The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-09
LETTER OF ]. b. ELAN TO HON. w.
w. PHELPS.
New ORLEANS, Jan. Z, 1875.

w. PHELPS.
New ORLEANS, Jan. z, 1875.
Hon. W. W. Phelps, Washington, D. c.:
Sri find in this mornings edition of tn
Picayune, of this city, statement made b.
yourself to the correspondent of the New
/ York Tribune, that you are of opinion that tn
organization of the House of Representative
of this State, effected on the 4th inst. by tn
Conservatives, is illegal, because of the par
ticipation of the five members elected from
the four parishes not canvassed by the Re
turning Board, but referred to the respective
houses of the General Assembly for decision
In support of this position you rely upon tn
the statute of this State creating the Return.
ing Board. passed in 1872, which is in these
| words: "That Representatives whose names
are on this roll, and they only, shall take par
in the organization of the House."
1t seems that you consider the gist Of the
whole question as to the legality of the action
of the Conservatives in organizing the Wilt
House of Representatives to depend upon
whether the members elected from the four
| referred parishes had right to take part in
the organization, they not having been re-
turned by the board.
My impression is that yo1 have fallen into
an error, by not taking into consideration the
fact that the return of the members from
those parishes was not made by the board of
canvassers but referred to the legislature
The effect of the omission or refusal Of the
board to declare who were elected to the
House Of Representatives from the parishes
just referred to, was, in my judgment, to re-
lieve them from the legal effect of an adverse
return of the board, and that the House
was competent to decide for itself. even
in the preliminary organization, who were
elected from those parishes. / beg leave to
call your attention to Art. "a of the Constitu-
ton of the State, which says, each House
of the General Assembly is the judge OF the
qualifications, election and returns of its
MEMBERS" etc. This duty was imperative,
and was rightfully performed during the tenn
porary organization, and Immediately after
the roll or list of the returned members had
been called by the clerk, because the repre-
sentatives from the four parishes referred to
it by the Board, whoever they were, had the
right to participate in the permanent organi-
zation.
The thirty-third article of the Constitution
provides "that not less than majority of
the members of each house of the General
Assembly shall form q quorum to transact
business; but smaller number may adjourn
from day to day, and shall have full power to
compel attendance Of absent members" A
minority, therefore, has the power to pass
upon the election and return of their col
leagues who are brought into the House in
pursuance of this article of the Constitu-
ton.
The relative strength of parties in the
House on the 4th inst, at the time of the or
ganization after the five members were re-
ceived from the referred parishes, was so
close as to give the Conservatives the major
ity. The election returns from those parishes,
then in the office of the Secretary of State,
show that all the members seated were elected
by large majorities, and that from the parish
of Bienville without opposition. l maintain,
however, that that part of the statute of 1872,
to which you refer, is unconstitutional, be-
cause it takes from the respective houses of
the General .Assemblyithe right to pass upon
the election and returns of its members, for
all purposes and at all stages of their proceed
ings, which is conferred by the organic
law without exception or Limitation.
Such is the constitutional provision on
this subject, but the statute in effect says
that the Houses shall only exercise that right
after the organization Is perfected, but that the
Returning Board shall have the power of de-
termining the status of those members who
alone shall have the right to take part in the
organization. If the right to judge of the
elections and returns of its own members in
this State has been taken away from the
House of Representatives until after the or
ganizaion, the effect OF the statute is to put it
IN the power of an INSCRIPTIONS Returning
Board to change the political complexion OF
the body and defeat the will of the people
To illustrate: Suppose in a House of one
hundred members the Democrats, or Repub
licaHs, as the case might be, had elected sixty
members and their adversaries forty, but
the Returning Board returned as elected
all of the minority and but twenty-five OF the
majority, those added would constitute q
quorum, and if the others not returned, but
referred, have no authority to take part in
the organization, it would be in the power of
the forty to unseat as many OF their adverse
their friends. And I may add that this is
precisely what an overwhelming majority Of
the most intelligent people in this State
believe to have been attempted in this State
bv the Joint action of the Returning Board
and the Republican members returned by it
as elected to the House of Representatives of
this State.
I trust that when it is demonstrated that
such results can be achieved as have shown
in the case Just supposed by the enforcement
of the statute as construed by yourself, you
will come to the conclusion that the statute
does not apply to the members from the re-
ferred parishes, and therefore they had q
right under the Constitution to vote upon
the permanent organization of the House, or,
if such is the necessary Interpretation of the
statute, it must be unconstitutional.
Respectfully, j. B. ELAN,
Senator elect from the Twenty-Second Sena-
torial District of Louisiana
Capture Of the Murderers Of the BOrum
Family In Mississippi.