New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-07-09
POLITICAL C4LEANTNGs.

1t has been our fortune to CLEAN bit o
political history which goes far to illustrat'
the trickery which charaeterizes ever
move made by the Customhouse ring. Al
are familiar with the use made Of the de
ceased Dunn as an incentive to the cOlorej
| people to ego for Grant" His picture
adorns their tickets and banners, and his
sayings and writings are blazOned in all
| Granite assembly rooms. No one ever Sc
riuusly charged him with the authorship OF
the letter to Greeley which appeared just
after Marshal Packard had driven the bulk
of the Republican party out of the Custom
house with Calling guns--the letter which,
as the utterances Of a deceased patriot,
forms the chief point of Packard's case be-
fore the congressional committee, and quo
tatiOns from which point the moral and
adorn the tale told by the Customhouse
orators far and wide. Yet few ever sus-
pected what fraud and imposition the
epistle was, not only on Greeley AMI the
reading public, but on Dunn himself. This
is the history of it,
The Outrages perpetrated by Packard at
the ninth of August convention had aroused
popular Indignation in all parts of the
country Party lines were ignored in the
general denunciation, and the President
felt compelled to act decisively in the mat
ter if something was not at once done to at
least stem, if not turn, the tide of outraged
public sentiment. 1t was useless for Jim
Casey, Packard, or any of that set, at
tempting the herculean task, and the only
way they saw for salvation was to drag in
the inevitable cOlored man.
Dunn was rather weakening on Packard's
clique at that time, and they did not dare
consult him, but Messrs. George w, Carter
and Joseph H. Wilson took the bull by the
horns by writing this now famous letter to
Greeley and getting it published in Jim In
grahams One-hOrse weekly sheet (of which
the present Customhouse organ is the fit
suecessorl called the Citizens Guard
Dunn, in the words of the old song,
kicked up the devil of a row just then"
but those who had made such free use of
his name and sentiments finally pacifed his
irate excellency, and a compromise was
ChCSbSus u VII. MOuuu was 70 nave all the
honor and glory, and whatever else grew
out of the surreptitious publication, and the
letter should be reprinted in the New Or
leans Times, emasculated of several dis
tinct and specific charges against the official
of Governor Warmoth.
Mr.. Dunn, like the Dolly Warden Pic,
the Bee, and the numerous detraet-
ors OF his Exceleney, could go the broad
side accusatOry and general denunciation
style Of attack on Governor Warmoth, but
when it came down to proving points, he
begged to be excused.
So the thing went before the world. |
Opinions undreamed OF, and denounced |
when first presented to him, were forced
down the throat of Mr. Dunn as the con
vietions Of the representative of his
race"
We make this expose somew hat in sorrow,
Tor it cannot but lessen the estimate of |
Mr.. Dunn's character for irmness, fairness. |
md honesty of purpose which has hereto
lore been placed upon it. Perhaps, how
ever, it will have the effect of inducing the
'o-ealled friends of the late Lieu tenant /
Governor to let his memory rest with its
aurels no farther faded bv their trirIyerv