Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-01-14

last issue Of the Beacon, events Of the
gravest character have transpired in
New Orleans, events which have excl
tedthecountry beyondany thing that has
occurred since the close Of the civil war
Thefeeling aroused 10 confined to NO par
tirular section or party. The East and
West, as well as the South, are ablaze
with indignation at the conduct Of
President Grant in authorizing the
employment Of the army to effect by
force the settlement Of . purely civil
issue in the State of Louisiana. To
the honor of the Republican party
be it spoken, that many of its most dis
tinguished ornaments, including large
masses Of its followers, have manfully Ia
ken UP the issue which rant and his Lieu
tenant have made with the civil power.
Indeed. men of all parties and Of no
parties, the army and Grants person.
al adherents excepted, appear for the
nonce to be fighting under the same
hag. Their motto is, obedience TO the
laws and the subordination of the mill
tary to the Constitution. They have
adjourned all mere partisan disputes
for the present and organized an oppo-
sition independent Of existing or former
party affiliations. They think it i'm
pertinent now to inquire which of the
factions which are struggling for the
mastery in Louisiana is in the right.
Whether either or neither is so, they
contend, can be 10 legal concern of the
President. Ii the five members who
were arrested and dispossessed by him
were wrongfully in their seats, it was
a wrong which only the legislature or
the courts could rightfully remedy
The intrusion of the soldiers into the
legislative halls of Louisiana they re-
sent as blow to the civil power and
tie contest they are making is to de-
tcrminc whether this power or the mil
itary shall be supreme in the country.
As our readers may not be familiar
with the antecedent facts in the Lou
isiana case, we recall the more prom
inent of them and give resume of
late occurrences in New Orleans. And,
first, it is well known fact that the
Conservatives of Louisiana carried the
State at the late November election by
a heavy popular majority, electing five
out Of the six members of Congress and
seventy out Of the one hundred and
eleven members to which the lower House
Of Assembly is entitled. There is Re
turning Board i'll the State whose duty
it is made to supervise the count of the
ballots and to announce the result
This Board, which is composed largely
Of Radicals, after an incubation of near
" two months, counted 'out" enough
Conservatives and counted Gin" enough
Radicals, as it was supposed, to give
Kellogg, the usurping Governor, con.
troll of the Legislature. BY the refu-
sal. however. of certain honest Radicals,
who had been unfairly counted Sin" by
the Returning Board, to take advan-
tage Of the count, the Conservatives
were left in a majority of two. But to
go hack moment. The Board had re-
turned the election Of five Conservative
members as doubtful and had referred
the decision of their election to the Leg
is!ature. Acting upon this reference,
when the Legislature met on Monday Of
hast week, after canvassing the claims Of
the FIVE members TO seats and finding
them to have been fairly returned, it ad-
mittcd them as representatives, as it had
perfect right TO do. Having now q
working majority, the Conservatives i'm
mcdiately consummated the organiza-
tion Of the House and were about pro-
ceeding to business when the Legisla-
tive Chamber was invaded by squad
of soldiers. acting under the orders of a
Brigadier General OF the United States
army. and implicitly under the direc-
tions Of Grant, the commanding officer
stating, that the body then and there
assembled as the Legislature was an il.
legal organization and would not be al.
lowed to act. Then the soldiers wen,
to work. The FIVE members who but 8
moment before had been adjudscd cleo
ted and who had already been sworn in
with the officers of the House, were eiec
ted at the point of the bayonet from tn,
hall, after which the general in com
mand appears to have organized TIL
legislature to suit himself. The Con
scrvatives protested, but finding them
selves powerlcss, refined from the House
AID up to present writing have refuses
TO participate in any Legislative proceed
Ing or To answer to their names whel
called. So. in this first conflict bctweeI
the military and civil power, the militia
~ remains master of the situation an,
order reigns in Warsaw.
There was smash up" at Benning
Station on the Baltimore and Potoma