New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-12-13
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
New Orleans December Ii 1872

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.
Executive DEPARTMENT
New Orleans. December Ii, 1872. )
To tie President and Members Of the Senate:
GENTLEHEN-I have the honor to inform
you that l have transmitted by telegraph
the requisition of the General Assembly
upon the President, requesting him to al
ford the protection guaranteed to each
State by the constitution of the United
States.
In response, I have received the reply,
honorable body.
Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor.
WASHINGTON, December II, 1872.
To P. B. 8. Pinchback, Acting Governor of Louis
Requisition Of Legislature as transmitted
by you is received. Whenever it becomes
necessary in the Judgment of the President
the State will be protected from 4om ,te
violence. GEORGE II WILLIAMS,
Attorney General.
GoyERSoR's MESSAGE.
STATE or LorEsIAyA)
Executive Department, !
New Orleans, December II, l872S
To the honorable Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the State of Louisiana, IN General AS
sembly convened:
COMMUNICATIONS present session, called
by the Governor under the act OF 1870, No.
A, is, by the proclamation converting you,
limited to the period of ten days, but under
the provisions of the same law can be con-
tinued, not exceeding sixty days, by joint
resolution passed by both Houses OF the
General Assembly, approved by the execu-
tive.
If you should deem that such extension
of your session is demanded by the public
interests, / will cooperate with you therein.
In the meanwhile, contemplating such
contingency, deem it my duty to call your
attention to such subjects Of Legislat'~"l"-
otat8 i9gls@tion, since the close of the war,
has been surrounded with no ordinary en- |
barrassments, and the result in Louisiana,
whether we contemplate the laws enacted
or the execution thereof, has not been en-
urely satisfactory to our people The sta
tutes passed, both political and financial |
whether considered in their provisions |
or their administration, have been deemed |
by some oppressive, and their revision, |
therefore, is an imperative duty devOlyed |
upon you as the legislative department of |
the State. The political, social and indus
trial condition of the State was so unsettled
BY the late civil strife as to make the duties
OF the General Assembly exceedingly deli
cate and difficult. but conceding pure mo-
t1ves and integrity to your predecessors, it
is probably neither uncharitable nor unjust,
to assume that they have failed largely in
realizing the reasonable expectations of the |
citizens, because they have not sufficiently
studied the condition and wants of the
State as condition precedent, to the enact
ment of laws for the government of the
same. lncOuBiderateness and haste have
heretofore constituted the vice of our State
legislation.
respectfully suggest that you, appreciat-
ng your obligations to the people whom |
you represent, not as partisans, but as Citi-
.ens, address yourselves to the work of !
correcting any defects that NAV bv pxDp-
fence, be found to have attached to the
legislation of your predecessors, whether
ne same may be in the laws regulating the
'0htlcal rights OF citizens, such as registra-
Ion and election acts, or the financial inter
st OF the same, such as the statutes affect
ng the expenses Of government. collection !
{ taxes and public securities; and would
arnestly recommend your honorable bodies |
o enact such registration and election laws
8 Will secure to each citizen, upon the
ass OF exact and equal justice, the pos !
essIon and exercise of the right of suf :
age, so that it shall not be in the power of !
ny officer or officers, charged with the ex- Z
cutlOn Of the laws, to reproduce the as :
'undIng and anomalous condition and I
Implications that were exhibited in the 4
tie State election. Il
The rights of the suffragans, without re- :
'ect to race or condition in life. equally :
ID perfectly secured, so that the vote Z
each citizen shall tell in the election with =
e purposes for which it was cast bv the
>ter, we will have laid the foundation.
Dad and deep. for public order in the
ate, and good will among its people fl
The best interests of the people of Louis -
ma demand that we shall no longer live in "
e seml-revOlGtionarY condition that has
aracterized US for the last several years, IL
1t there must be, by attention to the mat :,
rs herein suggested, established such sta -
lily in the government of the State as will d
oduce the popular conviction that the to
IltIcaI rights of the citizens do not depend N
on perpetual couPs d'etat or exceptional ~,
5lslatl0n tor their security. The public Ii
let thus secured by satisfactory adjust
7nt OF the political questions that now
'turb the quiet of the State, | would re- bF
7ctfully suggest that you further the pub
content and prosperity, by initiating and
'tecting, such legislation as will reduce
zatlon by providing not only for the re- sic
ctl0n OF expenses of the government. but ra
J more economical collection and faithful 49,
oenditure of the public revenues.
setOrmatory Legislation is not only need OF
but practicable in the direction sugges- III
/, and urge such specific atten ton to the OF
Ject as its gravity demands. In harmony 'I!o
h the general suggestions herein contain MI
and without anticipating or tOreStaling pr
more elaborate recommendations that the a..
will make to YOU when Won Ge
IL meet in regular session in January an
IT, deem it appropriate to call your at VI
5lon to several particular subjects of legis- !
on. rev
THE PUBLIC DEBT OF THE STATE. AM
y provision of the constitution the cor
i1mum pubic debt for - period of ESP'
rs is limited to the sum of SIS 900 900. pc
impression has obtained that a large ing
unit of the State securities Outstand- th9
are invalid because either created in Oh
alton of the constitutional restric- G
referred to, or without warrant yea
aw. Under the vague and inconsid- w..
e legislation that has heretofore ex- 1o'
yet said securities have the formal Jon
tiles of valid indebtedness So preva- Y
is this opinion, that many of our most Bow
tantial citizens are indisposed to paw BIa
: taxes, least the same should 90 to Der
ny these Illegal public claims. The Day
instances considered, justice to the Hut
ayers, no less than to the credit Of the M. ,
Q, requires your honorable bodies to Ian
adequate measures not only to ascer- reIl
the amount of the public debt, but the Mat
OF securities that make up the same, Rod
you may enact such laws in the Sou
uses as are necessary to protect both Will
ltlzens and the State. N
THE PRINTING LAW. Kirl
e law now in force though an improve I'll
on the one superseded by it, is very
tive. Whatever reasons NAV have eT- ton
to justify its original enactment. it's Bill
nuance on the statute books can no NOV
II be indicated. 1t is Objectionable. ~
nj Y because liable to be used for narri, tDo
purposes, but also for its costliness. II row.
d be SO amended, as to simplify it, MI