New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1857-09-07
TO THE PEOPLE OF LOUISIANA. q

the numberof murders, ETC., committed in the city
Of New Orleans from February, 1856, to the 30th of
july 1857, with the number Of arrests and the nation
atty of the offenders and of the victims.
We also present the number of arrests made by
his honor, Mayor Lewis, in eleven months, with
police force of 1856, and of the number Of arrests
made by his honor, Mayor Waterman, for the same
period of time, with police force of from ESQ to
800 men and also statement of the number sent
| to the Work House and Insane Asylum, with their
nativity.
These statements are made to correct erroneous
| impressions produced upon the public mind by the
unfounded assertions of Democratic organs and poll
ticians. r
It has been boldly alleged-and the legislation of
the past two years has been based upon it-that all
the murders crimes, misdemeanors, riots, rows dis
turbances of the peace and breaking of the ballot
boxes are justly chargeable to the American party
How unjust the charge and how untrue in fact, the
annexed tables will show. While they are complete
vndication of the American party, they also convict
Democratic organs and demagogues of the perverson
sion of truth and of the fabrication of alsehood.
" CrllneS, observer AL luuslIious oIdloT, are Tile
acts Of individuals, and not of denominations and
therefore, arbitrarily to class under general de-
scrptons in order to prosecute and punish them in
a lump for presumed delinquency, of which per-
haps but part, perhaps at all, are guilty is,
indeed, compendious method, and saves world of
trouble, without proof; but such method, instead
of being law is act Of unnatural rebellion against
the legal domain of reason and Justice
| trutb of+b a 10 IN, ALL
That tive Americans occasionally guilty of the
minor well as the graver offences, is lamentably
true and that crime, in all its gradaons, will CON
tnue to shock the public conscience, is also unfortu-
natey true but that either party, as party, is
guilty Of all the enormous offences which are COM
mitted, is a libel upon human nature.
With these remarks we will revert to an instance or
two of outrages which happened in the past few
years. OF all crimes against the glorious right of
free suffrage, the Plaquemne fraud, conceived and
executed by the worst fragment of the Democratic
party in this city, is the most prominent. The sue
cess unpublished in that case, led to and was the
origin of the shameful frauds of 1858. Though the
epidemic of that summer had decmated the city, yet
the vote was larger then than it ever had been or
will be for some years to come The substantial men
of the city, after that election, thought it time
to act and in the winter of 1854 party, called the
reform party, was organized and in the spring
brought out their ticket With the exception of the
Mayor and Recorders it succeeded. After this date
it took the name of the American party. Success
has always been certain since that date, simply be.
cause the inscriptions leaders of the Democratic
party have been prevented from practicng the infa
nous frauds of 1853 The result of every subse-
quent election clearly demonstrates that the Demo-
cratic party is in large minority in this CITY, and
that its previous solely attributable to the
large number of fraudulent and perured votes which
polluted the ballotboXes At the two last elections
the American ticket had no opposition, and it is
generally understood it will have in November
next the Democratic party not wishing to expose its
weakness but preferrng to keep up the spirits of its
followers in the country by Fastaian exaggeration
of its numbers here.
In all large cities, when political excitement is at
fever heat disturbances at Or near the polls likely
to occur On two occasions the ballot-boXes were
broken-in 1854 at and in 1855 at two precincts
Without any evidence, without even cause for the
slightest suspicion, those acts of violence were at
tributed to the American party At these two dates
the Attorney General, District Attorney, Judge of
the Criminal Court, Mayor, Sheriff and Recorders,
were all Democrats and yet, with all their power,
with the police at their command aided and assisted
by disappointed political faction not single men,
Der of the American party was arrested, tried and
convicted of breaking the ballotboxes of disturbing
the peace of ntimidating any naturazed or native
voter. Is it not little singular, if the American
party is guilty, that proof of its guilt has been
produced by all the vigilance of Democratic admin
istration? Might it not be-is it not more probable
if the Attorney General, District Attorney Mayor.
Sheriff and Recorders had used all the power which
the law gave them, that some arrests might have
been made, and that when the guilty should be dis
covered, truth would be indicated and Democratic
fraud exposed
We will state fact which ought to exonerate the
American party from the slightest suspicion that
there any truth in the charges made against it, In
all the contested election cases-Be vs. Hufty Aud
VS. Walton, and others-the proof was that every
illegal vote cast for the Democratic ticket This
demonstrates beyond doubt that the American party.
never has resorted to unworthy means to gain an end
and never has deiled the ballotboxes
Is it not far probable that those who will dis
regard the laws of God and man, who will vote when
they have right to vote, but who will commit even
perjury to exercise that right are the very persons
who disturb the peace, get up rows and riots and
break the balot.boxes?
To regain lost power the infamous election law
"efS PoSaSu' VI HoLol vi Dul one press
could be found to advocate it, whilst amos every
Democrat denounced it. 1t met with as strenuous an
opposition from the respectable portion of the Demo-
cratic party as from the American party. The osten
sbe reasons assigned for its passage were the nef
fciency of the police, and the intimidation of the
naturalzed voters. We will let Mayor Lewis defend
himself With police force of 456, in eleven months
he made 1851 arrests. Mayor Waterman in the same
period of time, with police force of from $50 to 800
made 800 arrests or with $50 men less than Mayor
LOWS had, he made 579S arrests more. The grand
total of all arrests in twenty-five months is A $50, of
which number but $500 were Americans 800 being
of foreign birth. We do not make charges but we
state what is generally conceded to be fact that the
naturalized citizens vote the Democratic ticket Now
upon the supposton that such is the fact, would it
not be consonant to truth to charge the Demo-
cratic party with the commission of oenses than the
American party? If these foreigners vote the Demo-
cratic ticket would they not constitute the majority
OF the Democratic party, and then would it not be
fact that majority of the Democratic party was
arrested for violations Of the law? If IS 800 of one
party-all toregnersare arrested, does it not prove
that they are the disturbers of the peace the vo-
lators of the law and the cause of rows and riots
When more than four Democrats to one American are
arrested which party is most guilty?
The inmates of the Work house and Insane ASYLUM
show similar result. of AIS cont +bo Wo,,-