462 



LOUISIANA. 



the Commission were directed mainly to se- 

 curing a majority of members, whose election 

 was not questioned by either party, in both 

 branches of what was known as the Nicholls 

 Legislature, as there was no hope of effecting 

 tli3 same result in the rival body. On the 16th 

 of April the Legislature adopted the following 

 joint resolution : 



Whereis, The people of the State of Louisiana, 

 after years of suffering and misrule, have, with su- 

 preme satisfaction, seen the wise determination of 

 President Hayes, as expressed in his inaugural and 

 already happily executed in South Carolina, to re- 

 store local self-government to the Southern States, 

 and peace and prosperity to the whole country by a 

 return to a rigid following of the wise principles of 

 constitutional government : therefore, be it 



R'solveH, by the Senate and House of Representa- 

 tives in General Assembly convened : 



1. That we cordially indorse the policy of the Pres- 

 ident as enunciated in his inaugural, and we pledge 

 our hearty cooperation, aid, and support, in the exe- 

 cution thereof. 



2. That the execution of the said policy in the 

 State of Louisiana will prove the source of inestima- 

 ble blessings to her people, lift up their burdened 

 spirits, heal their wounded prosperity, renew their 

 wasted fields, bring happinsss to their homes, and 

 give to the whole people, without distinction of race 

 or color, a future of progress as well moral as mate- 

 rial. 



3. That as an earnest of our endeavors, we hereby 

 solemnly declare that it is and will be the purpose 

 of the Government of the State of Louisiana, repre- 

 sented by Francis T. Nicholls as its executive head : 



1. To accept, in good faith, the 13th, 14th, and 

 loth Amendments to the Constitution of the United 

 States, in letter and in spirit. 



2. The enforcement of the law, rigidly and impar- 

 tially, to the end that violence and crime shall be 

 supprassed aud promptly punished, and that peace 

 and order prevail, and that the humblest laborer 

 upon the soil of Louisiana, throughout every parish 

 in the State, of every color, shall receive the full and 

 equal protection of the laws in person, property, and 

 political rights and privileges. 



3. To the promotion of the kindly relations be- 

 tween the white and colored citizens of the State, 

 upon a basis of justice and mutual confidence. 



4. The education of all classes of the people being 

 essential to the preservation of free institutions, we 

 do declare our solemn purpose to maintain a system 

 of public schools by an equal and uniform taxation 

 upon property, as provided in the Constitution of tlie 

 State, and which shall secure the education of the 

 children of white and colored citizens equally. 



5. Desirous of healing the dissensions that have 

 disturbed the State for years past, and anxious that 

 the citizens of all political parties may be free from 

 the feverish anxieties of political strife, and join 

 hands in honestly restoring the prosperity of Louisi- 

 ana, the Nicholls Government will discountenance 

 any attempted persecution, from any quarter, of in- 

 dividuals for past political conduct. 



6. That the Governor be requested to forward 

 a copy of these resolutions to the President of the 

 United States. 



These were transmitted to the Commission, 

 with the following letter : 



EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, STATE OF LOUISIANA, ) 



NEW ORLEANS, April 18, 1877. 

 To the Hon. Charles B. Lawrence., Wayne McVeigh, 



John M. Harlan, Joseph R. Jlawley, John C. Brown. 



GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to transmit here- 

 with a copy of joint resolutions adopted by the Gen- 

 eral Assembly r>f the State of Louisiana. 



In so doing I desiro to say that they express not 



merely abstract ideas, but the conviction of our peo- 

 ple, which will be practically executed by them 

 through their representatives, their courts, and their 

 executive government. 



As the chief magistrate of the State it will not only 

 be my pleasure, but my bounden duty, to give every 

 assistance in my power to that end. 



I am thoroughly satisfied that any course of polit- 

 ical action traced on a narrower line than the good 

 of the whole people, regardless of color or condition, 

 must inevitably lead to disaster and ruin. My views 

 on this subject were fully stated to the Convention 

 by which 1 was nominated, and to the people by 

 whom I was elected, and every day's experience 

 fortifies me in the belief that any policy founded on 

 these principles must necessarily result in the attain- 

 ment of the ends for which all just governments are 

 established. 



I have earnestly sought to obliterate the color line 

 in politics, and consolidate the people on the basis 

 of equal rights and common interests, and it is a 

 source of gratification to be able to say that this 

 great object is about to be realized. I feel I do but 

 speak the sentiments of the people when I declare 

 that their government will secure : 



1. A vigorous and efficient enforcement of tha 

 laws, so that all persons and property will be fully 

 and equally protected, and should occasion require 

 it, I will proceed in person where any disorders may 

 menace the public peace, or the political rights of 

 any citizen. 



2. The establishment of a system of public educa- 

 tion, to be supported by equal and uniform taxation 

 upon property, so that all. without regard to race or 

 color, may secure equal advantages thereunder. 



3. The fostering of immigration in order to hasten 

 the development of the great natural resources of 

 the State. 



Having thus committed our government and peo- 

 ple to these great principles, I desire to add the 

 most emphatic assurances that the withdrawal of 

 the troops of the United States to their barracks, in- 

 stead of causing any disturbance of the peace or any 

 tendency to riot or disorder, will be the source of 

 profound gratification to our people, and will be ac- 

 cepted by them as proof of the confidence of the 

 President in their capacity for orderly self-govern- 

 ment. Enjoying, under the blessings of Divine 

 Providence, the happiness resulting from a govern- 

 ment based upon liberty and justice, the people of 

 Louisiana cannot fail to appreciate that their good 

 fortune is largely due to the magnanimous policy so 

 wisely inaugurated and so consistently maintained 

 by the President of the United States. 

 'I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

 FRANCIS T. NICHOLLS. 



On the 20th of April the object of the Com- 

 mission had been effected, several persons who 

 had held seats in the Packard Legislature go- 

 ing over to that of Nicholls. The same day the 

 following letter was addressed to the Secretary 

 of War by the President : 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 

 WASHINGTON, April 20, 1877. ) 

 SIR : Prior to my entering upon the duties of the 

 Presidency, there had been stationed, by order of my 

 predecessor, in the immediate vicinity of the build- 

 ing used as the State-House, in New Orleans, La., 

 and known as Mechanics Institute, a detachment or 

 United States infantry. Finding them in that place, 

 I have thought proper to delay a decision of the ques- 

 tion of their removal until I could determine wheth- 

 er the condition of affairs is now such as to either 

 require or justify the continued military intervention 

 of the National Government in the affairs of the State. 

 In my opinion there does not now exist in Louisiana 

 kucli domestic violence as is contemplated by the 



