New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-06-29
SENATOR VESTS LETTER.

| do the very easy recUnlary c!.ccnssaNces
Of our representatives sine. their ''se.t-
| denying ordinance" o: the la,: session dc"
trac: at ali from their cg1ability OF mind
and temper. Senator West, therefore. III
his letter published yesterday takes per
| haps as disinte.es:ed 4 view o: the Uniil-
| cation council as could be expected from
any one. This is especially obvious, as
he does not seem to approve the conduct
| or motives of either party to that council.
There have been, however. so many and
such sudden variations Of the popular
temper here within the past year
that one not moving and mixing
among our people during that period
can not be held responsible for
very accurate knowledge or very just
judgment upon the political situation at
any given moment. Indeed. we may well
conceive that public officer. charged. as
the Senator. was. with the intricate rou.
tine of municipal department. could
not have had the opportunities to study
the transition sociology Of this most
eventful era. When Senator West was
last much among the Republican people
| of Louisiana Governor Warmoth was ex-
ecrated by the anti Republicans as an
outrage ard fraud. Carnival assem-
blages around the Clay statue asked but
a leader and a white steed to ornament
some lamp-post with his graceful person.
and even proposed to make accompany
ing pendents Of any intimate associates
OF his excellency who might chance
to be in town at the moment.
Now. we are happy to state. public SEN
timent has taken turn. No idea of such
group is now entertained; on the con-
trary. Ex-Governor Warmoth has con-
quered the confidence and even secured
the support Of these vengeful foes, while
he has lost the enthusiastic support Of the
Republicans in somewhat the same pro-
portion. When Senator West left New
Orleans the colored people were separated
from the large majority Of the whites by
bitter and uncompromising hostility on
one side and an apprehension of massacre
on the other Now. as the Senator will
perceive by the proceedings which have
attracted his attention. overtures have
been made and accepted which promise a
truce to this war. with an admission that
the Republican relations between the
races furnish the best basis Of concord
and cooperation between them.
To illustrate the difficulties of keeping
up with the sudden variations in our polit-
ical meteorology. it is necessary to show
how inapplicable are earlier ideas formed
some years since. and no. cemented BY
constant and intimate observation. Here is
what Senator West says of his colored
constituents. It could never have been
just description; at present it is a Carl
cature:
The colored men take naturally to poll
ties. They had been accustomed to see
power welded by political leaders in the
old time of slavery. and their first impulse
Oh acquiring the right o: participation IN
the affairs of State was naturally to the
exercise of an ascendency which apparently
secured SO many privileges and benefits.
Therein they were further stimulated by
the natural imitativeness OF their race. as 1t
has doubtless been noticed by every observer
how readily they adopt the habits and man.
ners. even the dress, Of any class holding
more elevated positions in the social scale.
A dOwn-trOdden people always envles the
OppressOr, and seeks, in the very earliest
stages of its disenthra!ment, to grasp the
weapons that have been used for its OPP
preston. Again there is no attraction in
the consideration paid to an honorable Mr..
SO-and-sO, who but q few years before had
been in the performance of the most mental
services to the lords of the soil, that
renders the political arena seductive in an
eminent degree. Given these cOnsidera-
tons and the opportunity to air their
vocabulary, III legislative and political as
semblages, and in official capacities, is it to
be wondered taat they presented them
selves as apt scholars in the field OF poll
teal control!
Now. our opinion of the colored ele-
ment is that they were never influenced
by desire to secure ascendency for the
privileges and benefits of station. Their
paramount wish was the security Of their
own personal and political rights. For
this purpose they resorted to reliance
upon men of more experience than them
selves. They renowned office themselves
and trusted with rare fidelity to the
white Republicans to secure these objects
for them. Senator West himself is a
prominent proof that the colored people
We're not bent on securing these political
positions which lie deems their prime |
motive. Had such motive been para
mount with them. the Senator nigh: |
have never adorned his present position.
Another evidence that the colored people |
desire harmony with the white race and
no monopoly of the government may be
found in the very terms Of this unitica-
ton. Being in large numerical
majority they could readily take to them
selves all the Offices of the State. if they |
had been actuated by any such misguid-
ed ambition. We can not. then. admit !
that the colored members Of society are |
disposed to 'air their vocabulary at the |!
expense OF their duties. This is especial
ly obvious when. in the unIfcation coun- |
Gil, they left TIE discussion chiefly. and |
the action entirely % the whites. This |
vindicates at once the:c modesty and their |
prudence.
The Senator'S ccnsl-e OF the white Re. |
publicans is quite general and very scath-
ing:
By far the larger proportion OF the white
Republicans have been merely using the
colOred voters as instrumentaities toward |