Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-09-17

honest Ii is OF no Importance W 10
whether Louisiana is Republican or
Democratic, butt is of the utmost I'M
portance that it shall be either the one
or the other, In accordance with law.
] would like to see anybody stump
through Wisconsin in the next canvass,
if we stand by this Kellogg govern
ment. If this is to be done by the Re
publican party in the Senate this year,
l want to let the Job of stumping Wis
consin next fall to the honorable Sena-
tor from Indiana. / don't want to face
the honest people Of Wisconsin with
such a record. l do not want to 60 be-
fore those people with the testimony of
these Louisiana Republicans, them
selves admitting theirfrauds in setting
up this Kellogg Government, and with
our votes here sustaining this acknowl-
edged fraud and usurpatiOnV ttsUTpd-
ton finally ..e5eeUted and accomplished
By the military force of the United States.
l cannot answer for the people of Indi-
ana under these circumstances. VIII
leave them to be managed by the hon.
orable member from Indiana. and if
he succeeds well with them, l beg him
to come over and help us in Wisconsin.
We shall need his powerful aid to sat
isfy our unsophisticated people that
such a thing is honest. Laughter.
"Mr. Carpenter, in conclusion, ar
gued that if Congress did not order a
new election, it was bound to recog-
nize the McEnery Government as the
less fraudulent of the two"
Mr.. Edmunds, of Vermont, another
warm supporter of the Grant admins
tration and an able constitutional law
yer, said in the same debate;
''The people of Louisiana, havinghad
an election in form according to the
laws of the State, must have, PriHla
facie, elected somebody. The question
then was, who was elected, and it ap-
peared from the report of the commit
tee that, on the face of the returns,
McEnery was Prima .tdeie elected.
Therefore, Congress, if it had
been appealed to at first, would
have been obliged to recognize
that government as primd fdcie,
the government of the State, and It
was so obliged still, its right and duty
in the matter being in no way affected
by the action of the President. The
Presidents action was necessary and
right under the circumstances, but the
duty of deciding finally restednot with
the President, but with Congress; and
the duty of Congress was to make
haste to undo the usurpation commit
ted by the United States Judge, and
leave the people of Louisiana to regu-
late their government under the laws
Of Louisiana"
We can see no escape In fact, law,
or logic, from this conclusion, and the
fact that Congress did not take action
WHICH the occasion so pressingly de-
mahded it should take, does not justify
the President in usurping and exer-
cising a power which does not pertain
to his Office.
The majority Of the Senate Commit
tee on Privileges and Elections say in
their report:
Viewed N any light, the orders and
i~njunctions made and granted by Judge
Durel IN this cause are most reprehen-
sible, erroneous IN point of law, and
are wholly void for want of jurisdic-
ton; and our committee must express
their sorrow and humiliation that a
Judge of the United States should
have proceeded in such fragrant disre-
gard Of his duty, and have so far over
stepped the limits Of Federal jurisdic-
ton"
This report Is signed by Senators
Carpenter, Logan, Anthony and Al
corn-au Republicans.
The report is very severe upon Judge
Durell. with regard to the order issued
by him, from his own house, at mid
night Dec. ;, directing the United
States Marshal to take possession of
the Statehouse. Two hours thereafter,
or at two O'Clock in the morning of
Dec. 6, the Marshal proceeded to the
Statehouse with two companiesOf artil-
lery, acting under the orders of the
President. This whole procedure was
illegal, and could derive no legality
from the President o any other quar-
ter. There had been no attempt, at
that time, even to resist Durell, who
was but an usurping judge, and the
action Of the Federal officials was a
gross outrage. On this point, the re-
port says:
1T is impossible to conceive Of a
more irregular, illegal, and in every
way inexcusable act of a judge. Con-
ceding the power of the court to make
such an order, the judge, out of the
court, had no more authority TO make
it than the marshal. 1t had not even
the form of judicial process. 1t was
not sealed, nor was it signed by the
| clerk. and 1t had no more legal effect
than an order issued by any other pri-
vate citizen"
The report holds hat whatever may
have been the claims of the rival
Lynch and Wharton returning boards
in the first stages of the controversy,
both those bodies were abolished by the
bill which WarmOth drew out of his
safe and signed on the Goth of NOvem-
Der, and the De Ferret board, appoint
ed under this new law, became the
only lawful authority to canvass the
returns. The orders of Judge Durell,
purporting to decide that the Lynch
Board was the only regular one, are
denounced 10y the Senate Committee as
wholly Illegal and void; the decision of
the State Supreme Court to the same
effect is declared void for fraud and
want Of jurisdiction. OF the action Of
the Lynch Board, the committee thus
speaks:
There is nothing IN all the comedy
Of blunders and frauds under consider
alton more indefensible han the pre-
tended canvass IF the board The fol-
lowing arr some II the objections to
the validity OF their proceedings: l..
The board had been abolished by the
act of Nor. %. ,. The board was IN
der valid and existing injunctious re-
strAiuing it from acting at all, and an
Injunction in the Armstead case re-