ARKANSAS. 



39 



placed a strong guard around tho Stato-IIonse. 

 Tlio toll iwin- dispatch was now sent to the 



.ui <if tli.- I'niu-d States: 

 EXECUTIVE OFFICE, LITTLE ROOK, April 1WA. 

 U. 8. < "', D> U- ' 



ll.ivii.,' l..'1-n .inly installed as Governor of Arkan- 

 sas by tlio judgment of a court, I respectfully ask 

 :iiii:mdini,' otliivr of the arsenal be in- 

 struoti-d to deliver tin- anus belonging to the State, 

 a his custody, or hold the same subject to my 

 JAMES BROOKS. 



Governor Baxter having established his 

 headquarters at St. John's College, sent tho 

 following communication to Washington: 



LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, April 15, 1874. 

 To th Pr^ldent of the United States : 



I have been advised by public rumor that in tho 

 State Circuit for this county, in a long-pending case 

 brought by Joseph Brooks for the office of Governor 

 of this State, a demurrer to the complaint was over- 

 ruled and au immediate judgment of "ouster" 

 ii_':iiust me given. This was done in the absence of 

 1 for me and without notice, and immediately 

 thereafter the Circuit Judge adjourned his court. 

 The claimant has taken possession of the State 

 buildings and ejected me by force. I propose to take 

 measures immediately to resume possession of tho 

 State property, and to maintain my authority as 

 rightful Governor of the State. Armed men acting 

 under this revolutionary movement are now in charge 

 of the Government Armory and Capitol buildings. I 

 deem it my duty to communicate this state of atfairs 

 to the President. I trust the revolutionary acts 

 may be settled without bloodshed, and respectfully 

 a>k tho support of tho General Government in my 

 efforts to maintain the rightful government of the 

 State of Arkansas, and that the commander of the 

 United States arsenal at this post be directed to 

 sustain mo in this direction. I respectfully request 

 a reply to this communication at an early moment. 

 ELISIIA BAXTER, Governor of Arkansas. 



The application of Brooks for the State 

 arms in the arsenal was refused by the Presi- 

 dent, who was not advised that Brooks's 

 u right to hold the office of Governor has 

 been fully and finally decided by tho courts of 

 Arkansas; " and on the same day the follow- 

 ing communication was sent to Mr. Baxter : 



DEPARTMENT or JUSTICE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, April 1WA. j 

 The Hon. ELISHA T. BAXTER, Littl* Rock : 



I am instructed by the President to say, in answer 

 to your dispatch to him of yesterday, asking for tho 

 support of tho General Government to sustain you 

 in the efforts to maintain the rightful government in 

 the State of Arkansas, that in the first place your 

 c.ill is not made in conformity with the Constitution 

 and laws of the United States ; and in the second 

 place, that as the controversy relates to your right to 

 hold a State office, its adjudication, unless a case is 

 made under tho so-called Enforcement Act of Federal 

 Jurisdiction, belongs to the State courts. If the de- 

 cision of which you complain is erroneous, there ap- 

 pears to be no reason wny it may not bo reversed 

 and a correct decision obtained from tho Supremo 

 Court. 



GEORGE H. "WILLIAMS, Attorney-General. 



On tho afternoon of the 16th Brooks issued 

 the following proclamation : 



EXECUTIVE OFFIOE, ) 

 LITTLE ROOK, April 16, 1374. | 

 To t7i Peoplt of Arlxuitcu : 



As you will recollect, I was a candidate for the of- 

 fice or Governor at the November election of 1872. 



That I received a majority of tho votes cut for 

 that office has never been denied, even by the 

 friends of Eliaha Baxter. I appealed to the Legis- 

 lature and asked to be allowed to content tho elec- 

 tion for tho office of Governor, and my petition, at 

 the instance and by the connivance of Eliaha Baxter, 

 who corruptly used his official patronage to bribe 

 members of the Legislature, was rejected, and I wa 

 denied not only tho right ot petition which the Con- 

 stitution guarantees to every citizen, but the right 

 to have the question of election investigated or 

 passed upon. The Attorney-General asked the Su- 

 preme Court for a writ otquowarranto against Elisha 

 Baxter, for tho purpose of compelling him to show 

 by what warrant and authority he assumed to dis- 

 charge tho duties of the office of Governor. That 

 tribunal declared it had no jurisdiction to hear and 

 determine a contest for the office of Governor, and 

 the cause was dismissed for want of jurisdiction. 



I then commenced an action against Elisha Bax- 

 ter, under the provisions of the code, in the manner 

 prescribed by law for the recovery of the office and 

 the salary received by Elisha Baxter during the time 

 be wrongfully withheld the same from me. I served 

 notice on Elisha Baxter that I would, at certain 

 times and places named in said notices, take testi- 

 mony in support of my claim. Elisha Baxter, for 

 reasons best known to "himself, neglected and failed 

 to appear at the times and places mentioned, and 

 treated tho court proceedings with derision and 

 contempt, openly boasting in public and private 

 speeches ana conversation that he would resist the 

 execution of the judgment of any court of the 

 State with the militia if it attempted to interfere 

 with his discharge of the duties of the office of 

 Governor. Notwithstanding his threats, I contin- 

 ued to take testimony and prosecute a suit for the 

 purpose of asserting my own rights and vindicating 

 your choice at the ballot-box. On yesterday the 

 Circuit Court rendered a judgment in my favor for 

 the office and the salary, and I at once took the oath 

 of office and took possession of the same. 



Elisha Baxter no longer holds the Executive of- 

 fice, and it is to be hoped that you will join your 

 voice with mine, rejoicing that the man you chose 

 for Governor has at last been duly installed into 

 office. Being in office, it is but fair that I, to some 

 extent, define my future policy, which tho adherents 

 of Elisha Baxter will no doubt misrepresent for the 

 purpose of advancing their personal interests and 

 gratifying their own ambition. 



For my political tenets, I respectfully refer you to 

 the platform of the Reform party, on which I was a 

 candidate in 1872. From tho principles therein 

 enumerated I have not departed, and, God helping 

 mo, never will. No one man in tho State has felt 

 the power of ballot-box stuffers and political thim- 

 ble-riggers to the extent that I have. I say to you 

 that, so far as in me lies, the ballot-box and election 

 machinery of the State shall never again be mado 

 an engine of fraud and oppression, as it was in 1872. 

 This is a republican form of government, where the 

 voice of tho people should rule, and so far as 1 am 

 concerned it shall rule from this time henceforth, and 

 so long as I occupy the Executive chair every man 

 shall have the free and undisturbed right to vote as 

 to him shall seem best, and that vote once cast shall 

 be counted as the man that cast it intended it should 

 be. 



Efforts no doubt will be made by designing men 

 to convey the impression thut it is the duty of the 

 people t<> rally to the standard of a man who, no 

 doubt, will claim he is Governor of Arkansas, who 

 you all know was not elected, and who has no more 

 right or claim to the office than any one of you has, for 

 the purpose of placing that man again in the Exec- 

 utive office. I say frankly to you that all such at- 

 tempts will lead to strife and bloodshed, for I shall 

 resist and suppress the action of all mobs that may 

 assemble together under the banner or at tho call of 



