tiMy' 4 t^ (L'vivx^u CVXJ (A^l (TtL UU^CUl-^-'^L^ . Glass _E125. USE OF THE ARMY IN LOUISIANA. SPEECH HON. THOMAS F. ^AYARD, OF BE I. A WARE. SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY 8, 18751 WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1875. A 376' rB5t> '>^ • SPEECH HOT^. THOMAS F. BAYAED Mr. BAYARD said: Mr. Pi!E8IDEXT: I call for the reading of the resolution uow before tlie Senate, and of the amendment of the Senator from New York. The Chief Clerk. The resolution is as follows : Eesolved, That the President of thoUuitetl States is hereby requested to iuform the Senate whether any portion of the Army of the United States, or any officer or offlcer.M, soldier or soldiers of such Army, did in any manner iutcrfeii' or intrrincd- die witii, control or seek to control, tlil; oryauization of tln^ Ci-ncral Asscndily of the State of Loui.siaua, or either lirauch tlicrcof, on the 4tli instant; and csi)ecially whether any person or persons clainiiuf; scats in either lirancli of said Li'uislature have been deprived thereof, or prevented from takinj; the same, by any such mili- tary force, officer, or soldier ; and if such lias Vieen tlu' case, tln'U that the I'resident inform the Senate by what authority such military iutervcutiou and interference have taken place. The amendment is to insert after the word " Senate " the words "if in his judo-nient not incompatihle with the puldic interests." Mr. BAYARD. Mr. President, in my judgment the amendment Xn-oposed by the honorable Senator from New York to this resolution is quite out of place and unnecessary. The resolution itself, we all know as a public fact, was a mere formal preliminary to congressional action. It was an orderly and respectful call upon a co-ordinate branch of the Government to account for his apparent exercise of iin- lawful power. I do not now propose to debate the question raised by the amendment of the Senator from New York , not because it is not important iu itself, and touches an interesting, grave, and sub- stantial question, but because it is overshadowed by the main subject upon which it is now sought to be ingrafted. Nor, since I have been personally referred to by that Senator as an atithority to sustain the invariability of the amended form which he proposes, shall I do more than say thiit about two years ago I was endeavoring to save the de- pleted treasury of the State of South Carolina from further and gross peculation and robbery, and sought by a resolution of inquiry to draw the attention of the country and of the President of the United States and his subordinates to the case so that the scheme of plunder might be arrested, if there was a disposition to do so. In this attempt, however, I Avas, as usual in this body, unsuccess- ful, for the resolution, although it was adopted early in the month of March, 1873, and was sent to "the President, was treated by him and his Secretary of War with contemptuous silence, and the wrong-doer was not only permitted to consummate his wrong, but he has been encouraged to repeat it, and to-day we lind him sent to " fresh fields and pastures new" in the Sttite of Louisiana, to repeat there the operations that made his name so notorious iu the State of South Carolina. I refer to one Major Lewis Merrill, of the United States CaTalry, who has added to his notoriety by his lata coiigeuiar opera- tions in the State of Louisiana, for whicli he has been siiecially de- tailed by the Secretary of War ^\'ith a full knowledge of the facts that iireceded his conduct in South Carolina. The amendment to the resolution originated not with me but with the Senator from New York, who now offers it in the same phrase to the present resolution. I was at that time compelled to accept it or virtually lose the possibility of having my resolution adopted. I offered it as soon as the facts were made known to me. There were but two working days left of the session, and the objection which was made upon the first day would have continued it over, and I was glad to have it accejited in any form, even with the en- tirely superfluous, and, as I' thought then, improper addition which was put upon it. I made no objection to it. In that way alone the resolution, as amended by the Senator from New York, came before the Senate. But, Mr. President, that is a very small matter compared to the gravity of the crisis in which I believe the people of the United States find themselves this day. If I overrate it, it is because the deep solicitude which I feel in everything touching my public duty and the Avelfare of my countrymen must account for the error in judgment. I do not believe that since the American colonies sepa- rated themselves from the rule of Great Britain by revolutionary action the people of this country were ever brought face to face with graver questions, needing braver, calmer, more deliberate considera- tion, than confront them to-day. It is not simply the question of tha existence of that republican form of government Avhich by the Con- stitution it is made the duty of the United States to guarantee to every State of this Union, and without which Louisiana stands to- day. It is even graver, if it be possible, more important than even That, for there are governments, of laws not republican in form, in wiiich the objects of good government are secured and peace and safety given to the inhabitants. But the issue now to be raised be- tween the people of the United States and those whom they have elected as their rulers is whether this Union of States shall be gov- erned by* law or by the mere i>ersonal will of the official ; whether we shall have a civil government or a military dictatorship; whether we shall have a free government or a despotism. The issue is, if I mistake it not, not less grave than this. In the venerable Common- wealth of Massachusetts I find Avell stated the object for which, the spirit Avith Avhich, these limited governments were created, and their charters reduced to writing, so that they should not depend upon the feebleness of men's memories, but should he fixed in written charac- ters for all time. Said the people of Massachusetts in their Declara- tion of Eights, in the fourtli section : The people of this Common-n-ealth shall have the sole ami exclusive right of gOA'- emiug tluinsLlvcs as a free, sovereign, and intl(])(n(hiit State ; and they shall for- ever hcrrafttr exercise and enjoy every power, juiisdiitinn, and right which is not or may ndtliereafterbe hy them expressly delegated to the riiited States of Ameu- ica in Congress assemhled. And in the closing section of their declaration of rights : In the govt riiment of this Coniinonwealth the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial imwiis, or eitliirof thcui; t lie executive shall never exercist; tlu- legislative and judicial poweis, or either nf them ; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them, TO THE END THAT IT MAY BE A GDYEKXIIENT OF LAWS, AND XOT OF MEN. There is the soul of the declaration of rights upon which the gov- ernment of the ancient Commonwealth of Massachusetts stood in 1779, aucl uuder and subject to which her people have lived to this day. Mr. President, absolute, uuliniited power is uuknowu to the Amer- ican system of government, or to any other system of <;overument> preteildino- to be called free. The people of the States and the States as inteii'ral parts of tho Federal Union have delegated certain enu- merated powers to their rulers, and reserved all otliers exi)ressly iu their Avritten charter to the States and to the people. To omit the execution of just power is clearly a breach of duty of the Executive, and to assume power not delegated is a usurpation quite as danger- ous as rebellion and just as promptly to be checked. Now, sir, in Avhat spirit should an American Senator approach the consideratio!! of a qu(>stion lilce this? Should it not be gravely, moderately, restrainedly, and Avithout excitement, discussed ? How unlike should it be to the remarks which we have here p)-inted in the records of the proceedings of this body, which fell from the honora- ble Senator from Indiana, [JMr. :M()GTt)X,] and from his associates from Vermont and from Illinois, [Messrs. Edmuxds and Logax,] in which every line seems to breathe hatred, to blaze with excitement, to be filledwith violent epithets, Avith general arraignment and indictment of the Avhole Avhite population of a sister State, so that it seems to me their speeches must have been intended to oljscure the real point at issue and to envelop the sulyect in a cloud of excitement, to awaken anew the bitterness of sectional animosity; and, by sound- ing the trumpet of mere party, to draw their hearers away from that standard of sworn patriotic duty to support and defend the Cousti- tutiou of their Government. I shall not imitate them. My sense of indignation is strong, but it is to be silenced by my sense of sorrowful apprehension of evil to my country. Sir, iu the course of the late dreadful war between the States of this Union, I heard of a widowed mother, bereft of husband, of child, of property, sitting in tlie midst of her desolation, Avith a bleeding heart, who was asked whether she did not hate thoso Avho had thus Avrougedher; and her answer was, "My heart is too full of sorroAV, to have any room for anger." Now, sir, what are the facts of this case? An election on NoA-em- ber the 3d A\'as held in Louisiana, as in the other States. It Avas conducted with earnestness and some excitement, and yet peace- ably — certainly orderly. The entire machinery for conducting and supervising that election Avas in the hands of the acting governor of the State and his political adherents. The forms of election were maintained and they were generally exercised, and the returns were Avholly in the hands of " GoA-x^rnor " Kellogg, as he is called, and his ad- herents. He committed them to a returning board avIio ke})t them in the face of the country, under a pretense of tabulation and count- ing, for nearly two months, hudcing I think but two days. Other States nearly live or six times as populous found their returns tabu- lated and con-ectly counted Avithin less than a Aveek. In most of the great cities of the country, containing far more population than the Avhole State of Louisiana, forty-eight hours had not elapsed before there was a talnilation and count of the votes. But this tabulation and counting Avere retarded and delayed by the returning. board, the appointees oi Kellogg, for the foul and Avicked purpose declared and proA-en by their opponents, forgery proA'eu, the substitution of false returns for real returns, the arbitrary rejection of clear testimony iu regard to the election ; even a public holiday, the Thanksgiving Day, violated for the purpose of breaking open the envelopes and replac- 6 ing the true returns by forged ones. All tliese things are not only alleged, but proven, and are known to the country. The delay had its object, and the object was fraud, and the fraud was j)erpetrated, , and in every case where fraud was jjerpctrated it was a fraud against the conservative party of the State and in favor of that party known as tbe Kellogg party. To that there is no exception ; it stands the invariable rule f)f these fraudulent alterations. The conservatives were vigilant, they were constant, they were courageons; but their apprehensions were but too sadly to be veri- fied, and the overwhelming majority of the conservatives in the Legislatui'o of the State of Louisiana was nullified, and a small majority — I believe of two votes — given to the Kellogg party iu the house of representatives by the garbled, false, xiartial returns of this board. This was done in the presence of the whole country. Day by day the charge was made and proven. The conn try know it. No one denied it. The President of the United States was advised of it ; he was kept v/ell infoi-med of it, and his semi-official utterances, made known to the people, were that, no matter what frauds should be accomplished by this board, they should be maintained at every cost, or that " somebody should be hurt" in case interference was attempted with their nefarious proceedings ; that is to say, if any resistance to a clear, ])lain wrong was made by an outraged community. On the 4th of January the Legislature of Louisiana, under the consti- tution of that State, were to assemble in the State-house iu the city of New Orleans; they were to organize their respective bodies. The constitution of the State of Louisiana provides in article 34, entitled " Of the legislative department," first — That the niimher of representatives shall never exceed one hiuidred and twenty nor be less than ninety. Art. 34. That each house of the General Assembly shall judge of the qualifica- tions, election, and ntuins of its members; but a contested election .shall be deter- mined in suili niann.T a.s may be jiie.'icribi'd liy law. Art. 35. Each housr of till- Ccnrial Assembly may determine the rules of its pro- ceedings, punish a mcnibci- for disorilcrly conduct, sind, with a concuiTence of two- thirds, expel a member; Init not a second time for tlie same offense. Art. 37. Eacli liouse may i)unisli by impri.sonmeut any jierson not a memberfor disrespect and disorderly liehavioi- in its jircsence, or for olistructing any of its jiro- ceeding.s ; such imijrisoument shall not exceed ten days for any one oti'ense. . Such is the language of the constitution of Louisiana. Now, let us consider for one instant the value of this right given exclu.sivelj'^ to each House to determine the rules for its own proceedings and to pass upon the elections, rpialifications, and returns of its own mem- bers. Like all things that are of value, it was not reached in a day, but its path was a path of difficulty to those Avho achieved it. The history of this right, this English-born right of self-government by the representatives of the people, is well related in The Law and Practice of Legislative Assemblies by Gushing, at section 146: The present constitution of the House of Commons is, to a considerable extent, tlie resiilt of a series of stiugglcs between it, on the one hand, and the s(.)vereign, or the lords, or botli, on tlie otTier. One of the earliest of tluse conflicts, and one of the most interesting, is tliat which terminated in the eslaldisliinent of the rii;ht of the Commons to lie Die exclusive jud^ics of the returns, elections, anil (junUlica- tions of their own members. Tliis rigid, after having been claiineil ami exercised atone timeby the king and coumil, at another by the House of Lords, and. aiiaiu, by the lord cjiancellor, was deidareil l)y ;i resolnticoj)le: it is also, out of abundant caution, conferred upon or guaranteed to most of the legi.slativ&- assemblies of the United States by express constitutional provisions. In accordance with tins iiilierent I'iylit, incidental to tlie A'cry nature of the body, was the constitutional guarantee which, as the writer has said, out of plenary caution was introduced into the consti- tution of the State of Louisiana. There was a voluntary and orderly atteudance of 101 or 102 elected and persons claiming to he members- elect of the house of representatives of the Legislature of the State of Louisiana on the 4tli day of January instant, more than a cpiorum under the constitution of the State. But under what circumstances did these representatives of the will of the people of Louisiana assem- ble ? In the State-house, not the custom-house or any other United States building, but in the house of the State of Louisiana. And in whose hands did they lind it? On the evening previous it had been garrisoned with what were called the Metropolitan police, the adlier- euts and partisans and sole appointees of Kellogg, the acting gov- ernor'. Around the house, controlling access to it upon two sides, were armed troops of the United States acting in force under the command of an officer of the United States under delegated authority from the President of the United St.ates. The hiAvful citizens of the State of Louisiana w-ere forbidden to approach their State-house. They who alone were privileged spectators were forbidden to exercise the high, the inherent, the essential iirivilege of witnessing the convention of their own State Legislature. There was a member of Congress, well known and esteemed by all — I refer to Mr. Potter, of New York, at present a member of the investigating committee there — who sought in vain as a private citizen of a sister State to approach and witness the form of inauguration of the assembly, and was forbidden by armed force. I consider his rejection an outrage, and unlawful ; but I consider that thepooi'est and the meanest citizen of Louisiana had a precedent right even over my respected friend to enter the hall and to witness the inauguration of the Legislature in whose election ho had cast his vote and who were to be the makers of laws under which he should live. But until the House committee appointed to make this inves- tigation shall return, I will not attempt to recite any disputed or dis- putable fact. I shall take facts which are admitted and established, and refer to them alone. There was an organization of that house. There was a speaker elected and placed in his chair. There was a clerk also chosen, and this was done in the presence of a quorum of the house of represent- atives constitutionally convened, and by the votes of a constitutional majority of those present, cjuietly, regularly, and peacefully cast. I will not now argue the regularity or the irregularity of the initiation of this organization. The Kellogg pai'ty may have been deceived as to their numbers, and outwitted by the defection in their own ranks, or by the superior parliamentary skill and knowledge of their oi)po- nents ; the organization may have been perfectly regular, or it may have been in some degree irregular and open to criticism ; but it is certain that it was (juiet, that it was peaceful, and unaccompanied by anytlu'eat or act of violence on the part of any conservative member. When I say that I mean that it was unaccompanied by any show of that "domestic A'ioleuce" which is spoken of in the Constitution, which gives the President of the United States the right to interfere, and there was no pretext for the existence of anything capable of being termed " violence" on the part of the one hundred and one mem- bers of the Legislature so convened. On the contrary, Mr. President, there was a dignity far removed from violence ; there was a courage far different from bluster, which Avould have become a Roman senate 8 even in the presence of some barbarian liorde. It is said that even a rude Goth at the head of his forces was impelled to yield involuntary respect to the aged and unarmed men of the Roman senate who wit- nessed in their placid dignity the invasion of their council chamber; but it seems that an officer of the Army of the United States is un- touched by any such restraining influences, and knows no law of restraint but the will of his superior officer, no matter what may be the outrage upon the rights of his fellow-citizens, or the lawsaud the Constitution of his country, which he may have been ruthlessly ordered to commit. The house of representatives of Louisiana was on the 4th of this present month purged of five members who were in their official seats, quietly and peaceably filling their places in that body, having been admitted and sworn into office by the only competent body to admit them or pass upon their qTialifications. They were purged just as in 1CA8 oiie Colonel Pride, with his two regiments, purged the house of Parliament at the order of a Cromwell : seized forty-one members, displaced them by force, excluded one himdred and sixty others, and thus he constituted that fag-end of a government that has come down hissed by posterity as the "rump" of a parliament, and which lived its Avretched and disgraceful career five short years, until the hand of the master that had constituted it drove it with shame from the place where his power alone had placed it. Sii', does not history repeat itself, and will men be forever deaf to its lessons until they bum themselves in by painful experience '' Mr. President, I ask the Senate, I ask the American people, had President Grant the legal warrant for interference by troops at that time, in that manner, at that place ? Had Governor Kellogg the power himself to do it ? Had he the lawful power to call upon the President or any other i)erson to interfere as was done on that day ? Where is the law, where is the constitutional provision from which such right can be implied, however remotely or indirectly f There has been none yet cited, and I make bold here to-day to say that this debate will begin and it will close, and there will be no lawyer, as I believe, of this body who will be able to produce the statute or even attempt to twist or force the construction of words that will give any warrant for this act. There stands the constitution of the State of Louisiana, the provis- ions of which I have read. There stands the Constitution of the United States, containing its enumerated and delegated powers to the President as to all other departments of this Government. Where do we see them now ? Overthrown and cast down by the furious lawlessness, by the unlawful ambition, of these two officials Avliom I have named, the creature and the creator. Look at it, Senators! Loolv at it, people of the United States! Contemplate the picture of that dispersed Assemldj- ; read the protest of the peaceable and or- derly men ejected by brute force from their lawful places in that As- sembly, and then say whether iiarty passion or sectional prejudice can constrain you to approve it, or i)revent you from grave and deliberate condemnation of the act, and of those who have committed it. But, Mr. President, such coi'.duct is, I am sorry to say, not new in Louisiana. It is but a leaf out of the book of the sad story of that State. Two years ago it was under pretended forms of law, that only made the fact more loathsome, bj' mingling more fraud with force. The act to-day is more bare-faced, and in that I think there may be some security to my fellow-countrymen. I will take leave, not in egotism but in justification of what I say to-dny, to road sr)mc remarks v.'liicli I made in the Senate on the 27th of Felnuary. 1-^T:>, at the hour of six o'clock in the morning, when I and others' had been kept here in weary and fruitless deljate upon some bill relating to the State of Louisiana unauthorized, as I believe utterly unauthorized, by the Federal Constitution. I said then : I believe it is never vrise to Ijliuk the truth. I believe it is never wise iu goveni- iun- a people in any wav to deceive tliem, or to rule them by false promises. And here 1 state to tli'e Senate and the countrv that I believe these suvennncuts "so called '' iu the Southern States are but tbin veils for actual military p(n\er iu the hands of the Federal Administration. Those sovernmeuts are permitted to exist so louo- as they please "the powers that be." So long as they prouounre the sliibbo- letlfof your party, so long and no longer those who represent the go\eruiiients will be protected, but it is intended to overshadow them from time to time by the hand of Federal power, so that they may be taught that unless they do conduct them- selves aecordins to the will of 'their real masters, not even the form.s of republican o-overnnuut .--hall exist, It matters not whether the end is reached by Durell and his preteudeii ■■ indicial " orders, or Casey with his Gatlin guns or revenue-cutters, or Attoruey-(.;e!icral Williams with his "fu.sion " suggestions, or swarms of United States mar'slials and their deputies to enforce congressional election laws— all are part and parcel of the scheme and system of that coercive power which is the real goveiiiuieut of this country. . Sir if the President of the United States shall proclaim martial law in Louisiana, if he shall talLf possession of that State, he will only be doing openly what his party in fact liave l)een doing for the iastsix or seven j-ears under the thin veil and llimsvdis'!"o one can doubt tliat Jiiikf Dnivll would never have dared to issue this order, nor would any one havethouoht of obeviug it, if there had not been an intimation to him that the power of tlie Federal Army wouldbacli him up and would sustain the faction that he was creating under the name of a government. I do not doul>t it. 1 do not think the people of this country can doubt it ; at any rate, I say here in my place to them I believe it to bo true', and I think the facts warrant the belief. Therefore, sir, believina' at any time that I would rather know my fate, and I trust 1 will never be afraid to look my fate in the face, I do feel that our Govern- ment is pnssinn awav from us because, we are losing the disposition and the means of cuforcin»- thus- limitations upon the powers of those who rule us, and they are disrt>"ardinu them. That which is the law for Louisiana to-day may be made the law iZr Penusvlvania or Xew York to-inorrow. It has been threatened in New York ; it has been carried almost to the same point iu New York ; her peaceful streets have been tilled with Federal troop,s on the occasion of popular election ; her waters and her docks have held armed vessels ready t'> luiil destruction upon her citizens and their property. Those things have been witnessed I>y the Ameri- can people, but their meaning seems to have been but faintly understood ; audnow I would say to the people of every other State, " Read in the fate of Louisiana to- day what well may be your own when the necessities of party shall call upon those ill power to make it so." I know that I say this at the commencement of a new lease of power of the republican party, when we are to have four more years of government probably by the same Executive, possibly by the same Congress as heretofore; and yet, never- theless, the time must come when the people" of this country shall again express their will, and all that I can do is to tell them the truth as I see it, and then if it be my fate to stand in the minority, that will not the least silence my voice ; that will iiot the least change luy ardent aspirations to serve my fellow-men, and I shall warn them, as I warn them now, of the daggers I apprehend, and indicate the XU-oper modes of meeting them. Such, sir, were my views expressed here in open debate, nearly two vears ago. Again, when this subject vras up on the "iOth of April, 1^74, i stated the fact that— Under the thin veil of a pretended republican form of government, the real govern- ment of Louisiana to-day is militarv force. It is a sbam'to call it anything eise. You lift tlie gown of the jiidire, and you tind the saber of the dragoon ; you enter the ex- ecutive chamber, and the power there is the power of the sword and not of the law. The government of Louisiana to-day is nothing but military power, protecting dis- honest men who v>"ear the sham robes of State office. Mr. President, has this policy ou tlie part of the President been changed ? Reading by the events of to-day this ineffectual debate of mine nearly two vears old, wlio shall challenge the truth of those 10 utterances ? Tliey were sincerely made ; tliey have been confirmed by time, the irrefutable register of truth. What has been the policy of the President of the United States f Has it been moderated or mod- ified? Nay, sir, it has only been doggedly intensified. There is not ijti that State one case of abuse of ])ower, of ])eculation, robbery, and filthy dishonesty, with which the history of its government is filled in the last two years, in which his displeasure has ever been signified by the removal of an improper official, not one word of rebuke. On the contrary, there has been personal and official encouragement of men who stand liefore the nation branded as dishonest and unworthy, and whom no man would trust with his i)rivate affairs or give power to in matters affecting himself in any way. lu the midst of this excitement, in the midst of this blow at the very heart of poi)nlar government, who has he selected to preside over the affairs of that State? Lieuteuant-General Philip Sheridan, sent by him to New Orleans secretly, not by public order known to the people. He is sent down to dragoon thex)eople of Louisiana into slavish, fear- ful, cringing, un-x\.mericau obedience to his will and pleasure. Ho arrives tbere only three days before the assembling of the Legislature. He sees none of those who have the welfare of the community at heart. From Kellogg and his adherents, the men who have brought this trouble and sorrow upon the State by their own corrupt and selfish ambition, he takes his account. They inform him, they inspire him, and from the recesses of his pocket he suddenly produces the authority and "assumes the command of that military district," over winch there was already a competent commander regularly and piiblicly assigned. Instantly, without other public order, that commander is sui>erseded, other officers both higher and lower in rank than General Sheiidan are passed by, and he is personally selected to undertake the task of unlaw- ful interference with the free government of a sovereign State of this Union. Now, it is not my purpose in any degree to detract from whatever of renown may have rested upon the brow of this ofticer. I would be incompetent to criticise his military career, and that is all I be- lieve that he has. It is a career of force, a career of vigor, a career of rough war, of which I know but little, and therefore am incompe- tent to criticise him as to that resiK'ct. But, sii", I also know that he is an officer of the Army of the Ilnited States, that he is fed and clothed by the people of the United States, and that he is the serv- ant of those peoi)le, and not in any just sense their master; that he received the military education that has enabled him to bi'come so eminent at Iho national academy and iit public cost. TIk^ Constitu- tion of the United States is still a text-book of that institution. It was a text-book when this officer received his graduation; and yet it seems to me that while he nmst have read it, while he must have known that his connnissiou as an Army officer took its roots in the principles of civil liberty Avhich that Constitution was intened to se- cure, yet he has forgotten almost its first and most necessary instruc- tions. Sir, has he not forgotten that, "a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, tlie right of the ]ieoplo to keep and bear arms shall not Iw. infringedf " Has he not forgotten that '"the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, liapers, and efTects against unreasonable searches and seizuics shall not be violated?" That "no person shall bo held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous ci'iine unless on a presentment or in- ;iv>s iinimuity tn all who choose to indulge in eitlier ; and the civil goveriinient appears imweilcss fd punish, or even arrest. I have to-night assumed control over the Deiiartment of the Gulf. P. H. SHERIDAX, Jjieutcnant-General. " Assumed control over the Department of the Gulf ! " H(U-e is then from the hand of tliis mere soldier, military in instinct and in education, and ignorant of civil right or law, the cool complacence of ignorance, that he could do that of which even the great mind of the most philosophic statesman and lawyer of modern times de- clared himself incapable. Burke declared he could not draw an indictment against a whole jieople ; but it seems that — Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Mr. Sheridan can indict par entire community and declare this wholesale destruction of their moral character npon three nights' acquaintance in one city of a large State. Mr. President, there have been replies to this, made npon the instant these telegrams were published. At a meeting of the Merchants' Exchange, largely attended, the following series of resolutions were unanimously adopted : Be it resolved. That we condemn as a po.sitive untruth and as a libel upon tho community the statement of General Sheridan, contained in the above ; that we deny herewith that tin- s])ivit (d' detiauc e against lawful authority exists and that the lives of citizens have lM-c(im<'.iei>]iardi/,('d thereby. Resolved, That we emi>haticallv coudrmn, as law-abiding citizens, and do most solemnly and earnestly ]:viiti'.st against ihe niilitaiy interlercucc with and the dis- organization of the Legislature of Louisiana, which was duly elected by ourselves and the citizens of the State. 12 The board of underwriters met aud passed similar I'esoliitions, de- nouncing as utterly untrue and unwarranted these assertions of the Lieutenant-General. The Cotton Exchange, on the same day, had a full meeting, and adopted the following unanimously: Whereas General P. H. Sheridan, commanding the Military Division of Mis-, soiiri, has seen fit to address to the liouoiahle Secretary of War a letter, dated Jan - nary 4, and puldishcd in our jiapiis of tliis date, in wliioh lie lias ^iveu utterance to statements rrllcctiiin uikhi tlie in-ojile of this State, aii. Secretary of War, in which he re]iiesciits the peojile of Louisiana at large as breathing vengeance to all lawful authority and apiiroving of murders andcriines: We, the undersigned, believe it our duty to proclaim to the whole American people that till se cliai'gts are unmerited, itnfouuded, and erroneous, and can have no other ethct tlian that of serviugtlie interests of corrupt ])oliticiaus, who are at this moment making the most extreme eft'orts to perpetuate their power over the State of Louisiana. K". J. DEECHE, Archbishop of Neiv Orleans. J. P. B. WILMEK, Bishop of Louisiana. JAMES K. GUTHERIM, Pastor Temple of Sinai. J. C. KEENER, Bishop M. E. Church South. C. DOLL, Ecctor St. Josci^h'n Church. (And many others.) Then again in to-day's paper there is a protest from other divines, the Bishop of Little Kock and others. In another dispatch of Gen- eral Sheridan, which I have not yet read, he goes further and ar- raigns not only the people of New Orleans, Louisiana, but the entire communities of three States, in none of which does it appear he has been except for the period of three days at the city of New Orleans. 13 Let me now read further. On the otii of January he telegraphs the Secretary of ^Yar at Washington : HEADQUAKTEKS of the MiLITAliY Dl\nsION OF ^iflSSOURI, New Orleans, Louisiana, January 5, 1875. Hon. W. W. Bei.kxap, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. : I think the terrorism now existina: in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas could he entirely removed and confidence and fair dealmg e.stahlishi'd l>y the ancst and trial of tie ringleaders of the armed White Leagues. If Coiignss would pa.ss a hill declaring them banditti, they could be tried by a military eoiniiiis.sion. This banditti, who murdered men here on the 14th of last Septenil>er, also iiiorc recently at Vicksburgh, iMississipjii, should, in justice to law and order autl tlif iieace and prosperity of this southern part of tlie country, be punished. It is pdssilile that if the President would issue a proclamation declaring them banditti, no further action need be taken except that which would devolve upon me. P. H. SnERLDAN, Lieufenant-General United States Army. Ah, Mr. President, if there was the tone that under other adminis- trations animated the Exeeutivc of this country, he would never sign his name again as Lieutenant-General of the United States Army. Is this the language of an American oflicer toward his fellow-coun- trymen ? Why, sir, if he were in a hostile country among the sick and wretched Piegan Indians, had he been in the service of Mexico, there could not have been a more ruthless, a darker, or more bloody threat than is contained iu the closing lines of this dispatch to the Secretary of War. This is language relatiug to the citizens of three States of this IJuion. Is it the'langnage that is due from an officer of the Army of the United States, wearing that honorable uniform, the protector, the guard, the glory of his people, without destiuction of party ; or is it not the language of some captain of a band of janizaries, asking orders from an oriental despot iu regard to his ruthless extermination of those whom he may deem the foes of power ? This man, educated with one of his text-books the Constitution of Iiis country, asks that Congress shall pass an ex jwst facto law, making that a crime which wasnot a crime at the time of the commission of the alleged ofteu.se, and creating new punishments to make the penalty still more severe. He asks for military commissious, in these times of peace, to try men neither iu the land iior naval service of the United States. He asks for drum-head court-martials to try citizeus over whom there is no pretense that the authority of the Army or of the 'Navj is extended. What is the dark and bloody threat at the clo.se of his dispatch, for Senators ? What did he mean when he asked the President to issue a proclamation declaring these citizens banditti, and that then no further action need be taken excejjt that which wonld devolve iqwn him? I confess to you as I read this dispatch my blood curdled in my veins. If it had been sent in the midst of strife by a man heated by the excitement of combat, there might have been palliation for it, because a cooling time would have come when his better reason would oiierate, when "Philip sober" would have answered this "Philip drunk." But this dispatch was penned in safety ; it was penned in quiet ; it was penned where there was nothing that threatened him, and without anything to cause him excitement except the appre- hended loss of political power to the chief whom he was sent there to represent. What character does this officer .seek to assume ? There was Tristan I'Hermite, the provost-marshal of the royal household, whom tho genius of Scott has painted until he is familiar in every household. It seems to me that this ofticer has modeled himself much upon the morals and conduct of this hauginau of royalty of days gone hj. 14 Sir, I say that in a proper condition of sentiment with those iu power he would not have been suftered to remain for live minutes in command at New Orleans. He has no one quality that tits him prop- erly for the duties of command there now. His hrst requisite should be good-will and kindness to the people, strict impartiality ; no threats of force, careful obedience to civil rule. This was the ex- ample he should have set as a high official, lionored by his country, iiud invested with high discretionary powers ; and, as this example does not seem to originate with him, I want it now taught him, and taught so that not alone he will not forget, but that every other offi- cer of the Army and Navy of the United States will h^arn and know that it is in the att'ections, in the respect of their fellow-countrymen, and not in their fears, that they are to lind their place of honor and of safety. Sir, I said he has cruelly maligned these populations among whom he has gone, and I have allowed th6m in their own way to answer him, not beginning to recite the numerous protests that have fol- lowed his false and calumnious charges against them. Sir, it is per- fectly shocking, and I think a civilized Avorld everywhere must be deeply shocked when such dispatches are read. We have talked about the Kussian rule in Poland and have held it uj) as an abhor- rent example of cruelty ; but what dispatch ever sent to a Russian Czar exceeded in remorseless savagery the closing lines of the dis- patch of General Sheridan on the 5th of January to Belknap, Secre- tary of War ? I wish it ended there, I wish it ended with him ; but alas! alas! here we find on the 7tli of January the Secretary of War answering in the following phrase : Tour telegrams all received. The President and all of lis liave full coufideuce and thorouglily approve your course. I know not how fitly to designate sucli a communication, except to say that every expression of disgust, of horror, of antagonism that I have expressed toward the action of General Sheridan in his dis- patches is rather increased toward those who could pen or concur in such an answer as that. The American people must answer it. They must answer it from their hearts, and I believe there is after all in the human heart such a response to kindness, such a natural love of justice, that they will repudiate Mr. Belknap " and all of us " to whom he so loosely and generally refers, should they undertake to indorse the action of General Sheridan in New Orleans and his dis- patches to the Department of War. Mr. President, in 1860 the Supreme Court of the United States found it necessary to pass upon the questions now raised by General Sheridan and iiroposed to be applied, not one year after the close of an excited, a dreadful, and extensive civil war, but ten long years after the war has gone by, and the hearts and hands of the American people have come once more together — are proposed to be applied bj'- him not even as. a law, but under the simple, arbitrary fiat of the President of the United States. Said this court in considering the case of Milligan, who had been tried, who had been condemned and all but executed by a military commission in the State of Indiana : The coiitiiillina qm-stinii m the case is this: Upon the facts stated in jSIilligau's petition and tlie <'xliiliits fih'd, liad the military conmiission nioiitioncd power m its jurisdiction legally to try and sentence liini'; oMilHuan, not a resilient of one of tlie rebillious States or a ]iiisoner of war, hut a citizi'u of Indiana for twenty years ]iast. and never in the military (u- naval service, is, while at his home, arrestejl h\ the military power of the United States, imprisoned, ami, on certain criminal diaries preferred against him, tried, convicted, and seutenced to bs banged by ji military commission organized under the direction of the military commander 15 tho military district of ludiaua. Had this tril)imal tlie legal power and author- ity to trv and" punish this man ? "Ko siaver (juestiou was ever considered by this court, nor one whicli more nearly concerns the rights of the whole people, for'it is the birthright of every American citizen when charged with crime to be tried and punished according to law. The power of ])uiuslnircnt is alone tlnouuh the means which the laws have pi'ovided for that purpose; and if thev an' iiifdrcfual, there is an rmmnnity from punishment, no matter how nVi'at an otieuder tin- individual may be, or how much his ciimes may have sliocl«'d tlie sense of justice iif the country or endangered its safety. By the protection of the law human rights are secured ; withdraw that protectiou, and they are at the mercy of wicked rulers or the clamor of an ix'ib d people. If there was law to justify this militaiv trial, it is not ourprovince to iut<'rtVre ; if there was not, it is our dnty to declare the uiillity of the whole proceedings. The decision of this question does not depend ouar^ument or judicial ]irfcedeuts, numerous and highly illustrative as they are. ThesepreeeileTitsiiiForm us of the exteutof thi^ struggle to ju'eserve liberty aiid to relii've those in civil lite from military trials. The fouiiders of ourgovernnient were familiar with the history of tliat struggle, and secured in a written Constitutiou every right which the i>eople had wiest«-d from ]>ower dur- inga contest of ai;es. By tliat Con.stitutiouaud tlie laws authorized by it thisques- tion nuist be determined. The provisions of tliat instrument on the admini.stra- tionof criminal justice are too plain and diri-ct to leave room for misconstruction or doubt of their true meaning. Those aiiiilicable to this case are found in that clause of the original Constitution whicli says " that the trial of all crimes, ex- cept in case of impeachment, shall be liy jury : " and in the fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of the ameiulments. The fourth proclaims the right to be secure in per- son and etfects against unreasoiKible search and seizure, and directs that a judi- cial warrant shall not i.ssue " withorit proof of probable cause, supjiorted by oath or allirmation.'' The fifth declares " that no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on presentnunit by a grandjury, except in cases arisiiei in the land or naval forces or in the militia when in actual service in time of warmer imblie danger, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or propi.-rty with- oitt due process of law." The court proceed to recite the aitieiidmeuts, which I have read iu full before, to secure the personal liberty of the citizen : These securities for personal lil>erty thus embodied were such as wisdom and expe- rience have demonstrated to be necessary for the protection of those accused of crime. And so strong was the sense of the cmntry of their importance, ami so jeal- ous were the people that tliese rights, Inglily ])rized, might be denied them byimi)li- cation, that when the original Constitution was jn-oposed for adoption it encountered severe opposition ; and but for the belief that it would be so amended as to embrace them, it would never have been ratified. Time has proven the tliscernment of our ancestors ; for even these provisions, ex- pressed iu such plain English words that it would seem the ingenuity of man could not evade them, are no wj' after the lapse of more than seventy years, sought to be avoided. Those great and good men foresaw that troublous times would arise, when rulers and people would become restive under restraint, and seek by sharp and decisive measures to accomplish ends deemed just and proper, ami that the principles of constitutional liberty would be in peril, unless established by irrepeal- able law. The history of the world had taught them that what was done iu the past might be attempted iu the future. K'o doctrine involving more pernicious cotisequences was ever invented by the -svit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the gTeat exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despot- ism ; but the theory of neces.sity on which it is based is false ; for the Government, within the Constitution, has all the powers granted to it which are necessary to preserve its existence, as has been happily jiroved by the result of the great efiort to throw otf its just authority. Ou the follovring jjago — It is claimed that martial law covers with its broad mantle the proceedings of this military commission. That is what this officer desires the President of the United States to proclaim, thinking that a proclamation by the President will be a carte blanclw to him to steep his hands in the blood of his fellow-citi- zens in that city. It is claimed that martial law covers with its broad mantle the proceedings of this military conunission. The proposition is this : That in a time of war the com- mander of an armed force, (if in his opinion the exigencies of the country demand IG it, and of -wliicli he is to jud"-e,) has the powiT, -within the lines of his military dis- trict, to suspend all civil rights and their remedies, and subject citizens as well as soldiers to the rule of his will ; and in the exercise of his lawful authority cannot be restrained, except by his superior officer or the President of the United States. If this position is sound to the extent claimed, then, when war exists, foreign or domestic, and the country is subdivided into military departments for mere conve- nience, the commander of one of them can, if he chooses, within his limits, on the plea of necessity, with the approval of the Executive, substitute military force for and to the exclusion of the laws, and punish all persons as he thinks right and proper, without fixed or certain rules. The statement of this proposition shows its importance ; for, if true, republican government is a failure, and there is an end of liberty regulated by law. (4 ■Wal- lace's Reports.) I will not apoloojize for the length of the extract I have read,- becaiise these truths are of cardinal importance at this crisis of aifairs, and, being gravely enunciated by this liigh tribunal, should have influence upon every man withiu this Chamber, as well as every citizen in the United States. It was my duty three years ago, as a member of a committee of this body, to investigate the condition of affairs in the State of North Carolina, to spend with my associates two or three months in taking testimony, and then we submitted rej)orts upon it. Unable to con- cur in the report of the majority, the minority, consisting of myself and one of the most gallant soldiers of the late war, (Senator F. P. Blair, of Missouri,) presented their views. At the time this minority report was made Ave closed, it with a quotation from an eminent statesman, to which exception was taken under a misunderstanding by my friend from Pennsylvania, [Mr. ScOTT,] and I remember his reading it as though under an idea that it was meant to be descrip- tive of himself in any degree. The proposition was abstract and most true, in regard to the effect upon men's character and nature of con- tinued acts of violence and oppression. I read this extract from our former report, becau.se its truth has been vindicated by what has since occurred, and is vindicated still more to-day by the example which this correspondence of a lieutenant-general of the Army and the War Department has afforded to us and to the American people. "We there stated in regard to the case of North Carolina — This is the truth in a nutshell ; that Holden and his official supporters have failed to maintain themselves by any means, foul as well as fair, in their State. They have appealed to popular election, and have been rejected with something near nnanimity by every tax-|)ayer in the State ; and 7iow Congress is asked to step in and force North Carolina down again under the feet of Iut radical masters ; and we fear that Congress will attem])t to do tliis unwise and wicked thing. Will the people of the North (free as ytt) see this thing done and sustain its promoters ? We hope not; we pray not. When will the men now in power learn the truth of what the gTeat statesman of tlic last century said so wisely and well, when similar attempts were made to govern Biitish India? "It is the nature of tyranny and rapacity never to learn moderation from the ill success of first oppressions. On tlie contrary, all men thinking highly of the methods dictated by their nature attribute the frustration of their desires to the want of sutlieient rigor. Then they rcdoul)lf the efforts of tlieir impotent cruelty, which prddncing, as they mu.st produce, new disai)p(iitituients, they grow irritated against the objects of their rapacity ; and their iai;e. fury, and malice (implacable because unprovoked) recruiting and re-enforcing tlieir avarice, their vices are no longer human. From cruel men they are traustoi iu<>d into savage beasts, with no other vestiges of reason left hut what serves to furnish the inventions and leflue- ments of fei-ocions subtlety for i)ui-j)oses of which beasts are incapable and at which fiends would blush."' Sir, is it not true that the legislation of Congress was cruel and severe ; and in what did it result, and what have we to-day in Louisi- ana? The Senator from Indiana [Mr. ^Morton] to-day has rather improved upon his well-know)i powers of denunciation in regard to those communities. There is even more often repeated the savage 17 and relentless epitbets of murder, and of blood, and of assassins with which he Bas sought to stain the names of those people. He has progressed and intensified it ; and no such ruthless instrument has apparently yet responded as he who has responded last. General Sheridan is more cruel tlian those who have preceded him ; ho is more ruthless, and he holds out to his fellow-countrymen murderous threats which are disgraceful to the cloth he wears and to the country of which he is a citizen. Mr. President, I desire to say to the i)eoplo of this country and to the Senate that the proposition is now here presented for the first time that the President of the United States can, of his own motion and in his own discretion, adjudge the fact that such " domestic vio- lence" at any time exists within a State as to authorize him, either by his powers as President or by power delegated to him by the gov- ernor of that State, to interfere in the organization of a State Legis- lature. This is the proposition. The power is as secure under the constitution of the State to the Legislature to judge of the qualifi- cations, returns, and election of its own members as it is to either House of the Congress of the United States. One is as equally essen- tial to the continiiance of our form of government as the other. The Leg- islature of Louisiana have as nmch rightful power to pass upon the qualifications of members of this body or of the other House of Con- gress as have both these Houses of Congress to pass upon the qualifi- cations of members of that Legislature. The same frame of words is used to secure the separate rights and powers of each. If one cannot protect itself by the respect due to established law, neither can the other. If lawless physical force shall be ijexraitted to overthrow the rights of one, it can also overthrow the other. In either case it is a question of degree alone. I do not embark iipon any sea of defense of the southern people against these widespread vague calumnies. I only wish to bring the American people to consider this point : If you admit such a power as this to be exercised in the discretion of the President, then X^ursue it plainly to its ultimate and logical results. It is Louisiana to-day; it may be New York to-morrow; it may be Massachusetts the day following ; it may be in the Congress of the United States on the 4th day of March next. Why did General Grant send his troops and exercise their lawless power within the Legislature of Louisiana by compelling members as old, as grave, as learned, as respectable as him who occupies the chair of the Senate to-day to leave their x^laces? Pretense of " domestic violence " by five elderly and respectable gentlemen, unarmed, in the midst of Kellogg's myr- midons and a brigade of United States troops! It is a farce to say that those five men were creating " domestic violence " which author- ized armed intervention by the President. Did the constitution of Louisiana give Kellogg a right to interfere in the organization of the Legislature ? Just such as it gave to President Grant, and no more. Either was a lawless intruder, and nothing but the helplessness of the Legislature prevented them fi-om lawfully imprisoning every officer and soldier Avho interfered with their proceedings. It was not the absence of right, but the feheer want of iihysical power to enforce it. Mr. President, if the President can do this with two regiments of troops, then a single brigade will suflice to accomplish the same thing in this Capitol on the 4th of next March. There is no physi- cal ijower in Congress successfully to resist such physical force. There are some seventy-four members in this body, and less than three hundred members of the other house. The same proportion of 2 B 18 troops would be required, aud a single brigade can take charge of this Capitol, shut off the entrance of the people, let in those Avhom they see fit, aud give certificates to the Clerk of the present House of Kepresentatives, Avho shall exchide all others. All that can be done, provided the physical power of the Congress of the United States is all that stands in the way. But, Mr. President, that is not all that stands in the way. The American people stand in the way, and so they should, and so I believe they will overwhelmingly, when they come to comprehend this case of Louisiana, freed from the clamor of partisans, stand in the way of this outrage upon the rights of a single State, in which you liave but to change the name and you can apply the doctrine to everj' one of the remaining thirty-six. We have had the question here before now as to whether, even when we come to pass upon election returns aud qualifications of members of this body, we can imdertake to determine the qualifica- tions of the constituent bodies which elected them. It has always been denied; and yet here we have decided, even where the Constitu- tion gives to each House of Congress the right to examine into those retm-ns, that you must pause upon the threshold of a State Legisla- ture and not venture to pursue your inquiry as to the election and qualifications of its members. The violation of principles, in my opinion, will always return to plague those who invented it ; aiid'I here to-day in my place most solemnly wain my countrymen against permitting such a precedent as this to escape without instant and most emphatic condemn.ation of the act, and of all who have been concerned in its perpetration. The Supreme Court of the United States in 1870 delivered an opinion which led them to consider the relation of the States and the General Government, with a single dissent, and that a partial one, being rather to the application than to the doctrine eiiunciated. It will not fall with less weight upon the ear of the American people when I say that it was from the lips of the late Judge Nelson, of New York — clartim et rcnerabile nomen — that these views of the relations of State and Federal Government came. The court say: That the sovereign powers vested in the State governments by their respective constitutious remaiuod unaltered and unimpaired, except so tar as they were gi-anted to tlie (loverument of the United States. That th;/ intention of the'framers of the Co^l^^titution in this respect might not bo niisundcistood, tills rule of inter- pretation is ex))rcssly declared in the tenth article of the auicndnu nts, namely : " The l>owers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the States respectively or to the people." The Govemment of the United States, therefore, can claim no powers which are not granted to it by the Constitution, and the powers actually granted must he such a.s are exjiressly given or given by necessary implication. The General Government and (he States, altbough both exist within the .same tenitorial limits, are .separate anil distinct sovereignties, acting separatel.y and independently of each other Avithin tluir respective spheres. The former in its appropriate sphere Is supreme ; but tlu- States, \Nit bin the limits of their powers not granted, or, in the language of the tenth amendment "reserved," are as independ- ejit of tlie General Government as that Government within its sphere is independ- ent of the States. Such being the sei):i;ate and indejieiident condition of the States in our com- plex system, as recognized by till' Constitution, and the exi.stonco of which is SO indisp'ensablr, that iriHunif fhcin llie (u'ncral Cdrenitttent itseT/ tvoulcl dwajipear from the family of mttianx. it wonhl seem to follow, as a rrasonable. if not a neces- sary consequence, that the nieansand iii.strnnu-nlalitirs eni]iloyi-d for ran ying on tlie operations of their governments, for ])rese]-ving their existenee. and fnllilliug the high and responsible duties assigiuMl to them in the ('onstitution. slnvuldhe left free and unimpaired, should not be liable to !><■ eripided, nnieli livss defeated by the '■■ ' * power of another aovernmeut, which power acknowledges no limits but the will of the legi.slative body. *• * * * 19 MTthont tliis power, and the oxci'cise of it, wo risk iiotliinir in sayins t'lat no one ot tlio States under tlie form of government jjiiarantecd by tlio Constitution could long preserve its existence. A desiiotic goveiimieiit niiglit. (11 Wal- lace's Keport, 124-1:26.) So, sir, wo have hero from the calm, serene height of Judiciiil (■nii- nence such a description and history of the true rel;i(ioiis ol' the States to the General Government that we can more clearly a])i»re- ciato the utter ruin and confusion which would coiue fromadinitring the rightful attempt of such power as has been attempted by the President of the United States within the State of Louisiana. This interference at all, under the guise of "recognition," has proceeded to a most dangerous and threatening extent. In 1844, when this doc- trine was tirst broached in the case of the State of Rhode Island, the power was there adjudged to l)e vested in the political branch of the Government, and not to the judicial, to decide as to the rightfulness of two governments claiming each to represent a State. A message was sent by the then President of the United States which, it strikes me, ought to avail much with those who desire to come at a clear and proper understanding of oiu- present crisis. I resist — Said he — tlie idea that it falls witliin the esecutive competency to decide in controversies of the nature of that which existed in Rhode Island, oii which side is the majoiity of the people, or as to the extent of the rights of a mere numerical majority. For the Executive to assume such a power would be to assume a power of the most dangerous character. Under such assumptions the States of this Union would have no seciuity for peace or tranquillity, but might be converted into the mere instruments of Executive will. Aituated by sclfisli purposes, he might become the great agitator, fomenting assaults upon the State, constitutions, and declaring the majority of to-day to be the minoi'ity of to-morrow; and the minority, in its turn, the majority, before whose decrees the established order of things in the State .should be subverted. Eevolutiou, civil commotion, and Idoodshed would be the inevitable consequences. The provision in the Constitution intended for the secirrity of the States would thus be turned into the instrument of their destruc- tion. The President would become in fact the great constitution maker for the States, and all power would be vested in his hands. — House Journal, First Session Twenty-eighth Congress, pages 765, 766. This is a fair pictiu'e of what would necessarily be the result if such power is admitted to exist lawfully in the hands of the Presi- dent as he and his subordinates have attempted to exercise in Louisi- ana. Sir, it is now presented, feebly I admit, but presented I believe fairly by me to the judgment of this Senate and to the American people. They can answer now whether the (xualifications of mem- bers who are to be summoned either to a State Legislature or to a Federal Legislature — for both are governed by the same language ; the one found in the Federal Constitution, the other found in the con- stitutions of the States — shall be passed upon by the Executive. The Ijower given in Louisiana to her Legislature to judge each house of the election, return, and qualification of its members is just as sacred, just as clearly given as that which enables the members of this body or the other House of CongTess to judge of the qualilicatious of its membershi}*. If language, if clear constitutional law aiul provisions cannot have the effect to protect one, then they Avill not liave the effect to protect the other, and it seems to me to be a mere feeling of the jtopular pulse on this subject to see how far this attempt of power can be extended without resistance. If it shall be accepted, if my fellow-countrymen shall forget what constitutes liberty and the vigilance necessary to protect that which was gained by so much toil and suffering by their ancestors, and if they shall disregard it in re- 20 spoct of a portion of their fellow-coimtiymeu and oue of the members of this Union of States, then depend uj^on it they will shortly be called upon to meet it on a broader scale, protected by no other right than the nominal sacredness of law as superior to oiiicial will. I said, sir, that I was glad that this last act in Louisiana was but a barefaced exercise of brute force, unaccompanied by any veil or cover of false decision by corrupt courts. I believe that, m what I must think the utterly disingenuous statement of the President in 1872 that he meant simply to obey the orders of the coui'ts, there was the suggestion that he was acting in subordination of the military to the civil power, that he was bowing his head, backed by the Army and Navy, before the decree of some feeble but just-minded magis- trate ; and there was in that something that recommended his action to that portion of the American people who would not or who could not comprehend the real history of his action. But that poor veil is now fortuuatcdy thrown aside. All men agree that Durell's action in 1872 was fraudulent and absolutely void. He himself has resigned, hoping to esca]ie trial, thus confessing his guilt in open court ; and no man in this body, however heated by partisanship, has ventured to say that there was justification of law for the orders of Judge Durell by which a Legislatm-e in 1873 was dispossessed of its rightful power, a State-house seized and garrisoned with United States troops, a defeated mmority placed in legislative power, and the usurper, Kellogg, tossed into the governor's chair and kept there by the armed forces of the United States. But now there Is no Durell, there are no alleged " orders of a court " to bo respected, there is no pretense of bowing the power of the military before the civil law ; but it is the mailed hand of the soldier that stands to-day the sole emblem of power in the State of Louisiana, plainly, unmistakably. I do not propose to go over the tangled story of falsehood, fraud, and wrong which marked the Louisiana case from 1872 to this day ; but to-day my countrymen cannot doubt, for " he that runs may read " the history of what is to-day, and of what I fear, if it is not checked, it will be from this time on. Sir, this story of Louisiana and her wrongs is as old as the story of tlu! human heart. If men are not comfortable and are not happy, they will be turbulent and they will be discontented. And what peo- ple, I ask, ever were happy under the rule of strangers and of aliens ? It need not be that the stranger or the alien is necessarily corrupt, wicked, or Tinjust. Gi'ant even that he were not ; he is not their choice ; he is not of their kith and their kin; he has not that blood which is thicker than water, and which we all feel binds us to those among whom we were born and have lived; a feeling that causes even the quiet earth itself to seem sweeter if it is our birth-place, ;ind is implanted in our very instincts. And are human laws to be made without reference to human instincts ? Are you to eviscerate fi'om the men, women, and children you propose to govern their na- tures and those habits \vhich have become nature f And if you do, can you expect the natural effects not to follow ? You disregard their hap- pijiess. Can they consider yours? If yoti render them unhappy and insecure in regard to themselves and to their aflfairs, will tliey care to promote your happiness and your security ? But no, sir ; the rule is a plain and clear one ; and would to God this Congress for an instant would listen to the conunon dictate of humanity and respond to it. Give these people a government they can love ; let men rule over them whom they can respect ; but do not give them these shams of free 21 governmeut, and not expect the results of tyranny to flow and form it. It will not work, gentlemen. The macliincry of this coiuitry's govenimeut was not intended for a despotism, and you cannot reach its results without radically changing that machinery, and at last in Louisiana it has been openly sought to be radically changed. Where the people of the Southern States have been permitted to elect their own rulers and make laws which produce content, peace and quiet have followed, and this you all know, because there is not a man in this body or out of it who cannot Avith jJcrfect safety and welcome go to any part of the Southern States, if he only goes there as a friend and well-wisher of the iieople ; and if he be not, why should he go there? No, sir ; turbulence and uuhappiness are insep- arable companions in human breasts, and peace and pleasantness are associated and have been for all time. Give these people content, treat them with justice, and you shall have the fruit of such treat- ment, peace and good order and strength and happiness for our en- tire country. Disregard these ]>lain results, and the fruits will be borne that have been borne so plentifully, and which now are sought to be stopped only by a pei'petuatiou and intensification of the very methods that have produced them. Mr. President, I have not forgotten that this is the anniversary of a day of glory to the American arms, and the illustration of that glory and valor was in this same city of New Orleans. Wo all were proud of it ; not in Louisiana more than Delaware — it was generally celebrated in every State ; and to-day patriotic associations are meet- ing to keep alive the memories of the glory of oiu" common country. Mr. President, shall the glory of 1815 be altogether clouded and dimmed by the shame of 1875 ? Shall it be that those brave men who, against greatly disproportionate odds, defended the city of New Orleans against superior nnmbers of aforeign foe — shall those men have fought in vain ? Shall the glory of New Orleans and the fact that she was the scene of honor to American arms Ije now clouded by T)eing the scene of disgrace to the American arms ? Sir, I trust not. I hope not. Ambition, misjudgment, and ignorance of civil rule, high partisan feeling, all may have combined lo carry the executive branch of this Government and his soldiers thixs far ; but I believe that when his ac- tion is understood the American people will give him a command wliich he shall hear and obey, and' that he shall be forced to recede from the position he has taken, and to take his armed hand from the throat of that prostrate people, and let her people once more know, in the language of the bill of rights of the State of Massachusetts, that they live under " a government of laws and not of men." 3 B Lr^ S '12 ^