The national Republican., 1866-11-13

last, is mainly attributable to the gross in
efficiency of the military commander at that
post, and to the inexcusable omission OF the
Secretary Of War in Washington in not plac-
ing before the President the information re-
ceiyed by him. We do not palliate the
spirit of murder, or excuse the riotous acts
c committed on that lamentable occasion but
we maintain that the fact that such acts
,vere permitted at all stain with neglect and
the War Department and the mil
itary commandant at New Orleans. Why
was the military in force in that cityY 1t
could only rightfully be there to protect the
United States authority and the local and
State authorities which looked to it for de-
fence and support The constitution Of the
State Of Louisiana was the only local law
or known to the United States,
and the officials who held Office by its title
were the only lawful representatives of order
and authority Of which this Government had
cognizance. The armies and the navies Of
the United States were there to uphold and
sustain these authorities, and for no other
purpose.
Gen. Baird did not seem to understand
this. Indeed, he seems totally incapable Of
understanding any duty assigned to him. 1t
is well known that if not in conviction and
sympathy radical Of the most ultra school,
he was at least under the influences Of the
most intense and unmitigated radicalism.
Having married daughter Of Gerrit Smith,
of New York, one Of the original abolition
lists of the extreme class, he has undoubtedly
imbibed from his surroundings the danger
GUS virus of his relatives and associates.
Nothing is more clearly revealed from the
dispatches sent by him than that he has been
all the while in accord and sympathy with
the revolutionists Of that city. His obtuseness
in not realizing the situation around him ap-
proaches imbecilty. With the elements Of
discord at work for months, with incendiary
meetings of rival factions held week after
week, with a population Of two hundred
thousand souls, composed of thousands OF
returned confederate soldiers, Of thousands
of blacks clamoring for franchise, Of hun
dreds of disappointed politicians, with COM
munity noted for its excitable and infam-
matory materials, and with novel causes of
agitation and alarm seething and stirring up
this motley mass; with this incongruous mul-
titude under his supervision he is as calm
and undsturbed as though he was managing
a Shaker farm or Quaker meeting What
can intelligent men think Of an officer who
considers the efforts Of threescore men to as.
sumo the sovereignty of populous State
anu pass tuCNtiuG
the interests Of thirty millions of people,
who sought to take without authority from
the people the ballots from white men and
put them into the hands of blacks, and who
were in alliance with Congress to perpetrate
the most gigantic usurpations Of Government
of which there is any record in a free country,
as a harmless pleasure No wonder that
upon such man the outbreak "came unex-
pectedly" 1t is no marvel that under such
a commander that the pavements Of New
Orleans ran red with blood, or that riot held
high carnival under his impotent sway Nor
is It strange that when General Baird at last
awoke to something like realizing sense Of
the enormity of the mistake of not having
his forces in readiness to stay and stop the
deeds Of death and darkness which swept
over that city, that he should now attempt
to draw public attention from his own guilty
neglect to the guilty participators in the riot
to whom that neglect gave opportunity to
perform their fendish work. The first ap-
pearance Of the United States forces put an
end to the riot without another victim. Theil
appearance at the proper time would have
prevented the eme,te, and saved every lif'
and every drop of blood shed on that disas
trous day. Why were they not on duty al
the proper time will be the question asked
by the American people. We have giver
one reason: the patent incapacity of Genera
Baird. Another reason is the failure Of Mr.
Secretary Stanton either to dnslCer or 4
Baird, dated July IS, asking for 'immediat
Instructions from the Government. Tha
dispatch ,Uas never seen by the President unit
The 22d day Of August, tuenty.sir days dfte
1t ,ras ,crttten. Until some explanation i
given for the Withholding Of that dispatch W
aver that much Of the responsibility for tn
; blood and outrage of the Both of July rest
| upon the head OF the Secretary Of War. w
shall patiently wait for some light on thi
subject.
Had Gen. Sheridan, who regarded tn
convention Of political agtators' and rev
olutionary men as liable to produc
breaches Of the public peace been in CON
mand instead of Gen. Baird-whose parlor
have been considered as headquarters fo
radical symposiums and reunions-the terr
BILE calamity at New Orleans would never hav
occurred While we do not seek to scree
or shield the inhuman butchers who too
part in the bloody scenes of the riot, we sha
still hold up for popular condemnation an
} rebuke the revolutionists who convened o
the Both of July, the Congressional conspir'
! tors who legged on their duPes to the Grim
, of usurpation, and last, though not least, tn
weak and inefficient General who did not a
prchend any danger, and the War Secretar
l who did not place before the President I'll
telegram of the 2sth of July, which woul
have led to instructions which would ha,
+ supplied the incapacity of Baird, and save
history fearful and savage record of wanto
and cruel riot"
Will the Advertiser, in the face Of Il
above record, charge the REPUBLICAN wit
, attempting to palm of this dispatch
something ne'U-a telegram just brought
+ HgM"9
. The Adcertiser, in order to screen NJ
o STANTON, and blind the eyes of the publ
q says:
"If the reader will turn back to the FL
of any papers not disposed to conceal Il
y truth. he will find this dispatch published
f,N soon after the riot"
lie This is n most extraordinary statement,
rs true. The fact is, we are very certain
ID never appeared in print until we printed
s. as stated above, on the 25th of August.
le twenty-six days after the riot. But suppo