ALABAMA. 



11 



ALABAMA. The session of the Legislature 

 of Alabama, which began in the latter part of 

 1874, continued till the 20th of March. After 

 the interference of the Federal authority in the 

 organization of the Legislature of Louisiana on 

 the 4th of January, resolutions were presented 

 in both branches condemning the action of the 

 military authorities in New Orleans. These 

 were referred to the appropriate committees, 

 and finally a protest was agreed upon, which was 

 adopted and directed to be sent to the Gov- 

 ernor of each State and to the Senators and 

 representatives of Alabama in Congress. This 

 protest, after recounting the occurrences in 

 New Orleans, ran as follows: 



This General Assembly cordially recognizes the 

 authority of the Government of the United States in 

 all its branches, in all matters of national impor- 

 tance, and which are confided to it by the Constitu- 

 tion of the United States. This General Assembly 

 recognizes the fact that by authority as high as that 

 which ordained that Constitution, and in recognition 

 of which that same Constitution was formed, a large 

 part of the powers and duties for which a govern- 

 ment is established, is to be exercised by the States, 

 through their own organs of State government. To 

 perform the duties so confided to the States, their 

 governments in their several departments must be 

 tree from all dictation by any other power, and 

 should be protected against the use of external force 

 in the discharge of these duties. 



This is a principle fundamental to American insti- 

 tutions, and, as to legislative bodies, is expressed in 

 the formula incorporated in the Constitution of the 

 United States, that "each House shall be the judge 

 of the election, returns^ and qualification of its own 

 members." Every legislative body must, of neces- 

 sity, be free from external dictation, as to its own 

 membership, and as to the laws it shall enact, other- 

 wise it is the mere register of the will of some other 

 power, and not a law-making body. This General 

 Assembly can discern in the expulsion on January 

 4, 1875, from the House of Representatives of the 

 State of Louisiana, of certain of its members, by an 

 armed force of the United States soldiers, nothing 

 short of a plain violation of a right of necessity be- 

 longing to, and inherent in, each of these United 

 States, as a community charged with the duty of 

 local self-government, an offense against the people 

 of the United States, and against each of the States 

 which form the American Union. 



This General Assembly does hereby declare that 

 the good people of this State are, and have been, 

 since the recognition of Alabama, as a readmitted 

 State, loyal to the Union of these States, and the Con- 

 stitution and laws thereof. 



With this honest expression of loyalty to the 

 Union, and with an earnest desire that its govern- 

 ment may, by all proper means, " form a more per- 

 fect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 

 quillity, provide for the common defense, promote 

 the general welfare, and secure the blessings of lib- 

 erty to ourselves and our posterity;" this General 

 Assembly, actuated alone. by principles of patriotism 

 and the love of liberty, regulated by wise laws, does 

 solemnly and earnestly protest against the course 

 which has been pursued toward the State of Louisi- 

 ana by the military authorities of the United States. 

 Such course has no justification in any of the powers 

 granted for the grand objects and purposes for which 

 the Constitution declares the Government of the 

 United States to be established. It is utterly sub- 

 versive of the right of local self-government by the 

 States of the Union, and is, in fact, the destruction 

 of the liberties of the people of the several States. 



Early in February, a memorial signed by 



several Republican members of the Legislature, 

 and addressed to the President of the United 

 States and the Eepublican members of both 

 branches of Congress, was submitted to the 

 United States Senate by George E. Spencer, 

 one of the Senators from Alabama, setting 

 forth " 1. That changes have been made by 

 the Alabama Legislature in the penal code of 

 the State by which a system of involuntary 

 servitude and espionage for African citizens is 

 sought to be inaugurated; 2. That political 

 legislation has been enacted by means of which 

 ninety-three thousand Republican voters are 

 practically deprived of representation ; that the 

 Republican constitution is restricted, and there 

 is a practical nullification of the constitutional 

 amendments;" and asking Congress to em- 

 power the President to suspend the writ of 

 habeas corpus in certain contingencies, in or- 

 der to preserve the peace in the Southern 

 States. 



When this memorial and the fact that it had 

 been submitted to the United States Senate 

 were made known in Montgomery, the Senate 

 of Alabama adopted resolutions declaring it to 

 be a " gross misrepresentation of the facts and 

 liable to do great injury to the people of Ala- 

 bama," as no laws had been passed " by which 

 a system of involuntary servitude and espionage 

 for African citizens is sought to be inaugu- 

 rated ; but all penal laws that have been passed 

 have had for their object the suppression of 

 crime which was admitted by all to exist, and 

 said laws affected alike all races and were not 

 discriminative in their character, and no law 

 had been passed that prevents any class of 

 citizens of the State from equal representation." 

 A joint committee of the two branches of the 

 General Assembly was raised to ascertain 

 whether or not "said document is authorized, 

 and, if so, which members, if any, of this body, 

 signed the same, and what should be the action 

 of this Senate in the premises." The commit- 

 tee in its report gave the names of certain 

 members who had signed the memorial, and 

 certain others whose names were appended 

 without their consent, and made the following 

 statements regarding the matter : 



Your committee are required to report what ought 

 to be the action of the Senate after their investiga- 

 tion. The act of an individual is innocent or crimi- 

 nal when viewed through the motive which prompt- 

 ed it ; and looking at the evidence, your committee 

 are of the opinion that the Senators who signed said 

 memorial were imposed upon and deceived as to its 

 contents, by the designing and unscrupulous men 

 who were its authors. 



Your committee cannot condemn in too strong 

 terms this attempt to stab the reputation of the Sen- 

 ate, and through them to assassinate the liberty of 

 every citizen of Alabama. 



The statement of the prayer of the memorial is the 

 demonstration of its atrocity. The unscrupulous 

 leaders who concocted this libel had but one object 

 in view, and that was to procure the passage of an 

 act by Congress authorizing the President to suspend 

 the writ of habeas corpus at his own will and pleasure. 

 To accomplish this they willfully and maliciously 

 perverted the truth, and, not satisfied with their own 



