LOUISIANA. 



693 



the national cannon. In great civil convulsions, the 

 agony of strife enters the souls of the innocent as 

 well as the guilty. The Government is subject to the 

 law of necessity, and must consult tbe^ condition of 

 things, rather than the preferences of men, and if 'so 

 be that its purposes are just and its measures wise, it 

 has the right to demand that questions of personal in- 

 terest and opinion shall be subordinate to the public 

 good. When the national existence is at stake, 

 and the liberties of the people in peril, faction ia 

 treason. 



The methods herein proposed submit the whole 

 question of government directly to the people first, 

 by the election of executive officers, faithful to the 

 Union, to be followed by a loyal representation in both 

 Houses of Congress j and then by a convention which 

 will confirm the action of the people, and recognize the 

 principles of freedom in the organic law. This is the 

 wish of the President. The anniversary of Washington's 

 birth-day is a fit day for the commencement of so 

 grand a work. The immortal father of his country was 

 never guided by a more just and benignant spirit than 

 that of his successor in office, the President of the 

 United States. In the hour of our trial let us heed 

 his admonitions ! 



Louisiana, in the opening of her history, sealed the 

 integrity of the Union by conferring upon its Govern- 

 ment the Valley of the Mississippi. In the war for in- 

 dependence upon the sea, she crowned a glorious strug- 

 gle against the first maritime power of the world, by a 

 victory unsurpassed in the annals of war. Let her 

 people now announce to the world the coming resto- 

 ration of the Union, in which the ages that follow us 

 have a deeper interest than our own, by the organiza- 

 tion of a free Government, and her fame will DC im- 

 mortal ! N. P. BANKS, M. G. C. 



The Free State General Committee and their 

 lends insisted that the general stepped in 

 and determined the constitutional question ad- 

 versely to them (radicals), by declaring the 

 Constitution of the State in force. They fur- 

 ther insisted that he declared martial law, 

 which was nothing but his will, to be superior 

 to the Constitution, which implied that he 

 could amend the Constitution wherein he 

 pleased; and that the laws, with regard to 

 slavery, though untouched by the President, 

 were declared inoperative by the general ; and 

 that all these assumptions of power were of the 

 most dangerous character to the liberties of 

 the people, and to republican government. 

 The committee, however, determined to partici- 

 pate in the election, for the sake of the power 

 the Governor would have in the convention 

 election, but protested against it. Mr. Michael 

 Hahn was nominated for Governor by those 

 who favored the proclamation of General Banks, 

 and Mr. Benjamin F. Flanders was nominated 

 by the free State men. Mr. Hahn was elected 

 by a large majority of the votes cast. The friends 

 of the Free State General Committee said: 

 " The result of the election is merely the regis- 

 tration of a military edict, and is worthy of no 

 respect from the representatives and executive 

 of the nation." The friends of the Free State 

 General Committee insisted that by this election 

 no State Government was created. They said : 

 1. "It is not such in accordance with the Presi- 

 dent's proclamation. That proclamation de- 

 clares that whenever, in certain States nam- 

 ed, not less than one tenth of the voters, iu 

 I860, each having taken the oath aforesaid, 

 VOL. in. 38 A 



and being a qualified voter by the election law 

 of the State existing immediately before the so- 

 called act of secession, and excluding all others, 

 shall reestablish a State Government, etc., such 

 shall be recognized as the true Government of 

 the State," etc. 

 They further said : 



Have the military proclamation of the command- 

 ing general and the election held under it on the 

 22d of February, in the meaning of the President, 

 " reestablished a State Government ? " Clearly not. 

 The commanding general's proclamation recognizes 

 the old Constitution of Louisiana of 1852, as being in 

 existence, and orders an election under it, in which the 

 votes of the people have nothing to do with reestab- 

 lishing Government ; the reestablishment having been 

 made oeforehand for them by the general proclaiming 

 the old Constitution as existing. 



2. Nor is the result of the election, and the seven of- 

 ficers chosen, a State Government. The people have 

 elected a Governor, a Lieut.-Governor, and five officers 

 of the executive department. This is not a State Gov- 

 ernment, for by the Constitution of Louisiana, which 

 the commanding general declared in force, as well as 

 by all other State Constitutions, the Government con- 

 sists of three Departments : Executive, Legislative, and 

 Judicial. The reason why an election for members of 

 the Legislature was not ordered is plain, although not 

 avowed ; there is not within the Union lines, where a 

 real election could be held, a sufficient number of par- 

 ishes to elect a majority of the whole number of mem- 

 bers constituting the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives, and less than a majority is, by the Constitution, 

 not a quorum to do business ; so that under this pre- 

 tended State Government, no officer elected can be le- 

 gally paid, for that can only be done by an appropria- 

 tion made according to law. 



The same Constitution provides that the judges of 

 the Supreme and District Courts, as well as justice of 

 the peace, shall be elected by the people ; the judges 

 now in office have been simply appointed by General 

 Shepley_ ; and -should Mr. Hahn, under pretence of be- 

 ing civil Governor, undertake to appoint judges, the 

 act would be a mere usurpation without the shadow 

 of right. 



No State Government, then, is reestablished by this 

 election. 



But still further, the proclamation of the President 

 has not been complied with, as to the persons who 

 voted. 



The Constitution of Louisiana, of 1852, art. 12, says : 

 "No soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy 



of the United States " " shall be entitled to n>te 



at any election in this State." 



The commanding general issued an order permit- 

 ting soldiers recruited in Louisiana, and having the 

 other qualifications, to vote. How many votes of this 

 Tdnd were polled, we are not able to say ; that many 

 did, and many sailors and others disqualified, also 

 voted, is notorious. 



Again, the act of the Louisiana Legislature, of March 

 20th, 1856, provides for the appointment in New Or- 

 leans, of a register of voters, and that no man shall 

 vote who is not registered, and that the office of regis- 

 tration shall be closed three days before the election, 

 and no one registered on those three days. Now, prior 

 to the late election, the register having closed his of- 

 fice according to law, orders were at once given to two 

 other officers, the recorders of the city, wno have no 

 such powers or functions by law, to register voters, 

 which they did night and day, and such persons as 

 they registered were allowed to vote. 



The commanding general, in his proclamation of 

 the llth of January, says that he will order the elec- 

 tion of members of a Constitutional Convention, to be 

 chosen on the first Monday of April, and that he will, 

 by a subsequent order, fix the basis of representation, 

 the number of delegates, and the details of the elec- 

 tion. This will put the whole matter under military 





