The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-01-04

President of tho United States recognizes you
as the Governor and your creatures as the
Legislators of q free and sovereign State, and
let them accept that as settling the question of
their State government, or submit to the con-
sequences of their rebellious defiance of federal
power Governor McEnery, elected by the
people of Louisiana as their Governor, and
DESTROYS of protecting the rights of the State
that had thus honored him, autographed to the
President, in response to this pronunciamento
of the debating Attorney General. q respect
full prayer that neither State government might
be recognized at Washington until commit
tee of the people had been afforded an oppor-
tunity to be heard in defence of their freedom
as State, and to lay the facts in the contro-
versy before the administration. To this de-
spatch the Attorney General forwarded the fol-
lowing pert reply:-''Your visit with hun
dred citizens will he unavailing, so far as
the President is concerned. His decision is
made and will not be changed, and the sooner
it is acquiesced in the sooner good order and
peace will be restored" No matter whether
you were elected by the people or not, Mr..
McEnery; no matter how strong the proof,
how convincing the facts with which the out
ragged people, cheated out of their rights, are
prepared to back up their appeal for justice,
the President of the United States has decided
how the State of Louisiana shall be governed
and who it shall be governed by, and as you
cannot change his decision the less fuss you
make about the usurpation the better for your
selves And how, according to Attorney Cen
eral Williams, was this decision so momen-
tous to the people Of free State; this deci-
sion which changed the whole complexion
and policy of State government; this deci-
sion which affected the progress, prosperity
and happiness of nearly eight hundred thou
sand people; how was this decision reached?
The astute Attorney General himself fur
nishes us the answer:-s"The Presidents de-
cision as to recognizing Pinchback was based
upon the conviction and belief that there was
a majority of the voters in favor of the repub-
ican ticket The President certainly had
not canvassed the votes in Louisiana
he had his information, no doubt, from the
Custom House party; yet his conviction
and belief is, in the opinion of the United
States Attorney General, better than official
returns and sufficient to settle the question of
the contested election! Probably the At
torney General himself helped to create this
conviction and belief" and the unbiased
and impartial character of his judgment can be
understood from his allusion to the Governor Of
State as man who had appointed so fellow
by the name of Jack Wharton to the Office Of
Secretary of State, and from his general con-
duct towards Governor Warmoth, whom he
treats no better than if he were the keeper of
Baltimore penitentiary!
We invite the attention Of President Grant
to these facts. We believe him to be anxious
to do justice to the people of Louisiana and of
the South generally; but he has certainly been
already plAced in false position by bad adj
visers Let him look to it that the same men
do not involve him in the crime of using
federal bullets and federal bayonets to butcher
the loyal people of a free State, who are en-
gagged in peaceful and constitutional act.
the Chamber OF Commerce.
Our merchants in the Chamber of Commerce
have passed series of resolutions asking Con-
gross to aid this State in the improvement of
the Erie Canal Very properly they allege
that the interests of the whole Western grain,
lumber and mineral producing country, as
well as the Eastern consuming and manufac-
turing sections, are concerned in low tolls and
cheap freights by the Erie Canal between tide
water and the Western lakes Still we hold,
as we have repeatedly urged, that the best pol
icy points to the thorough improvement of the
canal by our own State, whose wisdom
planned and whose energy built it, and made
it the highway of national traffic, which has
done much to build up the Empire State and
the commercial metropolis. As the merchants
SO forcbly say, the canal should be put in the
best possible condition by widening, straight
ening and deepening, and the remaining
single locks be doubled, so that it could be
navigated by steamers Of GOO tons burden,
which might safely make short coasting trips
both on the lakes and along the sea coast
This would so cheaper the cost of transit as
to greatly reduce the cost of commodities to
consumers, while the producers would be en-
abled to demand o better return for labor than
now New York and New England would
have cheaper breadstufs, and Illinois would
not use corn ears for fuel. We want this eff
fected by the State, yet if Congress is going
into that business, we join our merchants in
urging the first claims of the Erie Canal to
federal aid. We know that its route is in the
track of trade, and can form an estimate of
the cost to be incurred and the returns to be
eynected whereas we can only speculate on
those matters in connection with other pro-
posed works which are being urged upon the
national lawmakers.
! NEWS TRIUMpHs BY THE CONQUEST OF ELEc-