The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-04-04
nprN LETTER TO w. r. KELLOGG.
District Attorney Read Reviews Kellogg's
Letter Of Lies.
Mr.. Read Declines to Prosecute Com
u,unity for Holding Mass Meetings.
BATON ROUGE. March 20, 1876.

Ts
u,unity for Holding Mass Meetings.
Baton ROUGE, March 20, 1876.
His Excellency VIM. ?. Kellogg. Governor {
Louisiana New Orleans. La:
Sir-Your letter Of the 2sth instan
came this morning. You must hav
labored under a very grave misappre
hension in supposing for one instan
myself would fail to take cognizance OF
and act upon any violation OF law tina
may have occurred in this parish, an,
/ regret exceedingly that you shoul,
have deemed 1t necessary at all, mucl
less through the public prints, to indi
cate line Of conduct, when my dutie
are so plainly marked by law and thei
performance pledged by oath.
1t has been many days. week OF
more, since our District Court has beer
in session, owing to q grave question
had lapsed-the matter now being
before the Supreme Court for deci
sion. IT has now been determined to &c
on, most Of the attorneys being satisfied
upon the point This much in answer
to that portion of your letter which says
"the occurrence of such a state OF things
in Baton Rouge. while the District
Court is in session, etc.
As you have deemed proper, however,
Ia 8, w
desire to be particularly inquired into,
and evidently are misinformed about, |
cannot perhaps do better than to take
them up seridtjDl, with such comments
as may seem proper.
First then as to certain lawless per-
sons having combined together for the
purpose of displacing the civil authori-
ties. !" / know Of no such lawless per-
sons and have heard nothing of the
combination.
Upon two or three occasions recently
there have been large mass meetings
held i'm the open day, at Pixies Hall,
public notice having been given, for the
ayowed purpose, and that alone, as far
as 1 have been able to find out, of dis
cussing what they deemed public
grievances and of devising ways and
means for their redress.
Their deliberations have been charac-
terized by calmness, but of course with
that sort Of subdued excitement natur-
ally incident to large gatherings, and
the speakers specially deprecated VIC
lence and harsh measures.
As result of the first Of these meet
ings, in accordance with resolutions
adopted, the Sheriff, the Tax Collector
and the Parish Judge resigned. You,
yourself, evidently acquiesced in the
action of at least one OF these officers
by recognizing the business Of the de-
mand for an abdication. i'm your accept
ance Of the Sheriff s resignation and
the appointment of his SUCCESSOR
have seen Mr.. Leblanc, our former
sheriff, and he learns with surprise and
for the first time ny your letter. that he
ever was driven away from his native
parish. The going and coming of none
OF these officers was not interfered with
and they came and went at pleasure.
Indeed, the Parish Judge continued in
his duties and SO the Tax Collector.
At the time of the mass meeting on
the 2lst inst, the Tax Collector and
Parish Judge were both here, though /
have learned that the latter had made
preparations for leaving q place where
he had seen SO much dissatisfaction ex-
listed. The meeting of the Dist reiterated
the resolutions of the previous one as to
the designations of the Tax Collector and
Parish Judge. and by action similar to
that OF the mass meeting held in your
city relative to public schools, sent com
mittees to the parties to communicate
the wishes of the assembly. The parish
Judge then determined to give up 50 I'M
equal a contest, so stated to the COM
mittee, as / am told by one of them,
and left for New Orleans the same day.
The Tax Collector could not be found,
and the meeting determined to take
charge Of the States property left in his
office. This they did peaceably and
quietly. These are the facts.
Now, sir, | have looked in vain to find
q law which has been violated by any
Of these meetings. for they were not
unlawful assemblies but avowedly in
the interest Of peace and order, and
their counsels calm and dignitied.
| have been unable, after strict in
quiry, to find out that any assault was
made upon or personal violence at any
time has been offered to any OF the Off
GERS above named.
The taking charge of the Collectors
books was. Of course, irregular, and
there should be provisions made for
such cases, but none, as far as | know,
yet exist under our law.
1t would not perhaps behoove me at
this time to comment on your remarks
as to the two ofiicers-Parish Judge and |
Tax Collector-buti if you will reflect you |
will readily see how judges may act in |
such a manner as to become unbear-
able to people without suhjecting |
themselves to criminal prosecution, and |
the records OF the United States Court |
serve in an entirely creditable manner |
as collector of United States Internal |
Revenue.
] think too, sir, that you err when you
say that the ditin,us Of the disaffection
with regard to the two named officers is
to be found in the fact that they are Re-
publicans. ! am sure that there are Re-
publicans OF this parish who would fill
those offices with credit to themselves
and to the satisfaction of the commu
nifty. As to color, the Clerk of our
Court is colored man, against whom l
have heard no complaint, and our Adj
ministrator Of Finance, another colored
man, is highly respected.
The Grand Jury are In session to-day
ior the first time since the question as
to the court arose. and will continue to
Investigate fully all violations of law,
land there are grave ones against of1icl-
ais and others) and this will be done the
more efficaciously as some OF our best
citizens, white and black, now compose
the grand inquest of the parish.
In conclusion, permit me to assure
your ExcelIency that l shall do my duty
promptly and conscientiously.
Very respectfully,
ALyAN T.. READ,
District Atty Fifth Judicial District.