month, in subversion of the territorial government established under the au thority of congress. The right to set up the state government in defiance of the constituted authorities of the territory, is based on the assumption "that the people of Kansas territory have been since its settlement, and now are, without any law-making power; " in the face of the well-known fact, that the territorial legislature were then in session, in pursuance of the proclamation of Governor Reeder, and the organic law of the territory. On the 5th of September, a "territorial delegate convention" assembled at the Big Springs, "to take into consideration the present exigencies of political affairs," at which, among others, the following resolutions were adopted:

"Resolved, That this convention, in view of its recent repudiation of the acts of the so-called Kansas legislative assembly, respond most heartily to the call made by the people's convention of the 14th ultimo, for a delegate convention of the people of Kansas, to be held at Topeka, on the 19th instant, to consider the propriety of the formation of a state constitution, and such matters as may legitimately come before it.

"Resolved, That we owe no allegiance or obedience to the tyranical enactments of this spurious legislature; that their laws have no validity or binding force upon the people of Kansas; and that every freeman among us is at full liberty, consistently with .his obligations as a citizen and a man, to defy and resist them if he choose so to do.

"Resolved, That we will endure and submit to these laws no longer than the best interests of the territory require, as the least of two evils, and will resist them to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that peaceable remedies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall furnish any reasonable prospect of success; and that in the mean time we recommend to our friends through the territory, the organization and discipline of volunteer companies, and the procurement and preparation of arms.'

With the view to a distinct understanding of the meaning of so much of this resolution as relates to the "organization and discipline of volunteer companies, and the procurement and preparation of arms," it may be necessary to state, that there was at that time existing in the territory a secret military organization, which had been formed for political objects prior to the alleged invasion, at the election on the 30th of March, and which held its first "grand encampment at Lawrence, February 8th, 1855." Your committee have been put in possession of a small printed pamphlet, containing the "constitution and ritual of the grand encampment and regiments of Kansas legion of Kansas territory, adopted April 4th, 1855," which, during the recent disturbances. in that territory, was taken on the person of one George F. Warren, who at tempted to conceal and destroy the same by thrusting it into his mouth, and biting and chewing it. Although somewhat mutilated by the "tooth prints," it bears internal evidence of being a genuine document, authenticated by the original signature of "G. W. Hutchinson, grand general," and "J. K. Goodwin, grand quartermaster."

The constitution consists of six articles, regulating the organization of the "Grand Encampment," which is "composed of representatives elected from each subordinate regiment existing in the territory, as hereafter provided. The officers of the Grand Encampment shall consist of a grand general, grand vice

general, grand quartermaster, grand paymaster, grand aid, two grand sentinels, and grand chaplain.

"The Grand Encampment shall make all nominations for territorial officers at large, and immediately after such nominations shall have been made, the grand general shall communicate the result to every regiment in the territory."

The "opening ceremony" of the subordinate encampment is as follows:

"The colonel, lieutenant colonel, quartermaster, paymaster, aid, and sentinels, being in their respective places, the regiment shall be called and thus addressed by the coionel: Fellow-soldiers in the free-state army: The hour has arrived when we must resume the duties devolving upon us. Let us each, with a heart devoted to justice, patriotism, and liberty, attend closely to all the regulations laid down for our government and action; each laboring to make this review pleasant and profitable to ourselves and a blessing to our country. Aid, are the sentinels at their posts, with closed doors? "Aid. They are.

"Colonel. Aid, you will now review the troops in the regiment's pass word. "Aid. (After examination.) I have examined them personally, and find each correct. "Colonel. I pronounce this regiment arrayed and ready for service."

Then follows the process of initiating new recruits, who are properly vouched for by members of the order, the preliminary obligations to observe secrecy, the catechism to which the candidate is subjected, and the explanations of the colonel in respect to the objects of the order, which are thus stated: "First, to secure to Kansas the blessing and prosperity of being a free state; and, secondly, to protect the ballot-box from the LEPROUS TOUCH OF UNPRINCIPLED MEN." These and all other questions being satisfactorily answered, the final oath is thus administered: "With these explanations upon our part, we shall ask of you that you take with us an obligation, placing yourself in the same attitude as before.

OBLIGATION.

"I, in the most solemn manner, here in the presence of Heaven and these witnesses, bind myself that I will never reveal, nor cause to be revealed, either by word, look, or sign, by writing, printing, engraving, painting or in any manner whatsoever, anything pertaining to this institution, save to persons duly qualified to receive the same I will never reveal the nature of the organization, the place of meeting, the fact that any person is a member of the same, or even the existence of the organization, except to persons legally qualified to receive the same. Should I at any time withdraw, or be suspended or expelled from this organization, I will keep this obligation to the end of life. If any books, papers or moneys belonging to this organization be entrusted to my care or keeping, I will faithfully and completely deliver up the same to my successor in office, or any one legally authorized to receive them. I will never knowingly propose a person for membership in this order who is not in favor of making Kansas a free state, and whom I feel satisfied will use his entire influence to bring about this result. I will support, maintain, and abide by any honorable movement made by the organization to secure this great end, which will not conflict with the laws of the country and the constitution of the United States. I will unflinchingly vote for and support the candidates nominated by this organization in preference to any and all others.

"To all of this obligation I do most solemnly promise and affirm, binding myself under the penalty of being expelled from this organization, of having my name published

to the several territorial encampments as a perjurer before Heaven, and a traitor to my country, of passing through life, scorned and reviled by man, frowned on by devils, forsaken by angels, and abandoned by God."

Your committee have deemed it important to give the outline of the "constitution and ritual of the grand encampment and regiments of the Kansas legion," as constituting the secret organization, political and military, in obedience to which the public demonstrations have been made to subvert the authority of the territorial government established by congress, by setting up a state government, either with or without the assent of congress, as circumstances should determine. The indorsement of this military organization, and the recommendation by the Big Springs convention for "the procurement and preparation of arms," accompanied with the distinct declaration that "we will resist them [the laws enacted by the Kansas legislature] to a bloody issue, as soon as we ascertain that peaceable remedies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall furnish any reasonable prospect of success," would seem to admit of no other interpretation than that, in the event that the courts of justice shall sustain the validity of those laws, and congress shall refuse to admit Kansas as a state with the constitution to be formed at Topeka, they will set up an independent government in defiance of the federal authority.

The same purpose is clearly indicated by the other proceedings of this convention, in which it is declared that "we with scorn repudiate the election law, so called," and nominate governor Reeder for congress, to be voted for on a different day from that authorized by law, at an election to be held by judges and clerks not appointed in pursuance of any legal authority, and not to be sworn by any person authorized by law to administer oaths; and the returns to be made, and result proclaimed, and certificate granted, in a mode and by persons not permitted to perform these acts by any law, in or out of the territory.

In accepting the nomination, governor Reeder addressed the convention as follows; and, among other things, said:

"In giving him this nomination in this manner, they had strengthened his arms to do their work, and, in return, he would now pledge to them a steady, unflinching pertinacity of purpose, never-tiring industry, dogged perseverance, and, in all the abilities with which God has endowed him, to the righting of their wrongs, and the final triumph of their cause. He believed, from the circumstances which had for the last eight months surrounded him, and which had, at the same time, placed in his possession many facts, and bound him, heart and soul, to the oppressed voters of Kansas, that he could do much towards obtaining a redress of their grievances.

"He said that, day by day a crisis was coming upon us; that, in after times, this would be to posterity a turning-point, a marked period, as are to us the opening of the revolution, the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and the era of the alien and sedition laws; that we should take each carefully, so that each be a step of progress, and so that no violence be done to the tie which binds the American people together. He alluded to the unprecedented

Ameri

tyranny under which we are and have been; and said that, if any one suppos ed that institutions were to be imposed by force upon a free and enlightened people, they never knew, or had forgotten, the history of our fathers. can citizens bear in their breasts too much of the spirit of other and trying days, and have lived too long amid the blessings of liberty, to submit to oppression from any quarter; and the man who having once been free, could tamely submit to tyranny, was fit to be a slave.

"He urged the free state men of Kansas to forget all minor issues, and pursue determinedly the one great object, never swerving, but steadily pressing on as did the wise men who followed the star to the manger, looking back only for fresh encouragement. He counseled that peaceful resistance be made to the tyrannical and unjust laws of the spurious legislature; that appeals to the courts, to the ballot box, and to congress, be made for relief from this oppressive load; that violence should be deprecated as long as a single hope of peaceable redress remained; but if, at last, all these should fail-if, in the proper tribunals, there is no hope for our dearest rights, outraged and profaned-if we are still to suffer, that corrupt men may reap harvests watered by our tears then there is one more chance for justice. God has provided, in the eternal frame of things, redress for every wrong; and there remains to us still the steady eye and the strong arm, and we must conquer, or mingle the bodies of the oppressors with those of the oppressed upon the soil which the Declaration of Independence no longer protects. But he was not at all apprehensive that such a crisis would ever arrive. He believed that justice might be found far short of so dreadful an extremity; and, even should an appeal to arms come, it was his opinion, that if we are well prepared, that moment the victory is won."

In pursuance of the recommendation of the mass meeting held at Lawrence on the 14th of August, and indorsed by the convention held at the Big Springs on the 5th and 6th of September, a convention was held at Topeka, on the 19th and 20th of September, at which it was determined to hold another convention at the same place on the fourth Tuesday of October, for the purpose of forming a constitution and state government; and to this end such proceedings were had as were deemed necessary for giving the notices, conducting the election of delegates, making the returns, and assembling the convention. With regard to the regularity of these proceedings, your committee see no necessity for further criticism than is to be found in the fact that it was the movement of a political party instead of the whole body of the people of Kansas, conducted without the sanction of law, and in defiance of the constituted authorities, for the avowed purpose of overthrowing the territorial gov ernment established by congress.

The election for all these officers were held at the time specified; and on the fourth day of the present month, the new government was to have been put in operation, in conflict with the territorial government established by congress, and for the avowed purpose of subverting and overthrowing the same,

without reference to the action of congress upon their application for admission into the Union.

Your committee are not aware of any case in the history of our own country, which can be fairly cited as an example, much less a justification, for these extraordinary proceedings. Cases have occurred in which the inhabitants of particular territories have been permitted to form constitutions, and take the initiatory steps for the organization of state governments, preparatory to their admission into the Union, without obtaining the previous assent of congress; but in every instance the proceeding has originated with, and been conducted in subordination to, the authority of the local governments established or recognized by the government of the United States. Michigan, Arkansas, Florida, and California, are sometimes cited as cases in point.

In tracing, step by step, the origin and history of these Kansas difficulties, your committee have been profoundly impressed with the significant fact, that each one has resulted from an attempt to violate or circumvent the principles and provisions of the act of congress for the organization of Kansas and Nebraska. The leading idea and fundamental principle of the Kansas-Nebraska act, as expressed in the law itself, was to leave the actual settlers and bonafide inhabitants of each territory "perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the constitution of the United States." While this is declared to be "the true intent and meaning of the act," those who were opposed to allowing the people of the territory, preparatory to their admission into the Union as a state, to decide the slavery question for themselves, failing to accomplish their purpose in the halls of congress, and under the authority of the constitution, immediately resorted, in their respective states, to unusual and extraordinary means to control the political destinies and shape the domestic institutions of Kansas, in defiance of the wishes, and regardless of the rights, of the people of that territory, as guarantied by their organic law. Combinations, in one section of the Union, to stimulate an unnatural and false system of emigration, with the view of controlling the elections, and forcing the domestic institutions of the territory to assimilate to those of the non-slaveholding states, were followed, as might have been foreseen, by the use of similar means in the slaveholding states, to produce directly the opposite result. To these causes, and to these alone, in the opinion of your committee, may be traced the origin and progress of all the controversies and disturbances with which Kansas is now convulsed.

If these unfortunate troubles have resulted, as natural consequences, from unauthorized and improper schemes of foreign interference with the internal affairs and domestic concerns of the territory, it is apparent that the remedy must be sought in a strict adherence to the principles, and rigid enforcement of the provisions, of the organic law. In this connection, your committee feel sincere satisfaction in commending the messages and proclamation of the president of the United States, in which we have the gratifying assurance that the supremacy of the laws will be maintained; that rebellion will be crushed; that insurrection will be suppressed; that aggressive intrusion for the purpose of