New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-01-05
LOUISIANA UNDER THE BAYONET

The political events of the past two years
in the State of Louisiana found their logical
result yesterday in the forcibe expulsion of
four Conservative members of the Legislature
by the Army of the United States, and the
cOnsummatiOn of the greatest outrage that
has ever yet in the history of the country
been practiced upon the citizens of State.
To-day minority Legislature never elected
by the people, but foisted upon them by the
most barefaced frauds, without regard to bal
lots or returns or anything but the necessities
of wicked and corrupt Ring of politicians,
sits in New-Orleans under the protection of
Federal bayonets, and undertakes to legislate
! for the State. Nothing in the history of even
the great conspiracy by which the BOr-
der Ratians undertook to seize the Ter
ritory and State of Kansas can furnish any
| parallel for this browning iniquity of the Fed
eral Administration.
The history of Louisiana during the progress
of the complications which ended yesterday in
putting the people of the State absolutely
under the heel of military despotism is familiar
! to the readers of THE TRIBUNE. No impartial
person doubts that the Conservatives carried
| the State and elected an overwhelming ma
! iOrity of the Legislature in November last. 1t
was as plain and patent fact as the election
of Gov. Tiden in New York, and no one pre-
tended to dispute it until the Returning
Board began doctoring the returns and
paving the way for this stupendous
fraud upon the most tlimsy pretexts-
! indeed almost without even pretcxt this
! Returning Board threw out the returns
| from a sufficient number of Conservative pre-
cincts to leave the complexion of the House
of Representatives 81 Democrats to "a Repub-
licans, instead of 20 Democrats to Al Republic
cans, as the original returns showed. In most
of the cases wherein the returns were thrown
ont, the grounds of rejection were of the most
! frivolous character; in all of them there was
a manifest purpose to defeat the expressed
will of the people, and make the Legislature
Republican. This purpose was apparent
through all the proceedings and there was
hardly any attempt to conceal 1t. All things
having been prepared, as the Kellogg mana
gers believed, TO insure the organization of the
House in their interest, it turned out on
Sunday that through the non-appearance of
some of the members upon whom they had
calculated, the scheme was in danger of
failure; that after all their well-laid plans
there would be Conservative majority of
two.
But these men were playing for too large
stake, and had already committed too many
outrages and too great crimes to be baked at
this stage of their enterprise. The President of
the United States was at their back and the army
and navy at their command. What they had
failed to secure by audaciOus fraud and I'M
paraleled villainy they could easily make sure
by simply invoking the Federal arm. And so
the Army of the United States was called in,
sufficient number of legally elected Con-
servative members were fOrcibly elected to
answer their purpose, and the last act in this
series of unblushing outrages was made COM
plete. The Cons ervatives-powerless against
the Federal Government-retired from the
hall in which their rights were denied them,
and where their presence was only an excuse
for farce of legislation. and left the
body without quorum. There is
no disturbance. The people are quiet.
The forces OF Gen. Emory, numbering
l.l0O, are encamped around TO State House.