ARKANSAS. 



51 



:.,-lf. is sustained by the views of the at- 

 Mv o]>iiii(in is that it is tho duty of 

 ii to see, as fur as it li<-s in 

 , unauthorized person is allowed 

 ,-uiv tliis end n^i>tr:u-s should bo 

 ..ithx and examine witnesses. 

 ,s. In. \\CMT. makes district commanders tln-ir 

 own Interpreters <>f th.-ir power and duty under it, 

 mill in my opinion tin- attorney-general or myself 

 i-iin no mo'- than irivo our opinion as to the meaning 

 ,,f tii.' law. Neither can enforce his views against 

 tin- iudirnuMit (.(those made responsible for the faith- 

 ful execution of the law the district commander. 

 ivsnectfulv your obedient servant, 



U. S. GRANT, General. 



On June 12th another order was issued by 

 Ccticral <>rd. which provided that all proceed- 

 ings for the sale of lands under cultivation, or 

 of the mips, stock, fanning utensils, or other 

 materials used in tilling such lands, in pursuance 

 nf any execution, writ, or order of sale, issued 

 in ca-os where tho debt or other cause of civil 

 action was contracted or accrued prior to the 

 1st of January, I860, should be stayed and sus- 

 pended until after tho 30th of December, 1867. 

 This order was to take effect in Arkansas from 

 and after the 30th of Juno, 1867. 



A further order was issued on the 18th, 

 stating that the above order was not intended 

 to apply to writs or process issued by the 

 United States courts, nor construed as directing 

 any interference with the proceedings of those 

 courts. 



On June 20th the President issued, through 



v\'ar Department, a series of instructions 



\ o to the meaning of the acts of Congress 



relating to reconstruction. This was done in 



compliance with the request of several district 



commanders. (.sVr I' XITED STATES.) 



On the 8th of July, the day to which the 

 Legislature of the State had adjourned, the 

 members of the two Houses present in Little 

 Rock met informally, in order to avoid unne- 

 cessary conflict with the military authority, and 

 sent a communication to Brigadier-General 0. 

 II -nith, commanding the District of Arkansas, 

 on the subject of a session. They stated that, 

 subsequent to the order of General Ord forbid- 

 the Legislature to assemble, the Attorney- 

 General of the United States had published an 

 opinion declaring that military officers were not 

 authorized to vacate civil officers, except upon 

 t rial and conviction of occupants ; and that they 

 le-ired to know whether the assembling of the 

 Mature would be prevented by him as mil- 

 commander of the State, should its mem- 

 b.Ts attempt to convene according to adjourn- 

 ment. They further said: "There is much 

 unfinished business, materially affecting tho in- 

 , s of citizens, which they deem it their duty 

 to complete. They do not desire any conflict, 

 however, with military force, nor any breach 

 of the peace; inasmuch as the Legislature is a 

 meiv civil body, with no powers of resistance. 

 IK-iMv, we have deemed it advisable, in behalf 

 of the Senate and House of Representatives 

 which branches respectively of the General As- 

 setnbly it is our duty to keep alive by adjourn- 



ment from day to day, and by sending for absent 

 members, until a quorum may be had to a- 

 crrtain from you if our pacific, efforts to that 

 end would call forth military interference." 



This communication was soon returned with 

 the following indorsement : 



HEADQUARTERS SUB-DISTRICT or ARKANSAS, 

 LITTLE ROCK, ARK., July 8, t87. 1 

 Respectfully returned. In the absence of other 

 instructions, the order of Brevet Major-General Ord, 

 commanding Fourth Military District, forbidding the 

 reassembling of the Legislature of Arkansas, will 

 certainly be enforced. 

 By command of 



Brevet Brigadier-General C. H. SMITH. 

 SAMUEL M. MILLS, 

 1st Lieut., Adjt. 28th Inf., A. A. A. G. 



A circular was issued by Major-General Ord 

 on July 29th, stating, that as the Federal Con- 

 gress had provided by special law for the organ- 

 ization of State governments on the basis of 

 suffrage without regard to color, and had also 

 provided for the removal of all officers who in 

 any manner might thwart or obstruct the exe- 

 cution of this law, and the duty of administering 

 these laws in this military district had devolved 

 upon himself, all State and municipal officers, 

 of whatsoever degree or kind, were thereby 

 notified that any attempts to render nugatory 

 the action of Congress, designed to promote the 

 better government of the States lately engaged 

 in the war, by speeches or demonstrations at 

 public meetings, in opposition thereto, would 

 be deemed good and sufficient cause for their 

 summary removal from office. The same pro- 

 hibition in regard to speeches and demonstra- 

 tions at public meetings would be strictly ap- 

 plied to all officers holding appointments from 

 his headquarters, and existing orders prohibit- 

 ing the interference of officers of .the Army in 

 elections would be rigidly enforced in the dis- 

 trict. 



Early on the morning of August 8th a body 

 of thirty or more Federal soldiers, under the 

 command of Captain George S. Peirce, forcibly 

 entered the office of the Constitutional Eagle, 

 published at Camden, and carried off and de- 

 stroyed the material of the office. The mayor 

 of the city addressed a note to the commanding 

 officer of the post, Colonel C. 0. Gilbert, for in- 

 formation relative to the actions of the soldiers. 

 The colonel, by letter, replied, saying "that 

 the paper unnecessarily exasperated the sol- 

 diers." In reporting the affair to General Ord, 

 the officer, Colonel Gilbert, said : 



The censures of the press directed against the ser- 

 vants of the people may be endured; but General 

 Ord and the military force detailed to perform his 

 duties are not the servants of the people of Arkapws, 

 but rather their masters, and it is felt to be a great 

 piece of impertinence for a newspaper in this State 

 to comment upon the military under any circum- 

 stances whatever. As a specimen of the style of the 

 paper in relation to the military, please see a copv 

 of the 20th of July. Such paragraphs have been of 

 frequent occurrence, and have been entirely unpro- 

 voked' by any thing in the conduct of the troops in 

 this State. 



Very respectfully, your obed j, cn [, 



