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

KANSAS AFFAIRS. and all kinds of provisions, as well as two fine hlorses three saddles, two bridles, and all the money there was in the store. In tll,e conclusion of his affidavit, Mr. Miller says: "W'hen they first camne, they looked up at the sign, and said they would likle to shoot at the name." The affidavits accompanying this report are full and explanatory, and the undersigned begs to make thenm a part of his report. They are sworn to before a justice of the peace for Jackson county, Missouri, and the seal of the Jalckson county court is attached to the clerk's certificate, as to the official character of the justice of the peace. The undersigned thinks that, in reviewing these outrages, he did not inappropriately characterize the Pottawatomie creek murders as instances of "savage barbarity and demoniac cruelty," while the robberies of Bourn and Bernard are almost without parallel in the history of crime in this country. In this connexion, the undersigned deems it proper to state that the report so currently circulated throughout the country, to the effect that the lamented Wilkinson, Sherman, and the Doyles were ctaulght in the act of hanging a firee-State man, and were shot by a party of free-soilers, is without the least foundation in truth-that it is entirely false. In conclusion, the undersigned be,gs to report the following facts and conclusions, as he believes, established by the testimony and sanctioned by the law: First. That at the first election held in the Territory under the organic act, for delegate to Congress, Gen. John W. Whitfield reeived a plurality of the legal votes cast, and was duly elected such delegate, as stated in the majority report. Second. That the Territorial legislature was a legally constituted body, and had power to pass valid laws, and their enactments are therefore valid. Third. That these laws, when appealed to, have been used for the protection of life, liberty and property, and for the maintenance of law and order in the Territory. Fourth. That the election under which the sitting delegate, John W. Whitfield, was held, was in pursuance of valid law, and should be regarded as a valid election. Fifth. That as said Whitfield, at said election, received a large number of legal votes without opposition, he was duly elected as a delegate to this body, and is entitled to a seat on this floor as such. Sixthl. That the election under which the contesting delegate, Andrew H. Reeder, claims his seat, was not held under any law, but in contemptuous disregard of all law; and that it should only be re garded as the expression of a band of malcontents and revolutionists, and consequently should be wholly disregarded by the House. Seventh. As to whether or not Andrew H. Reeder received a greater number of votes of resident citizens on the 9th, than J. W. Whitfield did on the lst of October, 1855, no testimony was taken by the committee, so far as the undersigned knows, nor is it material to the issue. All of which is respectfully submitted. M. OLIVER. 109

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Title
Report of the special committee appointed to investigate the troubles in Kansas,: with the views of the minority of said committee.
Author
United States. Congress.
Canvas
Page 109
Publication
Washington,: C. Wendell, printer,
1856.
Subject terms
Kansas -- History

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"Report of the special committee appointed to investigate the troubles in Kansas,: with the views of the minority of said committee." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/afk4445.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 14, 2025.
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