The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-01-22
L. CISIAtA.
AGj0urnct


IL UISIANA.
SErRrpAS's ACCOUNT OF THE AFFAIRS OF THE 4Is
or JANUARY OPTICAL REPORT TO THE SEcRE-
TlRY OF WAR.
UF,Do-AErERs MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MS
sorEr. NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 6, lsI5.-Hon. W. W.
E-Ikuap. SECRETARY Of War, Washington, ID. c.: L
have the honor to submit ;Ge following brief report
of oN,irs AZ thew occurred here in the organization
or the state Legislature of Jan. 4, 1875. l was not
in command Of this military department until .
o,cloc,5 NJ nj1ht on the A.h inst, but / faly lndorSe
and am willing to he Aeid responsible for the acts Of
tba military AS c,rservasors of the public peace
,non that OCCASION. During the few days which l
was IN IN. city prior TO the 4th Of January, the gen.
or,r .oric Of conyereatioI was the scenes Of blood
s,at thai were liable to occur on that day, and l
renaatedly heard threat. of assas=ilating the Gov
crr5r and regrets expressed that he was not killed
on the I4tn Of September last; also, threats OF a'sas-
sinaticn Of Republican members OF the HOUSE. III
order t. secure The election OF q Democratic
Sneaker, I also knew OF the Kidnapping, by
banditti, of Mr.. Cousin, one OF the MEMBERSHIPS
Of the Legislature.
T.. orie, to preserve peace and make the State
u,rsa syfe for the peaceable assembling Of the
IaoisIature. Gen. Emory. upon the rsqni7ition ot
the Governor, stationed troops in the vicinity CT
tbe huIding. Owing t. these precautions, the
Legislature assembled in the Stats-House without
any disturbance of the peace. At 10 O'Clock William
| yigers. the Clerk of the last House of Represents
tiyes, proceeded to call the roll, as according to
law he was empowered to do. One hundred and
wo legally returned members answered TO Their
names. OF this number ~ffty-two were Republicans
and fifty d nOcrats.
Before entering the House, L. A. Wilt had been
| selected, i'll caucus, as the Democratic nominee Tor
! Speaker, ami Michael Hahn as the Republican
nominee. yIcers had not finished announcing the
result, when ore of the members (Bellieu, OF La
! fourche) nominated T.. A. Wilt for temporary
| Speaker. vigers promptly declared the motion
out of order at that time, when some one put the
question, and, amid the cheers on the Demo
| cratic side of the house, WITT dashed on to
the r~ostru1n, pushed aside Vigers, seized
the Sneakers chair and gavel, and
declared himself Speaker. Aprotest against these
arbitrary AID unlawful proceedings was promptly
made by members of the majority, but "htz paid
no attention to these protests, and on a motion
from some of the Democratic side of the House, 1t
w,s declared that one Trezeyant was nominated
and elected Clerk of the House. TrezeTant at
| OlN blIdDS
chair. amidst the widest confusion over the whole
uopse Mavor Wilt then again, on another nom-
iuation from the Democratic side of the House, de-
cIar,d one Flood elected Serge&nt-at-Arms, and
ordered a certain number of assistants to be APP
pointed. Instantly z large number of men
IN. ourhout the hall, who had been admitted on
various p~retexts, such as reporters, members,
friends and spectators. turned down the lapels OF
their coats. upon which were pinned blue ribbon
badges. on which were printed in gold letters tho
words I. Assistant Ser.eant-at-Arms, and the As
sembIv was in possession of the minority. The
White League of Louisiana had made good its
threat of selling the House, many Of the Assistant
sergeauts-at-Arms being wel-known captains OF
tho White League companies in this city.
Notwithstanding the suddenness of this move
mont leading Republican members had not failed
n protest against this revolutionary action OF the
minority. but all to no purpose, and many Of the
R.nnbic,n ms rose and left the House 10 a body, to-
ge,her with Clerk V,gers, who carried with him the
orieinal roll of the House, as returned by the Sec
rotary of State.
The excitement was now very great, and the act
inn Sneaker directed the Sergeant-a;-Arms to pre-
vent the eyress or ingress of members or others,
and several exciting scunles, in which knives and
nj. toss were drawn, took place, and for a few mo-
monts if seemed as if bloodshed would ensue. At
this iuncture. Dupre, 4 Democratic member, from
OrIeans parish, moved that the military OF the
General government be invoked TO preserve peace,
and that q committee be appointed to wait on Gen.
De Trobriand, the commanding officer OF the
Tinted States troops stationed at the State-House,
and reouest his assistance IN clearing the lobby.
The motion was adopted
4 committee of five. OF which Dnpre was made
chairman. vas sent 10 wait upon GIN. De Tro-
br;s, d. and soou returned with that officer, who
WAS accompanied by two Of his staff officers. As
c., Uc Trobriaad walked down to the Speakers
desk. loud applause burst from the Democratic side
or the House. Gen. De Trob:iaud asked the acting
Srs aker if it wa rot possible for him to preserve
order without appealing to him TO preserve order
aea limited States army Officer. Witt said it was
ro+. uhe-eupon the General proceeded 70 the
lobby and addressing a few words 70 the excited
crowd peace was at once restored. On motion OF
Dupye. Mr.. Witt, in the na1n@ 4 the General AS
sernnlv Of the State of Louisiana, thanked Gen. DC
T,ohriaud for his interference III behalf of law and
order. and the General Withdrew.
The Republicans had row generally Withdrawn
from the hall. and united in signing a petition &c
the Governor, stating their grievances and asking
his aid. The petition, signed by fifty-tWo lesai!
r7turn.d Members of the House, ID in my posses
sion.
Immediately subsequent TO the action Of Wilt
in eieeting the Clerk Of the old House, Billies