Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States,

SATURDAY, June 28, 1856.

The Speaker having stated, as the business first in order, the bill of the House (H. R. 411) for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union, heretofore reported from the Committee on the Territories, the pending question being on the motion of Mr. Dunn to commit the same to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union,

After debate,

Mr. Stephens moved to amend the said motion to commit, by adding thereto the following, viz: with instructions to amend the said bill by striking out all after the enacting clause, and inserting in lieu thereof the following, viz:

• "That for the purpose of making an enumeration of the inhabitants,

• and an apportionment, and an election of members of a Convention to form a State constitution for Kansas, as hereinafter provided, five competent persons shall he appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to be commissioners for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this bill, who, before entering upon the duties of their office, shall respectively take and subscribe an oath or affirmation that he will support the constitution of the United States, and faithfully and impartially exercise and discharge the duties enjoined on him by this act according to the best of his skill and judgment; which oath or affirmation shall be administered to them severally, and be duly certified by a judge, clerk, or commissioner of a court of the United States, and filed and recorded in the office of the secretary of the Territory of Kansas.

• "Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said commissioners, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, to tense to be made a full and faithful enumeration of the inhabitants resident in each county in said Territory (Indians not recognised by the laws of said Territory as citizens excepted) on the day of the passage of this act, and make returns thereof during the month of August next, or as soon thereafter as practicable, one of which returns shall be made to the office of the Secretary of the Interior, one to the secretary of the Territory of Kansas, and which shall also exhibit the names of all white male citizens over twenty-one years old, including Indians admitted to citizenship by existing laws,) and the numbers of all the inhabitants (except as before excepted) and resident as aforesaid, classed in such manner as shall be prescribed by the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior.

• "Sec. 3. And be further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, immediately after the passage of this act, to prescribe regulations and forms to be observed in making the enumeration aforesaid, and to furnish the same with all necessary printed blanks to each of the commissioners as soon as may be after their appointment; and the commissioners shall meet without delay at the seat of government of Kansas Territory, and proceed to the discharge of the duties herein imposed upon them, and appoint, if necessary, proper persons to aid and assist them in taking the enumeration herein provided for, who must also be duly sworn faithfully, impartially, and truly, to discharge the duties assigned them by the commissioners.

• "Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That said board shall have power to appoint a secretary, and shall meet at the seat of government of said Territory on the first Monday in September next, and shall proceed to the inspection of said returns of the enumeration of the inhabitants, hear, and finally determine, and correct, according to the facts, without unreasonable delay, under proper regulations to be made by themselves, for the ascertainment of disputed facts concerning said enumeration, all questions concerning the omission of any person from said census returns, or the improper insertion of any name on said returns, and any other question affecting the integrity or fidelity of said returns, and the decision, of a majority of whom shall be final and conclusive upon all said questions, and a majority of said commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of

• all business. The secretary shall Keep a journal of the proceedings of said board, and transmit copies thereof, from time to time, to the Secretary of the Interior, and when said commissioners shall have completed the business of their appointment, the books and papers of the board shall be deposited in the office of the secretary of the Territory, and there kept as records of his office.

• "Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That said board of commissioners shall, within thirty days after the first Monday in September next, proceed to make an apportionment of members for a convention, among the different counties in said Territory, in the following manner: The whole number of white male citizens above twenty-one years of age, including Indians aforesaid, herein authorized to be enumerated, shall he divided by fifty-two, and the product of such division, rejecting any fraction of a unit, shall be the ratio or rule of apportionment of members among the several counties; and if any county shall not have a population, thus ascertained, equal to the ratio, it shall be attached to some adjoining county, and thus form a representative district; the number of said citizens in each county shall then be divided by the ratio, and the product shall be the number of representatives apportioned to such county: Provided, That the loss in the number of members caused by the fractions remaining in the several counties, in the division of the population thereof, shall be compensated by assiging to so many counties as have the largest fractions an additional member for its fraction, as may be necessary to make the whole number of representatives fifty-two.

• "Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the secretary of said Territory, immediately after the apportionment of the members of said convention, when completed, shall cause a sufficient number of copies thereof and of the returns of the census to be published and distributed among the inhabitants of the several counties, and shall transmit one copy of said apportionment and census, duly certified by him under the seal of his office, to each clerk of a court of record within the Territory, who shall file the same, and make and certify copies thereof whenever required.

• "Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That an election shall be held for members of a convention to form a constitution for the State of Kansas, according to the apportionment to be made as aforesaid, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, to be held at such places and to be conducted in such manner, both as to persons who shall superintend such election and the returns thereof as the board of commissioners shall appoint and direct, except in cases by this act otherwise provided.

• "Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of commissioners shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to make all needful rules and regulations for the conduct of the said election and the returns thereof. They shall appoint three suitable persons to be judges of the election at each place of voting, and prescribe the mode of supplying vacancies. They shall cause copies of the rules and regulations, with a notice of the places of holding elections and the names of the judges, to be published and distributed in every election district or precinct ten days before the day of election, and shall transmit

• a copy thereof to the clerk of each court of record, and one copy to each judge of election.

• "Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That the judges of election shall each, before entering on the discharge of his duties, make oath or affirmation that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of judge of the election according to law, which oath may be administered by any officer authorized by law to administer oaths. The clerks of election shall be appointed by the judges, and shall take the like oath or affirmation, to be administered by one of the judges or by any of the officers aforesaid. Duplicate returns of election shall be made and certified by the judges and clerks, one of which shall be deposited in the office of the clerk of the tribunal transacting county business for the county in which the election is held, and the other shall be transmitted to the board of commissioners, whose duty it shall be to decide, under proper regulations to be made by themselves, who are entitled to certificates of election, and to issue such certificate accordingly to the persons who, upon examination of the returns, shall appear to have received the highest number of legal votes in each county: Provided, in case of tie, said commissioners shall order a new election in like manner as is herein provided. Upon the completion of these duties said commission shall cease and determine.

• "Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That every white male citizen of the United States, (including Indians of like description qualified by existing laws to vote,) over twenty-one years old, who may be a bona fide inhabitant of said Territory at the passage of this act, and who shall have resided three months next before said election in the county in which he offers to vote, and no other persons whatever, shall be entitled to vote at said election, and all persons qualified as voters may be elected delegates to said convention, and no others.

• "Sec. 11. And be further enacted, That if any person by menaces, threats, or force, or by any other unlawful means, shall directly or indirectly attempt to influence any qualified voter in giving his vote, or deter him from giving the same, or disturb or hinder him in the free exercise of his right of suffrage, at the election provided for by this act, the person so offending shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by both, at the discretion of the court.

• "Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That any person not being a qualified voter according to the provisions of this act, who shall vote at the election herein provided for, knowing that he is not entitled to vote, and any person who shall, at the same election, vote more than once, whether at the same or different places, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of the court.

• "Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That any person whatsoever who may be charged with the holding of the election herein authorized to be held who shall wilfully and knowingly commit any fraud or irregularity whatever, with the intent to hinder, or prevent, or defeat

• a fair expression of the popular will in said election, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, at the discretion of the court.

• "Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the delegates thus elected shall assemble in convention at the capitol of said Territory, on the first Monday in December next, and form a constitution and State government, preparatory to their admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, by the name of the State of Kansas, with the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning on the western boundary of the State of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same, then west on said parallel to the one hundred and third meridian of longitude, then north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of latitude, then east on said parallel of latitude to the western boundary of the State of Missouri, then southward with said boundary to the beginning.

• "Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That commissioners shall receive, as their compensation, ten, dollars per day during their attendance on the business of said commission, beginning on the day they depart from home on the business of said commission, and their actual expenses, and said secretary of the board the sum of eight dollars per day, computed in like manner, and his expenses.

• "Sec. 16. And be it further enacted, That no person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments in said Territory; that the inhabitants of said Territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, of trial by jury, of proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate, and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted, No person shall be deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land; and should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property or demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law ought ever to be made or be in force in said Territory that shall in any manner interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements bona fide and without fraud previously proved. And the people of said Territory shall be entitled to the right to keep and bear arms, to the liberty of speech and of the press, as defined in the constitution of the United States, and all other rights of person or property thereby declared and as thereby defined.

• "Sec. 17. And be it further enacted, That the following propositions be, and the same are hereby, offered to the said convention of the people of Kansas, when formed, for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted by the convention and ratified by the people at the election for the adoption of the constitution, shall be obligatory on the United States and upon the said State of Kansas, to wit:....

The Senate Journal of  July 8, 1856 expands on this same topic. The interesting aspect about this particular House journal entry though. Is that it sets aside the doctrine by the current Supreme Court, of incorporation of Amendment II, doesn't it? For, it is quite apparent that both the House and Senate felt that the people were entitled to the right to keep and bear arms. In addition, that the right was secured from infringement from both the federal AND state government(s). Bearing in mind that we are a Constitutional Republic. How could what we witness here in 1856, possibly be changed to what is claimed by our government(s) today?

The Congress is the body that makes the laws, and the court is charged with interpreting the laws, correct? Tell me, is there any possible way that what is written above can be misinterpreted? Personally, I perceive of no way that it can. It shows that the clear intention of Amendment II is that The Right of The People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall NOT be Infringed. Now doesn't it? In addition to all of that, there is not one mention of militia is there? Which goes right in line with what was stated in the Senate Journal of July 8th.

And, would you take a look at what the U.S. Supreme Court thought the same year;

"It would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognised as citizens in any one State of the Union . . .the full liberty . . .to keep and carry arms wherever they went."

"More especially, it cannot be believed that the large slaveholding States regarded them as included in the word citizens, or would have consented to a Constitution which might compel them to receive them in that character from another State. For if they were so received, and entitled to the privileges and immunities of citizens, it would exempt them from the operation of the special laws and from the police regulations which they considered to be necessary for their own safety. It would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or night without molestation, unless they committed some violation of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went."

- Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856).

It should be plain for all to see that most of our government(s) have exceeded their Constitutionally delegated authority. They are infringing upon our God-given Natural and inalienable Right. Instead of securing it, as the House and Senate of 1856 did for their constituents. The current Constitutionally perverse infringements need to stop, and they need to stop now. And ALL 'gun control' 'laws' need to be immediately overturned. All such laws are Repugnant to We The Peoples Constitution, and therefore rightfully should be declared NULL and VOID. These people in our governments are our servants, not our masters. They don't tell us what OUR Constitution means, We tell them. We The People ARE, clothed with OUR Constitution, the "Final", "Legitimate" and "Ultimate" authority.