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governor. I disbanded this force, ordering the various companies composing it, to repair to their respective places of rendezvous, there to be mustered out of service. My orders were obeyed; the militia retired to their homes; the effusion of blood was prevented; the preservation of Lawrence effected; and a great step made towards the restoration of peace and confidence.

To recount my various official acts, following each other in quick succession under your immediate observation, would be a work of supererogation, and would occupy more space than the limits of an executive message would justify. My executive minutes, containing a truthful history of my official transactions, with the policy which dictated them, have been forwarded to the general government, and are open to the inspection of the country.

In relation to any alterations or modifications of the territorial statutes which I might deem advisable, I promised in my inaugural address to direct public attention at the proper time. In the progress of events, that time has arrived, and you are the tribunal to which my suggestions must be submitted. On this subject I bespeak your candid attention, as it has an inseparable connection with the prosperity and happiness of the people.

It has already been remarked that the territories of the United States are the common property of the citizens of the several states. It may be likened to a joint ownership in an Estate, and no condition should be imposed or restrictions placed upon the equal enjoyment of the benefits arising therefrom, which will do the least injustice to any of the owners, or which is not contemplated in the tenure by which it is held, which is no less than the Constitution of the United States, the sole bond of the American Union. This being the true position, no obstacle should be interposed to the free, speedy and general settlement of this territory.

The durability and imperative authority of a state constitution, when the interests of the people require a state government, and a direct popular vote is necessary to give it sanction and effect, will be the proper occasion once for all, to decide the grave political questions which underlie a well regulated commonwealth.

Let this, then, be the touch-stone of your deliberations. Enact no law which will not clearly bear the constitutional test; and if any laws have been passed which do not come up

to this standard, it is your solemn duty to sweep them from the statute-book.

The territorial government should abstain from the exercise of authority not clearly delegated to it, and should permit all doubtful questions to remain in abeyance until the formation of a state constitution.

On the delicate and exciting question of slavery, a subject which so peculiarly engaged the attention of Congress at the passage of our Organic Act, I cannot too earnestly invoke you to permit it to remain where the Constitution of the United States and that act place it, subject to the decision of the courts upon all points arising during our present infant condition.

The repeal of the Missouri line, which was a restriction on popular sovereignty, anew consecrated the great doctrine of self-government, and restored to the people their full control over every question of interest to themselves, both north and south of that line.

Justice to the country and the dictates of sound policy require that the legislature should confine itself to such subjects as will preserve the basis of entire equality; and when a sufficient population is here, and they choose to adopt a state. government, that they shall be "perfectly free," without let or hindrance, to form all their domestic institutions "in their own way," and to dictate that form of government which in their deliberate judgment may be deemed proper.

Any attempt to incite servile insurrection and to interfere with the domestic institutions of sovereign states, is extremely reprehensible, and shall receive no countenance from me. Such intervention can result in no good, but is pregnant with untold disasters. Murder, arson, rapine and death follow in its wake, while not one link in the fetters of the slave is weakened or broken, or any amelioration in his condition secured. Such interference is a direct invasion of state rights, only calculated to produce irritation and estrangement.

Every dictate of self-respect-every consideration of state equality-the glories of the past and the hopes of the futureall, with soul-stirring eloquence, constrain us to cultivate a reverential awe for the constitution as the sheet-anchor of our safety, and bid us, in good faith, to carry out all its provisions.

Many of the statutes are excellent, and suited to our wants and condition, but in order that they may receive that respect

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and sanction which is the vital principle of all law, let such be abolished as are not eminently just and will not receive the fullest approbation of the people. I trust you will test them all by the light of the general and fundamental principles of our government, and that all that will not bear this ordeal, he revised, amended or repealed. To some of them which strike my mind as objectionable, your candid and special attention is respectfully invited.

By carefully comparing the Organic Act, as printed in the statutes, with a certified copy of the same from the department of state, important discrepancies, omissions and additions will be discovered. I therefore, recommend the appointment of a committee, to compare the printed statutes with the original rolls, on file in the secretary's office, to ascertain whether the same liberty has been taken with the act under which they were made.

Of the numerous errors discovered by me in the copy of the Organic Act as printed in the statutes, I will refer to one in illustration of my meaning. In the 29th section, defining the executive authority, will be found the following striking omission" against the laws of said territory, and reprieves. for offences." This omission impairs the executive authority, and deprives the governor of the pardoning power for offences committed "against the laws of the territory," which Congress, for the wisest and most humane reasons, has conferred upon him.

The Organic Act requires every bill to be presented to the governor, and demands his signature, as the evidence of his approval, before it can become a law. The statutes are defective in this respect, as they do not contain the date of approval, nor the proper evidence of that fact, by having the governor's signature.

Your attention is invited to chapter 30, in relation to county boundaries. The boundary of Douglas county is imperfect, and in connection with Shawnee county, is an absurdity for both counties. The boundary lines of all the counties should be absolutely established.

Chapter 44, establishing the probate court, also requires attention. The act is good generally, so far as it relates to the organization and duties of the court. But all provisions in this and other acts vesting the appointment of probate judges, county commissioners, and other public officers, in the Legislative Assembly, should at once be repealed, and the un

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qualified right of election conferred upon the people, whose interests are immediately affected by the acts of those officials. The free and unrestricted right of the people to select all their own agents, is a maxim so well settled in political ethics, and springs so legitimately from the doctrines of self-government, that I need only allude to the question to satisfy every one of its justice. The "people must be perfectly free" to regulate their own business in their own way; and when the voice of the majority is fairly expressed, all will bow to it as the voice of God. Let the people, then, rule in everything. I have every confidence in the virtue, intelligence, and "sober thought" of the toiling millions. The deliberate popular judgment is never wrong. When, in times of excitement, the popular mind may be temporarily obscured from the dearth of correct information or the mists of passion, the day of retribution and justice speedily follows, and a summary reversal is the certain result. Just and patriotic sentiment is a sure reliance for every honest public servant. The sovereignty of the people must be maintained.

Section 15th of this act allows writs of habeas corpus to be issued by the probate judge, but leaves him no authority to hear the case and grant justice; but refers the matter to the 66 next term of the district court." The several terms of the district court are at stated periods, and the provision alluded to amounts to a denial of justice and a virtual suspension of "the great writ of liberty," contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the United States.

Many provisions of chapter 66, entitled "elections," are objectionable. Section 11th, requiring certain "test oaths" as pre-requisites to the right of suffrage, is wrong, unfair, and unequal upon citizens of different sections of the Union. It is exceedingly invidious to require obedience to any special enactment. The peculiar features of these test oaths should be abolished, and all citizens presumed to be law-abiding and patriotic until the contrary clearly appears. Sworn obedience to particular statutes has seldom secured that object. Justice will ever commend itself to the support of all honest men, and the surest means of insuring the ready execution of law, is to make it so pre-eminently just, equal and impartial as to command the respect of those whom it is intended to affect.

Section 36th deprives electors of the great safeguard of the purity and independence of the elective franchise: I mean the right to vote by ballot; and after the first day of Novem

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ber, 1856, requires all voting to be viva voce. This provision taken in connection with section 9th, which provides that" if all the votes offered cannot be taken before the hour appointed for closing the polls, the judges shall, by public proclamation, adjourn such election until the following day, when the polls shall again be opened, and the election continued as before," &c., offers great room for fraud and corruption. Voting viva voce, the condition of the poll can be ascertained at any moment. If the parties having the election officers are likely to be defeated, they have the option of adjourning for the purpose of drumming up votes; or in the insane desire for victory, may be tempted to resort to other means even more reprehensible. The right of voting by ballot is now incorporated into the constitutions of nearly all the states, and is classed with the privileges deemed sacred. The arguments in its favor are so numerous and overwhelming that I have no hesitation in recommending its adoption. The election law should be carefully examined, and such guards thrown around it as will most effectually secure the sanctity of the ballotbox and preserve it from the taint of a single illegal vote. The man who will deliberately tamper with the elective franchise and dare to offer an illegal vote, strikes at the foundation of justice, undermines the pillars of society, applies the torch to the temple of our liberties, and should receive severe punishment. As a qualification for voting, a definite period of actual inhabitancy in the territory, to the exclusion of a home elsewhere, should be rigidly prescribed. No man should be permitted to vote upon a floating residence. He should have resided within the territory for a period of not less than ninety days, and in the district where he offers to vote, at least ten days immediately preceding such election. All the voters should be registered and published for a certain time previous to the election. False voting should be severely punished, and false swearing to receive a vote visited with the pains and penalties of perjury.

In this connection your attention is also invited to chapter 92, entitled “jurors.' This chapter leaves the selection of jurors to the absolute discretion of the marshal, sheriff, or constable, as the case may be, and affords great room for partiality and corruption. The names of all properly qualified citizens, without party distinction, should be thrown into a wheel or box, and at stated periods, under the order of the courts, jurors should be publicly drawn by responsible persons.