Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-05-08
Louisiana Murders.

By the amendments to the Constitution
the Nation pledged itself by the Enforce
ment laws it provided the means, to Sc
cure to the white and colored population
of the Southern States equal rights and
general tranquility. To aid in the effort
to preserve the peace of the country and
give freedom to the colored race,
the Democratic leaders at the
South had plighted their honor,
and promised obedience to the law. Many
of them have kept their word; others have
violated it. And the recent accounts OF
horrible outrages inflicted on all parts OF
the Southern States show that with the
perjured and INSCRIPTIONS portion of the
Democracy neither humanity nor good
faith is any longer regarded. From Ken
lucky to Louisiana the whole country
seems penetrated by secret association
of the lawless portion of the population,
who are bound by no pledges, however
solemn. who scott at the Constitution, and
defy the laws. Nowhere except in the
States where the Republicans rule is there
any safety for life and freedom 1t seems
liked purpose on the part of the Demo
cratic politicians to prevent the restora-
ton of peace at the South, and in this pol
icy they are unhappily encouraged by the
ers at the North Both hope to keep up
their party organization by melting in
surrections in Louisiana, and by charging
upon the Administration those scenes OF
fatal discord which have sprung from
their own evil promptings.
That the recent shocking events in Lou
lSlana owe their igin in great part to the
iHtrigues of selfish and cruel politicians in
all parts of the country might easily be
shown. And if the ku-Klux association
has been able to maintain its existence in
every Southern State with even more than
its early ferocity, this too is due to the
open Countenance it has received from
Democrats and Liberal Republicans.
When Georgia was overridden by the Ku-
klux, and the vast majority of its voters
driven from the polls at the last President
Ial election, when the opposition ticket
was chosen by violence and fraud, every
Liberal Republican and every intolerant
Democrat expressed unbounded joy. They
accepted the labors of the KuKlux as
their own, and gave their countenance to
the league of murderers. At the same
time the Ku-Klux in Louisiana renewed
ITS outrages. There too it drove the white
and colored Republicans from the polls,
scoffed at the constitutional provisions or
the Enforcement act, and deprived a large
part of the population of their votes. 1t
endeavored to force the M'Enery govern
ment, elected by such lawless usurpation,
into office; and when it was defeated by
the resolution of the honest portion of the
citizens, it refused to obey the decisions
of the courts, and began an Intellectual rs-
ing in New Orleans. MEnery and War
moth began period of bloodshed. They
were secretly or openly encouraged by the
Liberal Republican and Democratic poll
ticians of the North. Their guilty cour-
age rose, and their latest exploit, or that
of their imitators, is the burning of hun.
dred negroes at ColfaX, the murder of as
many more, and the infiictiOn of such a
calamity upon Louisiana as q generation
can scarcely repair.
But the question of permitting disorder
and violence at the South must now be
taken from the control Of cruel and self:
ish politicians, and be committed to the
decision Of the whole people 1t is a
question that belongs to the community
and we believe the community will now
sweep aside the frivolous logic of political
leaders, the outCries of faction, and the
clamors of the unwise. 1t will proceed
to do its duty. The Nation is bound by
the Constitution 10 secure the equal rights
Of the colored citizen in Georgia or Lou
isiana, to afford security to the white
voter and to repress every lawless associa
ton. The Executive is bound by his
position to enforce the constitution to itS
utmost limit. The people will demand
the punishment of every political outlaw
however noted his name, or however he
may be sheltered undeh the patronage OF
the Liberal Republican or Democratic
leaders; and if the Liberal Republicans
and the Democrats persist in their alliance
with the Ku-klux association, they will
soon be swept away before the general
rage of the nation. For we believe it is
the intention of the people in every sec
ON the preservation of good order in the
Southern States, and To make them all at
last the home of a free and prosperous
population.-Harpers Weekly.