After recovering from his illness, Brown made a number of trips to Lawrence, where he had some controversy with the National Kansas Committee, for which he assumed to act as agent; not only without authority from it to do so, but in opposition to its expressed wishes. The committee, through its agent, Mr. E. B. Whitman, at Lawrence, had made advances, for necessary supplies, to many Kansas settlers, taking their notes for account of the same. Some of these notes had been given to Mr. Stearns, as security for money which he had advanced to the committee, and Stearns had given them to Brown, or sent them to him, for collection. It appears that the notes had not been endorsed and made payable to Mr. Stearns, and that the ownership of them was still in the committee. But Brown, when surrendering the notes to the makers, upon payment to him, cured that defect and extinguished the committee's title by acknowledging payment to him, as its agent. October 26th, Mr. H. B. Hurd repudiated Brown's agency in a letter to Mr. Whitman. He said: "Capt. John Brown has no authority to take, receive, collect or transfer any notes or accounts belonging to the National Kansas Committee, nor ever has had, nor will such dealings be recognized or sanctioned by our committee."[324] Of course, Brown kept the money he thus collected. He had an offset against the committee. He claimed that it owed him five thousand dollars. Under its resolution of January 24, 1857, it had "voted $5000 in aid of Capt. John Brown in any defensive measures that become necessary" in Kansas. Brown was then engaged in "defensive" measures or operations, as has been related, and from his point of view he had earned the right to claim this money.