-· 

32 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. MARCH 12, 

Island were not as much out of order as the resolution offered by the 

Senator from Arkansas. 

.Mr. HAMLIN. They are precisely of the same character. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. That matter is beyond the control 

of the Chair. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvariia. When I moved to go into exec- utive session, I was not aware that the Senator from Kentucky desired to speak. 

Mr. THURMAN. He does not wish to speak to-day. Mr. MORTON. There are other enators who are prepared. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pey;tnsylvania. We have some very important 

business in executive session which we may dispose of to-day. I 

think we had better do that. Therefore I insist on my motion. 

The motion was agreed to, there being on a division ayes 29, noes 21.; and the Senate proceeded to the consideration of executive busi- ness. After one hour and forty minutes spent in executive session 

the doors were reopened, and (at three o'clock and twenty minutes p. 

m.) the Senate adjourned. 

IN SENATE. 

FRIDAY, JJ[arch 12, 1875. 

Jo~ B. GORDON, a Senator from the State of Georgia., appeared 

in his seat to-day. 

Prayer by Rev. JOH...."i W . CHICKERING, D. D., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved. 

EXECUTIVE CO:MMUNICATION. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT laid before the Senate a letter of the Secretary of the Trea ury, transmitting, in compliance with a resolution 

of the Senate of the 15th of January, 1874, a history of the yellowfever epidemic of 1873; which was ordered to lie on the table and be 

prillted. ' · COLUMBIA HOSPITAL. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT appointed Mr. SARGENT as director of the 

Columbia Hospital for Women and Lying-in Asylum. 

PETITION. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT presented the petition of the heirs of the 

late William K. Sebastian, late Senator from Arkansas, a-ccompanied 

by certain depositions, praying that the Senate will recall, annul, and 

forever revoke the act of expulsion of Senator Sebastian in July, 

1861, and restore and re-establish his good name as a true and loyal 

Senator; which were referred to the Committee on Privileges and 

Elections. 

DISTRIBUTION OF REVISED STATUTES. 

Mr. ANTHONY submitted the following resolution; which was con idered by unanimous con ent, and agreed to : 

Resolved, That there be distributed pro rata to the Senators who were not mem · bers of the Forty-third Congress the same number of copies of the Revised Statutes of the United States as were distributed to the Senators of that Congress. 

SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA. 

The Senate resumed t he consideration of the following resolution, 

submitted by Mr. MoRTON on the 5th instant: 

Resolved, That P . B.S. Pinch back be admitted as a. Sen ator from the State of 

Louisiana for the term of six years, beginning the 4th day of March, 1873. 

Mr. McCREERY. Mr. President, the subject is threadbare. This 

discussion has been continued so long and the argument has been su exliaustive in its character, that vanity itself might despair at the 

pro pect of offering anything that is new. If I am capable of an- swering the positions taken by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. MOR· TO~] I have done it on a former occasion, and if I am incapable of 

accomplishing uch a result it would be a needless waste of time to 

expose my weakness . .A.ny anxiety, however, that I may have felt 

in that direction hns been put t-o rest by the conclusive refutation of 

the able Senator from North Carolina, [Mr. MERRIMON.] I shall 

make no attempt to divide the honor which he has won so fairly. 

In hinting or intimating that I may have replied, or attempted to 

reply, to the po itions taken by the Senator from Indiana, let it be 

distinctly understood that I make no reference to the "blood and 

thunder" part which he at this time holds in reserve and which will 

be poured like melted lava upon us at the conclusion of this debate. That nev~r has been answered, and never will be. There is too much 

eloquence and too much p~ion in it for any logical analysis. Aristotle, Archbishop Whately, and the great masters of the art of disputation, have clearly laid down the rules of correct rea oning; but as to the best method of combating a paroxysm, they have left us com- pletely in the dark. I here in my place, with all the responsibilities 

of a Senator r esting upon me, and without the fear of successful con- tradiction, declare that the Senator from Indiana is the ablest man on the subject of outrage n_ow living in the world. [Laughter.] He 

may be a little imaginative, it is true, but still he is excessively able. I make these remarks in imitation of his example for the benefit of 

tho new Senators. [Laughter.] 

I took occasion during the last Congress at considerable length to 

present my views on Louisiana affairs. I appreciate too highly the 

respectful attention . with which my remarks were received by the 

Senate to think for a moment of entering upon their repetition. Indeed, the facts and figures collected in the voluminous record have 

somewhat faded from my memory, and I could not reproduce them if 

I desired. 

I confess my surprise at the course pursued by the honorable Senator from Indiana, for if I recollect aright the identical proposition 

contained in his resolution was nilder consideration when he moved" a reference for the purpose of inquiry concerning certain charges of 

corruption which had reached his ear. I took it for granted that 

something had come to the know ledge of the Senator which amounted 

to a printa fame presumption of corruption, or he would not have 

taken the responsibility of so grave a charge in this presence. Supposing, therefore, that his mind was greatly perplexed by the oppo - ing forces of two printafame presumptions which were in direct and 

positive antagonism, I naturally concluded that the oonntry might 

expect a little repo e on this vexed question, and that Louisiana, despoiled, throttled, and prostrate as she is, might escape the humiliation of having her wrongs paraded before a tribunal which is called 

upon to sacrifice her dearest rights on the altar of a pri1na facie presumption! 

It has been repeatedly insinuated, if not directly charged, that the 

democratic members of this body are encouraging by their silence 

the outrages alleged against the southern people; that they haYe it 

in their power to restore pe:we by an open avowal of their di approbation· of violence; that one word will alla,y all strife, heal all dis- sensions, and establish confidence and good-will town.rd all men. While our counsels and our admonitions are persistently spurned, we do not very clearly understand the large amount of influence for good or for evil that is ascribed to us. Our principles, as well as our inter- ests;.make us the fast friends of peace, and the steadfast, uncompromising foes of violence and fraud. We have no armies to fight our battles, and we want none. Our triumph, if it comes at all, as we believe it surely will, must be achieved by the quiet and enliJ?htened 

agency of public sentiment as expres ed through the bauot-box. 

Since we have been charged with being the aiders and the abettors 

of violence and outrage, I may embmce this opportunity of declaring 

myself the inveterate enemy of all criminals and of all crime. From 

the ruffian who in his brawl will as ault peaceful and quiet citizens, 

ascending through all the degrees of homicide or of shooting or stabbing with intent to maim or kill, to the belted knight who, without 

legal or constitutional wa.rrant and in defiance of both, stalks into a State-house and at the point of the sword organizes a Legislature ac- cording to his own or his master's will, I condemn and denounce them 

all. I contend that there is not a citizen of Louisiana, black or white, who had not a better right to a place on the floor of the hou e of representatives than General De Trobriand. It is conceded on aU 

hands that the order given by him was without authority and void. 

If then the expelled members or citiz·ens had cho en to remain in the 

hall iu contempt of the order, as they had a perfect right to do, and 

lives had been lo t in the struggle, would that officer have been con- demned and executed as a murderer, or would it have been characterized as a conspiracy of the White League to overthrow a State government A willful and deliberate murderer forfeits his life as an atonement for his crime. What atonement then should be made by an officer who invades the halls of legislation and aims a deliberate 

blow at the guarant-eed rights of every American citizen t Who is it1 I would ask', that is silent when outrage and wrong are perpetrated 

in our midst 'I 

As a foundation for the few remarks that I propose to submit, I 

shall refer to a pas age in the last aunun.l message of the Pre ident of 

the United States. After a discussion of the Louisiana quest.ion and some general and special observations upon southern affairs, the President says : · 

I sympat~ize with their prostrate condition and would do all in my power to re- lieve them-acknowledging that in some instances they have had most trying gov- et·nments to live under, and very oppressive ones in the way of taxation for nommal 

improvements not givin/! benefits equal to the hardships imposed-but can they proclaim themselves entirely irresponsible for this condition 1 They cannot. 

This is a pregnant sentence, full of meaning from beginning to 

end. It shows that he under tands the tyranny and oppres&ion of 

their governments, that he realizes the spoliation and robbery which, 

under. the guise of taxation for nominal a11cl worthless improvements, 

have brought starvation to their doors. His bosom swells with emo- tions of pity as he beholds widowhood and orphanage the innocent 

and helpless victims of ruthless despotism vainly struggling under a load which would crush manhood in its prime. The people of 

Louisiana may be inclined tQ thank the President for the expression 

of his commiseration; but they can scarcely fail to ask the question, 

''Why is it that his sympathetic heart has never suggested anything 

in our behalf! " . "How is it whenever his arm has been raised that we have been the sufferers'/ " The President hasveryproperlyraissd 

the question of responsibility, and it is accepted as an invitation to 

the inquiry. Speaking, then, with especial reference to the complications in Louisiana affairs, I propound to the President the same interrogatory put by himself to the southern people, "Can he pro- claim himself entirely irresponsible for their condition i" and an honest, impartial public, in view of t he facta, will answer tile question. 
'· 

1875. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 33 

Probably the first authoritative intimation of a design on the part 

of the Federal Government to interfere in the affairs of Louisiana 

may be found in the following dispatch: 

DEPARTME..~ OF JUSTICE, December 3, 1872. 

S. B. P .A.CKARD, Esq., United States Marshal, New Orleans, Lottisiana : 

. Yon are to enforce the d crees and mandates of the United States courts no mat- ter by whom resisteU, and General Emory will furni h you with all n~cessary troops for that purpose. GEO. H. WILLIAMS, 

.Attonuy.General. 

The tone and temper of this dispatch is certainly spiteful, if not 

positively belligerent. Had the marshal been faithless in the discharge of his dutyf Had anybody resisted or attempted to resist the 

process of the courts 7 Had any person who was authorized made a 1·equisition for troopsf There is no pretense of either. The hot and 

unseemly haste of this appeal to arms would have remained forever a mystery in the minds of men had not subsequent events connected 

its author with one of the most flagrant judicial usurpations ever known in our country. · At t·he November election in 1872 W. Pitt Kellogg was a candidate 

for governor of the State of Louisiana, and was defeated by the decisive n;tajority of 9,606 vot.es, as shown by the official returns which were compared by the board and afterward underwent the inspect.ion 

of the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the Senate. Kellogg's 

bill to perpetuate testimony was pending before the circuit court of 

the United States for the district of Louisiana, and about midnight on the 5th of December Judge Durell prepared and signed an order 

at his lodgings not to perpetuate testimony according to the prayer of 

tho petitioner, but to seizt) and hold the State-house. If there can be a doubt that these steps were taken with the knowledge and approbation of the Administration, that doubt is dispelled by the fact that 

ab<mt that same hour Captain Jackson, with his batterv and his soldiers, arrived from Fort Barancas, in Florida, and proceeded at once to 

execute the order. 

This order was condemned at once by all men of sense of all parties M u~terly _void in law; but neither the President nor any mem- ber of his Cabrnet made any effort whatever to check the usurper in 

his lawless course, but for forty days the military held absolute sway over the capitol of Loui iana. During thismilitaryoccupationJudge 

Durell proceeded step by step un~ll he had revolutionized the civil 

administration of that State. I.rur..ead of the enthusiastic greetin(J' 

and the loud a-cclaim of freemen which usually attend the inaugur~ tion of a new administration, the batteries are charged, the sabers are drawn, the bayonets are presented, and the ranks are closed while the 

appointees of the Federal court go through the solemn mockery of 

kissing the holy volume in token of their sworn alle•l'iance to the 

constitution! Hardly had the oath of office been admin~tered before 

the pretended Legislature, the pretended governor, and the collector 

of customs, with one accord and in full chorus, cry out to the President, "Weare behaving with great discretion; send us troops! troops! 

troops!" 

The people of Louisiana stood bewildered and appalled at the 

spectacle. The governor elected begged the President in the name of justice to suspend recognition until the facts could be laid before 

him by a committee of ma,ny of the best citizens who were then on the eve of departure fqr Washington, and expressing the belief that 

they would not be condemned unheard. The sacred right of petition was violated although the petitioners only asked the · privilege of 

submitting the facts necessary to a just decision of their cause. The 

Czar of Russia. in the plenitude of his power probably never returned a more imperious and supercilious answer to his conquered subjects 

of Poland than that made by the Attorney-General to the humble 

petition of the people of Louisiana. Afber taking a day for reflection, the decision of the Chief Magistrate is summed up in the following telegram : 4 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, December 13, 1872. 

Ron. JOHN McENERY, 

New Orleans, Louisiana: 

Your visit ~tb a ~11;ndr~d citizens~ be unavailing so far a.a the President is COJ?OOrD~. HlS deC1Slon lS made and 'Till not be changed, and the sooner it is ac- qmesced m the sooner good order and peace will be restored. 

GEO. H. WILLIAMS, 

.Attorney-General. 

It will be remembered that the Committee on Privileges and Elections condemned this order of Judge Durell in every form of expres- ~ion that could indicate their d!sgust and contempt of the proceedmg; that the Senator from Indiana could apply no milder term to it 

than" gross usurpation ;

11 and that the Judiciary Committee of the 

House after a patient and laborious inve tigation declared that such outrage~, such ~warranted assumptions of power should be brought 

to condign pumshment, and that Edward H. Durell be impeached of 

hiO'h crimes and misdemeanors in office. 

Can it be that the first-born son of all these darin()" and devilish 

machinations against the very existence of a State i~ this Union is e~titled to aprimafacie recognition becausehe presents a commission 

s1gned by a man who was himself the prime mover and chief instigator of the crimes and misdemeanors that have driven the Federal 

judge in disgrace from the bench' JudO'e Durell has lost that which a lawyer prizes higher than all earthly c~nsiderations-the respect of 

IV-3 

his profe sion ; but, fallen a.s he is, I would not add to the bitterness 

of his anguish by dragging him clown with one hand while with the 

other I was exalting the partners and lroneficiaries of his usurpation: 

There is not an intelligent man in the United States who does not 

know with positive certainty that but for the midnight order of Judge 

Durell, Kellogg and his a sociates never would have been installed 

into office, but that McEnery with his colleagues would have been 

inaugurated and proceeded peacefully and quietly in t.he discharge of 

their duties; nobody would have been injured; the peopl~ of Lon-. isiana would have been satisfied, and universal harmony would have 

prevailed. 

But if Durell and the Army undertook to bestow that which did 

not belong to them and over which they ha-d no control or jurisdiction, if the midnight order was anabsolutenullityineverysense of the· word, is it not equally true that all franchises, offices, or emoluments, . held or acquired by, through, or under that order, are absolut.ely null 

and void' If a robber at the hour of midnight invades your premises and eizes and carries away your property, and the facts are es- tablished, will his possession be regarded a.s presumptive evidence of 

title, or would the receiver, with a knowledge of the facts, acquire more right or occupy a better position than the principal f Would 

you condemn to disgrace the principal aud allow the receiver to hold 

and enjoy the property f If a citizen or a State is wrongfully deprived of anything that belongs to either, there should be an immediate, a full, and a fair restitution. I am opposed to making Durell 

the scape-goat to bear the sins and manifold iniquities of those who 

besieged him from morning until night with all manner of applications and petitions, who surrounded him with soldiers, enlisted him 

in their ambitious schemes and ent.erprises, dazzled his understanding 

by the very audacity of their movements, led him far away from the 

pathway of duty, until at la.st in their own behalf and for their own selfish purposes they have sunk him under a load of obloquy, misdemeanor, and crime. These are the men that Senators expect to advance by talking about State rights and primafacie presumptions! 

Unless t.hey are wholly lost to every sentiment of self-respect I do 

not see how any one of them, from Kellogg down to the lowest forger 

of their certificates, can pretend to hold tlwir places, when the whole 

judicial machinery by which they got them is known and understood 

to be nothing more ana nothing less than an unqu_alified and an un- warranted usurpation. 

I return to the question propounded to the President; can he proclaim himself entirely irresponsible for their condition Y Candidly 

speaking, I do not think he can. It has been contended by some that the President and the marshal are bound to follow the judgments and decrees of the courts, right or wrong. If this is true, the 

President is not only bound to see that the laws are faithfully exe- cuted, but he is equally bound to see that they are fait,hfully violated 

m case any of the inferior courts shall so adjudge and decree. The 

law in this import-ant matter has not left the President to grope his 

way in darkness, but has provided him with a legal adviser who is 

presumed at least to understand the difference between right and 

wrong, tlle difference between law and the violation of law. This 

may be a violent presumption in some cases; but such, I understand, 

to be the theory of our Government. If the Attorney-Geneml advised the course pursued by the Pre ident with reference to Louisi- ana affairs, then it is clear that he is worse than no Att~ney-General 

at all. He gave bad counsel; he placed the President in an unfortunate position, where he appeared to be the friend and the ally of the 

usurper as well as an active supporter of the usurpation. A good 

Attorney-General would have advised the President not to be too 

ready wlth his troops, and by all means to wait until there was a distinct call for them from the proper authorities; not to make himself 

the partisan of any upstart whose "vaulting ambition" would over- ride Constitution and law. to reach some office in the immediate neighborhood of the State or Federal Treasury; but to rise to the level of his 

high mission, take a broad view of the whole Union, regarding every man and every State as the equal in point of right with every other man and every other State, and dealing out equal and exact justice 

to every section, North and South, East and West. 

Federal interference and Federal intermeddling with matters purelv 

of Stat.e concern and State jurisdiction ought to be stopped at once and forever. It irritates and exasperates the people, and brings 

about the very excesses which it professes so much zeal to extirpate 

and destroy. The perpetual marshaling of troops and the arrest and 

detention of citizens under military orders unhinges the frame-work 

of society, paralyzes industry, and eventually produces a state of desperation which counts not the cost but hazards the issues of life and 

death with an utter indifference as to whether they are won or lost. 

Logan, the Indian chief, contemplating his ruined race, said that 

he would not turn on his heels to save his life. · Siberia may swarm with Poles, and exiles of E:rin may wander in 

every land; but until England and Russia shall ext.end to the Irish~ 

man and the Polander every right1 every franchise, and every ':ini~ 

munity enjoyed by every other subject, the blood of Emmett an4 

Kosciusko will mantle the brow ancl nerve the arm which will pu't 

the torch to the slumbering volcano, although life, fortune, kindr~d, 

and home should perish in the fire. Ten centuries of despotism, 

fraud, and force will never reconcile them to such degradation. The 

people of Louisiana believe that by the arbitrary power of a Federal 

juuge, encouraged by Federal officials and supported by Federal bay-
34 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. ~fAROH 12, 

onets, they have been forced un<ler the control of a government not of 

their chojce. Th ey rlo not believe that the same fraud and force 

would have been employed in any northern State to defeat the pop- ular will. They know that in the gubernatorial election in Ohio, 

where t h e vote was much more equally divided than in Louisiana, 

and where the result too was adverse to the Administration, the 

judiciary and tho Army did not intervene, nor do they believe that 

such intervention would have taken place if Allen ha<l carried the 

election by a single vote. Recent events have satisfied them that their returning board is a frand organized to perpetuate the Kellogg dynasty. Grievous have 

been their afflictions and great must be their indignation; but vio- lence would be no remedy for their sufferings. I have been devoted through life to peaceful pursuits. · I a.bhor 

ruffianism, strife, and bloodshed1 and \Voultl do all in my power t o repress them. I deplore the faot that there seems to be a perfect 

carnival of crime throughout the length anti breadt h of our country, 

and that the larger portion of the biggest criminals "go unwhipped 

of justice." Some men talk of southern outrages, as if there were no northern outmges or eastern outi'ages or western outrages. All violations of law and all combinations to violate the la,, are outrages, 

whether they are perpetrated by Ku-Klux, vigilance committees, or Molly Maguires. How man.v men, I would a~;k, have been slaughtered 

in cold blooti by the :folly Maguires of Pennsylvania; an<l.Q.ow many 

of thosegniltywretches have been brought to justice, an<l what num- ber of United States troops have been sent into that quarter to quell 

the disturbances' How many men have been pnt to deat4 in open 

day in the States of Illinois, Iowa, and California without even the 

pretense of a judicial inve tig;1tion The Senator from Indiana is 

generally loudest in his condemnation or denunciation of southern out- rages, but it will require no great stretch of his memory to recall the 

time when his neighbors and fTienus of hi own State took out help- less negroes by the quai'ter dozen and hung them up like dogs, tortur- ing them in their dying moments by the application of fire and red- hot irons to their naked IJodies, an<l1caving them to swelter an<l sodden 

in the sun; when armeti band of marauders salliedfor!Jh at midnight, 

dragging prisoners from their dungeons anrl suspending them to the cross-bars of the bridges. These things are too shocking and too near tp his borne to suit his taste. He may like better to select some spot 

remote from him and his, and, carefully excluding all chances of ne.g- ligence or accident, ca.lmly contemplate the rem or eless incendiary as with torch in hand he takes his stealthy step in the direction of the 

doomed dwelling. Fancy painls the blazing rafters, nnti he hear~ 

the cries of the terror-stricken family as they fly to the woods or the 

swamp for a hiding place. · But we are on Louisiana affairs, and the issue is·t.oo momentous for 

the indulgence of any little flings in the way of crinlinatiou or recrim- ination, · The dial upon the wall may soon indicate the hour at which one of the States of this Union is disfranchised, the hour a.t which 

the usurpations of Durell receive the full and complete ratification 

of the Americ;:tn Senate. Before tbe deed is done I wish to -ask Sen- ators if they have cm'efnlly examined the eviderree collected by the 

Committee on Privileges and Elections, if they bave seriously con- sidere<l the dark catalog~te of perjury and forgery developed in the 

volume, an<l can they give it the sanction of their votes' · . To Louisiana, prostrate, powerle ·s, and mana-cleu as she is, I would 

say one word of encouTagement. A bright career of prosperity anti 

progress lies before you. The orange anu the magnolia will senti 

their fragrance over your valleys when your oppres:-;ors are for- gotten. Bide your time; wait with patience and witness the revela- tion of the cent-ennial of our national independence. The f!,ag uncler 

which Jeffer ·on and Jackson m~rched will be unfurled; the fait h of our fathers will be restore<l; every State from the Atlantic to the 

Pacific and from the lakes to the Gulf will i'ejoice in tl).e knowloclge 

that she is, anti of right ought to be, a sovereign "Qnder the limita- tions of the Constitution. Mr. MORTON. ~fT. President, my friend from Keqtucky has 

spoken his piece and I suppo e feels better. He sa.i<l at the outset of 

his speech that he <lid not i11teud to make an argument on the question 

involved here, and he kept his word, for he did not. He said that 

about a year ago he made a speech in which he bad answered all the 

arguments that had been recently advanced. I never understoo<l 

that that speech was regartled in the 1ight of an argument, but that 

the Senate reg~eded it in the light of a pastoral poem, somewhere 

between comedy and tragedy, its exact pouition not well defined. He talked about "blood and thunder" and "the outrage business." 

Defore ho concluded he referred to the murder of negroes in Iniliana- rather an unfortunate reference. There were some negroes brutally 

murdered in Indiana in a democratic county, and the murder unrlerstood to be committed by those who hated negroes- not by republi- cans. The reference to murder is not a pleasant one to any person 

who occupies the position of the Senator from Kentucky. When we com;ider that Louisiana has been deluged with blood a.nd the blood 

of republicans for political purposes, it is not to be wondere<l at that 

the Sen::~ tor frow Kentucky shonld endeavor to make sport of it and 

turn i t aside by a jest. l\lr. President, I do not propose to follow the Senator from Ken- tucky in his narrative. His t.he old story. I think I have hear<.l him 

go over it before substantially ; at least it has been r ecited many 

times; and while my friend regards it as hi 'tory, I beg leave to say 

that a great part of it must be regarded simply a-s poetry. The main questions involved in this case are law questions upon facts which are confessed by all; t.he law aril'ing upon ·the decisions of the courts, upon the decision of the returning board, upon the de- cision of the State auth?rities of Louisiana, upon the recognition by 

the President of the Umted States and by the Honse of Representa- tives; ancl in regard to these questions the Senator from Kentucky 

has not one word to say. He recites the old story, which has no bear- ing whatever upon the question before the Senate of the United 

States; and when the Senator from Kentucky gives all these ques- tions the go-by, it is a confession on his part that he cannot answer them. Ho sai<l that tho Senator from North Carolina. [Mr. MERRDION] 

had answered. I think the speech of the Senator from North Caro- lina, although it was nnclon btedly able, was not regarded by anybody as a sati factory answer. No, Mr. Presi<lent, the questions of law which 

I iliscussell have not been answered, anti I venture the assertion they 

cannot be answered. Senators will fly back to a part of the history 

of the election in Louisiana in 1 i2, leaving out the most material parts 

of that story. But, :fr. President, it is not myiutention now to argue thisL~misiaua que tion. If there are other Senators who desire to speak I will 

yield the floor. In the conclusion of the debate I may have some- thing to say. I do not find anything in the speech of my friend from 

Kent ucky, aside from its studied humor, to require an answer. Tbe PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. FERRY, of .Michigan, in the chair.) 

The question is on agreeing to the resolution. 1r. S.A.ULSB RY. Ir. President, I had not expected to ::mbmit 

any remarks to the Senate on this question this morning, nol" indeed 

until within the last half hour had I determined to participate in the 

discussion at all. Regm'ding t-he question, however, as one of very 

great importance, I cannot consent that the vote shall be taken on the 

resolution without at least interposing a very few words expressiye of my opinions upon the questions involved in the propo ition under 

consi<leration. The Senator ;from Indiana who offered this resolution and who so earnestly and eloquently urged. its a<loption placed the right of Piooh- back to a seat on this floor primarily upon the presentation of hif'! cer- tificate, regular in form, claiming that such certificate of election e - tablishes aprimctfac-ie case, which entitles h im to a seat as a member of this body. Now, it may be well for us to inquire what has been the practice of 

the Sena,te in cases of this kind. It ha-s been alleged by tho-8enator 

from I ndiana in this debate that it has been the custom, the practice 

of the Senate, upon the presentation of a certifi.cate of election signed 

by the governor of a State an<l attested by the great seal of the State, 

to admit the person who e election has been thus certified as upon 

the prim,a facie case thus made out to a seat, subject to contest upon other grounds thereafter. I am willing to concede that such has 

been the practice of the Senate, as a general rule. I am aware that 

when a certificate signed by the governor of the State certif_ving the 

election of a person as a Senator by the Legislature of a State has 

been presented it has been the general pra.ctice of the Senate upon 

such proof to admit the party, becau e.tbe evidences thus furnished, 

if unimpeache<l, entitled the party to a seat upon the floor of the 

Senat-e. But that has not been the invariable practice of the Senate. One of the cases to which reference was made by the Senator from 

In1liana- the case of Mr. Goldthwaite, of Alabama-was an exception 

to that rule. So far as the case of that gentlemn.n was concerned 

there was no question but what the certificate was signed by the 

governor of Alabama, and yet that gentlerru:m was not admitted im- media.tely nor for several months after his term commenced. The cases of Mr. Spencer and 'A:fr. Shields were also referred to by 

the Senator, bnt those cases are distinguishable, in fact they are es entially different, from tho ca e-pre ented by the certificate signed 

J.l.v Kellogg certifying to the election of Pinchback as a Senator. In 

all these cases, that of 1\Ir. Goldthwaite and of 1\h. Spencer n.nd 

also of Mr. Shields, there was no question whatever that the party 

making the certificate W!lS the legal governor of the State ; but the 

moment the certificate of Kellogg certifying the election of Pinch- back is presented the question arises, who is Kellogg 'f 1Ne are driven 

at once to inquire into his official character. We are forced to this 

inquiry from facts in the poRsession of the Senate it. elf. ' Ve are forcecl to this inquiry fTom facts revealed by the records of this body. We are forced into the inquiry as to whether Kellogg is in fact and in 

truth the governor of Louisiana. We cannot escape such inquiry 

without assuming that to be true which we are satisfied from evidence 

in the possession of the Senate is not true, wit.hout ignoring facts 

within the knowledge of every Senator on this floor. So that the case of Pinch back is essentially different from the ca e 

of 1\Ir. Spencer to which reference was made, or to the case of :Mr. Goldthwaite, and I believe it is es entially different from any other case to which reference has been made by the Senator from Indiana 

in this debate. In fa.ct, with what we all know, with the informa- tion we now possess, with the facts which are revealed by the records 

of this body, I may be permitted to say t.hat I was amaze<l, na.y, I was astonished, that the Senator from Indiana. should attempt to 

argue that Pinchback had presented a p1·im,ajacie case entitling him 

to be seated as a Sen:1.tor in this body. The r esolution before us nec- essarily involves the consideration of th e wh ole quE>stion of the con-
1875. - CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 35 

dition of public affairs and the character of the government in. Louisiana. 'Ve cannot seat any man a-s a Senator from that State Without 

taking cognizance of the real condition of afl'airs there and without 

makin(J' inqniry in reference to the character of the government of 

that State. We iue driven ex necessitate into this inquiry in considerinrr the resolution offered by the Senator from Indiana to seat Pinch- ba~k as a Senator as fully and properly as we would be in the consideration of the other resolution which he offered at the same time for 

the pmpose of inqniTing into the character of the government in the 

State of Louisiana. I propo e in the few remarks that I submit on thi re olution not to be confined to the mere question of a prinutfacie 

case, but I propose to go further and inquire iut_o the character of the 

government over that State in order to ascertam whether such government is entitled to be represented in the Senate. 

Before pat:~sing from this point I wish to call attention to facts n ce aryto entitle Pinch back to a seat upon the certificate presented. 

First, th'e certificate must be made by a party rightfully exercising 

the office of governor, one who is the legal governor of the State or who is in the exercise of the functions of that office by color of some rio-ht or title to the office. In other words, he must be either de jure 01? dnfacto tho governor of the State. Then let us inquire whether 

Kellogg, who makes this certificate, is in the office of governor by 

virtue of any right and title whlch constitute him governor de jure. 

What is necessary to confer upon him such right to the office t In 

tho first place, in order t.o constitute him the lawf-ul governor of the · State he must be in the office by virtue of an election by the people, and 

in the second place the result of that election must 'be legally ascer- tained according to the constitution and laws of that State. It can- not be contended that any man is the rightful governor of any State 

unless he comes in possession of the office by virtue of an election of 

the people, and even if elected it is also necessary and essential that ~he result of that election should have been ascertained according to 

the mode and manner prescribed by the constitution and laws of the 

State. 

Is there a single Senator on this floor, in view of the information 

which has been fnrnished bv an inquiry into that matter by the Senate itself, who can to-day a· sort or who to-day believes that Kellogg 

is governor of Lou ishtna by virtue of any election of the people of 

that, State¥ I say without fear of successful contradiction that there 

i not a Senator on the floor of the Senate to-day who believes that a ccordin(J' to the votes actually ca-st at the election Kellogg was electP,d g~vernoF of the State in 1872. . .Mr. HOWE. The Senator must correct his statement a little. 

There is one Senator on this floor, if no more, who believes that 

precisely. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Do I understand the Senator from Wisconsin 

to say that he believes from the votes actually ca-st at the election 

Kellogg wa-s elected governor of that State t 

:Mr. HOWE. I believe that as much as I believe the Senator from 

Delaware is speaking on this question. I do not know it so cert:binly, 

but I believe it as implicitly. 

l\lr. AULSBURY. I would now inquire, as I have been interrupted by the Senator from Wisconsin, whether he believes that 

from any evidence iu the possession of the Senate or whether it is an arbitrary conclusion of the mind formed withoutevidence before it. 

l\lr. HOWE. I believe it from circumstantial evidence laid before 

the Senate and which for two years bas been before the Senator 

from Delaware. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I am very happy to inform the Senator, to inform the Senate, and to inform the world, that I arrived at exactly a different conclusion from the Senator from "\Visconsin. I only regret 

that the Sena.tor from Wisconsin has not been enabled to look at this 

question calmly and dispassionately ; that he has not been enabled to 

arrive at a conclusion divest-ed from every other consideration except a fair inqmry into the fact. I allege here that no man can examine 

carefully the evidence submitted to this Senate in reference to the 

election which occurred in 1872 fairly and dispassionately without 

reaching the conclusion that Kellogg was defeatetl. I know the 

weakness of human nature, and I will not attribute to my friend 

any greater weakne son this point than I am willing to accept for 

my elf; but I know how our jndgments are frequently warped by 

pa.rty interests and party feeling, and my honorable friend will pardon me if I say that he is not an exception to this rule. 

A ca.refnl examination of the evidence ought to satisfy every one who examines it fairly that Kellogg was defeated in the election by 

not less than somewhere iu the neighborhood of 10,000 votes. That was the conclusion of the Committee on Privileges and Elections. 

That committee was compo ed of gentlemen who investigated the 

subject, who heard the witnesses on that point, who examined the 

returns made a-ccording to the laws of the State, arid who came to 

tho conclusion and placed it here in their written report that Kellogg was defeated, and that the majority against him was nearly 

10,000 votes. ·who were the .gentlemen who made that inquiry i 

The Senator from Indiana [Mr. MORTON] was chairman of that committee. I have his separate report here, and I assert that neither he nor any Senator on thi floor can point to a single expression in the 

report of the Senator from Indiana or in the report of the committee 

which intimates that Ke1Iogg was elected by the votes actually 

polled at the election. The late ·Senator from Wisconsin, 1\fr. Carpenter, the Senator from Illinois, [Mr. LOGAN,] the Senator from 

Rhode Island, [Mr. ANTHO:NY,] the late Senator from Illinois, Judge 

Trumbull, the late Senator from Georgia, 1\ir. Hill, and the Senator 

from :Mississippi [Mr. ALcoRN] examined this question, and not one of them denies the propo ition t'tat Kellogg was defeated by a large majority. Now let me read what they have aid in reference 

to that point, for I wish to direct attention to the langQag~ of that 

committee. Here is what Judge Trumbull said; and let me remark 

in reference to Judge Trumbull that he was not a democrat. He 

claimed no affiliation with that party. He stood at the very head of 

the Senate for years, ancl he was a republican in association and attachments, but when called upon to examine the testimOJ!Y in this ca e he came to the conclusion that Kellogg was overwhelmingly defeated and put it iu his written report submitted to the Se:q.4>t~ over his own signature. Here is what he says: 

4ccording to the official returns, the fusion Stat-e ticket, head eel by MpEnery for 

governor, received an average majority of about ten thousa.nu votes, ancl a large majority of the persons elected to the Legislature were of the arne party; and but 

for the 'illegal interference of the United States authorities, a i statecl in the re- port of tho majority, the McEnery government would have been peacefully in~u· 

gurated. 

l\Ir. HOWE. Will the Senator pardon me t 

l\Ir SAULSBURY. Certainly. 

Mr. HOWE. What were the returns which showed t:Q.a.t r-esult, 

will the Senator be good enough to state ¥ 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Yes, ·sir; the returns which were laid before 

tho De Feriet board, and by which they declared the res"Qlt of the 

election. 

l\Ir. HOWE. Does not the Senator from Delaware know that those 

returns did not embrace six parishes in the StateY 

l\Ir. SAULSBURY. I understand that some of the parishes were thrown out; but I now will read to my honorable friend, for I speak 

by authority, what Judge Trumbull said on that point. 

Mr. THURl\f.AN. Will my friencl allow me to ask a question there 

of the Senator from Wi cousin f 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Certainly. Mr. THURMAN. I ask the Senator from Wisconsin if he does not 

know that those parishes said to be thrown out would have increased 

McEnery's majority instead of clecreasinrr iU 

Mr. HOWE. No, sir; I do not know that. Does the Senator from 

Ohio know itt 

Mr. THURMAN. I think it appears from the testimony there to 

that effect. :Mr. HOWE. I think the Senator from Ohio is mistaken . l\1r. LOGAN. I think I can settle this dispute, if the Senator will 

allow me. · 

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. FERRY, of :Michigan, in the chair.) 

Does the Senator from Delaware yield to the Senator from Illinois Y 

1\fr. SAULSBURY. I prefer to make my own speech and not have 

other Senators make it for me. They can make their comments after 

I get through. 

l\fr. HOWE. I yield to the Senator from Delaware. 

Mr. LOGAN. "\Vill tho Senator allow me to read just a. paragraph 

of the report signed by the majority of the committee Y 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Yes, sir; I will. 

Mr. LOGAN. I read from page 44 of the report: 

The election was generally conducteu in quiet, a.nd was perhaps unnsu2lly free 

from disturbance or riot. Go>ernor Warmoth, who was the master-spirit in the 

whole proceediup:, seems to have relied upon craft, rather than violence, to carry 

the State for McEnery. In the canvass of vot.es1\Iark the language-

! n the canvass of votes which determined the McEnery governmeJ1t t,Q be elocteclThat is the basis on which we made this reportthe votes of several republican parishes were rejected. 

The inference is t.ha.t if these were returned he coqld not have been 

elected. 

:Mr. SAULSBURY. Will the Senaf;or :Q:qm lUinois be kind enough 

to send me that bookY 

Mr. LOGAN. Certainly. - Mr. SAULSBURY. I am perfectly willing to permit my friend the 

Senator from Tilinois to interpose occas.io:q.a.lly for his own relief, if 

he sees proper, any remarks whic4 can vary the force and effect of 

the very report to which he appended his name. l\Ir. LOGAN. I have never bac~ed from anything I said in thaL 

report. I only called the Senators fl,ttention to the fact. that in determining the legal questio:q. they threw out these panshes, and we agreed they had a right to do it, which elected McE_nery; that is all. 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I ;:tm very certain that my friend the Senator 

from Illinois, could not 4ave come to the conclusion which he did come to unless ~e 4ad, supposed they had a perfect right to throw 

them out. ~ pronose now to read a paragraph from the report to 

which he appen!led his name. Mr. LOGAN. If the Senator wishes to read the paragraph which 

declared ·McEnery elected I will show it to him. 

~1r. SAULSBURY. I have it here. The Senator from illinois together with the late Senator from Wisconein, (Mr. Carpenter,) the 

Senator from Rhode Island, [Mr. ANTHO. Y,] and the Senator fr~m 

Mississippi [Mr. ALCOR~] appended their names to this declaration: 

But for the interference of Judge Durell in the matter of this State election, a mat- ter wholly beyond his jurisdiction, the McEnery government would to-dn.y have been 

the de facto government of the State. Judge Durell interposed the .Army oi the 
36 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. · MARCH 12, 

United States between th~ people of Louisiana an~ the only government which baa 

the semblance of regularity, ap.d the rl'snlt of this has been to establish the Kellogg government, so far as that State now bas any government. For the United 

States to interfere in a State election, and, by the employment of troops, set up a governor and Legislature without a shadow of right, and til en to. refuse r edress of 

t.he wrong, upon the ground that to gmnt relief would be interfering with the 

rights of the State, is a propo ition difficult to p.tter with a grave countenance. 

Human language ca:nnot denounce more strongly the Kellogg government as a usurpatwn than has been done in the report of that 

committee. Now, I ask, with what consist ency can the Senator from 

illinois or the Senator from Rhode Island or the Senator from Mississippi-, after appending their names ·to a report which declares that 

Kellogg and his Legislatni"e were not elected and that but for the 

interference of Federal authority the MoEnery government would 

have been the government of the State, after having denounced ln 

such withering terms the interference of Dmell and the order which 

he promulgated, and after they ha-d expressed their regrets at the 

interference of the military power under the direction of the President of the United States to defeat the will of the people of Louisiana, 

how can they now, either directly or indirectly, by their votes recognize the Kellogg government, whether such recognition be by ex- pressly declaring that it is the legal government, or indirectly by 

seating Pinchback as a Senator from that State elect ed by a Legislature which had no more claim to legality than Kellogg, who ran on the same ticket f 

So far therefore as any right or title to this office is concerned, I 

repeat, I cannot coaceivo how any Senator or any other person who 

will examine the evidence submitted to the Senate by its own com- mittee can arrive at any conclusion that Kellog~ i in office by virtue 

of an election of the people. He is not theretore de ju1·e governor; 

and therefore when he appends his name to the certificate that Pinchback has been elected it c:1.rries with it no authority, because he has no title to the office derived from any election by the people of the 

State. It may be said that he is de facto governor; but the very same objection to his character in that capacity arises that arises to his 

character as the d.e jm·e governor, because he cannot be governor d.e 

facto unless he is in the office nuder color of right. I use the term de 

facto not in the common but in the legal acceptation. That term is 

sometimes vel:y improperly in common parlance applied even to the 

most notorious usurper, but in a legal sense it is only applicable 

to an officer having color of title as contradistinguished from a. mere usurper. This is a familiar question to every lawyer. A man indeed 

may sometimes be in office without having been rightfully inducted 

into office, and yet having color of right he is recognized as a de fact-o 

officer, and his official acts as such become valid so ·far as third parties and the public are concerned. But when he enters his office as Kellogg entered upon the office, without any election or without any 

color of title whatever to office, he becomes a usurper and not an offi- cer either de jU?·e or dcfaoto, and th~ acts of a usurper are void ab initio. 

He can perform no duty appertaining to the office, and none of his 

acts can or will be respected save only where his power is sufficiently 

strong to command submission and acquiescence. If Kellogg is neither governor by virtue of an election nor in office under color of 

title to tha same, the certificate which he makes ofPinchback's election carries 'vith it no authority, establishes no fact which it as erts, 

and indeed is not evidence for any pmpose; certainly is not entitled 

to any respect in this Senate. 

We must go behind that certificate to determine the right oftheclaimant to a seat in this body, and I say that ll.wolved in this inquiry as to 

the right of Pinch back to a seat is the consideration of the condition of 

affairs and the nature of the government in Louisiana. And now, 

how clid the Kellogg g<:>vernment come into power J A recitation of 

the facts, though they be familiar to the Senate, cannot be too often 

made. How did that government come into existence T It is not 

there by virtue of an election, as ha-s been declared by the Committee on Privileges and Elections, authorized and specially directed to inquire into that matter by the Senate. That government, I repeat, is 

not to-day over the people of Louisin.na by virtue of any election by 

the people. How then did it come into existence Y Sir, it is a painful chapter in the history of this country, and I repeat that it cannot 

be too often presented to the people, if happily it may arouse them to a sense of the dangers that threaten our free institutions. 

In the fall of 1872 an election was held in the Stat e of Louisiana. Prior to that election H. C. \Varmoth was the governor of the State. He had always been· a republican. He. had been clothed by the Legislature of Louisiana with almost unlimited powers over the machin- pry and management of elections. Snch was the implicit confidence 

of th~ republican party in Henry C. Warmoth that they clothed him 

witii vast and excessive powers, I admit, over the management and 

regoL:i ti6ns of elections in that State. It so happened that in 1 72 

he differed with his republican friends. He took issue with them 

upon t.he prestdential nominee; he became the advocate of Mr. Gree-

. ley for the Presidency. Pf course he lost favor with the Executive, 

he lost favor wit4 tbe republican party; but he was the governor 

at the time the election took place in 1872, rightfully in the possession of his office. ·That election passed off quietly, peacefully, was more orderly than electtons usually had been in Louisiana, ac- co~ding to the accounts that were published to the world at that 

time. Tha election was admitt!3d to be fa"ir election; there was but very little clisturbance. It was conceded that that election was unusually quiet and unusually faii, and t~e resqlt of the election, 

permit me to say, demonstrates clearly that such wa-s the fact, be- cause at that election there were 20,000 more votes polled than had 

been polled at the election preceding, evidencing conclusively that 

the election was conducted fairly, peaceably, and quietly, and that 

all parties entitled to vote had unobstructed access to the polls, and 

availed themselves of the opportunity thus offered to deposit their 

votes. Mr. MORTON. The Senator from Delaware says that the election was_regarded as fair. Will he permit me to quote a passage from the 

report upon which he relies on that subject Y 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I said that such was the report at the time of 

the election. 

Mr. MORTON. The Senator has quoted from the report of Mr. 

Carpenter. Will he allow me to read a passage? 

Mr. SAULSBURY. Certainly. I know all that is in the report 

and the Senator will not inteiTupt me, for I have no prepared speech, 

but I have I think possession of my subject. The Senator may read. 

Mr. MORTON. Mr. Carpenter and those who united with him re- ported : 

The stimony shows that leading and sagacious politicians of the State, who were acting with Warmoth, entertained the opinion before the election that War. moth 's control of the election machinery waa equivalent to ooo votes; and we are satisfied by the testimony that this opinion was well founded. 

And other testimony shows that the democratic politicians of Louisi- ana formed a coalition with him expres ly upon the grounc.l that his 

control of the election ma.chinery was worth 20,000 votes and that be • would give them "the benefit. The report goes on to say: 

We believe that had r egistration been acce sible to all, and polling places been properly established, the result of the election would have been entirely difterent. And although we cannot approve of such a canvass as t hat made by the Lynch 

board, who seem to have acted upon the principle of 1

' :fighting the devil with :tiro" and circumventing fraud by fraud, and cannot say that Kellogg's government was elect d, n evertheless we belie,-e that K ellogg's government was feat~d and the 

popular voice reversed by the fraudulent manipulation of the election. 

And in other places the committee say that the election was " an or(J'anized fraud." 

iir. SAULSBURY. I am aware of all that; but let me say that 

that is mere opinion, based upon the fact that Warmoth was clothed 

and had been clothed by the republican Legislature 'vith power over the registration and management of elections. The republican part y, 

knowing that Ir. Warmoth perhaps had used the power with which 

the.y had clothed him to their advant.age in the past, supposed the 

moment that power was withdrawn and not used for their benefit, even if no undue advantao-e should be given tothedemocratic party, 

yet the very fact that he had ceased to exert the power with which 

he was clot.hed in their behalf was of it elf an advantage of 

20,000 votes to the democratic party. I have no doubt it was. I 

have no doubt that Hemy C. Warmoth was thus clothed by a republican Legislature with vast and exce ive powers over the election 

and regi tration for the purpose of aiding the republican party, and 

when he broke with that party, when he ceased to exercise the power 

with which he had been clothed in their behalf it did inure to the 

beuefit of the democratic party by 20,000 votes. That is the true answer to the suggestion of fraud of the Senator from Indiana; but 

I have not done wit h the answer to the Senator yet. I want to an- swer further before the Senator interrupts me again, as I see he pro- poses to do. · But suppose the committee have so believed and so declared, it is but mere opiuion. Arf3 you to determine the legality 

and the results of an election by opinions and not by fa-cts Y Where are the facts revealed by this committee to show that their conclu~ 

sions or opinions as to fraud were right T 

Mr. MORTON. I ask the Senator if that report is any more opinion in that part of it than it is in the other part on which the Sen- , a tor relies t 

Mr. SAULSBURY. I thinkit is, because the facts are given which 

lead them to the conclusion that McEnery and not Kellogg was elected. The returns were before them and were examinecl by t-hem. 

I will, however, meet the very point rai ed by the Senator from Indiana by what wa-s said by the then Senator from Illinois. I read now from the separate report made by Judge Trumbull in answer t.o the 

suggestion of the Senator from Indiana. Judge Trumbull says: 

If it were admitted, as it is not, that Congress has authority to inquire into the 

fairness and regularity of a State election. it is denied that there was any such 

fraud in the late Louisiana. election as would justify setting it aside. It was con- fessedly one of the most quiet and pea-cefnl elections ever held in the State, and 

the evidence shows that it was substantially free and fair. 

The vote polled was twenty thousand larger than ever before cast in the State, 

and aga.i.nst more than two-thirds of it no complaint of unfairness is even alleged. 

And then he details the te tiniony of Marshal Packard, who had 

been called to the stand t.o prove these frauds, and he could point 

out but some six or seven parishes in which ther~ was even alleged 

unfairness. No, sir; this q nestion of fraud, this question of violence, 

this question of intimidation is brought up to relieve the action of 

the President of the United States and of those who sustain him in 

forcin& over the people of Louisiana. a usurpation that is devoid of 

any colOr of title either by virtue of an election or of having come into power according to the law and the constitution of the State. But when I was drawn off from the line of remark I was pursuing 

I was about to narrate succinctly the facts connected with the elec- tion in_ Louisiana and the subsequent events tl:at tqmspu·ed. I sa~~, 

accordmg to the reports and rumors at the t1me, that election was 
1875. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. 37 

very generally free and fair, and in its result it was decidedly in 

favor of the democratic party. That wa.s the general understanding 

throughout the country, and was so stated in the papers of New 

Orleans, the republican pa.pers as well a.s the democratio papers, that 

such was the fact. It was accepted as such by the country, and the 

popular heart throbbed with joy and hope at the prospect that the 

condition ot affairs in Louisiana was at last to be intrusted to honest 

hands. 

But then came the ma-chinations, then came the conspiracies, the 

plotted treason against Louisiana; conspiracy against the will of the 

people of Louisiana, conspiracy and treason against the peace of 

Louisiana, conspiracy against the pror;>perity of Louisiana. Kellogg 

sought the courts. He found in Durell a. wilJ.ing tool. DureU, who ·e name is connected with infamy, whose name will go down to poster· 

ity the synonym of judicial prostitution to power, and who will meet. the condign judgment to which an act of perfidy entitles him-Durell, 

at the hour of midnight on the Gth of December, as was said lly my 

friend from Kentucky this morning·, in his own chamber; without a case before him, as a.n accomplice to a conspiracy to defeat the popular will of the people of Louisiana, promulgated his nefarious order. 

Sir, I will not seek to connect any person with t.hat conspiracy who 

is not leoitimately connected with it by the proof in the cause; but 

I a k w~ there not a singular coincidence in the fact to which refer- ence was made by my friend from Kentucky this morning, that on the 3d of December, 1872, a telegram was sent from the AttorneyGeneral to :Marshal Packard to enforce the decrees of the Federal 

courts and the opportune arrival of troops on the 5th to enforce 

Durell's order f Who had called upon the Attorney-General in refer- ence to that question T Is it not a plain inference that the design was then concocted, that the determination was then had to make 

such an order, provided it could be sustained by the powers at Washington f That is the natural and only legitimate inf~rence deducible 

from that telegram and the facte which subsequently occnrrecl f Why 

should Attorney-General Williams send itT It may have been that 

that conspir~cy may have been concealed from the Attorney-General 

and he may have sent the telegram in perfect ignorance of what was contemplated by Pinchback, by Kellogg, by Packard, and by Durell. 

I have no proof that the Attorney-General was in complicity with 

such n. scheme and I will not impnt.e such a motive. He may have 

been in profound ignorance of the design of the conspirators in 

Louisiana, and be may have sent that dispatch without expecting 

that such an order a8 that of Durell's would be mane; but it wn.s very unfortunate for the interests of the country, very unfortunate 

for the people of Louisia~a. I may say it was .very unfortunate even for the reputation of the Attorney-General hrmself that a telegram 

of that ch~acter should have been sent almost at the very time of 

the promulgation of the order and the arrival of troops to enforce it. 

That order was enforced. I shall not dwell upon the fact .that 

Captain Jackson came opportunely on the very eveniitg it was made 

and was called upon to enforce it, and by reason of the enforcement 

of that order by the military power McEnery and the Legislature 

that was elected with him were kept out of power, and Kellogg, who 

had not been elected but who had been defeated by 10,000 votes, and 

the Legislature defeated with him by the same number of votes were installed in power. Such was theresultof that order and its enforcement by the Federal military power. There is the origin of the 

Kellogg usurpation. · But1 Mr. President, after the ·usurpation had been installed the 

consprrators and usurpers felt uneasy in the possession of the powerwith which they had been clothed by the Federal military authority 

of the cOlmtry. They wanted the recognition of t.he President of the 

United States; they wanted the moral effect which the recognition 

of the executive department of the Government would give to their 

usurpation and the guarantee of military power for its support, and 

then came the series of. telegrams from Packard, from Pinchback, 

from Kellogg for recognition by the President. They appealed to 

every consideration ; they appealed to his party instincts and party 

feelings; they told him that the interests of the republican party 

required his recognition. I shall not say in this connection that 

that was the motive which prompted the recognition of the President. 

I onl-y speak of the fact that that was the appeal which his friends 

made. How far it influenced the action of the President I shall 

leave for the country and the judgment of mankind to deterrnille.. I 

speak of the actl'l and not of the mot.ives of the President; I could 

wish the former could have been less liable to animadversion and the 

latter more free from all suspicion. 

The parties who invoked the interference of the Federal court over which Durell presided and subsequently invoked the aid of the ·President were yolitical adventurers who had been defeated at the 

polls, and the a1d granted by the President inured to the benefit of · t.he political party to which he belongs. He may disclaim all intention to interfere in a mere political contest, but, unhappily for his 

fame, mankind will draw their own conclusions from his action and 

not from his protestations. 

It has been stated :in debate that there were precedents for the in-· t.erference of the Federal power in such cases. Especially have these 

precedents been invoked to justify the recent interference with the 

organization of the Legislatme of Louisiana. I do not admit that. tho matt.ers referred to are precedents, but I will refer to one prece· 

dent which the Pres1dent would have done well to follow. 

I call attention now to the action of a democratic President when 

called upon to interfere in a political contest in a State not very dissimilar from that in Louliliana in December, 1872. I refer to the action of 

President Van Buren when called upon by the governor of Pennsylvania 

to interfere in what is generally known a.s the buck-shot war in that 

State. The facts simply stat-ed were these: There was a determination on the part of the whig party to get control of the two houses of the 

Pennsylvania Le~islature, and returns were sent up from Philadelphia 

giving to the whig members from that city the certificates of election on a return by a minor~ty of the ret.nrning board. The attempt was made to seat them upon these returns by a minority returning board, 

whereas a maJority of the board being democmtic returned the 

democratic members elected from the county of Philadelphia, one or two senators and oight or ten members of the house of representatives of the Legislature. These are the facts snccinct.ly. Therespective houses of the Legislature met and attempt-ed to organize; 

the whigs :tttempted to organize the house upon the returns that had 

been made by a minority of the board. Great excitement ensued. 

It may be well in this connection to read something as to the excitement that existed in Harris burgh at that time. Here is a contemporary 

account of the scene that transpired. 

I am indebted to Hon. Charles Brown, of my State, then a citi- zen of Pennsylvania and one of the senators from Philadelphia 

attempted to be excluded by the minority, for the extract from 

which I read: 

When tho hour for the meeting of the Iiouse had arrind, every available inch 

of room in the gallery and lobbi.es was occupied. 

Mr. Hill\ of Westmoreland, the oldest member present, according to prevailing 

custom, called the house to erder, and moved that the clerk proceed to open and 

read the r eturns of tho election in Philadelphia. City and of the different counties 

in the Commonwealth; which was agreed to. At this juncture Mr. Burrowes made his way through the crowd and presented 

the official returns. The clerk opened them, and read the returns from the city, 

and wa..'l about proceeding to rea<l those which returned the anti-masons, when 

Charles Pray aro e and inquired by whom the returns were si.gned. 

The clerk read the names of seven return judges appended thereto. 

Mr. PRAY. They are not the correct returns. Here is a. copy of the correct re. turns, signed by a majority of the return judges, certified by the prothonotary of 

the county of Philadelphia. Loud and prolonged applause followed Mr. Pray's remarks, and they were of 

such a character as to leave no doubt ·as to where the outsiders stood upon this 

question. 

After some little de bat~. the clerk inserted the names of the democratic mem- bers from the county upon the roll, and both parties proceeded to organize by the electionofaspeaker. Theanti·masonsnominatedThomasS.Cunningham;votedforhim, 

and declared him elected, which proceeding WIIS accompanied b.v his es all(l groa.ns from the gallery. The democrats nominated all(l elected William llopkins, who was a1'>0 sworn into office, and both Sl>eakers occupied chairs upon t.he rostrum. The anti-masonic party appointed committees to wait upon the nat~:~ and governor, 

and adjourned. The democratic party continued iu session and appointed similar committe~s. and al o nominatell ~nilidates for clerk and sergeant-at arms, after 

which it aU,iourned until t-en o'clock next day. 

The senate met at three o'clock, ;md was called to order by C. B. Penrose. The 

excitement of the house was transferred to the senate chamber, as it was known 

that the secretary would hand in the return of the minority judges instead of the 

majority, which would elect James Hanna :md William Wagner, instead of Charles 

Brown and S. Ste>ensou, who were legaJly elected. The galleries were ftlled with :m ex<:,ited crowd ; and when the minority return was read there was a. strong demonstration made in the l!!cna.te, and after Hanna. 

and Wagner were sworn in Mr. Brown arose and aakecl permission to addre s the 

senate, which he did amid boisterous aJ?plause. A.t this juncture Mr. Penrose, 

evidently under the impression that a cnsis had arrived, called General Rogers to the chair, went into the recess back of the chair, ingloriously jumped out of the 

window, and made his escape to Wilson's Hotel ; and whilo Mr. Brown was still 

speaking the rest of the anti-masons followed Mr. Penrose eut of the back window 

and the senate broke up amid wild confusion. 

This acconnt shows that there was much more serious trouble to lle 

apprehended th:tn existed in New Orleans in January last, or when 

the military took possession of the State-house in that city in December, 1872, and excluded the McEnery legislatme under the order of 

Durell. 

Then ?t-Ir. Penroso addressed to the governor a letter, (which I will 

not take time in reading,) detailing that the lives and safety of the 

members of the senate were put in jeopardy, whereupon Governor Ri~ner directed that the military forces of Pennsylvania attend, and, 

not satisfied with that, he made·a call on General (then Captain) Sumner, stationed at the barracks in Carlisle, and I want to read now what Captain Sumner said in reply to that call of Governor Ritner. 

Here is Governor Ritner's letter: liARRISBURGH, December 5, 1838. 

SIR: .An insurrection having broken out a.t this place, by which the re~lar 

functions of the State government have been completely interrupted and the State 

capital thrown into the possession of a lawless mob, to the exclusion of the Legis- lature, I hereby request you forthwith .to march the troops n.t your comm:mct to Harris burgh for the protection of the constituted authorities of the Commonwealth, 

for the suppression of the insurrection, and for the preservation of our republican 

form of government, agreeably with the Constitution of the United States. I am, sir, &c., 

JOSEPH RITNER. 

Captain Sme.;nn, 

Of the United St~tteB Drago01l8 stationed at Oarlisle. 

To that letter Captain Sumner replied as follows: 

CABLISLE BABRACKS, December 5, 1838. 

SIR: I have the honor to aclmowledge the receipt of your letter of this date, and I hasten to reply to it. As the disturbance at the capital of this State appears to proceed from political dijJerenceJJ alone, I do not feel that it would be proper for me to interpose my command between the parties. If this riot proceeded from any ot.her cause, I would offer you the services of my command before you will receive 

this letter. • I am, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant, 

E. V. S'U?\Th"'ER. 
38 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. MARCH 12' 

Captain Sumner.eommunicated to the War Department his reply to 

Governor :Ritner. The Secretary of War replied: 

WAR DEPARTMENT, Dece:mbeT 8, 1838. 

Sm: The Department approves of yonr reply to the requisition of the governor of Pennsylvama. In doubtful ca~es similar (U'ders must be transmitted by direc· 

tlon of the President Of the United States; and in all cases where the seat of gov· ernment is near the theater of the disturbance the necessity must be very nrgent 

and palpable to jristify an officer commanding a detached post in marching his forces ta repress an insurrection without authority to do so from this Department. Very respectfully, yonr obedient servant, 

J". R. POINSETT. 

Captain E. V. SUMNER, 

Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 

Then Governor Ritner wrote to the President of the United States 

askirig his intervention. I will not take time to read his letter to the 

President and the President's reply. Suffice it to say that President 

Van Buren directed the Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett, to inform 

Governor Ritner that the question, being a q-qcstion between political 

parties, was not such as it was contemplated by the Constitution re- qurred the interference of the Federftl authorities. 

I will read an extract from the letter of the Secretary of War sent 

by direction of President Van Buren to Governor Ritner in reply to 

his request for Federal interference, showing what was thought at 

that time by a democratic administr::ttion in reference to interfering 

in contests between political parties in a State. The views contained 

in the extract which I shall read are wise and statesman-like, and if 

they had been observed by President Grant and his administration 

he would never have committed the great error of lending his aid in 

placing in power the usurpation in Louisiana and sustaining it over the people of· that State. I will read the extract that the contrast 

between the action of a democratic and republican President under 

very simila,r circumstances m:>y be seen. The Secretary of War, Mr. 

Poinsett, says : · 

The commotion which now thre'ltens the peace of t"Q.e Commonwealth of P enn- sylvania does not appear to arise from any opposition to the laws, but grows out of a political contest between differ ent members of the government, most, if not all, of them admitted to be the legal representatives of the people constitutionally 

elected, about their relative rights and especially in reference t-o the organization 

of the popular branch of the Legislature. To interfere in any commotion growinj:( out of a controvet'By of so grave and delicate a character by the Federal authority, 

armed by the military power of the Govermnent, would be attended with the most danj:_(erous consequences to our republican institutions. 

Such were the -views expressed by Mr. Van Buren when applied to 

for help by the governor of Pennsylvania. But President Grant, upon 

tlie application of a set of conspuators to overthrow and defeat the 

will of the people of Louisiana., interposed the military power of the 

Government, whereby the usurpation of Kellogg was inaugurated and 

has been sustained over that State. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. I only want, for "the credit of 

the State of Pennsylvania, to say a word in reply to what the Sen- ator from Delaware bas just now said. · 

~lr. SAULSBURY. I shall be glad to hear what the Senator from 

Pennsylvania says. 

l\Ir. CAMERON, of Pennsylvania. That scene which the Senator 

has described was merely in the imagination and fears of good old 

Governor Ritner a,nd a few people around him. There was no war in Pennsylvania. There were not a thousand people in the town 

outside the regular population; I do not think there were :five hundred. A few persons took it into their heads that they could prevent 

Governor Porter from taking his seat, though he had been ~lected 

by some four or :five thousand majority in tho St.ate. The whole 

thing was an act of that great and eccentric man Thaddeus Stevens. 

The election campaign preceding t.hat, December was conducted on one side entirely by l\fr. Stevens, who had control of the canal 

funds and who risked overytbing upon t he re-election of his patron 

and friend, Governor Ritner. He failed because a majority of :the 

people were opposed to him. Mr. P enro e was one of the ablest. and 

purest men that ever lived anywhere, but he had not quite as much 

pluck as the Senator from Del~ware has and would have on an occasion of that kind. Somebody told him that his life was in danger, and unfortunately for himsei£ he jumped out of the window and 

Thaddeus St-evens jumped over him. Both of them were a little hurt 

by the fall, but if they had remained there nobody would have disturbed them. 

It is a good deal like the old whisky insurrection in Pennsylvania. 

There is a great deal said aboQt that. That was a mere erneute out in 

the western part of the State, a little quarrel about whether whisky 

should be transported in barrels or whether the rye out of which 

whisky was made should be carried down the river. That was the 

whole of it. But this buck-shot war was a ridiculous affair from be- ~inning to end. I am only sorry that t he use of types has c:trried 

the history of it down to this time. Everybody laughed at it. I was in Harrisburgh at the time and I was rather friendly to old Ritner, 

but nobody disturbed me. I a.m sure that no man of the least courage 

in the world would have jumped out of the window on that occa- sion. 

l\fr. SAULSBURY. However trivial. the circumstance may now appear to the Senator from Pennsylvania, it is certain that the gov- ernor of the State at the time thought it a. very serious matter, for 

he issued his proclamation calling out the militia of the State, and 

wrote. a second time t.o Captain Sumner imploring his aid; and in one of his letters to the President states that b e deemed it unsafe to 

go to the state department. "l!fr. Penrose and Mr. Stevens were apprehensive evidently; and from the statements of the affair pubJished at the time and now before me I have no hesitation in saying 

that there was far greater reason to apprehend riot and disturbance 

than existed in New Orleans on the 6th of December, 1872, or on the 

4th of January l~st, when the P.t:esident interfered in the domestic 

affairs of the State of Louisiana. The Senator from Pennsylvania, 

however, may be right in r egarding the buck-shot war as only a big scare. 

Mr. President, I referred to this incident for the purpose of showing the great ~ontrast between the action of a democratic administration under circumstances very similar to what occurred in New 

Orleans two years ago and the action of the pre ent Administration ; 

and I stand here to say t hat after the lapse of more t han thirty years 

the judgment of the country is that the action of the administration 

of President Van Buren was perfectly right. His failure to respond 

to the application of the governor of Pennsylvania for the purpose 

of giving advantage to one political party over another will be ju ti· 

:fi.ecl and commended as eminently proper and wise. I will not say 

what will be the judgment of posterity in reference to the action of 

the present Administration in using the military force of the country 

for the purpose of placing in power his own party in Louisiana,, which 

had been defeated by t he popular will, under the excuse, I will not 

say pretense, of enforcing an illegal and void order made by a Federa-l judge. Sir, I would not pluck from the Pre:sident one laurel which he won upon the :field of battle. I would have been glad if he had trans- mitted his honors unimpaired by his civil life to posterity; aud I exceedingly regret that in an rmfortuna,te moment the President, 

from whatever motive be may have been actuated, indorsed the send- ing of a telegram which ffilliOtmced his recognition of a usurpation, a usurpation that exists to-tlay over Louisiana, a,nd that was placed 

there and is sustained there wrongfully by Federal b ayonets. l\Ir. President, I shall not now go over what the Committ~e on Privileges and Elections said in reference to this matter. That is too 

familia r to the Senate to need repetition again. But I desire to call 

attention to what was said in debate upon· the r eport of the committee by some Senators on this floor as showing the judgment of the · Senat-e in regard to this usurpation atthat time. Here is what Judge 

Trumbull said in the debate which ensued on that report1 or rather 

upon the bill providing for an election in Louisiana which accom- panied the report of l\11:. Carpenter: 

Sir, there never wa.s a more monstrous case of usurpation than the setting up of 

this Pinch back _government. The history of it is startling. .And what did it do~ 

It convened on the 9th day of December in pursuance of a proclamation issued by 

Governor Warmoth, the admitted _governor of t-he State at the time, \VhO called the Legislature together in extra session. When the day arrived these sol!liers stood at the State-house door gnaruing it; the United States marshal was tb r e under orders to a.llow noboO.:v to take part in the Legislatnre except t ho e r eturned l>y the Lynch board, who hau nover bad au official return before them. The per ons thus 

designated by- Lynch and his associates assemblerl together, and claiming to ue a. Lep.slatnrw, Within the space of five honrs, in violation of the statutes of Loui iana, 

without trial and without preferring articles, declared Gi>vernor Warmoth impear.herl and suspended from office, and installed Pinchback as governor in his 

place, aud in all this they were backed up uy the bayonets of the Unite(l States. 

That was the language of a Senator on this floor whose historY.·is 

known to the country. He was not a democrat, he was a republican, 

ancl at one time stood high in republican counsels; and yet the hone ·t 

indignation ·of his soul gave utterance to the scathing ln.nguage 

which I have -read in condemnation of that usurpation which has been sustained for the last two years by the Federal Executive and 

the Administration party. Now listen to what was said by Mr. Hill, 

the late Sena.tor from Georgia, a republican too : 

These returns have been in the possession of the Committee on Privileges and 

Elections. They have undergone some examination, and taken with tho te timony 

of persons who are familiar with them, some of whom statecl that they had counted 

them by direction of the governor, the committee were forced to the conclusion 

that thev disclosed the fact that McEnery was elected governor of Louisiana by 

five or six thousand majority, a.bd that tho general ticket known as tho fu ion 

ticket in the State had been chosen, some portions of it, to wit, the lieutenant-gov- ernor, l>y a larger m.a:jority than the governor himself. It is not my rmrposo to glo. s over this election, to juatify any fraud, because I think it was developed 

before the committee that in a few parishes there were irregularities, and that 

there had been advantages taken, not illegal .advant.a.ges however, but advantages such a-s were allowed by the law, by tho executive of the State in the appointment of registrars, and perhaps in the direction as to who should be appointed managers of the election by those registrars ; and not only that, but that mconvenient places 

of voting had b"een created, ancl in some of the parishes a diminished number of 

polling places had been directed. 

The language of the Senator meets the question of, fraud. H e says 

there was no proof that any illegal advantages were taken but only 

the exercise of the powers by the governor of the State with which he 

had been clothed by a republican Legislature which enabled him to 

appoint registrars, which .enabled him to designate to a certa in ex- tent the places at which the election should be held. He concedes 

that there were some irregularities, but he says t hey were not illegal 

but such as were authorized by the law; and they have been magnified into frauds such as should vitiate an election by the Senator from Indiana and l?Y gentlemen who support the Administration in 

sustaining the usurpation over Louisiana. 

Now I wish to read from what was said by the Senator from lllinois, [Mr. LOGA.....~:] 

Whilfl I am upon the floor I desire to say, in justification of the motion made and 

in justification of <;he taking up this proposition to consider the bill now before the 
1875. CONGRESSIONAL RECOR)Do 39 

Senate, that there bas been a. pretended government set up in the State of Louisi- am~ by force and by fraud no man can for one moment deny. That to-day the gov- ernment there e.ris'ts in fraud, and in nothing else, no man who knows the facts will 

deny. 

That is what t.he Senator from Illinois said in reference to that gov- ernment. "That to-day the government there exists :i.n fraud, amlin 

nothing else, no man who knows thefacts will deny."' 

That is very emphatic bnguage. 

That a. pretense, an attempt was made to establish a. different government in the same way is true. That the election was a franc!, that the whole tbin~ was corrupt, that there was a combined ~ffort on the part of certain men to p erpP.ii'ate frauds 

and deprive the people of their rights aml their privileg s as citizen"!,' no one can deny. That there was an organized fraud for tho purpose of electin~ McEnery the 

evidence is plain and clear. That returns were forged for the purpose of accom- plishing that result no ma.n will deny. 

I read that so that the views of the Senator two years ago in reference to both governments may be understood, and I call attenilion to 

the fact that he says in t.hat debate that it cannot be de.nied that today the government there exists in fraud, in nothing eJse. 

That there bas been a pretendr'd government set up in the State of Louisiana by 

force and by fraud no man will deny. 

That is the government of Kellogg which it is proposed to recognize by the aclmi~ion of Pincbback. Now I wish to read what was said by my friend the Senator from Mississippi, [.Mr. ALCORN.] 

The Con_gr~s of the United States passed a law by which the district court of 

the United-States in certain cases was entitled to assume jnrisdiction in cases of 

election belonging to the States-State elections. Under a law like this a. di~tri t 

jtldg_~ in Louisiana assumed jurisdiction of a. case in which b e had no jurisdiction lcrr:tuy. Thatjudgeorganizetl a Legi latnre in Louisiana and installed a go>ernor in the State of Louisiana. It is not the Legislature of the people, it is not the 

governor of tho people tbot to-day pre."'ides over tho destinies of the people of 

the State of Louisiana. I am one of those who believe that if the >oice of the people had been heard at the ballot-box the republican .go>ernor and tha r epubli- can legilllature would luwe been elected, and I believe if the opport unity is gi>en the people to-day they will record their votes in favor of a. republican government 

in that State. 

I ca.ll attention to that as the opinion of the Senator from Missi sippi, that the go ernment which exists there exists not by virtue 

of any election but is a usurpation set up and maintained over the 

})eople of Louisiana. This eli ens ion occurred on a bill reported by 

the Committee on Privilege and Elections providing for a new election, and so fully satisfied were our republican friends that Kellogg's 

government was a u nrpation and not a lawful government that a lar(J'e majority of them were in favor of overthrowing it and holding 

another election under authority of Congress; but to-day they propo e to seat Pinchback in this body a the representative of that 

tlsnrpation.· I could quote the language of other Senators, but it is 

unnecessary. 

Mr. President, I might dwell upon there nlts which have foJlowed 

thi usurpation; I might speak of its effects upon tbe materialln·osperit.y of that State, and show t.hat that State, one of the richest in 

soil, one of the best in reference to climate, possessing .more natural 

elements of wealth and prosperity than almost any State in this 

Union, has been ruined and the material interests of the State destroyed by this usurpation that bas been set up and maintained over 

the people. But why consider the destruction of m!lterial interests 

which the people have suffered when they have been deprived of 

their liberty~ "While they ba ve been and are treated as serfs w bile 

they have been and are wronged in the tenderest point, while the 

very liberties of that people have been taken away from them, why 

apeak of the destruction of their material interests What is wealth, 

what is prosperity even, if these could exist in Louisiana while her 

people are slaves and wear day by clay the badges of their degradation f What though the sky be bright above them and the balmy 

air be freighted with the perfumes of richest flowers, the proud spirit 

of freemen cannot b~ content to wea.r the chains of slavery. They 

prize their liberty far, far above all else. Let rrie ask you, Senators, 

do you further propose to add to their humiliation and degradation 

by aumitting to tbi'l body as a Senator from that State a man who 

ha assisted to rob them of their rights and their liberties~ Do yon 

propose further to affiict them by declaring in the admission of Pinchback that Kellogg is their rightful master and that they must con- tinue to be his slaves 

I might speak of the disadvantages which the people of this whole 

country have suffered, because I lay it down as a general proposition 

that the people of this country ca.nnot be injured in any part of the 

country without its reflecting to some extent its influence upon the 

whoJe country. Sir, that State which was once a large customer in 

northern markets has been denied the ability now to come North and -

purchase in New York and Boston and in other commercial cities of 

the country; so that the very disadvantages which that people have 

felt aro beginning to. be felt in the northern section of the country. Her material interests have been blill'hted and the libeJ.1iies of her 

people destroyed and the whole country is beginning to feel to a certain extent the injury which has been inflicted upon a sister State. 

Now we_ are called upon, after the great wrong that have been perpetrated, to indor e by otu action, by our recognition of that government, in granting a seat to Pinch back in this Chamber-we are called 

upon to giv-e our recognition and our indor ement to-I bad like to 

have said to connect ourselves with the conspiracy t.o overthrow 

tho liberties of the people of Louisiana.. I hope the Senate will not 

do it. 

There are reasons which I have not assigned pertaining to the 

applicant himself; and perhaps I ought to saythat he was one of the 

chief plotters in the treason against the liberties of the people of Louisiana; and if there were no other consideration to influence our action on this resolution, the judgment of this Senate should be what the judgment of any fair court would be, that he should not take advantage of 

his own wrong. You threatened to unseat and drive from t-Ills Cham- ber two years ago a member charged with obtaining a seat in this 

body by bribery and corruption; bnt how infinitely greater the crime 

of the man who aids in the subversion of the liberties of a whole 

people, and bow infinitely le s worthy of aclmis ion into this Chamber 

as a Senator from the State over which he bas a i~-;ted to set up and 

perpetuate the most flagrant usurpation and tyranny. 

But aside from all per onal objection to the .applicant I insist, 

what perhaps is de::Jigned to be accomplished, that the admission of 

Pincbback will to a certaiu extent be the recognition of the Kellogg 

usurpation, and that the character of this Senate demands that it 

shall nev-er become a party to such an outrage upon public liberty. 

Why, l\Ir . .President, what is there and what can there bo more de::tr 

to the people of this conn try than the preservation of re1mblican government in the spirit in which it was formed Shall we bo false to 

the tru t reposed in us Y Shall we by the recognition of the Kellogg 

usnrpatiou in any form, directly or indirectly, put onr approval upon 

acts wbit::h have led to that usurpation' If we do, the judgment of 

posterity, the judgment of tho world will condemn onr act. 

In vain may the recognition of the usurpation by the State courts 

of Louisiana, owing their existence to the will of the usurper, be 

pleaded a authority for the recognition of the Senate. Courts have 

too often obeyed the behe ts of tyrants, even if jutlicial determination 

could rightfully influence our action in a ma-tter over which the Sen- ate has exclusive jurisdiction-the elections, returns, and qualitication of its own members. In vain may the support given to Kellogg 

and his government by the President be invoked as our guide. His 

action ought not to in:fltlence our judgment, nor, indeed, the action of 

any or all the co-ordinate departments of the Government. Onr duty 

is to rebuke not app1·ove of usurpation; to maintain the liberties of 

the people, the rights of the States, and onr form of free government 

unimpaired; to maintain the Constitution of this land anu secure the 

protection which it promi es to each and every State of the ·Federal 

Union . We may not fail in tllli! l.tigh duty at the bidding· of courts or Presidents or any other power whatsoever. 

We all remember a few year ago when the vandalism of the com mnnist struck down the Column Vend6me in Paris that it sent a 

thrill of horror and indignrttion throughout the civilized world. But 

what is a mere creation of art compared 'vith the system of republican government bequeathed to ns b:t, our father Y Shall we, more ruthless than the communists of Paris, by the recognition and support of a gross usurpation, strike down the very Constitution of the 

country which secures to us onr liberty9 I hope not. _ 

I shall record my vote not only against the resolution to seat P . B. 

S. Pinch back as a Senator on this floor, but against every resolution 

which directly or indirectly recognizes the rightful existence or the 

legality of the KeJloll'g usurpation. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the 

resolution" proposed by the Senator from Indiana. 

1\Ir. CHRISTIANCY. Ur. President, I ri e not for the purpose of 

making a speech or entering into any extended argument on this ques- tion, but to explain some of the grounds upon which I shall give my 

vote. It has been so long di en eel that all Senators, I suppo e, are now familiar with it. Not having been in the habit for the last 

eighteen years of oral discussion, but accustomed to expres myself 

somewhat carefuJly, :mel being able to condense better by submitting 

what I have to say in writing, I have done so in tllis instance; and I 

beg the indulgence of the Senate while I proceed to read my views, 

promising that hereafter I shall seldom offend in that way. 

The question we have before us upon the admission of Mr. Pin~b

back, as baa already been well remarked, is not a mere partisan or 

political, but a legal and constitutional question, depending, however, as all legal questions do, upon the facts to which the law is to be · applied. · 

What are these facts in the present caseY It is conceded that the 

Legislature by whose votes he claims to have been elected, and the 

governor who e certificate be holds, were elected, if elected at all, in 

November, 18i2. The Senator from Indiana, who has argued this 

question with his usual and acknowledged ability and adroitness, and 

who has placed the right of Mr. Pinchuack upon the grounds upon 

which it must stand, if it can tand at a.ll, in one, and, as I think, the 

most important-branch of his argument claims that the only fact 

material to the question is the certificate, in dne form, from Kellogg, 

purporting to be the governor of Louisiana, and under the seal purporting to be the seal of that State, of_ Mr. Pinchback's election as Senator; that this constitutes a prirnv. facie case, and entitles the applicant to admission as a rr.ember of this body and to be sworn in; 

and tllat if the body purporting to be the Legislature who elected him, 

or Kellogg, who signed his certificate, wa.o; not legally elected, and the 

election did not make the one a Legislatnre nor the o her governor, 

these f.ICts can only be bo\vo after Pinch backs admi sion here, for 

the purpose of expellinll' him. · WhPre t.he legal exist.ence of the Legislature purporting to make the 

election lli conce<le<l or uot seriously qoestioJ?e<.l, and tlw point of con· 
40 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. MARCH 12, 

test is whether they have proceeded regularly or by a sufficient vote, or whether the person elected is eligible to the office, I concur fully 

in this rule, that the certificate in due form entitles the person in 

whose favor it is issued to his seat, subject to be expelled upon subsequent inquiry into the facts. And it is to cases of this kind that the 

precedents establishing the rule mainly and almost exclusively relate. 

But when there is a serious doubt whether the body purporting to be 

the Legislature making the election, and the governor certifying. it, had 

any existence or power to act, the question stands upon a somewhat different principle and is much more analogous to a question upon the genuineness of the papers. And in such a case, while I do not quest.ion the 

power of the Se~ate to treat the certificate as p1'ima facie evidence for 

the time being, yet I think it would be much more in accordance with 

just, logical, and legal principles first to enter upon the inquiry whether 

there was in fact or in law any such Legislature ha'Ving the right to 

make the election, or any governor entitled to give the certificate. 

And, certainly, there can be no good reason to doubt the right of the 

Senate, in its discretion, to enter upon this inquiry in the .first instance, instead of waiting till after the admission, and then going over the same ground for the purpose of turning hi!ll out. 

Hut in either case or both the classes of cases to which I allude the 

rule which makes the certificate pl-imafacie evidence of the election must 

rest npon the presumption that things are properly and legally in their 

existing state until the contrary is shown; and when the contrary is 

shown the presumption ceases, and the p1'im.a facie case falls witb. it. 

Here the Senate have already investigated the whole question of 

the existence or non-existence of the Legislature which has assumed 

to make the election, and of t.he governor who gave the certificate; 

and the facts upon which the question·depends, whether in its de jure or de facto character, are all before us by a report of the Committee on Privileges and Elections of this body, accompanied by all the evidence, 

consisting of eight or nine hundred pages. 

This committee, in January, 1873, was directed to inquire aud report whether there is any existing State government in Louisiana, 

and how and by whom it is constituted. This was the government, 

if any, (Legislature and governor,) by which the electionwas made 

and certificate given. 

This evidence was taken after Mr. Pinchba,ck's election purports to 

have taken place. He was present at the taking of that evidence, 

took part in it by suggesting and asking questions, ana producing 

evidence; and, finally, was himself sworn and testified at length upon 

the very facts upon which the validity of his election depended. His 

right was therefore fully investigated in a proceeding to which he was virtually a party. It was in effect a proceeding in 1·em in which he 

came forward and intervened. That testimony is all before us, · and bas been repeatedly discussed and considered by the Senate. I am not now about to go into lhat evidence. I have read most of it 

carefolly,and the rest cursorily, enough to see that the able report of 

the l!lajority, presented to the Senate by Senator Carpenter, contains 

the fair result of the whole evidence, and draws the correct legal con- clusion, that there wa-s no legal election and no legal government; 

that the election, the canvass of the votes and the pretended installation of the officers claiming to be elected were equally void, both a-s to McEnery and his legislature and Kellogg and his legislature. 

This report was drawn by no unfriendly hand, so far as the Kellogg 

government is concerned. It may in some slight degree extenuate, 

bnt it "sets down naught in malice." It is a,n able, etatesmanlike 

and fair report, and I adopt it by reference without repeating its con- tents. Looking into that mass of testimouy, what does it exhibit as to the naturo and validity of the election, or any government 

claiming to rest upon it 7 A formless chaotJ of plots and counterplots, 

of seething passions, of .inconsiatencies, incongruities, and absolute 

nullities, with nothing real, nothing tangible, but fraud and force. 

Concurring, therefore, with the conclusion of that report, that the 

election was utterly void, I must also hold that neither the Kellogg 

g.overument nor the McEnery government can be recognized as a goverument de jwre: and this I think ought to dispose of the question of 

Pinch back's right under an election Testing upon the validity of that 

government. 

I deny the right of any one to claim a-dmission here on the ground 

merely of a de facto State government which is found to be without 

legal authority. • . The effect of the judicial decisions of that State upon the question 

of the de ju1·e character of that government will be considered when we come to consider the nature and origin of that government. But 

before proceeding to consider the de facto character of the State government, E>ince all the evidence is before us bearing upon the question ·of Pinchback's right, which the majority of the committee believed 

showed that there wa-s no legal government-and the majority of the 

Senate may draw the same conclusion-what becomes of the prima 

facie case, resting upon the presumption arising from the certificate f 

Is not the evidence now to be considered upon the merits 7 

For illustration, take the strong presumption in favor of innocence 

in a criminal case. After evidence has been introduced tending 

strongly to prove guilt, and from which the jury might properly 

find a verdict of guilty, what would be thought of the judge who 

should bold and instruct the jury that, no matter how strong the evidence, or whatever it might be, they must disregard it, because the 

la.w presumes innocence, and they must act upon that preeumption 

alone, and acquit Y 

I now come to the question whether Kellogg and his Legislature 

constituted a de facto government which, by any recognition it bas 

received, has so far grown into a legal or legitimate government that 

its acts in electing Pincbback have become binding upon us, so as to 

require or properly authorize us to admit him to a seat here. 

-Had Kellogg and his legislature already been in the possession of 

power, and in the actual exercise of the offices they claimed, and in 

the actual government of _the State, without ::~ ny act of the Federal 

Executive to place them in that position; then, whether this or the 

McEnery government was actually entitled by die election which bad 

taken place, I can readily understand that the President might, and 

~bat it might be his. duty to, recognize the government thus already .m the actual exerciSe of power, as a cle facto government, until the 

question of right could be properly decided, or until a proper election could be ha,d, and that such a recognition, so far at least as the 

executive of that government was concerned, might very properly be 

followed by, whether binding or not upon, both branches of Congress. 

I concecre also that at the time of the senatorial eJection the Kellogg go,Ternment (the governor and Legislature) constituted in one senee a de facto government; that is, it was in the actual posses ion 

and exercise of the governmental powers over that State. But bow 

did it obtain the possession of this power; and who gave it this de 

facto character f 

It did not obtain possession of the government for itself, by its own acts, nor by the a-cts or the will of the people of Louisiana. 

Left to themselves and the people of the State, it is admitted on a.ll 

hands, Kellogg and his legislature could never have become a de facto 

government, or a government of any kind; and it is perfectly evident from the testimony, that McEnery and his legislature, which 

had more of the forms of regularity about it, and probably the mu.- jority Qf votes, though reeking with fraud, and not free from intimidation and force, would, without .Federal aid, have obtained po ses- sion of th~ government, and constituted ~he government de facto, 

but for the mterferenceofthe Federal Execut1 ve. Kellogg and his lecrisJature bad never been in power. His legislature had not yet assembled, 

by whom the votes for governor were to be counted; no organization 

of his government had taken place when the Federal Executive 

interposed by military force, on the alleged authority of an order 

from the United States district judge, which all partie , at least all 

jurists and lawyers, except, perhaps, the Attorney-General, (if that constitute~ an exception,) admit to have been void, and placed the 

Kellogg government in power, a,nd kept it there. It was this, and 

this alone, which gave it inception, which placed and continued it in 

power, and gave it its entire and only character of a government de 

facto. · 

Having in this way only become a de facto government, the Executive could give it no additional sanction or validity by recoanizin<T· it as the de facto government, nor bind Congress, or eit'her H~u e of.· 

Congress, by such recognition; for it was the recognition only of his own acts, of the government be had instituteil. and set up, not of one which he had found in existence. The act of 1795, which has been 

claimed as making the acts of the Executive equivalent to the action or autborit.y of Congress, can only have that effect, if at all, so far as his action comes within and was authorized by it: ::md though that 

act may justify the employment of the military force to put down 

insurrection and domestic violence, and to protect and keep in power, 

against insurrectionary forces, even a merely de facto government 

already existlng,·(upon which I express no opinion,) it certainly does 

not authorize him to create and institute a State government which 

had no previous or other existence in fact or law. 

The logical process which can give to a subsequent recognition by 

the Executive, ofagovernmen~ thus instituted_, any greater le~al validity than it inherited from its origin, or make its action binding upon 

either House of Congress, is a process which, hofVever valuable it may 

prove in more skillful hands, is of no value in my bands, and I 

could not use it to reach such a conclusion without cutting my own 'fingers. To me the whole process seems to be circular, beginning 

:where it ends and ending ~here it qegins; and with whatever velocity 

1tmaybemadetorevolve, It never moves a step forward from the point 

where it started. It leaves this Kellogg government, which assumed 

to elect a Senator in Congress,just where and what it was in its origin-not a Legislature or government of the State of Louisiana, but a body set up, installed, and kept in power· and imposed upon the State 

by the executive department of the Federal Government, and deriving 

all its authority from this Executive action; and I do not myself see how the decisions of the Louisiana courts, constituting as they do only one branch of this government thns set up, can be any more binding 

upon us than the action of the pretended legislature, whether these 

judges were in office under previous existing governments, or judges 

had been thrust out and others put iu their pl~ces for the purpose of 

securing the desired course of decision. · 

And now, Mr. President, for the pnrpose of testing by its results 

the sonndness of any course of reasoning which would bind Congress or the Senate by the action of a State government thus set up and 

established, or any branch of such government, I will say that, if 

this is true of the State of Louisiana, it must be equally true of any 

and every· other State in the Union where such a government might 

be thus set up and sustained; and the same course of reasoning 

which wonld authorize the setting up and sustaining such a government in Louisiana, would, as matter oflaw, equally authorize it in any 
1875. CONGRESSIONAL REOORD. 41 

other State under like circumstances; that is, when the candidates for 

governor and Legislature on two opposing tickets both claim to be 

elected, and neither has yet got possession of the .government, :tnd, to 

make the parallel entirely fair, when, in the opinion of the President, 

violence may be apprehended from the contest. This might occur in 

any State, as well at the Nort.h as in the South. Suppose it had 

occurred, as it might, in Michigan, at the last election, and, owing to 

the heated passions of the partisans on either side, and the frauds 

comm.itted at the election orin canvassing the votes, a similar difficulty 

existed in determining which candidate tor governor was elected; and 

while the dispute was still open, and neither candidate for governor had 

obtained possession of the office, a district court of the United States 

had assumed jurisdiction of the question in the same or any other way, fto decide who was elected, and undertaken to decide upon the' 

election of member~ of the legislature, and the President had sent 

the military to enforce this decision of the Federal court, and to place 

in power and sustain the candidate in whose favor the court had decided. While the people of Michigan might not object to the action 

of the military in preserving the lives of citizens against insurrection 

and violeTJce, would they be likely to recognize the validity of the 

government thus imposed upon them Y Would they be likely quietly 

to submit to itt The people of Michigan are a law-abiding people; 

but I· know them well enough to venture the assertion that it would 

take several regiments of soldiers to keep them quiet under a govern- ment thus imposed, and more than all the armies of the United States 

to make them love or respect it. 

They would see, as I know they do to-day see and feel, that the 

election of a State governor or a State Legislature was not to be deci<led, nor the St8.te government run or prevented from running, by 

the :fiat of a Federal court; and that even the Executive of the Federal Government had no right to decide the question for the State, or to institute or establish a State government for them. 'fhA argument here urged in behalf of Pinch back involves this very 

principle, a principle which would place in the band of the executive 

department of this Government tho right and the power to revolntionize every State government in the Union, and bind, not only the 

States, but both branches of Congress to :recognize that revolution. 

Such a principle cannot he sound. The arguments in favor of it 

ue<Tin in fallacy and end in absurdity. f have not mentioned these illustrations because I think our present Executive is likely or inclined to do anything of the kind. I have 

not the remotest idea or suspicion that he f1as any such design or inclination. I believe hejs just a.s clear from any such inclination as I am, or as· any other man can be. I am merely illust.rating the principle inv.olved; and my habit in pursuing a legal or judicial investigation is to follow the truth wherever that may lead me. And though 

I am as well eatisfied as I can be of anything which does not admit 

of mathematical demonstration, that the President ha had no wish or intention to usurp power which does not belong to hi.m, yet called 

upon, as he wasJ for prompt action for the S'llppression of apprehended 

violence and insurrection, and prompted by the humane motive of 

giving protection to the colored population, hundreds of whom had on several previous occasions been butchered in cold blood-a motive 

which does honor to the man, and in which I confess I sympathize 

with him-and without having all the evidence before him which we have before us, nor, as I think, the .best legal advice, it is not strange 

that be should have failed to see clearly the true principle involved, 

and that he should have erred, as any other man, under similar circumstances, might have erred. 

But looking, as I think the facts show that he did, upon the government he bad set up as merely temporary, until Congress should 

take the matter off his hands, and doubting, as I think he did, as to 

the validity of the Kel_logg government, he did what a wise and truehearted statesman should have done under the circumstances; be 

caJled upon Congress to make proper provision for the case, and take 

such measures as they should deem proper. And he has called upon 

them repeatedly from that day to this; but be has called in vain, and 

Congress has neglected to act. • In all this I see no evidence of that deliberate usnrpation or intention to establish an irresponsible despotism which has been charged, 

and I repel the charge as one of the extravagances of heated partisanship, which often leads men to believe what, in after years and 

upon due reflection, they discover to have been wild and absurd. 

But here and now we are endeavoring to discover and apply the 

true principle which should govern the question of· the admission of 

.Mr. Pinch back as a Senator; and if we are wise we shall act upon no principle which we should not be willing to see applied to our own 

States; for, as in the case of individuals, no man can violate the 

rights of another without endangering his own, so we, as the representatives of States and their people, cannot violate the constitutional rights of another State or its people without endangering our own States and our own people. 

In the mutations which are constantly taking place, and must continue to take place, in this and every other popular government, the 

time may come when our present positions may be reversed, and when 

those now in a minority may hold the power of enforcing their own views of government; and the poisoned chalice we now present to 

the State and people of Louisiana may be commended to oar own lips. Let us, therefore, disregard all mere partisanship, and act upon 

the broad prinmple of equal justice, which is the highest statesmanship, and refuse to establish a new and, at least, a questionable principle, which may return to plague the inventors. I have bnt one more point to notice. It has been gravely urged 

here that Louisiana, being ent itlecl to two Senators upon thi~ floor, it 

is a wrong to the people of that State to refuse them the enjoyment 

of that right; and therefore we ought, in orcler to avoid this wrong 

to the people of that State, to admit Mr. Pinchback. Now,accordi g 

to my reading of the reports recently made to the House by both the 

majority and the minority of their committee, the majority of the 

people of Louisi8.na are opposed to the Kellogg government, and to 

Pinch back as their representative in the Senate; and they would, 

of course, prefer being unrepresented to being misrepresented; they are not, therefore, likely to complain of any specin.l grievance arising from his rejection. 

REPORT ON ALLUVIAL BAS:lli OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

Mr. ALCORN submitted the following resolution; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Printing : 

· .Resolved, That five thousand copies of the report of the commission of engineers 

appointed in compliance with the act of Congresa ap.Proved .June 22, 1874, to inves· ti~ate ancl report a permanent plan for the r eclamation of the alluvial basin of the 

Mississippi River subject to inundation, be printed for the use of the Committee on the Levees of the Mississippi River. · 

COMIDTIEE SERVICE. 

M:r:. RANSOM, on his own motion, was excused from further service as a member of the Committee on :Military Affairs. 

Mr. GORDON, on his own motion, wa-s excused from further service as a member of the Committ-ee on Commerce. 

By unanimous consent, it was 

Ordered, That the v~WaUcies be. filled by the Vice-President. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT appointed Mr. RL~soru: to :fill the vacancy 

upon the Committee on Commerce, and Mr. GoRDON to :fill the vacancy 

upon the Committee on Military Affairs, each Senator to occupy the 

relative position on the committee which was held before the vacancy 

OCCUlTed. 

EXECUTIVE SESSION. 

Mr. CAMERON. I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of executive business. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to the con- sideration of executive business. After one hour and :fifteen minutes 

spent in executive se sion the doors were reopened, and (at three 

o'clock and forty minutes p.m.) the Senate adjourned. . 

IN SENATE. 

SATURDAY, March 131 1875. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. BYRON Sm.'DERLAND, D. D. 

The Journal of yesterday's proceedings was read and approved. 

SE.~: ATOR FROM LOUISIANA. 

The Senate resumed the consideration of the following resolution, 

submitted by .Mr. MORTO on the 5th instant: 

.Resolved, That P. B. S. Pinch back be admitted a.s a Senator from the State of 

Louisiana for the term of six years, beginning the 4th day of March, 1873. 

Mr. EDMUNDS. I move to amend the resolution by inserting the 

word "not" before " admitted." If it is amended in that way I think 

I can vote for it. 

The VICE-PRESIDENT. The question is on the amendment of 

the Senator from Vermont. 

.Mr. EDMUNDS. I believe the understanding was that we were not to vote to-clay, so that I hope the Chair will not put the question. "The VICE-PRESIDENT. The Chair awaits a motion. 

Mr. THURMAN. I had no expectation of making a speech this 

morning; but upon this que tion of Pinch back I think each of the 

old Senators here mightadoptforhis motto sentperpa1·atus. We have 

heard the thing discussed up hill and down hill, and in every other 

way or direction in which a man can go or look. As there seems to 

be no one ready to proceed, I will say a. few words by way of taking 

my farewell leave of the subject. The chairman of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, [Mr. 

MoRTON,] in t he elaborate speech by which he supported there ·olution he ottered, and which was in effect the same speech made·by him 

at previous sessions of the Senate, laid down three propositions upon 

which his conclusion is based. The :first proposition was that Pinchback's credentialB make a pt•ima facie case and entitle him to his seat 

until ousted on an investigation. The second proposition was that 

the Senate is bound by the decisions of the supreme court of Louisiana recognizing Kellogg as governor and the body that elected 

Pinchba.ck as the Legislature. His third proposition was that the 

Senate is bound by the President's recognition of Kellogg a.s governor 

and said body of men as the Legislature until Congress shall reverse or overthrow that recognition. 

I propose to say something upon each of these propositions, and as briefly as I can. In support of the :first propo ition, that Pinch back's 

credentials make a 11rima facie ca _ e, enti tlin~ him to be seateu until 

ousted upon an investigation, the Sena.tor 1rom Inuiana speaks of 

•