The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-08-29
Governor Wells. Of Louisiana. on
the New Orleans Riots.

|, The Governor of Louisiana, who reached
Ibis present position by being elected Lieu
tenant Governor under the military adj
minis'ration Of Gen. Banks in that State,
has issued an address which has highly
eiated the Radicals, Having been elected
on the ticket Of Mr.. Hahn to the position
OF Lieutenant Governor, he succeeded to
the positions Of Governor in March, 1865,
BY the resignation Of the former, who had
IN the mean time'been elected to the United
States Senate. Thus, obtaining his position
through the Convention movement of 1864.
ne now comes forward with lone address
IN It's defense, In order that the Radicals
throughout the North may have another
electloneering document to circulate during
the fall campaign. He commeriSes with a
oflet sketch ofsthe election ia 1864, and
then describes some of the events that have
taken pl4ce since the close of the war. But
ne fails to throw any light upon his own
serlons mismanagement in 1865, which he
found 1t necessary to come to Washington
and explain to prevent bis removal. Nor
does ne inform the public how il was that
ne came very near plunging the,city of New
Orleans into a riot at that time. He NAV
have forgotten that he hung around the
executive mansion at Washington in 1865
Tor weeks, seeking an opportunity to ex-
plain away the odium which his course had
thrown around the Union cause ia that
State, but the public have not. ALI this he
evades Tor the purpose Of trying to show
that the late riot was a preconcerted plot
on the part Of the late rebels
We agree with Governor Wells that the
late riot was q preconcerted plot, but the
plot originated with the parties whom he
tres !. to defend, and was instigated by the
Radicals in Congress, as the speeches Of
more than one member Of Congress fully
testify 1t was concocted in the rooms Of
one ofthe principal hotels in Washington,
occupied dnring a portion Of last winter by
members Of the Radical Convention which
Gov. Wells now comes forward and indorses.
Il is no secret that while these men were in
Washington they were in constant collision
with the Radicals, and that they also openly
stated just before their departure for New
Orleans, that the public would soon be
| startled with bloody scenes. in that city,
which would destroy all hopes for the sue
cess of Johnson' spolicy. These statements
were made under such, circumstances aud
in such manner that il left but one in.
ference, and that was that they intended
to stir up Instruction and compel the white
population of New Orleans to commit some
act that would assist the Radical pro.
gramme. These facts are still further
borne out BY the speeches Of some of the
Of the same men at the negro meeting on
the Friday previous to- the riots. Yet in
the face of all these facts Gov. Wells charges
that the riot was the result ola letter Of
Mayor Monroe to Gen. Baird, which he
tries in vain to prove vas the signal agreed
upon by the rebel censpirators, In one
Ipoint, however, he DAMAGES the Radical ac.
count Of these riots by charging that there
would not hare been riot if the police had
only been stationed around the hall where
the Convention WAS sitting. Now, the
radical papers have along been asserting
that the ely police werethe first to attack
the Convention, and commenced the riot
then, when the negroes rallied to the de-
fence Of the Convention. But it seems
that all this is false, and that the police
were elsewhere trying to maintain order
and quell the disturbance caused by the
demonstration of the negroes. This dis
crepancy between the effort.of Gov. Wells
to throw the responsibility Of the occur
frences off from the Convention, and the
statements made by the Radical papers, is
somewhat damaging to both. From these
conflicting statements the public will be
more than ever convinced that the Raeical
EConyentionists are alone responsible for
the deeds of violence and that through some
mishap in theexecution of programme
ofawansements they got more than they
bargained for. Taking it altogether, this
address Of Governor Wells in view Of the
charges and misrepresen iations already
made BY the Radical press, will do the Rad
ical cause more harm than good. Governor
| Wells should have read the statements Of
his Radicals friends before writing his ad
dress, and thus have been able to make his
story tally with theirs. As it is they clash
lin the most essential pointin showing who
lis responsible, and confirm our former
statement that the whole thing is a con-
spiracy Of the Radicals for political effect.
l>lslNeW. X ork Herald.