The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-06-05

The Insu ere ot1sa ae Few Orleans.
The outbreak Of portion of the people ct
New Orleans, Of which the public will find the
latest details elsewhere. is but another illustra-
ton of the fatal consequences which result from
the neglect of duty displayed by the rich, re-
spectacle, taxpaying class In our great citiea
II Is pretended in some quarters that politics
are the cause of this outbreak. This Is nom
sense. There is nothing in the character or
tenets Of any political party which renders 1t
more peculiarly obnoxious to the reproach Of
municipal Improvement than any other. The
imbecile and corrupt rulers of New Orleans
have been Know Nothings; elsewhere they
have been democrats; elsewhere, partizans of
some other stripe. Everywhere, their character
and faults have been the same. Whatever they
have called themselves, and with whatever po-
Itical party they have claimed aflliation, the
municipal rulers Of our great oities-San Fran
cisco, New Orleans, Baltimore, Washington,
Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Louisville,
Cincinnati systematically neglected their
duties robbed the public, and fostered q state of
society under which neither property nor life
has been secure.
The csuse of the phenomenon is 90 plain as
the consequence is obvious In all our great
cities the taxpayers, 90 body, have
made q practice of sustaining from the
elections. They have left the control Of the
elections and of the city government to the
most worthless and depraved class of the com.
munity-to fellows without property or calling
or stake in the communicate the rowdies,
shoulder-hitters and vsgabonds which abound
In all large cities. For years this class has ex-
ercised . control more or less complete over
the municipal governments of all our large
citieA Sometimes they have called themselves
democrats, sometimes Know Nothings, some
times republicans. Everywhere their aims
have been the same-plunder their means
observation-disclosures and fraud their fruits 81
milar-anarchy.
In San Francisco, which for many years con.
Eastern cities, this pestilent class exercised So
vereign rule until the people, whose patience
was exhausted and feelings desperate, rose
suddenly and subverted the constitution and
the laws in order to get rid of the curse. We
now see that the example has been followed in
New Orleans.
II is not necessary to enlarge upon the fatal
tendency of Vigilance Committees. In coun-
try like this, where there is no standing army
to enforce obedience to the laws the safety of 80
ciety depends upon the readiness Of each citizen
to be bound by the laws which he has helped to
make; illegal Instructions against the consti-
tuted authorities must-if they be successful
prognosticste speedy ruin to the institutions
and stability of the country. The hour when
our people begin to appeal from the ballot box
to the barricade-as the French do-will not
be far distant from the end of liberty In the
United States
At the same time, we cannot wonder at the
conduct of the people Of San Francisco and
New Orleans. In the latter a. in the former
city, we hear that the leaders Of the insurreo-
ton are men Of standing, responsibility, means
and character they seem to have been driven
to the step they have taken. There Is very lit
tie doubt but we shall all be driven to adopt o
similar course II our taxpayers persist In their
present foolish course with regard to municipal
affairs II the taxpayers Of this city would unite
together before every municipal election, and
nominate good men-taxpayers-for each mu-
nicipal ONCE without respect to political party,
there would never be any need Of Vigilance
Committees here; II the taxpayers persevere In
their absurd relinquiAhment Of municipal privi-
leges to the rowdies and shoulder -hitters, there
must come . time whom we, too, shall have to
choose between . revolutionary Vigilance Com
mittee and fatal anarchy.