New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-03-03
WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE?

fault with things III general has been con
centrated on the one idea Of laying at the
door of our law makers all TIE evils tina,
affiict us. If cotton falls in price; if the
country merchant fails to send in his or
ders or neglects to pay the old debt; if, in
a spirit of Incidence, the impecunious
man looks for work, hoping he may not
find it, and realizes his hopes; if sub
scribers and advertisers cease their fayors
to the newspapers; or, to sum up, if any
thing unpleasant occurs to any class OF
the community. the cause is traced direct
ly to the Legislature. This much
maligned body has been made to take the
place Of "Hard Times. that for a num-
Der of years prosecuted the shiftless
Micawbers of the country. Hard
Times" enjoys brief respite and the
Louisiana Legislature receives the accu-
mulated grumblings of the community.
But in the present case. We discover
another parallel. Possibly those who are
loudest in their denunciations are in Il
great measure either directly Or indirectly
to blame for much of the evil complained
! Of. 1t would be very difficult to find i'll
this community Il man who is engaged il
business of ;,:y magnitude who has not
appeared in the Hobbies of the General
Assembly either in person or by proxy,
and urged the members to pass into
law some scheme or Job which WAS not
for the public good nor intended to be
such. The list is too long to be repeated
here; but every intelligent reader can
vouch for the truth of our assertion
when we say that the worst bills that have
been introduced into the Legislature
since the adoption of the constitution of
1868 have been championed by men who
make pretensions of the very highest
order of responsibility. And the last
General Assembly of Louisiana that was
composed exclusively of white men set
notable example to their successors. II
1867 the franchises of the State were
granted in the most lavish manner to gen
tlemen belonging exclusively to the SUI
perior race. We believe that for the time
employed that celebrated body
passed as many bills with the
object Of depicting the treasury as any of !
its successors. And the pecuniary dis
aster was far from being the worst feature.
1t was the example that had the more |
blighting effect. For the men composing |
the General Assembly of 1867 had the
advantage of liberal Christian educa-
ton. They boosted. in season and out
of their superiority of race and of their
high descent. They made themselves
appear to the untutored minds Of their
slaves superior order of beings, whose
or approval would sanctify
any measure. They even invested the
infamous institution of slavery with a
sentiment of right, and claimed for it
almost divine attributes. Is it any Won
der, then, that their pupils should initiate
their example and follow their advice
when the former came to be law makers:
And further. the disregard of law, which
the rebellion, weakened the
sense Of the unrehecting classes in their
'egard for oaths and their attachment to
and laws. For if the master,
Who had sworn rs an officer to support
he constitution of the country. could dis
egard the obligation. not only without
in but with credit. why could not the
nan do SO likewise? Thus it became the
labit to cloak al sins with the mantle of
'olitics, until the whole community be
anne fearfully demoralized. BY degrees
be seeds OF evil were sown, and, as the
lants sprung from the ground,
hey were literally watered with the
lood of those who dared to differ
18th the dominant party in politics. ,
he numerous election disturbances, the
ots, private assassinations and threats of .
iolence afforded examples to the newly
lade citizens which, had they been more !
osely initiated, would have produced the I
lost deplorable results.
The dominant party at this time and /,
| the present General Assembly is largely t
of men who have been taught '
ON infancy to know themselves inferior $
every respect to the white people. /
heir own race has been depicted SO often \
Id so persistently as being without t
onor, honesty. intelligence, Or any of (
le characteristics of manhood. that t
ost perniciouS effect has been wrought. &
would have been much better to teach
lem that no excellence was above their Il
ach rather than TO ding it into their a
rs from day to day that they were worse il
an they really are Il
A legislative body is necessarily and @
alphabetically the representative Of the
in which it exists. The men,
rs may not be, individually, the choice
what is rather boastfully denominated /
e ''better classes But they are al L
avs influenced to q great extent, espe- Il
ally i'll the matter of morals, by the h
achings and advice of those to whom a.
ey have been accustomed all their b
yes to regard as exemp!ars When, Il
erefore, bank presidents, leading Off b.
rs OF insurance companies. editors Of Ia
.wspapers, capitalists. and business men VI
H..