in the public stores on the first day of July aforesaid, shall be subject, on entry thereof for consumption, to no other duty than if the same had been imported, respectively, after that day. the city of Mobile, Alabama, and to extend a branch road from Eufaula to Montgomery," approved December twentieth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, alternate sections of the public lands to the same extent and in the same manner, and upon the same limitations and restricthe construction of other railroads under an act of Congress entitled "An act granting public lands in alternate sections to the State of Alabama to aid in the construction of certain railroads in said State," approved June three, eighteen hundred and fifty-six. ARMY APPROPRIATIONS. SEO. 5. And be it further enacted, That on the entry of any goods, wares, and merchan-tions in every respect, as was granted to aid in dise imported on and after the first day of July aforesaid, the decision of the collector of the customs at the port of importation and entry, as to their liability to duty or exemption therefrom, shall be final and conclusive against the owner, importer, consignee, or agent of any such goods, wares, and merchandise, unless the owner, importer, consignee, or agent shall, within ten days after such entry, give notice to the collector, in writing, of his dissatisfaction with such decision, setting forth therein distinctly and specifically his grounds of objection thereto, and shall, within thirty days after the date of such decision, appeal therefrom to the Secretary of the Treasury, whose decision on such appeal shall be final and conclusive; and the said goods, wares, and merchandise shall be liable to duty or exempted therefrom accordingly; any act of Congress to the contrary notwithstanding, unless suit shall be brought within thirty days after such decision for any duties that may have been paid, or may thereafter be paid, on said goods, or within thirty days after the duties shall have been paid in cases where such goods shall be in bond. RAILROAD GRANTS OF LAND. An act was passed granting to the Territory of Minnesota, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of railroads, from Stillwater, by way of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony, to a point between the foot of Big Stone Lake and the mouth of Sioux Wood River, with a branch via Saint Cloud and Crow Wing, to the navigable waters of the Red River of the North, at such point as the Legislature of said Territory may determine; from Saint Paul and from Saint Anthony, via Minneapolis, to a convenient point of junction west of the Mississippi, to the southern boundary of the Territory in the direction of the mouth of the Big Sioux River, with a branch, via Faribault, to the north line of the State of Iowa, west of range sixteen; from Winona, via Saint Peters, to a point on the Big Sioux River, south of the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude; also from La Crescent, via Target Lake, up the valley of Root River, to a point of junction with the last mentioned road, east of range seventeen, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for six sections in width on each side of each of said roads and branches. The same act grants to the State of Alabama, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad" from the line of Georgia, on the Chattahoochee River, to the city of Mobile, Alabama," "through the counties of Henry, Dale, Coffee, Covington, Conecuh, Baldwin and Mobile," and a branch railroad "from Eufaula to Montgomery," "through the counties of Barbour, Pike, Macon and Montgomery," chartered by the State of Alabama by an act entitled "An act to authorize the Savannah and Albany Railroad Company to extend their railroad from the line of Georgia, on the Chattahoochee River, to An act making appropriation for the support For subsistence in kind,. Incidental expenses of do., Medical and hospital departments, 123,936 1,989,834 895,608 1,200,000 440,000 600,000 120,000 1,800,000 190,000 105,000 800,000 250,000 150,000 187,250 100,000 958,825 Total army appropriations,....$13,909,656 This act authorizes the Secretary of War to settle the accounts of the State of Florida against the United States, for money advanced in payment of volunteers called into service for the suppression of Indian hostilities in 1849 and 1852. The act also declares, That the provisions of the act approved March 8, 1819, entitled "An act authorizing the sale of certain military sites," be and they are hereby extended to all military sites, or to such parts thereof which are or may become useless for military purposes. [Under this clause, Fort Snelling has been sold at private sale for about one-fifth of its actual value.-Compiler.] LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL APPRO Total Civil expenses,. DEFICIENCIES. .$8,167,275 An act to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the year ending June 80, 1857, appropriates as follows: Clothing and camp equipage for the army, Regular supplies for Quartermaster's To purchase books for members of Printing ordered by Congress,........ Total deficiencies,...... NAVAL APPROPRIATIONS. $882,056 An act to confirm to the several States the swamp and overflowed lands selected under vides, That the selection of lands granted to acts of Sept. 28, 1850, and March 2, 1849, prothe several States by the said acts heretofore made and reported to the Commissioner of the General Land-Office, so far as the same shall remain vacant and unappropriated, and not interfered with by an actual settlement under 200,000 any existing law of the United States, be and the same are hereby confirmed, and shall be approv188,000 ed and patented to the said several States, in con250,000 formity with the provisions of the act aforesaid, 700,000 as soon as may be practicable after the passage 120,661 of this law: Provided, however, That nothing 892,278 in this act contained shall interfere with the provisions of the act of Congress entitled "An .$2,182,995 act for the relief of purchasers and locators of swamp and overflowed lands," approved March 2, 1855, which shall be and is hereby continued in force, and extended to all entries and locations of lands claimed as swamp lands made since its passage. The act making appropriations for the naval Bervice for the year ending June 30, 1858, provides as follows: PROPOSED RELIEF FOR KANSAS. At the last session of the XXXIVth | Territory, and by the oath of at least two legal Congress, which closed March 4th, 1857, Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, from the Committee on Territories, on behalf of the Republican majority of that Committee, reported to the House of Representatives the following bill: A bill for the Relief of the People of Kansas. Whereas the President of the United States transmitted to the House, by message, a printed pamphlet purporting to be the laws of the Territory of Kansas, passed at Shawnee Mission, in said Territory; and whereas unjust and unwarranted test-oaths are prescribed by said laws as a qualification for voting or holding office in said Territory; and whereas the Committee of Investigation sent by the House of Representatives to Kansas report that said Legislature was not elected by the legal voters of Kansas, but was forced upon them by nonresidents, in violation of the organic act of the Territory, and, having thus usurped legislative power, it enacted cruel and oppressive laws: Therefore, Be it enacted, etc., That all rules or regulations purporting to be laws, or in the form of law, adopted at Shawnee Mission, in the Territory of Kansas, by a body of men claiming to be the legislative assembly of said Territory, and all acts and proceedings whatsoever of said assembly, are hereby declared invalid and of no binding force or effect. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Governor of said Territory shall as soon as practicable, by public proclamation, fix the time and places for an election of members of the Legislative Assembly, appoint in each district three competent persons to superintend the election therein, under such rules and regulations as he shall direct, and shall prescribe the mode and manner for the return thereof. Sec. 8. and be it further enacted, That any person offering to vote at said election whose vote shall be challenged shall, in addition to the qualifications for voting fixed in the act of Congress organizing the Territory, prove by his own oath that he is a bona fide settler of said voters that he is, and has been for one month immediately preceding, an actual resident of said Territory, and for fifteen days a resident of the election district where he offers to vote. SEO. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any person, not being an actual inhabitant or resident of the said Territory, shall cast his vote at any election which may be held in the said Territory by authority of law, such person so offending shall, on conviction thereof in any criminal court, be punished by fine, not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and imprisonment, not less than two months nor more than six months. That if any person or persons shall come into any election district of said Territory in armed and organized bodies for the purpose of participating in, disturbing, controlling, or voting at any election held, or to be held, under the authority of law therein, such person or persons so offending shall, on conviction thereof in any criminal court, be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment for a term not less than three months and not exceeding one year. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any person being a member of any such armed and organized body as described in the preceding section, or connected therewith, and a non-resident of the said Territory, shall vote at any election which may be held in the said Territory by authority of law, he shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment for a term of not less than six months and not more than two years. SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That any judge of election who shall wilfully and knowingly allow any vote to be polled in violation of the fourth and fifth sections of this act, shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than three hundred dollars, and imprisonment for a term of not less than six months nor more than one year. That all offenses under this act may be prosecuted by indictment in any criminal court having jurisdiction of felonies or misdemeanors committed in said Territory. All laws, rules, or regulations inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby declared null and void. VIRGINIA.-BOCock, Carlisle, Caskie, Edmundson, Faulkner, Garnett, Goode, Kidwell, Letcher, McMullen, Millson-11, NORTH CAROLINA.-Brancn, Craige, Paine, SOUTH CAROLINA.-Boyce, Keitt, McQueen-8. ard-4. ALABAMA.-W. R. W. Cobb, Dowdell, Sampson W. Harris, Houston, Shorter, Walker 6. MISSISSIPPI.-Barksdale, H. S. Bennett, Lake LOUISIANA.-Davidson, Eustis, Sandidge, This bill, which proposed to quiet Kansas and establish popular sovereignty therein, by rubbing out whatever was of disputed validity or obligation on either side, and enabling the people of Kansas,-8. under regulations calculated to protect them against invasions and frauds, to constitute a government for themselves, was finally brought to issue on the 17th of February, when it passed the House by the following vote: YEAS.-[All from Free States.] MAINE-Benson, Knowlton, Perry, Israel Washburn, Wood-5. NEW HAMPSHIRE.—Cragin, Pike, Tappan-3. RHODE ISLAND.-Durfee, Thurston-2. Woodruff-4. VERMONT.-Hodges, Morrill, Sabin-3. NEW YORK.-H. Bennett, Dickson, Dodd, Gilbert, Granger, Huren, Hughston, Kelsey, King, McCarty, Killian Miller, Morgan, Murray, Andrew Oliver, Parker, Pringle, Sage, Simmons, Spinner, Stranahan, Wakeman-21. NEW JERSEY.-Clawson, Pennington, Robbins-3. PENNSYLVANIA.-Allison, Bradshaw, James H. Campbell, Covode, Dick, Grow, Knight, Kunkel, Millward, Pearce, Purviance, Roberts, Todd-13. OHIO.-Albright, Ball, Bingham, Bliss, Day, Emrie, Galloway, Harlan, Harrison, V. B. Horton, Leiter, Moore, Mott, Nichols, Sapp, Sherman, Stanton, Wade-18. INDIANA. Barbour, Brenton, Colfax, Cumback, Dunn, Holloway, Pettit, Scott-8. ILLINOIS.-Knox, Norton, Elihu B. Washburne, Woodworth-4. MICHIGAN.-Howard, Walbridge, Waldron-8. WISCONSIN.-C. C. Washburne-1. Iowa.-Thorington-1. Total, 98. [Fillmore men (6) in Italics. (92) Republicans. Taylor-4. FLORIDA.-Maxwell-1. KENTUCKY.-Burnett, John P. Campbell, MISSOURI.-Akers, Caruthers, Mordecai Oli ver-8. ARKANSAS.-Greenwood, Rust-2. Total 65 from Slave, 14 from Free States-20 Fillmore Americans, 59 Buchanan Democrats in all, 79. So the House passed the bill to pacify Kansas by relieving her from Missouri usurpation, and enabling her to choose a Legislature for herself, under due preven tives against invasive and illegal voting; but the Senate refused to act upon it, and it was lost. ACTION OF THE SENATE. On the 19th of February, the above bill was taken up in the Senate, and, having been read a first and second time, Mr. Hunter moved its reference to the Committee on Territories. Senator Green, of Mo. desired its reference to the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Adams, of Mississippi, moved to lay it on the table without reference; and, after a brief debate, his motion prevailed, 30 to 20, as follows: YEAS.-Messrs. Adams, Benjamin, Bigler, Brown, Butler, Cass, Clay, Crittenden, Dodge, Evans, Fitch, Fitzpatrick, Geyer, Green, Gwin, Hunter, Johnson, Jones of Iowa, Jones of Tenn., All the rest Mallory, Mason, Pearce, Reid, Rusk, Sebastian, Slidell, Thompson of Ky., Toombs, Toucey, Weller. From Slave States (in Roman) 22. From Free States (in Italics) S.-Total 30. NAYS.-[From Free States :] MAINE.-Thomas J. D. Fuller-1. NAYS.-Messrs. Bell of N. H., Bell of Tenn., Brodhead, Collamer, Durkee, Fessenden, Fish, PENNSYLVANIA.-Broom, Cadwalader, Flo- Foot, Foster, Hale, Harlan, Houston, James, rence, Packer-4. INDIANA.-English, Smith Miller-2. IOWA -Augustus Hall-1. Total 14. [2 Fillmore Americans (in Italics); the rest Buchanan Democrats.] Nourse, Pugh, Seward, Stuart, Trumbull, Wade, So the bill was put to sleep on the table. If any one hereafter asserts that the Republicans wished to keep the "wounds" of Kansas "bleeding," while their adverMARYLAND.-Bowie, J. Morrison Harris, saries wished to bind them up, ask him to Hoffman, Ricaud, Stewart-5. [From Slave States.] read this record. NATIONAL PLATFORMS. For the sake of convenient reference, we, est constitutional rights of the people of Kansas publish complete the Platforms on which the political Parties entered the Presidential contest in 1856, as follows: THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. NATIONAL CONVENTION HELD AT PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 17, 1856. have been fraudulently and violently taken from them-their territory has been invaded by an armed force-spurious and pretended legislative, judicial and executive officers have been set over them, by whose usurped authority, sustained by the military power of the Government, tyrannical and unconstitutional laws have been enacted and enforced-the rights of the people to keep and bear arms have been infringed-test oaths of an extraordinary and entangling nature have been im THIS Convention of Delegates, assembled in pursuance of a call addressed to the people of the United States, without regard to past poli-posed, as a condition of exercising the right of tical differences or divisions, who are opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, to the policy of the present Administration, to the extension of Slavery into Free Territory; in favor of admitting Kansas as a Free State, of restoring the action of the Federal Government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson, and who purpose to unite in presenting candidates for the offices of President and VicePresident, do resolve as follows: Resolved, That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the Union of the States, shall be preserved. suffrage and holding office-the right of an accused person to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury has been denied the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures has been violatedthey have been deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law-that the freedom of speech and of the press has been abridged-the right to choose their representatives has been made of no effect-murders, robberies and arsons have been instigated and encouraged, and the offenders have been allowed to go unpunished-that all these things have been done with the knowledge, sanction and procurement of the present Administration, and that for this high crime against the Constitution, the Union and Humanity, we arraign the Administration, the President, his advisers, agents, supporters, apologists and accessories, either before or after the facts, before the country and before the world, and that it is our fixed purpose to bring the actual perpetrators of these atrocious outrages, and their accomplices, to a sure and condign punishment hereafter. Resolved, That with our republican fathers we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the primary object and ulterior designs of our federal government were, to secure these rights to all persons within its exclusive jurisdiction; that, as our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national territory, ordained that no person should be Resolved, That Kansas should be immediatedeprived of life, liberty or property without ly admitted as a State of the Union, with her due process of law, it becomes our duty to present free Constitution, as at once the most maintain this provision of the Constitution effectual way of securing to her citizens the enagainst all attempts to violate it for the pur-joyment of the rights and privileges to which pose of establishing slavery in any territory of the United States, by positive legislation, prohibiting its existence or extension therein. That we deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, of any individual or association of individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States, while the present Constitution shall be maintained. they are entitled, and of ending the civil strife now raging in her territory. Resolved, That the highwayman's plea, that might makes right," embodied in the Ostend Circular, was in every respect unworthy of American diplomacy, and would bring shame and dishonor upon any government or people that gave it their sanction. Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Resolved, That the Constitution confers upon Ocean, by the most central and practicable Congress sovereign power over the territories route, is imperatively demanded by the interof the United States for their government, and ests of the whole country, and that the Federal that in the exercise of this power it is both the Government ought to render immediate and right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in efficient aid in its construction; and, as an the territories those twin relics of barbarism-auxiliary thereto, the immediate construction Polygamy and Slavery. of an emigrant route on the line of the railroad. Resolved, That while the Constitution of the United States was ordained and established by the people in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, and secure the blessings of liberty, and contains ample provisions for the protection of the life, liberty and property of every citizen, the dear Resolved, That appropriations by Congress for the improvement of rivers and harbors, of a national character, required for the accommodation and security of our existing commerce, are authorized by the Constitution, and justified by the obligation of government to protect the lives and property of its citizens. |