New Orleans Republican., 1873-01-30
CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION.
Why and How it Can Not Effect the Estabs
lished State Cover nment in any Event
The Presidents Recognition FinaL-
Legal Talk to the Fusionists.
Congress can't help you
l. wouldn't if il could;
But you Mt edn't fret about il.
For il couldn't if il would.

TUT IL COulQll II IL NNuIO
No action Congress can take, short Of re-
cons tructiOn, can possibly make McEnery
Governor. The investigation now going Oh
is not for the purpose of determining who
is Governor of Louisiana. 1T is 20 ascer.
tain ho are the presidential electors, and
will doubtless extend so far as to determine
who are the properly elected members OF
Congress. from this State. but there the in
quiry must end. Suppose, then, that 20 u
gress does its utmost for you, how can 1t er-
feet our State government Suppose it shall
be proven that the Greeley electors carried
the Statei The consequences will be simply
that the vote Of Louisiana in the electoral
college will be cast for Greeley and not for
Grant. Suppose it shal! be proven ihat
our returning board gave too many votes
to Mr.. Sheldon and Mr.. Sypher: In that
case their contestants, Mr.. Gibson and Mr.
Lawrence, will certainly be admitted to
their seats. Suppose that McMillen is
admitted and that Ray and Pinchback are
refused admittance TO the Senatcf That
body is the sole judge of the matter. It
can admit and reject whom il pleasef. but
it's doing so does not effect the validity Of
any State government one single particle
Kellogg wocld still remain the Governor of
the State by virtue Of the returns of the
board held by the State Supreme Court to
be the legal board. If these returns are in
correct Mr.. McEnery's remedy is plain
Congress has power to decide contests br.
tween candidates for presidential electors
and for Congress. but it never has and
never will decide a contest between two
candidates for Governor OF a State.
The trouble with the fusionists is that
they do not understand the vast and final
effect of the Presidents recognition of our
government. That recognition made ours
not merely the de fdcto but the de jatre gov.
ernment Of the State. A dc .fdcto govern
ment is known only TO information al law.
No such thing can exist in State. The
| government which the President recognizes
and responds to is the Ge Jure government
of any State. Anything else is an insurrec-
ton. Ii ours is only de .facto government,
then the government Of every State in the
| Union is only de fGctO. If ours is not a de
! jtue government, then there is no de Jnrt
| government in any State. SuppOse the case
before Judge Dureu should be carried up
to the Supreme Court OF the United States
and it should devolve upon that body to de
termine which is the legal government OF
Louisiana, how would It proceed to make
such a determination ! It would do pre-
ciaely what it did in the Dorr case. II
would 90 10 further than TO inquire which
! government had been recognized by the
President Finding that ours had been sc
recognized. Il would, as it did in the Dor,
case. decide ours to be the legal govern
ment, on the ground Of sach presidential
recognition, and dismiss the proceedings.
The pretence that Congress. has the powe'
60 decide which js the legal State govern
ment, which seems now to be extensively
F., relied upon by the fusionists, will be found
upon examination 20 furnish nc hope what
ever 1t is claimed that this power ia de
! rived from that clause al the constitution
| which says Congress shall guarantee tC
each State republican form Of govern
! ment." In this connection a passage fron
| the Dorr decision is triumphantly quoted
! which says that when Congress, under thi.
| clause. enters into the inquiry ~hether th'
+! government of State is republican in torm
or not, Congress" 90 quote the eXac
words o: the decision. must necessarily de
| eide what government is esta blished in til,
! State before it can decide whether it is re
publican or rot" Precisely So In otnel
words, before Congress, .cting under
this clause guaranteeing q republican
! form of government. can decide tha
| ouy governmen! "a net republican
in form, il uusg first decide
that it is the established government. Hay
ing thus demolished the pretensions of TIN
Mcknery government. it can proceed will
the inquiry regarding the form Of our o.
the established government, and if it find
tha. that form is moparchial and not repub
lican it can and will upset it, according Il
! the constitution. X is hoped, however
tina. Congress will decide the McEner!
| government TO be the established one, an(
after an accommodating inquiry decide
that is republican. and is not fnonarchial il
form. and thus set il up on lis pins. Here
then, the inQdiry arises as TO what fact
Congress. would be guided by in decidin!
which government is ''estabiished.' i
would Ger. ainly travel tie route tyIlOw.t
BY The United States supr:ne Court.
would GO and inquire which eoyernmC l.: wa
recognized hy sne President and, lind
ing that our government il. would a
once proceed with the main inquiry as &
| whether o. rot our government !s EePubii
can in form. If Congress. in the prelimi
nary inquiry as 70 the established govern
ment. should be disposed 20 go farther thai
the Presidents recognition, which th
Caited State. Supreme Court in the Dor
ease held 10 be final, and farther than tn
decision 81 the United States Circuit Court
it would unquestionably halt when meetin
the decision of the Supreme COur: OF tn
! State No possible grounds could be di.
covered for declaring the McEnery govern
men. establishei II is not established. |
ha. no judicial department, enforces non
OF it's acts, and is in no official act recoe
nized either by the people or the local ma 9
!strates of the law.
But, besides al! this. Congress would b.
going out of its way, and would perveI
the guarantee clause of the cOnstitut:o
! from its original purpose, shoud it inter
fere in this controversy under that clause
! Whoever has read the fedsroiist knows tha
that guarantee was only and expressly il
tended 20 give Congress pove: TO preven
the intriguers o: foreign aespOtisms tg6t
establishing monarchy in any STATE
! Hence The word ''form'' was deiiberatei