LOUISIANA. 



447 



LOUISIANA. Tim first day of the iv-ulnr 



session of tlio I.'gi>laturu wa* .laminry -J-J.l, t<> 



which tli..' ' adjounii'd from the citra 



MMion 011 tho juwioiM December 'JJd. On 



i :li u motion wjis oilVivd in the House 



nint a bjK-cml committee of both Houses 

 !iv ncceassary changes to tho Consti- 

 Tho mover stated that his ob- 

 ject was to avoid ull unnecessary discussion of 

 n of convention or no convention. 

 !, in which some members urged 



illing of a convention as an imperative 



duty in tho momentous interests of tho State, 



declaring that the Constitution of 1864 was not 



binding on the people of the State. Others as- 



'indiui: force, otherwise the General 



. nullity and the members had no 



rif/ht to their seats. Some looked upon it as a 



- luxury, as the State would not, atpresent, 

 be admitted into the Union. No action was 

 taken on tho resolution, but it served to develop 

 a conflicting sentiment in the House on tho 

 validity of the Constitution. A bill was passed 

 authorizing the issue of six per cent, certificates 

 of indebtedness on the part of the State to the 

 amount of $1,500,000. A bill was also passed, 

 directing that the election for municipal officers 

 of the city of New Orleans, should be held at an 

 earlier date than was fixed by the charter, and 

 on March 12th ensuing. This developed still 

 more clearly the division of sentiment in the 

 Legislature, one part representing the disen- 

 franchised portion of the people seeking to re- 

 cover their lost rights; and tho other repre- 

 senting the enfranchised minority, who refused 

 to adopt such measures as would transfer the 

 control to those late in arms. On February 9th 

 tho governor sent to the Legislature a message 



!_' this bill. He urged that the necessity 

 of anticipating the fixed time for the election 

 was not apparent ; he wished proper guaranties 

 that it would be in his power to see the laws 

 l.tithfully executed before holding a municipal 



ii. These guaranties were such as suit- 

 able amendments to the city charter with a 

 radical revision of the registry and election laws 

 of tho parish of Orleans would give. He further 

 said : 



It is within the knowledge of all citizens resident 

 here before the war, that for years preceding the re- 

 bellion, elections in the parish of Orleans were a 

 cruel mockery of free government. Bands of or- 

 ganized desperadoes, immediately preceding and 

 during an election, committed every species of out- 

 rage upon the peaceful and unoffending citizens, to 

 intimidate them from the exercise of the inestimable 

 privilege of freemen, the elective franchise. A regis- 

 try of fourteen thousand names, in the days alluded 

 to, could scarcely furnish one-fourth of that number 

 of legal votes at the polls, although six or seven 

 thousand votes were usually returned as cast. To 

 guard against the possibility of a return to such a 

 '.ion of affairs, many citizens of integrity, intel- 

 , and loyalty to the Union, who believe that a 

 uaw danger will now be added to tho preexisting 

 in the expected rapid increase of population, 

 a reconsideration of the electoral qualification 

 in all municipal elections for the future; holding that 

 experience has showu conclusively that they cannot 



be confused with th- jiolitii-al contests of tho timer 

 . tin- trim intercuts of the country. TLi 

 is worthy of respectful consideration. 



ijiinently demanding the serious attention of 

 Legislators in the altered circumstances of our State 

 ami its institutions, is the unequal distribution of 

 the white inhabitant:) of the Commonwealth, hy 

 means of which a perilous preponderance of politi- 

 cal power is placed at the disposal of tin; cver- 

 changing population of its chief city. At this mo- 

 , is .-.i!'.- to affirm, there is a larger white 

 population in the parish of Orleans than in all tho 

 other parishes of the State combined, and the likeli- 

 hood, nay, the certainty is, that for years to come 

 the increase will continue to be largely in favor of 

 New Orleans. I mention this in no spirit of un- 

 kindncss to our Queen City. 



I entertain none of that jealousy of her sometimes 

 charged to exist among agricultural people like my- 

 self; but while I desire with my heart to see her 

 great, prosperous, and free, and will do all in my 

 power to render her so, with all my consent, she 

 shall never be endowed with political power to the 

 transient degradation or lasting injury of the rest of 

 the State. A just equilibrium must be required and 

 retained. If the electoral system, applicable to the 

 parish of Orleans, is so constituted that a subsidized 

 scum can diminish by violence and intimidation one- 

 half of tho electoral strength, the same dangerous 

 agency, when their employers have a purpose to 

 serve, can double the legal vote by frauds familiar 

 to such men. Before the usual time, indicated by 

 the charter for an election of municipal officers, tho 

 Legislature can secure the State against the dangers 

 to DO justly apprehended by the enactment of suit- 

 able laws, and remove other minor objections that 

 are urged. 



The message was made the special order of 

 business in the Senate for February 13th. Tho 

 proceedings are thus reported in tho official 

 paper : 



Mr. Hough opposed the adoption of the bill, as 

 being in violation of Article 119 of the Constitution, 

 which provides for the mode of amending existing 

 laws, holding this act to be an amendment of the 

 City Charter. 



Mr. Duvigneaud sustained the previous speaker, 

 and wanted laws passed which would secure a fair 

 election before ordering one, urging at the same time, 

 that the regular time for the city election was so 

 near that it would be better to await that period, and 

 in the mean time amend the city charter and election 

 laws. 



Mr. Mohan was astonished that the judge should 

 oppose the bill, when it was shown by the crowded 

 lobby that his constituents were anxious to be rein- 

 stated in their constitutional right of appointing 

 their own municipal officers. 



Mr. Uuvigneaud interrupted the gentlemen on the 

 privilege ofnot being subject to personalities. 



Alter a shout of " go on" from the galleries, and a 

 reprimand from the President for the shout, Mr. 

 Mohan continued to urge the adoption of the bill, the 

 veto of the Governor notwithstanding. 



Mr. Gordon answered the objection of Mr. Duvig- 

 neaud, who said that the present charter and consti- 

 tution of the State were incompatible, and showed 

 that all laws incompatible with the constitution wore 

 no laws at all. 



Mr. Keniier said the constitutional scruples against 

 the bill would not hold water. The bill was not an 

 amendment, but only intended to bring the sus- 

 pended rights of the people under the charter into 

 action, and to fill vacancies. 



Mr. Eagau thought the Governor ouirht not to op- 

 pose his will to the deliberate action of both Houses 

 without showing some cogent reasons, which were 

 wanting in his message. 



