LOUISIANA. 



431 



excess of its receipts. The Governor, in an 

 official communication to the military com- 

 mander, declared that the State Treasurer was 

 totally bankrupt, that no adequate means were 

 provided to meet the current expenses, and 

 that, unless some remedy were applied, " the 

 machinery of civil government in the State 

 must stop." General Hancock regarded the 

 emergency so pressing, and prompt action so 

 indispensable to prevent anarchy and confu- 

 sion, that he determined to use his authority 

 for the relief of the State, and on the 22d of 

 February issued an order containing the follow- 

 ing provisions : 



1. That, from and after this day, all the licenses on 

 trades, professions, and occupations, the revenues, 

 dues and taxes, of the State of Louisiana, shall be 

 payable and collected in United States legal-tender 

 Treasury notes. It is made the duty of the State 

 Treasurer, and of all other persons charged with these 

 collections, to exact payments as above. 



2. ^The Auditor and Treasurer of the State shall be 

 required to keep a special and separate account of all 

 dues, taxes, funds, or other public moneys, which 

 shall be received by them, hereafter, from any and 

 all collector of taxes, or from other sources ; and it 

 shall be their duty to appropriate the same to the 

 payment of the salaries of the judicial, executive, and 

 civil officers of the State ; and to pay and discharge 

 all the appropriations made in favor of the charitable 

 institutions, the free public schools, for the rent of 

 the Mechanics' Institute, and for the support of the 

 State convicts. The act of the Legislature making 

 appropriations for the general expenses of the State 

 ending the 31st of December, 1867, so far as the ap- 

 propriations therein set forth apply to the above enu- 

 merated officers and institutions, will be adopted by 

 the said Treasurer and Auditor, and other officers, as 

 if the said Legislature had passed the same act provid- 

 ing for the year 1868, making appropriations for the 

 objects hereinbefore specified in this order, for the 

 sums contained in said act ; provided, however, that 

 the Treasurer of the State shall not pay any other 

 outstanding warrants or other obligations of the 

 State than -those that are issued against appropria- 

 tions for the last quarter of the year 1867, restricting 

 himself, in the payment of these last-mentioned ob- 

 ligations, to those applicable to, and issued in favor 

 of, the officers and institutions hereinbefore referred 

 to in this order, and for whose special benefit and 

 protection this order provides ; and for no others. 



3. For the purpose of carrying out this order with- 

 out delay, the tax-collectors throughout the State of 

 Louisiana will report immediately, under oath, to the 

 State Treasurer, the kinds and amounts of funds and 

 moneys collected by them up to this date. 



A few days later, another order appeared, 

 declaring that the foregoing provisions should 

 not be construed as applying to taxes due prior 

 to the year 1867, and directing that all State 

 notes then in the Treasury, or thereafter re- 

 ceived, should be destroyed ; and it was fur- 

 ther ordered that 



^ 3. Whenever, under Special Orders No. 40, a suffi- 

 cient sum shall have been collected to satisfy the pur- 

 poses expressed in said order, and for the period 

 specified therein, any further receipts into the Treas- 

 ury may be applied to the liquidation of other obliga- 

 tions impaired by said order, as if the same had not 

 been issued. 



General Hancock's action in this matter was 

 severely criticised in the Constitutional Con- 

 vention then in session, but appears to have 

 given general satisfaction. 



Military orders, containing full directions 

 concerning the registration of qualified voters, 

 and the holding of the election on the 17th and 

 18th of April, to vote on the ratification of the 

 constitution, were issued on the 10th and llth 

 of March, by General Hancock. The follow- 

 ing are among the more important provisions 

 of the election order: 



9. The sheriff of each parish is made responsible 

 for the preservation of good order, and the perfect 

 freedom of the ballot at the various election precincts 

 in his parish. To this end he will appoint a deputy 

 who shall be duty qualified under the laws of the 

 State for each precinct in the parish, who will be re- 

 quired to be present at the place of voting during the 

 whole time the election is being held. The said dep- 

 uties will promptly and fully obey every demand 

 made upon their official services, in preserving the 

 peace and good order, by the Commissioners of Elec- 

 tion. _ Deputies appointed in accordance with the 

 foregoing will be paid the same as commissioners, 

 on accounts approved by the registrar, out of the re- 

 construction fund. 



As an additional measure to secure the purity of 

 the election, each commissioner and registrar is here- 

 by clothedj during the election, with authority to call 

 upon the civil officers of the parish to make arrests, 

 and, in case of failure of the aforesaid civil officers, 

 are empowered to perform their duties during the 

 election. They will make full report of such failures 

 on the part of civil officers to the commanding gen- 

 eral, Fifth Military District. 



10. All places where intoxicating liquors are re- 

 tailed will be closed on the days of election, and such 

 sale of liquors is prohibited during said election days. 



11. Military interference with elections, " unless it 

 shall be necessary to keep the peace at the polls," is 

 prohibited by law ; and no soldiers will be allowed to 

 appear at any polling-place, unless as citizens of the 

 State they are registered as voters, and then only for 

 the purpose of voting ; but the commanders of posts 

 will be prepared to act promptly if the civil authori- 

 ties fail to preserve the peace. 



14. In case of questions arising as to the right of 

 any individual to be registered, the person deeming 

 himself aggrieved is entitled to his appeal from the 

 decision 01 the Bqard, and the Boards are directed to 

 make a full statement of the facts in such cases, and 

 to forward the same to these headquarters without 

 unnecessary delay. 



15. Should Congress enact hereafter that at the ap- 

 proaching election votes shall also be cast for State 

 and other officers, the same registrars and commis- 

 sioners will act under this order for the election of 

 said officers. In such an event, orders will issue 

 from these headquarters notifying the qualified voters 

 that such an election is authorized. 



General Hancock was relieved of the com- 

 mand of the Fifth Military District and trans- 

 ferred the same to General J. J. Reynolds on 

 the 18th of March, and a few days later the 

 position was assumed by Brevet Major-General 

 E. 0. Buchanan. 



The following order relating to the election 

 was issued by General Buchanan after the pas- 

 sage of the act of Congress of March 12th : 



Special Orders, No. 63. 

 HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, ) 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., March 25, 1868. 

 1. By an act of Congress, which became a law 

 March 12, 1868, it is enacted "that hereafter any 

 election authorized by the act passed March 23, 1867, 

 entitled ' An act supplementary to " An act to provide 

 for the more efficient government of the rebel States," 

 passed March 2, 1867, and to facilitate their restora- 



