Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/742

 committee was the attempted arrest of Gov. Reeder, the contesting delegate, upon a writ of attachment issued against him by Judge Lecompte to compel his attendance as a witness before the grand jury of Douglas county. William Fane, recently from the state of Georgia, and claiming to be the deputy marshal, came into the room of the committee while Gov. Reeder was examining a witness before us, and producing the writ, required Gov. Reeder to attend him. Subsequent events have only strengthened the conviction of your committee that this was a wanton and unlawful interference by the judge who issued the writ, tending greatly to obstruct a full and fair investigation. Gov. Reeder and Gen. Whitfield alone were possessed of that local information which would enable us to elicit the whole truth, and it was obvious to every one that any event which would separate either of them from the committee would necessarily hinder, delay, and embarrass it. Gov. Reeder claimed that, under the circumstances in which he was placed, he was privileged from arrest except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace. As this was a question of privilege, proper for the courts, or for the privileged person alone to determine on his peril, we declined to give him any protection or take any action in the matter. He refused to obey the writ, believing it to be a mere pretense to get the custody of his person, and fearing, as he alleged, that he would be assassinated by lawless bands of men then gathering in and near Lecompton. He then left the territory.

Subsequently, H. Miles Moore, an attorney in Leavenworth City, but for several years a citizen of Westport, Mo., kindly furnished the committee information as to the residence of persons voting at the elections, and in some cases examined witnesses before us. He was arrested on the streets of that town by an armed band of about thirty men, headed by W. D. Wilkes, without any color of authority, confined, with other citizens, under a military guard for twenty-four hours, and then notified to leave the territory. His testimony was regarded as important, and upon his sworn statement that it would endanger his person to give it openly, the majority of your committee deemed it proper to examine him ex parte, and did so.

By reason of these occurrences, the contestant, and the party with and for whom he acted, were unrepresented before us during a greater portion of the time, and your committee were required to ascertain the truth in the best manner they could.

Your committee report the following facts and conclusions as established by the testimony:

First: That each election in the territory, held under the organic or alleged territorial law, has been carried on by organized invasions from the state of Missouri, by which the people of the territory have been prevented from exercising the rights secured to them by the organic law.

Second: That the alleged territorial legislature was an illegally constituted body, and had no power to pass valid laws, and their enactments are, therefore, null and void.

Third: That these alleged laws have not, as a general thing, been used to