The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1856-03-05

! ed in the Baton Rouge Democratic Advocate
+ the special organ of governor Wickliffe, which
: We copy for the purpose Of enlightening our rea
) dess as to the mode in which the present demo
cratic legislature divide the spoils and squande
: the tax payers money The Advocate says:
r I'm late number Of the N. 0. Courier spe
4 eial mention is made of the fact that Mr.. JOIN
Claiborne, one Of the proprietors Of that jour
nal. was nominated by the democratic caucus
and elected BY the Legislature to be state print
err. But not content with this statement, whicl
! should have satisfied ordinary modesty. til.
writer proceeds further to give marked empha
sis to the fact that the vote in caucus nomina
ton stood 40 for Mr.. Claiborne to Is for hi
opponent The publication of this vote unde
ordinary circumstances of contest, would have
been altogether unobjeconable, if it be admit
ted (which We will not deny) that what trans
pires in secret caucus is fit subject of common
or historical record, wthoutthc authority of the
caucus itself. But in this case we seriously
doubt the ustice Of the Courler's reference; be
, cause, though the fact stated be true. it is no
the whole truth in regard to the matter, bu
goes forth as piece OF garbled history, a frag
snent of the record, partial presentation ofthe
case, leading to deceptive differences and unjust
conclusions Therefore we deem It proper tc
supply what is wanting in the Courier's one
sided statement of the case by the following
supplementary facts: For whole week the
caucus suspended the nomination Of state
printer, although it was understood and an
nounced to it, at the first meeting that, by re-
quest Of mutual friends, and to harmonlse the
party. the Advocate was willing to concede the
election to the Courier. But even when there
was no competitor, the caucus refused to nom
mate the proprietor Of the latter paper. and it
WAS on the distinct pledge made in caucus on
behalf of Mr.. Claiborne, that if elected, he
would divide the public printing equally with
the Advocate. The propfietors of the Advo-
cate, it is true, allowed their names to be used
as candidates out of respect to the opinions of
members who insisted on testing the strength
of selecting the printer and having the entire
public printing done at the seat of government.
We are not prepared now to discuss the superb
or Importance given by members to reasons of
policy relative to the maintenance of special
organ in New Orleons and amongst the creoIes
and other citizens speaking the French Ian
guage. But surely, AS a question of merit, or
as question of appreciation by the democracy
of the two papers, the whole facts show the re-
suit to havea quite different Specification from
that which the Courier seemed in haste to i'm
press upon the public As measure of merit
or appreciation, the action of the caucus, as
truly explained expresses fully as much for the
Advocate AS the Courier; for SO far as the THU
lar dignity was concerned, we had willingly
conceded that from the beginning, and only
contended for it afterwards to crafty the wish
L. i f..
lcitous to have that nominal honor conferred on
US than we ourselves
The Advocate evidently has an exalted opin-
ion of its own Importance and merits, but, new
ertheless, for the sake of getting bite at the
"loaves and fishes" went into the "bargain and
sale'' line, and now wishes to "et the facts be
known" that its own friends and patrons-the
democratic legislature of Louisiana - voted
away thousands upon thousands of dollars ofthe
peoples money, for the purpose of affording
maintenance to special organ" of democra-
cy," the Louisiana Courier, Sin New Orleans
and amongst the creoles and other citizens
speaking the French language?' This is the
last new move of progressive" democracy,
and is the first time we have known a party to
use the patronage and money OF the State for
he purpose Of printing and publishing "a spe
;Ial oryan!" Can it be possible that the demo
;racy of New Orleans are SO few in number, or
50 low in the pocket, that they cannot, even
With the heavy tax paid by the office-holders,
support one paper? They ought to call upon
president Pierce for ''aid and comfort
Exerons will be made during the present
session ofcongress towards the passing of an act
establishing uniform system of weights and
measures, similar to that which forms the basis
If the United States currency. Other govern
nents are moving in the same direction, and it
s quite probable that in a few years all the com
nercial and civilized nations will have adopted
similar system, which will greatly facilitate
he operations of trade. Mr.. FELTON,, of New
ork, has taken up the subject and proposes
o supeTcede all the present tables of weights
md measures by graduated series, in which
ZACH denomination shall be exactly ten times
greater than its next number. For instance, in
he scale of weights he would have ten scruples
me drachm ten drachms one ounce, ten ounces
me pound, ten pounds one stone, ten stones j
ne cwt, ten cwts. one ton. Apply to such Ia
lies the decimal currency AS to prices, and the
'arts of a pound would exactly correspond with
he parts of a dollar. An article at one dollar
yer pound would be one dime per ounce, one
ent per drachm, and one mill per scruple.-
The same principle applies to all departments :
f weights and measures Mr. F. contends that
he introduction of this system would greatly t
implify commercial transactions of all kinds, I
nd do away with most of the difficulties which
'eset the study of numbers. +;
H., J
Gayarre. in his charming history of louisa
a, states that the winter of 1879 was remark /
bic for its extreme severity, killing all the !
range trees, as in 1748 and 1863 Following +
his intense cold, the country was visited by a c
lrious and destructive hurricane, which com t