

PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



711 



the wishes of tholr employer*, un-li-r threats of dis- 

 charge If they acted othcrwiae; ami there are too 

 many Instances in which, win n th< -. threats were 

 .Mtvled, they were remowelesHly executed by 

 who iiiinli- them. I understand that tho fif- 

 teenth amendment to the Constitution waa made to 

 i'iv\ i-nt thin and a like state of things, and the act of 

 May 81, 1870, with amendments, was paused to en- 

 force UH provisions, the object of both being to 

 gimrnntci! t all citizens tho right to veto and to pro- 

 .111 in the tree enjoyment of that right. En- 

 j'i'itif.1 hy tin- ('institution "to take euro that the laws 

 M faithfully executed," and convinced by undoubted 

 v. l.-nco (hat violations of said net hau been oom- 

 iii!!;.-, I. and that a wide-spread nnd flagrant disregard 

 "!' it was contemplated, the proper officers were in- 

 l t<> prosecute the offenders, and troops were 

 vtutionrcl :>t i- 'iivriitriit points to aid these officers, if 

 necessary, in the performance of tlioir ollicial duties. 

 < tomplftlnti are made of this interference by Federal 

 authority ; hut it' said amendment and act do not pro- 

 viilo tor such interference under tho circumstances as 

 above stated, then they are without meaning, force, 

 or effect, anu the whole scheme of colored enfran- 

 chisement is worse than mockery, and little better 

 than a crime. Possibly Congress may flnd it duo to 

 truth and justice to ascertain, by means of a com- 

 mittee, whether the alleged wrongs to colored citi/ens 

 for political purposes are real, or the reports thereof 

 were manufactured for the occasion. 



The whole number of troops in the States of Lou- 

 isiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, 

 North Carolina, Kentucky. Tennessee, Arkansas. 

 Mississippi, Maryland, and Virginia, at the time of 

 tho election was Your thousand and eighty-two. This 

 embraces the garrisons of all the forts from the Dela- 

 ware to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Another trouble has arisen in Arkansas. Article 

 XIII. of the constitution of that State (which was 

 adopted in 1868, and upon the approval of which by 

 Congress the State was restored to representation as 

 one of the States of the Union) provides in effect that, 

 before any amendments proposed to this constitution 

 shall become a part thereof, they shall be passed by 

 two successive Assemblies, and then submitted to and 

 ratified by a majority of the electors of the State vot- 

 ing thereon. On the llth of May, 1874, tho Governor 

 convened an extra session of the General Assembly 

 of the State, which, on the 18th of the same month, 

 passed an act providing for a convention to frame a 

 new constitution. Pursuant to this act, nnd at nn elec- 

 tion held on the 80th of June, 1874, the convention was 

 approved, and delegates were chosen thereto, who 

 assembled on the 14th of lost July and framed a new 

 constitution, the schedule of which provided for the 

 election of an entire new set of State officers in a 

 manner contrary to the then existing election laws of 

 the State. On the 18th of October, 1874, this con- 

 stitution, as therein provided, was submitted to tho 

 people for their approval or rejection, and according 

 to the election-returns was approved by a large ma- 

 jority of those qualified to vote thereon, and at the 

 some election persons were chosen to fill all the State, 

 county, and township offices. The Governor elected 

 in 1872 for the term of four years turned over his 

 office to the Governor chosen under the new con- 

 stitution ; whereupon the Lieutenant-Governor, also 

 elected in 1872 for a term of four years, claiming to 

 act as Governor, and alleging that said proceedings 

 by which the new constitution was made and a new set 

 of officers elected were unconstitutional, illegal, and 

 void, called upon me, as provided in section 4, Article 

 IV. of the Constitution, to protect the State against 

 domestic violence. As Congress is now investigating 

 the political affairs of Arkansas, I have declined to 

 interfere. 



The whole subject of Executive interference with 

 the affairs of a State is repugnant to public opinion, 

 to the feeling of those who, from their official capacity, 

 must be used in such interposition, and to him or 



those who miwt direct. Unless most cltariy on th side 

 of law, Huch interference becomes a crime ; with the 

 law to support it, it is condemned without a hearing. 

 I desire, therefore, that all necessity for Executive di- 

 rection in local affairs may become unnecessary and 

 obsolete. I invite tho attention, not of Congress, but 

 of the people of tho United States, to the causes Mid 

 effects of these unhappy questions. Is there not a 

 disposition on one side to magnify wrongs and out- 

 rages, and on the other side to belittle them or juntilj. 

 them I If public opinion could be directed to a cor- 

 rect survey of what is, and to rebuking wrong, and 

 aiding the proper authorities in punishing it, a better 

 state of feeling would be inculcated, ana the sooner 

 we would have that peace which would leave the 

 States froo indeed te regulate their own domestic 

 ntutirs. I believe on the part of our citizens of the 

 Southern States the better part of them there is a 

 deposition to bo law-abiding, and to dp no violence 

 either to individuals or to the laws existing. But do 

 they do right in ignoring tho existence of violence 

 ana bloodshed in resistance to constituted authority [ 

 I sympathize with their prostrate condition, and would 

 do all in my power to relieve them ; acknowledging 

 that in some instances they have had most trying 

 governments to live under, and very oppressive ones 

 in the way of taxation for nominal improvements, 

 not giving benefits equal to the hardships imposed ; 

 but, con they proclaim themselves entirely irrespon- 

 sible for this condition I They cannot. Violence has 

 been rampant in some localities, and has either been 

 justified or denied by those who coukl have pre- 

 vented it. The theory is even raised that there is to 

 be no further interference on the part of the General 

 Government to protect citizens within a State where 

 the State authorities fail to give protection. This is 

 a great mistake. While I remain Executive all the 

 laws of Congress, and the provisions of the Constitu- 

 tion, including the recent amendments added thereto, 

 will be enforced with rigor, but with regret that they 

 should have added one jot or tittle to Executive duties 

 or powers. Let there oe fairness in the discussion 

 of Southern questions, the advocates of both, or all 

 political parties, giving honest, truthful reports of 

 occurrences, condemning the wrong and upholding 

 the right, and soon all will be well. Under existing 

 conditions the negro votes the Republican ticket be- 

 cause he knows his friends are of that party. Many 

 a good citizen votes the opposite, not because he 

 agrees with the great principles of state which sepa- 

 rate parties, but because, generally r he is opposed to 

 negro rule. This is a most delusive cry. Treat the 

 negro as a citizen and a voter as he is and must re- 

 main and soon parties will be divided, not on the 

 color line, but on principle. Then we shall have no 

 complaint of sectional interference. 



The report of the Attorney-General contains valu- 

 able recommendations relating to the administration 

 of justice in the courts of the United States, to which. 

 I invite your attention. 



I respectfully suggest to Congress the propriety of 

 increasing the number of judicial districts in the 

 United States to eleven, the present number being 

 nine, and the creation of two additional judgeships. 

 The territory to be traversed by the circuit judges is 

 so great, and. the business of the courts so steadily in- 

 creasing, that it is growing more and more impossible 

 for them to keep up with the business requiring their 

 attention. Whether this would involve the necessity 

 of adding two more Justices of the Supreme Court to 

 the present number I submit to the judgment of Con- 

 gress. 



The attention of Congress is invited to the report 

 of the Secretary of the interior, and to the legislation 

 asked for by him. The domestic interests of the peo- 

 ple are more intimately connected with this depart- 

 ment than with either of the other departments of 

 Government. Its duties have been added to from 

 time to time until they have become so onerous that 

 without the most perfect system and order it will be 



