Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/691

 month, in subversion of the territorial government established under the authority of congress. The right to set up the state government in defiance of the constituted authorities of the territory, is based on the assumption "that the people of Kansas territory have been since its settlement, and now are, without any law-making power;" in the face of the well-known fait, that tho territorial legislature were then in session, in pursuance of the proclamation of Governor Reeder, and the organic law of the territory. On the 5th of September, a "territorial delegate convention" assembled at the Big Springs, "to take into consideration the present exigencies of political affairs," at which, among others, the following resolutions were adopted:

"Resolved, That this convention, in view of its recent repudiation of the acts of the so-called Kansas legislative assembly, respond most heartily to the call made by the people's convention of the 14th ultimo, for a delegate convention of the people of Kansas, to be held at Topeka, on the 19th instant, to consider the propriety of the formation of a state constitution, and such matters as may legitimately come before it.

"Resolved, That we owe no allegiance or obedience to the [sic]tyranical enactments of this spurious legislature; that their laws have no validity or binding force upon the people of Kansas; and that every freeman among us is at full liberty, consistently with his obligations as a citizen and a man, to defy and resist them if he choose so to do.

"Resolved, That we will endure and submit to these laws no longer than the Lest interests of the territory require, as the least of two evils, and will resist them to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain that peaceable remedies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall furnish any reasonable prospect of success; and that in the mean time we recommend to our friends through the territory, the organization and discipline of volunteer companies, and the procurement and preparation of arms."

"With the view to a distinct understanding of the meaning of so much of this resolution as relates to the "organization and discipline of volunteer companies, and the procurement and preparation of arms," it may be necessary to state, that there was at that time existing in the territory a secret military organization, which had been formed for political objects prior to the alleged invasion, at the election on the 30th of March, and which held its first "grand encampment at Lawrence, February 8th, 1855." Your committee have been put in possession of a small printed pamphlet, containing the "constitution and ritual of the grand encampment and regiments of Kansas legion of Kansas territory, adopted April 4th, 1855," which, during the recent disturbances in that territory, was taken on the person of one George F. Warren, who attempted to conceal and destroy the same by thrusting it into his mouth, and biting and chewing it. Although somewhat mutilated by the "tooth prints," it bears internal evidence of being a genuine document, authenticated by the original signature of "G. W. Hutchinson, grand general," and "J. K. Goodwin, grand quartermaster."

The constitution consists of six articles, regulating the organization of the "Grand Encampment," which is "composed of representatives elected from each subordinate regiment existing in the territory, as hereafter provided. The officers of the Grand Encampment shall consist of a grand general, grand