Report on the Condition of the South Part 7

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 10th instant, asking me to revoke all appointments made by military or semi-military authority to civil offices in the State prior to the 4th of March, 1865.

I have given this subject the attention and serious consideration which its importance demands, and I find it complicated not only with the private and public interests of the people and State of Louisiana, but also with the direct interests of the government of the United States, or with the obligations imposed upon the government by the condition of the country or by the antecedent exercise of lawful military authority. To the extent that these considerations obtain they are controlling considerations, and I cannot find that I have any authority to delegate the duties devolved upon me by my official position, or to evade the responsibilities which it imposes. I venture the suggestion, also, that the evils complained of, and which are so apparent and painful to all who are interested in the restoration of civil authority, will scarcely be obtained by the course you recommend, but will, in my judgment, give rise to complications that will embarra.s.s not only the State but the general government.

All officers who hold their offices by the tenure of military appointment are subject to military authority and control, and will not be permitted to interfere in any manner whatever with the exercise of functions that have been committed to you as governor of Louisiana. If they are obnoxious to the charge of misconduct in office, or of obstructing you in your efforts to re-establish civil government, they will, upon your recommendation, be removed. If, under the const.i.tution and laws of the State, the power of appointment resides in the governor, my duty will be ended by vacating the appointment. If the office is elective, the military appointment will be cancelled so soon as the successor is elected and qualified. In the alternative cases the removal will be made, and successors recommended by you, and against whom there are no disqualifying charges, will be appointed.

This, in my judgment, is the only course which will remove all legal objections, or even legal quibbles.

I desire to divest myself as soon as possible of all questions of civil administration, and will separate, as soon and as far as I can, all such questions from those that are purely military in their character, and commit them to the care of the proper officers of the civil government.

Some of these questions are complicated in their character, and involve not only private and public interests, but the faith of the national government; originating in the legal exercise of military authority, they can only be determined by the same authority.

There is another consideration, not directly but incidentally involved in the subject of your communication, to which I have the honor to invite your attention. The results of the past four years have worked many changes both as to inst.i.tutions and individuals within the insurrectionary States, giving to some of the interests involved an absolutely national character, and in others leaving the relations between the general government and the States undetermined. So far as Congress has legislated upon these subjects, it has placed them under the direct control of the general government, and under the laws of nations and laws of war the same principle applies to the other subject. Until Congress has legislated upon this subject, or until Executive authority sanctions it, no questions of this character will be committed to the jurisdiction of the local courts.

I make these suggestions to you for the reason that I have already found a strong disposition in some sections of the country to forestall the action of the general government by bringing these subjects more or less directly under the control of the local courts; and I have neither the authority nor the disposition to establish precedents that may possibly embarra.s.s the future action of the government.

I take this occasion to a.s.sure your excellency of my hearty co-operation in your efforts to re-establish civil government, and in any measures that may be undertaken for the benefit of the State or people of Louisiana.

I shall be happy at all times to confer with you upon any of these subjects, and to give you, whenever necessary, any a.s.sistance that you may require.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

E.R.S. CANBY, _Major General, Commanding_.

His Excellency the GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA, _New Orleans, La_.

Official copy:

R. DES ANGES, _Major, A.A.G._

STATE OF LOUISIANA, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

_New Orleans, June_ 23, 1865.

General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 16th instant, in answer to mine of the 13th, relating to the expediency of your revoking the appointment of all civil officers in the State made by military or semi-military authority. I desire to state that your views and suggestions, as regards your duty and proper course of action in the premises, are entirely satisfactory to me. For the care you have bestowed on the subject, and the earnest disposition you evince to do all in your power to promote the interests of civil government in this unfortunate State, by co-operating with and sustaining me in all legitimate measures to that end, I beg to return you, not only my own thanks, but I feel authorized to speak for the great ma.s.s of our fellow-citizens, and to include them in the same category.

With high respect, I subscribe myself, your obedient servant,

J. MADISON WELLS, _Governor of Louisiana_.

Major General E.R.S. CANBY, _Commanding Department of the Gulf_.

Official copy:

R. DES ANGES, _Major, A.A.G._

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF LOUISIANA,

_New Orleans, September_ 8, 1865.

Sir: In compliance with your request, I have the honor to submit some remarks upon the civil government of Louisiana, and its relation to the military administration of this department. These relations are more anomalous and complicated, probably, than in any other insurrectionary State, and it will be useful in considering these questions to bear in mind the changes that have occurred since the occupation of this city by the Union forces. These are, briefly--

1. The military administration of the commander of the department of the Gulf, Major General Butler.

2. The military government, of which Brigadier General Shepley was the executive, by appointment of the President.

3. The provisional government, of which the Hon. M. Hahn was the executive, by appointment of the President, upon nomination by the people at an election held under military authority.

4. The const.i.tutional government, organized under the const.i.tution adopted by the convention in July, 1864, and ratified by the people at an election held in September of that year. Of this government the Hon. J.M. Wells is the present executive.

This government has not yet been recognized by Congress, and its relation to the military authority of the department has never been clearly defined. Being restrained by const.i.tutional limitations, its powers are necessarily imperfect, and it is frequently necessary to supplant them by military authority. Many of the civil officers still hold their positions by the tenure of military appointments holding over until elections can be held under the const.i.tution. These appointments may be vacated by the commander of the department, and, if under the const.i.tution the power of appointment reside in the governor, be filled by him: if it does not, the appointment must be filled by the military commander. Very few removals and no appointments have been made by me during my command of the department; but the governor has been advised that all persons holding office by the tenure of military appointment were subject to military supervision and control, and would not be permitted to interfere in the duties committed to him by the President of restoring "civil authority in the State of Louisiana;" that upon his recommendation, and for _cause_, such officers would be removed; and if the power of appointment was not under the const.i.tution vested in him, the appointment would be made by the department commander, if, upon his recommendation, there was no disqualifying exception.

The instructions to the military commanders, in relation to the previous governments, were general, and I believe explicit; but, as their application pa.s.sed away with the existence of these governments, it is not necessary to refer to them here. Those that relate to the const.i.tutional government are very brief, so far, at least, as they have reached me. In a confidential communication from his excellency to the late President, in which he deprecated, in strong terms, any military interferences, and expressed very freely his own views and wishes, he concluded by saying that "the military must be judge and master so long as the necessity for the military remains;" and, in my instructions from the War Department, of May 28, 1865, the Secretary of War says: "The President directs me to express his wish that the military authorities render all proper a.s.sistance to the civil authorities in control in the State of Louisiana, and not to interfere with its action further than it may be necessary for the peace and security of the department."

These directions and wishes have been conclusive, and I have given to the civil authorities whatever support and a.s.sistance they required, and have abstained from any interference with questions of civil or local State administration, except when it was necessary to protect the freedmen in their newly acquired rights, and to prevent the local courts from a.s.suming jurisdiction in cases where, of law and of right, the jurisdiction belongs inclusively to the United States courts or United States authorities. With the appointments made by the governor I have no right to interfere unless the appointees are disqualified by coming under some one of the exceptions made by the President in his proclamation of May 29, 1865, or, (as in one or two instances that have occurred,) in the case of double appointments to the same office, when a conflict might endanger the peace and security of the department.

My personal and official intercourse with the governor has been of the most cordial character. I have had no reason to distrust his wish and intention to carry out the views of the President. I do distrust both the loyalty and the honesty (political) of some of his advisers, and I look with apprehension upon many of the appointments made under these influences during the past two months. The feeling and temper of that part of the population of Louisiana which was actively engaged in or sympathized with the rebellion have also materially changed within that period.

The political and commercial combinations against the north are gaining in strength and confidence every day. Political, sectional, and local questions, that I had hoped were buried with the dead of the past four years, are revived. Independent sovereignty, State rights, and nullification, where the power to nullify is revoked, are openly discussed. It may be that these are only ordinary political discussions, and that I attach undue importance to them from the fact that I have never before been so intimately in contact with them; but, to my judgment, they indicate very clearly that it will not be wise or prudent to commit any question involving the paramount supremacy of the government of the United States to the States that have been in insurrection until the whole subject of restoration has been definitively and satisfactorily adjusted.

Before leaving this subject I think it proper to invite your attention to the position of a part of the colored population of this State. By the President's proclamation of January 1, 1863, certain parishes in this State (thirteen in number) were excepted from its provisions--the condition of the negroes as to slavery remaining unchanged until they were emanc.i.p.ated by the const.i.tution of 1864. If this const.i.tution should be rejected (the State of Louisiana not admitted under it) the legal condition of these people will be that of slavery until this defect can be cured by future action.

The government of the city of New Orleans, although administered by citizens, derives its authority from military orders, and its offices have always been under the supervision and control of the commander of the department, or of the military governor of the State. The present mayor was appointed by Major General Hurlbut, removed by Major General Banks, and reinstated by myself. Under the const.i.tution and laws of the State the princ.i.p.al city offices are elective, but the time has not yet been reached when an election for these offices should be held. Although standing in very different relations from the State government, I have thought it proper to apply the same rule, and have not interfered with its administration except so far as might be necessary to protect the interests of the government, or to prevent the appointment to offices of persons excepted by the President's proclamation.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ED. R.S. CANBY, _Major General, Commanding_.

Major General CARL SCHURZ _United States Volunteers, New Orleans_.

No. 9.

_STATEMENT OF GENERAL THOMAS KILBY SMITH_.

New Orleans, _September_ 14, 1865.

I have been in command of the southern district of Alabama since the commencement of General Canby's expedition against Mobile, and have been in command of the district and post of Mobile, with headquarters at Mobile, from June until the 25th of August, and relinquished command of the post on September 4. During my sojourn I have become familiar with the character and temper of the people of all of southern Alabama.

It is my opinion that with the exception of a small minority, the people of Mobile and southern Alabama are disloyal in their sentiments and hostile to what they call the United States, and that a great many of them are still inspired with a hope that at some future time the "confederacy,"

as they style it, will be restored to independence.

In corroboration of this a.s.sertion, I might state that in conversation with me Bishop Wilmer, of the diocese of Alabama, (Episcopal), stated that to be his belief; that when I urged upon him the propriety of restoring to the litany of his church that prayer which includes the prayer for the President of the United States, the whole of which he had ordered his rectors to expunge, he refused, first, upon the ground that he could not pray for a continuance of martial law; and secondly, that he would stultify himself in the event of Alabama and the southern confederacy regaining their independence. This was on the 17th of June. This man exercises a widespread influence in the State, and his sentiments are those of a large proportion of what is called the better cla.s.s of people, and particularly the women. Hence the representatives of the United States flag are barely tolerated. They are not welcome among the people in any cla.s.ses of society. There is always a smothered hatred of the uniform and the flag. Nor is this confined to the military, but extends to all cla.s.ses who, representing northern interests, seek advancement in trade, commerce, and the liberal professions, or who, coming from the North, propose to locate in the South.

The men who compose the convention do, in my opinion, not represent the people of Alabama, because the people had no voice in their election.