LOUISIANA. 



473 



places in the House at Mechanics' Institute, 

 and on the 24th, a quorum being present, "the 

 action of the House in extra session, expelling 

 Geo. W. Carter from the House of Represent- 

 atives, and the election of O. H. Brewster, 

 Speaker of the House," were confirmed and 

 ratified. On the next day, most of the mem- 

 bers of the House presided over by Carter ap- 

 peared and took their places. With a few ex- 

 ceptions, they were admitted as members, on 

 the understanding that they recognized the 

 House there assembled as the only legal House, 

 and Mr. Brewster as the Speaker. 



Immediately after these events, a committee, 

 appointed by Congress to investigate the pro- 

 ceedings of the two factions and the conduct 

 of Federal officials, met at New Orleans to 

 take testimony. They continued their sessions 

 about two weeks and examined upward of 

 fifty witnesses, including all the leading actors 

 in the stormy scenes of the last few weeks. 

 They submitted a report to Congress in the 

 latter part of May, which only stated facts 

 without recommending any action on the part 

 of the national Government. Mr. Scofield, 

 the chairman of the committee, and Mr. Mc- 

 Crary, gave a circumstantial account of the 

 difficulties, stating that the trouble was not 

 between the government and officers of Lou- 

 isiana on the one side, and the officers of the 

 United States on the other, but between friends 

 and opponents of the administration of Gov- 

 ernor Warmoth. It was mainly a division or 

 quarrel among the leaders of the Republican 

 party, in which many of the Federal officials 

 were prominent actors, some upon one side 

 and some upon the other. The leaders of the 

 Democratic party also participated in it, some- 

 times in alliance with one faction and some- 

 times with the other, as interest or consider- 

 ation of duty seemed to require. The part 

 taken by Federal officials in the quarrel, 

 whether wise or otherwise, seemed to have 

 originated entirely with themselves ; there was 

 no trace of interference by the Administration 

 at Washington. 



Mr. Smith concurred in their report, with 

 additions and qualifications, and said : " It is 

 not to be denied that in the new and dis- 

 turbed condition of things, some unscrupulous 

 men have got into office in Louisiana. The 

 men who go South to hold office, and return 

 when they lose their office, are- not confined 

 to any political party. The troubles in that 

 State are similar in kind, although in perhaps 

 a greater degree, to such as generally follow 

 civil wars. The reconstruction of Louisiana 

 was of necessity an upheaval of the very foun- 

 dations of society. The State has suffered 

 Bprely in the pangs of transformation, but the 

 situation is now being accepted, and confidence 

 between the races restored. If this confidence 

 be not disturbed, there is no reason to doubt 

 that the State will enter upon a new career of 

 prosperity and peace." 



Mr. Spear and Mr. Archer said, that the po- 



litical rascals and adventurers in Louisiana 

 had quarrelled among themselves ; and that 

 the committee had no power to relieve the 

 people of Louisiana. " Under a fair and 

 honest election they will relieve themselves, 

 and if the Federal Administration will intrust 

 the business and interests of the Government 

 in Louisiana to honest men, who care more to 

 perform their official duties and thus serve the 

 country, than to manage politics and control 

 State Legislatures, United States troops will 

 not be needed in New Orleans. With the 

 interests of Louisiana directed by intelligence 

 and guarded by the love of her own people, 

 and with the interests of the national Govern- 

 ment there in proper hands, no congressional 

 recommendations will be needed to restore to 

 her the unnumbered blessings of peace and 

 the speedy return of a long-exiled prosperity." 

 The following statements were also made 

 by the last-named members of the committee : 



A series of infamous laws Lad been passed, plac- 

 ing imperial powers in the Governor's hands, which 

 Le had used with a reckless disregard of the inter- 

 ests of the people and with the double purpose of 

 enriching himself and his friends, and of perpetuat- 

 ing his control of the State. Himself but a recent 

 resident of Louisiana, he had gathered around him 

 a swarm of adventurers from all sections, destitute 

 alike of either personal or political integrity, and 

 was fattening himself and them upon the plunder 

 wrung from the property and toil of the people. 

 Under the law, elections were a farce. The Gov- 

 ernor appointed the registrarsj and through them 

 returned his friends to the Legislature and defeated 

 his enemies. In several cases persons held seats in 

 the House from parishes in which they had never 

 resided and in which they were absolutely unknown. 

 In one case a friend of the Governor was elected in a 

 private room in a New Orleans hotel, at midnight, 

 to represent a parish a hundred miles away. The 

 police and other laws, entailing vast expense upon 

 the people, vest monstrous powers in the Governor, 

 which he has not failed to use in his own interest. 

 The tax in the State is about two per cent., and in 

 the city of New Orleans ahout five per cent, on a fair 

 cash valuation. In 1868, the debts and liabilities of 

 the State were $14,000,000 ; and in 1871, three years 

 later, they were 141,000,000. 



No bill that the Governor favors can fail, and none 

 that he opposes can pass. He frequently appears on 

 the floor of the Senate and House when important 

 measures are pending, and stiffens members, to use 

 his own words, hy his " presence, cheerful conversa- 

 tion, pleasant manners, and so on." He terms under 

 oath, nis friends in the Legislature, "my crowd," 

 and speaks of them and to them with that contempt 

 which a thorough knowledge of their character 

 amply justifies. The world has rarely known a legis- 

 lative body so rank with ignorance and corruption. 

 There is no direct evidence that the Governor ever 

 received a bribe for approving or vetoing a hill, and 

 he states, with emphasis, that he has never heen 

 corruptly influenced in his official action. He has 

 been Governor four years, at an annual salary of 

 $8,000, and he testifies that he made far more than 

 8100,000 the first year, and he is now estimated to 

 be worth from $500,000 to $1,000,000. 



The session of the Legislature continued un- 

 til the 29th of February, without further inter- 

 ruption, Mr. Pinchback presiding in the Sen- 

 ate, and Mr. Brewster occupying the chair in 

 the House. 



