New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-09-06

Of the present and future.
In 1866 and 1867 they held the reins o
power. set down in extenuation of thei
regime that it began at the close of a grea
civil war; the teachings and institutions 0
: lifetime were confronted with change
and events over which they had no control
defeat, pecuniary losses, revolutions il
labor and trade, we're not cheerful to con
template; the spirit Of retaliation may b.
natural and pardonable under such provo
cations. Laws were passed cuPtailing thu
rights Of the negro; courts oppressed him
the doctrine of white supremacy was uni
versally proclaimed. The negro with hii
newly acquired rights was forced into al
antagonsm with his former master who
hesitated to acknowledge them. Under the
same regime social and political ostracisn
Of new corners, exfederal soldiers, or Gear
pet baggers," began. The error of TT
policy pursued toward the negro was son
demonstrated by the shifting, unsaalac
tory condition of labor, resulting j. dlFec1
loss to the planter, arbitrary and saw con-
tracts, and mutual distrust. Ferry bouf-
!
massed in solid phalanx for sh-protectlon.
The policy pursued toward he new conner
resulted in his alliance vita 'he blacks as
the only element in LouisiaH' oHeflhS INN
welcome Their interests were common,
and the blacks eagerly @cepted 1he lead
ership of men who, il many cases were
mere adventures, in cnefs brave. and hon
orable and in ra+nr, for votes and Office
they instituted a g"efhaent IN looo "hlch
recognized for tb first time the citizenship
OF the negro in LOUISIANA.
Practical Lessons should have taught the
Bourbons te folly of their course. They
reared a yolumn Of ignorance, marshaled
nv new omers, to confront the wealth and
n+e11t ence of the native population of the
SfaF; TREY created discomfort, tiistrust On Il
ieIousies between the races, which, I'M
Happily, resulted in bloody collisions, and
when the Republican party became vic
torious in 1868 and took the reins of govern
ment, it was their plain duty as citizens to
gracefully bow to the decree Of the people,
as Republicans would have done had the
Bourbons proved successful. But they did
not. The State government, after its recog
milton BY the Congress Of the United States,
was still treated as. an Hsurpation; its Off
GERS were slandered at home and abroad;
the Legislature composed of the only
available material friendly to the new era,
was injudiciously and Unfortunately de-
nounced as band ofthieves. The new
government with many difficulties to en-
counter at the best, was almost over
whelmed by populace excited to the~de-
gree of Partisan Communists. The credit
of the State was nearly ruined; the market
was flooded with bonds to meet its current
expenses; the payment Of these bonds re
quired additional taxation and a seri-
Gus oppression of the wealthy, intelli-
gent followers Of the Bourbon lead
ers. Deprived of the salutary influences
of society, which would have surrounded
them had Bourbons accepted the situation
and ceased their partisan antagonism, the
new and inexperienced legislators were
surrounded with every condition conducive
to recklessness and corruption. Votes
were bought and sold, monopolies were es-
JdDllSIiOis anu dlulO5b ChSlJ eOhSC IL NlIC
history of.that eventful Legislature may be
attributed to Bourbon money, Bourbon
lobbyists, Bourbon corporations. The
journals Of both Houses and popular ira
ditions bear me out, in saying tina Bour-
bons and Republicans robbed and plum
dered the State like band of brothers
Take the amount bequeathed by the Bour
bon Legislature of 1867, add to it the fruits
Of Bourbon completely and policy in l869-70
and you have the greater portion of the
State debt, against which the honest peo-
pie complain. | recall the fact that in
1870 the Democrats were led to boast, in de-
ference to the demands Of responsibility,
that they would not re-eleet their recreant
servants, but the bitter and indiscriminate
opposition to the government continued
The Bourbon press assailed the private
character Of officials without regard to
truth or investigation, and Bourbon orators
repeated the ISLANDERS. -A-Republican Gov
ernor, anxious at alltmes during his ad-
ministration to reconcile the different
classes of the people, and counterfeit the
effects Of Bourbon policy, was treated with
scorn and contempt and his character as
unwarantably assailed as though he had
been street vagabond instead OF the chief
executive Of the State,
have neither time nor patience to re
count the cecentricitjes, defeats or bad pol
icy Of the Bourbons, which have produced
a chasn between two classes, pre- vented re
Cancellation and a union of honest reform
elements to purify legislative halls and re-
deem the credit OF the State. do not
aliude to the past to recall unpleasant
memories, or for purposes of erimina-
tion or recrimination, brit to show the
Bourbon record as popularity conceived, and
upon which the people viii predicate its
claims 10 their confidence and support. 1t
isoenough to say that the policy inaugur-
ated III 1866 and 1857 by the Bourbons has /
never been modified, except where the laws
of the State have extended aid and assist |
anee to the negro. CivH rights bills, school
bills, eonstabu1ar5 and election laws were
passed in opposition to Bourbon votes and
Bourbon influence. twas Only yesterday q