Report of the special committee appointed to investigate the troubles in Kansas,: with the views of the minority of said committee.

KANSAS AFFAIRS.
ing the prisoner to Lecompton, he was met about two o'clock in the
morning by a band of these men, consisting of between forty and fifty,
all armed with Sharpe's rifles and revolvers, who forcibly rescued the
prisoner out of his hands, and openly proclaimed that there were no
officers or law in this Territory. In the settlement in which these
transactions took place there were from sixteen to twenty law and
order families, and about one hundred free-soil families. At the last
advices three of the houses of the former had been burnt down by this
armed band.
Cattle had been killed, and a considerable amount of corn and other
personal property destroyed, and the whole law and order population
of that neighborhood, induced by terror, had fled, except two families,
whose lives were threatened. Helpless women and children have been
forced by fear and threats to flee from their homes, and seek shelter
and protection in the State of Missouri. Measures were being taken
by the legal authorities to procure warrants against these lawless men,
and have them arrested and legally tried. Under these circumstances
the sheriff of the county has called on me for three thousand men to
aid him in the execution of the warrants in hiis hands, and to protect
himi aLnd his prisoner from the violence of this armed force. The force
required by the sheriff is far beyond what I believe to be necessary"
and incleedl far beyond what could be raised in this Territory. From
five to eight hundred men will be amply sufficient, I have no doubt,
to ipr)iotect the sheriff, and enable him to execute the legal process in
lhis hands. With the view of giving to the sheriff the requisite aid,
I have issued orders to Major General Richardson, of the northern
division of militia of this Territory-a prudent and discreet man-a
copy of which I send you herewith. 1 also send you a copy of a
iequest I have made of General Strickler, who resides in the adjoin inog county to Douglas. These are the only orders I have thought it
necessary to issue, by means of which I believe a sufficient force will
be raised to protect the sheriff, and enable him to execute the legal
process in his lhads.
The time has come when this armed band of men, who are seeking
to subvert and render powerless the existing government, have to be
niet and the laws enforced against them, or submit to their lawless
dominion. If the lives and property of unoffending citizens of this
Territory cannot be protected by law, there is an end to practical gov ernment, and it becomes a useless formality.
The excitement along the border of Missouri is running wild, and
nothing but the enforcement of the laws against these men will allay
it. Since the disclosure of the existence and purposes of this secret
military organization in this Territory, there has been much excite ment along the borders of Missouri, but it has been held in check,
heretofore, by assurances that the laws of the Territory would be en forced, and that protection would be given to the citizens against all
unlawful acts of this accociation. This feeling and intense excite ment can still be held in subordination if the laws are faithfully ex ecuted; etherwise there is no power here that can control this border
excitement, and civil war is inevitable. This military organization is
looked upon as hostile to all southern men, or rather to the law and
H. Rep. 200 7
97