American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-05-24

loUisisns end Her Troubles.
Tue present political attitude Of
Loaisfans appeals most feelihgly to
the sympsthies Of every patriotic
heart, both North and South. With
the single exception of poor op-
pressed South Carolina. no South
ern State has been subjected to such
wrongs aud oppression. From all
We could learn, during a recent visit
to New Orleans, We feel satisfied
that the Administration will sustain
the Kellogg usurpation, even at the
point Of the bayonet-
It was said BY that great apostle
ofAmerican liberty, Thomas Jeffer
son, that 1t is the nature. of despot-
i>m never to learn moderation, but
to rush into acts of lawless outrage
with that bold presumption which
puts tyranny itself to the blush.
The truth of this assertion bias been
fearfully verified by the President,
ia his action in trampling down the
right. of a fee aud sovereign State.
The course pursued by him is a vir-
tuxl overthrow Of the independence
Of Louisiana, by forcing upon her
people rulers aud officials in open
defiance of their will and choice.
This Is the boon, the priceless boon
of liberty, rendered to the free born
sons of Louisiana by the Federal
Administrations shameless out
rage on the rights of suffrage, un-
known in the annals of our country,
and for which any crowned monarch
of Europe would be deposed, if not
beheaded.
Finding that the patriotic citizens
OF Louisiana had risen in the majes-
ty of their rights against the lawless
outrages which had so long crushed
and overwhelmed them, and defeat
ell, at the ballot box, the further
usurpatiOns and expressions of their
cruel task masters. this self consti
tuted Imperialist, spurning the con-
stitutiOnal rights of freemen, placed
the yoke of bondage upon their
necks. and babe them wear it 10 the
name Of centralized despo.ism. BY
that act Grant assumed a power
no monarch of earth would dare at
tempt; by that act. he dared, in the
face of that sacred compact. devised,
sdopted and signed by our patriot
fathers as the Magma Cbarta of lib
erty. to dispose of the SURFACES of
81 sovereign people-the dearest
right known to frecmen-for the ad-
vAncement of his own selfish aims
snd ambitious purposes.
The only salvation for Louisiana,
and, indeed, for the entire South, is
suspended upon a general protest
On the part of the press and the peo-
]'le OF the Union against Federal
usurpation. The wall of one or more
oppressed and down trodden States
will awaken no sympathy in the
breast of Grant, or arouse him to a
sense of justice. lie must be reach
cd through the Voice of the whole
American people, appealing to his
sense of justice, condemning the
lawlessness Of his actions, aud de.
nanding at his hands the rights and
privileges due to freemen.
1t must be apparent to every OBJ
serving mind. that it is impossible
to preserve the liberties of our coun-
try when the restraints of freedom
and of law have been set aside by
executive decree. Liberty aud law
lessDess are not only irreconcilable,
hut absolutely impossible. They ev-
er have been, and must ever be, in
direct antagonism.
The fact must remain unchanged
BILE throughout all time, that law
less and corrupt Chief Magistrate,
upheld by venal Congress, must, of
necessity, convert Il nation of free
men into nation OF slaves. There
can be no reasonable ground for
doubt on this point, and history is
repeating itself in the present con
Gition of our country. Should the
people of this great American repub-
lie tanely and timidly submit to
willfnl infractions OF law and equity
by Grant, they will thus prepaI e
the way for their own downfall,
without the intervention Of the ty.
rants sword. The Romans destroy.
ed the liberties Of that proud empire
before Brennms, with bis northern
hordes, swept down upon them in a
tempest of wrath, and proclaimed
in their startled and astOnished ears
that the rights of coDqnerOrs lie in
their swords. The vices and crimes
of the Roman people were their vic.
tors-they the vanquished. The
connivance at wrong and oppression
Ununw