The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-02-20

dldaIe. MIR. may choose to vote for MIR.
and Mr.. Il for Mr.. x so that the construction
any portion Of the Constitution which woul
render that clause inapplicable mnst OF nece
.lty be wrong construction. This objection
; then, falls to the ground also.
AS to the fourth objection, that after the o.
ganlzation members were admitted to seats VIII
held certificates it is sufficient to say that tn
, body, when organized, had perfect right to d.
CT e upon the qualifications, elections and return
: Of it's members. and no other power had Til
! right. That body could 60 behind the Returnin
Board and take iato consideration all the primar
facts. Bnt we are told that if the organization
by the refusal to allow the clerk to put the motto
was not in violation Of law, it was inconsisten
with settled precedent. That position, MIR. Pres
dent Is as ultenable as the other In this Yer
State Of Louisiana the Legislature OF L g mus
have been organized IL similar manner. IF
be objected that there was no clerk holding owe
from preceding Legislature to discharge tina
duty, then this objection is of tself sIfficien
answer 10 the entire position, that the clerk mus
PROFOUND the question and declare the result
| 51t We shall have use presently for a mucl
| higher precedent, one by whose force Senator
nos holds his place on this floor. | refer to th;
| Alabama contested election case.
| LOGIC OF THE ALABAMA CASE
| now, sir IL order to test the VALIDITY Of al
these objections let us group and contrast the
| facts CT these two cases. The facts Of the Ala
bama case are fresh in our memories. They
stand az Indicated by the judgment Of majority
!
ceedinrs, and are rected in the speech of the
| honorable Senator from Indiana (Mr. Norton.
from which | shall quote What are those facts ?
| In Alabama a Republican body meet in court
house, 2 Place uaknown to any former Legisla-
ture. In Louisiana Democratic or Conserya-
| tive body meet in the State House. In Alabama
they are without any quorum Of those who hold
certificates according to law. In Louisiana they
have largely more than a quorum Of those who
hold such certificates In Alabama they organ
unIpr ia ~ Ia and in,
| oiroct, open, palpable, acknowledged violation of
the fundamental law OF that State-the Constit,-
zion Of Alabama. in Louisiana they are organ
lied, az have shown, whatever may be said OF
irregularities, without any violation of law, and
at least with greater conformity to constitutional
requirement. Yet this Alabama Republican
Legislature, conSening at court house with less
than quorum, with no clerk to call the roll, or
ganiZcd in absolute oaton of the Con stitutjon
OF the State is allowed 10 send it's representa-
tive to this Chamber, and majority receives
him. In Louisiana a Conservative BODY or
gained certainly with greater conformity to law,
with quorum present, with the roll called by
the clerk, is dispersed by the army; and that
same majority in this Chamber approve Mr.
President, is 1t possible that tho American pc opIe
i'll the face of these facts will sustain the senate
III such procedure
Informaties. What did the Senator from In
diana say in the Alabama case? Then infor-
malities were not al ali Of essence Then the
absence or gu rum even was not vital. Then
the n Getting in place unknown to former Legis-
latures was not vital. Then the admission of
members with certificates was not vital. Then |
pa!pabc violation of the Constitution of the State
Of Alabama, as he acknowledges himself was the |
case, was no.vital. That was Republican BODY |
BIT now, in q Conservative body, Irregularities, |
excitement and informalities, the admission of |
members without certii Gates, are SO vital that
they justify the dispersion of Legislature BY
the army. Does the Senator rep'y, as he did,
thai subsequent examination showed that those
who held no certificates in Alabama were really
elected? The reply is that subsequent invesii-
CATION shows that those who were excluded in
Louisiana were also really elected. How then.
ct me ask, is the reception Ct members without
by Republican Legislature law
ri procedure, while the very same act is, when
lone by Conservatives, gross fraud? How is
Republican Log stature thus constituted com.
,etent to elect a United States Senator, while
Conservative Legislature similarly constituted is
o be regarded asaliotous mob? The honorable
senator from Indiana was either right OF wrong
n the Alabama case. If lie was right then he il
'rong now; for it is logically impossible that he
an be right in both. Ii lie was wrong IN the
labama case, then Senator holds his place, to
SO the strong language employed by the Senator
rom Indiana, by fraud, and the body which
ent him here was mob Ii he was rig hit in the
-la5ama case, then unquestionablv a lawful body
Louisiana has been dispersed by the United
tates army, and the Senator approves Let 9
i'm take either horn of the dilemma. Sir, these c
argument.
he facts are clear, pertinent and overwhelming,
nd there Is no escape from them.
MIR. President, the people of the Unite States
ave not lost all ideas Of law and consistency, G
nd they VIII never sustain the Senate III course
THE REAL ISSUE NOT FACED. j
The second question is whether the Constitu- \
OH of the United States was broken in the dis
ersion Of the Louisiana Legislature? 1t does Q
ot matter 50 far as this question is concerned
yyq IaUa lnr u
1t be seriously urged, presume. that a condi- :
Oh OF affairs existed at the time of that lisper.
On which could by any possibility bring the use Y
troops within the purvew of the Federal Con. +
tuition. There is no word in all the length and \
eadth OF that instrument which contemplates, v
EN- remotely, that the Federal army or Federal G
thority shall decide upon the constituent ele. 81
ents OF a Legislature nor is it any excuse
say Kellogg ordered it. Kellogg had no
ore right to determine whether five men I
10 were elected were entitled 10
ats there than you had nor had he q
y right to arrest one claiming TO be a member 9,
lat body could just as lawfully by the same in u
have arrested him and elected o.
m and his subordnates and his courts from p
cir positions The Constitution of Louisiana y
.vides expressly police regulations for keep Il
order Tor the arrest OF persons, for the COM o
ling OF attendance, and for the expulsion OF %
9mbers by Its own powers and officers and this u
eroga tive belongs nowhere else. Nor does it g
engthen the case to plead that the Conserva- 10
first asked the military to keep order in the f.
leries, to clear the galleries. The request hi
a body itself that order shall be kept IN the br
leiies, that the galleries shall be cleared bv pc
outside force, certainly cannot logically be
AIDED an excuse tor the invasion OF that
ly and for an inquiry by the invading force into i,
rights of members, with power to disperse wl
t will not pursue this argument farther w.
These positions have not been met because II,
y cannot be met. The Senator from New ~
*, who has Just taken his seat, spent much ..n
lie in proving how small difficulty might be fa1
,arded in law as a riot; but he failed to show he
her that there was riot in the Louisiana Leg. -
lture, and if there was by what law such riot th,
titled the army or Kellogg in deciding who a an
re and who We're not entitled to seats in that g.,
iy. No other Senator on the other side of the ~,
amber, think, has as yet come any nearer to No,
great constitutional question. When asked Is,
point ont the law which authorized that ineer-
tion, the reply is, MURDERS, assassina- az
u.s. white Leagues opposition to the Civil ~,
hts BILL" Such evasions Of the true issue will va
divert the American people from the startling r o
that the law has been broken by those who VA
Ter the law, are made conservators of
law. The honorable Senator from Ohio EN
:. Sherman) said the other day that IN
= = v