The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-08-15
The New Orleans Matter in a Nut
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The New Orleans Matter in a Nut.
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Every one remembers the story Of thu
individual who went into the Tribune
Office, some years ago, apd asked for 6
copy Of the paper containing "that. ar
ticle upon Kansas The story threat
ems to be revived. The Tribune col
umns now TEEN with what it calls
''The Rebel Massacres at New Orleans;
and bleeding Kansas" with the Ole
stock howls and horrors is to be repeat
ed. The fact that this new issue turns
upon the eve Of the fall elections il
conclusive proof that the whole affair
was concocted Radical scheme, con.
ceived in Washington by STEVENS
SUMNER, HAHN g. Co., expressly to car.
ry those elections in the Radical inter
est by dragging Bleeding Kansas" or
the boards again.
| To pass over the tissue of falsehood
and misrepresentation, and the old
Kansas bowling, which is too apparent
clap trap to be noticed, the Tribune ut
terry ignores the following facts:
The New Orleans Convention of 1864
even was a wholly improper and illegal
gathering, and composed by General
BANKS to reconstruct" Louisiana TN
der the Banks-Lincoln programme. It
was convention of false pretences. 1t
called itself State Convention when
but little more than the City Of New
Orleans was in possession of the feder-
al authorities, and that little was held
only by force Of arms. The delegates
to this so-called State Convention were
mostly non-residents, and mainly re-
presented parishes they had never seen.
Newspaper correspondents, New Eng
land "southerners," and army suffers
went In large majority Of these Assem-.
hled Louisianians. The Convention
commenced and continued a. drunken
disgraceful carouse, and ended In a
mixed satrrnalia and free fight. Not
even the Tribune has ever dared to de.
ny the disrepntable character Of this
so.called convention.
Nevertheless, this so.called eonven.
ton, at lucid intervals, when oil the
members were not In the two bal. rooms
or riding about in the "Convention car
riages," pretended to reconstruct" the
State constitution under dictation from
military headquarters Of Washington,
and that Reconstruction" such as IL was,
was actually adopted by q popular vote,
acceptable at all events to the Radicals,
for the State was declared .reconstruc-
ted'' and authorized to organizine a
government under the anew constitu-
ton. I"
The work Of the Convention what
ever the character Of the Convention or
its work, was done. It is clear, then,
that if the whole Convention had come
together again to do more Of the ire
construction" business, it would have
been for the purpose Of overturning
their own work. This was the avowed
intention Of the few surviving suffers
who wanted to reopen the old bar
rooms and revive the old Convention of
cigar and carriage notoriety. They
meant revolutions forcible seizure Of
the State and city governments during
a riot to be inaugllrated by armed ne
groes inflamed with hopes of suffrage
and plumber. At the least, it would re-
open new Kansas. But Judge DUR
REL, the president, pronounced the old
convention defunct. The Radical rev.
olutionists then ran to Governor WELLS
(who fed from them to the retirement
Of Rapides) to get him to issue writs for
elections Of delegates in parishes not
represented in 1864, meaning pretty
much all the parishes in the State.
Without waiting for these elections,
Judge Il. K. HOWELL, whose resigna-
ton as a memberwas ON record, issueda
call which assembled, all told, twenty
six of the revolution, who barely filed
the stage Of the hall, elsewhere Dense
ly crowded with armed negroes and
white rioters, and commenced the new
convention" This was the small
beginning Of a great attempt by twent-.
six irresponsible Radicals to overturn
the State Government Of Louisiana and
the city government Of New Orleans.
The attempted revolution ended in an
actual riot, and, as always happens in
such cases, the revolutionists or rioters
were the chief sufferers.
And this is the whole story. Radical
ism can live only by riot and revolution
and the Radical attemptin New Orleans
has failed. To call a contemplate ca
bal of twenty-six riotersand revolution
airy Radicals convention" when the
immediate inspiration Of that "eonven-
ton" was from such men as DosTrE, q
born rioter, and HAHN, who has been
plotting with Washington conspirators
all winter, Isl farce. It..is possible
that with an imposing DosrIE funeral