The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-11-01
Districs Electors .
The Republican of last evening contains the

following paragraph:
The CRESCENT, in speaking of the mayors or
der to Mr.. Adams to resume his duties as chief,
seeks to defend Mr.. Conway. The idea 10 this.
says the CRESCENT: Mr.. Adams is the legal
chieflof police, never having been displaced by an
authority having legal jurisdiction over him."
Tbas. E. Adams was removed by Gen. Sheridan,
updGF operation Of the reconstruction laws. But
we DE now told that there was no authority. The
cond essional measures are thus secuted.
Wt now see how silly the claims OF these people
that they favored the reconstruction acts prove to
be.
The implicit meaning of the Republican is
that the Democrats who registered under
form No. 8, either took false oath, or mis-
construed the meaning of the affidavit. They
did neither The affidavit does not require
struction acts-it requires the affiant to swear
that he favored the erecadion of the recon-
strui,tion acts. This is proved by the conduct
of the person himself if he did those things
which the law demanded of him, and thus
aided in carrying the law into effect, he
favored its execution. He did this by accept
ing either of the alternatives proposed by the
law--by voting "yes," or by voting no." or
by registering as a voter The object of the
law makers may have been to reach the pre-
sent status but the execution of the law
could, logically, have led to quite another
result, as in the case of Mississippi, where the
new Constitution was rejected under the ope-
ration of the reconstruction laws themselves.
Moreover, all this does not involve the ne
cesBity of admitting the constitutionality of
those laws, or the validity of the results fow-
ing from them. 1t may be very shocking to
the Republican to hear it said, but we have
no disposition to conceal the fact that in the
Language of the Democratic platform, the re-
construction acts are unconstitutional re-
evolutionary and void, and that all of the acts
done in pursuance of them, which are re-
vefsible by judicial decision, ought to be re-
versed, and will be reversed as soon as any
honest and fearless tribunal is permitted to
pass upon them. We do scout the congress
SIGNAL measures, and we shall continue to
lar reverence for "trooly loi" Congress
any more than for vagrant and mendicant
loyalists or recreant scalawags. The Radicals
sesm 10 think that there is something
sa}red in an act of Congress, and that to init
mate any sort of opposition to congressional
authority is fiat treason. 1t is precisely this
soft of thing that has made the very word
loyalty" odious to every man that has de-
cent sense of selfrespect. In the sense in
which the Radicals use it, it means simply an
AFFECT servility towards particular party, and
a sotal sacrifice of that right of private judy
mfnt which is the foundation of political lib
cry. The time will come when "loy-
atty" will be as hateful to the American peo-
ply as toryism was in the days when tories
boasted of their servile loyalty to the British
crown. We don't know that the Radicals have
any better claim to the allegiance of American
citizens than George III had when Washing
ton was rebel and jefferson traitor.