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LETTER FROM MAJOR GEN. N: P. BANKS. 
 
 Hon. JAMES H. LANE, Senator of Kansas : 
 
 Sir — The earnest and generous supporc that you voluntarily and unexpectedly 
 rendered the representatives of Louisiana in the National Convention at Baltimore, 
 gave to her loyal people unalloyed satisfaction. Whenever opportunity offers it will 
 be acknowledged by them with gratitude. 
 
 I recall, with pleasure, our personal and political association as members of the 33d 
 Congre.<'S, when we sustained, at the opening of the revolution, as now, at its close, the 
 same general principles of public policy. 
 
 You have passed the fiery ordeal involved in the organization of civil government 
 amid the contests of civil war, and in the presence of revolution, and know the perils 
 as well as the difficulties of this duty. Such considerations lead me to ask your attention 
 to some thoughts connected with public matters in this State affecting its relations 
 with the Government and people. My oflBcial connection with the military and civils 
 affairs of the State, for nearly two years^ will, I trust, be a sufficient apology for this 
 course. 
 
 Let me assure you that your faith in the people, without which public service is 
 impotent for good, has not been, in this instance, misplaced. The loyal people of 
 Louisiana merit, in an eminent degree, the generous confidence and support of the 
 Government and people of the United States. 
 
 Until recently I have not had an opportunity to examine the bill'passed at the 
 late session of Congress, providing for the reconstruction of Government in rebel 
 States. 
 
 The proclamation of the President, and the protest of the Hon. Messrs. Wade and 
 Davis relating to this measure, attracted general attention here. It was not generally 
 understood how far, or in what respect the course of public events in Louisiana was in 
 conflict with the plan proposed by Congress 
 
 It was perfectly apparent from the character of the protest, that its authors but 
 imperfectly understood the condition of things, and that their informant, whoever he 
 may have been, or from whatever source he may have received his information, had 
 misled them. What influence this may have had upon the President or the people it is 
 not in my power, nor within my province to determine. But whatever impression has 
 been made will be eradicated, I am certain, by a knowledge of the facts. 
 
 The traditions of Congress, as well as my personal connection with its history, 
 lead me to regard with the highest respect its opinions, and to render to its legislation 
 the most unreserved and loyal obedience and support. I am sure that the people here 
 entertain the same patriotic sentiment. Nothing further from their purpose or desire 
 

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 can be iuiH^^incd than the idea that they would encourage or avail themselves of a 
 temporary diflforenco of opinion between the Executive and Legislative branches of the 
 Government, to foster their interests or establish their power. In this feeling, which I 
 know to be honest and general, I concur to the fullest extent. 
 
 ■ No attention was given to the provisions of the bill for reconstruction of 
 government in seceding States, and but little interest was manifested in legislation on 
 that subject, because it was known that no law would be enacted by any Congress not wed- 
 ded to the principles of secession, or not inflexibly opposed to the return of erring States 
 to the Union, to which Louisiana could not and would not instantly and gladly assent. 
 
 The proclamation of the President and the jirotest of the honorable chairmen of 
 the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives respectively on that subject, 
 were received and read with astonishment. 
 
 It was supposed, from the intensity of the discussion and the asperity of the .illusions 
 to the State of Louisiana, that some now and important views, deemed by Congress 
 indispensable to the reconstruction ol the Union, bad been intentionally disregarded. 
 
 You will imagine my surprise when I found, upon an attentive perusal of the bill, 
 that here, at least, every material provision had been anticipated, every substantial 
 guarantee had been recognized and established If the measure had been an approving 
 and critical review of constitutional proceedings here, it would require no material 
 change in legislation on the one hand, or of the constitutional reconstruction on the 
 other, to harmonize the proposition with the result. I fell assured that the doubts of 
 the President, the members of Congress and the people, will be in a great degree 
 removed by a correct report of the actual situation. 
 
 There are many subjects embodied in the protest, to which I need not refer, interest- 
 ing to the people of Louisiana as well as to other citizens of the United States 
 
 The right i^f the President to withhold his approval of measures initiated by 
 Congress, needs no assertion. It has been too often exercised and too strongly and 
 boldly vindicated by the Executive and the people to make it necessary to volunteer a 
 word in its defence And yet it is a subject that cannot be too much or too carefully 
 considered, because it involves the perfection of our (i()vernment in theory, and its 
 success in practice. The Government carefully represents in its diflferent branches all 
 the material elements of public power 
 
 The House represents local pojnilnr opinion, modified or controlled by local pre- 
 judices, passions, interests. The sudden neighborhood pulsations, whether excited by 
 social, moral or political ideas, affect the representative tone, through the frequency of 
 elections, in proportion to their intensity or extent The Senate represents public 
 opinion through the agency of States. The president is the solo direct representative 
 of the whole people An intermediate constitutional barrier, intended probably to 
 separate somewhat the President from the people, in the form of electors, has been 
 abandoned, except in form, by universal consent The honest sentiment of the vicin- 
 age deemed so important by Saxon legislators, of corporate or aristocratic interests, and 
 of pure, undefiled democracy, are thus fully represented. The union of these diverse 
 political elements give peace, prosperity and power to the American people. The dissent 
 of one defers, but does not defeat any measure. We sometimes have too much legisla- 
 tion, rarely too little. We lose nothing by delay where ultimate harmony is possible. 
 "Le mondc il est pour la phUgmatique," in a maxim of wisdom fhe universe is the 
 patrimonj' of patient men. 
 
 Neither do I see substantial cause of alarm in the suggestion of the President, that 
 ho will follow, in part, the opinions of Congress, expressed in a measure which, failing 
 to receive his approval, does not become a law. The President has civil and military 
 functions. He is invested with constitutional powers, pertinent to the conditions of 
 
 fc. A \ 
 
 
peace and war. No declaration of war can bo made without consent of Congress, but 
 once waged by its order, it cannot restrict the powers of the President as commander- 
 in-chief. 
 
 The recognition of any of these powers in a bill of ^iidsi civil nature, does not 
 confer them, nor if it fails, does it defeat them. In one case he exercises a recognized 
 power ; in the other, it is a reversion consequent upon the military situation. The 
 initiation of measures has been regarded as an affair of insignificant import throughout 
 our constitutional history, where the concurrent right of assent or dissent to the le- 
 gislation which give them constitutional and permanent validity, is unimpaired. No 
 material power is conferred upon the President by the bill which he does not derive 
 from the nature of his office and the necessities of the country. Why, then, charge 
 him "with grave executive usurpation" in the contemplated exercise of power which 
 was recognized but not conferred by the measure in question. 
 
 It is a matter of grateful reflection to us, however, that the discussion has no 
 relation to the affairs of Louisiana. Whether the legislation of Congress or the 
 instructions of the President as commander-in chief, or both together, are to be law, is 
 immaterial to her. She has answered the substantial requisitions of either and both. 
 She has done much more than has been demanded, and nothing material has been 
 omitted. Her standard has been higher and purer than that of Congress or the Executive, 
 because she alone has been conscious of the extent of her capacity, which is the measure 
 of her action, but not of her loyal and patriotic aspirations. Mark how completely her 
 action corresponds to the requisitions of Congress ! 
 
 The ophite male citizens as described in the bill, were enrolled for military service 
 
 to the number of- thousand in the most populous parishes, preparatory to 
 
 draft in 1863. Measures have been taken to renew and complete the enrollment in all 
 parishes. 
 
 Every person enrolled who has taken the oath, has been invited to participate in 
 the election of delegates to a ("onstitutional Convention. 
 
 Nine thousand nine hundred and fourteen loyal voters have been registered under 
 the iron-clad oath in the Parish of Orleans alone, and there are from 15,000 to 18,000 
 voters registered in the State as subscribers to the same oath on the parish poll books. 
 
 Delegates to the Convention were apportioned to "the white male population," 
 not of enrolled electors merely, but of the whole State ; and the number fixed as pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution and laws ol the State, "applicable to legislative assemblies." 
 
 Thirty daj»^ notice was given of elections. 
 
 Commissioners of ('Jleclion have been appointed "according to the laws and usage 
 of the State." 
 
 The delegates were chosen by "white male citizens of the United States," 21 years 
 of age, who had "'the qualifications required by law." 
 
 Soldiers who had enlisted in the army from this State were permitted to vote at 
 the polls opened at their respective commands by regularly appointed commissioners 
 of election, not by ofticeis, where it was impossible for them to vote in established le^al 
 precincts. 
 
 So far as it is known, no person who has held ofiiee under the Confederate 
 Government, or who has borne arms against the United States, has participated in 
 these elections. 
 
 The'oy.lh of allegiance prescribed by the act of Congress of 1862, or the "iron 
 clad" oath of the President's proclamation of December 8, 186.S, have been administered 
 to every voter. In most cases both have been administered. 
 
 The poll books at all elective precincts, have been or will be deposited with the 
 Provisional Governor of the State. 
 
The Constitution declares tlic abolition of slavery, prohibits involuntary 
 servitude except for crime, and interdicts forever the recognition of property in man. 
 It makes all men equal before the law. It declares that no liability, either State, 
 parochial or municipal shall exist for 'any debt contracted for on the interest of the 
 rebels against the Government of the United States. 
 
 The only provision of the bill not embodied in the Constitution is that which 
 denies the elective franchise to men who have borne arms against the United States. 
 The Convention would have readily adopted this provision ; but, although the State 
 under the Constitution establishes the conditions of suffrage even for members of 
 Congress, it was impracticable for Louisiana to overthrow the policy of the General 
 Government in this respect. The principal officer of the Treasury in New Orleans 
 held a commission in the rebel army, and the quartermaster ana the chiefs of other 
 departmen's have been ordered to employ in public service deserters from the enemy, 
 A State cannot well deny the right of suffrage to high and permanent civil officers of 
 the Government. The general policy on this subject ought to be established by the 
 Government, without regard to the action of separate States. It is a question incident 
 to peace and war. 
 
 Thus all the substantive, material conditions of the bill passed by the two Houses 
 of Congress have been anticipated and answered in the elections held in Louisiana. 
 So far as the people are concerned nothing has been omitted, required by Congress, 
 material to the purity of elections, the loyalty of the people, or the dignity of the Gov 
 ernment they have organized. In many respects, the results of the popular action have 
 been of a higher character, and have given guaranties of security far beyond those 
 required by Congress. As, for instance, the Provisional Governor authorized by the 
 bill to be appointed by the President, has not only been designated and commissioned 
 by him, but has also received the formal approval of the people expressed at a regular 
 election by a large majority of loyal voters 
 
 There are other considerations not appertaining to the government of the State, 
 but relative to the Government of the United States not unworthy consideration, and 
 which may or may not be applied to Louisiana when she asks recognition as one of 
 the States of the Union. 
 
 The bill provides that upon the adoption of a Constitution, it shall bo transmitted 
 to the President of the United States, and after it has received the assent of Congress, 
 an election of Representatives and Senators may be ordered. This is a question of 
 time, not of principle, and is, therefore, immaterial, except as a form of proceeding. But 
 the doctrine asserted, is one of vital consequence to the people and Government. 
 
 The creation or admission of a State requires : 1st, the consent of the people of 
 the State proposed formally expressed ; 2d, that to the Executive department ; 3d, of 
 the Senate; and 4th, of the House of Representatives. No State can be created or 
 admitted to the Union without the independant consent of each one of these branches 
 of government. By the Constitution, the consent of each must be independent of the 
 action of others. Thus, to constitute a State, the people must consent to perform 
 certain duties incumbent upon citizens of the United States, and to recognize the Con- 
 stitution and laws made in pursuance thereof. The President must appoint, subject 
 to certain conditions. Federal officers to administer the laws, and enforce the rights of 
 the Central Government within that State. The Senate of the United States has the 
 right by the Constitution, independant of all other powers of the Government, to 
 decide whether it will or will not receive representatives of the State as members of 
 the Senate. The House of Representatives, by the same high authority, has the same 
 high privilege. The wisdom of the^framers of the Constitution is seen more clearly in 
 this than in any other provision which it contains. It shows n Union founded upon 
 
such general concurrence as to make it impossible that it shall be severed ; and the 
 strongest argument against secession, for the suppression of which the armies of the 
 United States are now contending, is found in the fact that the Union formed by the 
 consent of the people, the Executive and Representative departments of the Federal Gov- 
 vernment, cannot be sundered except by the separate and absolute consent of each one 
 of these parties. It is aright which the Constitution gives to each, and of which they 
 can never be deprived. Neither party can under any circumstances surrender or 
 impair the power which is conferred upon it by the Constitution. 
 
 It is true that Congress has often passed laws instructing the people of a Territory 
 as to the measures proper for the initiation of a government, but it has no power to 
 compel their acceptance. It may, by coercive measures, destroy and replace such 
 people, but it must still leave them the right of assent or dissent to such measures. 
 This is a question of great magnitude, which must be met at a day not distant. 
 
 To surrender this on the part of any one of these parties would be an act of 
 unavailing imbecile character, deserving the reprobation of Government and people. 
 Inasmuch as those powers cannot be disregarded, impaired or surrendered, it is equally 
 clear that tliey cannot be delegated : that no exterior influence or power can be 
 acknowledged which assumes to control any one of these separaie and independent 
 branches of the (Jovernment in the exercise of the functions conferred upon it by the 
 Constitution. Any act of Congress, therefore, which undertakes to declare in what 
 manner the people of a State shall apply ; in what form, or whether or not the President 
 shall receive and assent to the application of the State, whether the Senate shall receive 
 or reject, or the House of Representatives admit or exclude persons claiming represen- 
 tative power in the Government, is an invasion of the Constitutional rights of these 
 independent, separate powers, which can never be justified or defended 
 
 It is impossible that the views expressed by Congress should be received otherwise 
 than with the most profound respect, especially by the officers of the various Executive 
 and Judicial Departments of the Government, so far as they may be consistent with 
 the rights, opinions, interests and liberties of the people or the constitutional powers 
 of the Government. Wherever they are known they will be recognized and obeyed as 
 law. The people often bow to that which is not law because it ought to be law. This 
 is Divine Wisdom. The very existences of our Government depends upon the 
 recognition of the paramount respect due to the recommendations of the different 
 departments of the Government. But to assert that Congress has the power, with or 
 without the consent of the President, to pass an act which shall strip these co-ordinate 
 branches of the independent powers conferred upon them by the Constitution, and 
 which would be fatal to the independence or the perpetuity of the Government itself, is 
 an error so glaring, and so pregnant with permanent public injury that it is impossible 
 to believe it would receive the countenance or support of any considerable portion of 
 the people. 
 
 This must be the case even where a ( ongress passes an act with a view to the 
 momentary limitation of its own powers simply. How much greater force must it have — 
 how much more ponderous the objection — when it is incident and applied to an act of 
 Congress, intended to restrict and limit the irrepealable constitutional power of its 
 successors, or the co-ordinate branches of the Government. Nothing is more true, 
 nothing connected with the interests of the Government more important than that 
 Congress in the creation or admission of States cannot bind its successors. It can 
 neither surrender nor assume powers. The very instant that the Senate or the House 
 concurs in a measure of limitation, restriction or surrender, the successor of each 
 member will not only be entirely free to disregard the obligation imposed by the 
 statute, but the very members voting for it, will be at liberty instantaneously to dis- 
 
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 regard its provisions, or assort the opposite of its doctrinos. Anj' legislation of this 
 character must be momentary changing. It cannot bo permanent. The concurrence 
 of the President would rot change its character. It is not in human power without 
 the organic law to give to such a measure, in a parliamentary sense, the dignity and 
 authority of ' an act." It is an opinion of high and paramount import, but not "an 
 act." If it had been invested with the forms of law by the approval of the President, 
 the instant a State applies for admission, or claimants for representative honors 
 stand at the bar of Senate or House, each body will be absolved from any obligation 
 imposed by the law and compelled by the oaths of its members to follow the Consti- 
 tution, which makes each House theexclusive and independentjudge of thequnli'^cntinu 
 of its own members. 
 
 Let the boundaries of power be preserved! The rights of persons, the peace of 
 neighborhoods, the permanency of governments — all that Saxon civilization identifies 
 with equality, justice and honor depends upon the observance of metes and bounds, 
 the religious preservation of the monuments of the progress of nations. Words of purer 
 wisdom never fell from executive lips than those contained in the declaration that the 
 President is unwilling to be "inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration." 
 That guarantees absolute and certain for the peace of the country and the liberty of all 
 its people: that indemnity for the past and security for the future should be demanded, 
 is wise and just. Such demand ought never to be waived ; but the time, the method, 
 the agents, the circumstances, that may attend the great consummation ; the localities 
 where action should be hastened and where it should he repressed, are topics which 
 may wisely be left to the peculiar atmosphere of States, the softening effects of time, 
 the necessities of the people, the potent influence of the recreated Union and the 
 beneficent and healing power of the providence of God. It is the supererogation of 
 wisdom to confound the material with the immaterial — to stake the success of that 
 which is vital and necessary upon the chances attending that which is unreal and 
 transitory. 
 
 POPULATION AND VOTEH.S. 
 
 The statement made that Louisiana does not control half the population or half 
 the territory of the State, is very far from the truth. That a large portion of the State 
 is not occupied by the Government is correct; but it is equally true that a large portion 
 is occupied by nobody else. A material part of the territory is to this day unoccupied 
 either by the Union or rebel forces. But it is unjust to say that, with the exception 
 ofasmall and distant portion of the State, it is beyond the control of the Government. 
 Occupation and control are essentially different things. Occupation is the work of the 
 people ; control is the work of the army. 
 
 If it be an assertion, intended for history as well as legislation, that the loyal people 
 of Louisiana are incapable of maintaining their authority throughoui the State or 
 against the forces of the enemy, secret or public, within her lines, it should be met l>y 
 stern and unqualified denial. 
 
 Nearly ten thousand white troops and fifteen thoi snnd colored soldiers have been 
 enlisted here in the armie.^ of the Union. Thej' aio among the best men of the service. 
 Every battle-field, from the Rio Grande to Port Hudson and Florida, has been honored 
 by th.ir valor, and hallowed by their blood. Against domestic foes Louisiana is able, 
 unaided, to vindicate her rights througnout her territory. Against the concentrated 
 armies of other States, she requires, as others do, the support of her loyal sister 
 States. 
 
 It is not territory, however, but the people, that constitute a State. It ^ould be 
 impossible to commit a greater error than to assume, as do the .authors of this address. 
 
that the "eleven parishes we substantially held," at the late elections, "had 233,185 
 inhabitants, and the residue of the State, not held by us, had 575,617." It is 
 incredible that such au assumption should be made, of that even "the gentleman 
 entitled to entire confidence," who has given so much information in relation to the 
 ailairs of Louisiana, should have supposed the population to be the same as that 
 existing at the opening of the war. Yet this extraordinary error appears in the 
 quotation cited above. The inevitable result of war is the destruction of population. 
 None that the world ever witnessed has been more prolific of blood than this in which 
 we are now engaged. Prussia lost in her seven years war ten per cent of her entire 
 population, counting the casualties of war alone. This is true of a population which 
 remained in the kingdom when it did not find bloody graves in battle. The destruction 
 of life in our armies, North and South, is already greater than that of Prussia. The 
 Southern States, in addition to the decimations of battle, have sustained equal or 
 greater losses by exile or removal. The Secretary of State for the rebel Government, 
 stated in the presence of Mr. Davis, President of the Confederacy, in reference to the 
 losses already sustained, that "they had/oin- millions of people left." 
 
 No State has suffered greater losses in population than Louisiana. From forty- 
 two to forty-five thousand able-bodied men have enlisted in the rebel army, the 
 remnant of which is in other States. As many negroes accompanied the army, or fled 
 with their owners, to surrounding States or to Europe. Death in every form has been 
 busy with her people. Of 331,726 slaves in 1860, nearly one-quarter have died or left 
 the State. The mortality of the black population in the commencement of the struggle 
 until furnished with employment and comfortable homes, was frightful. It is doubtful 
 if any people in any age over sustained such losses from such causes. Including 
 enlistments, deaths, exile and removal to other Southern States, to the North and to 
 Europe, the reduction of the white population is nearly equal to the loss among the 
 blacks. Of 808,000 whites and blacks in 1860, there are now not more than 451,000 
 within the State, two-thirds of whom are within the lines of our army. Almost the 
 entire negro population, not only of Northern Louisiana, but of the surrounding States, 
 andnumerous white families, have taken refuge here. The population of New Orleans, 
 from this cause, is larger now than ever before, while many other parishes have been 
 nearly depopulated. A gentleman twenty years a citizen of Louisiana, writes me under 
 date of the 13th instant, that of twelve hundred voters— the largest number ever voting 
 in his parish — ten full companies had been sent into the rebel army from that parish, 
 and that every other able-bodied man of the parish was either in the Union army, a 
 refugee, or resident within the Union lines. "I recently travelled through Catahoula," 
 he says, "and found it almost depopulated." This will account for the paucity of our 
 vote. "Incredible as it may appear, I doubt if au election could have been held in the 
 usual manner it could have given a larger vote." Other parishes in that part of the 
 State have suffered equal loss. The most perfidious revolt, the most causeless war of 
 human history, has thus already been followed by unparalleled retribution ! How 
 unjust to the people, how unwise in legislation, how ineffably base, in the impostor, 
 whoever he may be, to represent or assume that the population of these parishes is 
 that of 1860 ! 
 
 Is it possible, in the presence of such facts, with the terrible results of nearly four 
 years war before your eyes, that it can be asserted as a condition of the rf construction 
 of State governments, that the population of the State remain «, and must be esti- 
 mated, as before the war? Or that parishes which have been overrun six times by the 
 Union and rebel armies within a year and a half, are to be estimated upon the census 
 of 1860? What is the present population of Narthern Virginia ? Let those answer 
 
8 
 
 who have witnessed the devastation of the Rappahanuuok and Shenandoah Valleys, or 
 the mountain rcfjious of the Upper Potomac ! 
 
 Considering the drain of able-bodied men by the army, most of whom were 
 politicians, and the large number of Creoles who never claimed citiEenship, though 
 natives of the soil, it is probable that the number qualified to vote by the laws of the 
 State, all told, is not over 25,000. 
 
 Of these, from fifteen to seventeen thousand are registered loyal voters within the 
 lines of the army, all of whom have taken the iron-clad oath, many of them in addition 
 to the oath prescribed by the act of Congress ! Nino thousand nine hundred and four- 
 teen loyal voters are registered, with name and residence, in the Parish of Orleans 
 alone. 
 
 The highest vote in New Orleans, in ten years, with the gigantic frauds of which 
 there is record proof, was 9498, and the average vote in the same period numbers 
 7565. Between eleven and twelve thousand citizens voted at the election of the 22d of 
 February, and over nine thousand on the ratification of the constitution, which received 
 a maiority of 5379 votes. Probably ten thousand different men voted at this election, 
 which, except in two districts, was without contest I 
 
 The vote of the 22d of February was 11,400. The vote for Governor in the same 
 parishes now within our linos has ranged for the last ten years from fifteen to sixteen 
 thousand. In 1863 it was 15,760. In 1859 it was 16,143. In 1860, when the tocsin 
 of revolution and civil war was heard throughout the land, the aggregate vote for 
 Lincoln, Douglas, Bell and Breckinridge, was but 21,000. 
 
 These parishes have suffered in population from the war, with others ; and yet, as 
 I have said, from 15,000 to 17,000 voters are now registered, and 11,400 have been 
 polled in the organization of the State Government. Extraordinary circumstances 
 only have prevented the full number being given. 
 
 The organization of the Government has been opposed hy a powerful party in 
 the North. The General Government advised but did not assist in this work. Military 
 men as a general rule rely more upon force for success that upon administration. 
 
 High civil officers have been openly hostile. An educated loyal man in civil office 
 informed me that he was not a liberty to vote nor to attend meetings in favor of the 
 Constitution. It was reported, and by many believed, that every man who registered 
 and voted would be drafted for military service. It was said that the State would not 
 be recognized. There was no real contest at the polls to draw men out. Opponents 
 thought to discredit the Constitution by absenting themselves from the polls, and the 
 men who should have opposed the measures here, falsified the facts by misrepresenta- 
 tions to the people of the North. Several of the parishes were threatened with 
 invasion by the enemy. The last election occured in the usual month of fever, when 
 many were absent. Such causes diminished in a material degree the aggregate vote. 
 Men are proverbially timid and irresolute amid revolutions, and the organization of 
 government here called for more than ordinary courage, devotion and loyalty. But 
 the number is more than equal half the largest vote ever given in the same parishes ; 
 it is two-thirds of the ordinary vote in ten years past ; and the register numbers more 
 than three-quarters the greatest vote ever polled in the most excited elections ever 
 held. It is an intelligent and honest vote ! The more it i- investigated the brighter 
 it will appear. The Constitution created is an honor to the age in which it is given 
 to the world. 
 
 No "generals, provost marshals, or camp followers," have ever been "chief 
 actors" in any election, or "assisted by a handful of citizens," or "urged on by private 
 letters from the President," have participed in these elections I 
 
 At every election precinct, loyal citizens, sworn to perform their duties according 
 
9 
 
 to the laws of the State, have been appointed to preside at elections by eivil officers, 
 never by officers of the army. No State has so carefully guarded the law by which 
 elections are governod. 
 
 No provost marshal has been authorized to take any part in an election, except 
 where commissioners, properly appointed, have failed by accident to discharge their 
 duties. No general or other officer, has done more in any election, than to return to 
 my headquarters, for transmission to the President, the list of soldiers claiming the 
 right to vote as citizens of this State. No election has ever been held less influenced 
 by improper authority, civil or military, or less vitiated by fraud, than the elections of 
 this year in Louisiana. If the Constitution, the Senators, and Representatives, be 
 received by Congress, that august body will never know a more honest and just re- 
 presentation of the people of aloyal State ! 
 
 In connection with the fact which I affirm, that more than one half of the entire 
 voting population of the State within and beyond the lines, are registered, loyal voters 
 qualified upon the "iron-clad" oath to participate in elections, it is my duty to say that 
 the apportionment of political power in the election of delegates, and in the proceedings 
 of the Constitutional Convention, manifests a still higher and nobler regard for the 
 rights of the people. Instead of assuming as its basis the white male population of the 
 present day, deducting the losses sustained by the slaughter and exile of nearly four 
 years sanguinary war, as required by the bill recently approved by Congress, the people 
 accepted as a basis of representation the population of I8G0, numbering 708,000, instead 
 of 451,000. They assumed that every election district was invested with the right to vote? 
 was duly represented, and provided by the rules of the Convention, that every proposi- 
 tion, of whatever character, affecting the privileges of members or the rights of the 
 people, should receive a majority of all the votes that would be cast if the entire popu 
 lation of 1860 were represented in tJiat Convention. It declared that a quorum for the 
 transaction of business should be an actual majority of all the delegates from every elec- 
 tion precinct in the State, assuming that every soul and every district was represented 
 according to the population of 18C0. This rule was made when the opinions of members 
 of the Convention, on any subject, were unknown. 
 
 Two-thirds of the white population, and two-thirds of the entire voting popula- 
 tion of the State were permanently represented in the Convention. 
 
 Neither constitutional nor parliamentary history presents a parallel instance of mag- 
 iva.nimous abnegation of power or of exalted respect for minorities I 
 
 And what was the result of their labors ? 
 
 In a State which held 331,726 slaves, one-half of its entire population in 1860, 
 more than three-quarters of whom had been specially excepted from the operation of the 
 Proclamation of Emancipation, and were still held de jure in bondage, the Convention 
 declared by a majority of all the votes to which the State would have been entitled if 
 every delegate had been present from every district in the State : 
 
 /»MfantaneoM«, universal, uncompensated, vnconditional emancipation of slaves ! 
 
 It prohibited forever the recognition of property in man ! 
 
 ft decreed the education of all children, without distinction of race or color ! 
 
 It direet* all men, white or black, to be enrolled a* soldiers for the jiiihlie defence .' 
 
 ft makes all m^n equal before the law ! 
 
 It compels, by its regeneratinf/ spirit, the ultimate recognition of all the rights which 
 National authority can confer upon an oppressed rae^ ! 
 
 It wisely reeongnixes Jor the first time in constitutional history the interests of daily 
 labor a« owi element of power entitled t» the protection of the State ! 
 
10 
 
 It bat been latijied bi/ the People ! 
 
 "SycH IS THB Free Cohstitutiom ai»d Qovkbnmbnt of Lokmiana?" 
 
 It has been said that the men of the Convention were unknown, unlettered men, 
 unaccustomed to legislative for and deficient in Parliamentary'oourtesies. It is not 
 impossible. But they add other names to the record of men whose achievements were 
 more than commensurate with their opportunities. They are types of the "fiery souls 
 that make low names honorable." 
 
 It ha« supprised me over much that Mr. Davis should be aJarmed by the possible 
 influence of military officers in Louisiana. He cannot have forgotten the course of 
 events in Maryland — the arrest and imprisonment of the chief of police and of the 
 police commissioners : the substitution of an honorable army officer, Col. Kenly, in 
 place of these officers, and his appointment of five hundred policemen instead of the 
 armed and desperate men who controlled the city and State. He cannot have forgot- 
 ten the arrest and imprisonment of members of the Legislature at Baltimore, nor the 
 forcible dispersion of the two Houses, and subsequent arrest |and imprisonment of 
 disloyal officers and members of the city of Frederick, by troops sent there for that 
 purpose. He cannot shut his eyes to the effect that such events have had upon the 
 politics of the State, or the color they have given to its present opinions, or that the 
 representatives of the people now in office, in whatever capacity, owe, in an eminent 
 degree, their commissions to the pregnant influence of these events! Yet the State of 
 Maryland had not seceded. The people were undoubtedly loyal, as subsequent history 
 has proven. Members of the Legislature disavowed intention of secession. Every 
 officer in the State was the elect of the electors. On the record, at least, they did not 
 seem to be in serious danger from indictment or trial. The fidelity of the Governor 
 was heroism itself. The war does not exhibit a nobler spirit than that manifested by 
 Governor Ilieks ! And yet — with exception of the Governor — these men were .swept 
 '•with barefaced power" from the public sight ! 
 
 The part I bore in these transactions, forbids me to question their expediency. I 
 accepted the service, and I justified the act. There was never a more necessary duty 
 performed by any officer of any government. Mr. Davis was not without information 
 of some of these events. That I know. Neither did he hesitate to approve the avowed 
 principles upon which they were conducted. Why, then, should the President be con- 
 demned in Louisiana, and not in Maryland? Or is he to be condemned both in Louis- 
 iana and Maryland? Pardon me! Nothing has occurred in Louisiana that brings 
 the affairs of Maryland withjn the" range of comparison ! The President found here 
 no State officers in power. AVholesale arrests of public officers have not been made. 
 Private individuals, chiefly, felt the power of the (iovernment. The full front of his 
 officials acts, .shows only that he has offered to the whole population, upon conditions 
 .satisfactory to them and which will'answer all the demands that (he eivili/.ed world 
 can make, an opportunity to establish a government of their own, in harmony with the 
 spirit of the age, offering indemnity for the past and perfect security for the future. 
 
 The restoration oi Louisiana to the Union upon such a basis is an event not 
 .second to any that has occurred in this war. It will lift more and weightier doubts 
 Irom enlightened minds at home and .abroad than any single success in arms. The 
 chances of war are proverbial, the results of administration certain. No reasonable 
 doubt of the military superiority of the Ignited States over the rebels ever existed. 
 The final result was never doubted But how rebel States are to return is a problem 
 that has oppressed tlic minds of men with a weight as universal and insoluble as the 
 
11 
 
 &tmo£pbere. The satisfactory restoration of one State will settle more and weightier 
 doubts than the naked fall of Atlanta and Richmond together ! 
 
 See what the President has done in Maryland ! Mark what be has accomplished 
 ia Louisiana I Mou^rat vlam. She lights the way I 
 
 The criticism upon the appointment of Gov. llahn, which is said to make him 
 dictator of Louisiana, is unworthy the care apparently bestowed upon it. Gov. Habn 
 was designated by^the people at a formal free election, after an animated canvass, as 
 the man they wished for Governor. The President then designated him as the military 
 Governor. This appointment does not enlarge, but diminishes bis power. It makes 
 him subordinate to superior military authority. 
 
 A military Governor is invested with authority to perform civil duties. In th« 
 absence of such appointment by the President, it could be made by the commander 
 of a division or department. Inasmuch as the office is not created by law, but 
 results from established military usage, as in the case of a military or provost judge, 
 the confirmation by the Senate is not indispensable. It is the order of the commander. 
 IB-chief .acting in a military capacity, and therefore the "counter-signature of tbe 
 SiMretary of State" is unnecessary and in.appropriate. 
 
 It is unjust to charge upon the President alone a desire for the early organization 
 ©f a. State Government in Louisiana. Before any step was taken by me in this deree- 
 tioH, I caused a full statement of my purpose and my plan to be laid before Mr. Chase, 
 then Secretary of the Treasury, exactly as they were afterwards executed, and received 
 from him an unqualified approval both of the objects and the measures, accompanied 
 by an earnest wish that the experiment might be made without delay, net even waiting 
 a formal approval by the President ! 
 
 The statement embodied in the manifesto, upon the authority of some gentleman 
 here, that an ofRcer of my staff had reported the opinion of a senator, that^tbe bill would 
 I'all between the Houses, or fail to reach the President in time for his signature, is with- 
 out substantial foundation. No officer, or other person connected with me, officially or 
 personally, has been in correspondence with any person in AVasbington, or received in- 
 formation, direct or indirect, upon this subject. Notwithstanding the high respect en- 
 tertained for the decisions of all branches of the Government, this subject had never 
 excited general interest here, because it was believed that Congress would establish no 
 conditions with which the State would not gladly comply. 
 
 Louisiana can as well defend herself as any of tbe Middle or Atlantic States, or 
 the broder States of tbe North or West. Not one of them is secure against the assaults of 
 a public enemy without the assistance of her sister States. Louisiana is no more 
 "a shadow ;" no more "tlie creature" of executive will ; no more "dependent upon the 
 army of the United States," than the first and best or all of these States. 
 
 Congress has never formally declared, as stated, that the Government of Louisiana 
 "shall not be recognized ;" nor have "her Senators or Representatives )^en repelled 
 fey formal vote." Neither Government, Senators nor Representatives have yet asked of 
 Congress recognition or admission. 
 
 It is said "Gen. Banks candidly declared that the fundamental l.tw of the State 
 was martial law " This is not a full nor an exact citation. Though it may answer 
 4he purpose intended, it does not furnish a sound basis for legislation. 
 
 The declaration in my proclamation was this : "Martial law is the fundamental 
 Saw of the State. It is competent and just for the Government to surrender to the 
 y>eople at the earliest possible moment so much of military power as may be consistent 
 ■ii-ith the success of military operation : to prepare the way by prompt and wise 
 
12 
 
 measures, for the full restoration of the State to the Union and its fiower to the people 
 to restore thoir ancient and unsurpassed prosperity; to enlaige the scope of agricul- 
 tural and commercial industry and to extend and confirm the dominion of rational 
 liberty." 
 
 The Government accompanied the , .declaration" cited, with the ''surrender" pro- 
 posed. It wa3 acct^pted by the people. 
 
 The Government did not control or assist them. It suffeved an election to take 
 place. The 2)eople have not had the positive favor of public officers, civil or military. 
 What has been done is to be credited to their good sense and their loyalty, acting under 
 the permission of the Government! 
 
 It is perhaps deeply to be "regretted that the beneficent provisions of the bill for 
 civil administration of the laws of this State should have been annulled by the Presi- 
 dent ■" "People will die and marry, and transfer property, and buy and sell," &c. 
 "The President has deprived them of the protection of this law," it is said. But the 
 disaster is not as great as the authors of the address imagine. Most of these necessary 
 "things" will still be done in the old way. It is even doubtful to what extent the 
 wisest legislation of Congress would improve Creole custom in such cases. 
 
 That the office of military Governor has fallen upon Michael Hahn is cause of. 
 gratitude rather than of sorrow. He belongs to the people of the State. Throughout 
 the war ho ha^s steadly and stoutly adhered to the Government. He occupies a front 
 seat among the opponents of slavery and the friends of free labor. Singleness of pur- 
 pose and simplicity of manner open the beaten i)ath of friendship for him to all 
 classes with magic power. He unites in himself the varied qualities of the cosmopolitan 
 population of Louisiana. Americans, Creoles, Irishmen and Germans recognize in 
 him a brother. To every race he speaks its mother tongue. Every officer of the army 
 will tell you, that with strong political affinities and warm popular sympathies, and 
 in position much dependent upon public favor, Governor Hahn never presented a 
 claim nor Sksked a favor inconsistent with his honor or the interests of his country. 
 They are patriots of whom this can be said. It was a fortunate day when the Presi- 
 dent made him "Dictator of Louisiana." Better States might well seek 
 
 ' 'A despot of his kind ! 
 Sucli clialns as his are sure to Ijind!" 
 
 Accept assurances of my consideration. 
 
 N. P. BANKS, 
 Major General Commandiag. 
 
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