The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-05-18

- Office, they were legislated out; second.
they were In Office, they were enjoined fro
= acting; md, third, il they were permitted
:, act they had no returns to canvass. The
= however, seemed to have proved ineigninca
obstacles to persons, who probably knew IN
in support Of anything they might 40 "a
crees and mandates" were to be bad, and Il
aid OF sall necessary troops" Their adjud
a cation embraced the cases Of Governor, Lie
: tenant Governor, Auditor, Attorney Genera
i Secretary of State and Superintendent
!. Public Instruction, together with the men
II bers of the Legislature; and could have bee
= based upon nothing more authentic tina
!. public rumor and the reports in the new
papers, In fact, the members Of this aboard
= canvassed only their own preferences, an
I having no votes to count, simply counted
their friends.
: The canvass by the new board and its n
! suit were proclaimed by the Governor, d.
cember A. 1872. The next night Judg
Durell as the Senate Committee says, 'sout Q
court at his house. late at night, without ar
plication by any party" made an orde
(which is without parallel, and it is hopet
will remain SO in judicial proceedings" Thi
order, which is entitled in Kellogg case, re
cites the injunction or restraining order, ani
the Governors proclamation, and then pro
ceeds: "Now, therefore, in order to preven
the further obstruction of the proceedings in
this cause, and further, to prevent q violation
Of the orders of this court, to the imminent
danger of disturbing the public peace. it il
hereby ordered that the Marshal Of the United
States for the District of Louisiana shall forth
with take possession of the building known as
the Mechanics Institute, and occupied as the
State House for the assembling of the legisla-
| ture therein, in the city of New Orleans,
and hold the same subject to the further
order of this court, and meanwhile to
prevent all unlawful assemblage therein
| under the guise or pretext of authority
claimed by virtue of pretended canvass and
returns made by said pretended returning
officers in contempt and violation of said re-
straining order; but the marshal is directed
to allow the ingress and egress to and from
entitled to the same. E. 81. DURELL."
A State-House to be seized and held SUBJ
ject to the order Of an inferier Federal judge!
If any act could be supposed too monstrous
to be attempted, this seizure must certainly
be such an act. A judge who thus, without
authority and without observing even the
proprieties of form, assumes to direct the
invasion of another jurisdiction, and to seize
upon the building where the representatives
of its sovereignty meet, and having thus in
stalled himself in position of dictator, adjudges
WltuOut IlBut auu WlCuOut nearing W0aC Is
and what is not lawful authority under the
State election laws, must surely. it would
seem, find his pretended authority treated
with contempt by all ministerial Off
GERS, and himself dealt with severely
and promptly for his great wrong to free gov
eminent. Not SO! The shameful history is
too familiar to be reproduced in its details
further. A State government was set up |
under this midnight order by the aid of mill
tary force and in q single day it had no diff |
Guilty in impeaching and removing one Gov
ernor and Installing another suited and ready |
to cooperate in its purposes True, the Con-
the right of an accused party to be
heard in his defense, but of what force could
Constitution or statutes be in o State House
held Subject to the order of judge who
did not recognize them, supported by troops
instructed to obey his "decrees and man
latest"
McEnery, thus excluded from Office by Fed
sral power and Federal military force, in
that superseded all the usual methods
If trying civil rights, appealed to the Presi-
lent, and begged him " in the name of all
ustice to suspend recognition" of either of
he contestiDg claimants to the government
,ortunity to be heard, and an
bounced to him ga committee of many of 1
'ur best citizens on eve of departure for X
Washington to lay the facts before him. I
The answer Of the Attorney General to this |
ppeal is here given, and is . model of its 6
ind. The law "hears before it condemns !
nd proceeds upon inquiry, but in the ''de- q
artment of justice" which apparently knows 8
ne true prince by instinct, suggestions of t
1ch weakness are put aside with calm seren- {
y: c
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, U
December IL, 1872. a
Hon. John McEnery, New Orleans, La:
"Your visit with hundred citizens will be /
navailng 80 far as the President is concerned. ii
is decision is made and will not be changed, g
i'd the sooner it is acquiesced in, the sooner r,
,Od order and peace will be restored. g
GEO. II. WILLIAMS, Attorney General" Il
On the next day, the officer commanding K
o military forces at New Orleans was direct Il
by telegraph ''to use all necessary force to Il
eserve the peace, in that State. As the pres d.
walton ofthe peace is peculiarly the province p.
the State government, this order could le
ly be understood as one to use all neces- W
~ force to set up and sustain thu State K
vernment that had been decided on BY to
dge Durell and the Department of Justice. an
Or since. Only Single break in the mono qr
~ of usurped judicial and military rule has co
ice occurred. On the 14th day OF Septem- pc
I, 1874. the people of Louisiana, by spon- no,
leous movement, expressed their intention ws
longer to submit to the government thus Gle
ced upon them, and it instantly disap- as
ared. With all the machinery of govern ity
mt in his hands, and the police of the great of
y of New Orleans organized and disciplined to
his command, Gov. Kellogg was so utterly sh,
Terless that he did not venture to appeal ella
popular support, but with keen sense Of as,
ut it was that constituted his constituency, del
called upon the Federal authorities to re- of
re him to power. The call was not in vain, ira
the only government which had sufficient ella
,ular sanction in the State to be able to fire.
Id alone for a single hour. was dispersed lat,
revolutionary. by Federal proclamation, 30,
the government that had been set up by me
midnight order of ajudge, acting without tina
sdiction, out of court, and without parties rep
,re him. was restored to power. cite
hus far, it will be seen, that the Kellogg 2
had no better or other justifca- boa
or excuse for its existence than the pre- the
led judicial order of Judge Durell, for Tn.
Oh a parallel will be sought in vain in the art