Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1877 — PINCHBACK RETIRES. [ARTICLE]

PINCHBACK RETIRES.

He Write* a Letter In Which the Course of the Be publican Majority in Seating Kellogg is Sharply Criticized, The following is the letter of P. B. S. Pinchback to Gov. Nicholls, announcing his retirement from the contest for a seat in the United States Senate as Senator from Louisiana* Washington, D. C., Dec. 8, 1877. To His Excellency, Francis T. Nicholls, Governor of the State of Louisiana: Sib : Ou the 14th day of January, 1873, 1 was elected by the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana United States Senator for the term beginning March 4, 1873, and my credentials, duly signed by the Governor and attested by the Secretary of State, with the seal of the State attached, were presented to the Senate of the United States. On the 13th day of January, 1875, ana pending the action of the United States Senate on tne credentials of 1873, to cover what might be deemed any irregularity in the first action, the General Assembly of Louisiana re-elected me Senator as though in case of a vacancy, and my second duly signed by the Executive and attested by the Secretary of State, with the seal of the State attached, were presented to the Senate. In February of 1876 the Senate passed on my credentials of 1873, and, by a vote of 29 to 31, resolved “that P. B. S. Pinchback be not seated Senator from Louisiana for the term of six years from March 4, 1873,” leaving, nevertheless, the credentials of 1875 still before the S nate, and the title created by the election of that year undetermined. My defeat in my first oontest was referable to the votes of certain Republican Senators, and on the alleged ground that the Returning Board that gave certificates to the members of the General Assembly of 1873 was unconstitutional, and the Legislature organized thereon illegal. With the credentials of 1875 still pending before the Senate, and inferring from the action of the Senators above referred to, relative to the powers and decisions of the Electoral Commission, and more recently from their seating William Pitt Kellogg, that the opinions of these gentlemen as to the constitutional powers of the Returning Board in the matter of creating a Legislature had undergone a change, I determined to make a second contest for my seat in the Senate. A majority of the Committee on Privileges and Elections, including three Republican members, have, however, reported that James B. Eustis is lawfully entitled to a seat in the United States Senate for the unexpired term for which I was elected. Not willing under the circumstances to continue this contest, and by a seemingly factious opposition embarrass Mr. Eustis and*deprive the State of her due representation, I now respectfully tender to you, as Chief Executive of Louisiana, my resignation. I deem it proper in this connection, as a matter of justice to myself and to my friends, to direct attention to the exceptional action had in my case, especially as the same appears in contrast with the prompt and partisan support of Gov. Kellogg. I admit that there were irregularities attaching to the constitution of the General Assembly of 1873 of such a character as to put in question to some extent the legal status of said General Assembly. Its members bore credentials from a Returning Board whose legal character was determined and recognized by the Supreme Court of Louisiana, but from the opposition of Gov. Warmotb, the custodian of the returns of the election, they were unable to obtain possession of said returns, and their action in making the canvass and promulgation of votes was to some extent ar»rJ of votes furnished by the United States Supervisors, and other secondary evidence. Necessarily their decisions were to some extent conjectural and uncertain, but the best the necessities of the case allowed ; and the Legislature thus declared was authorized, under the constitution, to cure and determine any defects that might exist in the title of its membership. This body actually existed lor its constitutional term of two years, enacted the legislation that governed the State for that period, and was deemed of 'sufficient vitality to canvass and declare the votes for Governor and Lieutenant Governor ; and the executive officers were not only recognized by the judiciary of tho State and by the President of tho United States, but exercised their functions within the State for the full term of their office. Supplementing these considerations by the further fact that Louisiana was largely Republican in its masses, I believed that, as Senator elect, I not only represented the popular will of the State, but possessed a title substantially legal and valid ; yet I submitted to the decision of the Senate on the assumption that honorable Senators were not only honest in the grave constitutional objections that they raised, hut were so far acting from conviction as would authorize the expectation of consistency of conduct when a similar case should be presented for their consideration. Now, I find, when Gov. Kellogg presents a claim essentially like my own, but weaker, that the gentlemen who so earnestly combatted my claim promptly and without hesitation admit and defend his.

The Packard Legislature, so-called, derives its credentials from the legal Returning Board, and said board, unlike that of 1873, could be specific and definite in its promulgation of the election, but as a matter of fact, not from lack of knowledge, but of choice, excluded men who had received a majority of the votes cast, as appeared from the official returns before them, sufficient iu number to destroy a quorum in each House. They thus, by the practical disfranchisement of the citizens, created a Legislature which could not exist except by the defeat of the popular will. The Assembly of 1873 may have, inadvertently, and by the enforced ignorance of the only tribunal competent to act in the premises, had men in it not entitled to sit therein, but the Packard Assembly, in its Senate and in its House, held members in sufficient numbers to have broken the quorum in each, who were put there to the knowledge of the Returning Board, not only without having received a majority of votes, but to the exclusion of other men who were well understood to have been elected. This Assembly passed away iu a few weeks, without leaving behind it, as the evidence of its existence, a single living statute. An election by such a body is certified to by Gov. Packard, whose title was as baseless, and whose tenure of office was as uncertain as his General Assembly, and this makes prima facie and on its merits the case of Gov. Kellogg. It taxes both my credulity and charity to concede either sincerity or consistency io Republican Senators who so earnestly opposed my claim from 1873 to 1876, and so promptly and solidly supported the new Senator from Louisiana. In withdrawing from this contest, I cannot refrain from expressing my heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Senate who have consistently and bravely sustained me in my efforts to secure my rights and representation to the State and people of Louisiana. I have the honor, sir, to be Your most obedient servant,

P. B. S. PINCHBACK.