LOUISIANA. 



457 



;i to a letter 



:i;!,i-, . neral Sheridan, in re- 



lation Id that matter, oil tin- 'J'.llll of Alli.'11-I. 



isi'.i. ( laiming that IH Iiail always faithfully 



nned hi-olVicial duties, he demanded to 1)0 

 allowed t continue in his office as Judge of the 

 iet of Louisiana, nnd declared that 

 in ca-e tliis i)roti'st. was inelteetual, Jie should 

 make ii part of a memorial to the General Gov- 

 enunent 



At the ti inirthc--e officers, General 



Sheridan had not seen tit to assign, any reasons 

 for his action; but subsequently, in reply to a 

 communication from General Grant, demanding 

 an explanation of the rase, lie made tho follow- 

 ing statements: 



I did not deem it necessary to give any reason for 



nioval of these men, especially after the invosti- 



_Mti"ii made by the military board on the massacre 



of July 80, 1866, and the report of tho Congres- 



! committee on the same massacre ; but as some 



inquiry has been made for the cause of the removal, 



I would respectfully state as follows : 



Tho court over which Judge Aboil presided is the 

 only criminal court in the city of New Orleans, and 

 for a period of at least five months previous to July 

 'ii'th lio had been educating a largo portion of the 

 community to the perpetration pt this outrage t by 

 almost promising no prosecution in his court against 

 the of!. ::>(; Hueh nn event occurred. The 



records of this court will show that he fulfilled his 

 linniiise, as not one of the guilty ones has been prose- 

 cuted. 



In reference to Andrew J. Herron, Attorney-Gen- 

 eral of the State of Louisiana, I considered it his duty 

 to indict these men before this criminal court. This 

 he tailed to do, but went eo far as to attempt to im- 

 pose on the good sense of the whole nation by indict- 

 niir the victims of the riot instead of the rioters; in 

 other words, making innocent of the guilty and guilty 

 of the innocent. He was, therefore, an abettor of 

 nnd coadjutor with Judge Abell in bringing on the 

 massacre of July 80th. 



Major Monroe controlled the element engaged in 

 the riot, and when backed by the Attorney-General, 

 who would not prosecute the guilty, and the Judge 

 who advised the Grand Jury to nnd the innocent 

 guilty and let the murderers go free, felt secure in 

 engajnng his police force in the riot and massacre. 



With thu three men exercising a large influence on 

 the worst elements of this city, giving to these ele- 

 ments immunity for riot and bloodshed, the General- 

 in-Chief will see how insecure I felt in letting them 

 occupy their present positions in the troubles which 

 might occur in registration and voting in reorganiza- 

 tion. I am, General, very respectfully, 

 Your obedient servant, 



(Signed) P. H. SHERIDAN, Maj.-Gen. U. S. A. 



Judge Abell, in a letter addressed to the 

 President of the United States, denied tho 

 charges against himself in the above communi- 

 cation, and endeavored to show that ho did all 

 in his power to prevent the meeting of the 

 convention of July 30, 1866, and was in no 

 way responsible for the events which attended 

 it. lie, therefore, asked that he and the other 

 officers ivmoved by General Sheridan on the 

 27th of March might be restored until their 

 successors should bo chosen under a new con- 

 stitution, in accordance with the Act of Con- 

 )f March 2d. The action of General 

 Sheridan was, however, not overruled by tho 

 Federal authorities. 



As locul were about to be hold in 



:s part-, of tl, .1 .Sheriduti 



issued a special order, announcing that no 

 lions would bo held until the . 

 of March should In- complied with, and that 

 the persons whose term of office would other- 

 expire should continue in place, mile-- 

 otherwise ordered by the command in;.' general. 



The order was not promulgat- .ough 



to prevent an election from taking pla'-c in the 

 parish of Livingston, which had . iously 



ordered, and that election was accordingly de- 

 dared null and void. 



On the 1-t of April General Sheridan was 

 ready to begin the work of registration of vot- 

 ers under the military reconstruction acts. 

 fore issuing the necessary order- he applied t 

 (iencral Grant, requesting an authoritative de- 

 cision as to what persons were prohibited from 

 voting under the law. Definite instructions on 

 this point were deferred until a decision should 

 be given by the Attorney-General, to whom tho 

 question had been already submitted ; but the 

 Commander-in-Chief, Grant, directed General 

 Sheridati to go on giving his own interpreta- 

 tion to the law until an answer should be re- 

 ceived from the Attorney-General. 



Accordingly, on the 10th of April General 

 Sheridan issued orders giving specific directions 

 for tho registering of voters in the parish of 

 Orleans, and appointing the Board of Registers. 

 The registration in that parish was directed to 

 commence on the 15th inst., and close on the 

 loth of May. His instructions with regard to 

 tho persons qualified to enter their names we'-o 

 as follows: 



Every male citizen of the United States, twenty- 

 one years old and upward, of -whatever race, color, 

 or previous condition, who has been resident in the 

 State of Louisiana for one year, and parish of Orleans 

 for three months, previous to tho date at which he 

 presents himself for registration, and who has not 

 been disfranchised by act of Congress, or for felony 

 at common law, shall, after having taken and sub- 

 scribed the oath prescribed in the first section of the 

 act herein referred to, be entitled to be, and shall be, 

 registered as a legal voter in the parish of Orleans 

 and State of Louisiana. 



Pending the decision of the Attorney-General of 

 tho United States on the question as to who are dis- 

 franchised by the law, registers will give the most 

 riirid interpretation to tho law, and exclude from re- 

 jrist ration every person about whose right to vote 

 there may be a doubt. Any person so excluded, 

 who may, under the decision of the Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, be entitled to vote, shall bo permitted to regis- 

 ter after that decision is received, due notice of which 

 will be given. 



Similar directions were given for the regula- 

 tion of this matter throughout the State, on the 

 20th of April, tho registration to begin on the 

 1st of May, and to bo completed by the 30th of 

 Juno. All the registers were appointed by the 

 order, and their duties defined. Tho qualifica- 

 tions laid down in respect to persons entitled 

 to be registered as legal voters were the same 

 as those already promulgated for the parish of 

 Orleans. On May 9th the time for registration 

 in Orleans Parish was extended to tho 31st. 



