New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-10-20
WHY IT Is.

| Ooon, ""s"s0HIupscuIy, luz piuuU0S "uV W
preston!
And little further on, after havine
argued itself into the belief that the Gov
ernor is the great 'what is it, answer.
its own question by this clincher:
1t was by his procurement, as much a.
BY that OF any other man. that the State
was cursed with the authority of the scum
who made laws tor US in 1869 and 1870.
Now, since these questions are of Dem.
ocratic origin, let the Democrats keer
silent and hold their tempers while We
answer according to the lights before US.
All things have a reason for their ex-
istence, and until the causes are explored,
facts will remain mysteries to perplex and
confound the observer Tie conclusion
OF the Bee embraces fact and sugges-
ton, to wit, that ''all legislation in Louisi-
ana. since 1865, has had plumber for its
object" and ''that the legislators con-
sisted of the scum Of the State" The abb
normal evil of this antithetical statement
is the existence Of ''scum' in the Legisla-
ture; for without that the impression is
sought to he conveyed that the plumber
ing legislation would not have succeeded
Is this plain? If it is, let US examine into
the reason Of the evil complained of, by
discovering, if we can. and by reforming, if
We can, the '.scum."
Before the rebellion the South, or, to
confine ourselves strictly to local appli-
cation of the subject, the State of Louis
lana was peopled b. two classes Of man
kind-the whites who were the masters,
and the negroes who were the slaves.
1t was against the law, and it was GER
tainly against the custom of the commu-
nifty, to teach this latter class, which was
the predominant race as to numbers, any
branch of knowledge. The theory was
that the negro was only safe as chattel
while he was kept in condition of pro-
found ignorance.
Another theory of the period was that
personal chastisement was the remedy
for moral depravity in the negro. He
was whipped if he stole peck of potatoes
or chicken; he was whipped if he was
caught in lie injurious to his master; he
was lashed if he fell into drunken row.
There were no lectures in those days but
such as were delivered at the end of q
ship, and these admonitions only found
1tterance when the question of wrong
arose between the owner and his chattel.
Negroes were allowed to lie and sin
'mong themselves with impunity, which
lad still further degrading efec: to
each them that lying and sin were only
when committed as against
heir superiors Wickedness was not
'eld up to them as reprehensible in itself,
nd because it violated the decalogue.
ut because it affected the law of their
uman possessors. They might lie to
ach other, swear until the heavens were
lack, be depraved in their dealings
mong themselves, and the slave owners
ere unmindful Of them Here is the .
rigin of the ''scum." 1t was fattened
nd made profitable by the white people. +
owes its existence to the very element I
hose mouthpiece the Bee pretends to BE-. ,
lavihg found the root Of the disease, let j
patiently explore little further. i
The rebellion reared itself in defense q
this extraordinary condition of society, Z
1t because slavery was in immediate c
anger, bat because its upholders felt f
at they were living in such state of .
inflammation that their continuance in v
at condition was sure Of attack. Guilty b
en- always precipitate their own down. a
Il by their rashness. The South rushed I
ION the conflict which it knew to be o
preaching, seeking to perpetuate a "
eat evil by striking down its foes be- v
re they were prepared for aggression. c.
'rtunately for humanity and for free c;
m. the oligarchy not only defended Il
very but it assaulted liberty, striking n
overthrow the republic as the surest
cans of securing its own safety. If it had W
'de but one issue, and that security is
its peculiar institution" there is no a,
> to determine at present what the A
e OF the negro would have been; but th
en it laid hands upon the affairs of 81
Union and fixed its purpose to re
Z down the republic, then the country ca
upon and crushed its gigantic is
,kedneSS with Titanic forca This 10 | nv
, of the roots Of the disease, and the of
can see how faithfully We have un- ba
erred it.
IS slavery originated the "scum" of no
State by dcreeing that fve-ninths of do
people of the State should live in ha
ORANGE and immortality; and as slavery sta
,inated the rebellion; and as the Bee tn
the representative Of slavery, it will WI
ow us little further while we attempt 90
EXPLORE another branch of the subject. en-
While the rebellion was being forced to tn,
end by the full power of the govern fol
1t, the President Of the United States, thu
mature deliberation, declared it to thu
he will of the nation, whose existence bn
been imperiled by slavery, to decree the
as an evil almost as great as rer
rebellion itself. The country accept
his conservatory proclamation, and the
roes were thenceforward forever deliv- =
out OF slavery. They were merely mo
with liberty. The govern.