The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1869-09-04
What Has the War Settled ?
From the y. O. picay,ne. Aug ~.


,,sSed since 800 have been decided bv
arms. say the Radical press. In the re-
port OF the condition of the South, of
Gen Grant. he says ''the questions which
have heretofore divided the sentiments
Of the people of the two sections -slav-
crv and state rights-thcy regard as
having been settled forever by the high
est tribunal-arms-tlllt man can resort
to- Arms the highest tribunal That
will do tor one at the head Of the army
But did arms ever settle u question in
law. in morals, in political economy or
in science Have all the wars in behalf
OF the Cross ever settled one dogma Of
the Christian creed! The followers of
the prophet of Mecca captured the birth
place OF the Gospel and still hold it: and
we are gravely told that had not Charles
Martrl defeated ut Tours the hosts OF
-ibderrahman, perhaps the interpreta-
ton OF the Koran would now ,e taught
in the schools OF Oxford, and her pupils
mi -ht demonstrate to d clrcumclscu peo-
Pile the sanctity and truth of the revela
tion of Malomet. Because the followers
OF the Crescent outnumber the followers
OF the Cross, are we to believe that
Christianity il false and MosIemSm trne1
What nonsense What :,bsurslity! War
never settled IL great principle. Great
truths never die; they descend through
tine; are transmitted from St;ite to
state. and their light il never cxtin-
gulslrd. slavery is abolished by force
OF arms. Is tlslt proof that slavery was
wrong Its :toolShtnenr will result in
ultimate good to the South. and the ul-
- H.. IL,
country. For the benetit we may de
rive from its suppression. do arms prove
the ri ght to extermuAte the black race
Has force settled the question Of the
right to deprive citizens of @4.OOO. .OtM, ,tAn
of property without compensation Is
the doctrine of State rights finally set
tied 1t true, arms cannot Overturn it
if false it will perish from it's inherent
weakness. But Gen. Grant declares that
the question of State Rights has forever
been settled by arms, the h. CHEST trbu.
nal. Are we to believe that States have
no rights, and that the General Goverl-
ment has every right The doctrine of
State Rights is now in the same situa-
tiou as it was before a gun was fired, and
it will not be long before the people OF
the several States. to protect themselves
from the encroachments of the Federal
Government, will assert the truth and
enforce the doctrine Of State Rights.
Grant. in all his battles. has simply
proved the correctness of the mathemat-
zeal proposition that twenty are more
than eight, and if the ports Of the world
had been open to the South IL they We're
to the North, and with u plentiful sup
ply of arms and ammunition. and of
Huarterlnnster stores, it il, to say the
least, doubtful if Grant could have
proved the correctness of that PROPOSE
tion. That is the only question which
the highest tribunal has settled. Wars
may Ghange dynasties, but blood and
carnage never have settled principle.
But the war has left results, and we
point out some. 1t has entailed huge
debt, called by the Radicals IL national
blessing; it has burdened the people
with al ouerous tax; it has violated the
constitution it has dem0ralized the
country it has brought to the surface
carpet-baggers, scalaways and plumber
ers, and has placed at the head OF o
great nation dummy" to use the ex
preston of Phillips. 1t has rendered
the epresentg.Administratio poweriess for
good, for it has placed in office those
I who know not how to deal with the great
/ questions of the day. Its spies, it's SIAN
derers, it's sneerers nit the mention of the
4 names OF Lee and Jackson its hyenas.
II who rejoice at the Dissertation of the
Il graves of the Confederate dead, have
II all tended to ret..rd union and to beget
\ animosity, which will intensity in time.
The Radical party, with its leaders,
have attempted to disgrace and degrade
d the South, and rub in deep indignities
Of all kinds. The party blustered and
tried to bully England in the matter "f
the Alabama claims, and, to conciliate
the South, called the Alabama % pratt
cal craft, and its crew a piratical crew !;
as il such language would stir up the
South to fight England for the benefit of
10 few New England ship-owners. The
yparty i'm power dare not 20 to war with
fEngland. Its calumnies against % great
Hpeople and it's oppressive and arbitrary
#Acts have driven from it the main SUP
port in case of war. These are some of
the results of the war. Other men must
come in power before any good can be
derived from the last conflict of arms.
n A generous course, dictated by noble
III Scus2sssTMeas ~UVkN bsSsU, CfC eAhAS, Vao08NS
about harmony. The reverse has been
the case. But We are, notwithstanding
all the indignities heaped upon us, get
ting d long pretty we'll. A few mo ore good
crops will put US in q tolerable indepen-
dent condition, and with the addition of
. large population will give us the pow
er to assert our rights. There never has
been since the surren nder Of our arms,
any disposition to continue. or to keep
alive any of the angry feelings engeu-
dered by the war. But the party in
power strives to Intensity them for its
own special purposes. Human nature
in the same in all places and in all times,
and if the oppression Of the Radical
party continues, and other and further
indignities and insults are to be put OH
as, let the party bear in mind this: