The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1870-02-05
The Proposed Election Bill.

late the conduct and to maintain
the purity of elections" ETC., has
been presented in the Senate, re-
! ported upon favorably by a ma
:jority of the Committee on Judi
ciary, and made the special order
for this day. ~ ..-..-
We refer briefly to this iniqui-
tous bill in order to attract the
attention of those members of the
Legislature who are opposed to
investing Gov. Warmoth with any
more power than he now posses
ses. For instance:
Sections Sc and 81 declare that
on the day of election the Gov
ernor ttshall have paramount
charge and control of the peace
and order of the State, over all
peace and police officers, and shall
have the COMMAND AND DIRECTION
IN CHIEF OF ALL POLICE OFFICERS
of all sheriffs and constables in
their capacity as officers of the
peace" During registration or
on the day of election, in the event
of riot which civil officers neg
lect or refuse to suppress, "THE
GOvERNOR SHALL HAVE POWER To
DECLARE MARTIAL LAW AND TO
CALL OUT THE MILITIA to preserve
law and order, and to protect the
public safety by such summary
measures as the exigencics Of the
case may require
The author of this famous bill,
Campbell, in his zeal to concoct q
law that will give the Governor
the control of the election, entire
~ ignores an article of the consti-
tuition. Martial law, we believe
means a suspension of the writ of
habeas corpus. But section z of the
constitution says: ....-
The privilege of the writ of
habeas cospus shalt not be suspended.
How then can the Governor de-
clare martial law -.. -a--
By this sweeping bill the whole
machinery Of elections is placed
in the. control Of the Governor.
His supervisors record the lists of
registration, his commissioners
superintend the elections, handle
the ballots and seal the boxes.
he virtually counts the votes, re-
ceives some and rejects others at
discretion. All the officers of the
State are put under his orders.
By expensive and Numerous agents
the election is removed as far as
possible from the influence Of To-
cal officers. Distrust of the peo-
pie breaths through every par
agraph, but the Governor is
magnified into an absolute mon
arch with no check: guard or limit
to the powers heaped upon him.
The chartered rights and tradi-
tional franchises of our great city
are swept away. Most absurd
logue of crimes. The power is
given to construe any triding
crossroads brawl into a riot or
disturbance sufficient to annul the
election of an officer whose opin-
ions may be adverse to those of
the dominant party. The power
of the judiciary, and the authori-
ty of sheriffs and magistrates are
swept away. The Legislature can
no longer judge Of the due cleo
ton Of its own members.
This monster Of legislation has,
we are told, a twin brother in the
form of a new registration law,
also conceived by partisan ambi-
ton and born of partisan inven-
ton. Neither of these. proposed
enactments are called for by any
public want. If the reprehensible,
dangerous and obnoxious provis-
ions of the ''army bill'' before us
are stricken out, all that remains
will be useless. The sole purpo-
ses of the bill are to clothe the
Executive with imperial functions
to perpetuate hostile dynasty
and to defeat the honest and de-
liberate expression of the will of
the people.-[N. O. Bulletin.
The following extract from the
Senate reports indicate the tone
of the discussion had in that body
relative to the Election bill: