Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/740

 of armed bodies of men, who, from their equipments, came not to follow the peaceful pursuits of life, but armed and organized into companies, apparently for war—by the unlawful detention of persons and property while passing through the state of Missouri, and by frequent forcible seizures of persons and property in the territory without legal warrant. Your committee regret that they were compelled to witness instances of each of these classes of outrages While holding their session at Westport, Mo., at the request of the sitting delegate, they saw several bodies of armed men, confessedly citizens of Missouri, march into the territory on forays against its citizens, but under the pretense of enforcing the enactments before referred to. The wagons of emigrants were stopped in the highways, and searched without claim or legal powers, and in some instances all their property taken from them. In Leavenworth City, leading citizens were arrested at noonday in our presence, by an armed force, without any claim of authority, except that derived from a self-constituted committee of vigilance, many of whom were executive and legislative officers. Some were released on promising to leave the territory, and others, after being detained for a time, were formally notified to leave, under the severest penalties. The only offense charged against them was their political opinions, and no one was thus arrested for alleged crime of any grade. There was no resistance to these lawless acts by the settlers, because, in their opinion, the persons engaged in them would be sustained and reinforced by the citizens of the populous border counties of Missouri, from whence they were only separated by the river. In one case witnessed by your committee, an application for the writ of habeas corpus was prevented by the urgent solicitation of pro-slavery men, who insisted that it would endanger the life of the prisoner to be discharged under legal process.

While we remained in the territory, repeated acts of outrage were committed upon the quiet, unoffending citizens, of which we received authentic intelligence. Men were attacked on the highway, robbed, and subsequently imprisoned. Men were seized and searched, and their weapons of defense taken from them without compensation. Horses were frequently taken and appropriated. Oxen were taken from the yoke while plowing, and butchered in the presence of their owners. One young man was seized in the streets of the town of Atchison, and under circumstances of gross barbarity was tarred and cottoned, and in that condition was sent to his family. All the provisions of the constitution of the United States, securing persons and property, are utterly disregarded. The officers of the law, instead of protecting the people, were in some instances engaged in these outrages, and in no instance did we learn that any man was arrested, indicted, or punished for any of these crimes. While such offenses were committed with impunity, the laws were used as a means of indicting men for holding elections, preliminary to framing a constitution and applying for admission into the Union as the state of Kansas. Charges of high treason were made against prominent citizens upon grounds which seem to your committee absurd and ridiculous, and under these charges they are now held in custody and are refused the privilege of bail. In several cases, men