514 



LOUISIANA. 



in Louisiana, they rejoice that the Kepuhlican 

 party everywhere, in the recent Northern elec- 

 tions, triumphed, and that this pointed to ulti- 

 mate success. That their hope was in Con- 

 gress; that the premature admission of Sen- 

 ators and Representatives from Louisiana would 

 be disastrous, and place them under rebel rule. 

 That, as loyal citizens, they will resort to all 

 peaceahle means for redress and for securing 

 the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of 

 happiness. 



On November 23d the Legislature assem- 

 bled at New Orleans, in an extra session called 

 by the Governor. His message was confined 

 chiefly to local topics which required the at- 

 tention of that body. He said that it was ne- 

 cessary the State should be fully represented 

 in Washington. For this purpose it was re- 

 quisite that two Senators should be elected in 

 time to reach Washington at the opening of 

 Congress. The Governor thus repudiated an 

 election of Senators which was made at the 

 session of the Legislature at the beginning of 

 the year. At a joint session of both Houses, 

 presided over by Lieutenant-Governor Wells, 

 Governor Hahn and K. King Cutler had been 

 elected United States Senators the former to 

 fill the vacancy caused by the withdrawal of 

 Judah P. Benjamin, and the latter by that 

 of John Slidell. Twenty-five Senators and 

 seventy-nine members of the House were pres- 

 ent. The Governor further called attention to 

 the finances of the State, to the system of labor, 

 to immigration, and to the educational and 

 charitable institutions of the State the condi- 

 tion of which was generally very unfavorable. 

 The interest on the public debt had not been 

 discharged for some years. ne of the first move- 

 ments in the Assembly of the Legislature was 

 the appointment of a committee, to whom was 

 referred a resolution providing for the call of a 

 convention to draft a State Constitution. With 

 this resolution were also referred a number of 

 others, following in the lead of the original one. 

 A majority and minority report were made by 

 the committee, which are important as showing 

 the embarrassing division of sentiments in the 

 State. 



The majority report assumed in the preamble 

 that the Constitution of 1804 was the creation 

 of fraud and violence, declared the necessity of 

 inquiring into the expediency of a new election 

 of delegates to a convention ; stated that great 

 doubts existed as to the mode of revising the 

 Constitution ; advocated the submission of the 

 subject to the people, so that they might have 

 an opportunity to act on republican principles. 

 Whether the Legislature would ratify or reject 

 the Constitution of 1864, they should do all in 

 then- power to relieve the people of their neces- 

 sities, and alleviate the pressure of evils under 

 which the State labored. The report specified 

 the means by which the question Convention 

 or no Convention should be submitted to the 

 people ; required the Governor to issue his 

 proclamation based on the same grounds as the 



late election to the General Assembly ; advo- 

 cated the placing of two ballot-boxes at each 

 poll, in which the electors should vote for or 

 against the Convention, and make choice of 

 delegates to that Convention at the same time : 

 in one ballot-box should be voted the ticket 

 Convention or no Convention ; in the other 

 delegate tickets were to be voted. The returns 

 were to be made in conformity with the above 

 programme. 



The minority report recognized the Consti- 

 tution of 1864 as binding. Since the condition 

 precedent to a restoration in the rights, im- 

 munities, and privileges of the Union, is the 

 abolition of slavery, the ratification of the con- 

 stitutional amendment, the repeal of the ordi- 

 nance of secession, it was incumbent on the 

 Legislature to enact laws to that result. But 

 the Constitution of 1864 had already accom- 

 plished this end. The Constitution in question 

 provides in Art. 146 for the manner in which 

 amendments may be made, and the report ad- 

 vocated the amendment to the existing Consti- 

 tution in place of its eradication ; it was held 

 that this mode was by far the cheapest of the 

 two, for a new Convention necessarily involved 

 another large outlay of funds. The gist of the 

 minority report was that there was no necessity 

 for calling a Convention. 



The consideration of the reports was post- 

 poned to a future day. Meanwhile, on the next 

 day, December 6th, the Assembly passed a 

 resolution to proceed on the same day to the 

 election of United States Senators, in which the 

 Senate concurred. It was objected that this 

 action would be an indirect approval of the 

 Constitution of 1864. In reply it was said, that 

 Messrs. Hahn and Cutler had applied in vain 

 to Congress for admission, and new Senators 

 should therefore be elected. The result was, 

 the choice of Messrs. Randall Hunt and Henry 

 Boyce as Senators. The question of calling a 

 Constitutional Convention was fin ally postponed 

 to the regular session in January, 1866. At 

 this session bills were passed " to provide for 

 and regulate labor contracts for agricultural 

 pursuits ; " " relative to apprentices and inden- 

 tured servants ; " and " to punish in certain 

 cases the employers of laborers or servants." 

 The status of freedmen was declared to be the 

 same as the free negroes in Louisiana have al- 

 ways enjoyed under the laws, thereby admit- 

 ting their right to sue and be sued, to plead 

 and bo impleadcd, to own, possess, establish 

 ownership, and have their property defended 

 by the courts, but prohibiting them from voting 

 or participating at elections. A bill was also 

 passed appropriating $20,000 as a fund for tho 

 relief of disabled soldiers. 



The proposed amendment to the Federal 

 Constitution was brought up, for the purpose of 

 setting at rest the doubt as to its passage by the 

 Constitution of 1864, and as due to President 

 Johnson and in unison with his policy. It \V::H 

 adopted by a vote of two to one in the Assem- 

 bly, in the following form : 



