The Lincoln County herald., 1873-04-23
The Clinax Of Cssrpatiss-


ul.r ballot. has at last met its legitimate
sulmina,iou bloodshed, For several
dsys there has been reign Of terror 10
Gran, parish, aud the parish seat, the
village of Colfas, has been occupied bys
force of some three OF four hundred ne
o,oes. The cause Of this difficulty IL,
cousisely stated, thus: What was known
az the Lynch returning board" ignored
the election returns from Grant parish,
and left it to Kellogg to appoint off
cers to gil the vacancies, ss the usurp.
ing government ~as pleased to call the
results Of its policy as applied to this
} parish. Kellogg made the appointments,
but the appointses neglected to quslify
within the time allotted by Law. Kellogg
then, at the instance of Judge Rutland,
co N m,ssioned the officers vho had been
duly elected, some Of whom sere Fusion.
ists and some Radicals, and including one
or two colore1 men. This action not
meeting the sanction Of one Ward, who
was a member Of the Kellogg legislature,
he asse mbled force Of negro's of6cered
by a few white men OF his own complex
ion, and took forcible possession of the
court house at Colfax, together with the
newly commissioned parish officers. This
was about ten or twelve days ago. TIE
law abiding shito people of the parish,
both Fuslouists and Republicans, made
some effort to induce Ward and his mob
to withdraw, but without avail. Instead
Of disseminating their lawless proceedings
they went on to use their powers v;o.
leu,y until finally intoxicated by an
im munity of lawlessness, they began 10
hun, down those who were obnoxious to
them sack their residences and pillage
their plantations. Several mcn were
obliged TO fec the parish, escaping mostly
down the river to New Orleans.
This reign Of terror, unchecked either
BY the state or national authorities, at
last reused the white people Of the parish
to the necessity of self prote Ac.
cordngly they assembled to the number
Of several hundred under the leadership o
of Capt Hadnot, the Fusion representa-
tive elected for Grant parish. A last
effort was made to induce Ward and his
mob TO evacuate the court house peacea.
bly, and disperse, but it was idle. Then,
on Sunday last, all other methods having
failed, the whites under Capt. Hadnot
determined to dslodge the mob from the
court house at the point Of the bayoDet
A desperate fight ensued, in which the
whites we're victorious, dislodsing the
negroes from their iuprovised strong.
hold, and hunting them out Of the town.
According to our New Orleans kilograms
of this morning, the fight seems to have
been turned into massacre by the whites,
who, infurated by long suffering and ren.
dered desperate by the nature Of the
emergency, killed, as is variously esti-
mated, from eighty to over one hundred
of the negroes. Their loss was compare.
lively trifing, q wonderful circumstau nee
when it is considered that they we're the
assaultlng party, and that the enemy
were strongly lptrenched and thoroughly
desperate.
Of course this sickening affair carries
its own comment with it.
As We read it's details, ,the!whole picture
Of Louisiana's Affections for the last six
months rises up The seizure of the
state government by kellogg, backed by
the federal authorities, military and exec.
utive, legislative and judiciary, aud IN con.
temptuous defiance of the will and dis.e.
gard Of the protests Of the people Of
Louisiana the mass meetings. Of the peo-
pie and their supplcations to congress to
take action that should restore the lawful
government to its rights, or. in default Of
that. invest the usurpation with the ex.
press sanction Of the federal might, and
thus, at once, settle the question whether
the federal government meant to protect
the rights Of the people, or foster the
frauds Of their oppressors; the persistent
refusal OF congress to act, and. the 6nsl
, adj journment without action, leaving
Louisiana in state of anarchy and laten,
revolution. The outbreak Of serious diff.
6culty under this state Of things could be
, only question of time. But the shape
in which it has come is one which was
least to be expected, since. Instead of
being a rebellion Of the people against
the usurpation, it ia one Of the usurpatiou
, against usurper; Of Kelloggites sgains,
Kellogg. For, as will be seen by the
foregoing summary, the violent action oi
, Ward and his mob Of negroes, all Kel
loggites, was taken against set of par.
ish officers v no had been commissioned ID
by Kellogg 10 his capacity as de Jacto gov
) crnor of the state. And the uprising oI
the white people seems to have been
provoked rather BY the excesses of the
mob after it had subverted the local gov
erument than by the fact Of sutversior
itself
This phase Of matters presents th'
crime Of usurpation in its most repuisiv'
aspect, to-wit its tendency 70 breet
unumerable lesser usurpatious within il
self. like parasites upon the backs o.
vermin. We presume it never entered
into the presidents calculations of th'
possibilities in this case that tho FRS
bloody protest against the official act o
/ the governor he had sustained woult