Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1862-1865, 1864-05-06


81 Be 1t farther resolved dc, Tbas in this hour OF
trll the Sat5 OF louisiana leaders her Government
and sister States her Warmest sympathy and cordial CO.
operation; and she hereby de(llres her unfaeriug de-
termination spare expense Of blood treasure in
defence of the Confederate States Of America free
and Independent Republic.
4,h. Be Il further resolved DC That his Excellensy
the Governor be aud he is hereby rested to transmit
copies OF these resolutions 10 Snstors and Repre-
sentstVes in Congress- and 10 the Governors OF
sister States. !. u. Exam,
Speaker of the House OF Reps.
Clerk of the House of Reps.
JOIN hooRE,
President pro tenn. OF the Senate.
Secretary of the Senate.
Approved, February S:h, 1854.
HrNRY W. ALLEN
Governor of the State Of louisiana.
Mr.. PERKINS said:.
As these resolutions the Legislative expression of
the State of LOUISIANA move that they be printed,
and also thai they DO entered upon the journal of the
House.
The rsmoteaess of Loui lana from the Confederate
capital aud the 6ifi suty il Obtaining authentic inior
nation from the ether side of the Mississippi river has
abed the Northern press misrepessnt ony th0
COZ tou Dot the feeling OF hs people Of tue ate that
am happy 60 have opportunity OF calling attention to
these re. Ouions. Tney were. am told adopted by
unanimous vote of the Legislature and as they have
re nest that they be presented in Congress- take
for granted that they express the sentiment Of the PEG
pie Of the Sac. IL is true that the Federals have
Gently progesssd hold election for State officers
ia L1ui=iana and have made the insugu alton Gov
ernor of man by the nsms OF Michael Hadn-a sub.
editor of one Of the Inferior city papers Of New Or.
eans-the occasion Of grand military demonstratonsS
ous the whole plainly an effort TO impose upon
the public creduty, that aude 70 it only 10 say, that
neither BY Interested appeals Dr threats of punishment
MI thA him ne han
O0O) FIVE thousand votes in the entire city and State
As tons Iumber is precisely (-l0) tenth of the
voters Of the Safe that Lncolns proca ion required
to make valid new Safe government, is is well un
derstood the result determined on in advance and
would have been announced the sans even had no!
single vote been cast by citizen Of the State. From
the foreign element in the city, and the lary and
the recently imported persons from the North, they
managed to create the appearance OF an election, aud
this all that required The Legislature from
whom the resolutions presented emsnate at lis reg
ular session at Shreveport the present capital Of the
state. Us msmbers were chosen at the regular time
within the last SIX mnnths, GrdTepresent every parish
toe SAFE except those just around New 0dsans. Gep.
Allen, the present Executive, chosen Governor Of
the State of the army at the time with the
members OF the Legislature, and without op.
pOStOn-commended TO the peoFb by his gal.
lantry on the field, and his bold and uncom.
promising devotion TO Southern independence A.
the election, every member from louisiana who
vas ia the last Congress, except one, who did not de-
sire a election, chosen, by general ticket TO
the present Congress. mention these facts 10 show
the unsnimiy OF feeling ihai prevails in LousAna and
Jha t may be that am justifed in declaring these
resolutions TO express the sent mems OF the people of
the State.
Having said SO much Of the source Of these resolu
tons, may be pardOhed lev words in explanation OF
the real condition Of The psope of my Safe, aud the
degree and character Of the sUsriogs TO which heg
have been subjected, and TO which the resolutions al
Jude only IN a general way.
When in January, 1881, Louisiana adopted an ordi-
of Secession from the U. States by an almost
unanimous vote of her convention il a surprise 20
OF her sister States. Having within her borders
he mouth of the Mississippi river With an export trade
embracing half Of the exports Of the whole Union
aud growing import trade that caused the great sta
pie articles OIL the South Yves. TO pay tebu.e to her
CONNIE cia empoium-Whica in wealth and population
far exceeded thai OF any other Southern city-with
people descended from Spanish and French az veil o.
Engl sh ancestry whose customs aud traditions of law
and government differed IN many particulars from those
OF the other Southern Giss she would have been ex-
cusabe, If, in the exuberauce Of h=r prosperity, she
had hestated 10 commit herself struggle in which
from her peculiar geographical position, her gieat &C
eumulaton OF capital and the diversity of her popHla
ton, she NOR exposed TO attack, than any other
Of the Cotton Ssztes. She did not however, hesitate
and al that she had ct resources wealth and popu
laton, were at once placed at the disposition Of the
common cause.
rbe conflicts and vide spread destruction of property
and lie Her beautiful Capitol with its treasured ar
ohiVes has been, by Vandal foe, committed to tn
flames Her chief city, which sat like queen at Oh
mouth of the Mississippi River, and gathered wealth
from the trade OF the West, droop3 ike capIiy
in chains The commerce that gave 20 it life has
ceased. lis public Offices have been closed or filed V
race Of iniormers aud spies. The Judges of the high
courts, and many o. her nobest cit zens have bee
driven into exils Her churches either eentineled
by armed men or ministered 10 by strangers Gulf
and lake of four hundred miles Ia extent indent
I'd with bays the seat of beautiful summer resorts
has been laid waste. river border Of Elk huI d. ed
aud fifty miles the West from Arkansas to the mouth
Of the Mississippi and Of three hundred and fifty miles
the East from the State line of Mississippi TO the
Gull, before the war one extended scene of rich YER
dure and smicg opuleoce, row lies entirely at the
mercy OF the enemy. brigade of Gunbosts Of pecu.
lar construction and filed with light artillery and cav
alfy licensed TO Punder ard supported by their spos
by night and day. steam up and down this region send
ing out maTaudng bands to rob and plunder miles into
tue interior When satiatad with the waste OF one por
ton Of he river, or when opposed by troops, Trey
change their location and IN few hours are punderng
at distance the other eide. For hundreds of miles
along the Northern portion OF this river border of Louis
lana there remain net half dozen of those inhabi
tants who lived there before the They have died
the victims OF their mstoItunes, or old and young have
entered the military service, gathering up the
nauts of their property they have moved back towards
Texas, on the West or into Alabama and Georgia on
the East On the river front OF the Parish in which
misunderstanding over distance Of seventy miles
know Of but two houses standing and of but two of
the eli inhabitants who remain. In the entire Parish
OF several hundred there are now but twenty voters
left and instesd Of the net annual revenue of three
millions realized before the war, there is not now pro-
duesd sufficient Of tie neeessaries of life, for
the few negroes who still hang around the locations OF
their former soOdes.
The immense levees that lined the entire extsat Of
the and which In their mag tude mt rae ed
the attention of foreign ave ers. and that for the last
twenty years. have enl ted in their construction at an
enormous cos the be- engineering talent Of the coun-
Try have been destroyed, and the Mississippi river now
foods large extent Of ooantry ia many instances mie
han 6ity miles beyond its ordinary channel heretofore
a high cultivation; add 10 this the conversion OF
Arga interior region of the State into position Of al
nOt entra isoaou nv tbs seslrnefion of all means of