New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-03-21
COMING HOME TO THEN.

SOAkNt nOM1 ~
Here's q COLI The irreprepressible
Roundabout has been in mischief again.
This Is the case A short time ago the
politicians Of the Fusion persuasion made
desperate assault on the public offices of
the State. They were beaten by the Re-
| publican voters, and straightway 1t was
resolved and published in the Pjcoyn"
and Times, that This people wouldn't
stand it: but as no attention was paid to
the clustering threat. u riot was carefully
nursed to head, in which the aggressors
were slightly punished and fearfully
scared. The little scrimmaGe was magnl-
fed, by those who begat it, into terrible
case Of tyrannical oppression, and some
little connection ensued The sensational
reports naturally created some alarm in the
country, for il was known that a few weak
houses and one badly managed bank sue
cumbed to the financial gale set in motion
by the political agitators. It was natural
that creditors should distrust merchants
who shut their stores to attend at the bid
ding of political usurpers: of merchants
who subscribed large sums and incurred
heavy responsibility to bolster up set Of
usurpers who were seeking to subvert a
State government. The rumors of these
doings were spread abroad, accompanied,
of course. with exaggerated reports of
failures. These naturally brought back
such inquiries as this:
MARCH 20, 1873 from Mississppil.
Are & all right fuan-
cialy:
Now as soon as the contents of this dis
patch became noised abroad on the street
there was . tremendous hubbub kicked
up. Those merchants who had appointed
themselves on the Committee of Two
Hundred: those bankers and insurance
officers who had promised to subscribe
money to defeat the State government and
install McEnery: the Picoye,s that called
out the rioters, and frantically exclaimed
that the time had come to "strike." all
agreed in laying the whole blame on poor
Roundabout. whose sole alleged otfense
consisted III reporting 4 failure or two
more than necessary. AS there actually
were failures. and very serious ones. and
as they were mainly caused by the agita-
ton growing out of the recent office seek
ers rebellion. it was proper that they
should be reported. And no special harm
was done in getting the number triAe
too high. It is the duty of the press to
warn the public against rotten concerns
that call themselves mercantile houses"
The public have right to know who is
trustworthy and who is not. and good
house is neve, injured by inquiries. AS
it happens. Messrs. i
are all right. financially, so far as known:
but the fact that some one in Mississippi
has been asking about them suggests the
probability that their names have been
signed to some political document that
has complicated or, at least, cast suspicion
upon their reputation. Roundabout's
share in this matter is about equal to that
of boy who discovered dead mule and
reported that he had found three. In his
eager excitement he may have departed
from strict accuracy. but he did not kill
the mule. Neither has he brought about
the ruin and failure OF any Of our COM
mercial houses by reporting the facts after
the failures. Those who urged on the po-
litical excitement and daily misrepre-
scented our public sentiment: those who
instiga.ei few hundred deluded undis-
ciplined. inexperienced people to make
riotous attack on thc public property. are
the really guilty parties. Il is to their
doors that our falling merchants may lay
their disasters. and not to the poor gossip
who waits until the evil is done before Le
gives the alarm. And get they appear to
be anXloUs to make him the scape-,oa:.