under color of law, without fear of their contents:
"That it shall be the duty of every non-commissioned officer and private who owns a rifle, musket, or firelock, to appear with it in good order at every parade.
The whole country has heard, sir, of the section in the election law which allows "inhabitants" to vote at the general election, without requiring them to have resided in the Territory a single day; and of the test oaths to sustain the fugitive slave law and the Nebraska bill, which are intended to shut out men opposed to both from the ballot-box. And I will quote it from 282, because I desire to contrast its provisions with another:
"Sec. 11. 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 this Territory, and of the country 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 deemed citizens: Provided, That no soldier, seaman, or marine, in the regular Army or Navy of the United States, shall be entitled to vote, by reason of being on service therein: And provided further, That no person who shall have been convicted of any violation of any provision of an act of Congress entitled 'an act respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the service of their masters,' approved February 12, 1793; or of an act to amend and supplementary to said act, approved 18th September, 1850; whether such conviction were by criminal proceeding or by civil action for the recovery of any penalty prescribed by either of said acts, in any courts of the United States, or of any State or Territory, of any offense deemed infamous, shall be entitled to vote at any election, or to hold any office in this Territory: And provided further, That if any person offering to vote shall be challenged and required to take an oath or affirmation, to be administered by one of the judges of the election, that he will sustain the provisions of the above-recited acts of Congress, and of the act entitled 'An act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas,' approved May 30, 1854, and shall take such oath or affirmation, the vote of such person shall be rejected."
Merely, being an "inhabitant," if the person is in favor of the Nebraska bill, and of the fugitive slave law, qualifies him as a voter in all the elections of the Territory affecting national or territorial politics. The widest possible door is opened for the invaders to come over and carry each successive election as "inhabitants" for the time being of the Territory. But, turn to page 750, and notice the following provision (section 8) defining the qualifications of voters at the petty corporation elections of Lecompte:
"All free white male citizens who have arrived to the full age of twenty-one years, and who shall be entitled to vote for territorial officers, and who shall have resided within the city limits at least six months next preceding any election, and, moreover, who shall have paid a city tax or any city license according to ordinance, shall be eligible to vote at any ward or city election for officers of the city."
Being an inhabitant a day clothes a person with the right to vote for Delegate in Congress, and Representatives in the Legislature; but to vote at an insignificant election, in comparison, six months' residence is required! Am I wrong in judging that this inverting the usual shows that Missourians are wanted at the one election, but not at the other? If any one deems this opinion unjust, let him study the following sections of the General Election Law, page 283:
"Sec. 19. Whenever any person shall offer to vote, he shall be presumed to be entitled to vote.
"Sec. 20. Whenever any person offers to vote, his vote may be challenged by one of the judges, or by any voter, and the judges of the election may examine him touching his right to vote; and if so examined, no evidence to contradict shall be received."
Certainly these provisions explain themselves, without comment.
I will now invite your attention to a contrast in the penal code of this Territory, singular in its character, to say the very least. Section five of the act punishing offenses against slave property, page 604, enacts as follows:
"If any person shall aid or assist in enticing, decoying, or persuading, or carrying away, or sending out of this Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to procure or effect the freedom of such slave, or with intent to deprive the owner thereof of the service of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand larceny, and on conviction thereof shall suffer death, or be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than ten years.
A person who, by a pro-slavery packed jury, is convicted of aiding in persuading out of the Territory a slave belonging to another, is to suffer at least, twice as severe a penalty as he who is convicted of committing the vilest outrage that the mind of man can conceive of on the person of your wife, sister, or daughter! Nay, the contrast is still stronger. The jury, in the first instance, are authorized even to inflict the punishment of death—in the latter, see page 208, the penalty is "not less than five years." Such is the contrast in Kansas between the protection of a wife's or daughter's honor and happiness, and that which is thrown as a protecting ægis over the property of the slaveholder.
Again, on page 208, you will find that the ruffian who commits malicious mayhem, that is, without provocation, knocks you down in the street, cuts off your nose and ears, and plucks out your eyes, is punished "not less than five nor more than ten years;" the same degree of punishment that is meted out in section seven of the above act, page 605, on a person who should aid, or assist, or even "harbor" an escaped slave!
On page 209, you will find that the man who sits at your bedside, when you are prostrated by disease, and, taking advantage of your confidence and helplessness, administers poison to you, but whereby death does not happen to ensue, is to be punished "not less than five nor more than ten years," though it is murder in the heart, if not in the deed. And this is precisely the same penalty as that prescribed by
