The weekly Louisianian., 1872-07-13

Y, JULY 49,: 1879.
} delegates, they filed the building
with special deputy United State
marshals armed for the occasion
To complete these extraordinar,
preparations for a political conven
ton and to emphasize the inaugu
ration of this new style Of con
sulting the wishes of the people
they obtained the necessary ordel
from the military authorities AM
fortified the closed Customhous<
with Gatlin guns and garrisoned il
with United States soldiers under
arms. One hundred and ten dele.
gates to the convention, being 9
majority, disguised and indignant
at these tyrannical proceedings
turned away from the Customhouse
and assembled in Turner Hall. The
State Central Committee appointed
by that convention has by it's au-
thority convoked the present one.
On the nineteenth of June Mr..
Packard and his partisans called a
convention at Baton Rouge to NOM
mate candidates for the State Off
ces. The Customhouse cabal could
not keep good faith even with their
own confederates. In order to Sc
cure the nomination Of the favorites
of their own ring, and obey instruc-
tions from a '''higher authority, %
they expelled from their convention
all representative and independent
men, and seated strangers, intru-
ders, carpet-baggers and proxies Of
their own creation, until their con-
vention consisted of Customhouse
officials, internal revenue tax collec-
tors and postnasters.
Custonlhouse employees, who were
elected as delegates to the Baton
Rouge convention were openly
threatened with dismissal from Off
ce by United States Marshal Pack
ard if they failed to vote as he die
tated. The lists Of delegates elected
as furnished to the State Central
Committee by the parish and ward
clubs were suppressed by Mr..
Packard for four weeks previous to
the meeting of the convention, and
the names Of delegates were not
allowed to be made known to
members of the committee. Lists
of delegates pledged to the ring
candidates were manufactured in
the United States marshals Office
and foisted upon the convention
as the regularly elected delegates.
Lobby tickets were issued, so that
all access even to the lobby was
denied to any but the partisans OF
Mr.. Packard. Mr.. Casey refused,
in the presence of several well
known gentlemen, to assure his
Customhouse employees that their
places should not be imperiledif they
voted Independently Of Mr.. Pack
ards dictation. Mr.. Packard and
his instruments, when they dis
covered that a majority of the
convention favored union with the
regular Republicans, substituted a
fraudulent resolutions in place of
the one really offered, by which such
insulting conditions were imposed
that union was made impossible.
They refused all honorable offers OF
union with the regular Republicans
for the sole reason that such COM
promise would intefere with the
Customhouse state for nominations.
The President and secretary of the
convention were convicted in open
session Of fraudulently altering
their own rolls. Credentials were
withheld from legally elected dele
gates unless they would pledge
themselves to vote as Mr.. Packard
ordered them. Finally, by series
Of fraudulent, corrupt and tyranni-
cal measures, they rammed the
choice Of a small Customhouse ring
down the throats of the convention
in the place of able ane wellknown
Republicans, who were really their
choice, drove away over one-half Of |
their own members, and cut them
selves off from the whole body OF !
regular Republicans, so that success |
under their lead, and with their |
ticket, is impossible. |
This convent tion, SO constituted, |
in obedience to the will of it's mas
ter, James F. Casey, and his chief |
tool, S. B. Packard, nominated all
States collector Of Gus
toms and johnson Democrat .and
a resident of Illinois for Governor,
who was the defender of the mas
sacre of 1866, who refused to en-
ploy a single colored man in the
Customhouse and who refused to
vote for Mr.. Summers civil rights
bill i'll the United States Senate; a
man who has never had a perma-
nent residence in this State, has
never been Unidentified with The Re-
publican party and who is a sub