Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-01-09
In This. the Centennial Year, in the
Name Of our Common CiTiliZa-
tiOR, the People Ash for
Relief.

one OF the supreme judges, and many {
the inferior local officeis. We furthe
assume as q fact equally established
that the lawfully elected governor, Stat
officers, senators, REPRESENTATIVES
judges, and inferier officers. who's
places are usuTped and held by their de
fested oppoDents. were and are exclu
ded from said official positions by th
unlawful interference OF Federal author
ity, through its court ana through il
military power. The midnight Orde
and double writ of msndsmus ard in
junction, issued by Judge DuTell, Unite,
states district judge, by which be or
gsnized the usurping legislatur5, snI
for which he escaped arrest and im
peacbment only by resignation. Tt
seizure OF the Ststehouse b,
Federsl troops in December, 1872, an,
September, 1874, and the bloo Thirst.
orders aud Dispatches Il General SheTi
dan in January, 1875 are facts the sick
eniDg recital Of which has engaged tn
attention OF the people OF the Union sn'
are too well known to justify TepstitiOn
We also assume that il has been estab
lishe1 that the right Of the people t
eject their officers and representative!
has been takep from them and ves.t
in partisan State retaining board {
five members chosen by u.urping tht
State senSts, and having the powe
within itself TO FL any vacancies tha
may occur in its membership; thst i
has been estsblis. ed that this board
may ignore official returns OF elections
and substitute therefor eE Ddyte sfiida
wits OF their own opinions and calcula
tious; that they may add SUPP sit tious
votes and rel jsct legal vote 5, and so mod,
/ ify official returns by unoficisl state
ments as TO defeat the will OF toe peo.
I pie and substitute therefor their own
/ personal or partisan choice OF candi.
dates, and that the State supleme couIt
| hAs repeatedly decided that declarations
of the returning board are f nal and can
not be reviewed by any tribunal. In
view OF these facts the people of the
! State see with alarm that the usurping
! kellogg government, which they never
I elected, and which therefore Is not re.
F, publican in for n or substance, is armed
| with the fearful power Of absolute self
| perpetuation. lnview T the strociOusly ly
4 wicked, tyTannicsl and lawless conduci
Of the usuTpars, as shown by the statute.
! book, by the court records, and by the
public history of this unfortunate State
since their u.urping rule tegaD. the
people cannot delude them:elves with
the belief, or lull themselves with the
hope, that the conduct of these corrupt
and uDprncipled III ucpeEs in the future
will differ from t"eir conduct in the
past. We furthermore assume that ii
has bsen demon rated that this uturp-
arion can exist only as it is supported by
the military power OF the ke'ser9i FoY-
3 ~ - TO- 1s,
found il Ia 1873, and the house com nit
tee so found il in 1875 Usurper Kellogg
so testified on his cath before the Hoar
committee. and the events OF the four
teenth of September, 1874 show that be.
fore the fesblsst demonstration of an
outraged and long-suffering people,
made at the State capital, and nowhere
else, the usurping government crumbled
away 10 every parish in the State, laav-
ing not vestige OF its insolent author
ity. Deeply impressed with these
truths, the people, though sm msrting un-
der the Wrongs and outrsges which
would not be borne in the older States
OF the Union, have been patient, taking
hope aud courage from the article Ct the
Federal constitution which Obliged the
United States to guarantee 10 every
State OF the Union q republican form Of
government. Having appealed to the
political department OF tie Fedora gov
ernmGpt for the enforcement CT this
RnaF Antee IN / shslf OF O.r State, and hay-
ing neYsr abs 1Goned that appeal nor
authorized lts withdrawal, we have re-
cent Y learned with suTprisr end indig-
nation that il is urged by the uSBTFSru end
their supporters in other ) a'es as fatal
objection to our appeal; that by the
Whecler adjustment OF the difficulties
which greg opt Of the Organization Of
the h1Uss OF representatives in Jaou-
aey, 1875, we, the people OF the State,
have aCquiesced in the usuT patton, and
cGn no longer bs heard ID question its
legality 0E 10 demand its overthrow.
We assert that taare is not one syllable
O, truth in this objection, and for the
foI.o, .;-reespps;
FirstERsca,sc the people Of llOuisi
ana old not submi. '1f We ~ pluu's2tion
OF the Whee'e er comm. InSlS V'n'
stltot'onal right OF seli-governl.ll-''-
eecond-Becanse persons who sub.
mltted their own claims to seats in the
legislature 10 the dt cisiUn of the Wheeler
committee never submitted nor intend
ed TO submit conflicting claims between
the lawfully e'ested Millinery govern
ment and usuTpstioD, aud The sad latter
claims are not covered by nor embraced
tn the award OF said committee.
Tnird-fhst the rival clsims Of the
de jare and de fdct0 State governments
weIe lever submitted 10 said com nit.
tee, and said committee in their official
report expressly State that their invtsti-
cations were restricted To the legislative
difficulties OF 1874 and 1873. and that
they took no eviteacs In regard u the
eleotiOn of 1872
tCur.h-Thst on its face the Wheeler
adjustment expressly withholds any APP
proval OF the Kellogg government, and
1t does not and cannot bind the peoples
lawfully elected hut excluded govern
ment offieeTs sud senators, nor the peo-
pie themselves, who were not par
ties to the Wheeler resC luton,
nor prevent their appeal to the
general government for guarln-
tees OF aTepubl.can form Of government,
and are now speaking for themselves.
The people Of the State OF Louisiana do
solemnly Affirm that they have not &C.
quieseed, and never VIII acqciesce, in
the Kellogg usurpstion; that it is as re-
pugoant 10 their wishes and interests
snd sense Of justice as it Wss the day Of
its lawless establishment over them by |
force; thst they recognize ss the only |
'oveTDu ent elected by the pto0le Of |
he State, the only government euti- |
Jed TO theit support, respect or conf /
1ence, that OF which John M'Enery /
and ID. Il. Penn are the official hsads; I
and they affirm that they have been /
pstient and silent since the adjourn 1
ment Of the last congress in the hope /
and belief thst the present cor grsss !
would listen 10 their grievances and 4
grant The reop.e Ie ief. This is not only /
heir right, but under the positive d.
ectioo Of the constitution, il is the duty
# the general government to guarantee
% Louisiana, as State in the Union, a
OF its choice, and thereby a.
epublican form Of government; and 1
he people OF Louisiana Go sOlemly de-
.lare that they will not absndon their
tIuggle for the right of fself-government.
% urging this right they feel that they
discharge duty not only 10 their own
tf-Iespect, TO themselves and their
'hlldren, but also duty TO the consti-
utlon, 10 the Union, and to evsry State
u the union, whose rights and liberties
ave been oveTthrown, violated end
oA kaNN NISL " a4N AuLOHGB A0e AL-
ages beaped upon the State Of Louis
ans. The one hundredth year of cur
xistence as q republic has dawned. to-
yard US as people, toward cur ciyili-
alton and form Of government
md our conduct Hereunder, The
latiOns OF the earth are bending their
,eze Of inquiry and scrutiny. To
'ou, Mr.. Pfesidentapd representatives
4 the States and Of the people of the
Union, we, the people OF the State of
Jouisisna, do prt sent our grievances,
Id ask you, in the name Of our COM
non country, In the name o' our CON-
non civilization, in the name Of the
acred memories that cluster around this
,eDtennisl year, in the name Of liberty
nd OF justice, that you blot from our
ational history this shameful record Of
surpation and crime committed against
ar State, and permit it no longer TO re-
lain precedent for the overthrow OF
her States, and this we urge, not only
at we may be released from the grasp | {
the lswless usErpatioD, bat that, as o | l
opler we may present to the nations OF I
earth the spectacle Of republic 8