On the seventh day the annexation of that portion of Nebraska lying
south of the Platte river, was formally considered. The then organized
Nebraska counties included in that section of our sister State had
elected delegates to the Convention, who were present earnestly
advocating annexation. This proposition was discussed during several
days, and the debate took a wide range. The Nebraska delegates were
admitted to seats as honorary members, with the privilege of speaking on
this subject. The final determination, however, was to preserve the
original Northern line. Two influences induced this decision, one
political, the other local and material. Many Republicans feared that
the South Platte country was, or would be likely to become, Democratic.
Lawrence and Topeka both aspired to be the State Capital, and their
influence was against annexation, because they feared it would throw the
center of population far north of the Kaw.
The Preamble and Bill of Rights was reported on the tenth day, and
opened the whole question of the State’s boundaries. The Committee
proposed the twenty-third meridian as the western line, and the fortieth
parallel as the line on the north. This would have excluded about ninety
miles of territory within the present limits of the State. The
Committee’s recommendation was, however, adopted, and stood as the
determination of the Convention until the day before the final
adjournment, when Col. May, of Atchison, secured a reconsideration, and
on his motion the twenty-fifth meridian was substituted for the
twenty-third. The northern boundary question was finally settled on the
fifteenth day, when, by a vote of 19 ayes to 29 nays, the Convention
refused to memorialize Congress to include the South Platte country
within the limits of Kansas.