New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-09-04

procession untrIendly. Woulu zen. tohelA7
dan have had the community to look approx
ingIy upon such scene? Would he have had
them to applaud this armed instruction
which was aimed at their liberties, and which
was intented to overthrow their State govern
ment by violence? Would he have had them
to sanction a movement which the government
which he represents would call treason? He
himself hurls from his high position the thpn-
derbolts of denunciation against the leaders
of the convention. He styles them s'reyolu-
tionary men" political agitators" ''bad
men" If he believes this, why should he de-
sire others to look approvingly upon move
ment which he, himself. processes to con-
denim? fit be t'loyal" in Gen. Sheridan to
denounce the purposes of these chad men,
it certainly cannot be ''disloyal" in the spec
tators of their revolutionary work to manifest
an ssunfriendly manner and tone when they
i look upon the workmen on their way to de-
nlolish the temple of their liberties, and to
commit instruction against the United States
government. The forbearance shown by the
spectators, Notwithstanding their opposition
to the revolution, is the strongest evidence
that could be adduced of their disposition to
obey the laws and to leave to the
civil and military authorities the settlement
of question in which they were so deeply
interested. They were ''unfriendly" to the
instruction, and it was their duty as good
citizens to disannTnvn 81 D. ,sv committed
10 preach of the peace. The first assault, as
appears in the testimony, was made by one OF
the ssprocession" upon an unofending spec
tator. The police near by arrested the as
sailant. 1t was the duty of the police to do
SO. General Sheridan will not gainsay that
it was their duty. But the procession "
while breaking the peace were encouraged to
submit to no arrest by the police. They We're
organized to overthrow civil authority and
they acted up to their teachings. They re-
sisted the arrest and attempted rescue OF
the assailant. They first fred upon the
policeman in attempting this rescue. This
has been abundantly proved, and was vel
known when General Sheridan made his re
mort, Even Governor Wells in his address
: comedies that the evidence shows that thu
J insurrectionists first fred in the opening o
t the second contest General Sheridan, Will
$ 50 positive on so n2auy other points, is no
: lucid IN his accounts of this affair He is con
. tent with asserting that g shot was fired
i BY whom I am net able to state, but believ
y it to have been by policeman, or som
I colored man in the procession" He is no
e more explicit in reference to the subsequen
Is contest in front Of the Mechanics Institute
e He says that "a row occurred between
+. policeman and one of these colored men, an
e a shotwas again fred by one of the parties
o which led to an indiscriminate fire on the build
IS ing through the windows by the policemen.
His account is not more ineligible tina
I the old lady's recipe for making good "blue
y ing" "To this admixture, . said the intelli
1t gent old lady, add an ounce of indigo, an
you may know the blueing is good, from tn
L fact that the indigo will either sink or swim
IS I cannot exactly say which" So with Gen
:: Sheridan. According to his account, we ma
% know the police were to blame, because on
# side or the other fred the first shot bu
le which side it was he is "not able to state.
o He "believes, however, it was fred by on
Q or the other side, and the conclusion is, there
I fore, irresistible that Mayor Monroe is ba,
man, and that the police are murderers. Thi
7 is the essence Of his logic.
AS Gen. Sheridan fails to state in what man
It ner this shot led to the firing upon the build
n ing, we must again refer to the facts as deyel
e oped by the investigation, A negro was in
8 citing other negroes by the use of incendiar.
: language to resist the police. A policeman
: soughtto prevent the threatened breach o
/ the peace by arresting the disturber of the
: peace. 1t was his duty to do So This was
. Hprobably the Grow" to which Gen. Sheridan
alIudes. The shot was fred by some of the
insurrectionists at thepoliceman while in the
discharge of his duty. Other policemen
/ properly came to the rescue of the one as
sailed. Their efforts were limited entirely te
suppressing the riot in the street. until they
were fred upon repeatedly from the windows
of the Institute. At this time the convention
was not in session. 1t had taken a recess, but
a number of its members were in the building.
: Anumber of them were encouraging the ne
} groes in resisting the civil authorities. They
We're therefore participants in. the riot which
they had melted. When the police were fred
q upon from the building they had either tc
Y abandon the field to the rioters and permit
, INC f4ob 10 grow Dy Ine accession O.
i. fresh re-enforcements into formidable
: and threatening instruction. or they had tc
: make the attempt to quel it when it was ye
e in the beginning They thought it their duty
9 to put down the riot. We think they were
right. They returned the fire of those who
8 assailed them from the windows of the Insti
: tute This is what General Sheridan calls
Z 'suppressing the convention, and attack
ing the members Of the convention and {
: party of two hundred negroes with firearms
] clubs and knives The error he makes is
material. The police were only, defending
themselves from the attack of armed negroes
melted and aided in their resistance to civi
authority by members Of the insurrectionarJ
convention,
How it was possible under these circum
stances, for the police to make any arres
: they saw fit without sacrificing lives, we can
! not possibly see. They attempted it, and ii
! every case were forcibly resisted, and many
5 of them were shot, n few, we believe, fatally
NJ General Sheridan is Tfrht when he state,