The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-09-04
Letter Of Dent to Boutwell,.

1he following Is the text OF the letter
from Judge Dent to Boutwell,, Secretary
OF the treasury. 1t has attracted a
great deaf Of public attention; and we
publish it in full, that it may speak for
itself:
"Hon. Geo. Boutwell,, Sec. of the Treaury:
Sri shall make little apology for
asking your attention to my letter, and
less tor the nature of its contents. You
were the first to deny the political ortho-
doxy of my friends and myself, and by
all the rules of the forum am entitled
to defence. Again, you hold an Office
of the Republic, and your acts, therefore,
are legitimate subjects of criticism by
the humblest citizen thereof But in
some respects We are alike; for instance.
we are both aspi-ants for place, with this
ditference-you aim to be the President,
with every assurance of success, except
iu the opinion of the people; while l
seek an humber place, with my hopes
in disastrous eclipse, except in the judg-
ment of Mississippi. So, in the proba-
Bile results of the future, we both stand
adverse to the judgment Of the country.
"ln the persuit of your ambition you
are unscrupulous as to the means Of your
success. Your organ, the New York
San, in the same breath ridicules the
capacity of your master, and dwells
with emphasis on your peculiar fitness
for the office.
"Your excellent tool, Mr.. Tullock,
became so reckless in the manipulation
of your department in the interest of
your ambition, and so defiant Of the
wishes of the President and the country,
that to save yourself from an explosion
Of popular indignation you found it con-
venient to transfer him to another sphere
of scandalous activity, where his talents
might be exerted with equally good ef-
feet, and less effrontry.
"Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi
and Texas, not to mention anything SO
humble as myself, were obstructions in
the way of your success, because,
through President Grants Intervention
in excluding the proscriptive clauses
from their organic laws, these States are
brought into the Union firmly welded 20
his support. Now, this is in direct con-
hict with your systematical plans; for
what Gen. Grant gets in the next elec-
ton, clearly Mr.. Boutwell, will not get
and therefore you have denounced the
Conservative Republicans who are for
Grant, that you may obtain the proscrip-
tive Republicans, who are for Boutwell,
and by some strange, dexterous manage
ment, and occult political strategy, you
Lave so worked upon the confidence Of
the President as to cause him to flourish
the club with which you intend to break
his head, by inducing him to join you
in denunciation of the Conservative Re-
publicaEs, party created by his mag.
nan'mity, and triumphant through his
management.
Ia "But, sir, your purpose is easily
tdiscerned, and has a twofold object,
namely, to destroy the National Repub-
lican party in the South, and then to
reconstruct from its shattered fragments
Boutwell, party, with no Richmond in
the field to strike for your crown. But
if you cannot su-ced in this scheme of
desperate enterprise, you mean to ruin
a result, from present appearances, much
more likely to be reached.
Your official Intervention for Wells,
for instance, gave 10000 majority for
Walker. Your letter to Stokes gave
Senter to Tennessee by an overwhel-
ming vote of 10000. Your marvellous
political sagacity, now active in Missis-
sippi an6 Texas. win report your calam-
ity, and again overwhelm you with dis
comfture and defeat. Superadd to these
results Of your unapproachable folly the
the imposition on these States Of your
iron-clad oath, and the alienation is
complete, landing them all in the out
stretched arms of Democracy.
"But the confidence of your folly does
not end here. Ohio and Pennsylvania
and others will follow, decide their po-
ltical status in October, and the North
will echo back the condemnation of the
South, and peal in your yeals this fact
that there is still left enough Of the
incorruptible virtue of the Republic to
rebuke you for wanton repression Of
that most sacred right, the elective fran
chise.
"But, sir, this will not deter you
from your mad course You will still
nersist until every prop that supports
our party is stricken away, and the
whole grand superstructure tumble about
our ears in hopeless ruin.
.When you were appointed Secretary
of the Treasury and unanimously con-
tirmed by a Senate Of every shade of
political opinion, did you not take an
oath to administer your Office impartial
", and for the exclusive objects of it's
creation-to collect the revenue and
control the finances Of the country? Is
not that Office the property of the nation,
and yourself only clothed for a time
with a little briet authority? Then, sir,
how do you explain this perversion of
its legitimate u es and functions into a
means and instrument of oppression, and
compel the election Of obnoxious rulers
upon the people of the South! Is such
a course consistent with your oath Of
Office, or do you call this great moral
idea2 But, Mr.: Boutwell,, though you
have thus prostituted the powers of your
Office for purposes Of oppression, without
the warrant of conscience or law, it may
be that you can tell me by what author
ity you presume to pronounce upon my
political orthodoxy. Who constituted
you the infalliable hope Of Republican
ism? Who gave you the authority to
hurl the political anathemas Of the party
| Aeo;n uuhat riuhf had won to commit