The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-05-08
The Overthrow OF Republican Cow
eminent In LOuisiana.

The Overthrow OF Republican Cow
eminent In Louisiana.
The overthrow of the regularly elected gov
eminent in Louisiana, through the aid OF fede-
raj bayonets, is producing it's legitimate re-
suits in disorder, riots and blcodshed through
out the State. A severe fight took place
yesterday, ct St. Martinsville between the
citizens and Kellogg's police and serious dis
turbances occurred in New Orleans Some
foolish youth fired pistol at the usurper;
but. fortunately for the good name and
cause Of tho people, without fatal re-
suit. When the administration at WASH
ington prostituted the United States Army
to the work of driving from power the
legitimate authorities of Louisiana and in
Sailing the minority candidates in their place
the people of New Orleans, compelled to
choose between massacre and submission,
yielded their liberties to preserve their lives
Their city was in the hands of federal troops;
their halls Of legislation were filed with
armed men and surrounded by artillery; their
Courts were broken up at the point of the
bayonet; their public officers were seized and
confined on the authority Of orders issued by
debauched United States Judge and executed
by an INSCRIPTIONS United States Marshal
The President, advised by partisan Attorney
General, approved and endorsed the acts Of
the usurpers, recognized the Kellogg gang as
the regular State government and refused to
allow any appeal from his arbitrary decision
If the people of New Orleans had
then executed the law on the revolutionists
and meted out to them the punishment they
deserved the streets of the city would have
been swept by United States artillery, and
men, women and children would have been
the victims of general massacre. The citi-
zens weighed the cost of asserting their rights
and declined to pay so heavy price. They
trusted that time and the peaceful but strong
expression of indignation that arose from all
parts Of the State would secure their liberties
from further outrage and would at last restore
to them those constitutional rights of which
they had been robbed.
The forbearance Of the people Of New
Orleans was applauded by their fellow coun-
trymen throughout the Union. The rebellion
of the South had left behind it wounds too
deep and memories too painful to suffer our
citizens to look calmly upon renewal of civil
strife. The South generally felt that the past
needed atonement, and knew that any resist
ance, even to federal tyranny, would be
cruelty used to the injury Of the Southern
States. But the events of the past
aLu in :
doubtful whether the patient endurance of
the people of New Orleans will suffice
to avert from the State the evils Of civil COM
motion. The Kellogg usurpation, emboldened
by the success of its first crime against the
laws and the constitution, is seeking to render
its power absolute all over the State. The
ignorant negroes, rendered brave by the dis
covery that the United States Army is at their
back, are prepared to aid in any outrages the
Kellogg whites may prompt Kellogg and his
associates have therefore resolved to override
the popular will in every parish, and to place
creatures Of their own in every public Office.
Appointments are made without any pretence
of authority, and the hired rufians known as
the "Metropoitans," an armed force created
in New Orleans in violation of law, and COM
posed of all the thieves and cutthroats whose
knives are at the service of any one who can
pay for them, are sent from parish to parish to
make war upon the people, if necessary, to
drive out the legal authorities and to install
the Kellogg appointees. With characteristic
cowardice the white rufians prompt the ne
groes to take prominent part in the fighting,
and hence the trouble is fast assuming
the terrible aspect Of q war Of races.
Already one fearful massacre has occurred and
the unfortunate blacks have suffered the most
severely, their white prompters leaving them
to their fate. In the parish of ST. Martins q
state of civil war actually exists, and regular
battle between the New Orleans cutthroats and
the negroes on one side and the citizens of
st. Martins on the other side is imminent
St. Martinsville is in state Of siege. We
read of the throwing out of pickets, of the
arrival of recruits and reinforcements, of the
blockade Of the Court House and of other
military movements, just as if state of war
actually existed.
Do the American people pause to reflect
upon the fatal consequences of this condition
Of society in one of the sovereign States of
the Union2 Do they persuade themselves
that the liberties of the people Of Louisiana
can be stripped from them, that the legally
elected officers of the Louisiana State govern
ment can be driven from power at the point of
the bayonet and the liberties and rights of
other communities and other States be yet pre-
served? Do they picture to themselves
the horrors of war of races, or
imagine that in the event Of conflict
between the whites and blacks of Louisiana
the scenes that would follow could be confined
to one State Of the Union? The occurrences
in Louisiana to-day are fraught with danger