LOUISL\ 



Iff 



Attorney-General, or aa circumstances may deter- 



U. 8. GKAM'. 



-r a consultation between the Secretary 

 of u arand tin- Attorney-General of the United 



, tin' follow ing instructions, with tlio np- 



1 of tin.- 1'ivsiik-nt, were addressed to the 

 vuriou, I uiti-.l States Marshals and Attorneys 

 in l.ouiMana: 



DEPARTMENT or JUSTICE, ) 

 WASHINGTON, September 8, 1874. j 

 SIR : Outrages of various descriptions, and in some 

 cases I urders, having been committed in 



your district by bodies of armed men, sometimes in 

 disguise, and with a view, it is believed, of overaw- 

 ing and intimidating peaceable and law-abiding cit- 



and depriving them of rights guaranteed to 

 them by the Constitution and laws of the United 

 States, your attention is directed to an act of Con- 

 gress passed April 9. 1866, entitled " An act to pro- 

 tect all persons in the United States in their civil 

 rights, and to furnish means for their vindication:" 

 and to another passed April 20, 1871, entitled " An 

 act to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth amend- 

 ment to the Constitution of the United States and for 

 other purposes ; " also to one passed May 80, 1870, 

 entitled "An act to enforce the right of citizens to 

 vote in the several States of this Union, and for other 

 purposes," which with their amendments make these 

 deeds of violence and blood offenses within the Juris- 

 diction of the General Government. I consider it 

 my duty, in view of the circumstances, to instruct 

 you to proceed with all possible energy and dispatch 

 to detect, expose, arrest, and punish the perpetrators 

 of these crimes, and to that end you ore to spare no 

 effort or necessary expense. Troops of the United 

 States will be stationed at different and convenient 

 points in your district for the purpose of giving you 

 all needful aid in discharge of your official duties. 

 You understand, of course, that no interference 

 whatever is hereby intended with any political or 

 party action not in violation of law, but protection 

 to all classes of citizens, white and colored, in the 

 free exercise of the elective franchise and the enjoy- 

 ment of the other rights and privileges to which they 

 are entitled under the Constitution and laws as citi- 

 zens of the United States. These instructions are 

 issued by authority of the President, and with the 

 concurrence of the Secretary of War. 



Very respectfully, 

 GEOEGE W. WILLIAMS, Attorney-General. 



This action on the part of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment led to the publication of the follow- 

 ing resolutions by the Committee of Seventy : 



ROOMS COMJIITTEE OF SEVENTY, } 

 September 8, 1874. j 



In view of the recent action of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment in relation to the Southern States, and con- 

 sidering the bearing of that action upon the State of 

 Louisiana, be it 



Resolved, That in our judgment, this action is the 

 result of an entire misunderstanding of the real sit- 

 uation of affairs in this State, and, we fear, will tend 

 to protract the unhappy condition of things put of 

 which the evils sought to be remedied have arisen. 



Resolved, That, in our opinion, the true cause of 

 the trouble in Louisiana is to be found in the fact 

 that the people have no confidence in the present 

 usurping Government, which does not command 

 their obedience, and which fails to give protection, 

 because it is not founded upon " the consent of the 

 governed." 



Resolved, That in our opinion the immediate res- 

 toration of the State government to the hands of its 

 legally-elected officers, from which it was wrested 

 by Federal power, is the true remedy, and would 

 quickly compose all our difficulties, and restore peace 

 and good order. 



Rttolttd, That in our opinion the only effect of 

 this action of tin- Admlniftntlon should be to unite 

 >]>le and strengthen the determination of every 

 true i-iti/i n to ii . i, hiniM-lt' inoru uniulnithly to 

 the public interest, and to contribute more freely by 

 every mentis in hi.i power to the tucoeM of our 

 cauht assured that with u clear majority, union, 

 vigilance, and courage, must secure a victory in No- 

 vember. 



Retolced, That in the opinion of this committee 

 the people should refrain from all acts of violence, 

 and should address themselves with energy to the 

 work of organization, with the view of securing a 

 free and impartial exercise of the elective franchise 

 at the approaching election. 



Itesolved, That in the opinion of this committee 

 the blood of every man who has been killed in tbia 

 State in consequence of political strife within the 

 past two years lies properly at the door of William 

 Pitt Kellogg, who holds and exercises the highest 

 office in the State, in open defiance of law and jus- 

 tice, and the opinion 01 the civilized world. 



K. H. MARK, Chairman. 



On Monday, the 14th of September, a mass- 

 meeting of persons, variously estimated at from 

 2,000 to 5,000 in number, was held at the Clay 

 Statue in Canal Street, New Orleans. This 

 meeting was in response to a call previously 

 made, and its chief objects seem to have been 

 to protest against the Kellogg administration 

 in general, and particularly the seizure of arms 

 shipped to parties in New Orleans, and also 

 to demand the immediate abdication of Gov- 

 ernor Kellogg and the State officers under 

 him. The meeting was called to order about 

 eleven o'clock A. M., and, after several spirited 

 speeches had been made, the following reso- 

 lutions were adopted : 



Whereas, At a general election held in Louisiana 

 on the 4th day of November, 1872, John McEnery 

 was elected Governor by a majority of 10,000 vote's 

 over his opponent, William P. Kellogg ; and D. B. 

 Penn Lieutenant-Governor by a majority of 15,000 

 over his opponent, C. C. Antoine ; and 



Whereas, By fraud and violence those defeated 

 seized the Executive chair, and from time to time, 

 by other irregular, fraudulent, and violent acts, in 

 the face of the report of the committee of the Sen- 

 ate of the United States appointed to investigate the 

 affairs of Louisiana, that the existing government 

 of the State is a usurpation, the result of a violent 

 abuse of judicial functions and sustained by force, 

 W. P. Kellogg has continued himself in power to 

 the gross wrong and outrage of the people of the 

 State of Louisiana, and to the imminent danger of 

 republican institutions throughout the country ; and 



WJiereas, With a view to controlling and deter- 

 mining the results of the approaching election to be 

 held in Louisiana in November next he has, under 

 an act known as the registration act, and passed for 

 the purpose of defeating the popular will, secured 

 to himself and his party the power of denying regis- 

 tration to lona-fide citizens whose applications uc- 

 forc the courts for a mandamus to compel the assist- 

 ant supervisors to enroll and register tiiem has been 

 rct'usfil, tlu- registration law indeed punishing courts 

 if they dare to take cognizance of such appeals ; and 



Wfurta*, by l'ul.-<' nial infamous misrepresentations 

 of the feelings and motives of our people, lie has 

 received promise of aid from the Federal Army, 

 placed at the order of the Attorney-General of the 

 United States, and subject to the calls of the United 

 States Marshals, for the purpose of overawing our 

 State, and controlling the election ; and 



Whereas, In the language of the call for the meet- 

 ing, " one by one our dearest rights have been 



