New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-09-21

ne ea1Q, Il We been SOLO
By Jay .hawker bold f-' o. .'i-
With the songs he sung and the tales h. TOLD.
A spellin lesson Gays Daniel Drew.
IA spellin lesson I'll learn for true, b..
FL never spell Gold again with u"
The Vigilantes of the Attaknpas.
We have lately announced the organiza-
ton of party of citizens of Vermilion par
ish, who elected to take the law into their
own hands, and how summary vengeance
was visited upon the heads of half a score
of alleged thieves, murderers and generally
bad men in the neigh borhood of Abbeville.
One of the parties of whom the ''citizens'
were in search made his escape to the
Teche, but was taken off boat and swung
to tree beside the bayoa.
Nearly all of this news was had week
ago. Since that time there has probably
been cessation of hostilitles, for we have
heard OF NO more men being hanged. 1
Perhaps every man who suffered the
death penalty richly deserved it; but we
protest, it SO, that the same vigor that III
fused the vigilant citizens would have
enabled them, if properly directed and con.
centrated, to have produced equally ben.
efcial results in legal way.
1t is impossible for these citizens TO aveid
the conclusion that in operating as they did,
they simply murdered band of murderers.
They allege that they visited Governor Kel-
legg and set forth their grievances, and he
told them to Ego ahead" In the first place,
they had no more right to obey such an or
der in the way they did than he had to give
it. In the second place. we do not believe
the Governor ever gave any such order.
There is just as much reason Tor believing
the statement that Mr.. Nash was Obeyin z
mandate from Governor Kellogg to Ego
and take charge of his Office at the time he
led the assault upon and shot and burned
and drowned three hundred celOred men il
Grant parish.
However, the deed has been done and che
malefactors have been hanged. Whether
they deserved the penalty, God will judge.
But what comes next! Usually, when
men take The law into their own hands,
and take human life without sanction Of
court, judge or jury, they work themselves
Up into feeling which enables them to Pc
dress private grievances in the came SUM-
mary manner, leading, not unfrequently, to
the commission OF eutTages even greater
than those they first organized to punish.
Therefore. We are no: surprised 20 find in
the Brashear .Fslcs. OF Che twentieth. :ie
following significant paragraph:
Every day develops some new proof Of
Che 1avifU and inQffi with xuh ioh
inal law is enforced in this community; and
this is due to the palpable incapacity OF de-
linquency of some we'll paid official We
are opposed TO vigilance committees a. a
general thing. but under existing circum-
stances we say organize, as has been done
in VermlliOn parish, without regard to race,
color or previous condition. Let all honest,
law-abiding men become members, and
then, if some thief or scOundrel is hung, the
demagogues can not cry out that it was
done on account Of politics. The presence
of such vigilance committee will have a
good effect, and should it become absolute
ly necessary to take the law into their
hands, let the committee do it, and protect
life, liberty, property and society.
Here We have it, in the parish where =
few years ago the sheriff and judge were
assassinated, in the edge of the evening. in
thickly settled village, where the murder
srs' shots were heard by hundred people,
not one of whom ever knew who the mur.
derers were. although the parish Demo.
cratic newspaper prepared tor them event
the day before:
If the paragraph in the Teus is anyways
doubtful in its character. all doubt is dis.
PEELED by the Franklin correspondent. Of
the New Iberia Sugar Bo,rl, who denounces
the parish judge, Mentz, as the ieade: Of
gang of thieves, with Gordy, Chambers.
Parkerson and Trowbridge as his Ieuten.
ants. Most of these men hold commissions
from Governor Kellogg. Perhaps it would
be well TO publish the correspondents own
language:
1t is high time for our citizens to organize
as have done those of our sister parishes
and commence at the commencement by
doing away with this farce and laughing
stock, the parish court. Judge Mentz Is
really the leader of gang of thieves that
infest our broken down parish, and GOrdy,
Chambers, Patterson and TrOwbridge his
lieutenants. John James, John Lee and
host of other criminals that have been let
loose on our community after committing
the most atrOciOus crimes were visited by
this honest judge and were told that by
paying him $40 and voting for him he
would turn them loose. This these negroes
told freely on our streets, while those that
were in for murder, rape and theft were
told that chance of escape would be al
lowed them. Please urge it upon the citi-
zens of st. Mary to organize and take the
law into their own hands. Kellogg advised
citizens of adjoining parishes to take that
not do it here!
This is plain talk. 1t is proposed be-
cause statements are made derogatory to
the character of parish judge-which. if
they will take the pains to prove, the party
can be got rid of promptly in strictly le-
gal way-that the people of St. Mary 60 to
hanging their parish officers.
No, gentlemen Of st. Mary: men enough
have been murdered in the country parishes
Of Louisiana by the Ku-Klux and the
Knights Of the White Camelia, and II