New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-02-09
THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE.

The committee met yesterday, Hon. Mr..
Scoteld in the char
The testimony of Mr.. B. +. JOubert re-
lated principally to the political situation.
He was of the opinion that fourffths OF
the colored men were opposed to Governor
| Warmoth, because they believed him ''un-
friendly to their race" These people We're
| also politically afraid of their old masters.
| The best class of the Southern people had
| accepted the results of the war IN good
faith. In his opinion the Governor was an
| obstacle to the advancement of the State,
| and also to his race, and that more than
one-half the colored men in the Legislature
were carpet-baggers which class, Mr.. Jou-
| bert, believed, did not love the cOlOred
people, but only desired to make them po-
| litical slaves. Witness did not mean, in
using the term carpet-bagger, to include
the Northern men. Those who came to
stay he did not consider merited this title
| Mr.. Joubert went on to say that he had
held slaves by inheritance from his family
| He had induced his father to liberate them
ALL he had owned two that were not Eber-
| ~
and who could ''read and write as we'll as
any man, and could speak English French
and Spanish He did not liberate these
| two because, when he became their master,
| there was law in the State that required
| every slave who was liberated a to leav
the State. He was. during the war, friend
| ly to the Union. He was not in the United
10
had always stood up for the Union, and
| fought for it, and he had been threatened
| that his property would be seized ii the
! confederacy triuM phed. He replied that
| he did not care.
Mr.. Scoield intinated the witness fought
| for the Union similar to many members OF
Congress; By talking for it.
Being questioned concerning the emolu-
ments of the tax collectors, Mr.. Joubert
| said that in 1869 the Office of City Tax Col
lector was worth, per year, as follows: First
District, So. 200; Second District, $4,000;
Third District, $4,000; Fourth District,
| S25 900 to $50 900. And the State tax col
lectors, of which there were two, received
| So, 900 apiece. He said taxes since that
| time had increased, and, in consequence,
| the office of tax collector was more valua-
| BILE. He considered them worth as follows:
| FIRST District, $4,000: Second District
| $4,000: Third District, $20,OOO Fourth Dis
| trict, 100000.
| Touching the point about undated resig-
nations, Mr.. Joubert related a conversation
with Mr.. McCarty, who had told the Gov
ernor, in his presence. that he would give
$500 to charitable institution if the Gov
| ernor would .'date the resi- ignatiOn to-day"
This was all he knew personally about it.
| The testimony of Mr.. j. K. Beckwith,
United States District Attorney. related
| to the process in which the Governor and
members of the Legislature had been ar
rested, and TO the atfidavits against MI.
| Pinchback and otheSs. In the former ar
rests all the members had belonged to the
adherents Of Governor WarmOth Mr..
| Beckwith was not aware that the wrlts OF
arrest had been issued until the arrival OF
| some of the men at the Customhouse.
| Still United States commissioners We're not
required by law to consult with the District
Attorney before issuing writs Of arrest upon
| atfidavits of its character, but that he had
| advised them to do so. In this case his ad-
vice had not been accepted. He then stated
| the disposition OF the case.
| He then went into a description of the
second affidavit, and the action taken IN
regard to it, all the facts in connection with
| which are well known. In regard to the
| e. 1rrC i'm
! Weller, he exhibited to Commissioner Wei
| ler a dispatch from Attorney General Aker
man, dated the sixth of January, in which
he peremptorily ordered that no United
| States troops be used for serving any writs
| of their character.
| When Commissioner Shannon had issued
writs against Mr.. Pinchback, the witness
had specially instructed Mr. Packard not to
| serve the process so as TO interfere in any
| way with the meeting Of the Legislature.
| Mr.. Beckwith believed that the service Of
| the first process against the members OF the
| Legislature was understood by the public
| as designed to interfere with the Legis-
lature and its organization. The house in
| which he lived was on the corner of Dry
| AIDES and Canal streets, and had been occu-
pied By the police on the day when, expect
| ing trouble, he had brought his wife away
| from the scene Of action.
The examination of Mr.. S. w. Scott prin-
! cipally related to corruption in the Legis-
| iature, he having been called as witness
| to testify in the charge that he had paid
$1,000 as a bribe to Mr.. Carr to secure his
influence in the passage Of the law provid
| ing for the sale Of stock Of the State to the
jackson railroad. Mr.. Scott testified that
he had gone with Mr.. II. S. Kimball as a
witness, and had seen $3.50 paid to Mr
Carr after the session, and that afterward
he had settled up the remaining 500 N
seven fifty dollar bills. The remainder OF
his testimony upon this point was that he
had been furnished by H. S. kimball a list,
upon which were the names OF all the mem
bers of the House and Senate who voted
for the transferring law. This list he would
furnish at some future time. The amounts
that each member was to receive Is placed
opposite his name, and lie understood the
cash had been paid.
The next charge made was that Messrs.
Pinchback and Bea res had in the Senate
agreed, at the time the city charter was
under discussion, to defeat the law on the
payment of four thousand dollars each
that Mr.. Beares had. when the law came
up finally. moved to postpone it for half an
! W, In ~, ,-:+