Your committee report the following facts not shown by the tables Of the 2,905 voters named in the census rolls, 831 are found on the poll-books. Some of the settlers were prevented from attending the election by the distance of their homes from the polls, but the great majority were deterred by the open avowal that large bodies of armed Missourians would be at the polls to vote, and by the fact that they did so appear and control the election. The same causes deterred the free-State settlers from running candidates in several districts, and in others induced the candidates to withdraw.

The poll-books of the 2d and 8th districts were lost, but the proof is quite clear that in the 2d district there were thirty, and in the 8th district thirty-eight legal votes, making a total of eight hundred and ninety-eight legal voters of the Territory whose names are on the census returns. And yet the proof, in the state in which we are obliged to present it, after excluding illegal votes, leaves the total vote of 1,410, showing a discrepancy of 512. The discrepancy is accounted for in two ways: First, the coming in of settlers before the March election, and after the census was taken, or settlers who were omitted in the census; or, secondly, the disturbed state of the Territory while we were investigating the elections in some of the districts, thereby preventing us from getting testimony in relation to the names of illegal voters at the time of election.

If the election had been confined to the actual settlers, undeterred by the presence of non-residents, or the knowledge that they would be present in numbers sufficient to outvote them, the testimony indicates that the council would have been composed of seven in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected from the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 6th council districts. The result in the 8th and 10th, electing three members, would have been doubtful, and the 5th, 7th, and 9th would have elected three pro-slavery members.

Under like circumstances the House of Representatives would have been composed of fourteen members in favor of making Kansas a free State, elected from the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th representative districts.

The result in the 12th and 14th representative districts, electing five members, would have been doubtful; and the 1st, 6th, 11th, and 15th districts would have elected seven pro-slavery members.

By the election as conducted, the pro-slavery candidates in every district but the 8th representative district received a majority of the votes; and several of them, in both the council and house, did not "reside in" and were not "inhabitants of" the district for which they were elected, as required by the organic law.

By that act, it was declared to be "the true intent and meaning of this act to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject to the constitution of the United States." So careful was Congress of the right of popular sovereignty, that to secure it to the people, without a single petition from any portion of the country, they removed the restriction against slavery imposed by the Missouri compromise. And yet this right, so carefully secured, was thus by force and fraud overthrown by a portion of the people of an adjoining State

The striking difference between this republic and other republics on this continent is not in the provisions of constitutions and laws, but that here changes in the administration of those laws have been made peacefully and quietly through the ballot-box. This invasion is the first and only one in the history of our government, by which an organized force from one State has elected a legislature for another State or Territory, and as such it should have been resisted by the whole executive power of the national government.

Your committee are of the opinion, that the constitution and laws. of the United States have invested the President and the governor of the Territory with ample power for this purpose. They could only act after receiving authentic information of the facts; but when received, whether before or after the certificates of election were granted, this power should have been exercised to its fullest extent.

It is not to be tolerated that a legislative body thus selected should assume or exercise any legislative functions; and their enactments should be regarded as null and void. Nor should the question of its legal existence as a legislative body be determined by itself, as that would be allowing the criminal to judge of his own crime.

In section 22d of the organic act it is provided, that "the persons· having the highest number of legal votes in each of said council districts for members of the council, shall be declared by the governor to be duly elected to the council, and the persons having the highest number of legal votes for the House of Representatives shall be declared by the governor duly elected members of said house." The proclamation of the governor required a verified notice of a contest, when one was made, to be filed with him within four days after the election. Within that time he did not obtain information as to force or fraud in any except the following districts; and in these there were material defects in the returns of election. Without deciding upon his power to set aside elections for force and fraud, they were set aside for the following reasons:

In the 1st district, because the words "by lawful resident voters' were stricken from the return.

In the 2d district, because the oath was administered by G. W. Taylor, who was not authorized to administer an oath.

In the 3d district, because material erasures from the printed form of the oath were purposely made.

In the 4th district, for the same reason.

In the 7th district, because the judges were not sworn at all.

In the 11th district, because the returns show the election to have been held viva voce instead of by ballot.

In the 16th district, because the words "by lawful residents" were stricken from the returns.

Although the fraud and force in other districts was equally great as in these, yet, as the governor had no information in regard to them, he issued certificates according to the returns.

ELECTION OF MAY 22, 1855.

The election to fill the vacancies caused by the action of the governor was held on the 22d of May, 1855. There was no illegal voting at that election except in the 16th district, at Leavenworth. For that district the pro-slavery party, while publicly refusing to acknowledge the legality of that election, not only voted, but a large number of the citizens of Missouri came over and voted as at the previous election. (1) The majority of the judges decided that all that was necessary to constitute a legal voter, was to have some one say he had some interest in the Territory. (2) No one was sworn that day, or even challenged. (3) The steamboat Kate Kassel came up, and men from her came ashore and voted. (4) Many free-State men did not vote that day. (5) One of the free-State judges desired the words "by lawful resident voters" to be striken out of the return before he would sign it,(6) and only signed the return with those words in under a misapprehension. (7) It is impossible for your committee accurately to decide which party would have had a majority of the legal votes of the district, had no illegal votes been polled, on account of the difficulty of determining who were legal and who were illegal voters at that election.

Abstract of the returns of election of May 22, 1855.

Your committee have felt it to be their duty, not only to inquire into and collect evidence in regard to force and fraud attempted and practised at the elections in the Territory, but also into the facts and pretexts by which this force and fraud have been excused or justified; and, for this purpose, your committee have allowed the declarations

(1) Wm. H. Adams, G. H. Keller, Amos Rees.

(2) M. France, Adam Fisher.

(3) Matt. France, W. H. Adams, A. Fisher.

(4) Matt. France, W. H. Adams.

(5) M. France, A. Fisher.

(6) Matt. France, Adam Fisher.

(7) Matt. France.