ARKANSAS. 



Elislia Baxter. No man in the State can regret 

 strife and bloodshed more deeply than myself; but 

 feeling as I do that self-government rather than self- 

 aggrandizement is in the issue, I shall employ every 

 means at my command to maintain its supremacy. 

 Elisha Baxter forced me from the Legislature to the 

 courts, and thus far I have patiently borne with the 

 law's delay at all times, feeling that justice would be 

 done me by the judgment of a court of competent 

 jurisdiction. I am in the Executive office. When 

 it is adjudicated that I am not there legally I will 

 bow my head in silence to the decree of the court, 

 be it what it may. The power that Elisha Baxter 

 used to force me into the court I will use to make 

 him respect and abide its decrees. 



To one and all I say. keep quiet and pursue your 

 different vocations. Your services are not needed 

 at the capital to preserve either peace or good order. 

 Should the time come when they will be needed, 

 you will be notified in due time through the proper 

 channel. 



JOSEPH BEOOKS, Governor of Arkansas. 



Governor Baxter now began movements for 

 regaining possession of the State government. 

 On the evening of the 16th he issued the fol- 

 lowing proclamation, declaring martial law in 

 Pulaski County : 



Whereas^ An armed rebellion exists in the county 

 of Pulaski, against the State government, and it be- 

 comes necessary to employ all the force at my dis- 

 posal to suppress it : therefore, by the authority vest- 

 ed in me by law, I hereby proclaim the existence of 

 martial law within said county, and command all 

 persons capable of military duty to assist in the put- 

 ting down of the said rebellion. During the time 

 that martial law shall thus prevail, every infringe- 

 ment of the right of peaceable and well-disposed 

 persons will be severely punished by whomsoever 

 it may be committed. The utmost respect shall be 

 paid by all persons to citizens not in arms, and to 

 their property, and to that of the Federal Govern- 

 ment. In testimony whereof, I, Elisha Baxter, Gov- 

 ernor of the State of Arkansas, do hereby set my 

 hand, the private seal of said State being now not 

 accessible to the Governor of the State. Done at 

 Little Kock, this 15th day of April, 1874. 



ELISHA BAXTEE, 

 Governor of Arkansas and Commander-in-Chief. 



Having issued this proclamation, the Gov- 

 ernor marched from St. John's College with 

 his force of about two hundred men, down 

 into the heart of the city, and established his 

 headquarters at the Anthony House. Guards 

 were placed along the principal streets, com- 

 pletely surrounding the State-House with a cor- 

 don of sentinels. Baxter's forces, which were 

 rapidly receiving additions from other coun- 

 ties, also took possession of the telegraph-office. 

 The State-House was held by between one hun- 

 dred and one hundred and fifty men, who were 

 well armed and had two cannon. Governor 

 Baxter now issued, the following proclamation 

 to the people of the State : 



EXECUTIVE OFFICE, \ 

 LITTLE EOCK, April 1(3, 1874. \ 

 To the People of Arkansas : 



An insurrection, organized in the interest of cer- 

 tain' parties disappointed in an attempt to secure 

 the influence of the Executive for proposed frauds 

 in the approaching election, has effected the seizure 

 of the Capitol, and now attempts to usurp the func- 

 tions of government. The momentary success of 

 this insurrection, so far as regards the occupation of 

 the building, has been owing to that security which 



the political traditions of the American people give 

 to legitimate government, in time of peace. The 

 armed sentries and loaded cannon which, for the 

 moment, support the usurpation within the precincts 

 of the State-House, had not been deemed requisite 

 to the maintenance of a recognized government ; the 

 unexpected and forcible occupation of the building 

 could not, at the instant, be successfully resisted: 

 aversion to unnecessary bloodshed has for a few 

 hours withheld the arm of the State government 

 from immediate vindication of its rights and digni- 

 ty. Forbearance has seemed only to embolden the 

 impudence of the handful of insurgents. Forbear- 

 ance, therefore, is at an end. 



General orders No. 1, from headquarters of the 

 militia of Arkansas, of date correspondent with that 

 of this proclamation, declares martial law in the 

 county of Pulaski. It is due to the people of the 

 State that the circumstances which have rendered 

 necessary this course of action be published. 



At the election of 1872, 1 was returned Governor of 

 Arkansas. At a late stage of the session of the Legis- 

 lature chosen at the same time, my opponent, Joseph 

 Brooks. Esq., sought his sole, legitimate, and consti- 

 tutional method of redress (had he been injured in 

 the decision of the election), by an appeal to the rep- 

 resentatives of the people. The appeal was summa- 

 rily rejected. 



Application was then made to the highest judicial 

 authority of the State the Supreme Court for a writ 

 of quo ivarranto, which should determine my right 

 to the office of Governor. In that case, as in the suit 

 instituted for the office of Auditor of State, the high- 

 est judicial tribunal of Arkansas decided that, under 

 the supreme organic law of the State, the determina- 

 tion of the question of election of State officers is ex- 

 clusively vested in the Legislature. 



Public excitement was allayed. The State settled 

 itself to quiet, under an administration which, 1 trust, 

 has not been unfaithful to its professions, or obnox- 

 ious to the people. 



Meantime, a proceeding had been instituted before 

 a circuit court of a county for the possession of the 

 office of .Governor. I do not care, at present, to com- 

 ment upon the question of authority of such a court 

 to adjudicate a matter, from the decision of which 

 the Supreme Court of the State had, upon constitu- 

 tional grounds, not merely shrunk but affirmatively 

 denied its own jurisdiction. The Pulaski Circuit 

 Court -did clandestinely assume upon a demurrer 

 filed in court, but never submitted to the court for 

 its action, to render judgment of ouster, against the 

 officer who, for fifteen months, had exercised the 

 functions of chief magistrate of the State. The judg- 

 ment was rendered, upon the call of the contestant's 

 attorney, in violation of the express agreement of 

 counsel, that the case should not be taken up in the 

 absence of the representatives of either party. It 

 was rendered, therefore, in point of fact, without the 

 knowledge, or even the suspicion, of the Governor 

 or of his counsel. 



In pursuance of a plot already matured, in antici- 

 pation of the decision of the Circuit Court, the con- 

 spirators forgetting, in their haste, that no writ of 

 ouster had ever been issued betook themselves to the 

 room where the Chief-Justice of the State (the sole 

 dissenter from the decision of the Supreme Court in 

 the matter) awaited them, by previous appointment ; 

 and then, armed with the Chief-Justice's attestation 

 to Mr. Brooks's oath of office, proceeded forcibly to 

 eject from the State-House the chief magistrate of 

 the Commonwealth. 



An appeal lies, of course, to the Supreme Court of 

 the State. That Supreme Court has already, in a 

 case involving the point at issue, determined that no 

 court has the authority to decide the validity of elec- 

 tion of any executive officer of the State. It need' 

 hardly be remarked that, pending ah appeal, the ef- 

 fect of the judgment of the Circuit Court of Pulaski 

 County is suspended, and that the undertaking to 



