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To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled .
The House of Representatives of the State of Louisi-
ana, duly organized in accordance with the laws of the
State, would most respectfully state to your honorable
bodies that having convened in the Capitol of the State
on the 4th day of January, 1875, and having organized
permanently according to law, their Speaker and a ma-
jority of the members were compelled to retire by the
troops of the United States; the facts being as follows:
On Monday, January 4, 1875, at 12 o'clock M., the
Clerk of the former House called the roll of members as
returned by the Returning Board, to the number of one
hundred and six—one hundred and eleven constituting a
full house—and after reading the certificate of the Secre-
tary of State attached thereto, announced a quorum
present; fifty-six being the number required.
Thereupon, on motion of Mr. Billieu, of Lafourche,
which was carried, the Hon. L. A. Wiltz, of Orleans,
took the chair as temporary Speaker. Mr. Wiltz, as
Speaker, called the House to order. The oath of office
was duly administered to him by Justice Houston, and
thereupon the Speaker administered the oath to the re-
turned members of the House. riv
A motion was then made to declare Mr. P. J. Treze-
vant Clerk of the House, pro tem., which was carried.
A motion was next made to appoint Mr. E. Flood
Sergeant-at-Arms pro tem., which was carried.
Motions and calls from both the Republican and Con-
servative sides for a permanent organization followed,
but great confusion prevailing, the Chair, refused to en-
tertain any motion until order was somewhat restored:
The following resolution, offered by Mr. Billieu, of La-
fourche, was then moved and passed :
* Be # Resolved, That James Brice, Jr., of the Parish
of Bienville, Charles Schuler and John L. Scales, of the
Parish of DeSoto, C. C. Dunn, of the Parish of Grant,
and George A. Kelly, of the Parish of Winn, be and
they are hereby declared duly, elected members of this
House, and as such are entitled to their seats, reserving
to their opponents, if any, all rights of contestation.”
These five, being members from the four parishes whose
returns the Returning Board had neglected to promul-
gate, and had referred to the Legislature for its decision,
were then duly sworn in and took their seats.
Thereafter, motions from both Republicans and Con-
servatives were made for a permanent organization, and
the Speaker announced the motion carried. Mr. L. A.
Wiltz was nominated by the Conservatives, and Messrs.
Hahn and C. W. Lowell by the Republicans. Mr. Lowell
declined. The Speaker then ordered the roll to be called,
which roll was ſhe same as called by the former Clerk,
Mr. Vigers, (then functus officio), with the addition of the
five names above mentioned.
The roll being called, the Clerk announced the vote
as follows; L. A. Wiltz, 55 votes; M. Hahn, 2 votes;
blank, 1 vote—Mr. Wiltz voting blank.
No objection or dispute was made to the count, or to
the announcement of the vote. At this juncture several
of the Republican members indicated a disposition to
leave the hall, and a number of these retired.
Mr. Wiltz was duly sworn, and the roll being called,
the members came to the Speaker's stand and were
sworn in by him, four at a time, to the number of fifty-
nine (59) including Messrs. Baker, Drury, Hahn, Murrill
and Thomas, Republicans, who remained and partici-
pated in the proceedings after the permanent organ-
ization. -
A motion was then made and carried to elect Mr.
Trezevant Chief Clerk of the House; and another mo-
tion was made and carried, electing Mr E. Flood Ser-
geant-at-Arms of the House. Thus was the permanent
organization of the House of Representatives effected,
in accordance with the Constitution of the State of
Louisiana—see articles 17, 20, 34 and 46 of the Consti-
tution of the State of Louisiana, and section 44 of act
98, of 1872—and in accordance with law and parliamen-
tary usage. The Speaker then announceed that the
House was ready for business, and notices of contest of
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ing of Messrs. Dupre, Pipes, Carloss, Young, Hammond,
Hahn and Thomas. In the meanwhile, during the pro-
ceedings in the House, an additional number of police,
with a crowd of disorderly persons, entered the lobby
and engaged in menacing alteration with the Sergeant-
at-Arms and his ten assistants. Finding that the Ser-
geants-at-Arms were contending with the mob, the
Speaker endeavored to procure the attendance of addi-
tional Sergeants-at-Arms, and for this purpose addressed
a note to the officials who were in possession and control
of the barricaded doors of the State House, to allow
fifty citizens to be admitted for that purpose. This re-
quest, made in writing, was refused. About 1 o'clock,
P. M., the disturbance in the lobby grew serious and a
conflict was imminent.
Then, in order to avoid a collision, Gen. DeTrobriand,
of the United States Army, who had sometime pre-
viously entered and occupied the State House with his
soldiers, was sent for. After entering the hall he was
addressed by the Speaker as follows: “Gen. DeTrobriand,
at the request of the members of the House of Repre-
sentatives, I have sent for you, to say that the House of
Representatives of the State of Louisiana is organized,
with myself as permanent Speaker, and to request you,
if your orders will permit, to please say a few words to
the unruly persons in the lobby, and thereby prevent
bloodshed. I feel and know that I can maintain the
dignity of the House, but it is not my wish, nor that of
the members of the House, to bring on a conflict,
Hence, you will oblige me if you will say a few words to
the lobby.
The General then retired to the lobby and spoke to
the crowd, which then dispersed, and order was restored.
After this interruption, the House proceeding with its
business, the Committee on Elections and Returns re-
ported, and upon their report the following named Rep-
resentatives 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 Par-
ish of Caddo; J. Jeffries, R. L. Luckett and G. W. Stafford,
of the Parish of Rapides, and William F. Schwing, of
the Parish of Iberia.
Afterwards, while the proceedings of the House were
quietly progressing, about the hour of 3 o'clock, P. M.,
Gen. P. R. DeTrobriand, 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 doc-
uments of which the following are copies:
“STATE of Louis IANA, |
“Executive Department, New Orleans,
“January 4, 1875.
“Gen. DeTrobriand, Commanding :
“An illegal assembly of men having taken possession
of the hall of the House of Representatives, and the police
not being able to dislodge them, I respectfully request
that you 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. KELLOGG, Governor.”
“Executive Department, New Orleans,
“STATE OF LOUISIANA,
“January 4, 1875.
“ Gen. Deſrobriand :
“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
Representatives 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 of the House, and,
at the request of Gen. DeTrobriand, they were read by
his Adjutant.
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Speaker Wiltz then asked Gen. DeTrobriand : “Have
You submitted these documents to Gen. Emory?” Gen.
De Trobriand—“I have not, but I presume that dupli-
ºte 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 2*
Gen. DeTrobriand—“I am but a soldier; these are
my orders. I cannot enter into the consideration of
that question.” The General further stated that he was
under instructions to obey the orders of Gov. Kellogg.
Speaker Wiltz—" I respect you, General, as a gen-
tleman and a 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 as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
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, then Hugh J.
Campbell and T. C. Anderson assisted Gen. Deſtro-
briand in identifying the members to be ejected. Gen.
De Trobriand then ordered his soldiers, fully armed and
with fixed bayonets, into the hall, from the lobby, and
approached the members successively, while in their seats,
tº wit: O'Quinn, Vaughan, Stafford, Jeffries, Luckett,
Dunn, Kelly, Horan and Land, and one by one he caused
them to be taken from the hall by his soldiers, each gen-
tleman first rising in his place and entering his solemn
protest, in the name of his constituents, against the unlaw-
ful expulsion.
Thus were these gentlemen ignominiously arrested,
and despite their public protestation and their appeals
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 Represen-
tatives of the State of Louisiana, at the point of the bay-
onet, by the officers and soldiers of the United States
Army. - -
Gen. DeTrobriand then proceeded to eject the Clerk
and arrest the proceedings of the Assembly, and for that
purpose brought a file of soldiers to the Speaker's stand;
when the Speaker arose and addressed the House as
follows: -
"As the legal speaker of the House of Representa-
tives of the State of Louisiana, I protest against the in-
vasion 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 Loui-
siana, I again enter my solemn protest. Gentlemen, the
Chair of the Speaker of the House of Representatives of
the State of Louisiana, is surrounded by United States
troops; the hall of the House of Representatives in pos-
session of armed forces, and I call upon the Representa-
tives of the State of Louisiana to retire, with me, from
their presence.” *
The Speaker then left the hall, followed by all the
Conservative members, the hall being left in possession
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 accomplished.
We solemnly warn the American people, jealous of
their liberties, that a military power dispersing a House
of Representatives in the S.ate of Louisiana, may yet
serve as a precedent to shackle them and their prosper-
ity, if in the hour of trial, standing as we do to-day,
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amid t ns of constitutional liberty,they leave us to
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