New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-09-10
PREJUDICE AND PASSION.

Colonel McEnery, the fusion candidate
for Governor of this State, made solemn
invocation at the meeting on Thursday
night last, calling upon the people to for
get for the time-and, he would add, for
all time to come-whatever of prejudice
and passion may have swayed them in the
past.
Had Colonel McEnery and his Demo-
cratic friends done this at the conclusion
OF the war it would have been much better
for the State and the people thereof Re
construction would then have been an
easy matter, and much of the expense
that has been rendered necessary to keep
down the violence engendered by prejudice
and passion could have been avoided.
The REPUBLICAN has Iabo1ed for years to
dlyest the people 1--WE are now speaking of
those whose superior intelligence should
make them proof against such things) of
prejudice and passion For a long time
We stood solitary and alone among
all the press of the city in the
work of appeasing and subduing
those very feelings in our people
that Colonel McEnery at this late day
| would have offered as a sacrifice upon the
altar of country. If it is a sacrifte to
get rid Of prejudice and passion it should
have been made when the Southern armies
surrendered. That was the time for the
offering. At this time the sacrifice has
the appearance Of being made in the in
terest of the Democratic party Of Lou
isiana Our Democratic friends had no
thought of making a sacrifice of their pre-
JUDGE and passion until after they had
succeeded in making a fusion ticket to
suit them. When they had accomplished
this they are willing to make the sacrifice
to secure success to their political adven-
ture. And now we shall attempt to show,
from Colonel McEnery's own language,
that this is not such fusion ticket as the
people want He said in his speech last
Thursday night:
In this fusion-in this compact-if may
81 LIE lty ttCbS ulHb DIS Dluuin2 upon the
whole people of Louisiana all the ObIiga-
ton which it imposes, and tell you, if you
are In earnest, if you are Jealous in the
cause Of the redemption of Louisiana YOU
must accept this compact, this coalition,
as an absolute entirety.
Now, while we are confident that ma
jority Of the people of this State, without
regard to color, would have supported a
fusion ticket made up Of members of old
parties that were willing to join the Lib
eral Republican party, we are also certain
that the compact which has been entered
into by certain members of the Demo
cratic, Reform and Liberal parties of this
State will fail because it is not the fusion
contemplated by the people for the benefit
Of the State; fusion Of the people and
the formation Of a new party for the Sc
curement Of good government. Instead
Of this it is clearly a compact or treaty
between old parties, in which the Demo-
cratic party secures the lions share on the
ticket thus formed and wrongly styled
'fusion ticket" Colonel McEnery evil
IDENTIFY regards the whole matter in the
light Of a compact-a treaty made be-
tween certain named powers in the land
and is anxious to have it strictly observed
because if its objects are carried out it
will reinstate the Democratic party in
power in this State.
After prejudice and passion have
succeeded in making the Demo-
cratic party here triumphant in the
formation of the so-caIled fusion ticket,
succeeded in forming ticket that gives
but two positions in the State government
to Republicans those Of Auditor and
Secretary Of State-tLe Democracy can
well afford to lay aside temporarily the
weapons that have been used SO success
fully against Republicans, particularly
when such a course becomes necessary in |
order to merit the help of Republicans to
secure the success of the so-called fusion |
ticket We will gladly hail the day when |
prejudice and passion will cease to have a |
controlling influence in the politics of our
State, and Republicans and Democrats
will alike turn their faces against such
weapons.