The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-01-05
General Grant and Louisiana


crat, an ultra Radical newspaper, sends to
that paper what he represents to have been
4 conversation between General GRANT and
sJudpe from Louisiana, whose name is not
given, but whom we take to, be be- Judge
BAKER, Radical Of that State. The topic
of this conversation was the propriety OF
giving the aid Of the Government TO sthe
reconstruction Of the levees Of the Missis-
sippi In Louisiana. These levees were de-
stroysd by the war, either through their
being cut away by military authority, or the
failure, by reason of the existence Of hostlii-
lies, TO repair breaches, which soon widened
to great gates, through which the waters Of
the Mississippi flowed ont upon the vast
plains bordering on that river. ]
Judge BAKER Tor whatever be the name
of the Judged suggested the prcpriety Of
the reconstruction Of the levees by Govern
ment aid in the endorsement of the bonds of
Louisiana. TO this General GRANT de-
olared his unqualified opposition; and had
he stopped there, he would not have given.
any cause for complaint; for although the
Federal Government has in hundred cases
done what justifes Louisiana in asking it to
do this, still, as General GRANT has he'd
nothing to do with those acts Of the Govern
nnent, he could not have been charged with
. Inconsistency. Indeed, report has credited
him with the avowed determination to check
as far as he can appropriations and en-
dorsations to promote corporate projects,
and he may be consistent, at least in his
own opinion, in including the Louisiana
scheme among those he could not approve.
But if the letter-writer be correct, the
General went so far as to assail the people
] of Louisisna-charging them with obsti-
nstely holding on to lands they could not
improve, instead of selling them topersone
who could. He bore especially upon an
alleged hostility to the northern people and
also to the United States Government
amongst Louisiana land-holders, and said,
be it always understood, according to this
writer, that they should "wait under water
until you they are willing men should
"come in who will build then" (the
1evees). The reporter puts in the Generals
mouth the accusations that the Louisianians
do not pay the negroes, and that they ar
unwilling to cut UP their lands IN small
farms and sell them to industrious PEG.
pls, SO. .s4s il i tiSsaH ~
It is plain that the General Is grossly
nisrepresented, or that his ear has beer
poisoned by the persistent falsshooas 9
Radical missionaries. Considering ms nu
merous cots of frmpess and fidelity, we d
not believe that he would utter such senti
msnts from mere prejudice. This s!a sub
jsct moro fitting 10 be discussed by Louist
anians than ourselves, it is true; but W
are at q particular juncture Of the work 9
restoration Of the Union which makes It 9
much 10 be deplored that prominent m, mel
should be brought under the influences Q
those sectional prejudioes whose eradication
Ia Indispensable to harmony that we can
net yorbear saying word about 1t, merel,,
with view to its national effects.
First, then, as we have said, che PEG
pie Of Louisiana are peculiar sufferers b.
the war. They had, unaided, built ,thei
lsvees. They had exhibited as muoh en-
tsrprise as any people within the broas'
limits Of the Union, and their tillage, thei
plantation, machinery, and massive ant
oostly buildings, for making sugar, wer'
without comparison anywhere in tho world
BY the war they lost their negroes, and I
large part Of their best lands Was rem
dsrednseless. Thusstripped OF fortune, they
have no means to recover their lands from
the Hood-tho overaowing Of that vast rivel
whose magnitude induced Mr.. CALHOUN
with all his horror Of sppropristing Fedora
money for local works, to andesvor to max,
t an exception to his own strict oonstruo
. ton theory, that II might become the oss5;ec
8 Of improvement under Federal anthosis,
and means. Thairease is strong one. Thsi
industry, enterprise, and thrift, had thrown
immense wealth into the national treasur,
and greatly sWelled tho prosperity and re
sources Of the nasicn-shey are ruined b.
the fact Of war--neither themselves nor thu
Government can derive benefit from these
submerged lands, snd their appeal for aid
10 entitled at least to respectful hearing. L
Is all the more so when We remember that
millions Of national treasure have been