New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-01-10
CIVIL LAW.

O1b1h bAWF
OF all the laws, rules, regulations and
orders that have been applied to the gov
eminent of Louisiana during the past seven
years, the system known as civil law . is
the most odious to the honest, peaceable
citizen. Some of the statutes are Just
enough in themselves, but they are seldom
or never enforced. Civil law here means
the application of rebel ideas to the loyal
population. 1t is not necessary to point
out the monstrosities of the legislation of
this state during the dark days of slavery,
secession, and war. nor to refer particularly
to the practice of the tribunals under it.
We hold it to be a selfevidenc
truth that there is something wrong in that
state where a man can be thrown into
prison, his life threatened, and himself
finally banished merely for having in his
possession a leaden medal bearing the like
ness of Abraham Lincoln. Yet civil law
once perpetrated such an outrage in New
Orleans. Not long after, worthy men were
thrown into prison and threatened with
lynching for daring to express faith in the
integrity Of the United States government
Yet on all such occasions civil law had not
a word to say against the rufffans who thus
defied all laws. That same mythical agency
civil law has permitted the most outrageous
brtalities to be committed in the streets of
New Orleans in broad daylight without even
attempting to bring the perpetrators TO pun
ishment And on a noted occasion, civil
law passed along Drysdes street on a July
day and found an immense concourse of
assassins engaged in shooting, stabbing,
and beating unoffending citizens. Here
was case not to be overlooked. Some
thing noteworthy should be done. And it
was done. After the victims of the mob's
wrath had been beaten till the assailants
were exhausted, and after some hundreds
had been stretched cold in death or desper-
ately wounded, the highly Wanted civil law
stepped in with flourish, arrested the
unoifending sufferers, who were SO for
tunate as to escape death, and threw them
into prison. A grand jury, composed Of
the instigators of the mob, the participators,
and the sympathizeFs, was then summoned
to try the victims, They were of course
duly indicted. Their offense was that they
had been brutally and murderOnsly assailed.
So civil law was determined to punish
them, and would have done SO had not the
reconstruction laws prevented further
outrage.
1t was the design of congress to set
aside and do away with civil law, as il has
been applied here since the breaking out
Of the rebellion and before. For this
reason the reconstruction laws were passed.
The president of the United States was
directed to send commanding general
here to enforce these reconstruction laws,
not to pirate Of rebel legislation as civil
law, and characterize the supreme law Of
the land as Unconstitutional and void. AT
FIRST a faint show was made of complying
with the mandates of tho law. But from
the samples we have recently had we infer
that the thin gnise of pretense is quite
Withdrawn, and the reconstruction laws,
the obligations the government owes to
the loyal population Of this state, and the
will Of the people Of the North are to be
disregarded and set aside, that thirtieth of
July civil law may come forth again
armed with the assassin's dagger and the
bnlly's slung shot. Perhaps if Judge Abel
could be reinstated on the bench Of the first
district court, the survivors Of ihe MechsR-
les Institute riot nightbe reiadicied, ana
civil law yet have . chance to 9piay out
the play" It is thousand pides that 80
benign system as we know civil Law to be
in this state, should not have full scope for
is development.