The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1867-01-30
a C0NV EN- TON.

| ~
eign State Convention at the cal
Hest practicable moment. Wehop
they are not doomed to the sam
disappointment that they exper
enced when this General Assembl
came into being. at chat time tn
State was saddled with a Constitu
tion which was the offspring of th
lowest, the meanest and most con
temptible set of politicians that ev
Ell disgraced this or any other com
munity. The people, to whom ha'
; been accorded the right of forming
a government for themselves, con
fidently expected that their repre-
sentatives would give them tina
opportunity as soon as the Legisla
ture should convene, and that sool
peace and harmony would be re
stored to the State through tn
peaceful agency of her own people
But the General Assembly, in con
tempt of the will of those whom
they protested to represent, be
came welded to the fortunes 0
those whom the issue of the wa
had carried into power, and coult
see no virtue or patriotism or wis
dom in any individual who coult
not present record in unison witt
the opinions of those who had beer
instrumental in the degradation o.
the State. For fear that the issue
of the Convention might endangel
Mr.. Wells tenure Of Office, and
firmly convinced that Mr.. Wells
wisdom was the only salvation Of
the State at that crisis, they with
held the Convention from the PEG
pie, and fastened Mr.. Wells ,ad.
ministration upon them.
The result has been as every one
in his senses knew it would be, as
we predicted time and again, fol
which opinion we incurred the last
ing displeasure Of those who could
see in our warning voice only the
captious objections of disorgani-
zers. Mr.. Wells imhecility and
corruption, which had been pro-
verbal for twenty years, have we'll
nigh run the State into the ground,
and the only relief which seems to
be at hand, is to do what we have
been trying to get done for the past
eighteen months. The pro-slavery,
Southern rights Governor, whom
the "rebels' took to their arms,
who was to accomplish such Won
derful results for the people, has
handed the State over to his Radi-
cal friends, and both he and his i'd
lotto appointees whom he has scat
tered through the State are making
desperate efforts to entrust its gov
eminent in all time to come to his
jayhawking friends, and the ''loyal
black men," whom whilome he was
in favor Of again reducing to slave
~. In order to accomplish their
objects they endeavored to convene
again the infamous body Of thieves,
cut-throats and penitentiary con.
victs, whose work stinks in the
nostrils Of every honest man, and
after the people had broken up the
body, these same men are seeking
to punish our people for the "out-
rage" on their immaculate friends.
While order reigns throughout ev-
cry other State, where the people
have had a Convention, Louisiana
alone is cursed with anarchy and
with a remnant of the gov
eminent which was instrumental in
her degradation.
The Legislature, therefore, might
as well learn at once that the peo-
pie have borne these things long
enough, and that they will hold to
a strict account those who shall be
instrumental in perpetuating our
present lamentable condition. We
know that the General Assembly
will try to retrieve its past delin-
quency by OVERRIDING the thing,
and, in it's efforts to do better than
any one expects, there is great dan
ger that as before nothing at all
will be done. We wish to impress
Upon the minds of all that a Con-
7ention is the speediest, if not the
'nly, mode of curing all the ills un-
Ter which the State is now suffer
ng. The people have narrowed
he question down to this one
Joint, that every one. opposed to
'alling a Convention is in favor of
continuing the Wells administra-
ion and of handing over the State
o the management of the Radical
'arty at Washington. The Legis-
allure should therefore take warn
ne, and should, even at this late
lay make an effort to retrieve IT'S