434 



LOUISIANA. 



Convention relating to that matter, but were 

 informed by General Buchanan that no such 

 course could be pursued without his permis- 

 sion. He furthermore declared that the offi- 

 cers-elect could not enter upon their duties by 

 virtue of their election until November, and 

 that the Legislature should not meet until the 

 constitution had been accepted by the Federal 

 Congress. 



On the 25th of June the act of Congress, 

 for the admission of Southern States, became 

 a law, and Louisiana was once more restored 

 to her place in the Union of States. To 

 avoid any question as to who should exercise 

 the offices of Governor and Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor after the convening of the Legislature, 

 the district commander was directed by Gen- 

 eral Grant to remove the former incumbents 

 by military order and appoint the individuals 

 lately elected to those positions as their suc- 

 cessors. This was accordingly done on the 

 27th of June, and on the 29th the Legislature 

 assembled at New Orleans in pursuance of 

 notice given to the members who had been 

 elected by the commanding general. The 

 Senate was composed of 20 Eepublicans and 

 16 Democrats, and in the House of Represent- 

 atives there were 56 Republicans to 45 Demo- 

 crats. 



Before the meeting of the Legislature, Gen- 

 eral Buchanan had applied to General Grant 

 to know whether the members of that body 

 would be required to take any other oath than 

 that prescribed in the constitution. The com- 

 mander-in-chief gave it as his opinion that no 

 other oath should be required, and his decision 

 was announced to the Assembly when it met 

 for organization. The Lieutenant-Governor of 

 the State, Oscar J. Dunn, who was a colored 

 man, nevertheless announced in the Senate 

 that none could be regarded as qualified Sen- 

 ators without taking the test-oath prescribed 

 by the act of Congress of 1862, and a similar 

 decision was given by the temporary chairman 

 in the House of Representatives, also a colored 

 man. This decision excluded nearly all the 

 Democratic members. On the second day of 

 the session the names of none of the members 

 were called except such as had taken the test- 

 oath. The same day the following communi- 

 cation was received : 



HEADQUABTEBS FIFTH MILITABY DISTBICT, ) 

 NEW OBLEANS, LA., June 30, 1868. ) 

 To 0. J. Dunn, Lieutenant-Governor, Officer Pre- 

 siding of the Senate of the State of Lousiana : 

 ^SiB : I am directed "by the general commanding this 

 district to furnish you with a copy of the following 

 telegram just received from General Grant : 



"I have no orders at present to give, but I repeat 

 to you as heretofore, that the members of the Loui- 

 siana Legislature are only required to take the oath 

 prescribed by the constitution, and are not required 

 to take the test-oath prescribed in the reconstruction 

 acts. Generals Meade and Canby are acting on this 

 view of the case. 



"U. S. GRANT, General, TJ. S. A." 

 General Buchanan directs that the oath prescribed 

 by the constitution, and no other, will be required of 



the members of the House over which you are now 

 presiding. JOHN B. JOHNSON, 



Brevet Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Ass't Sec. Civil Affairs. 



This was, however, disregarded. On the 

 1st of July a great crowd of people gathered 

 about the doors of the Mechanics' Institute, 

 where the Legislature sat, to demand the ad- 

 mission of the Democratic members to their 

 seats. The whole police force of the city and 

 a regiment of artillery were stationed in the 

 adjoining square to preserve order. Under the 

 pressure of such surroundings, the committee 

 to whom had been referred the question of ex- 

 acting the test-oath reported that the action 

 of the presiding officers should be sustained, 

 but that due respect for the general command- 

 ing the armies of the United States induced 

 them to recommend a discontinuance of the 

 test-oath. It was accordingly discontinued, 

 the Democratic members took their seats, and 

 the crowd outside quietly dispersed. A com- 

 mittee on elections was appointed in each 

 branch of the Legislature, and several seats 

 were contested in the course of the session. 



The first acts of the Assembly after it was 

 duly organized were the adoption of the amend- 

 ment to the Federal Constitution, known as 

 article 14, and the choice of Senators to the 

 Congress of the United States. The Senators 

 elected were Wm. P. Kellogg and John S. 

 Harris. , On the 13th of July Henry C. War- 

 mouth was inaugurated Governor of the State 

 in due form. He then immediately apprised 

 General Buchanan of the ratification of the 

 fourteenth amendment, and that officer at once 

 issued the following order, turning the admin- 

 istration of civil affairs over to the duly-con- 

 stituted authorities : 



Special Orders, No. 154. 

 HEADQUABTEBS, FIFTH MILITABT DISTBICT, ) 

 NEW ORLEANS, LA., July 13, 1868. \ 

 [Extract.] 



2. The commanding general having been officially 

 notified of the ratification of the 14th article of 

 amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 

 by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana, on the 

 9th inst., it becomes his duty, under the act of Con- 

 gress which became a law June 25, 1868, and the 

 orders of the General of the Army, to announce to 

 the people of the State, and to the troops under his 

 command, that the provisions of the reconstruction 

 acts of Congress cease to operate in Louisiana from 

 this date. Military authority will no longer be exer- 

 cised under the reconstruction acts in said State, and 

 all officers commanding posts or detachments are for- 

 bidden to interfere in civil affairs, unless upon a prop- 

 er application by the civil authorities to preserve the 

 peace, or under instructions duly ^received from the 

 commanding general of the district. Military law 

 no longer exists, the civil law is supreme. 



All civil officers, now acting under authority of 

 appointments from these headquarters, will at once 

 transfer their offices, with the records, funds, and 

 property pertaining thereto, to their successors who 

 have been declared duly elected, and who have 

 qualified under the laws of the State. All other rec- 

 ords properly belonging to the State will be trans- 

 ferred to the proper State officers. 



The commanding general cannot sever the rela- 

 tions heretofore existing between the State and him- 

 self, without congratulating the people upon an event 



