sill and proclaimed to the crowd around that the matter was all settled and they could vote. I cannot repeat his exact words, but that was the sentiment; and they proceeded to vote. R. A. Cummins was appointed in the place of Abbott. At noon I went to their camp, and passed along the ravine from one extremity to the other, and counted the number of wagons and conveyances of different kinds then on the ground and in sight. They had then commenced leaving. I counted very near one hundred conveyances, such as wagons and carriages. There were, besides, a large number of saddle horses. I estimate that there were then on the ground about seven hundred of the party; in the estimate I do not include those who had left for other places or for home.

[Here the witness was asked to detail declarations made by the strangers, at the time of their voting, as to their intention and object in voting, and as to where they came from.

To this Mr. Oliver objected. The objection was considered and discussed by the committee, and overruled; and the witness was allowed to state all that was said or done by any of the party of strangers who voted.]

Witness resumed: Some of these men were on the ground when I went there, before the polls were opened; they came in bodies of, perhaps, one hundred at a time, and voted. The voting was prosecuted as rapidly as circumstances would permit, and continued all day.

[Mr. Oliver objected to the witness being allowed to tell whether any person voted, unless he told their names and their places of residence.]

Witness: Generally speaking, these men were quiet and peaceable; they proclaimed at all times the right of every person to vote with the rest. They were situated very compactly about the place of voting, which was very much crowded during the forenoon, so much that most of the voters, and for a long time all of them, were obliged to pass over the roof of the house, by climbing upon the window sill, and then being hoisted up on the roof. After a man voted he was hoisted up on the roof, as he could not get back through the crowd. It took myself--and I used my best efforts-about an hour to get from the outside of the crowd to the place of voting. There was a passageway for a short time, formed of two lines of persons, through which voters passed to and from the polls. During another portion of the time, in the afternoon, they were formed in procession and approached the polls two by two, passing along in front of the window and off as they voted.

There were a large number who had arms at the polls; some few had shot-guns or rifles, but mostly revolvers and knives during the most of the day.

About five o'clock there was a company of voters proceeded from the town over to the polls in a body, perhaps a hundred, residents of the town. The large number of persons who had been about the polls, and who were from Missouri and abroad, had left the polls, and hey were comparatively clear. Most of those in teams had left the lace during the afternoon, though many still remained. When these esidents were coming over I was by the polls, and I saw some start

from the polls in their direction; Mr. Wade was one of them, and I followed out that way. He called them up and hallooed to them to come on; then they took their larger arms and came on.

Question by Mr. Howard: Who was this Mr. Wade?

Witness: He lived near here, and was a candidate for the legislature. I heard a conversation a short distance from where I stood, and approached pretty nearly. I stepped up on a small rise of ground and saw quite a violent contest going on, of which Mr. Stearns of this place was the object. It was a contest of words and threats but not of blows or force; while it was going on, I heard some one cry out "There is the Lawrence bully." A rush was immediately made in another direction, towards Mr. Bond of this town, and a cry was raised. to shoot him; "shoot the damned abolitionist," "shoot the damned bully," &c. He ran for the bank of the river, and the crowd followed him. During the running I think one or two shots were fired. When he got to the bank of the river, he sprang off out of sight. They rushed to the bank, and guns were pointed at him while below. But the cry was raised to let him go, and he was permitted to go on without being fired at.

Another circumstance occurred in the latter part of the day. Mr. Willis, who was then a resident of this town, was on the ground, and a cry was raised that he was one of the men concerned in abducting a black woman about which there had been some difficulty in the town a short time previous. Several men raised the cry to hang him. Some were on horseback, and some were on foot. Movements were made towards him by strangers armed with rifles and smaller arms. The cry was repeated by a large number of persons to "hang him," "get a rope," &c. At the suggestion of some friends he left the ground. Question: How many citizens of the district voted on that day to the best of your judgment and belief?

[Mr. Oliver objected to the legality of that question; and objection sustained until the witness stated his means of information.]

Witness: I was tolerably well acquainted, particularly with this portion of the district, but not particularly acquainted with the lower extremity of the district.

In frequent conversations which I had with different persons of the party during the day, they claimed to have a legal right to vote in the Territory, and that they were residents by virtue of their being then in the Territory. They said they were free to confess that they came from Missouri; that they lived in Missouri, and voted as Missourians. Some claimed that they had been in the Territory and made claims, and therefore had a right to vote. But they did not claim to be residents in the Territory, except that they had a residence here from being at that moment in the Territory.

They had mostly left before sundown, I think. There were some here the next day, who were said to have come in from some other point.

They left during the afternoon, in single bodies, continuously, one after the other, but not in a compact body. It seemed to be their course, when a wagon-load had voted, to get in their wagons and start away from town. They commenced moving before or about noon.

Mr. Reeder stated that he was through the direct examination. Witness desired it to be understood that when estimating the number of strangers here at 700, he judged at the time he counted the wagons, but did not mean that that was all that had come here.

In reply to Mr. Sherman :

I cannot state who fired the pistols at Bond. The cry "shoot him came from just immediately about the men who came here from Missouri to vote. The citizens were not generally armed. There were a few, I think, who had revolvers with them, but I saw none exposed. The general claim made by the Missourians was that they were residents of the district and consequently had a right to vote.

Cross-examined by Mr. Oliver:

I cannot give the names of any others than Col. Samuel Young that voted from Missouri. I do not remember the names of any others that I learned; I was present and saw the names of others recorded. I cannot say how many-possibly 50 or 100. No effort was made on the part of any person from Missouri to intimidate the people and drive them from the polls, except the personal conflicts I have named.

As I have stated, a cry was raised at the first movement, "there is the Lawrence bully," and a rush was made towards him. I did not understand that it referred to any name which had been presented at the polls. The difficulty with Mr. Bond occurred about three or four rods from the polls. I did not understand that the object was to prevent his voting.

I understood the difficulty with Mr. Willis had no reference to his voting. The only hindrance to voting that I saw during the day was the crowd pressing round so as to prevent many from voting; I heard of no threats with direct reference to voting; it was frequently remarked by those present that all had a right to vote. I heard it said that they had as good a right to vote as many who had arrived from the east and were voting.

There were people arriving all the time. There may have been 100 arrived at this place within two weeks prior to the election; I will not state definitely, because my mind is not clear upon the subject; there may not have been so many. So far as I know, persons particularly interested in this election were looking anxiously for the arrival of persons from the east and north in view of the election. I cannot name any of those persons who voted. Some of them came under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society. There were persons arriving at that time, both before and after the election. I am not clear as to how many arrived before the election.

I did not understand that the Missourians referred exclusively to those who had just arrived, but to all who had arrived. The proclamation that all had a right to vote was made in conversation; they announced that as their opinion as individuals.

Colonel Young's vote was received; and I understood, as I stood near the polls, that he took an oath that he was a resident of the Territory. He stood on the window-sill and said it was all right, that it was all settled, and they could vote. I do not recollect that I understood him to state that he took the oath; I saw what I thought was

the taking of an oath; the movements so indicated, though I did not hear him take it; I supposed such was the case from appearances.

I am aware of the fact that some did leave who had recently arrived before that election; I cannot say whether they ever returned and became residents.

The candidates looked anxiously for these emigrants, because it was expected an invasion would be made into the Territory by voters from abroad, and, also, that as large a free State vote should be polled as possible. I am not prepared to say that the latter was the chief consideration. I understood from these persons that their purpose in coming to the Territory so early in the spring was that they came out here to settle, and that they might be present at the day of the election. I know of some of those who had recently arrived who voted I can only approximate their numbers; I should think there were from 50 to 60. I think there were some who had arrived within 48 hours; I cannot say as to whether they made settlements in the Territory in that time. I know that some objected to voting these for that reason, that they had made no settlements. I cannot say that those who voted had made no settlements, nor can I say that any who actually voted returned east. Many of those who were in this vicinity when I settled here, a year ago, are now in other parts of the Territory. There were a large number who arrived in this part of the Territory under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society last season who returned, but I cannot tell how many.

There was a disturbance in progress, if I recollect right, at the time the Bond disturbance originated. It was in relation to Mr. Stearns of this place, who was on the ground, it was said, taking notes which he intended to publish in the New York Tribune. This disturbance was not in reference to his voting, or of anybody else. So far as I observed all of the Missourians were armed at the polls, but not all of them with their larger arms, but with their side arms, revolvers, and knives. I think some of the citizens of the town had arms.

By Mr. Sherman:

Judging from the conversations referred to in my cross-examination, the persons who came here from the northern and eastern States came here to become settlers, so far as I know. I can state from my own knowledge that some of them returned because they were dissatisfied with the country, and disappointed in the circumstances that existed here.

I think there were citizens kept from voting by the condition and surrounding of the polls. I was told on the day of the election that there were a large number here to vote who came from Hickory Point, who returned in a body without voting. I saw some who resided there. I did not see any of them vote. I cannot state what number of legal resident voters did not vote on account of the troubles, without examining the poll lists and census rolls.

To Mr. Oliver:

They were kept from voting only in consequence of the crowd and the difficulty in getting to the polls.

To Mr. Reeder:

The Missourians did not claim to be residents here from their inten

tion to remain here, but that their mere presence created their residence. I do not remember that I heard any of them say that they were here with the intention of remaining. I do not know of any man who came here from the northern States for the mere purpose of voting, and I never heard of one.

The side arms of these strangers from the camp were exposed, some of them openly exposed, others partially so. There did not seem to

be any careful attempt to conceal them. I want to qualify a little what I said in regard to men coming out here under the auspices of the Emigrant Aid Society. I do not know of my own knowledge that they so came out here, but it was so reported commonly and in the public prints. That is the extent of my knowledge.

To Mr. Oliver:

I think I heard some of them say that they did; that they came out as members of certain parties that left Boston at such and such a time under the auspices of such a society.

To Mr. Reeder:

I can merely state what I have heard, that the Emigrant Aid Society has an office in Boston, with an agent, to give information by means of which companies are organized for settlement in Kansas. The action of that agency, in addition to thus collecting them together, consists in sending an agent with the companies to make arrangements with the different lines of travel, by which their expenses are somewhat reduced, and they are furnished with mills and other matters to assist them. But they pay their own expenses out here, and these mills are not furnished gratuitously, but merely built by the society. I mean by "organized for settlement" that the organization simply has reference to economy in travelling out here, but not to any continuance after they got here.

To Mr. Oliver:

I am not aware that it is made a condition of the Emigrant Aid Society that those who come under its auspices should be free State men. I know of one individual who is said to have come out under these auspices, who is now understood to be a pro-slavery man. I do not know what he was when he came.

LAWRENCE, K. T., April 25, 1856.

E. D. LADD.

To Mr. Sherman :

Mr. E. D. LADD recalled.

I have examined the poll books of the election of March 30, 1855. My means of knowing the legal voters are, that I have been a resident here from the first settlement of the place; I had started a private post office in town for the convenience of the country about, and in that way had become familiar with the names of those here, and also through the medium of being register of claims.

Question by Mr. Sherman: Please take the poll book for this district of the election of March 30, and furnish us a list of those whose