New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-02-12
4 PARTISAN REMEDY.

with an occasional! conflict OF arms. u
raising and uniting the same material IN a
new vessel the spirit OF partisan hatred
has been concentrated. the violence once
displayed by the Courier against the
.Jour.n' is now directed against any one
with whom these Siamese twins. united
by the hypheu Of compound appel!at!0n.
may be at war.
This political priva.eer then turns lis
a.tentic % New Orleans. Not TO: the
purpose Of aiding our commerce. but 70
make hideous example Of government
oppression and OF party corruption. 1t
has no business 20 know anything OF COM
merce or agriculture. for such is not the
mission of partisan journal. SO it re-
sorts to the report Of the Statistical Blu.
reau. and blocks out . lot Of yeady-made
figures which show an increase Of business
entirely contradicting the proposition OF
decay. which they were introduced to
establish. Then there follows rambling
reference to the caravan cities which once
subsisted upon the overland trade between
Asia and Europe. which Nasco de Cana
changed by doubling the cape and CONT
nent of Africa. These last illusions are
borrowed from speech Of Hon. Mr.. Shell
labarger.
/. The commercial progress Of New Or
leans has been Interrupted by several OBJ
vious and notorious causes. Before the
war the whole trade of the valley Of the
Mississippi, was conducted by way Of New
Orleans. Since that period the Missis-
sippi and all its navigable tributaries have
been bridged by railroads. and certainly
1000, 900 or s, 100000 tons have been con.
veyed to and from the valley by artificial
ways to the ocean. Each of the cities Oh
| the eastern side of the Mississippi has
| aided in this diversion of trade. Cinc:n.
natl has bridged the Ohio. and conducts
her foreign trade almos. exclusively by
rail TO the Atlantic coast. louisville has
also bridged the river. and directs her
trade to the East. The Western tobacco
received by New Orleans before the war
was something Under 100. 900 hogsheads
it has been reduced by Eastern rail
to less than $4,000. while Louisville
has claimed in one year rs much
as 80, 900 hogsheads. The course OF flour
and hog products has been the same.
Whatever. then. may have been the poli..
ical abuses i'll Louisiana. they are not
alone responsible for the arrest Of COM
mercial progress in New Orleans. It is
not offered as an argument, but as an Illus
tration of this assertion. when we remark
that New York, with an amount Of crime
and vice certainly equal to tina: presented
by any other city in the Union. has con-
tiuously grown in population and wealth.
2. Whatever those immigrants into Lou
isiana. designated as "carpet-baggers.
may have effected in producing that de.
plorable state of affairs described by cur
Siamese critic. could not have been done
single-handed.
If the C0,uier-.IomnM will read the re-
port of the Hon. Mr.. Shellabarger upon
the riots of 1866. il will find III his opin.
ion determination on the part Of the
politicians of New Orleans to hold pos
session Of the local government by ex-
Guiding the black people from any
shape ia il. This naturally threw this
class OF voters iuto the hands Of those
who maintained their rights. That this
delegation o. power was abused 90 the
extern. usual with politicians rs prob.
able. but assume the number Of these
immigrant representatives. at what you
wili-belieye that the Governor chosen by
negro suffrage vas as venal and corrupt
as Tweed o! Pomeroy-we demand TO know
how these great wrongs 20 Louisiana
could have been perpetuated without the
aid and alliance OF the politicians Of the
State:
It is very we'll known. ana has
been proven by testimony in courts
o! justice. that bribery of members
of the Legislature was universal and indis.
criminate. Many natives and Democrats
joined the Republican party. and were ap-
pointed to lucrative offices. In the abuses
thus practicei in the extort:ons Of petty
officers. in the diagram, violations Of cleo.
ton laws. IN the incorporation otslaughter-
house. WateTworBs. gas company. levee !
sheds and ievee boards and charters,
r o. e. 1f. Ipt, ND
Texas and other railroads. it is known |
fact that thenative and Democratic lobby |
lists and corruptionists furnished the chief |
aid and reaped the largest benefit. This |
coalition of plumber was notorious here. |
There Is another proof Of this common |
responsibility. There was one most emil |
nea. immigrant. bearing an especially |
empty carpet-bag. He was the head
Of the State government. and is
admitted TO have grown lich |
durin. the period of the great increase of
debt and signal degradation OF credit.
VIII the C,u:er-jo"Ta' credit the IS.
suranceS that those citizens who banded |
to getorm, the offices ont of one set into
another. actually combined with this chief
o: the carpet-bag gers: VIII it consent to
believe that the price Of this alliance was
to be 4 high Office conferred 10y these very
exemplary natives and citizens! Grant
ing that the Immigrant citizens and the
coiorsd voters may have done their part,
il remains tia: the legislative debt and
otticia! abuses ronIi not lave been com.