lections to the territorial Legislature, electing nine
out of the thirteen councilors and twenty-four out of the thirty-nine
representatives. Gross frauds had been perpetrated in two districts, and
the Governor made good his promise by rejecting the fraudulent votes.
In one case a poll list had been made up by copying an old Cincinnati
register.

In the meantime, thanks to the abstention of the free-state people, the
pro-slavery party had secured absolute control of the constitutional
convention. Yet there was the most absolute assurance by the Governor
in the name of the President of the United States that no constitution
would be sent to Congress for approval which had not received the
sanction of a majority of the voters of the Territory. This was Walker's
reiterated promise, and President Buchanan had on this point been
equally explicit.

When, therefore, the pro-slavery constitutional convention met at
Lecompton in October, Kansas had a free-state Legislature duly elected.
To make Kansas still a slave State it was necessary to get rid of that
Legislature and of the Governor through whose agency it had been chosen,
and at the same time to frame a constitution which would secure the
approval of the Buchanan Administration. Incredible as it may seem, all
this was actually accomplished.

John Calhoun, who had been chosen president of the Lecompton convention,
spent some time in Washington before the adjourned meeting of the
convention. He secured the aid of master-hands at manipulation. Walker
had already been discredited at the White House on account of his
rejection of fraudulent returns at the October election of members to
the Legislature. The convention was unwilling to take further chances
on a matter of that sort, and it consequently made it a part of the
constitution that the president of the convention should have entire
charge of the election to be held for its approval. The free-state
legislature was disposed of by placing in the constitution a provision
that all existing laws should remain in force until the election of a
Legislature provided for under the constitution.

The master-stroke of the convention, however, was the provision for
submitting the constitution to the vote of the people. Voters were not
permitted to accept or reject the instrument; all votes were to be for
the constitution either "with slavery" or "with no slavery." But the
document itself recognized slavery as already existing and