9 the census was taken, and before the election, much larger than at any other, time. (A. B. Wade, page 159, and others.) One witness, Mr. Banks, on page 164, swears, that “ betwixt two and (three hundred settlers moved into the district (the first) in which he lived, which was after the census was taken, and before the election.” His .testimony related, to only, part of the^ district, where he was acquainted. Another, witness swears that, to the best of his knowledge and belief, there were four hundred actual residents and legal voters of the pro-slavery party in this first district on the day of election, (page 1159.) The testimony shows that, in most of the districts, there was a large immigration of actual residents, legal voters from the South, after the census was taken, and before the day of election. It shows, further, that the immigration during that time was much larger from the South than the North. But the facts disclosed by the census show that there was a majority of six hundred and fifty-two of legal voters from the South over those from the. North, in February. Now, sir, with these facts before us, I call the special attention of the gentleman from Ohio [Mr.Sherman] to the following statement in his report, on page 34: If the election had been confined to the actual settlers, undeterred by the presence of non-residents, or the knowledge that they would be present in numbers sufficient to outvote them, the testimony indicates that the council would have been composed of seven in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected from the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth council districts. Theresultin the eighth and tenth, electing three members, would have been doubtful ; and tire fifth, seventh, and ninth, would have elected three pro-slavery members. “ Under like circumstances the House of Representatives would have been composed of fourteen members in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected from the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth representative districts. “ The result in the twelfth and fourteenth representative districts, electing five members, would have been doubtful; and the first, sixth, eleventh, and fifteenth districts would have elected seven pro-slavery members. “ By the election as conducted, the pro-slavery candidates in every district but the eighth representative district received a majority of the votes.” In this statement the committee say that the testimony indicates that, if the election had been confined to the actual settlers, the council would have been composed of seven in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected from the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth council districts. Now, sir, I join issue with the gentleman and the committee on this point. The census, which the committee seem not to have consulted, is the best testimony on it. Let us then see what indications it affords. The first council district consisted of the first, fourth, and seventeenth election districts. In these, according to the census, the legal voters, emigrants from the North, according to the census, was 314, from the South 151; making the number of legal resident voters in that council district 465, in February, without taking any count of immigration afterwards; but the evidence shows that many of the residents coming from the North, and even some of the acknowledged free-State men, voted for those called pro-slavery candidates, because they did not like the. candidates put up by their party. They were too ultra in their abolitionism, (page 160.) The testimony shows, also, that the whole number of votes cast for the Free-Soil candidates in that council district, was but 254, (page 31.) This would give 43 majority for them, if the 254 cast for them were all legal votes. But the testimony of Mr. Ladd, Governor Reeder’s own witness, who was a candidate on that ticket for councilman, establishes the fact that at least fifty of these votes were illegal, cast by emigrants from New England, just arri ved—some of them fortyeight hours before the election. This will be seen on page 118 of this huge volume. His language is as follows: “ I know some of those who had recently arrived voted : I can only approximate their numbers—I should think there were from fifty to sixty. I think there were some who arrived within forty-eight hours; I cannot say as to whether they made settlements in the Territory at that time.” If, then, these fifty or sixty acknowledged illegal votes be deducted from those cast for the Abolition ticket, it would leave a majority for the candidates on the other side, of the actual residents in February, even in Lawrence, the great rendezvous of New England emigrants, and without any reference to the emigration from the South after the census was taken. There is no evidence, by any witness sworn, that any man, even in Lawrence, was prevented from voting by force, violence, or intimidation. Some witnesses swear that they did not vote because of the crowd; but not one swears that he could not have voted if he had wanted to, in consequence of any violence, force, or threat; and there was no crowd about the polls in the afterpart of the day. Therefore, in this first district, the testimony in connection with the census does not indicate that, if the election had been left to the actual residents alone, the Free-Soil ticket would have been elected. This, however, was one of the elections set aside by the Governor, and another was held there on the 22d of May. But, sir, how is it in the other council districts mentioned by the committee? I have a paper before me which I have compiled, exhibiting the organization of all of the council districts, with the number of settlers in each from the North and South, according to the census as far as can be ascertained. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth council districts were formed by dividing the districts in which the census was taken, in such a way that the exact number of settlers from each section cannot be accurately arrived at in them; but it is apparent, from the census returns, that they could not have been divided so as not to have had a large majority of settlers from the South in each. Here is the exhibit:
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=