The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1873-07-26
The UmificatiOm Movement. &.
From the N. o. Picayune, 18th.

From the N. o. Picayune lsth.]
Pending the effort recently made by tn
whites of this city, to effect such an under
standing with the colored race as would re
suit in Cancellation and unifcation, for tn
lasting benefit OF the whole people, we hav
been silent beyond the daily obligation to eu
readers to furnish them as fully as possible al
that was said and done. The people have beer
suffering SO much for the past four years, ant
their present sufferings are SO great, that WI
could not, even by the expression Of grav,
doubt indirectly repress the efforts of goet
men to mitigate existing evils. On the con
trary, we willingly permitted ourselves t.
hope almost against hope that some gooC
would come of the unifcation movement.
! referring to the resolutions put forth b.
the COMMITTEE of One Hundred" with Mr.. l
N; Marks as the President, we find so mucl
OF concession ON the part of the whites, that
beyond New Orleans there has hardly been q
| favorable response. Undismayed, however
and honestly, ardently in earnest in the effort
at success; bravely bearing the singing shafts
OF disapproval, hurled at them from far and
near even shocked by the blows of untutored
censure; the committee has moved on regular
ly to the eonsummation OF a mass meeting on
the 18th inst. Here was supposed to be the
turning point in the whole matter. The meet
ing, in point of numbers was complete sue
cess The largest hall of the South was cho-
the two races were as nearly equally repre-
sented as practicable.
If we understand the great object of that
meeting, it was to ratify the efforts of the
Committee of One Hundred to harmoniZe the
races and bring about new election, i'll which
all would unite to Danish forever from our
soil bad government, establish good in it's
place, and to make peace, prosperity and good
will grow where now flourish only the moi
some weeds of race antagonism, political per-
secution aud official corruption.
What fruit has this mass meeting borne
We say it in sorrow-the fruit is the speech OF
the small politician, Henry Burch, and the
resolutions offered 10y Mr. Lewis and signed
by himself, DR.. Roudanez and others, who
claim to represent the negro race OF Louisiana.
Instead of saying: "We have been misled
by the political adventurers from the North,
and have been the ignorant and too willing
instruments in their hands of bringing our
State to the verge of ruin we have, during
the brief period of four years, in which we
have been clothed with political rights con-
stantly supported the public plunderers and
their infamous measures; we have increased
the public debt from $l5. .0O0 600 to $50 ,00O, ,00O
including warrants, floating claims, bonds and
coupons. We have squandered the peoples s
money in most extrayagant and criminal
manner; We have increased the burden OF
debt and taxation in every conceivable way,
until it is uncomfortable, and capital and labor,
aud every element of wealth and prosperity
flee our doors. Both the labo-er and the pre-
perty owner are ON the edge of ruiu. We see
the errors into which we have fallen !; We now
believe that the Southern white men are our
friends. We intend in the future, from this
time forward, to abandon the adventurers who
have deceived and mised lis, and robbed both
white and black, and to cooperate with the
honest and respectable white people in re-
deeming our State, in reducing taxation and
fI,e3 ,,v-Io IF Enx- hot
when we show ourselves determined to pursue
this course. our respectable white fellowciti-
zens will cheeffully concede to us the public
and civil rights that belong to all citizens of
Louisiana
Instead of coming up to the advanced line
assumed by the white men with whom they
had been in conference, they simply announce
that their race have hitherto lent themselves
to all the iniguitous miisrule of the past, that
they do not abandon this position one iota,
and that only when the white people of the
State shall have practically utterly abandoned
the most cherished principles which underlie
civilized government, they will cease from
their prosecutions and talk about bettering the
condition Of things. They are unwilling to
meet the white man ON the common ground,
with common laws and common privileges,
and struggle with him to achieve the redemp-
tion OF all from ruin, and thus overcome the
preiudices which divide and ruin; but they
demand that the white man shall come with
bated breath and stoop that they may step
beyond.
The most potent reason why the mass of our
white citizens have stood aloof from the color
ed people and steadily opposed them, is be-
cause they have from the beginning of 1868 al
lied themselves with our enemies. The great
mass of our people would willingly concede to
the coIored people the civil and public rights
of citizens which they claim, if they could see
the colored people sincerely laboring for re.
duetion of taxation and for an honest and
economical administration.
Their declaration is this and nothing else
tsWe are citizens, gentlemen, equal under the
constitution and the laws; you must be humil
lated, degraded, or we shall not feel safe il
is easier for yon to come down to our standard
than it is for us to work up to yours at any
rate, we have you on the rack, and we'll turn
the screw
Alas these men know not what they do
God knows we had hoped to be spared the ne
cessity of saying it; we had hoped that common
sense was beginning to assert its sway, and that
it and Justice would be the victors; but Messrs
Bureh, Lewis and others must not forget thai
the whites are men, and that men have borne
and can and will bear again evils far worse
than all that surround us now rather thar
sacrifice those great fundamental principles
which alone sustain a true civilization. Con
cession is one thing degradation is another
Ruin of this generation may be the salvation
of the next. Degradation of this extends it
self far beyond. Real men will not be long
in choosing,
Again We say, We are sorry indeed that
these Representative men of the negro
should have SO wantonly and effectively killed
the unifcatien movement, but they have don't
it, and the funeral is theirs.
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