Show MESSAGE 35 TH PRESIDENT I 1 1 J i P av I 1 21 1356 ro to ae the senate ancl anil house of representatives circumstances cincu instances have hae occurred to disturb the tiie course of or government organization in the territory of kansas and produce there a condition of things which renders it incumbent on me to call your youn attention to the sui sul subject eject and urgently recommend the tile adoption by you of such measures of legislation as artlie ilie grave exigencies of tiie the case appear to require A brief exposition of tile the circumstances referred to tan landof and dof of their causes will be nee necessary esav to the ful und understanding i standing of the tile recommendations which it is proposed to submit the act to organize tile tiie of ne braka atud atwi kins is was a manifestation of the ie le opinion of congress on two great points of constitutional construction one that the ilia designation of tiie the boundaries of or a new territory and provisions igns for its ils political organization and administration as a territory are measures mea mec which of or a right tight fall within the powers of the generia government and the other that the inhabitants of any such tei tel territory considered as an incho Inch oita ite state amm aro entitled in the exercise of self Isair government to determine for themselves whit shall be their own domestic institutions subject only to the constitution and the tile laws duly enacted by congress congre ass aks under it and to the tile power of existing states slates to decide according to the provisions 1 1 ofisana and principles of tiie tile constitution at whai whal what time the territory shall be received as a state into the union such are the great political rights cliare solemnly declared and affirmed by that act ba based ed upon this theora tle ue act of or congress defined for each terr tory the outlines of republican government distributing public authority auth mity wity among tile the lawfully created agents executive judicial and legislative to tobe lobe be appointed either by the general government or by the territory tile the legislative functions were in trusted to a council and a house houed of represents Re tives lives duly elected and empowered to enact enget en act all the local laws which they in deem essential to their prosperity happiness and good government acting in the llie same spirit congress ulso niso defined the persons who wiio were in the first instance to be considered as tile the people of each territory er acting enacting that every iree white male inhabitant of the same above the age ago of twenty one years being an actu actuel if resident thereof and possessing the qualifications hereafter described should be untilled en tilled to vote at the first election and be eligible to any office within the territory orv but that tile he qualifications of voters and holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as might he prescribed by the legislative Av assembly embly provided however that the right of or suffrage and of holding office should be exercised only by citizens of the united states and those who should have declared on oath their intention to become such and have taken an oath to support the constitution of the tile united states and the provisions provie lons tons of the act and provided further furt iier lier that no officer soldier seaman or ni marine aring or other person in lle ile the lie army or navy of the united states or att attached cheti cheli to troops in their service should be allowed to vote or heid hold office in n either dither territory by reason of being on service therein such of or the tile public of fiers of the territories a by the provisions of the act were to be appointed pol poi anted by tile tiie general government including the governors were appointed and commissioned in due season lile ilia liw having been enacted on the tile soth may 1854 1834 and tile the commission of tile the governor of the territory of nebraska Ne brasla being cited on the ad day of or august 1854 1654 and of the territories of kansas on the day of june 1854 arong the duties imposed by the act on the GIver governors nors was vas that of directing and superintend lne the political organization lion ilon of the respective Terr ioris iodis ifor the governor of or kansas was required to cause a census or enumeration of or tile the inhabitants and qualified voters of tile the several counties and districts of or the territory to be taken by such persons and in such mode as lie he might designate and find appoint to appoint and direct the time and places of holding the first elections find and the manner of conducting them both as is to the persons to such elections and tile tiie returns thereof th prof to declare the number of the members of tho council and house of representatives for each county or district to declare what persons might to be duly elected felled fe cled and to appoint the time and place of the fist first meeting of the legislative assembly in ill sub pub the sam pam duties were devolved on tile the governor gov anor of nebraska mil by thinht thin thir act ct the ilia principle of constituting nn for each eacil of the lh territories was one and the same samp and tle tile tie di dt tills tails ils of or organic legislation regarding both were wem as its nearly is s could be identical and territory of nebraska was tranquile lly liy ily and successfully in tile the due course of law and its first legislative Leea tive tice assembly met on oil the lelh of Jn january uary the org ionization of hansas kansas is was long del syed and has been attended with serious difficulties and embarrassment partly the consequence of local oal oai nal administration partly of the unjustifiable inter fence of the inhabitants of some of the states foreign by resl resi residence defice inte lote interests rests and rights to die tile territory the tiie governor of the territory rf kansas K ansas commissioned as before stated elated on tile he of I 1 june 1854 did not reach the designated seat of his government until the eth of the tile ensuing october and even then failed to make the first step in ill its igal organization that of or ordering the cenus sus or enumeration entime raf ion lon of its inhabitants until so 1 ite te tea a day that the tiie election of or the members of or the L gisi iriv stiv As assembly embid did not take place until the of smirch 1855 1835 nor its ils meeting until the tiie I 1 21 of july 1855 so thit for a ft year after the territory was constituted by the act of or congress and the officers to be appointed by the federal executive hid been commission edIt was wag wll wil without houta a complete government without any legislative 1 authority without local jaw and of our e it lout out me llie ordinary guarantees guaranties guaran les iles ties ies of p peace y 0 an and orde r ii r in uther other respects the governor dinst instead a 0 of if exercising constant vigilance and putting patting forth all his energies to prevent or counter counteract act det lle ile the lie tendencies to illegality which are prone to exist erist in all im lin perfectly organized and newly associated comma nilles irli iiii les ies allowed his attention to be diverted from official obligation by other objects and himself Irim self seif set an example of the he violation of law lav in fit the performance forni for mance manee ahee abee of acts which rende my dufy duty in the sequel lo 10 remove him from tile the office cirice of or chief executive magistrate of the territory before the requisite preparation was accomplished for election of a territorial L legislature sin fin election of delegate to congress had beon boon held field in lle ile the lie territory oil on the day of or november 1854 1834 and tile tiie delegate Df legate took hn his seat in the house of representatives without challenge if arrangements range ments lidd had been perfected by the governor so that the election for the tile members of the legi legislative dative assembly might be held in the several j precincts at the same some timas for delegate Dele gite to con gresi any question qa estion appertaining to the qualification of the persons voting as people of the territory would have passed necessarily and otonce at once under the supervision of congress as the judge of the tiie validity of the return of the tile delegate and slid would have been det determined before conflicting passions had become inflamed by time and before opportunity pot unity could have llave been afforded for systematic lil ill interference it er ference of the people of states this interference in fit so far as concerns its primary causes and its immediate immediata commencement was one of tile the incidents af gah atiat at pernicious agit alion allon on the subject of the condition of or the colored persons held field to service in some of the he stites stiles which has so disturbed the tile repose of our country and excited otherwise patriotic and iw abiding to toil with misdirected zeal in the tilo attempt to propagate i e their social theories by the perversion and abuse of the tha powers of congress the persons and p parties arlies whom the them tenor of the act to organize org inize the territories of nebraska and kansas thwarted in the endeavor to impose through the agency of congress their particular views of social organization on oil the people of or the future new states now perceiving that the policy of leaving the inhabitants inhabit ints of each state to judge for themselves in this respect was cabla rooted in nie vie til convictions of or the people of or the union then had recourse in the pursuit of I 1 their general object to the tha extraordinary measure of a propagandist colonization of the territory of kansas to clevent pi event tile the free and natural action of or its inh aVOnts in its internal organization and thus to 0 o anticipate or to force the determination mi nation of that question in this hicho iu choate choite ite state with such views associations were organized in sone eone eo ne of or the states and their purpose was proclaimed through the press in language extremely irritating brid and offensive to those of or whom whom the colonists were to become neighbors those designs and act acts had the necessary consequence to awaken emotions of or intense indignation in stites near to the territory kansas and especially in the tiie adjoining state of missouri whose domestic domeEt le peace e was thus tile most directly endangered dang ered but they are far from justifying justi justl fIng tile the illegal ani an I 1 reprehensible counter movement movements ensued under these inauspicious the primary prim iry elections for members of or legislative assembly were held in most roost if ri not ot all of the precincts at the time and the places and by the persons designated and appointed by the governor according to law angry accusation that illegal votes had been polled abounded on all sides and imputations were made both of fraud and violence but the governor in the exercise of power and the tile discharge of or the duty conferred and imposed hy law auldin on him alone OffiC idly received and considered the returns de cidred eldred a large majority of the members of the council and the house muse of natives duly elected certificates from others because of alleged illegality of or votes appointed a new election to supply the pl ce of the tha th persons not certified and thus at length in all the forms of statute and with his own il authentication complete lega legality ity was given to ile lie the fiert Legisla legislative tive tivo assembly of the territory those these decisions visions of tiie hie returning officers and of or tile governor are final except that by the par lia usage of the country applied to the I 1 organic law it may be conceded that each house of taie the alq assembly ably must have been competent to determine in the tiie hist last resort the qualifications and the election of its members the subject was by its it nature one appertaining eipper tipper laining exclusively to the jurisdiction of the local authorities of the tile territory Wh whatever alever irregularities may have occurred in the tile elections eb chions it seems too late now to that question que sion siou as to which ich neither now nor at any previous time has the least po possible sible sibie legi lega authority been pos possessed essed by the president mt of tiie the united states for all present purposes the legislative body thus con constituted titus d and elect d was the legitimate assembly of the territory accordingly the governor by proclamation conven convened d tile tha assembly thus elected to meet a pia pla place I 1 ce c called a ned red pawnee city the two houses met and were duly organized in the ordinary parliamentary form each sent boand to and received from the th Gover governor jor lor the official communications usual on such occasions occa oce an elah elaborate onite message diening the tile session was communicated by the governor mi ani the g general business of legislation was entered upon by the Legisla legislative tive tire assembly but after a few days the assembly resolved to adjourn to another place in the tha territory orv A law was accordingly passed against the consent of tile the governor lut but in it du dus dun 5 form otherwise e to remove the tile seat seal of government temporarily to the I shawnee manu manuil d labor school or mission and thither the assembly proceeded after this receiving abill for the establishment of a ferry at the th e town of kickapoo the governor refused to sign it a dt message assigned lor jor reful refusal fusel ful not anything oje onal in tile tiie 11 bill itself nor aay nay ny pretense of the inc ine incompetency QuIre tency of tiie the tile assembly si as such but only the fact that the tile assembly had by its act transferred the government temporarily from pawnee city to shawnee assion Ms sion slon forthe for the fame same reason lie lio continued to lo ref sign other brg until in the tiie course of a few days heby lieby beby official message communicated to the tiie assembly the fact that lie he had received n notification 0 of tile thel termination natio 5 of or his function as governo aid that the duties of the tiie office were legai legally devolved oil on the tiie Secre secretary tiry of or tile tiie territory thus to the last recognizing the body ag as a duly electa and constituted legi active assembly it will wiil be perceived that if any constitutional defect attached to the legislative acts sets of or fhe he assembly ft is not pret consist in irregularity of election or want of or qualification of the tile members but ant only id in the change of its place of or ses ion however trivial the tile objection may seem deem to be it requires to be considered because upon it is founded all that superstructure of or actlis acts plainly against law which now threatens tila the peace not riot only of tile the territory of kanas but of tile tiie union such an in objection to th tha proceedings of the legislative assembly Assem lly liy was of ol 01 exceptionable origin for the tile reason that by tiie the express terms of or the organic I 1 hw iw the seat of or government of or the tha territory was located t at fort leaven worth and yet the governor himself remained there less than two months and of his own discretion transferred the seat sent of government to the shawnee aarion mission Al lion rion where it in fact was at the time the assembly were called to meet at Pawnee paw nee city if the governor had any such right to fo change temporarily the seat of or government still more had tile tiie legislative assembly tile the objection is of exceptional orgin for tle the further renison remson that tile the place indicated by the governor without having an exclusive |