The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1870-11-05
Political Discussion ut 1enyville.
RA>. VILE, LA, Oct. 20, 1877,

to-day was not generally known new
ertheless, Il respectable audience, black
and white, was hastily collected to hear
the orators. Col. John McEnery open
cd the discussion in Il speech which was
delivered with great eloquencc, force
and logical ability. He spoke first OF
the u. :. Government as handed down
to us by our ancestors-the wisdom of
the constitution-the prosperity and
happiness of the people-the honor and
magnanimity Of the contending politi-
cal parties-the old democrats and the
heightened wings, and eloquently peri
Grated the preface to his speech, by
declaring that in the hands of such men
and parties, the liberty, prosperity and
happiness of the whole people, North
and South, were secure and sacred.
But from the day that the Radical
party gained supremacy, honor, justice
and liberty were sacrificed to the god
of ambition, falsehOod, tyranny, hatred
to the South and love of public plum
der. These declarations being substan-
tiHtcd by strong and incontrovcrtible
facts and arguments, he took up the
affairs Of our State government, and
after reviewing the history of the past
briefly, he came down like al ;,valanch
from the summit of the Alps upon the
present Radical administration, over
whclming Gov. Warmoth and his Rad
icll supporters, amid the debris of their
own disgrace and financial corruption.
Here he took up some Of the special
acts of legislation, and reviewed them
in language glowing with elOquence
and unanswcrablc logic - especially
pointing out the 4uinumvirate law
which gives to the Governor and four
of his party, authority to decide upon
the validity or non-valitlity of elections
in the whole State. Rarely have we
ever listened to Il man whose rhetorical
power or logical acumen, rose higher
and fell with more crushing force than
his criticism and comment upon this
tyrannical and despotic law and there
sat the chief author of it within Il few
feet, as Catalina sat when Cicero hurled
his fiery words from the forum of old
Rome.
The matter OF taxation next came
under review, and although briefly
handled, he clearly demonstrated the
enormous prodigality, the INSCRIPTIONS
stealing and the diabolical rascality Of
the legislature; and closed his speech
with some wise and appropriate advice
to the colored people.
Next came the Hon. John Ray, who
stepped upon the platform apparently
cool, self-possessed and with Il conscious
feeling of his own power and intellectu-
al strength. There is something WOn-
dcrfully charming i'll this man,-thc
benignity of his conference.-the soft
ness and grace of his manncrs-the colo
quail elOquence of his Wortls-and the
apparent sincerity Of his belief, insensi-
bly, disarms prejudice, and leads cap
tive the better feelings of our nature.
The glow Of pride, at first, flashed
over us, that he was a citizen OF our
State, and that our town bore his name;
and then we covered our face and
sighed in sadness and tears, as we heard
him so persuasively justifying and
pleading for Il party which in our hum
bic opinion, has virtually destroyed
constitutional liberty - trampled into
the dust the sacred rights Of millions of
peoplc--centralized the power of the
government, and laid the foundation
of Il dcspotism, in comparison to which
the despOts Of Assyria, the Pharoahs of
Egypt and the CAESARS OF Rome, We're,
in their policy, more enlightened, lib
cral and just.
He noticed, first, Col. McEnery's
spccch-calling the audience to notice,
especially that the Colonel had praised
the old government, and yet, strange to
say, he with other sccessiOniStS, had re-
bclled and tried to destroy the govern
ment. Now, we would here remark,
that the subtle regularity of the Hon.
John Rays arguments, consists in the
adrOit manner in which. he assumes his
premises. These being laid, apparent
ly in all fairness, he then plausibly
comes to his conclusions with Il power
and force not easily resisted.
He spoke also of the old U, $ gov
eminent, as being the greatest and best
the wisest and frccst; all of which
no one pretends to deny; but he said
nothing of the equality of the States,-
the constitutional compact into which
they entered, the sovereignty which
they reserved and which for more than
fifty years sacrcdly cherished and guard
ed - ignoring all these fundamental
principles of constitutional liberty, he
planted himself and party upon the
Union, and opened his guns upon the
Democrats, :,rraigning them as the au-
thors of all our trouble and political
liscOrd.
We thought of NirgiPs giant, who
had only one eye, as we listened to his
One-sidCd, partiZan view of our present
political calamiticS. 1t We're Il pity that
Story's arm had not been palsicd and
WcbStcr'S * zoe hcset IN tu,tci6us," ere
the one had written his commentary on
the Constitution, and the other made his
union speech against Haynes of South
Carolina. Such SltalitcS us Ray, War
moth, Sheridan and Oscar Dunn, would
never have reVolvcd around the great
Moloch, tho Union, which has already
murdered Il million of men, and will,
for centuries to como, drcnch the graves