The Supreme Court shall consist of three Judges, a majority of whom shall from a quorum. It shall have such original and appellate jurisdiction as may
Transcribed by Maggie Finney, corrected by Shannon McElroy
[Page 2 qc11b]
be provided by law. It shall hold at least one term each year at the seat of Government, and such other Terms as may be provided by law. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of the State at large.
Sec. 3. The State shall be divided by the first General Assembly under this Constitution into three Common Pleas Districts of Compact Territory, bounded by County lines, and as nearly equal in population as practically and a Judge for each District shall be chosen by the electors thereof, and their term of office shall be for three years.
Sec. 4. The Courts of Common Pleas shall consist of one Judge each, who shall reside within the district for which he is chosen during his continuance in office.
Sec. 5. The jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Judges thereof shall be fixed by law.
Sec. 6. A competent number of Justices of the Peace shall be elected by the electors of each township of several counties. The term of office shall be three years, and their powers and duties shall be fixed by law.
Sec. 7. All Judges, other than those provided for in the Constitution, shall be elected by the electors of the Judicial district for which they may be created, but not for a longer term of office than three years.
Sec. 8. The Judges of the Supreme Court shall immediately after the first election under this Constitution, be classified by lot, so that one shall hold for the term one year, one for the term of three years; and all subsequent elections the term of each of said Judges shall be for three years.
Sec. 9. In case the office of any Judge should become vacant before the expiration of the term for which he was elected, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment of the Governor, until a successor shall be elected and qualified; and such successor shall be elected for the residue of the unexpired term, at the first annual election that occurs more than thirty days after such vacancies shall have happened.
Sec. 10. The Judges of the Supreme Court and of the Court of Common Pleas shall, at stated times, receive such compensation as may be provided by law, which shall not be increased nor diminished during their term of office; but they shall receive no fees or perquisites, nor hold any other office of profit and trust under the State, other than a judicial office.
Sec. 11. The General Assembly may increase or diminish the number of the Judges of the Supreme Court, the number of the districts of the Courts of Common Pleas, the number of Judges in any district, or establish other courts whenever two-thirds of the members elected to each House shall concur therein; but no such change, addition, diminution shall vacate the office of any Judge.
Sec. 12. There shall be elected in each county, by the electors thereof, one Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, who shall hold in his office for the term of three years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified.
Sec. 13. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the speedy publication of the decisions of the Supreme Court made under this Constitution.
Sec. 14. The Supreme Court shall, upon the decision of every case, give an opinion in writing of each question arising in the record in such case and the decision of the Court thereon.
Sec. 15. There shall be elected by the voters of the State a Clerk and a Reporter for the Supreme Court, who shall hold their offices for three years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law.
Sec. 16. Judges may be removed from office by concurrent resolution of both Houses of the General Assembly, if two-thirds of the members elected to each House concur therein; but no such removal shall be made except upon complaint, the substance of which shall be entered upon the journal, nor until the party thereof charged shall have had notice thereof, and an opportunity to be heard.
Sec. 17. The several Judges of the Supreme Court, of the Court of Common Pleas, and of such other courts as may be created by law, shall respectively have and exercise such power and jurisdiction, at chambers or otherwise, as may be provided by law.
Sec. 18. The style of all process shall be “The State of Kanzas.” All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by the authority of the State of Kanzas, and all indictments shall conclude “Against the peace and dignity of the State of Kanzas.”
ARTICLE VII.--EDUCATION.
Section 1. The principal of all funds arising from the sale or other dispostion of lands or other property granted or entrusted to this State, for educational and religious purposes, shall forever be preserved inviolate and undiminished, and the income arising therefrom shall be faithfully applied to the specific objects of the original grants or appropriation.
Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall make such provision, by taxation or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State; but no religious or other sect or sects shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school fund of this State.
Sec.3. The General Assembly may take measures for the establishment of a University with such branches as the public convenience may hereafter demand, for the promotion of literature, the arts, sciences, medical and agricultural instruction.
Sec.4. Provision may be made by law for the support of normal schools with suitable libraries, and scientific apparatus.
ARTICLE VIII.--PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.
Section 1. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, at as early a date as possible to provide State Asylums for the benefit, treatment, and instruction of the blind, deaf and dumb, and insane.
Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall make provision for the establishment of an Asylum for idiots, to be regulated by law.
Sec. 3. The respective counties of the State shall provide in some suitable manner for those inhabitants, who by (???) upon the sympathy and (???) of society under provisions to be made by the laws of the General Assembly.
Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall make provision for the establishment of houses of Refuge for the correction, reform and instruction of juvenile offenders.
Sec. 5. (???) shall be the duty of the General Assembly to make provisions as soon as possible for a State General Hospital.
ARTICLE IX-- PUBLIC DEBT AND PUBLIC WORKS.
Section 1. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.
Sec. 2. The credit of the State shall never be given or loaned in aid of any individual association or corporation.
Sec. 3. For the purpose of defraying extraordinary expenditures, the State may contract public debts, but such debts shall never in the aggregate exceed one hundred thousand dollars, unless authorized by a direct vote of the people at a general election. Every such debt shall be authorized by law, and every such law shall provide for the payment of the annual interest of such debt, and the principal within ten years from the passage of such law; and such appropriation shall not be repealed until the principal and interest shall have been wholly paid.
Sec. 4. The Legislature may also borrow money to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in time of war; but the money thus raised shall be applied exclusively to the object for which the loan was authorized, or repayment of the debts thereby created.
Sec. 5. No scrip, certificate, or other evidence of the State debt whatever shall be issued, except for such debts as are authorized by the third and fourth sections of this article.
ARTICLE X-- MILITIA.
Section 1. The militia shall consist of all able bodied white male persons between the ages of eighteen and forty years, except such as may be exempt by the laws of the United States, or of this State, and shall be organized, officered, armed, equipped, and trained, in such manner as may be provided by law.
Sec. 2. The Governor shall appoint the Adjutant, Quarter-Master and Commissary Generals.
Sec. 3. All militia officers shall be commissioned by the Governor and shall hold their offices not longer than three years.
Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall determind the method of dividing the militia into divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, and companies, and fix the rank of all officers.
Sec. 5. The militia may be divided into classes, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
Sec. 6. No person conscientiously opposed to bearing arms shall be compelled to do military duty; but such person shall pay an equivalent for such exemption the amount to be prescribed by law.
Sec. 7. The first General Assembly shall offer inducements for the formation, uniforming, and drilling of independent volunteer companies in the different cities and counties in this State.
ARTICLE XI. -- FINANCE AND TAXATIONS.
Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation; and taxes shall be levied upon all such property, real and personal, as the General Assembly way from time to time prescribe; but all property appropriated and used exclusively for municipal, literary, educational, scientific or charitable purposes; and personal property to an amount not exceeding one hundred dollars, for each head of a family, and all property appropriated and used exclusively for religious purposes to an amount not exceeding $200,000, may, by general laws, be exempted from taxation.
Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall provide by law for an annual tax sufficient to defray the estimated ordinary expenses of the State, for each year.
Sec. 3. Every law imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the same, to which it shall be applied.
Sec.4. On the passage, in either House of the General Assembly, of any law which imposes, continues or renews a tax; or makes, continues or renews an appropriation of public or trust money; or releases, discharges or commutes a claim or demand of the State, the question shall be taken by yeas and nays, which shall be duly entered on the journal; and three fifths of all the members elected to such House shall, in all such cases, be required to constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE XII-- COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the election of county, city, town and township officers.
Sec. 2. All officers whose election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution, shall be elected by the people, or appointed as the General Assembly may by law direct.
Sec. 3. Provision shall be made by law for the removal, for misconduct or malversation in office, of all officers whose powers and duties are not local or legislative, and who shall be elected at general elections, and also for supplying vacancies created by such removal.
Sec. 4. The Legislature may declare the cases in which any office shall be deemed vacant, where no provision is made for that purpose in this Constitution.
ARTICLE XIII-- CORPORATIONS.
Section 1. The General Assembly shall not create corporation by special act, except for municipal purposes.
Sec. 2. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but such laws may at any time be altered or repealed.
ARTICLE XIV-- JURISPRUDENCE.
Sec. 1. The General Assembly at its first session, shall constitute three Commissioners, whose duty it shall be to revise, reform, simplify and abridge the rules of practice, pleadings, forms and proceedings of the Courts of Record of this State, and to provide, as far as practical and expedient, that justice shall be administered by intelligent and uniform proceedings without any distinction between law and (???)
Sec. 2. The proceedings of the Commissioners shall be reported to the General Assembly and be subject to the action of that body.
ARTICLE XV--MISCELLANEOUS.
Section 1. The first General Assembly shall locate the permanent seat of government.
Sec. 2. Lotteries and the sale of lottery tickets for any purpose whatever, shall forever be prohibited in the State.
Sec. 3. No person shall be elected or appointed to any office in this State unless they possess the qualifications of an elector.
Sec. 4. There may be established in the Secretary of State office a Bureau of Statistics and Agriculture, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law and provision shall be made by the General Assembly for the organization and encouragement of State and County Agricultural Associations.
Sec. 5. The first General Assembly shall provide by law for securing to the wife the separate property acquired by her before or after (???) and the equal right with the husband to the custody of their children during their minority; and in case of death, insanity, intemperance, or gross impropriety of the husband their exclusive custody.
ARTICLE XVI-- AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
Section. 1. All propositions for amendments to the Constitution shall be made by the General Assembly.
Sec. 2. A concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected to each House shall be necessary, after which such proposed amendments shall be entered upon the journals with the yeas and nays, and the Secretary of State shall cause the same to be published in at least one newspaper in each county in the State where a newspaper is published, for at least six months preceding the next election for Senators and Representatives, when such proposed amendments shall be again referred to the Legislature elected next succeeding said publication. If passed by the second Legislature, by a majority of two-thirds of the members elected to each House, such amendments shall be republished as aforesaid for at least six months prior to the next general election, at which election such proposed amendments shall be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection, and if the majority of the electors voting at such election shall adopt such amendments, the same shall become a part of the !
Constitution.
Sec. 3. When more than one amendment is submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted as to enable the electors to vote upon each amendment separately.
Sec. 4. No Convention for the formation of a new Constitution shall be called, and no amendment to the Constitution shall be by the General Assembly made, before the year 1865, nor more than once in five years thereafter.
ARTICLE XVII-- BANKS AND CURRENCY
Section 1. No Bank shall be established otherwise than under a General Banking Law.
Sec. 2. If the General Banking Law, such law shall provide for the registry and countersigning by the Auditor of State of all paper credit designed to be circulated as money, with ample collateral security, readily convertible into specie for the redemption of the same in gold or silver shall be required: which collateral security shall be under the control of the proper officer, or officers, of State. Such law shall restrict the aggregate amount of all paper credit to be circulated as money, and the aggregate amount to be put in circulation in any one year; and no note issued under the provision of this section shall be of a less denomination than ten dollars.
Sec. 3. The Stockholders in every Bank or Banking Company shall be individually liable to an amount over and above their stock equal to their respective shares of stock for all debts and liabilities of said Bank or Banking Company.
Sec. 4. All bills or notes issued as money shall be at all times redeemable in gold or silver; and no law shall be passed sanctioning, directly or indirectly, the suspension, by any Bank or Banking Company, of specie payments.
Sec. 5. Holders of Bank notes shall be entitled, in case of insolvency, to preference of specie payment over all other creditors.
Sec. 6. No Bank shall receive, directly or indirectly, a greater rate of interest than shall be allowed by law to individuals loaning money.
Sec. 7. Every Bank or Banking Company shall be required to cease all banking operations within twenty years from the time of its organization, and promptly thereafter to close its business.
Sec. 8. The State shall not be a Stockholder in any Bank or Baking Institution.
Sec. 9. All Banks shall be required to keep officers and proper offices for the issue and redemption of their paper at some accessible and convenient point within the State.
Sec. 10. The said Banking law shall contain a provision reserving the power to alter, amend or repeal said law.
Sec. 11. At the time of submitting this Constitution to the electors for their approval or disapproval, the articles numbered, in relation to the General Banking Law, shall be submitted as a distinct proposition in the following form:-- General Banking Law; yes or no; and if a majority of the votes cast shall be in favor of said article, then the same shall form a part of this Constitution; otherwise it shall be void and form no part thereof.
Dr. Ross and Slavery-- The New York Independent gives a history of the events connected with one of the late slaves of Rev. Dr. Ross, that lets daylight through all the ingenious fallacies of that distinguished divine in defense of slavery. One of Dr. Ross’ slaves was taken for debt and sold at auction. A Presbyterian of East Tennessee bought him, and was about to sell him to the far South, when the slave made his escape and hid in the swamps for over a year, like Dred Scott. He was lately captured, and his Presbyterian master had him tied with his limbs extended to four saplings, and three hundred and thirty lashes inflicted upon his bare back. He was then put in irons and sent to the southern market, to be used up in the rice swamps. The Presbyterian minister, of whose church the cruel master was a member, though such inhumanity should be rebuked and brought it to the notice of the church. The consequence was an outburst of Christian indignation, not against the oppressor, but against the minister, and he has been obliged to fly from his parish and the State. And yet he said not a word against slavery itself, but only against this instance of horrible cruelty in a member of his own church.
QUINDARO CHINDOWAN
Printed and Published by
J. M. Walden & Co.
J. M. Walden. Edmund Babb
J. M. Walden….Editor
Saturday, July 25, 1857.
FREE STATE TICKET
FOR MEMBER OF CONGRESS
Marcus J. Parrott,
Of Leavenworth
SECRETARY OF STATE,
P.C. SHUYLER,
AUDITOR OF STATE,
G. A. Cutler.
JUDGES SUPREME COURT,
M. F. Oonway. S. N. Latta.
REPORTER OF THE SUPREME COURT,
E. M. Thurston.
CLERK OF THE SUPREME COURT,
A.G. Patrick.
DISTRICT FREE-STATE TICKET.
STATE SENATORS.
HENRY J. ADAMS of Leavenworth.
DR. J. P. ROOT, of Wyandott.
REPRESENTATIVES.
J.C. GREEN, of Leavenworth City.
-----HATTERSCHEIT, " "
G. H. KELLER, " "
J.C. DOUGLASS, " "
STEPHEN SPARKS, of Alexandria
WM. PENNOCK, of Easton
PATRICK ORR, " "
R. S. ELLIOTT, of Delaware
J. M. FUNK, of Wyandott
J. M. WALDEN, of Quindaro
News Item - The latest numbers of the Chindowan may always be obtained in Leavenworth, of Mosssrs. Claypole & Newby, periodical Agents, on Delaware Street.
News Item - The Chindowan may be had regularly at O. Wilmarth’s Book Store in Lawrence.
News Item - Mr. A. Robinson, Clerk of the lightning steamer New Lucy, will please accept our thanks for a file of the St. Louis daily papers.
News Item - Robert A. Darst, Clerk of the steamer Admiral, has placed us under obligation for St. Louis’ daily papers.
News Item - Mr. A. C. Carter, Messenger of Richardson’s Missouri Express, on the Lightning Line steamer Tropic, has our thanks for a full file of late St. Louis’ dailies.
News Item - Mr. Ives, Messenger of Richardson’s Missouri Express, has furnished us with late St. Louis dailies, for which favor we are thankful.
News Item - To Mr. Hitchins, the courteous Clerk of the Cataract, our acknowledgements are due for late Eastern papers, and other river favors.
THE DISTRICT CONVENTION.
We are enabled to lay before our readers a report of the proceedings of the District convention, that assembled at Leavenworth City today. The District Central Committee appointed, is composed of efficient and true Free-State men. We believe all the persons selected for the District Ticket to be loyal to the party and its policy. The action of the Convention was in every way harmonious.
THE TOPEKA CONSTITUTION.
A considerable portion of this paper is taken up with the Topeka Constitution. We publish it at this time to enable such of our friends as have not yet read it, to give it an examination before they go to the polls and pronounce upon it on the first Monday of August. We do not design to comment upon it - it needs no comment of ours, for it is a document that will stand upon its own merits. We are desirous that it shall receive a heavy vote, not only because of its intrinsic value but also because of the circumstances under which it comes before us and the crisis in which it is presented for a re-ratification. Its history is, to a great extent the history of Kanzas, and with the fauts and crimes and cruelties of this history all are acquainted. This Constitution is now before us as the banner under which and around which Free-State men can rally and achieve a triumph over their oppressors at the same time they achieve the Freedom of Kanzas. If it receives a hearty and l!
arge vote it will be the Constitution under which Kanzas will become a member of the Federal Union and by which she will be forever made a Free State. Another Constitution will be presented to Congress this winter, a constitution originating with a handful of men. Unless that is confronted by an instrument endorsed by a far larger vote, it will be regarded by a prejudiced Congress with favor-- but if at the time the Lecompton constitution emanating from 1500 votes is presented, the Topeka constitution re-ratified by many thousands of voters, be brought forward and placed in competition with the bogus concern there can be little doubt as to which will receive the palm. To make Kanzas free, and free forever, it only remains for every Free-State man, be his former political preferences what they may have been, to turn away from them for the present, and throw his whole influence as a man in behalf of the Topeka Constitution.
News Item - The sale of the Delaware Trust Lands begun at Osawkee on Wednesday the 16th inst., and will continue four or five weeks. The lands apprised at from $1.50 to $4.50 per acre, and are nearly all sold to actual settlers. But few speculators are present, and there is little excitement.
GOV. WALKER’S CHEF (???)
"Gov. Robert J. Walker has made a fool of himself," is a remark upon the lips of all. In his inaugural he told us his experience in Mississippi, of his long service in the Senate of the United States and of the policy he favored while filling other exalted stations’ under the government. From his remarks we were led to suppose that he granted an especial favor to the Administration by his acceptance of the Gubernatorial chair, and that it was the duty of the people of Kanzas to feel grateful for his condescension in occupying it. It is well for him that he has past exploits and past experiences of which to boast. When he leaves the soil of Kanzas to search for new fields on which to immortalize his name, he can hardly point to honors nobly won in the pathway of duty here. The remark that he has "made a fool of himself," will follow him wherever he goes. It will follow him to Wall Street, to Washington, to Mississippi. He will provoke the curses of his party-the ridicu!
le of those who with him are striving for the Presidency-the shame of friends and the laughter of opposing parties. His fate is as the fate of all the Governors of Kanzas, excepting perhaps that of Reeder. The political atmosphere of Kanzas is as deadly to National Democratic Governors, as the guillotine to the victims of the French Revolution. Shannon who today sits in his law office at Lecompton is regarded with more respect than the able and grandiloquent statesman who is now at the head of the United States Troops at Lawrence, mourning over his folly and disgrace. But the folly of the Governor is no excuse for so great a crime upon the people. A Proclamation has been issued against a peaceful and industrious people, declaring that they are guilty of the most iniquitous rebellion that ever disgraced any age and country, simply because that people entered into a voluntary municipal organization, by which to preserve the quiet peace and health of their community, provi!
de for grading of streets, for the construction of bridges, for the purposes of education and for other measures necessary for the well being and good order of law-loving citizens. A movement of this kind is considered by the able statesman who calls himself the Governor of Kanzas Territory as ‘rebellion.’ Against it he arrays a part of the United States Army, and with that army he remains to ’stop the effusion of blood.’ Gov. Walker declares this municipal organization a rebellion because it did not emanate from the Territorial Legislature. It may be well for us to enquire why the people of Lawrence should respect any such authority. On the 30th of March 1855, seven hundred armed men with the Revolver and Bowie-knife drove from the ballot-box citizens of the town who had a legal right to deposit their ballots. That body of armed invaders elected for the citizens of Lawrence the members of the Territorial Legislature to which that precinct was entitled. Against such a!
n awful and barbarous infringement upon their rights, the citizens of Lawrence as in duty bound legally and solemnly protested. Gov. Reeder listened to their protest and appointed another election. On the day appointed the citizens assembled, and in a legal and proper manner elected their members to the Territorial Legislature. The members thus selected attended the session of the Legislature, and instead of being admitted, were discarded, and their seats were filled by the persons elected by the armed mob from Missouri on the 30th of March 1855. Will Gov. Walker as soon as he finds leisure from his arduous duties on the tented field, give us his opinion of the legitimacy and constitutionality of a Government thus formed? Will he tell us how much respect it is entitled to, and how many dragoons it will require to force American citizens to render it respect and obedience? In November 1855, Sheriff Jones, a creature of this same Legislature arrayed 1800 armed men from M!
issouri against Lawrence, because he was resisted in the execution of a process against a peaceable and inoffensive old man-not in Lawrence- but five miles from there. Lawrence had no part or lot in the matter. Yet she was besieged for nearly two weeks, one of her citizens foully murdered and her inhabitants compelled to suffer all the consequences of civil war. Business was suspended, the highways made unsafe for the traveller, and all intercourse with other parts of the Territory broken off. Coleman who murdered Dow, and Clark who murdered Barber, are yet unhung. The Territorial authority rewarded them with honors. We ask Gov. Walker how much respect the Territorial authority are entitled to receive from the citizens of Lawrence for these inhuman barbarities? Last summer this same Territorial authority murdered another victim, a citizen of Lawrence, marched an armed banditti into her streets, burned a hotel and private dwelling, destroyed two printing presses, and s!
acked and pillaged the town. We ask of Gov. Walker how much respect is due for this? The citizens of Lawrence are law abiding and peaceful; by their municipal organization they wish to secure not only those improvements and privileges properly belonging to an intelligent and christian community, but to protect their persons from the knife of the assassin and their property from the thief an robber. The Territorial authority is the very nursery of the murderer and the thief. What protection can we afford, and to what respect is it entitled? Citizens of Lawrence, go on in your noble work! In the presevation of the public peace, in the protection of property, and in the encouragement of good morals, the Territorial authority is arrayed against you, and among its supporters your police will find victims deserving the severest punishment. Standing by you ready to give you aid and encouragement are fifty thousand Freemen who have selected this fair soil as a home for thems!
elves and their posterity, determined to dedicate their lives to Freedom and wage eternal hostility to the Tyranny which is sought to be enforced upon you.
PRO-SLAVERY (???)
Justice they say is blind. She might as well be drunk in some portions of Kanzas, so far as the rights of Free State men are concerned. In Tecumseh, the other day, an instance occurred. Henry Boynton is a Free State man living about seven miles from that town. He is surrounded by Pro-Slavery neighbors who have attempted several times to drive him from his claim. One of them named Adams has on three several occasions endeavored to take his life. Boynton applied to the U.S. Commissioner for a warrant charging him with intent to kill; but the official would only grant one asking that Adams might be placed under bonds to keep the peace. After an examination, in which the attempts of Adams were clearly proved, both parties were placed under $500 bonds to preserve the peace. During the trial, Newsom, (the Territorial Prosecuting Attorney, elected by the Bogus Legislature) pronounced Boynton a d-----d liar. After it was ended, Boynton asked an explanation, when he drew a Bo!
wie knife, and struck Boynton a violent blow on the head, producing a frightful wound tree inches long. Boynton though stunned, instantly recovered himself, and struck Newson with his fist, so vigorously as to send him reeling into an adjoining room. Several pro-slavery men (including Adams who had given bonds to keep the peace not five minutes before) immediately attacked Boynton, and he was compelled to flee from the court room and the town.
GREAT MEETING IN QUINDARO!
IMMENSE ENTHUSIASM!!
PROCEEDINGS
of the
TOPEKA CONVENTION RATIFIED
BY THE PEOPLE!!
GOV. WALKER’S ACTION CONDEMNED!!
Pursuant to call for a public meeting in Quindaro, a large number of the citizens assembled in front of the Quindaro House, at 7 1-2 o’clock, P.M. S. I. Kenyan, Esq., was chosen Chairman, and Albert S. Corey Secretary. S. C. Smith, Esq., in response to a call from the meeting, addressed the people in an able and eloquent manner, reviewing the past history of Kanzas, her struggles with the slave power, the outrages and injustice which she had suffered, and congratulated the citizens upon the prospect of soon being relieved from the reign of tyranny, which had so long been imposed upon them. Mr. Smith earnestly urged the importance of supporting the Topeka Constitution at the August election, as the sure road to the success of the Free-State cause. Gen. Pomeroy next addressed the meeting, stating that, reports to the contrary notwithstanding, the Free State cause lay nearest his heart, and should receive his earnest support, -- the National Democratic party was no friend t!
o Free Kanzas, but, on the contrary, a deadly foe, which, had it the power, would crush out free principles and free government. Gen. Pomeroy concluded by pledging himself anew to the Free State cause. J. M. Walden was then called to the stand. He made a very flattering report of the proceedings of the Convention at Topeka. The meetings of the Convention were eminently harmonious, and unanimity of feeling was manifested in the transaction of business. He expected the people would ratify the doings of the Convention at the polls in August, in a manner that would show the enemies of Freedom in Kanzas, that the day of their usurpation was drawing to a close. He said there had not been a difference of opinion to any extent among the people, and that to day, throughout the Territory, they were united as one man. On motion, by F. Johnson, Esq., the proceedings of the Topeka Convention were unanimously approved. The following resolution was offered, and unanimously adopted:
Received. That Gov. R. J. Walker, by his proclamation against the citizens of Lawrence, and his use of the United States army for the purpose of depriving them of their voluntary municipal organization, merits the condemnation of very American citizen for so flagrant a violation of their Constitutional rights.
On motion, the meeting adjourned sine die.
S. L. Kenyan, Chairman.
Albert S. Corey, Sec’y.
News Item - The Leavenworth Times says of Gov. Walker’s action in regard to Lawrence: "We remember an old adage that runs if you give certain ‘characters’ rope enough they will be sure to hang themselves, and we are much mistaken if Gov. Walker does not verify its truth."
FREE STATE CONVENTION
IN THE
FIRST DISTRICT.
ORGANIZATION.
A (???) Convention for the First Representative District of the State of
Kanzas, was held at Leavenworth, Saturday, July 26th, 1857. It was organized by electing Hon. Henry J. Adams, of Leavenworth, Chairman, and A. D. Richardson, of Quindaro, Secretary.
DELEGATES PRESENT
On motion, Dr. Ross, of Wyandott, and Messrs. Green, of Leavenworth, and Sparks of Alexandria, were appointed a Committee ea Credentials. They returned the names of twenty-two delegates present, and reported in favor of giving each of them a seat in the convention, each delegation being entitled to the number of votes apportioned to it in the call. Report accepted and adopted.
COMMITTEES APPOINTED.
On motion, Lieut. Gov. Roberts, of Wyandott, and Messrs. Upson of Quindaro, Hamer of Leavenworth, Fowler of Alexandria, Orr of Easton, and Elliott of Delaware, were appointed a Committee to report the names of a District Central Committee. On motion, Judge Latta, and Messrs. Roberts and Sparks were appointed a Committee to apportion the candidates for the Legislature to the various precincts of the District. On motion, Messrs, Richardson, Moore, Funk, Fowler, Orr and Elliott, were appointed a Committee on Resolutions.
DISTRICT CENTRAL COMMITTEE
W. Y. Roberts, from the Committee on a District Central Committee, reported the following gentlemen:
HENRY J. ADAMS of Leavenworth,
C.F. CURRIER " "
DR. GEO. E. BUDINGTON, "Quindaro,
DR. J. P. ROOT, "Wyandott,
STEPHEN SPARKS, "Delaware,
The report was accepted and adopted.
APPORTIONMENTS.
The Committee on Apportionments made the following report which was accepted and adopted:
Leavenworth City, 4 Rep.}
Easton and Alexandria, 3 " } 1 Senator
Delaware, 1 " }
Wyandott, 1" } 1 Senator
NOMINATIONS.
The Convention upon motion went into nomination for State Senators and Representatives which resulted in the choice of the following gentlemen:
SENATORS. -- J. H. Adams, of Leavenworth; J.P. Root, of Wyandot
REPRESENTATIVES-- J. C. Green, -- Hatterscheit, G. H. Keller, J. C. Douglass, of Leavenworth City; Stephen Sparks, Wm. Pennock, Patrick Orr, of Easton and Alexandria; R. S. Elliott, of Delaware; J. M. Funk, of Wyandott; J. M. Walden, of Quindaro.
RESOLUTIONS.
A. D. Richardson from the Committee on Resolutions submitted the following report:
Resolved, That the Free State voters of the First District, in Delegate Convention assembled, cordially endorse the action of the recent Convention at Topeka, and approve the line of policy adopted by it as the simplest and best method to regain the political rights of which we have been so long and so unjustly depriced.
Resolved, That we earnestly recommend to every voter in the First District, who is in favor of free institutions in Kanzas, to participate in the State Election on the first Monday in August, and to use all honorable means to bring every Free State elector to the polls on that day.
Resolved, That the late action of Gov. R. J. Walker in marching with a portion of U. S. Army, upon the town of Lawrence, because the citizens thereof formed a voluntary organization, is grossly unjust and a dangerous violation of the rights of American citizens.
The resolutions were taken up consecutively, and unanimously adopted. A vote of thanks was then returned to the officers of the day, after which the Convention adjourned sine die.
H. J. ADAMS, Chairman
A.D. Richardson, Sec’y.
FIRST SPEECH OF THE CANVAS
MARCUS J. PARROTT, Esq., our nominee for Congress, made the first speech of the canvass at Osawkee, on Saturday morning, the 18th inst. An attempt was made, both by the officials and by Pro-Slavery citizens, to prevent him from speaking; but enough of his friends were present to vindicate free speech. Mr. Parrott commenced by alluding to the request to desist-- especially the one which had come from Gen. Whitfield. But he called attention to the fact that Gov. Walker had made a political speech at the land sales at Paoli, a few days previous, without any serious detriment to the public business; and though (the speaker,) was not Territorial Governor, and could not call out the U. S. troops on trifling occasions, he had just as good a right to be heard as Gov. Walker, and he intended to be heard. This announcement was followed by loud cheers; and Mr. Parrott went on for about three quarters of an hour, in an able and manly speech, vindicating the course of the Free State !
party, showing the propriety of adhering to the Topeka Constitution and Government, and urging the people to turn out in their might at the ballot-box, at the August and October elections. His remarks were loudly applauded, and seemed to give excellent satisfaction. He was followed by H. Miles Moore, Esq., of Leavenworth, Prof. Daniels of Wisconsin, and Joseph Spear, Esq., all of whom made pointed and pungent speeches. The meeting was highly gratifying in every respect, and seemed to be (???) by the right spirit. Since that time Mr. Parrott has been (???) the canvass actively. His (???) seem to give general satisfaction. There are a large number of other able speakers in the field.
Transcribed by Charion L. Vaughn, Spring 2005