New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-09-05
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
Enthusiasm The Democratic Record
Candidates-Rebuke to Schemers-Or-
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| ganiZatiOn.
| EDITOR REPUBLICAN:
Organize and work, :" says the Picayttne.
| Nothing vindicates SO successfully q well
| taken theory as prompt, cheerful, whole
souled, indomitable work" l might add
that " nothing indicates so successfully the
failure of the fusion as the general indis-
position Of the people to proceed to whole
| souIed, indomitable work. and the admO-
milton of the Picay,sne is like the cry OF tile
startled owl at noon day. Enthusiasm is q
healthy concomitant Of every political
movement, and in fact, is inseparabie from
every good cause, but the magnetic chords
Of the body polite must be touched to
| arouse it; pocket, brain and heart are It's
constituted elements. What has pocket,
brain or heart to do with fusion 1t falls
almost liteless at the feet Of its authors.
The Picoy10ee greeted it with fear and sps-
picion; the Bee, after mature reflection,
not without hesitation; the Times with
seeming holdness, and the REPUBLICAN, un-
able to stife its conscience, would have
none of it. Such an astonishing revolution
| or surrender could not have been expected,
and from the shock it produced the people
have not recovered, hence they are not
moved with enthusiasm, are not cheerful or
ready for indomitable work.
The reasons are plain. The Liberal move
ment had its origin in the practical, com
mon sense of a portion of the Democratic
party, which prompted them to withdraw
from an organization associated with the
memories Of disastrous conflict, cingiDg
| to dead issues, odious to a formidable ma
jOrity, and whose very name had become
synonym for defeat. Time and again they
had rallied under Bourbon lead, and, as of
ten was their organization, strong in pocket,
not lacking in brain or enthusiasm, dashed
merciIessIy to pieces. They could not longer
hug a delusion or pursue phantom, and
they concluded to venture at something
practical, progressive and just. So they
told the negroes 1--WE will recognize your
claims of citizenship" the honest carpet
Dagger: ave desire your assistance" and
the Liberal movement l0omed up young
giant, and they admired their work, and
true and generous enthusiasm followed in
its wake.
Put water Oh fire; surrender principle for
policy, lose sight of the nature of the origi-
nal compact which knit the elemen is to-
getber, and you have what is called fusion,
and YOU also have confusion, and it reigns
in party councils to-day. A Democratic
and Reform convention held their sessions
in New Orleans, and after failing to con
ciliate each other, each suggested list Of
names for the offices Of the State, and by
diDt of wire pulling and amid divided coun-
sells few were indorsed. Both cOnven-
tions failed to satisfy their constituents, to
grappIe with the issues of the day, but, fol-
lowing the Bourbon lead, committed politi-
cal suicide. Liberal Republicans remember
that on the lists of both conventions could
not be found the name Of single man of
color; not one participated in their pro-
ceedings, and the "die-in-the-ditch' spirit
was triumphant. Again, the fabors of the
conventions having failed, the State Cen
tral Committees, claiming to represent both
parties, formed eopartnership; the Bour-
bons triUmphed, the babe Reform was
strangled not colored man on the ticket,
no indication Of generous policy, and the
Democratic Reform fusion resulted as bar
renlv as the Democratic Liberal fusion Of
to-day.
While the stewards Of the Liberal party
were preparing and ratifying their fusion.
John McEnery was enightening the people
of North Louisiana with his eloquent
straight Democratic speeches, giving them
honeyed words to persuade them to accept
what is in fact white mans party and
white mans ticket This in the year 1872,
and the leaders Of a party liberal in name
and claiming to be liberal in brain and
heart, blindlY place that man at the head
of their fusion and ask the voters Of Lou
isiana to place him in the gnbernatoriaI
chair, when they know the population Of
the State to be near equally divided in
races; the act in violation Of every tie bind
ing the Liberal party together, defiance Of
practical common sense, and a transfer to
the Bourbons of our chief trophy.
H. N. Ogden, always in favor of white
mans party, universally known throughout
every ward and parish in the State as the
incorporating foe of Republicans of every
stripe; an indiscreet and eloquent advocate
Of straight Democracy in days when liberty
of speech and Of the press were abridged
that man the committee makes way for by
setting aside pure and able man, little
gifted in political intrigues, but not want
ing in legal ability or enthusiasm for Liber-
aIism-W. f. Herman.
For the most important position in the
State, because of its hold upon the affec-
tions Of the people-Superintend of Pub
lie Education-R NJ Lusher, man whose
circulars in favor of Caucasian education
are yet fresh in the minds of thousands
whose distribution of the Peabody fund has
been almost without exception to white
schools, because white children were most
needy in his Judgment. whose former ad-
ministratiOn was marked with inefhciency,
and could only claim a shadow of economy
because it was Of no avail to majority of
the children of this State, is placed upon
the ticket, when it must have been known
by the committees that it would drive away
every colored voter from the Liberal ranks.
These acts of bad faith dampen the ardor
of every conscientious man in the move
ment who gave out the promise before, in
and out Of the convention, that the Liberal
party was to advance to a higher position