USA > Kansas > Kansas; a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence, Voilume I > Part 49
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have been honorably discharged from the military service of the United States since the Ist day of April, A. D. 1861, provided that they have served one year or more therein, shall be qualified to vote and hold office in this state, until such disability shall be removed by a law passed by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of both branches of the legis- lature."
This amendment was ratified by the people at the election in Nov., 1867, by a vote of 16,860 to 12,165, and for years thereafter scarcely a session of the legislature was held in which there was not a bill, or at least a petition, asking for the removal of these political disabilities from some of the persons who had fallen under the ban. (See the adminis- trations of the governors subsequent to 1868.)
In 1868 section 4 of article 15 was amended to read : "All public print- ing shall be done by a' state printer, who shall be elected by the legis- lature in joint session, and shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. The joint session of the legislature for the election of a state printer shall be on the third Tues- day of January, A. D. 1869, and every two years thereafter. All public printing shall be done at the capital, and the prices for the same shall be regulated by law."
The amended section was ratified by the people at the election on Nov. 3, 1868, by a vote of 13,471 to 5,415, and in 1904 the section was further amended, by a vote of 169,620 to 52,363, to read as follows: "All public printing shall be done by a state printer, who shall be elected by the people at the election held for state officers in Nov., 1906, and every two years thereafter, at the election held for state officers, and shall hold his office for two years and until his successor shall be elected and qualified."
The legislature of 1873 proposed a new section 2, article 2, relating to the number of members in each branch of the legislature, and the new section was ratified by the people on Nov. 4, 1873, by a vote of 32,340 to 29,189. The amended section, which is still in force, is as fol- lows: "The number of representatives and senators shall be regulated by law, but shall never exceed 125 representatives and 40 senators. From and after the adoption of this amendment, the house of represen- tatives shall admit one member for each county in which at least 250 legal votes were cast at the next preceding general election; and each organized county in which less than 200 legal votes were cast at the next preceding general election shall be attached to and constitute a part of the representative district of the county lying next adjacent on the east."
Three amendments-all that could be submitted at one time-were presented to the electors of the state in 1875. The first provided for biennial sessions of the legislature by changing the language of section 25, article 2, to read as follows : "All sessions of the legislature shall be held at the state capital, and, beginning with the year 1877, all regular sessions shall be held once in two years, Commencing on the second Tuesday of January of each alternate year thereafter."
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This amendment was ratified by the people by a vote of 43,320 to 15,478 at the election on Nov. 2, 1875, and the other two amendments ratified at the same time were made necessary by the change from annual to biennial sessions. One changed section 3, article II, to read : "The legislature shall provide, at each regular session, for raising suf- ficient revenue to defray the current expenses of the state for two years ;" and the other added section 29 to article 2; as follows: "At the general election in 1876, and thereafter, members of the house of repre- sentatives shall be elected for two years, and members of the senate shall be elected for four years." The vote on these amendments was not materially different from that on the amendment authorizing biennial sessions.
The legislature of 1876 submitted two amendments to the people, to be voted on at the general election in November of that year. The first altered the language of section 24, article 2, to provide that "No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in pursuance of a specific appropriation made by law, and no appropriation shall be for a longer term than two years."
At the election this amendment was ratified by a vote of 95,430 to 1,768. The second amendment of 1876 related to the election of county officers as provided for in section 2 of article 9, but in 1902 the same section was amended to read as follows: "General elections and town- ship elections shall be held biennially, on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November in the years bearing even numbers. All county and township officers shall hold their offices for a term of two years and until their successors are qualified; provided, one county commissioner shall be elected from each of three districts numbered I, 2 and 3, by the voters of the district, and the legislature shall fix the time of election and the term of office of such commissioners ; such elec- tion to be at a general election, and no term of offices to exceed six years. All officers whose successors would, under the law as it existed at the time of their election, be elected in an odd-numbered year shall hold office for an additional year and until their successors are qualified. No person shall hold the office of sheriff or county treasurer for more than two consecutive terms."
In 1880, by a vote of 92,302 to 84,304, the following section was added to article 15: "Section Io. The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors shall be forever prohibited in this state, except for medical, scientific and mechanical purposes." (See Prohibition.)
A proposition for a new constitutional convention was voted down in 1880-146,279 to 22,870-and no further amendments to the organic law were made until 1888. In that year section 17 of the Bill of Rights was changed to read: "No distinction shall ever be made between citizens of the State of Kansas and the citizens of other states and territories of the United States in reference to the purchase, enjoy- ment or descent of property. The rights of aliens in reference to the purchase, enjoyment or descent of property may be regulated by law."
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The vote of the people on this amendment stood 220,419 to 16,611, and at the same election the proposition to strike out the word "white" in section I, article 8, relating to the militia, was carried by a vote of 226,474 to 22,251.
In 1891 the legislature again submitted to the people the question of holding a constitutional convention, and at the general election in 1892 it was defeated by a majority of 466 in a total vote of 237,448.
At the general election of 1900, the following amended section 2 of article 3 was ratified by a vote of 123,721 to 35,474, a similar amendment having been previously twice rejected at the polls: "The supreme court shall consist of seven justices, who shall be chosen by the electors of the state. They may sit separately in two divisions, with full power in each division to determine the cases assigned to be heard by such division. Three justices shall constitute a quorum in each division and the concurrence of three shall be necessary to a decision. Such cases only as may be ordered to be heard by the whole court shall be con- sidered by all the justices, and the concurrence of four justices shall be necessary to a decision in cases so heard. The justice who is senior in continuous term of service shall be chief justice, and in case two or more have continuously served during the same period the senior in years of these shall be chief justice, and the presiding justice of each division shall be selected from the judges assigned to that division in like manner. The term of office of the justices shall be six years, except as here- inafter provided. The justices in office at the time this amendment takes effect shall hold their offices for the terms for which they were severally elected and until their successors are elected and qualified. As soon as practicable after the second Monday in January, 1901, the governor shall appoint four justices, to hold their offices until the second Monday in January, 1903. At the general election in 1902 there shall be elected five justices, one of whom shall hold his office for two years, one for four years and three for six years. At the general election in 1904, and every six years thereafter, two justices shall be elected. At the general election in 1904, and every six years thereafter, two justices shall be elected. At the general election in 1908, and very six years thereafter, three justices shall be elected."
At the election on Nov. 8, 1904, by a vote of 162,057 to 60,148, the people approved an amendment adding the following provision to sec- tion 14 of article 2: "If any bill presented to the governor contains sev- eral items of appropriation of money, he may object to one or more of such items, while approving the other portion of the bill; in such case he shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the item or items to which he objects, and the reasons therefor, and shall transmit such statement, or a copy thereof, to the house of repre- sentatives, and any appropriations so objected to shall not take effect unless reconsidered and approved by two-thirds of the members elected to each house, and if so reconsidered and approved, shall take effect and become a part of the bill, in which case the presiding officers of each
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house shall certify on such bill such fact of reconsideration and approval."
Three amendments were proposed by the legislature of 1905, and all were ratified by the voters at the general election of 1906. The first added the following provision to section 17 of article 2: "And whether or not a law is repugnant to this provision of the constitution shall be construed and determined by the courts of the state." The vote on the ratification of this provision was 110,266 in favor of it and 67,409 against it.
The second amendment of 1906 related to probate courts, adding to section 8, article 3, the following provision: "The legislature may pro- vide for the appointment or selection of a probate judge pro tem when the probate judge is unavoidably absent or otherwise unable or disquali- fied to sit in any case." This amendment was ratified by a vote of 107,974 to 70,730.
The third amendment decreased the liabilities of stockholders in cor- porations by changing section 2 of article 12 to read as follows: "Dues from corporations shall be secured by the individual liability of the stockholders to the amount of stock owned by each stockholder, and such other means as shall be provided by law; but such individual liability shall not apply to railroad corporations, nor to corporations for religious or charitable purposes." This amendment was ratified by a vote of 110,021 to 63,485.
Constitutional Conventions .- Kansas was organized as a territory of the United States by the Kansas-Nebraska bill (q. v.), which was approved by President Pierce on May 30, 1854. Scarcely had the echoes of the Congressional debates on that measure died away, when an agitation was started for the admission of Kansas as a state. The issue was whether Kansas should become a free or a slave state, and in the first efforts for statehood the free-state men were the aggressors. On Oct. 9, 1855, delegates were selected to a convention to form a constitution, the pro-slavery men taking no part in the election. The convention assembled at Topeka on Oct. 23, and organized by the election of James H. Lane as president and Samuel C. Smith as sec- retary. Several of the delegates elected failed to attend the sessions of the convention. The following list of the men who framed the constitution has been compiled from the manuscript records of the convention, now in the possession of the Kansas Historical Society.
James M. Arthur, Thomas Bell, Frederick Brown, Orville C. Brown, H. Burson, M. F. Conway, R. H. Crosby, A. Curtiss, G. A. Cutler, Mark W. Delahay, David Dodge, J. S. Emery, D. M. Field, Matt France, J. K. Goodin, William Graham, W. R. Griffith, W. H. Hicks, G. S. Hillyer, Cyrus K. Holliday, Morris Hunt, Amory Hunting, Robert Klotz, Richard Knight, John Landis, James H. Lane, S. N. Latta, Sanford McDaniel, Caleb May, Samuel Mewhinney, J. H. Nes- bitt, M. J. Parrott, James Phenis, Josiah H. Pillsbury, Robert Riddle, W. Y. Roberts, Charles Robinson, James L. Sayle, P. C. Schuyler, G.
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W. Smith, H. Smith, C. W. Stewart, J. C. Thompson, J. M. Turner, J. M. Tuton, N. Vandever, J. A. Wakefield.
The convention completed its labors on Nov. 11, 1855. Provision was made for the submission of the constitution to the people on Dec. 14, and in the event the constitution was ratified by popular vote at that time, the chairman of the free-state executive committee of the territory was directed to issue a proclamation ordering an election for state officers and members of the legislature on the third Monday of Jan., 1856, and the legislature then chosen should meet on March 4, following.
The Lecompton constitutional convention, which was the second attempt to form an organic law for the state, had a slight advantage over the Topeka convention, in that it was authorized by an act of the territorial legislature on Feb. 19, 1857. It does not appear, how- ever, to have had any advantage in popular favor, as the number of votes at the election for delegates to the Topeka convention was 2,710, while the number cast at the election for the Lecompton delegates was only 2,071, the free-state men taking no part in the election. By the provisions of the act of Feb. 19 a census was ordered to be taken on April 1, the returns to be corrected by the probate judges of the several districts and submitted by May I to the governor, who was then to apportion the 60 delegates among the various precincts. Dele- gates were to be elected on the third Monday in June, and the conven- tion was to meet on the first Monday in September.
When the convention assembled on Sept. 7 a temporary organiza- tion was effected by the election of B. Little as president and Thomas C. Hughes as secretary. In the permanent organization on the 8th, John Calhoun was chosen president and Thomas C. Hughes secretary. Hughes was subsequently succeeded by Charles J. McIlvaine. On the IIth an adjournment was taken to Oct. 19, when the convention reassembled and continued in session until Nov. 7, when it finally adjourned. The constitution at that time adopted was signed by the president and secretary of the convention and 44 delegates, viz .: James Adkins, Alexander Bayne, S. P. Blair, L. S. Boling, J. T. Bradford, M. E. Bryant, H. Butcher, Thomas D. Childs, Jesse Connell, Wilburn Christison, J. H. Danforth, Cyrus Dolman, L. J. Eastin, Rush Elmore, H. W. Forman, I. S. Hascal, W. A. Heiskell, John D. Henderson, J. T. Hereford, W. H. Jenkins, A. W. Jones, Batt. Jones, Thomas J. Key, S. J. Kookager, B. Little, G. W. McKown, John W. Martin, Wil- liam Mathews, C. K. Mobley, Hugh M. Moore, Henry D. Oden, John S. Randolph, Greene B. Redman, Samuel G. Reed, J. J. Reynolds, Henry Smith, W. T. Spicely, Owen C. Stewart, W. H. Swift, Jarrett Todd, D. Vanderslice, William Walker, W. S. Wells, H. T. Wilson.
Section 7 of the schedule adopted by the convention caused consid- erable dissatisfaction among the people and contributed in no small degree to the defeat of the scheme to have Kansas admitted under the Lecompton constitution. Following is the full text of this section :
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"This constitution shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States at its next ensuing session, and as soon as official information has been received that it is approved by the same, by the admission of Kansas as one of the sovereign states of the United States, the presi- dent of this convention shall issue his proclamation to convene the state legislature at the seat of government, within thirty-one days after publication. Should any vacancy occur, by death, resignation, or otherwise, in the legislature, or other office, he shall order an election to fill such vacancy : Provided, however, In case of removal, absence, or disability of the president of this convention to discharge the duties herein imposed on him, the president pro tempore of this convention shall perform said duties ; and in case of absence, refusal, or disability of the president pro temport, a committee consisting of seven, or a majority of them, shall discharge the duties required of the president of this convention. Before this constitution shall be sent to Congress, asking for admission into the Union as a state, it shall be submitted to all the white male inhabitants of this territory, for approval or dis- approval, as follows: The president of this convention shall, by proclamation, declare that on the 21st day of December, 1857, at the different election precincts now established by law, or which may be established as herein provided, in the Territory of Kansas, an elec- tion shall be held, over which shall preside three judges, or a majority of them, to be appointed as follows: The president of this convention shall appoint three commissioners in each county in the territory, whose duty it shall be to appoint three judges of election in the several pre- cincts of their respective counties, and to establish precincts for vot- ing, and to cause the polls to be opened, at such places as they may deem proper, in their respective counties, at which election the con- stitution framed by this convention shall be submitted to all the white male inhabitants of the Territory of Kansas in the said territory upon that day, and over the age of 21 years, for ratification or rejection, in the following manner and form: The voting shall be by ballot. The judges of said election shall cause to be kept two poll-books by two clerks by them appointed. The ballots cast at said election shall be indorsed, 'Constitution with Slavery,' and 'Constitution with no Slavery.' One of said poll-books shall be returned within eight days to the president of this convention, and the other shall be retained by the judges of election and be kept open for inspection. The presi- dent, with two or more members of this convention, shall examine said poll-books, and if it shall appear upon said examination that a majority of the legal votes cast at said election be in favor of the 'Constitution with Slavery,' he shall immediately have the same trans- mitted to the Congress of the United States, as hereinbefore provided ; but if, upon such examination of said poll-books, it shall appear that a majority of the legal votes cast at said election be in favor of the 'Constitution with no Slavery,' then the article providing for slavery shall be stricken from this constitution by the president of this con-
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vention, and slavery shall no longer exist in the State of Kansas, except that the right of property in slaves now in this territory shall in no manner be interfered with, and shall have transmitted to Congress the constitution so ratified, as hereinbefore provided. In case of failure of the president of this convention to perform the duties imposed upon him in the foregoing section, by reason of death, resignation or other- wise, the same duties shall devolve upon the president pro tem."
As all the delegates to the convention were pro-slavery men, they took ample precaution in the above section that their party should not lose control until after the state had been admitted under the con- stitution of their creation. The president of the convention was given almost imperial powers in the selection and appointment of commis- sioners who would control the machinery of the election. His powers in examining the poll-books and declaring the vote were likewise almost imperial, and the clause providing for the submission of the constitu- tion to the white male inhabitants of Kansas, "in the said territory upon that day," made it possible for the pro-slavery forces of Missouri to assist in bringing about the ratification of the constitution "with slavery." Besides all this, the constitution as a whole was not to be submitted to the people-only the slavery article being made subject to a popular vote. No matter how repugnant to the people's judg- ment some other feature of the constitution might be, they were given no opportunity to express their opposition. Is it any wonder that the free-state men refused to participate in the election? (See also the articles on Constitutions, Geary's, Walker's and Denver's Administra- tions.)
The third constitutional convention-that known in history as the Leavenworth convention-was authorized by the act of Feb. 10. 1858. On the 13th, before the governor had been given the three full days allowed by law for the consideration of the measure, the legislature adjourned. Gov. Denver therefore claimed that the act was not entitled to recognition as a law of the territory. However, under its provisions, an election for delegates was held on March 9, and on the 23d of the same month the convention assembled at Minneola. A temporary organization was soon effected, after which James H. Lane was elected permanent president and Samuel F. Tappan was chosen clerk. The following day the convention voted to adjourn to meet at Leaven- worth on the 25th. After appointing the committees, Lane resigned the presidency of the convention and Martin F. Conway was elected as his successor.
The convention worked diligently and reached a final adjournment on April 3, when the constitution adopted was signed by the officers of the convention and the following delegates: F. G. Adams, H. J. Adams, J. D. Allen, A. B. Anderson, W. F. M. Arny, M. L. Ashmore, R. Austin, H. S. Baker, W. V. Barr, W. D. Beeler, F. N. Blake, W. E. Bowker, C. H. Branscomb, J. L. Brown, T. H. Butler, W. H. Coffin, G. A. Colton, Uriah Cook, A. Danford, James Davis, J. C. Douglass, J.
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M. Elliott, J. S. Emery, H. J. Espy, Robert Ewing, Thomas Ewing, Jr., Lucian Fish, R. M. Fish, James Fletcher, Charles A. Foster, G. M. Fuller, J. K. Goodin, I. T. Goodnow, W. R. Griffith, J. F. Hamp- son, Henry Harvey, J. P. Hatterscheidt, G. W. Higinbotham, G. D. Humphrey, H. P. Johnson, R. A. Kinzie, Alburtus Knapp, James H. Lane, Alfred Larzelere, Edward Lynde, William McCullough, A. W. McCauslin, Caleb May, Charles Mayo, R. B. Mitchell, James Monroe, W. R. Monteith, B. B. Newton, C. S. Perham, D. Pickering, J. H. Pills- bury, Preston B. Plumb, J. G. Rees, John Ritchie, W. Y. Roberts, Hugh Robertson, Orville Root, W. W. Ross, E. S. Scudder, J. M. Shepherd, A. H. Shurtleff, Amasa Soule, William Spriggs, Samuel Stewart, J. R. Swallow, James Telfer, T. D. Thacher, J. C. Todd, R. U. Torry, Thomas Trower, G. W. K. Twombly, J. M. Walden, W. L. Webster, A. W. Williams, A. L. Winans, James M. Winchell, Samuel N. Wood, C. A. Woodworth.
If the Lecompton convention had been under the control of the pro- ยท slavery element, the Leavenworth convention was no less under the control of the free-state men. Of the delegates, M. F. Conway, J. S. Emery, J. K. Goodin, W. R. Griffith, James H. Lane, Caleb May, WV. Y. Roberts and J. H. Pillsbury had served as members of the Topeka convention, of which Charles A. Foster was assistant secretary. Sev- eral of the members of the Leavenworth convention afterward became prominent in the affairs of Kansas and the nation. Thomas Ewing, Jr., was the first chief justice of the Kansas supreme court ; William Y. Roberts, Edward Lynde and H. P. Johnson commanded Kansas regi- ments in the Civil war; James H. Lane was one of the first United States senators from Kansas; Preston B. Plumb served in the United States senate at a later date; William R. Griffith was the first superin- tendent of public instruction; Robert B. Mitchell rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the Civil war and was subsequently governor of New Mexico; Addison Danford was attorney-general of the state; Franklin G. Adams was for years the secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, and a number of others served in the legislature.
The fourth and final constitutional convention was authorized by act of the territorial legislature, approved by Gov. Medary on Feb. 9, 1859. (See Medary's Administration.) By the provisions of the act the question of holding a convention was to be submitted to the peo- ple on the fourth Tuesday in March. At the election on that date the proposition to hold a convention was carried by a vote of 5,306 to 1,425, and on June 7 was held an election for the 52 delegates. Then, for the first time in Kansas, the Democratic and Republican parties, as such, faced each other in a contest at the polls. The Democrats carried the counties of Jackson, Jefferson and Leavenworth, elected 4 delegates in Doniphan and I in Johnson-17 delegates in all-while the Republicans carried all the other counties and elected 35 delegates. Following is a list of the members of the convention by districts :
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