Territory. It will become treasonable insurrection if it reach the length of organized resistance by force to the fundamental or any other Federal law, and to the authority of the general government."

Still the Topeka Constitution had its friends, both in and out of Congress, and discussions bearing upon the question of freedom and slavery continued to engage the public mind throughout the country, and became a leading issue in the Presidential campaign of 1856. Immediately after the adjournment of the Topeka Convention, the leaders of the pro-slavery party called a "law and order Convention," which met at Leavenworth November 14, 1855. This body passed resolutions denouncing the proceedings of the late Constitutional Convention, and sustaining the policy and measures of the Administration.

The Territorial Legislature had, in the mean time, taken the sense of the people upon the question of a Convention, at an election held in October, 1856, and a majority having voted in favor of such Convention (2,592 to 454)—the Free-State men generally not voting-the Legislature, on the 19th of February, 1857, passed an act for an election of Delegates, June 15th, to meet in Convention on the first Monday of September, for the purpose of forming a State Constitution preparatory to admission into the Union. The bill was vetoed by Governor Geary for the reason that it did not require the Constitution, when framed, to be submitted to the people for their adoption or rejection. It was, however, passed by a two-third vote of both Houses.

A registration of voters by the Sheriffs and their deputies had been ordered, and in eighteen counties 9,251 names were enrolled; but in fifteen counties there was no registry made. The Free-State party were generally opposed to the measure, and it was said that some gave fictitious names, and others refused altogether to give their names to the enrolling officers. The law allowed sixty members to be elected, and the whole number was apportioned by the Governor among those counties in which a registry had been made.

At the election which had been ordered, the pro-slavery party alone voted. The Convention met at Lecompton, September 5, 1857; adjourned till October, and then proceeded to frame what is known as the "Lecompton Constitution,” which was signed November 7, 1857, and forwarded to President Buchanan, without being first submitted to the people. They were allowed to vote only on the insertion or rejection of the clauses by which slave property was declared to be before and higher than any Constitutional sanction, and establishing the right of holding of slaves as a part of the fundamental law of the State. The election upon this clause was appointed for December 21st, 1857, but as it was impossible to vote against slavery without voting for the Constitution, most of the Free-State men kept away from the polls, and the slavery clause was adopted by a vote of 6,226 to 569. More than half of the votes for the clause were from counties adjoining Missouri, which counties had not, in all, more than a thousand legal voters.

The boundaries of the State, proposed by the Lecompton Constitution, were to extend westward to the territories of New Mexico and Utah, including a tract now comprised within the bounds of the territory of Colorado.

The slavery sections of this Constitution were mostly copied from those of the Constitution of Kentucky, as adopted in 1850.

The President laid the Lecompton Constitution before Congress, and although the general tone of his message indicated a willingness to sign a law for the admission of Kansas under it, should Congress see fit to pass one, he did not positively recommend its adoption. He especially regretted that the Constitution had not been previously submitted to the people for their adoption, by the Convention that prepared it.

A bill was accordingly introduced, which, on the 4th of May, 1858, became a law, providing conditionally for the admission of Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton Constitution.1

An ordinance had been passed by the Convention, asserting the undoubted right of the State to tax lands belonging to the United States within its limits, yet proposing to relinquish this asserted right, upon the acceptance by Congress of certain conditions set forth in said ordinance.

These conditions were:

1st. That sections 8, 16, 24 and 36, in every township, or if these had been already disposed of, then others of equal value, should be granted to the State for the support of schools.

2d. That all salt springs and mines of gold, silver, copper, lead or other valuable minerals, should be granted to the State, with lands necessary for their operation.

3d. That five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of land, before or after admission as a State, should be paid, two-fifths in aid of railroads, and the residue for common schools.

4th. That seventy-two sections, or two townships, should be granted for a seminary of learning.

5th. That each alternate section, now owned or hereafter to be acquired within a distance of twelve miles on each side, should be granted for a railroad running from some point on the northern border southwardly toward the Gulf of Mexico, and an equal quantity on each side of another railroad to run west from the Missouri river, across the State toward the Pacific; and that Congress should take immediate measures to carry these provisions into effect.

Upon acceptance of these conditions, the ordinance proposed to relinquish the undoubted right of the State to tax the lands of the United States within its borders.

The act of Congress declared these conditions inadmissible, and submitted certain other propositions for acceptance or rejection by the people. If accepted, the President was authorized to announce the fact by proclamation, which should entitle Kansas to the full rights of a State; but if rejected, it was to be held that the people of Kansas did not desire admission into the Union with said Constitution under the conditions set forth in said proposition. In that event the people of the Territory were authorized and empowered to form for themselves a Constitution and State Government whenever their numbers might amount to the ratio entitled to one Representative in Congress. This ratio, under the census of 1850, was 1 to 93,420, and had the event been delayed until the apportionment of the census of 1860, it would have been 1 to 126,823.

This law, known as the "English bill," afforded the Free-State party an opportunity of defeating the Constitution, by voting against the acceptance of the conditions, which they uniformly did, at the election appointed for the decision of this question.

The majority of the Territorial Legislature, newly elected, was composed of Free-State men, and a special session of the Legislature was called by Secretary Stanton, acting Governor, at which the Lecompton Constitution, with its conditional propositions, was submitted to a vote of the people, on the 4th of January, 1859. The Free-State party had agreed, at a Convention, not to vote for

1 The Lecompton Constitution is given entire in Reports of Committees, House, vol. 3, No. 377, and Senate Reports, vol. 1, No. 82, 1st Session, 35th Congress.

A Convention met at Mineola, March 23, 1858, adjourned to Leavenworth on the 25th, and closed its labors on the 3rd of April by publishing a Free-State Constitution, scarcely different from that prepared at Topeka. It is given entire in "Miscellaneous Docs." No. 44, 2d Session, 35th Con gress, with a vote purporting to show 4,346 for, and 1,257 against, its adoption.

State officers at this election, and, as a general rule, but few of them did so. Their principal effort was to vote against the acceptance of the conditions, which was equivalent to a rejection of the Constitution itself. The result of the election gave a vote against the Constitution of 10,126: for it, with slavery, 138, and for it, without slavery, 24.

Although the Legislature had appointed this election to be held on the 4th of January, 1859, the friends of that instrument, under authority claimed to be derived from a Convention, had previously held an election on the 21st of December, 1858, at which it was claimed that 6,143 votes were returned for the Constitution with slavery, and 589 for the Constitution without slavery. The FreeState party still held, that even admitting the total vote at both elections to have been legally cast, as upon one day and at the same election, the majority would still have been largely against its adoption.

The decision as to the Lecompton State election was long in doubt, and it was charged that officials kept back the results, until it should be known whether Congress would admit the State, when the pro-slavery candidates were to be declared elected. These charges were not proved, and events tended to show that they were unfounded.

The code of laws adopted by the first Territorial Legislature was repealed, and an act referring to the people the question of a new Constitutional Convention was passed. The election was held on the 4th of April, 1859, and resulted in a majority of 5,306 to 1,425 in its favor. The old party organizations were now abandoned, and those of Republican and Democratic substituted, and on the issues of these parties the election for delegates was held on the 7th of June, 1859. The Republicans were in a majority of 35 to 17.

This Convention met at Wyandotte, on the 5th of July, 1859, and adjourned on the 29th, after adopting a Constitution by a vote of 34 to 13, all the Delegates in the minority, who were present, voting against it and refusing to sign it. They had endeavored to include the newly-discovered gold region of Pike's Peak within the State, and wished to prohibit the immigration of free colored persons, and to restrict bank issues, but failed upon each of these points.

This Constitution was submitted to the people on the 4th of October, and was approved by a vote of 10,421 to 5,530. A Delegate to Congress, and members of the Territorial Legislature were elected on the 8th of November, and a Representative to Congress, State officers and members of a State Legislature, on the 6th of December, 1859.

Application was again made for the admission of Kansas as a State, and another year passed in uncertainty under the Territorial government; but, at length, by an act approved on the 29th of January, 1861, the State was admitted into the Union, under the Wyandotte Constitution.

A portion of Kansas Territory not included within the State of Kansas, being that portion west of 25° west longitude from Washington, was included in the Territory of Colorado on the 25th of February, 1861.

9. Right of bail-excessive bail- cruel pun-11. Right of protest-to be entered upon jour