Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1866-08-04
THE RIOT IN NEW ORLEANS.

possession of oil the particulars of the
great riot in New Orleans on Monday
last, we therefore, refrain from publish
ing eycn a condensed report in u col
umns.
The city papers are filled with com
ments upon this unfortunate affair, all
tending to show that the parties who
commenced the riot were not the police
nor the citizens who gave the police all
the assistance in their power. The gene
raj voice proclaims the negroes beginners
of the disturbance without cause or pro.
vocation. 1t is clear to every unbiased
mind that this riot was a premeditatcd af'
fair on the part of the Conventionists
who desired political, or other martyr
dom, that the Radical party of Congress
might recover their arbitrary sway owe
Louisiana. The Conventionists knew
that they did not express the sentiments
Of the people Of this State-they knew
and felt that they had been greatly shorn
Of their strength by the withdrawal Of
many Of their most important members
they knew, also, that a desperate effort
must he made to regain that power, and
determined upon q bold-and as it af-
forwards proved, bloody scheme. Know
ing we'll the evaporation of the people
of New Orleans at the reassembling of
that Convention and knowing too that
legal attempts would be made to break it
up, in the hellishness Of their malice,
they bethought themselves Of the plan Of
bringing in armed negroes to their assist
ance. What business had negroes in
convention They had no voice
there. Why were they induced to quit
their quiet occupations on that day to
march, armed, through the streets Of the
They knew that in the excitement
q difficulty could easily be raised, and a
repetition Of the Memphis Radical re-
ports would be the consequence, where
one-sided statements proclaimed the ne
groes in the right and the whites in the
wrong. Why did r. King Cutler exclaim
when the first shot was fired at the Me-
Institute, "That fixes or ends
the power of the id rebels in this city,"
or words to that effect? What were the
meaning of the threats thrown out
by DR.. Dostie and others, at their
meeting en- Friday night last in the city !?
Were they not intended to further excite
the people and provoke a difficulty in
which the negro was to be the victim?
These things are now well known and
can be established beyond the cavil of a
doubt. They carried their scheme into
e~fect--their convention was broken up,
negroes and whites were slaughtered and
the survivors Of the convention will ap-
peal to a horrified North for %martyrdom
in the cause Of universal liberty and ne
gro suffrage. How far success may
crown their efforts remains to be develop
ed in the future. Thank God, as yet, we
have a firm friend in Washington who
stand by us in all the rights we
claim under the Constitution, and who
will not permit us to be trampled down,
while he has the power to prevent it, by
q few mcn who steal the livery Of a saint
to serve the devil in, or who would prefer
to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
Two of the prime movers in this horrible
affair, have met their fate, for which none
can be more blamed than the parties
Others, less culpable, have
been injured, perhaps MORALLY, and for
Them we have the charity which should
be fully extended to those who err in
ignorance.
For the negroes who fell victims to the
"iles of the Conventionists, wo have but
'ne feeling which is shared, in by a large!
majority Of our friends-and that is sor-
'ow. We saw several killed, during the
hot, but not until the command to sur