The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1872-07-20
Address TO the People Of Louis
6anas

The Cincinnati Convention, rrroy-
niZing the necessity of uniting all the
elements of opposition to Grant, nonli-
mated as their standard bearers Horace
Greeley for President and Il. Gratz
Brown for EiCe-Ircsidcnt, and present.
ed for the consideration OF the people
Il declaration Of principles. The Balti-
more t~0nVrntlOn, c0ncurring in the
causes and reasons which gave birth to
til1t great popular movement, endorsed
then nominations and accepted the
platform on which their candidates
stood. 1t has thus set an example to
the country which every consideration
OF political safety and ~cXpcdipnry Re
4ulreS should be initiated within the
States. IT the Democratic party has
maintained It's national organization, it
Is only that the alliance with Liberal
ism may be rendered stronger or more
effective. The delegates who met ut
baltimore for tn" purpose OF remrntiny
that alliance couldnot have Hnticipatrd
that factions of their party, in the Scyc-
raj States, WOUId set themselves in Oh
position to the Liberal Ia9f0rm move
ment, Ivy using tiIeir organizations for
the purpose Of ncTpctuatinG divisions
through the nomination and support OF
separate electoral and State tickets. They
knew that without union on these
points the acceptance" of Grpelcy and
Brown would b" only Il morkery, Il de
fusion anda snare.
In other States, as in Illinois and In
diana, the plain course dictated bv
common sense and common honesty
has been followed, and close union with
the Liberals has been affected. In one.
Il JOINT State ticket has been nominated,
and III the other the formation of the
electoral ticket has been rrmittcd
to the whole body of Liberals. In
every State except Louisiana friendly
relations have been established between
the Liberals and the Democracy, and
efforts have been made III good faith to
unite The Liberal and the Democratic
vote for State It's we'll as for national
purposes. In Louisiana alone Il diff
fcrcnt course has been pursued. In
Louisiana alone the Liberal party-that
party which first rallied to the support
OF the Cincinnati movement, which an
tlcipatcd the decision of the National
Democracy, and which gave IL resistleSS
impulse to the Greeley and Brown tick
ct, has been treated by the Democratic
organization with COlitUmely and Sc0rn,
and made the object of bitter invpctivr
and remuneration. And vet, in LOuiSi-
ANA, perhaps more than in any other
State, Il thorough union Of the Liberal
and Democratic vote is necessary to
success. So evident is this fact that ON
the adjournment Of the Opera House
Democratic Convention, thousands of
Democrats iii New OrleanSa and through
ont the State, ahNndOncdth Democrat
iC organization and joined the Liberal
party. These arcessiOnS are counted
by tens Of thousands. They are so IL
meFOuS that we can assert as an iuGis-
rltable fact that, in at least half Of
the parishes the Democratic ~0rganiZa-
ton is without Il follower, and in the
greater portion of the rest the Liberal
party commands a large majority of
what was once the Democratic vote.
In the Whole State there are but six
Journals supporting the Democratic
ticket, and OF the tifty-siX parishes not
half Il dozen are represented in the
Democratic State Committee. In spiteOf
these conspicuous facts, the Democratic.
organization, thus reduced to Il mini
mum OF voting power, persists in keep
ing up a show of separate and indeDen-
dent organization, and the Democratic
Committee thus emaSCulated of repre-
sentative character has nominated and
presented 4 State and electoral ticket.
No rational man believes that they pX-
DeCt to elect either II or the other, and
hence the public can come to no other
confusion than that they are running
their State ticket in the interest Of the
Baton Rouge candidates, and theirclcc-
tOral ticket for the purpose Of defeating
Greeley and Brown, the nominees of
their own National Convention. We
distinctly charge this upon them, be
cause we have no right to assume that
they are SO blind as not to see the facts
OF the situation, silly as not to fore
see the necessary effects of their own
acts.
1t is proper for the whole country. as
we'll as for the people OF this State, to
know that the Democratic rumD organ
~ization, whilst pretending to accept the
decision OF the Baltimore convention,
is i'll reality hostile to the National
Liberal candidates, and that whilst it
presents an electoral ticket i'll the name
of Greeley and Brown, it is trying to
give the vote of the State to Grant.
Whether this course is the fulfillment
OF the contract entered into last winter
between the CustOmhOuse party and
the Democratic committees, whether it
is the result of more recent and more
secret bargains, having for their object
the control of local Offices and patron
age, or whether it is dictated by tn
unreas0ning Obstinacy which prefers
total ruin to success obtained by means
OF concession and Cancellation, the pub
lie will decide according to the pF0ba-
bilitics of the case.
Whatever may be the decision, the
Liberal party feel that, If unfortunate
ly the State should be lost they at least
will not be held responsible at the bar
OF public opinion. But they are con
WINGED that the good sense Of the 20
pie will avert the calamitous cOnsc-
quences which might otherwise result
from the bad faith or the Irrational pre-
JUDGES OF the Democratic leaders. They
do not believe that the people viii per
NIT the State to be sacrificed at the die
tatiOn OF men who have shown them
selves utterly incompetent to under
stand the necessities Of the times, and
incapable of achieving anything but de-
feat. The Liberal party appeals to all
citizens who are opposed to Grants adj
ministrati0n to all who are sincerely in /
favor of Greeley and Brown ; to- all who
wish to defeat the Vaccinations of the
corrupt and wicked faction represented
by the Baton Rouge ticket. Their con-
.ventiOn, to be held Oh the 9Th of August,
will represent a vast majority of the Lib
eral and DemOcratic voters ofthe State,
and their ticket will be supported by an
array of numerical force, backed by an
amount of moral influence, which will
reduce the Democratic bolt to insigniti-
can't and, perhaps, inappreciable pro-
portions. The people understand that
i'll this election the State must go either
for the Liberal or the CustOmhOuse par
ty. The success of the one ~insures our
vote for Greeley and Brown, and will
give us that practical reform in State
atfairs which we 50 much nenl Thn snc-