The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-04-26
LOUISIANA.
Gov. Packard's Address.
STATE OF LOUISIANA,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

New Orleans, La, April 20, 1877. J
To the Republicans Of Louisiana:
On this day, the fifteenth anniversary
of the surrender of New Orleans to the
forces of the United States, it becomes
my duty to to you that aid
and countenance of the national gov
eminent has been withdrawn from the
Republicans of Louisiana, and that a
government, revolutionary in form, is
practically on the point of usurping
control of affairs in this state. l re-
call the circumstances of the last cleo
toral campaign only to thank you for
the fidelity to principle you then dis
played. The Republican party, as you
know, entered uron the anvas united
and stronger than eve before. 1t had
enlisted under its banner an influential
class of native born citizens, of old
Wing antecedents, who to their honor
be it said, still remain faithful to the
principles they espoused and the gov
eminent they supported. 1t was fur
Their strengthened by the absence from
the state Of all opposition of that ele-
ment whose previous adherence to
party had brought it into disrepute.
These auses combined to bring about
the remarkable success achieved by the
Republican party in all doubtful par
ishes with one exception, even where
the white population preponderated,
and which gave us a majority in the
legislature. Except where organized
violence prevailed our state ticket car
ried every Republican parish, and also
a number of parishes which, in the last
legislature, were represented by Dem
ocrats. I briefly summarize the histor-
s,,1 ..,a,>to xr,l;pt 1,n Syo cinon nnptrrta6.
The general assembly met on the first
of January last and organized with a
full legal quorum in both houses; passed
laws which were approved by the then
executive of the state, and on the I'd
| of January last c%anvassed and declared
| the vote for governor. On the 9th of
January, before l had scarcely taken
my seat in the executive chair, the
| White League rose in armed resurrec-
ton, and by n coup de main took pos
session of the Supreme court, arsenal
and stations Of the metropolitan police,
all located at the capital. Then came
orders from President Grant establish
ing the statu quo, the practical effect
of which was to confirm the insurgents
in advantages they hail gained, and
prevent any effort to dispossess them.
| On the Inauguration of President
Hayes the state authorities made pre-
parations to organize militia for the
| defense of the state government. Gen.
| Nichols police seized upon the re-
| cruiting officers and imprisoned them
for treason, without the benefit of bail
or a wit of habeas corpus. l tele-
graphed this fact to President Hayes,
asking if this was violating the statu
quo, and if not, whether the release of
those men by force, all civil remedies
having been exhausted, would be so
considered. The President replied:
Your dispatch of the oath inst. is
received. The Secretary of War has
telegraphed to Gen. Augur that a COM
mission will shortly visit Louisiana.
In the meantime the President desires
that the situation remain unchanged.
The commission came; in the e
time the Nichols government had
crystalized into shape; so far from per-
hitting the situation to remain un-
changed had broken into the tax col
l~ector's Office of the city and taken
forcible control of the state institutions
and strengthened itself on all occasions.
The legislature duly organized, re-
NAMED in legal existence, di~sintegrated
by the action of the commission. This
result avlng peen acnleVeu, IL IS Il
matter of record that congratulatory
messages were exchanged between the
President and his commission. On the
following day the President directed
that the U. S. troops should be removed
to their barracks. The troops had been
placed there by President Grant, with
out the call of the governor, to protect
the returning board while counting the
vote for President. 1 believe, had the
legal government been recognized, it
could have sustained itself without the
intervention of troops, but the order
for withdrawal clearly indicated that
the moral support which the legal gov
eminent of Louisiana should have re-
ceived from the national administra-
ton would be denied. Had the gen.
eral assembly continued in session in
the state house, 1 should have deemed
it my duty to have asserted and de-
Tended the government to the last, but
with the legislature disintegrated, and
no prospect of present success, l can
not task your tried fidelity by asking
you longer to continue to aid in the
struggle I have thus far maintained.
therefore announce to you that 1 am
compelled to abstain for the present
from ali active assertion of my govern.
~