The Portland daily press., 1875-01-14


ton to the Department of Justice tells piteous
| tale Of the prosecutions of her husband because
| he was U Mon man, and OF the. efforts maoe
| to screen those who had committed crime
| which, I'd use her own language, left two
Widows and nine orphans desolate. To say
| that the murder of negro or white RepuDlican
| is not considered crime in Louisiana would
| probably be unjust to great part OF the people,
| but it is true that great number OF such muir
| ders have been committed, and no'one has peen
| punished therefor, and manfesty to them tho
| spirit Of hatred and violence is stronger imam
| law. Representation was made to me that the
| presence of troops in Louisiana was unneces-
| sary and irritating to the people, aud that tnere
| was no danger of public disturbance if they
| were taken away; consequently early in last
| summer the troops were all withdrawn from
| the state with the exception of small garrison
| at the New Orleans barracks. 1t was Claimed
| that a comparative state of quiet had SUPER
| yened The political excitement as to Loulsl-
| ana affairs seemed to be dying out, but the
| November election was approaching, ana " was
necessary for party purposes that the nane
| should be rekihded. Accordingly GA the 14th
| of September d. Penn claims that he was
elected Leutenant Governor in 1872, issued an
| inflammatory proclamation calling upon the
| militia of the state to assemble and TO drlVe
| from power the usurpers, as he designated tne
| officers of the state. The White Leaguers
| armed aud ready for the conflict, promptly re-
| sponded, On the same day the Governor
| made formal requsitOn upon me, pursuant
| to the act of 1885, and section OF article OF
| the constitution, to aid in suppresslns demon
| stratve violence. On the next DAY issueu Que
| proclamation commanding the insurgents to
| dispense within five days of the date Thereon,
! but before the proclamation was published In
| New Orleaus, the organized and armed forces,
| recognizing a usurping Governor, nad taken
| forcbe possession of the state House ana
| temporarily subverted the governments Twenty
| or more people were killed, including me mber
of the police of the city. The streets of the
| CITY were stained with blood. All that was
desired in the way of excitement had been ac-
| complisbed. That there was intimidation of
| Republican voters at the election, notwltn-
| standing these precautions, admits OF no doubt
| The following are specimens used on the lfth
| of October Eighty persons signed anu pun
| lished the following At Shreveport:
We, the undersigned merchants OF the city
| of Shreveport in OBEDIENCE TO request OF tn
| Shreveport campaign club, agree to use every
| endeavor to get employees to vote the peopIe s
ticket at the ensuing election, and IN the event
of their refusal so to do, or in case they vote
| the radical ticket to refuse to employ tnem at
| the expiration of their present contracts.
On the same day another large body OF per-
| sons published in the same place paper, IN
which they used the following language:
| We. the undersigned merchants OF the city
| of Shreveport alive to the Importance OF secur-
| ing good and honest government to the state,
do agree and pledge ourselves not to advance
any supplies or money to our planters the com
81 Ing wear WHO VIII give OLaPioJ
land TO laborers who vote the radical ticket IN
| the coming election.
have no information of the proceedings OF
the returning board for said election, which
may not be found in. its report which has been
| published, but it is a matter OF public intorma
ton that a great part of the time taken to can
| vass the votes was consumed by the arguments
| of lawyers, several OF whom represented each
| party before the board. l have no evidence
that the proceedings of this board were not IN
| accordance with the law under which they act
| ed. Whether in excluding from their count
| certain returns they were right or wrong Is
| question that depends upon the evidence they
| had before them, but it is very clear that tne
| law gives them that powerif they choose 10
exercise it in deci ling thatit was pfan.a Jacoe,
elected are entitled to the offices Tor Whlcn tney
| were candidates.
Respecting the alleged interference by the
| military with the organization OF the Leglsia-
ture of Louisiana on the 4th inst, have no
| knowledge or information which has not been
| received by me since that date ana pup
| lisbed, NV first information was from the
| papers on the morning of the 9th. did not
know that any such thing was authorized ana
| no orders nor suggestions were ever given TO
| any military officer in THAI state upon tnat
| subject prior to the occurrence. l am we'll
| aware that any military interference by the
officers or troops of the United States win the
organization of a state legislature or any OF the
| proceedings, or with any civil department of
| the government, is repugnant to our IDEA OF
| government. l can conceive OF no case lnvolv-
| ing rebellion or insurrection where such inter
ference by the general government ought 10 De
| permitted or can be justified. But there are
1 circumstances connected with the late legis-
| latiye imbroglio in Louisiana which seem to
| exempt the military from any Intentional
| wrong in that matter, knowing that they were
| placed in Louisiana to prevent domestic Vio-
| lence and aid to repreSS it. ftr 81, H T-a=
/ Int; opporant1y thmoh it is
| believed not re ally abandoned, aad the cry OF
| federal usurpation and tyranny in Louisiana
| was renewed with redoubted energy. Troops
| had been sent to the state under the requisl-
| ton of the Governor, and as other disturbances
seemed imminent they were allowed to re-,
main there to render to tue executive such AID
| as might become necessary to enforce the laws
of the state and Iepress the continued violence
which seemed inevitable the moment federal
support should be Withdrawn Prior to and
| with view to the late election in Louisiana
| white men associated themselves in armed
| bodies called White Leagues, and at the same
| time threats were made in the Democratic
journals of the state that the election should De
| carried against the Republicans at all hazards
which naturally greatly alarmed the colored
| voters By a section of the act of February
2Sth 1871. it is made the duty of U nited States
| marshals and their deputies at the polls where
votes are cast for representatives IN congress
| to keep the peace and prevent any violations
| of the sO-called enforcement acts and other o.
fences against the laws of the United States,
| and upon the requisition OF the marsha! OF
| louisiana in view of said armed ORGANIZATIONS
| and other portentous circumstances, caused
| a detachment of troops to be stationed in vari-
/ GUS localities in thestate to aid him IN the
1 performance of his official duties and the en-
forcement of the state laws. The officers and
| troops of the United States may have supposed
| thatit was their duty to act when called upon
| by the Governor for that purpose. Each
| branch of the legislative assembly Is the judge
| of the election aud the qualification OF Its own
| members, but If a mob or body OF unautnor,
| lied persons seize and hold the legislative hall
| in tumultuous and riotous manner, and So
prevent any organization by those legally re-
| turned as elected, it might become the duty OF
| the state executive to lnterpose, II requested
| by majority of the members elected, to sup
| press the disturbance and enable the persons
elected to organize the House Any exercise
i of this power would only be justifiable under
| most extraordinary circumstances, and 1t
| would then be the duty of the Governor to
| call upon the coustabulary, or if necessary, the
| military force of the state. But with reference
| to Louisiana it is to be borne in mind that any
| attempt by the Governor to use the policeiorce
1 of that state at this time would have undoubt-
| edly precptated bloody conf with the
| White League as it did on the l4th OF sept.
| There is no doubt but that the presence OF
| United States troops upon that occasion pre-
| vented bloodshed and loss of life. Both parties
| appeared to have relied upon them as conserv-
| atorS of the public peace. line nrst call was
| made by the Democrats to remove persons OBJ
| noxous to them from the legislative hall, and
| the second was from the Republicans to re-
move persons who had usurped the seats in the
| Legislature without legal certificates authoriz-
| ing seats, and in sufficient number to change the
majority. Nobody was disturbed by the mill
tary, who had legal right at that time to occu'
| by seat in the Legislature. That the Demo-
| cratic minority of the House undertook to seize
| its organizations by fraud and violence, and in
| this attempt they trampled under foot the law,
| that they undertook to make persons not re-
| turned as elected members so as to create
| majority, that they, under preconcerted plan
| and under false pretences, introduced into the
| ball body of men to support their pretenslons
by force if necessary, and that conflict, dlsor-
der and rotous proceedings followed, are facts
| that seem TO be well established. And am
crediby informed that these violent proceed
| ings were part of a premeditated plan to have
| the House organized in this way TO recognize
what is called the McEnery Senate, and then
| depose the Kellogg government and so revolu-
| tionize the state government. Whether 1T was
| wrong for the Governor, at the request OF the
majority of the members returned as elected to
the House, to use such means as were Ia his
power to defeat these lawless and revolutionary
proceedings is, perhaps, a debatable question,
but it is quite certain that there would not have
been trouble if those who now complain OF ille-
l,l al tl,a Hons n bp