Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/854

 to act; to require the sheriffs of the several counties, by themselves or deputies, to attend the judges of each of the places of voting for the purpose of preserving peace and good order; or the said board may, instead of said sheriffs and their deputies, appoint at their  [sic]direcrtion, and in such instances as they may choose, other fit persons for the same purpose. The election hereby authorized shall continue one day only, and shall not be continued later than sundown on that day. The said board shall appoint the day for holding said election, and the said Governor shall announce the same by proclamation; and the day shall be as early a one as is consistent with due notice thereof to the people of said Territory, subject to the provisions of this act. The said board shall have full power to prescribe the time, manner, and places of said election, and direct the time [within] which returns shall be made to the said board, whose duty it shall be to announce the result by proclamation, and the said Governor shall certify the same to the President of the United States, without delay.

3. And be it further enacted, That in the election hereby authorized, all white male inhabitants of said Territory, over the age of twenty-one years, who possess the qualifications which were required by the laws of said Territory for a legal voter, at the last general election for the members of the Territorial Legislature, and none others, shall be allowed to vote; and this shall be the only qualification required to entitle the voter to the right of suffrage in said election. And if any person not so qualified shall vote or offer to vote, or if any person shall vote more than once at said election, or shall make or cause to be made any false, fictitious, or fraudulent returns, or shall alter or change any returns of said election, such person shall, on conviction thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction, be kept at hard labor not less than six months and not more than three years.

4. And be it further enacted, That the members of the aforesaid board of commissioners, and all persons appointed by them to carry into effect the provisions of this act, shall, before entering upon their duties, take an oath to perform faithfully the duties of their respective offices; and, on failure thereof, they shall be liable and subject to the same charges and penalties as are provided in like cases under the Territorial laws.

. 5. And be it further enacted, That the officers mentioned in the preceding sections shall receive for their services the same compensation as is given for like services under the Territorial laws.

, May 4, 1858.

The Lecompton Constitution was submitted to the people of Kansas, and was rejected by an immense majority, notwithstanding all the efforts of government officers to secure its adoption.

Meanwhile Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton, who had urged the Lecompton Constitutional Convention to submit their instrument to the people, fell under the ban of the administration, and were both of them removed from