438 



LOUISIANA. 



fend the colored people of this State in the full and 

 free exercise of all their legal rights. 



Resolved, That we look with indignation and alarm 

 upon the attempts now being made by the Re- 

 publican party of this State to deny the white people 

 of the State a' fair registration and a fair election ; that 

 this party ought, at least, to be satisfied with the^dis- 

 franchisements contained in the present constitution ; 

 that we have an unquestionable right to demand, 

 and we do demand, that all who are entitled to it shall 

 be registered, and that an opportunity shall be af- 

 forded to those thus registered to cast their votes in 

 November next ; and that, if we are deprived of these 

 clear and unquestionable rights, the responsibility for 

 the consequence that may follow so glaring an out- 

 rage must tall upon those who thus violate and trample 

 upon the laws they themselves have enacted. 



In the disorganized condition of society 

 which accompanied the violent transition 

 through which the State of Louisiana was pass- 

 ing in her political affairs, intense partisan feel- 

 ing in the more lawless elements of society led 

 in several instances to scenes of violence and 

 bloodshed. About the middle of July, the 

 Governor received from Franklin and other 

 northern parishes information of numerous as- 

 sassinations and outrages in that quarter, ac- 

 companied by a petition for relief and protec- 

 tion for life and property. The Governor sub- 

 mitted the various documents which he had 

 received, to the Legislature, with a recommen- 

 dation that a call be made upon the Federal 

 Government for military aid to suppress the 

 disorders in the north. A joint resolution was 

 accordingly adopted, asking that the military 

 forces of the United States be employed in aid 

 of the civil authorities of the State to preserve 

 order and punish the parties guilty of the re- 

 ported outrages, it being alleged that the courts 

 were powerless to execute the laws in the dis- 

 turbed localities. This resolution, however, 

 ignored the authority of the President, and ad- 

 dressed its call to General Grant, and on that 

 ground was vetoed by the Governor; but a 

 new resolution with the proper amendments 

 was immediately passed, and received the sanc- 

 tion of the Governor. This was sent to Wash- 

 ington by a messenger, together with a letter 

 from Governor Warmouth, dated August 1st, 

 detailing the alleged state of affairs in the north- 

 ern parishes. In this letter the Governor says: 



From the very best information, Mr. President, I 

 have no doubt that one hundred and fifty men have 

 been murdered in Louisiana in the last month and a 

 half. Startling as this statement is, letters of the 

 most reliable character fully confirm it. 



There seems to be a settled determination, on the 

 part of those men who adhered to the rebellion, to 

 either kill or drive away Union white men and lead- 

 ing colored men, so as tobe able to terrify the masses 

 of the colored population into voting as they shall 

 dictate. There is a sect organizing throughout the 

 State as the K. W. C.," the full details of which, the 

 questions, oaths, etc.. Colonel Dean will explain to 

 vou. It is founded for the purpose of placing and 

 keeping the colored people in a condition of inferior- 

 uTi and with a view to this end it contemplates and 

 designs the precipitation of a conflict between the 

 two races. Many prominent citizens of the State are 

 leaders in it. Members are sworn, on the most bind- 

 ing oaths, to cany out the purposes of the organiza- 

 tion at all costs and hazards and sacrifices, and by 



measures no matter how desperate that their leaders 

 may adopt. It has now transpired that the mob 

 which threatened the Legislature some weeks since 

 were only prevented from enacting it on the 30th of 

 July, 1866, by the presence of United States troops. 



It was a deliberate determination of this secret or- 

 ganization to assassinate the Lieutenant-Governor 

 and Speaker of the House of Representatives, for hav- 

 ing decided questions, preliminary to the organiza- 

 tion of the General Assembly, in a manner obnoxious 

 to them. There are military organizations on foot in 

 this city under the auspices of this secret organiza- 

 tion. They drill openly in our streets at night, or in 

 halls, easily to be seen. 



In short, I fully believe that there is meditated a 

 bloody revolution, certainly the fruit of which would 

 be a long-continued if not hopeless confusion and 

 disaster and ruin to the State. The presence of the 

 United States troops, in my judgment, is necessary 

 to prevent this. The organization of militia is of 

 very questionable expediency, inasmuch as it will 

 be, under the present excited state of mind, one politi- 

 cal party armed to the support of the government 

 against another. I wish to avert this if possible, and 

 respectfully request your Excellency to put two regi- 

 ments of cavalry, a regiment of infantry, together 

 with a battery of artillery, under the command of 

 some competent officer, with orders to cooperate with 

 me in repressing disorder and violence, arresting crim- 

 inals, and protecting the officers of the law in trying 

 them ; the breaking up of all secret political organiza- 

 tions and a few examples of condign punishment of 

 offenders will secure peace in the State as soon as the 

 excitement attending the present campaign is over. 



These statements were at once attacked, not 

 only by newspapers, but by members of the 

 Legislature, and characterized as calumnies and 

 slanders. The New Orleans Times said : 



It is true that disturbances have taken place in one 

 or two of the interior parishes, but such a fact is by 

 no means surprising, for in staid communities of the 

 North, which have not been subjected to any of the 

 extraordinary convulsions whicn have affected our 

 people, disturbances quite as violent, and quite as 

 bloody, have occurred. 



The story of the one hundred and fifty murders 

 within a month and a half is a wilful Radical fabrica- 

 tion, which no man holding a high official position 

 should have vouched for without being furnished 

 with abundant proofs. We are in constant commu- 

 nication with all portions of the State, and have no 

 hesitation in pronouncing the story entirely un- 

 founded. If there be any truth in it, nothing can be 

 easier than to verify the statement, by publishing 

 the names of the murdered parties, with places, 

 dates, and other facts concerning their untimely tak- 

 ing-ofl*. On behalf of our slandered and oppressed 

 people, we demand this publication. 



As to the bloody revolution so glibly foretold, and 

 so religiously believed in, we can only say that the 

 very idea is ridiculous. But if the thief believes 

 each bush an officer, a man who feels that he has 

 been placed in a conspicuous position by fraud and 

 usurpation may be excused for believing, on slight 

 testimony, that the vengeance of the people has been 

 aroused against him and his. Warmouth is un- 

 doubtedly frightened ; why, we need not ask. 



The following is the letter of instructions 

 dispatched from the headquarters of the Army 

 at Washington to the general in command of 

 the Department of Louisiana : 



HEADQ'BS OF THE ABMT, ADJ'T-GENEBAL'S OFFICE, ) 



WASHINGTON, D. C., August 10, 1868. f 



Brevet Major- General B. C. Buchanan, commanding 



Department of Louisiana, New Orleans : 

 GENEBAL: The following instructions from the 

 Secretary of War are furnished for your government, 



