Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-04-10

liberty were the law fEl inheritance q
the whole people, and should foTeve
continue 70 lie. He declared llat III
right of tIial by jury, habcas corpus, liner
~ of The press, freedom of S eccl, tn
natural ri Ghts OF person and of prop It,
should he presel we'd. He believed tina
free institutions being essential to th
! prosperity and happiness of the parpl,
| were themselves the strongest induce
| nen's tn peace. and order lIo declare.
hat the civil authorities and iribrun!
should hive he consideration of and iu
| iS.!ictiUn over crimes AMI utfcnseS, a,i
shoud be supported in th exercise o.
ihat jurisdiction. Bat while thus rccog
! uizing the rights of the people he al.
nnuncel, with sol litr- ike direct ness and
! brevity, that hc should suppress armed
| insurr-ction and forcible resistance to
| law by force of arms at once. What sort
of language was this to hear from the
mouth of the military satrap they ex-
pectaI9 They looked for Il Cesar, and
found in his stead the eNpoun ;er aud de
fender of the Constitutional laws OF the
Fathers, and the exponent of the rights
of the free men who speak the English
tongue. The effect On men so recently
dis ,anded from armel rebellion, and
norose, sourel, disappointed, and dis
pose to pace obstacles in the way of
auS resumption OF the Federal relations,
was electric Louisiana and Texas for
the time being moved forward! on the
road 20 reconstruction with busk eager
ness, ont stripping their sisters; and had
General Hancock remained in command,
The disorders which followed, the mis-
rule ANA contention eliminating in ac-
ttial anarchy, and rendering Louisiana
ut last Il fit instrument for the pr1prt a
ion f Il great crime Woult hot have ia
ken place. General Hancock maintain
eel the purity and Independence of the
election. refused to organize military
commission to take the place of ofjuIicial
trials and would permit no military in
terterence with civil administration. The
Mayor of New Orleans formally requested
his interference by military order in GER
tam rncre.liugs against the corporation.
General Hancock declined, on the ground
that his irtel ference would he unconsii.
tutona. and could only he exercised in
an emergency VIII ch did not, in his Opir
ion, then exist. He was requested by
he general commanding the District of
Texas to order Il military commission for
the trial of Il cert.in offender. lie de
cline, ST niing as his reasons. that while
HE act passed by Cong eSs "f"r he more
efficient government of he rebel HtatcS'
made it the duty of commanders Of mill
tnry districts to punish disturher5 OF the
public peace and criminals, That power,
from the nature of thi. g.. should "nly b"
cXr.r,i<cd when the local civil tribunals
were unable or inviting to enforce the
laws. IL snppositinn which did not exist,
4 State government III NlboTdlhaion TO
the United States being then in the fuil
exercise of It's power in Texas. General
ITunrnck's DC. lccessnr had sumu'ariiv,
by m litary order, removed The clerk OF
court an:l had appointed another in his
place General Hancock revoked this
order, on the ground that if there wc"c
any charges against The clerk $" removed
the courts We're competent to take action
in the premises iis predecessor had
rendered the administration Il Justice i'll
efficient by instituting certain Quailiica-
tons for PEI sons 10 hc eligible TO do jury
duty, such qualification being made hy
military order. Gle rral Hancock revolz
ID the order, announcing hat he would
lot permit the civil aui horitleS to be en-
hy military Interference. In
December he issued an ORDER pr"hlhl'ln- |
military interference with til" clec'lous |
lnlrss when necessary TO keep the peace |
It the polls, as being contrary to law, !
ma II, ordered that 10 soldier be allow
ID TO appear at any polling place unless
Is citizens of The State, registered voters.
md 70 the purpose of voting; but lie
ordered farther that the commanders OF
'os act promptly in preserving the
,cace in case the civil authorities failed
O do so. Men intc cstrN III civil Contro-
.crsirs in great numbers applied t" the
;rnvrars cadquarters tor interference,
ss,mi: z on lis part both the ARBITRARY
,owcr to interfere anl the willingness 70
10 so. General Hancock. by general or
Ter, again announced that the adminiS-
rat ion of civil Justice pert AIMED only to
he REGULAR courts and that the rights OF
Ia. liti~nrts did not depend on his views
: 10 the merits of their cases. Having
,rrn Il ,,pcalcd to by thc Governor OF the
,tate to +, move foM office til" President
d members ol the i'olrH Juiy OF the
'ari>h Of Orleans, they being charg"d
With appw,plia'luy to tEcir own lAc pub
l.. f,,l, (r,rr,l iinntnCl TtiIrlntr.,