The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1871-10-21
MONROE, LOUISIANA, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 81, 1871. ,

:, OCTOBER 81, 1871 A..
The Most Corrupt Body on Earth.
HOW THE LOUISIANA LEGISLA-
TURE HAS BEEN RUN-THE
REIGN OF GIGANTIC swINDLEs.
I"H. v. RS Cor. Gin. Commercial, (Rad.)
New ORLEANS, September 26.
The Louisiana Legislature is,
perhaps, the most corrupt body
that ever assembled on the face
of the earth. 1t is no, more
trouble to buy their votes than
to buy spring chickens in the
Cincinnati market. Being q den
of thieves, they have not among
them even the honor that we are
taught is customary among
thieves. They sell their votes
for money or stock in some
swindling contrivance, on as bus
iness-like n manner as q merchant
would dispose of "A bolt of calico!
A gang of negroes will get up q
swindle, and they go into the
market and buy legislative votes
enough to pass it. IF the rogues
are left fair margin after buy
ing all the votes necessary, they
go ahead with the enterprise )"
but if the votes happen to range
higher than the prospective profit
to be realized, they drop it and
so at something else. In the
Capitol has been found a written
agreement of some seven men,
bers to sell their votes to the
slanghter-house swindle for from
fifty to three Thousand dollars
each. One poor devil sold out
for thirty-five dollars; he had
just been elected, and was not up
with the quotations. Then there
was the printing swindle, and the
levee swindle, and the Lake
Borgne swindle, and the Back
bone" railroad swindle, and the
city charter swindle, aud the
militia swindle, and the registra-
ton swindle, and the Jackson
railroad swindle, and the Nicol-
son pavement swindle, and other
swindles, as the auctioneers, say
"too numerous to mention %
The printing swindle is down.
right stealing, and stealing, too,
from a people trying to waddle
along under heavy pecuniary em-
barrassments. In the last three
years, in addition to the thieves,
the people have had floods,
drouths and the cotton worm to
contend with, to say nothing of
their impoverished condition af-
ter the war. ,.. eUt g
How much has been stolen by
the printing swindle, l don't
know, but from an examination
of the accounts fled in the office
Of the Secretary of State, I
should think that the amount
would reach near half u million
of dollars. .4 -
The legislature thought that
the loyal press should be fostered
and so it should when done at
the expense of the able editors
and passed law authorizing the
''public laws to be. published in
loyal papers, and constituting
the Governor, Lieutenant Cover
nor and Speaker of the House a
board to make contracts. q.
l have seen about a hundred
of these contracts by which
the people of Louisiana have
been robbed. To the credit of
Governor Warmoth, let me say
that he refused to sign the most
of them, and the place intended
for his name is blank, but Carter
and Dunn overruled him, and
they being majority of the
''board,' continued to make con-
tracts. !
And / have seen some of the
sheets in which the laws were
published. The ono before me
is fair specimen-small, dirty,
badly arranged, old type, thick
ink, poor impression, and edited
by a .jackass. A man could not
read the claws in it if he should
be so inclined. a .D
These little nose-rags sprung
up all over the State and pub
lished the "Acts of the Legisla-
ture," for which they received
from two to six thousand dollars
each. If the paper had but one
reader, and he was the editor,
and too drunk to read at that, it
made no difference, he drew his