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 KANSAS CONTESTED ELECTION. 
 
 SPEECH OE HON. M^RK TR^FTON, 
 
 OF MASSACHUSETTS, 
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 
 
 March 12, 1856, 
 
 0?i the Resolution reported from the Committee of Elections, in the 
 Contested Election Case from the Territonj of Kansas. 
 
 Mr. TRAFTONsaid: 
 
 Mr. Speaker: I do not propose, in the few re- 
 marks I shall make, to give myself a very wide 
 range — I wish to confine my attention particu- 
 larly to one or two points. I think the question 
 now before this House is narrowed to a point. 
 The question simply is. Are these things so, as 
 alleged in the report of the Committee of Elec- ■ 
 tions ? The interest at stake is not the interest 
 of Governor Reeder, or the interest of General ; 
 Whitfield, or the interest of any other individ- ' 
 ual, nor the interest of any particular portion of 
 this wide-spread land. It is a question of interest 
 beyond all these. If Governor Reeder justly 
 claims his seat, then this House ought to cheer- 
 fully accord the seat in contest to that gentle- 
 man? If General Whitfield justly claims it, then 
 he ought to hold it. But when the facts shall \ 
 have been spread before the House, and the evi- | 
 dence adduced shall have been brought in, my ' 
 understanding shall be open to receive the light 
 of that evidence. I will then as cheerfully vote 
 for General Whitfield, if I am convinced that the 
 seat justly belongs to him, as I will vote for Gov- 
 ernor Reeder. We are not acting here alone 
 with reference to the condition of things in that 
 Territory of Kansas. 
 
 It strikes me that this question looks further 
 still. Every member of this body will agree with ' 
 me in this. It looks down the vista of coming 
 time and coming ages ; and those who shall come 
 after us are interested in this question as deeply 
 as we are ; and for them, as custodians of their 
 rights and their interests, we ought to look at 
 this matter quietly and calmly and deliberately; 
 yet manfully decide it on the merits of the ques- 
 tion. And now, Mr. Speaker, the Committee of 
 Elections come into this House and make a re- 
 port; they say that there are certain allegations. 
 They spread them before us. They say that 
 there has been an invasion of the rights of the 
 actual settlers of the Territory of Kansas. They 
 say that foreigners, who had no right there, came 
 
 in armed, with music — it may be " Blue Bonnets 
 over the Border," or "Hail Columbia!" — that 
 they came in with cannon, with tents, with cook- 
 ing utensils — that they came in to vote, and that 
 when they had voted they departed. I do not 
 say these are facts. They are allegations. They 
 are set forth by parties who profess to have 
 knowledge on which their statements are rested. 
 These are the allegations presented in the report 
 of the Committee of Elections. Instead of deci- 
 ding that question for themselves, what do they 
 ask? Not to receive their ijt)«e <f!Z!<, not to take 
 their mere say-so, not to believe rumor, not to 
 take hearsay, but they ask for power to send for 
 persons and papers. In other words, they ask to 
 establish these things if they be so; to prove 
 them false if they be not so. I can hardly think 
 there is a gentleman on the floor of this House 
 who will rise up in his place and say that this 
 reasonable request ought not to be granted. 
 
 Are these things so? General Whitfield, on 
 the other hand, denies these allegations. The 
 minority report, made by the eloquent gentleman 
 from Georgia, [Mr. Stephens,] denies these alle- 
 gations. They say that there has been trespass 
 in that Territory on the rights of actual settlers 
 by Northern men — Northern " ruffians," if yon 
 please; that men were hired, bought up for the 
 occasion — men from alms-houses — men gathered 
 up in the streets of Boston. Now, I am interested 
 to know whether these things be so. 
 
 I cannot act here in my seat — these gentlemen 
 on this floor cannot act understandingly, until 
 there is more light thrown on them than there 
 is at present brought to bear on them. If, on the 
 other hand, these things be so, and after the evi- 
 dence shall have been brought in, they are proved 
 to be so — if the aggression has been on the part 
 of Northern men, I should be as ready as any 
 other man to censure that aggression and disap- 
 prove of these acts. 
 
 But I understand it is admitted that there wm 
 an invasion. I understood the gentleman fron: 
 
Missouri, [Mr. Oliver,] last Friday, to admit 
 that the inhabitants of Missouri had gone over 
 into Kansas, and had voted in that Territory. If 
 I misunderstood the gentleman, I should behajipy 
 to be corrected. I do not see the gentleman in 
 his seat. 
 
 Mr. STEPHENS. I recollect very well that the 
 gentleman from Missouri expressly said that he 
 was not aware that a single man from Missouri 
 voted in that Territory. 
 
 Mr. KEITT. The gentleman from Missouri is 
 necessarily absent from the House this morning. 
 Mr. TRAFTON. I understood that gentleman 
 to admit that Missourians had gone into that 
 Territory. He made the admission, and did not 
 deny it. I supposed the gentleman was present 
 this morning, and I am sorry he is not in his 
 seat. 
 
 Mr. STEPHENS. If the gentleman will allow 
 me, I will state what I understood the gentleman 
 from Missouri to say. 
 
 Mr. TRAFTON. I will not yield now. The 
 gentleman will have abundant opportunity to re- 
 ply to my remarks when I have closed. 
 
 Now, the great reason offered as an objection 
 to granting the request of the Committee of Elec- 
 tions to have power to send for persons and pa- 
 pers,- is, that a society called the " New England 
 Emigrant Aid Society" has had something to do 
 with this matter, and therefore we should not 
 look into the facts of the case. They say that a 
 great wrong has been perpetrated by Massachu- 
 setts men, by New England men, banded and as- 
 sociated together, called the New England Emi- 
 grant Aid Society; and because that wrong has 
 been perpetrated, we should not look into the 
 matter, to ascertain what are the facts of the 
 case; and, therefore, because there has been this 
 wrong, they on the other side may commit an- 
 other wrong. I have learned, long since, that two 
 wrongs can never make a right. Now, sir, if the 
 New England Emigrant Aid Society has commit- 
 ted an otfence, it does not excuse the citizens of 
 Missouri for the commission of another offence. 
 If the Emigrant Aid Society has committed an 
 offence, that does not bring back the souls of 
 men who have been murdered in that Territory. 
 But what are the facts in the case? I propose 
 this morning, for a short time, to call the atten- 
 tion of the House to this great matter of the New 
 England Emigrant Aid Spciety. I know this is a 
 very startling epithet. It may be that mothers, 
 far in the West, may hush their crying children 
 by telling them that if they do not stop, the " New 
 England Emigrant JLid Society" will be after 
 them. I should not wonder. It seems some- 
 thing terrible. Now, what is the "New England 
 Emigrant Aid Society?" Is it a new thing un- 
 der the sun? Is it something unheard of? Is 
 it a new line of policy adopted in this country? 
 Has the thing never been known before? I ad- 
 mit the existence of such a society. I have be- 
 fore me every publication which that Society has 
 put forth to the world, even to the songs with 
 which they 
 
 •' Shook the depths of tlieir forest home "' 
 in that far-off land. They have done nothing in 
 
 secret, nothing covertly, nothing of which they 
 are ashamed, and nothing to call a blush upon 
 their cheek. 
 
 I propose to present this matter to the House 
 and to the country, but, before I come immedi- 
 ately to that subject, allow me to say that the 
 matter of this New England Emigrant Aid So- 
 ciety is an old thing. Why, sir, the merit of this 
 discovery does not lie with those gentlemen who 
 first met together here in the city of Washington, 
 and put their names to that paper to which our 
 attention was called last Friday. It is something 
 which has been in existence for a long time, and 
 which has been pursued as a line of policy for 
 more than two hundred years. Why, sir, there 
 is not an old State in this Union which was not 
 settled by the aid of precisely the kind of socie- 
 ties as that which is now in existence in New 
 England, and which has called down upon itself 
 such heavy anathemas since this debate was 
 opened. Who peopled Virginia — glorious old 
 Virginia, as she is called? Emigrant Aid Socie- 
 ties. Who peopled Georgia? Emigrant Aid So- 
 cieties. Who pushed the first settlers up the 
 Missouri, and who first settled Alabama? Who 
 first peopled Massachusetts ? Emigrant Aid So- 
 cieties. Ah, sir, I cannot say as much for Plym- 
 outh. The Puritan fathers went without the 
 aid of Emigrant Societies. The society which 
 sent them there was a society of a different char- 
 acter. But the Massachusetts colony svent under 
 the auspices, the protection of, and were backed 
 up by the influence and money, of Emigrant Aid 
 Societies. So with every old State in this Union ; 
 and now, forsooth, the sons of these sires come 
 here and undertake to censure the New England 
 Emigrant Aid Society for doing precisely that 
 to which they owe their very existence. Ungrate- 
 ful sons of worthy sires ! 
 
 I propose to call the attention of the House, 
 very briefl}^, to a little historical matter, and thus 
 tostirup the pure mind ofour patriarchal brethren 
 upon the other side of the House. I want the 
 record. I want to appeal to the law and the testi- 
 mony. Now, sir, I hold in my hand the first 
 volume of a history of Virginia, from which I 
 propose to read some extracts. Now, sir, how 
 happened it that individuals ever thought of going 
 to the wilds of Virginia in those early times ? It 
 was not started by personal enterprise or personal 
 ambition alone ; by no manner of means. Why, 
 sir, every man present this morning, and listening 
 to me, is perfectly well aware that an association 
 was formed in England, that a grant of land was 
 procured, and that a society based upon money 
 was formed, proposing to establish a colony in 
 Virginia. I liaYC before me the letters patent, 
 granting liberty and freedom to a certain individ- 
 ual, his heirs and assigns, forever, " to discover, 
 find, search out, and colonize, all such heathen 
 and barbarous lands," &c. 
 
 The New England Emigrant Aid Societies re- 
 ceived a patent something like that : not exactly 
 to search and find out heathen lands, and all that 
 sort of thing. The only difference between the 
 one and the other is, that the one was signed by 
 the Queen of England, and its powers were 
 
 ^^^'^ 
 
jrranted by tlie British Parlinincnt ; ftnd the powers 
 
 M the other were grunted by the Miissrtehusett3 
 Legishxturc, and sigued by the Governor and 
 
 [Speaker of the House pf Representatives, as I 
 
 Uhall show directly. 
 
 j Well now, sir, when Sir Walter Raleigh had 
 secured this patent, the next thing to be done was 
 
 'to form a company, precisely like the New Eng- 
 
 jland Emigrant Aid Societies. Jlouey was wanted. 
 ' fllear what the historian says : 
 
 " But, Mr. Uttlei!,'!i, who was laiicht. ' y the eXpeiliiion 
 
 iolSir H.CiiUitrl, lUeKn-iU cxju-nses which a voyape of 
 
 (lUc(>\'.rv iTi>alfil was iinxioii~- to associate with liiin, as 
 
 I ipt.rlmTs'111 the profits and perils of the adventure, men of 
 
 iWv.-ighl, and such as wera altachcil 10 him by sitnilariiy 
 
 lof lasle." &c. 
 
 j By the efforts of the New England Aid Societies 
 
 ■ I not two small vessels were provisioned and fitted 
 
 out, but a number of cars on the railroad were 
 
 ' filled with men. Pray, where is the difference ? 
 
 I Both these Emigrant Aid Societies were acting in 
 the same line — both were working for the same 
 
 ' object. These old histories are to me exceedingly 
 
 I interesting, as illustrating our own times and 
 efforts to promote emigration to new Territories. 
 
 I Well, sir, on page 63 you will find it written 
 that the following year three ships were dispatched 
 under the command of Mr. John White, who was 
 appointed Governor of the colony, with twelve 
 councillors. To them Mr. Raleigh gave a charter 
 of incorporation, under the name of " Governor 
 and Assistants of the City of Raleigh, in Vir- 
 ginia," with directions to settle on the river Ches- 
 apeake, the limit of the northern discoveries. 
 
 I will show you directly the perfect parallel to 
 this in the charter of the New England Emigrant 
 Aid Societies. Well, sir, money was expended. 
 Ah, sir, I remember the other day, when the gen- 
 tleman from Missouri [Mr. Oliver] — who, I am 
 sorry, is not now in his seat — stated, on the floor 
 of this House, that the " Emigrant Aid Societies " 
 of New England had a capital of $5,000,000 ; 
 and of course the impression was made that they 
 had expended some hundreds of thousands of 
 dollars iu buying paupers and street scavengers 
 for this newly-organized Territory. I will come 
 to that by and by. 
 
 I read again from the history : 
 
 ' Forty lhou»an'i pounds at tiie outset were expended in 
 the several expeditions to old Virginia, and nothinj; liad 
 as yet tippeared 10 justify a liope for the indemnification." 
 
 Not a solitary return, sir, even of a single bea- 
 ver-skin: £40,000, then equal to nearly £80,000 
 of the present money of Great Britain, had been 
 expended, and nothing attained. 
 
 Well, sir, they did not give it up; and I am 
 glad they did not, because, if they had, our worthy 
 friends from Virginia would not be here this 
 morning among us. I do not know whether we 
 would be here ourselves. 
 
 Well, sir, let us look at another thing here: 
 
 '•The inirneiiise treasures brouglit home by the I'ortu- 
 giese and Spaniards had filled tlic mind* of the Virginia 
 company with ;.ioldeii dreams."' 
 
 Ah, these are sweet dreams — sometimes " gold- 
 «n dreams ! " That company, located in London, 
 looking out over this vast continent, expected 
 by and by that galleon after galleon would come 
 
 bounding over the waves, filled with brightycllow 
 ingots. Sir, when the western Territory was 
 opened, there were reports brought to us of the 
 Nortli and of the East— and they spread through 
 the West— of broad and glorious i)rairies covered 
 with multitudes of beautiful flower.'', splendid 
 streams, magnificent forests— everything to invite 
 the tiller of the soil. Wliy, sir, thc.?e reports 
 filled us all with " golden dreams." Will you 
 wonder that New England was stirred from center 
 to circumference ? Do you wonder that the hard 
 hand of toil trembled to be about the work of 
 that Territory? Do you wonder that the eyes of 
 the earnest young man of New England were 
 looking out for a home there? Do you wonder 
 that his foot should involuntarily lift itself from 
 the soil, to plant itself in Kansas? "Golden 
 dreams!" — exactly parallel cases! This Terri-^ 
 tory was ours ; it was Freedom's domain, conse- 
 crated by the toil, tears, lUid blood of our fathers. 
 We had a right to go there, and ask no man's 
 permission. 
 
 Sir, who peopled Maryland? I hold in my 
 hand the first volume of Bosman's History' of 
 Maryland. I wish to call the attention of the 
 House to two or three points in the history which 
 I have before me. It will be remembered by mem- 
 bers of the House, Mr. Speaker, that the first 
 efforts to settle this country were made with ref- 
 erence to the undivided territory of Maryland and 
 Virginia. In other words, the original grants 
 covered the territory of what is now both States. 
 Here, sir, is an indenture of grant, bearing date 
 the 7th of January, 1581 — new style — granted 
 to John White, and twelve others therein men- 
 tioned, in which they have " free liberty to carry 
 with them to the lately-discovered, barbarous 
 land — a country called Assamacomock, alias Win- 
 gandacoia, alias Virginitx — there to inhabit them, 
 such and so many of her Majesty's subjects as 
 shall willingly accompany them, and also divers 
 and sundrie other prerogatives, jurisdictions, roy- 
 alties, and preheminences." Mr. Speaker, here are 
 the germs of ourmodern " Emigrant Aid Society," 
 now so condemned by the slaveocracy. 
 
 I will not stop to read further. The point to 
 which I desire to call your attention is, that this 
 country was settled in pursuance of an Emigrant 
 Aid Society formed in London. 
 
 And now, Mr. Speaker, I want to say to this 
 House, this morning, that emigration from the 
 North and East to new Territories is not a new 
 thing in the history of the country. Why, sir, 
 emigration has always tended that way; from the 
 first'settlement of theMassachusetts colony, almost 
 the entire tide of emigration has been flowing 
 westward and southward. This is not the first 
 time that it has turned in that direction. Why, 
 sir, the progenitors of many of the present in- 
 habitants of Alabama, and of the entire valley 
 of the Mississippi, started originally from the 
 Connecticut valley, from the very seat, from the 
 very fountain head, of all the fanaticism with which 
 we are charged. I refer gentlemen to the second 
 volume of the history of Alabama, page 177, for . 
 full information in reference to the Emigrant Aid 
 Society. They started from the Connecticut val- 
 
ley, went up the Mississippi river, and planted 
 themselves in those Western wilds ; from whence 
 have sprung the present inhabitants of Missouri, 
 and a portion, at least, of Alabama. 
 
 I have before me. a list of the names of the per- 
 sons who went out under the patronage of that 
 Emigrant Aid Society. I have not time to read it, 
 but the names now borne by many of the promi- 
 nent men of those States will be found there. 
 And I discover, too, that in this list of names is 
 one of those terrible reverends, about which so 
 much has been said in this House, who are said 
 to be always in every possible sort of agitation. 
 Yet I find in this list of persons who emigrated 
 to the valley of the Mississippi one of those terri- 
 ble reverends. 
 
 Now, sir, I ask the attention of the House for 
 a moment to a company formed in 1789. It ap- 
 pears that there was a very large tract of land 
 claimed by Georgia, under a charter of Charles 
 n — all the territory lying between 31° and 35°, 
 from the Savannah to the Mississippi. Of this, 
 five millions of acres were sold to the " South 
 Carolina Yazoo Company," and five hundred 
 thousand acres to the " Tennessee Company." 
 Spain claimed much of this territory, and these 
 difficulties were not yet arranged. " But," says 
 the historian, " Georgia took the matter into her 
 ' own hands, as she has ever done with what concern- 
 ' ed her " — mark that, sir I — " and as she alu-ays 
 ' will.'" "Washington issued a proclamation against 
 the whole enterprise, " but the Tennessee Com- 
 pany heeded him not ! " They went to the Ter- 
 ritory against the proclamation of the Executive, 
 threw up works of defence, and invited settlers 
 to purchase their lands; but the Government 
 forces attacked the company, drove them out of 
 the Territory, and burned their defences. 
 
 Well, sir, these were nothing more nor less 
 than Emigrant Aid Societies ; formed with a pe- 
 cuniary object in view, to be sure, but their ob- 
 ject was still to colonize those vast Territories 
 then remaining unoccupied, and they induced 
 these persons to go there for this purpose. 
 
 Now, Mr. Speaker, one extract more in refer- 
 ence to the South Carolina Emigrant Aid Socie- 
 ty : 
 
 "Ths'Aid Society 'also altempted to 'colonize their 
 Iniidj.' and cnnstituted one O'Fallan, their 'emigrant 
 agent,' who went to Kentucky, 'raised troop?, and issued 
 coinmis ions in an illegal manner.' But Washington 
 raiised OFallan to be arrested, and crdered General St. 
 CI, irlo put down hv military force all attempts to colo- 
 nize the Natchez country." 
 
 And now, Mr. Speaker, the citizens of these 
 same States condemn, as an unconstitutional and 
 rebellious act, the effort of the New England Em- 
 igrant Aid Society peaceably to accomiilish what 
 they undertook by force and arms. 
 
 These were the sentiments of the law-abiding 
 people of the slaveholding States in this olden 
 time. I will say, however, for the honor of old 
 Virginia, that the Virginia Yazoo Company did 
 not attempt to settle the lands which they had 
 purchased. 
 
 Well, now, sir, I think I have made it clear to 
 the House that the idea of Emigrant Aid Socie- 
 ties originated far back in the history of the 
 country, and, therefore, the New England Emi- 
 
 grant Aid Society rests upon high precedent. 
 This is one ground of defence for that organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 Now, Mr. Speaker, what were the objects of 
 this Emigrant Aid Society, of which so much 
 has been said in this House, in its formation, 
 and to what end have its efforts been directed ? 
 Why, sir, I assert that they are Liberty, Freedom, 
 the right of freemen to occupy free territory — 
 nothing more, and nothing less. 
 
 There have been no attempts to disguise this 
 thing. It was not done in a corner. The bill 
 which repealed the Missouri Compromise was 
 passed in the night — in the dark night, as was 
 fitting for a deed so disgraceful. But how was 
 the case in the act which followed it ? The first 
 meeting was gathered together here in Washing- 
 ton. The paper was signed in the open daylight ; 
 and it struck me the other day, when the gentle- 
 man from Missouri alluded to you, Mr. Speaker, 
 as having been one of the signers of that paper, 
 that you never did a more glorious and worthy 
 act in your life — an act of which you may be 
 justly proud to your latest hour. 
 
 I will read, for the benefit of those who are to 
 come after me, the act of incorporation of this 
 New England- Emigrant Aid Society. It is as 
 follows : 
 
 Commonwealth, of Massachusetts, in the year one thousand 
 
 eight hundred and fifly-five. 
 AN ACT to incorporate the New England Emigrant Aid 
 
 Company. 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in 
 
 General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, 
 
 asfolloics : 
 
 Sec. I. Eli Thaver, Amos A. Lawrence, John M. S. 
 Williams, and Thomas H.Webb, their associates, succes 
 sbrs, and assigns, are hereby made a corporation, by the 
 name of the New "England Emigrant Aid Company, for 
 the purpose of directing emigration westward, and aiding 
 in providing accomn odations for the emigrants after ar- 
 riving at their places of destination ; • nd for these pur 
 poses they have all the powers and privileges, and are suli 
 ject to all the duties, restrictions, and liabilities, set forth 
 m the forty-fourth chapter of the Revised Statutes. 
 
 Sec. 2. The capital stock of said corporation shal i.ot 
 exceec one million of dollars. Sairl capital stock ma be 
 invesed in real and personal estate : Provided, tt/e saiu 
 corporation shall not hold real estate ii thi- Com'ron- 
 weaUh to an amount exceeding twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 3. This act shall take eflect from and niter it-, pas- 
 
 HousE OF REPKESENTATrvES February 16, 1855. 
 
 Passed to be enacted. DANIEL C EDDY, Speaker. 
 In Se.nate, February 17, 1S55. 
 Passed to be enacted. 
 
 HENRY W. BENCHLY, President. 
 February 21, 1S55. .Approved. 
 
 HEi\RY J. GARDAER. 
 
 Who are the gentlemen thus incorporated to 
 aid emigation to Kansas ? 
 
 I am aware that our Southern brethren sup- 
 posed these gentlemen were fanatics. They have 
 never been ranked as Abolitionists— have never 
 been known as Anti-Slavery men. They have 
 never been affiliated with Mr. Garrison and the 
 class he represents ; they have never affiliated 
 even with our common Anti-Slavery organiza- 
 tions of the North. Among the officers of this 
 Society, Amos A. Lawrence, J. M. S. Williams, 
 and J. Lowell, of Boston, are merchant princes. 
 We have Professor Silliman, of Yale College ; 
 Eli Thayer, of Worcester ; and N. A. Chapman, 
 of Springfield. Are these men fanatics ? No ! but 
 
they are Auti-Slavery men to thoir hcarfd core^ 
 and you have made them such. Your abomina- 
 ble Fugitive Law made thousands of Abolitionists 
 in the North ; while the unjust and iniquitous 
 Kansas-Nebraska bill was the " last straw that 
 broke the camel's back," and it has fully awaken- 
 ed the people of the free States to the aggressive 
 poHcy of the Slave Power. Thank yourselves 
 for these results. 
 
 I might go on and read the names of twenty 
 or thirty others of like character. Those who 
 know them will bear witness that they are not 
 fanatics. They are sober, steady men ; intelli- 
 gent, intlueutial men. They will not suffer by 
 comparison with the constituency of the honora- 
 ble gentleman from Missouri, [Mr. Oliver,] who 
 took occasion to give so high a character to 
 those who sent him to this House. I think that 
 they will compare favorably with his iJr any 
 other gentleman's constituency. 
 
 What was the object of this organization ? It 
 was to extend the area of Freedom. They set 
 forth, in their plan of operations, that the Emi- 
 grant Aid Society has been formed to protect 
 emigrants, as far as may be, from the dangers 
 which usually attend them. Its duty is to or- 
 ganize emigration to the West, to bring it into a 
 system. That was the object. It has been as- 
 serted on this floor, again and again, that this 
 Society have hired men to go to Kansas to vote ; 
 that they paid their expenses ; that they took 
 them from the chilly regions of poverty and deg- 
 radation into their bosoms, warmed them into 
 life, and set them down in the Western Territo- 
 ries, to control the elections there, and for noth- 
 ing else. There is not a word of truth in these 
 allegations. The Emigrant Aid Society has never 
 paid the passage of one solitary man to Kansas. 
 I challenge in this successful contradiction. They 
 have never given a bonus to one solitary man, 
 or offered it to any man, or to any company of 
 men. They have held out no inducements other 
 than these : They have said that they would 
 build a hotel in that Territory, that the emi- 
 grants may have a resting-place when they reach 
 the Territory ; that they will put up a saw-mill ; 
 that they will endeavor to bring about the emi- 
 grants some of the comforts of social life, which 
 they sacrifice to go and build a new free State in 
 iie Territory of Kansas. That is all ; no more, 
 no less. 
 
 The capital of the society is $1,000,000, but 
 they have never received into their treasury quite 
 850,000. They have not expended quite ?50,000. 
 They have made arrangements by which railroad 
 companies will transport emigrants at reduced 
 rates, precisely as foreign emigrants are trans- 
 ported to our Western Territories — precisely as 
 they transport large companies of men for any 
 and all objects. They have never taken men from 
 the poor-houses or penitentiaries, and sent them 
 to Kansas for the purpose of forming a new State 
 in the West. I know that the emigrants to that 
 Territory have been foully slandered in this re- 
 spect. They have been basely caluminated. Who 
 are they? The hard-handed artisan and the 
 honest, hard-working yeomanry of the free States 
 have gone there. They are honorable, respect- 
 
 able men — men of character. Many have gone 
 there with whom I am personally acquainted. I 
 have never known a man go there, who started 
 from New England, that did not boar at home the 
 highest character for intelligence and upright- 
 ness. 
 
 The Emigrant Aid Society have put forth an 
 address, particularly to the citizens of Missouri. 
 It is a calm and well-written Christian address. 
 They no doubt believe that the Missourians were 
 honest in their impression that there was a foray 
 made on them in that region by the Emigrant 
 Aid Society ; that their rights are being inva- 
 ded, aiid their interests perilled. 
 
 Let us hear what they say; and this is attest- 
 ed by men whose integrity will not be question- 
 ed upon the floor of this Ilouse. They say : 
 
 "III the published resolutions of the Convention lately 
 held in Lexington, Missouri, we find inissiatiTnenls in re- 
 gard to our enterprise, which we desire lo correet. This 
 Company is the only incorporated association known lo 
 us in the United States, which has for its ohject both as- 
 sistance ard organization for Western emiRralion. We 
 must therefore, infer that we are referred to in tlie resolu- 
 tions which allude to ' moneyed associations under the 
 patronage of sovereign States of this Union.' 
 
 ••The resolutions charge this Company, then, 
 
 '• I. With recruiting armiesjtind hiring fanatics to go to 
 Kansas. 
 
 "II. With fanatical aggression on Missouri, with the 
 intention of putting the torch lo the dwellings and the 
 knife lo the throats of its people 
 
 "III With sending persons to Kansas who do not in- 
 tend to remain there, but who go oiily to interfere with 
 and control the actual settlers. 
 
 '• It is easy for us to show the entire falsehood of every 
 one of these charges. 
 
 " 1. To the charge of ' recruiting armies, and hiring 
 fanatics to go to Kansas,' our answer is very simple. We 
 liave never hired a man to go there, or paid the passage 
 of a single emigrant. Every settler who has gone out 
 under our auspices, has himself provided the means for 
 his passage." 
 
 "To speak of such men as 'paupers,' 'mercenaries,' and 
 ' hired adventurers,' is simply absurd. They are Ameri 
 can citizens, who have the enthusiasm which all their 
 countrymen have for colonizing new regions, and bring- 
 ing them under the sway of man. 
 
 " They carry with them their education, their skill, their 
 money. They are erecting in Kansas their steam engines, 
 their machine shops, their factories of wood, paper, iron, 
 and all things useful to men. They have gone there be- 
 cause they had a right there— because they chose to go — 
 because they had the means to go— and because they be- 
 lieved that in so doing they could better their condiuon, 
 and. peniaps, do good service to God and man. 
 
 "That they might go conveniently and cheaply, this 
 company has been organized. It is one of the customs of 
 New England for men to organize themselves to work in 
 co-operation for any object which they can achieve thus 
 belter than as separate individuals. This is one of our 
 institutions to which we are attached, and to which we 
 owe much of our prosperity." 
 
 "On his arrival in a new country, the chief difficulty of a 
 senler is in the want of capital. This want is particularly 
 felt in KanPBS. One of the resolutions ol the Lexington 
 Convention expresses regretthat the settlement of Kansas 
 was not left to lonely pioneers, like those who settled Ohio 
 and Indiana. Wc refer you to the leUer of General B. F. 
 Stringfellow, to Messrs. Clingman, brooks, and others, for 
 the opinion on this point of one who knows that country. 
 
 "General Slringfellow assures those gentlemen that 
 such a settlement is impossible; that such pioneers as 
 have hitherto levelled the forests and broke up the ' plains 
 of the West,' cannot do the same work in Kansas. His 
 letter shows that such laborers need the resources of cap- 
 ital, and that capital may well be embarked in assisting 
 thcni, lo the mutual benefit of all concerned. 
 
 "Si soon ns it was evident that the westward cmigrar.ts 
 from New England intended to move in large numbers to 
 Kansas, it became clear to us that their most urgent need 
 would be for those improvements which capital, and thai 
 only, can supply. They must have, first of all, comforta- 
 ble houses, school-houses, and churches. To supply saw- 
 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 Published hj the Republican Associatioti of Washington. 
 
 BUELL & BLANCHARD, PRINTERS. 
 
 18 5 6. 
 
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