498 



LOUISIANA. 



to the crowd, which then dispersed, and order was 

 restored. Alter this interruption, the House pro- 

 ceeding with its business, the Committee on Elec- 

 tions and Returns reported, and upon their report 

 the following-named representatives were duly sworn 

 in and seated as members: Messrs. John O'Quinn, 

 of the parish of Avoyelles ; J. J. Horan, A. D. Land, 

 and Thomas R. Vaughan, of the parish of Caddo ; 

 J. Jeffries.K. L. Luckett, and G. W. Stafford, of the 

 parish of Rapides, and William F. Schwing, of the 

 parish of Iberia. 



Afterward, while the proceedings of the House 

 were quietly progressing, about the hour of 3 o'clock, 

 p. M., General P. R. de Trobriand, commanding the 

 United States troops in and around the State-House, 

 entered the hall, in uniform, his sword by his side, 

 and accompanied by two of his staff, and by Mr. 

 Vigers, the former Clerk of the House, and addressed 

 Speaker Wiltz, exhibiting the documents of which 

 the following are copies : 



STATE OP LOUISIANA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, | 

 NEW ORLEANS, January 4, 1875. ( 

 General DE TROBRIAND, commanding : 



An illegal assembly of men having taken possession 

 of the hall of the House of Representatives, and the po- 

 lice not being able to dislodge them, I respectfully request 

 that von will immediately clear the hall and State-House 

 of all persons not returned as legal members of the 

 House of Representatives by the Returning Board of the 

 State. W. P. KELL.OGG, Governor. 



STATE OP LOUISIANA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, I 

 NEW ORLEANS, January 4, 1873. J 

 General DE TBOBRIAND : 



The Clerk of the House, who has in his possession the 

 roll issued by the Secretary of State as the legal mem- 

 bers of the House of Representatives, will point out to 

 you those persons now in the hall of the House of Rep- 

 resentatives returned by the legal Returning Board of 

 the State. W. P. KELLOGG, Governor. 



The Speaker refused to allow Mr. Vigers to read 

 these documents, he not being Clerk ot the House, 

 and, at the request of General de Trobriand, they 

 were read by his adjutant. 



Speaker Wiltz then asked Generrd de Trobriand: 

 "Have you submitted these documents to General 

 Emory?" 



GENERAL DE TROBRIAND. " I have not, but I pre- 

 sume duplicate copies have been sent to him." 



SPEAKER WILTZ. "General, I wish to say to you 

 that since our organization we have admitted, sworn 

 in, and seated five members from referred parishes. 

 Are these members to be ejected?" 



GENERAL DE THOBRIAND. " I am but a soldier ; 

 these are my orders. I cannot enter into the con- 

 sideration of that question." The general further 

 state-d that he was under instructions to obey the 

 orders of Governor Kellogg. 



SPEAKER WILTZ. " I respect you, general, as a gen- 

 tleman and soldier, and dislike to give you trouble ; 

 but I, like you, have a duty to perform, which I owe 

 to my State, to maintain the dignity and authority 

 of my position us Speaker of the House of Repre- 

 sentatives. Force will have to be used before I can 

 permit you to execute your orders." 



Upon the refusal of Speaker Wiltz and Mr. Treze- 

 vant, the Clerk, to point out the persons, and the 

 refusal of Speaker Wiltz to allow Mr. Vigers to call 

 the roll for the purpose of identifying the members, 

 Hugh J. Campbell and T. C. Anderson assisted 

 General de Trobriand in identifying the members to 

 be ejected. General de Trobriand then ordered his 

 soldiers, fully armed and with fixed bayonets, into 

 the hallj from the lobby, and approached the members 

 successively, while in their seats, to wit : O'Quinn, 

 Vaughan, Stafford, Jeffries, Luckett, Dunn, Kelley, 

 Horan, and Land, and one by one he caused them to 

 be taken from the hall by his soldiers, each gentle- 

 man first; rising in his place and entering his solemn 

 protest, in the name or his. constituents, against the 

 unlawful expulsion. 



Thus were these gentlemen ignominiously arrested, 



and despite their public protestation and their ap- 

 peals to the Speaker and the House for protection, 

 which neither could afford, were taken from their 

 seats and forcibly ejected from the hall of the House 

 of Representatives of the State of Louisiana, at the 

 point of the bayonet, by the officers and soldiers of 

 the United States Army. 



General de Trobriand then proceeded to eject the 

 Clerk, and arrested the proceedings of the Assembly, 

 and for that purpose brought a file of soldiers to the 

 Speaker's stand; when the Speaker arose and ad- 

 dressed the House as follows : 



" As the legal Speaker of the House of Represent- 

 atives of the S-tate of Louisiana, I protest against 

 the invasion of our hall by the soldiers of the United 

 States, with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. 

 We have seen our brother members violently seized 

 by force of arms and torn from us in spite of their 

 solemn protest. We have seen a file of soldiers 

 march up the aisle of the hall of the Representatives 

 of Louisiana, and have protested against this in the 

 name of a once free people. 



" In the name of the down-trodden State of Lou- 

 isiana, I again enter my solemn protest. Gentle- 

 men, the chair of the Speaker of the House of Rep- 

 resentatives of the State of Louisiana is surrounded 

 by United States troops ; the hall of the House of 

 Representatives is in possession of armed forces, and 

 I call upon the representatives of the State of Lou- 

 isiana to retire with me from their presence." 



The Speaker then left the ball, followed by all the 

 Conservative members, the hall being left in posses- 

 sion of the military. 



If we have dwelt thus somewhat at length upon 

 the details of the military overthrow of a sovereign 

 State, and her reduction to. a province, it is that other 

 States may see and know the process whereby the 

 overthrow of their own liberties may be accom- 

 plished. 



We solemnly warn the American people, jealous 

 of their liberties, that a military power dispersing a 

 House of Representatives in the State of Louisiana 

 may yet serve as a precedent to shackle them and 

 their posterity, if in the hour of trial, standing as 

 we do to-day, amid the ruins of constitutional lib- 

 erty, they leave us to our fate. 



All of which is respectfully submitted. 



Upon assuming command of the Department 

 of the Gulf, General Sheridan sent the follow- 

 ing to Washington : 



HEADQHS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI, I 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., January 4, 1875. 

 Theffon.W.W. BELKNAP, Sec'y of War, Washing/ton : 



It is with deep regret that I have to announce to 

 you the existence in this State of a spirit of defiance 

 to all lawful authority ; and an insecurity of life which 

 is hardly realized by the General Government or the 

 country at large. The lives of citizens have become 

 so jeopardized, that unless something is done to give 

 protection to the people, all security usually afforded 

 by law will be overridden. Defiance to the laws and 

 the murder of individuals seem to be looked upon by 

 the community here from a stand-point which gives 

 impunity to all who choose to indulge in either, and 

 the civil government appears powerless to punish, or 

 even arrest. I have to-night assumed control over 

 the Department of the Gulf. 



P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant-General. 



On the ensuing day, General Sheridan sent 

 to Secretary Belknap the following dispatch, 

 suggesting that the ringleaders of the armed 

 White League be declared banditti, and made 

 liable to arrest : 



HEADQRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI, ) 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., January 5, 1875. 

 The Hon. W. W. BELKNAP, Setfy of War, Washington : 

 I think the terrorism now existing in Louisiana, 



