PROVISIONAL COURT FOR LOUISIANA. 



cember,.1862, by the transfer of the command 

 from Major-General Butler to Major-General 

 Banks, delayed somewhat the organization and 

 opening of the court. Its establishment was 

 announced in a proclamation by the military 

 governor in the following form: 



STATE OF LOUISIANA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, ? 

 New Orleans, December 29<, 1862. \ 



By an executive order, dated on the 20th day of Oc- 

 tober, A. D., 1862, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 

 United States, has constituted an " United States Pro- 

 visional Court for the State of Lousiana," and ap- 

 pointed the Hon. Charles A. Peabody to be a Provis- 

 ional Judge to hold said Court. 



By the terms of this order he is invested " with au- 

 thority to hear, try, and determine all causes, civil and 

 criminal, including causes in law, equity, revenue and 

 admiralty, and particularly to exercise all such powers 

 and jurisdiction as belong to the District and Circuit 

 Courts, conforming his proceedings, as far as possible, 

 to the course of proceedings and practice which has 

 been customary in the Courts of the United States and 

 Louisiana. His judgments to be final and conclusive." 



The said Judge is further authorized and empowered 

 to make and establish such rules and regulations as 

 may be necessary for the exercise of his jurisdiction, 

 and to appoint a prosecuting attorney, marshal, and 

 clerk of the said Court. 



In the exercise of the authority conferred by this 

 order, the said Judge has appointed George I}. La- 

 mont, prosecuting attorney, Augustus de B. Hughes, 

 clerk of said Court, and Isaac Edwards Clark, marshal. 



Official notice is hereby given of the organization of 

 said Court, and of the appointment of the said Charles 

 A. Peabody, as Judge, and of the officers of the Court 

 by him appointed 



All judgments, decisions, and decrees of said Court, 

 and all acts of said officers by them done under the au- 

 thority of said order, are to be respected and obeyed 

 accordingly. GEORGE F. SHEPLEY, 



Military Governor of Louisiana. 



It went into operation in January follow- 

 ing, and was at once fully occupied with busi- 

 ness of the first magnitude, in the various 

 departments of civil and criminal justice. One 

 of the first duties of the judge was to determine 

 and announce, so far as practicable, the rules 

 or laws by which he would administer justice 

 under his commission. The bar who appeared 

 before him naturally started as they had been 

 accustomed to do before under the civil law of 

 the State of Louisiana, but it became apparent 

 very soon, and probably in the very first case 

 tried, that this law was more desirable to one 

 of the parties than to the other, and the party 

 to whom, in the particular case, it seemed less 

 favorable, of course objected to the application 

 of it, and insisted that the court was not bound 

 by it, while the other insisted that he ought to 

 be. The court considered the purpose of the 

 Government to be, to govern the country held 

 by its armies in a manner consistent with its 

 own dignity and best interests, and the condi- 

 tion of things brought about by the war in 

 which it was engaged; but in doing this it 

 would always, for the sake of its own dignity, 

 as well as for the sake of the people held in 

 "subjection, have respect to the interests of those 

 to be governed, that in selecting the system of 

 laws by which transactions between individuals 

 should be governed and controversies decided, 

 the interests of the people of the locality 



would be chiefly consulted ; the Government it- 

 self having but little interest, except to dea 1 

 justly, preserve quiet, cultivate contentment, 

 and give the people the system "best suited to 

 their wants under all the circumstances of the 

 case. In looking to ascertain what code or 

 system would be most beneficent, the Govern- 

 ment looked first to the system it found in op- 

 eration there at the time when, by the conquest 

 of the country, the government of it was trans- 

 ferred from . its own local authorities to the 

 Federal power. 



That system had been selected and intro- 

 duced there by the wisdom of the country, 

 represented by the legislative bodies, as best 

 suited to the wants and interests of the com- 

 munity, best adapted to its habits and pursuits, 

 agricultural, commercial and generally, and it 

 was reasonable to suppose that the selection 

 had been discreet and wise, with a view to the 

 interests of the country, and this circumstance 

 would commend it to the favorable consider- 

 ation of the Government. That system had, 

 moreover, been in force previously, and the con- 

 tracts and transactions which would be the sub- 

 jects of consideration in the court, had most of 

 them been entered into while that system of 

 laws had been in force, and as might fairly be 

 presumed with reference to it, as the system 

 by which they would be construed and carried 

 into effect ; and consequently that system (other 

 things being equal) would be most just and 

 beneficial in its operation in those cases, and 

 not less so than any new system in respect to 

 cases more recently arisen or thereafter to arise. 

 The court theretofore declared, that as far as ihff 

 altered condition of things would permit, the 

 system of laws therefore in force in Louisiana, 

 would be adopted as the guide and rule of the 

 court in the administration of justice. 



The orders of the General in command of the 

 department, of course, were binding as laws, 

 and would be respected as of paramount author- 

 ity by the court. Those orders made numer- 

 ous modifications of the law adopted as the 

 basis of the system, and indicated the policy of 

 the Government in the many matters to which 

 they related. They were the express or written 

 laws ordained by the power dominant in the 

 land, and corresponded in most respects with 

 statutes enacted by the legislative power in a 

 country under a civil administration of govern- 

 ment. All the powers of the Government be- 

 ing in the military arm of the power holding 

 the country in subjection, it followed that that 

 arm had the power to dictate laws according 

 to which justice should be administered, as well 

 as to erect courts by which to administer it. 



For reasons similar to those which led the 

 court to adopt the laws of Louisiana in matters 

 pecuniary and civil in their nature, the criminal 

 laws of Louisiana were adopted as the rule of 

 administration of criminal justice. "These 

 laws," said the court, in a charge to a grand 

 jury, "framed by the legislative wisdom of the 

 State, with an enlightened regard for and ap- 



