New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-08-18
T0OLs Ann nATsPAWs.

whenever bourbon Is COTueI6u lie
draws down his facial muscles and pro-
ceeds to acquit himself Of his folly by
declaring that all the men who think diff
ferently from what he thinks are the tools
Of somebody. This is the raw head and
bloody bones that is trotted out to frighten
the white people whenever they manifest
a disposition to depart from the service of
the men who have been riding them to
destruction for years. Mr.. Penn is tool
and a catspaw; General Heron, Mr..
Fuqua, Judge Beattie, Mr.. Egan, Mr..
Elan, Colonel Walton, in fact, whoever
pretends to be an independent gentleman,
in opposition to McClosky, the soda pop
merchant; Lasere, the Tehauntepec fail
ure; Randolph, the stranger, is a catspaw
and tool. Who are the men that thus
set themselves to discuss the salvation Of
the State by indulging in epithets toward
all who differ with them in opinion
What efficiency is there in mud that it is
being used to coerce our judgments in
favor Of a specific set Of candidates who
have no records upon which to place
themselves? Is not the man who uses
such arguments liable to the suspicion Of
knowing more about what he talks of
than anything else? Grant talks horse
because he understands that subject
better than any other. Casey backs Grant
ll.-,,r.1 L ~ g,oc ,,,+ l-,,ov7, ory-fI,ipc, plCa
Andsso on. Is it not inferential that the
politician who sees a tool in every OPpo-
nent is something Of a tool himself? 1t is
against the nature of things that such
men as Heron, Beattie, Elan, Fuqua,
Hebert can be the willing instruments Of
any politician, simply because their in
terests and instincts will forever prevent
them from descending to such a level;
but it is possible that the men who accuse
them of this unnatural degradation may
be tools, for they show a familiarity with
the subject that sincere and conscientious
gentlemen can not comprehend. To
classify all the distinguished men who
have embarked in the Liberal cause as
"catspaws, is to impeach the best citi-
zens of the State Of dishonesty and
wickedness; even more, it is to charge
the entire community with ignorance and
corruption, for it is as much as to say
that sensible men and capable statesmen
have lost all confidence in the sagacity
and integrity Of the people. If Messrs.
Heron, Fuqua, Hebert, Egan, Ryan and
their associates are tools, they must know
it, and if they know they are tools, they
must know that they are 50 for a selfish
purpose, which can but be won by cheating
the community. And if they suppose the
surest road to success is by trickery and
by becoming catspaws, then they must
have lost confidence in the honesty and
intelligence of their fellow-citizens. Are
the Bourbons prepared to assume the log
icaI conclusion Of their rampant nonsense?
If they are, do they not show a wonderful
lack Of confidence i'll the people when
they use such efforts to defeat a body Of
tools whose very wickednass ought to
overthrow them in a wise and honest
society? It seems to us that they are
either insincere in their charges against
the Liberals, or they are very weak in
their faith in the popular capacity to re-
iect wickedness.
The truth Of the matter is the Bour-
bons have made tools out Of the people for
a long time, and now they are jealous that
somebody else intends to supplant them.
They have ridden the country with a CAD,
and they feel that the stricken State is dis
posed to throw them off And in order to
preserve their seats in the saddle, they are
rotting out a hobgoblin to brighten their
supporters into a further liberation of
their supremacy. They are calling all
men 'tools" and ''catspaws' that declare
against their competence to manage pub
lie affairs. But the nursery does not scare
well. 1t has accustomed itself to this
ghost, and is not frightened at the mild
hammered and sensible body that proposes
to help it to better times The ''tools"
and ''catspaws" are likely to prove their
strength and honesty and their influence
with the people, to the CONSERVATION of
the Bourbons, next November.