The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-10-02

SIdIulnR Una Lnerc VIII be o new cleo
ton: This was my position during the
p~endency of the Carpenter bill for a new
election. | have no personal aspirations
to subserVe they shall be sunk out OF
sight lnmy efforts to bring about a peace
ful solution of our unfortunate Difficult.
ties, and an honest and stable govern
ment, acceptable to all classes Of Oul
citizens. JOHN MCENERY.
NEW ORLEANS, September IS, 1874.
James Gordon Bennett, Editor of the Herald:
SIR-In reply to your dispatch of this
date lnquiring if / would be willing to
resign if McEnery would resign also,
have to say, first, that Colonel McEnerv
is a defeated candidate for the office OF
Governor Of this State, and has nothing
to resign secondly, thatnonew election
is needed, inasmuclI as the constitution
Of the State provides for an election for
members of the Legislature early in
November next, and the Legislature
that may be then elected will have it
within their power to rcmove any or all
the existing State officials and supply
their places by men Of theirown choice.
The constituency | represent is large
ly composed of cOlored men. It was by
their votes chiefly that | was elected to
the Office | now hold. For two year |
have administered the government of
the State with a sole desire to place it's
finances on a sound footing, to develop
its internal resources and to secure to
the colOred people the full and free en-
.iOyment of the rights conferred upon
them by the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments to the constitution of the
United States.
IN spite of the apparently almost in
superable obstacles whiChhave beset the
present State government at every point,
we have reduced expenditures and taxa
ton, limited the debt, both of State and
city, limited the rate of taxation, and
provided by constitutional amendments
against all possibility of increased bur
dens being placed upon the people. The
bled in the State, of which Mr.. McEnery
was Il prominent member, exceeded its
revenues by $4,000, 900, and left the
succeeding Republican administration
to provide the meal of payment.
Ny opponents have adopted the plan
of venting upon me individually all the
hatred they bear to the principles Of the
party I represent. Borne down almost
by the responsibilities of my position
and by the accumulated weight of OBJ
loquy thrust upon me / have repeatedly
said if the Republican party believed
my resignation would establish peace
and secure from the opponents of the
Republican party a recognition of the
rights of the cOlOred people under the
constitutional amendments, | would
gladly divest myself of an Office which |
had not sought and had most reluctantly
allowed myself to be nominated for.
The obvious reply to these propositions
has been that if | were to resign the du-
ties of the executive Office would de-
vOlve upon Lieutenant Governor An
tome, and he would be no more accep-.
the colored people would4ind themsel-
yes no better protected than now.
No specific charge OF wrong doing has
ever been made against me and sustain.
ed by proof. All accusations have been
couched in sounding generalities, which,
when reduced to actual facts, will be
found to amount simply to this-that
the administration | represent is in favor
of putting the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments into practical effect, and
the supporters of Colonel McEnery, al
most to a man, desire to ignore them.
Lam willing, and have offered to give
to my opponents every. possible safe
guard against fraud in the coming cleo
ton. Even the Shreveport Times, the
ablest and most malignant exponent of
the views of the opposition, in a recent
issue admitted that registration had
been exceptionally fair as far as it had
gone, and on Saturday night the State
Registrar made up his returns of regis
to date, aud found that in the
city of New Orleans, where the opposi-
ton claim to have a majority sufficient
to wipe out an admitted large Republi-
majority in the country parishes,
more than half the qualified voters had
been registered, and the Republicans
we're ahead.
In this fact alone you have q sufficient
explanation of the sO-called uprising of
the people on Monday last, and the So
callednegro riots in the country parishes,
which have simultaneously been report
ed. If we can have q p~eaceable election
November next the result will show
most conclusively, | think, that Colonel4
McEnery was not elected to the office to
which he makes such a persistent claim.
- WILLIAM PITT KELLOGG.