, ✓ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES U. S. OF THE SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES, AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF KANSAS; ALSO, THE MAJORITY AND MINORITY REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TERRITORIES ON THE SAID CONSTITUTION. WASHINGTON: CORNELIUS WENDELL, PRINTER. 1866.
In the House op Representatives, June 28, 1856. Resolved, That 10,000 Copies of the reports of the majority and minority of the Committee on Territories on the constitution of the people of Kansas, and the memorial of the members of the legislature elected under its authority, be printed for the use of the members of the House of Representatives. A* WM. CULLOM, Clerk. I
PAPERS PURPORTING TO BE THE MEMORIAL OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF KANSAS. To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled: This memorial of the undersigned senators and representatives in the General Assembly of the State of Kansas, now in session, respectfully showeth : That, upon the organization of Kansas as a Territory, persons from all parts of the United States, wishing to make for themselves homes, and to aid in moulding the institutions of a new State, having confidence in the justice and fidelity of the general government, and believing that the rights guarantied by the constitution and the organizing act would be secured to them, subjected themselves to the hardships of a pioneer life, and assumed the responsibility of establishing the institutions of an enlightened people in a hitherto rude and uncultivated land. They came as law-abiding citizens, asking for nothing but what belonged to American citizens, and, as men proud of their attachment to the constitution, were willing to accept the government extended to them, until the population should justify the formation of a new State, in which formation they were willing to be governed by the will of the majority. On the twenty-ninth day of November, 1854, the day which had been selected on which to elect a delegate to represent the people of the Territory in the Congress of the United States, several hundred persons from the adjacent State of Missouri came into the Territory and voted for such delegate. The man who was elected by their illegal votes was not the choice of the resident citizens of the Territory, and could not represent their will. They, however, not believing that such open and defiant aggression would be sanctioned by a government to which they should look for protection, quietly submitted, trusting to that government for redress. On the thirtieth day of March, 1855, when the election of members of the first Territorial legislature was to be held, thousands of armed men from Missouri invaded the Territory and voted. Every district was controlled by their votes, except the Pawnee representative dis
I r 4 KANSAS. trict, which was entitled to hut one representative. Tn the first district, about nine hundred armed men having come from Missouri on the day previous, with two pieces of artillery, and organized as if for war, on the morning of the election surrounded the polls, and held possession of the ballot-boxes until late in the afternoon, when, after completing their voting, they returned to Missouri. Some of them, when asked by the judges of election if they resided in the Territory, replied that they resided in the State of Missouri, that they had come to vote, and that they would vote or die in the attempt. In this district the judges of the election erased the word “legal” in their returns, and made them out so informal that they did not certify that any legal votes had been polled. Because of this informality in the returns, and the protest of the inhabitants in said district, the election was set aside by the governor, a vacancy declared, and a new election ordered. In the second and third districts the judges of election were driven from the polls, and fled to escape death. The ballot-boxes were destroyed, the legal voters were overpowered and driven from the polls, and mob violence prevailed throughout. Similar attacks upon the people and the ballot-boxes were everywhere made. This invasion was led by some of the most distinguished men in Missouri, among whom was the late president of the United States Senate. This election, upon which rested the liberty and only protection of the people, was a fraud and a forcible disfranchisement of them. On the twenty-second day of May following, pursuant to a proclamation of the governor, new elections were held in six districts, and several hundred persons came from Missouri and voted in the twelfth precinct. In the other precincts, where they were not, there was no interference, and the legal voters, for the first time, were allowed the free exercise of their rights. On the 2d day of July, following, the first Territorial legislature of Kansas assembled in Pawnee, pursuant to the proclamation of the governor, when the seats of the members elected at the second election, except those in the twelfth precinct, were contested. On the third day of the session, every member whose seat was contested, although he had a certificate of election from the governor, was ousted. All were ejected without an investigation of their claims, which was asked as a right, but was denied them. These members were expelled on the ground that the governor had no right to declare a vacancy and order a new election; but your memorialists represent that such right is given to him in the act organizing the Territory, and could not be lawfully rescinded by the legislature ; therefore, by such violation of the principles of the act, eight legally elected members were rejected, and their places supplied by men who had no certificates of election from the governor, nor proper credentials from any source. On the third day of the session, the legislature located the temporary seat of government at the Shawnee Mission, and, as this power was not given to the legislature by the organic act, it being given to the governor alone, your memorialists believe all acts enacted at said
KANSAS. 5 Mission to be invalid. They further believe that the legislature never had any legal existence, for nothing can be legal which is unconstitutional ; and no legislature of a Territory or State in this Union can be constitutional, unless it be created in conformity with a republican form of government; hence, a legislature imposed upon the people by fraud, by force, by residents of another State, adversely to the will of the people, can have no legal existence, and no act of the governor can legalize a legislature thus created—especially when the said governor is not elected by the people, but appointed by other authority. In the opinion of your memorialists, the issuing of certificates by the governor to those not legally elected, cannot legalize the election. Hence, even admitting the right of Congress to extend a Territorial government over Territories, the legislature elected on the 30th of March, 1855, having been elected in violation of the organic act, and in the manner before described, can have no legal existence, and their enactments are a nullity. Notwithstanding the injustice done to the people of Kansas, notwithstanding three invasions of the Territory for the purpose of controlling the elections, the people submitted, preferring to respect laws enacted by a body imposed upon them by fraud and violence, to living longer without government. Wishing to preserve the peace and quiet, and to promote the prosperity of the country, they took no measures for throwing off the burden thus forced upon them. But, when further developments of this system of tyranny were made—when the laws enacted by the legislature proved conclusively, to your memorialists, a determination to enslave the people, they, conscious of their rights as freemen, with the constitution for their guide, resolved to fall back upon their inalienable rights, and throw around themselves that protection which is afforded by a State government. Your memorialists respectfully present, for your consideration, some selections from the acts of the ,Territorial legislature, which the people of Kansas, while conscious of their rights as American citizens, could not submit to. The eleventh section of an act entitled “An act to regulate elections,” says: “ Every free white male citizen of the United States, and every free male Indian, who is made a citizen by treaty or otherwise, and over the age of twenty-one years, who shall be an inhabitant of the Territory, and of the county or district in which he offers to vote, and shall have paid a Territorial tax, shall be a qualified elector for all elective officers ; and all Indians who are inhabitants of this Territory, and who may have adopted the customs of the white man, and who are liable to pay taxes, shall be dtemed citizens.” As this does not require that voters shall have inhabited the Territory any stated time, it allows our enemies to take advantage of residents thereof, as they have done, in entering the Territory, voting, and returning to their homes in an adjoining State, on the same day; claiming at the same time, that those who were at the polls at the time of voting were actual inhabitants. It is believed that this act was intended to invite illegal voting ; and it is feared, that so long as the people of Kansas remain under a Territorial government, the
6 KANSAS. right of the people to the elective franchise would be wrested from them by overpowering invaders. The twelfth section of an act entitled 11 An act to punish offences against slave property,” declares, that if any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, write, circulate, or cause to be introduced into this Territory, written, printed, published, or circulated in this Territory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment at hard labor, for a term of not less than two years.” Your memorialists represent that this act destroys the freedom of speech, controls the liberty of the. press, and is an innovation upon those rights guarantied by the constitution. Obedience to it would be an act unworthy an American citizen. The thirteenth section of the same act reads as follows : “ No person who is conscientiously opposed to holding slaves, or who does not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a juror on the trial of any prosecution for any violation of any of the sections of this act.” It was the enactment of such laws that forced the people of Kansas to take the initiatory steps towards the formation of a State government ; believing that by such organization they might throw off an oppressive burden, and secure their safety for the future. The State organization to which your memorialists would now request the attention of your honorable bodies originated in a call, of , which the following is a copy, and which was signed by many citizens, and circulated throughout the Territory : “ MASS MEETING-. “ The squatters of Kansas Territory, without distinction of party, will assemble in mass meeting in Lawrence, on Wednesday, the 15th day of August, at 3 o’clock p. m., to take into consideration the pro-’ priety of calling a Territorial convention preliminary to the formation of a State government, and other subjects of interest.” Pursuant to this call, a large meeting from all parts of the Territory, irrespective of party distinctions, met to consult together upon the all- important subject before the people. Some of the officers of the meeting were “Free-state” men, and some were “pro-slavery,” both of the Whig and Democratic parties ; but party distinctions were lost sight of while consulting upon matters of such vital importance. Most of the leading men of this meeting were men of talent, integrity, and were decidedly conservative in their views. The following preamble and resolutions were adopted : “ Whereas the people of Kansas Territory have been, since its settlement, and are now, without any law-making power ; therefore, be it “Resolved, That we, the people of Kansas, in mass meeting assem
KANSAS. 7 bled, irrespective of party distinctions, influenced by a common necessity, and greatly desirous of promoting the common good, do hereby* call upon and request all bona-fide citizens of Kansas Territory, of whatever politics, views, or predilections, to consult together in their respective election districts, and in mass convention or otherwise, elect three delegates for each representative to which such district is entitled in the House of Representatives of the legislative assembly by proclamation of Governor Reeder, of date the 10th of March, 1855 ; said delegates to assemble in convention at the town of Topeka, on the 19th day of September, 1855, then and there to consider upon all subjects of public interest, and particularly to that having reference to the speedy formation of a constitution, with an intention of an immediate application to be admitted as a State into the Union of the United States of America.” Pursuant to the above notice, meetings were held in nearly every neighborhood in the Territory ; the grievances of the people and the subject of State organization were fully considered, and the feeling in favor of the State organization was almost unanimous. At these meetings delegates were elected to meet in convention, in accordance ■with the above call. On the nineteenth day of September, the convention of the people’s delegates assembled at the town of Topeka, pursuant to the above resolution, and the following was among the proceedings. The report of the business committee was unanimously adopted, as follows : “ Whereas the constitution of the United States guaranties to the people of this republic the right of assembling together in a peaceable manner for the common good, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for a common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and posterity ; and whereas the citizens of Kansas Territory were prevented from electing members of the legislative assembly in pursuance of a proclamation of Governor Reeder on the thirtieth of March last, by an invading force from a foreign State coming into the Territory and forcing upon the people a legislature of non-residents and others inimical to the people of Kansas, thereby defeating the organic act, in consequence of which the Territorial government became a perfect failure, and the people were left without any legal government, until their patience has become exhausted, and endurance ceases to be a virtue, and they are compelled to resort to the only remedy left, that of forming a government for themselves ; therefore, be it “ Uesolved by the people of Kansas Territory in convention assembled, That an election shall be held in the several election precincts of this Territory on the second Tuesday of October next, under the regulations and restrictions hereinafter imposed, for members of a convention to form a constitution, adopt a bill of rights, and take all needful measures for organizing a State government preparatory to the admission of Kansas as a State. “ Unsolved, That a committee of seven be appointed by the Chair, who shall organize by the appointment of a chairman and secretary; they shall keep a record of their proceedings, and shall have a general
8 KANSAS. superintendence of the affairs of the Territory, so far as the organization of a State government is concerned, which committee shall be styled the executive committee of Kansas.” In conformity with the above resolution, the executive committee issued the following proclamation, by J. H. Lane, their chairman : “ Whereas the Territorial government of Kansas as now constituted has proved a failure, squatter sovereignty, under its workings, a miserable delusion—in proof of which it is only necessary to refer to our past history, and our present deplorable condition ; our ballot-boxes have been taken possession of by bands of armed men from foreign States ; our people forcibly driven therefrom; persons attempted to be foisted upon us as members of a so-called legislature, unacquainted with our wants, and hostile to our best interests ; some of them nonresidents of our Territory ; misnamed laws of the most oppressive, insulting, and tyrannical character were passed, and are now attempted to be enforced by the citizens of foreign States ; the right of suffrage taken from us ; we were debarred the privilege of a voice in the election of even the most insignificant officers, and the right of free speech stifled, the muzzling of the press attempted ; and whereas the people of this country have heretofore exercised the right of changing their form of government whenever it becomes oppressive, and have at all times conceded this right to the people of this and all other governments ; and whereas a Territorial government is unknown to the constitution, and is the mere creature of necessity, awaiting the action of the people ; and whereas the debasing character of the slavery in which we now are impels to action, and leaves us as the only legal and peaceful alternative, the immediate establishment of a State government; and whereas the organic act fails in pointing out the course to be adopted in an emergency like ours ; therefore you are requested to meet at your several precincts in said Territory, hereinafter mentioned, on the second Tuesday of October next, the ninth day of the month, and then and there cast your votes for delegates to a convention to meet at Topeka, on the fourth Tuesday of October next, to form a constitution, adopt a bill of rights for the people of Kansas, and take all needful measures for organizing a State government preparatory to the admission of Kansas into the Union as a State.” The elections were holden in the several precincts pursuant to the above proclamation, at which election two thousand eight hundred and sixty-four votes were polled, in conformity with the following qualifications : “ All white male inhabitants, citizens of the United States, or who have declared their intentions before the proper authorities to become such, above the age of twenty-one years, who have had a bona-fide residence in the Territory for the space of thirty days immediately preceding the day of said election, shall be entitled to vote for delegates to said convention.” The elections were conducted strictly in conformity with the above qualifications, and with good order. On the twenty-third day of October, the delegates elected to frame a constitution assembled at Topeka. The constitution framed at this convention speaks for itself. It shows the men of the convention to
KANSAS. be men of ability, patriotism, and character, to be devoted to their country, and unmoved by sectionalism or fanaticism. On the fifteenth day of December, the constitution was referred to the people for their acceptance, and, pursuant to the proclamation of the executive committee, the people met in their respective precincts ; those in favor of the constitution deposing a ballot on which was printed “ constitution,” those opposed depositing one on which was “ no constitution.” The constitution was ratified by the qualified voters, scarcely a vote against it; and although the entire vote was not polled, the reasons were, not a want of interest in favor of the movement, but because an invasion of a large armed force from Missouri had just occurred, and was still threatening, which kept many on military duty, and thereby deprived them of the privilege of voting. Your memoralists deny the imputation that this movement of the people of Kansas was led and supported by a faction, and are prepared to substantiate, by the most reliable testimony, the facts herein set forth, and thereby prove that from first to last it has been the movement of the people, and not of a party, faction, or section; but few opposing it, except those holding office under Executive appointment, or by virtue of an election by a foreign and hostile people. The movement has been as unanimous as any important movement in the history of the country, and in it has been manifest a determination strengthened by a unanimity which cannot be baffled by the assaults of our enemies. On the second day of October last, the Territory was invaded for the fourth time, and about fifteen hundred votes polled by non-residents. This infringement upon the ballot-box was under the operation of laws passed by the self-styled Territorial legislature. But the invasions at the several elections for the purpose of voting are not all. At the election for ratifying the constitution, bands of armed invaders not wishing to vote themselves, and determined that the actual settlers should not, destroyed the ballot boxes, and prevented voting in Leavenworth, Kickapoo^nd other places—this being one cause of the smallness of the vote on the constitution. Also, at the election for State officers and members of the general assembly, the settlers were not permitted to vote in Leavenworth ; and the judges of election having authority, postponed the election, a few of the voters going to Easton. Our enemies, determined that the right of elective franchise should not be exercised by our people, assailed the ballot-box and when the citizens resolved to protect themselves in this sacred right, an engagement endued. On their return to Missouri from Easton, the invaders captured R. P. Brown, a member elect of the house of representatives of the State of Kansas, one of our own citizens, a man of unimpeachable character and unflinching courage, and brutally murdered him with knives and hatchets. But other invasions than those for the purpose of voting have been made upon this people. Late in November, about two thousand armed men, with seven pieces of artillery, made an attack upon the town of Lawrence, and held it in a state of siege tor about two weeks. They made the attack without any provocation or illegal act on the part of the inhabitants
10 KANSAS. of Lawrence. The enemy declared, their intentions to destroy the town and slaughter its inhabitants ; and nothing but the firmness and patriotic courage of those who rallied to protect the town saved it from destruction. The facts herein set forth by your memorialists will show to your honorable bodies the grievances which compelled this State organization, and the principles which guided them in effecting it. The principles of self-government inherent in the people, constitute in them, and in them alone, the right to establish their own government. The wrongs inflicted upon the people by the slave power, in total disregard of the constitution and organic act, having become too grievous to be borne, it was their duty to provide such a government of their own as might rid them of this oppression, and make them free and prosperous. Believing that the past outrages will be repeated; knowing that the Territorial government has, thus far, proved a failure, and expecting no relief from the Executive department, there was left but one course to pursue. The foregoing are the reasons for the State organization. The wrongs which the people of Kansas have endured, and the outrages yet threatened, have compelled them thus early to assume the burdens of a State government; and they come to you in neither the spirit of servility nor of arrogance, but as American citizens, knowing their own rights, and asking them at your hands ; and in requesting the attention of your honorable bodies to the constitution adopted by them at a State convention, held at Topeka on the twenty-third of October last, and ratified by the people on the fifteenth day of December following, your memoralists respectfully pray for the admission of Kansas as a State into the confederacy, upon an equal footing with those States which have preceded her. W. Y. Roberts. Lyman Allen. James M. Dunn. Henry J. Adams. J. M. Irvin. Thos. G. Thornton. Lucien Fish. Joel C. Green. Bryer W. Miller. John Curtis. S. B. McKenzie. W. W. Updegraff. Jos. M. Cole. John Daily. B. Harding. Darwin E. Jones. G. S. Hillyer. John D. Jones. John W. Stevens. Perry Fuller. Thos. A. Minard. James McGhee. Stephen Sparks. William Hicks. W. R. Frost. Wm. Pennock. James B. Abbott. J. A. Blood. James K. Edsell. Wm. Crosby. A. A. Jamason. Samuel Mewhinny. Samuel T. Shore. Wm. H. Toothman. Isaac Saunders. E. B. Purdom. J. M. Arthur. Samuel Walker.
11 Jacob Buyer. Henry Todd. Horace W. Tabor. D. W. Cannon. Wm. M. McClure. H. H. Williams. Abm. Barry. Andrew B. Marshall. David Reese. Jno. Brown, jr. M. C. Dickey. Patrick R. Orr. Isaac Codey. A. Curtis. J. B. Higgins. Thos. Bowen. J. M. Fulton. H. F. Saunders. C. C. Hornsby. John Hutchinson. S. W. Heartwell.
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF KANSAS. PREAMBLE. We, the people of the Territory of Kansas, 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 Kansas, 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 thirty-eight; thence following said boundary westward to the east boundary of the Territory of Utah, on the summit of the Rocky mountains ; thence northward on said summit to the fortieth parallel of 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. Sec. 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.
14 KANSAS. Sec. 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. Sec. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defence and security, but standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power. Sec. 5. The right of trial by jury shall be inviolate. Sec. 6. There shall be no slavery in this State, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime. Sec. 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 for 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. Sec. 8. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety require it. Sec. 9. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offences where the proof is evident, or the presumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Sec. 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 offences, no person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infa-. mous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. In any trial in any court, the party shall be allowed to appear and defend in person and with counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and 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 offence 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 offence. Sec. 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
KANSAS. 15 to the jury that the matter charged as libellous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted. Sec. 12. No person shall be transported out of the State for any offence committed within the same, and no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate. Sec. 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 the manner prescribed by law. Sec. 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. Sec. 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action or mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud. Sec. 16. All courts shall be open, and every person, for an injury done him in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law and justice, administered without denial or delay. Sec. 17. No hereditary emoluments, honors, or privileges shall ever be granted or conferred by this State. Sec. 18. No power of suspending laws shall ever be exercised, except by the general assembly. Sec. 19. The payment of a tax shall not be a qualification for exercising the right of suffrage. Sec. 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, or first secured by a deposite in money, and such compensation shall be assessed by a jury, without deduction for benefits to any property of the owner. Sec. 21. No indenture of any negro or mulatto, made and executed out of the bounds of the State, shall be valid within the State. Sec. 22. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair others retained by the people, and all powers not herein delegated remain with the people. article n. 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. Sec. 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 upwards, who shall be at the time of offering to vote a citizen of the United States ; who shall have resided and had his hab
16 KANSAS. itation, domicil, home, and place of permanent abode in the State of Kansas for six months next preceding the election at which he offers to vote ; who at such time, and for thirty days immediately preceding said time, shall have had his actual habitation, domicil, home, and place of permanent abode in the county 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 in elections by general ticket in the State or district prescribed by law, in which cases 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 mariner of the regular army or navy of the United States shall be considered a resident of the State in consequence of being stationed in the same. Sec. 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. Sec. 4. The legislature shall have power to exclude from every office of honor, trust, or profit, within the State, and from the right of suffrage, all persons convicted of any infamous crime. Sec. 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 duel, or who shall be knowingly the bearer of such challenge or acceptance, whether the same occur or be committed in or out of the State. Sec. 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. Sec. 7. No State officer, or member of the general assembly of this State, shall receive a fee, or be engaged as counsel, agent, or attorney, in any case or claim against the State. Sec. 8. No senator or representative shall, during the term for . which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of 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. Sec. 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 Kansas ; 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. Sec. 10. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any office of honor or profit in this State who shall have been convicted of having
KANSAS. 17 given or offered any bribe to procure his election, or shall have made use of any undue influence from power, tumult, or other improper practices. Sec. 11. All civil officers of the State shall reside within the State, and all district or county officers within their respective districts and counties, and shall have their respective offices at such places therein as may be required by law. Sec. 12. Returns of elections for members of Congress, the general assembly, and all officers not hereinafter provided, shall be made to the secretary of state, in such manner as may be prescribed by law. Sec. 13. Electors shall, in all cases, be privileged from arrest during their attendance on elections, and in going to and returning therefrom, except in cases of felony, treason, and breach of the peace. ARTICLE III. Distribution of powers. Section 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 one 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 3. There shall be elected at the first election, twenty senators and sixty representatives, and the number afterwards shall be regulated by law. Sec. 4. No person shall be eligible to the office of senator or representative who shall not possess the qualifications of an elector. Sec. 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 have a set 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. Sec. 6. Each house, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, shall choose its own officers, determine its own rules 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 2
18 KANSAS. own members, and shall have all other powers necessary for its safety and the undisturbed transaction of business. Sec. 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 any two members, be entered on the journal. Sec. 8. Any member of either house shall have the right to protest against any act or resolution thereof, and such protest, and the reasons therefor, shall, without alteration, commitment or delay, be entered on the journal. Sec. 9. All vacancies which may occur in either house shall, for the unexpired term, be filled by election, as prescribed by law. Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 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 may be pending shall, by a vote of yeas and nays, deem it expedient to dispense with the rule ; 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 15. In all cases where a general law can be made applicable, the laws shall be general, and of uniform operation throughout the State. Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 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 manner as shall be prescribed by law ; but no appointing power shall be exercised by the general assembly, except as provided in the constitution,
KANSAS. 19 and in the election of the United States senators, and in these cases the vote shall be taken viva voce. Sec. 19. The general assembly shall not have power to enact laws annulling the contracts of marriage in any case where by law the courts of this State may have power to decree a divorce. Sec. 20. The general assembly shall have no power to pass retroactive 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. Sec. 21. The style of the laws of this State shall be : <l Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Kansas.” Sec. 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. Sec. 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. Sec. 24. Within one year after the ratification of this constitution, and within every subsequent two years thereafter for the term of ten years, an enumeration of all the white inhabitants- of this State shall be made in such manner as shall be directed by law. Sec. 25. All regular sessions of the general assembly shall be held at the capital of the State, and shall commence on the first Tuesday of January annually. Sec. 26. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in thediouse of representatives, subject, however, to amendments or rejection, as in other cases. Sec. 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 travelled 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. Section 1. The executive department shall consist of a governor, a lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and attor
20 KANSAS. ney general, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State at the same time and places of voting as 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 offices 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 a governor. Sec. 5. He may require information in writing from the officers in the executive department, upon any subject relating 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 occasions, 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 generalassembly to such time as he may think proper, but not beyond the regular meetings thereof. Sec. 9. He shall be the commander-in-chief of the military of 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 restrfctions 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 Kansas.” Sec. 12. All grants and commissions shall be issued in the name and by the authority of the State of Kansas, 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
KANSAS. 21 States, shall exercise 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 lientenant-governor shall exercise the duties of the office of governor, until another governor shall be duly qualified ; but in such case 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 a compensation to be fixed by law, which shall be neither 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 have originated, who shall enter the objections at large upon the journals, 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 cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered upon the journals of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law, in like manner as if ho had
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