New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-01-19
THE C1ST or THE MATTER.

| Administration find it Impossible to defend
the Louisiana blunder and crime in any
straightforward way. They accuse the great
body of the people OF the country of having
Judged hastily, of not having waited long
enough to hear the Kellogg side Of the Ques-
ton, and then they 90 of into discussion OF
irrelevant details, of rebel riot and treason
able plots. Whenever they come to the point,
and formulate a statement of "bottom facts"
on which to justify the outrage, they hit upon
one identical phrase, the one used by Senator
Sherman Oh Saturday: "Tho whole gist of
"tbe matter is that an officer Of the army
Expelled from the Legislature five men who
chad no right to be there" This seems TO be
the only defense which can be made for that
employment of the army under the orders Of
Kellogg, which has reused n public feeling
rarely paralleled in our history, and which
will destroy the Republican party if it blindly
assumes the odium properly belonging 10 the
act.
This defense is merely confession Of judg-
ment. 1t admits an illegality and justifies it
by n Misrepresentation. 1t is untenable in
law and in fact. The two clauses Of the SEN
tence are equally fatal to the defense. There
in time of peace, an officer of the army has
the right to enter q legislative body and de-
eide whether sitting members have the right
to be there or not. The question of the
legality of their election, or of their adnS-
sion, is one which he has no shadow of right
to determine. In this case, Gen. de TrObrand
did not determine it. Under his general
instructions from headquarters he obeyed
the orders of Gov. Kellogg. in coming to
the hall of the House of representatives,
and expeling by force certain MEN,
beers of that body who were pointed out
! to him by one Hugh j. Campbell
| ms the persons whom the Governor wanted
expelled. The Governor had no mora right TO
eypci these men than Gen. de TrObriand him
self. The right to decide upon their claim to
seats in tho Legislature is vested exclusively
in the branch of that body to which they
pretend to belong, and neither Gen. dc To
BRAND. nor Gov. Kellogg, nor Cen Grant has
q shadow of excuse for interfering in the
matter. No state of facts and no surrounding
circumstances can change or modify the only
two principles of law applicable to the case.
The military has no right to interfere with
the organization Of State Legislature; and
each chamber of the legislative body is the
sole judge of the qualifications of its members.
This would close the question even if the
assumption Of the Administration advocates
were true that the members expelled had no
right to their seats. But the facts are also
conclusive upon that point. The report of the
Congressional Committee, appointed by the
Administered a. majoTlty for the purpose of
investigation 40 condition of things in Lou
isiana, shows beyond the possibility of an
honest doubt that the men who were driven
from their seats by Federal bayOnets were
rightfully, legally, and regularly elected to the
Legislature, and that their certificates of cleo
ton had been wrongfully withheld by the
Returning Board. And further than this, the
same Committee unanimously report that the
Returning Board had fraudulently, in utter
defiance of law, so altered and manipulated
their returns that. instead of Conservative
majority of 20 legally elected, they had con-
structed Kellogg majority of 3. 1t does not
appear, however, that even this illegal major
ity appeared and voted against the Conserva-
tive organization of the House OH the 4th of
January. All that Kellogg had TO act upon
was the fact that the Conservatives had
organized the House of Representatives
elected their Speaker, admitted the members
whose cases had been referred to the Legisla-
ture by the Returning Board, and were pro-
ceeding to the business of the session. The
game of fraud had failed, and the only way
to recover possession Of the Legislature was
by force. The law and the equity of the case
are exactly agreed The use of the army by
Kellogg was as illegal as it was outrageous.
The matter is hopeless one from any point
of view. The Republican managers cannot
condemn it without condemning the President
and this they have not the courage or the
ocLIoaauasa IN do fphov cauunt .Iafand ::