New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-11
SOLEMN FARCES.

Ali things considered, the actions of the
recent conventions in this city, held in
the names of the Republican and Demo-
cratic parties, are solemn farces. The
REPUBLICAN is rot in the habit of treating
facetiously matters of serious import but
when comparatively few unknown men
meet in convention and undertake to
make nominations for a municipal cleo
ton that is not likely to take place, and
do it, too, with an air of realism, and with
an object of forestalling and defeating the
real wishes of the good people of this city
how else should it be regarded if not as
solemn farce? The well known fact that
it has been determined We are not to
have an election for municipal
officers this spring, renders this
work of a few officious politicians
the more ridiculous and useless, if not
coupled with presumptuous attempt to
dictate to the Governor whom he shall
name for municipal Offices under new
charter. The whole matter, in fact, SO far
as the two great parties are concerned that
go to make up the people of this city,
seems so Ikea stupendous joke, or an at
tempt at a stupendous fraud, that we were
almost at loss to know how to treat it
whether as grave offense or solemn farce.
but the most charitable view to take Of it,
likely, is to treat it as an astonishing joke,
for the cool impudence of tbs men who
thus claim to speak and act for
the people has, in reality, aston
ished and provoked in them keen sense
of the ludicrous attitude these men as
sumed when they undertook to make their
feeble voices appear as the voice of the
people.
Mr.. Witt, for young man, might pos
sibly make very fair Mayor, providing
there was possible chance of his election;
but to say he is the choice of the people
for that position, is enough to make the
small men wilt who have brought him for
ward. Mr.. Diamond may be a diamond
of the first water, but he has not the ghost
of chance to be Stree. Commissioner,
unless he can bring heavier batteries to
bear than were arranged in the late con-
vention speaking in the name of the DEM
ocracy of this city. And such will be the
fate Of all the gentlemen named
as candidates for municipal Offices and
honors by that convention.
We are aware that our Democratic
friends may say with good deal of force
that there is very little or no chance to
marry our excellent friend, Mr.. Mary, to
the Mayoralty of New Orleans, and that to
make Mr.. Lewis, the friend of Wickliffe,
Controller, and Mr.. Bechtel, who runs the
Customhouse, Street Commissioner, will
be an impossibility. In speaking of the
ticket, as a whole, made at the Mechanics
Institute, in the name of the Republican
party, the Democrats will likely say play
fully that, although that ticket contains
Ladd and a Driver, the lads of
the Mechanics Institute convention
will never be able to drive it sue
cessfully into power. Well, let
them say it, if that is any satisfaction to
them. But that kind of satisfaction, we
take it, will not serve to make lean and
hungry Democrats satisfied.
Seriously.speaking, We can not see the
necessity of these conventions when it has
been determined to have no election. A
new city charter will SO entirely change
our form of city government, and the
manner, for the present, of choosing its
officers, as to render the work of these
nominating conventions useless, if not
mischievous and meddlesome, through the
action of men who, pretending to speak
for the people, only speak for themselves.
Since 1892 to the present time,
the gold coinage of the United
States mint has amounted to nine
hundred and forty-six millions Of
dollars, of which eight hundred and forty
four millions have been issued since 1850.
The gold coinage of the French mint, since