New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-10-06
Governer Keilosg's Address.

affairs, and elected for his ADMINISTRATOR
approving comments from all leading jour
malls Of the North and West which desire
fair play and are willing to render honor te
whom honor is due. His correct and plain
statements have gone before the people oi
this country at an opportune moment. and
shown enormous reductions of the public
debt instead Of its increase. He has cor
rected abuses instead of continuing them
With incontrovertibIe facts and figures he
has met and conquered misstatements and
ISLANDERS. To show there are yet papers
governed by those able to discern truth,
and not blindeo by partisan prejudice. we
submit few extracts as indicating the gen.
eral tone Of our ablest exchanges in CON-
menting on the address.
The Chicago Post of October says:
The address which Governor Kellogg, of
Louis; ana, has offered to the country should
receive patient and thorough consideration.
1t is his defense, and the leanest sort Of
justice will accord him q hearing. In it he
presents his answer to the two important
charges of his enemies, viz:
]. That he was not elected Governor in
1872, and
.. That his administration Of the State
government has been reckless and OK
travagant.
With regard to the first allegation, he
reiterates the 8tatements of the past two
years, that the FusiOnists refused q fair
vote to the col0red people; that frauds were
common in every parish, etc. With these
we propose to have little to do. The whole
subject was capvassed by competent per-
sons in Congress, and with result alike
unsatisfactory to all parties concerned.
Tue only unanswerable statement seems to
be that there were frauds on both sides,
and that it is utterly impossible to deter
mine which was the most corrupt 1t Is
KellOgs's answer to the second charge that
deserves chief attention.
He says, and the facts seem to bear him
out with great pertinacity, that he has not
only held the State expenditures within
the limit of the revenue, without increas-
ing taxation, but has used q surplus fund
which, by careful management, he has &C.
almost 81. .000, 900. To be more specific, he
claims to have found the commonwealth,
on his accession to office. burdened with Q
floating debt of $2.3OO,0O0 and bonded
debt of $2l, 800, 900, or q total debt of
$24, 100000. The municipality of New Or.
leans owed $40, 900, 600 more. The rate of
taxation was from twenty-one and half
to fifty mills. The State and city officers
were drawing enormous salaries, the GRIM
inal sheriff Of New Orleans receiving from
$4,000 to $SO,0O0 year. Such an enor-
nous system Of plundering as only War
moth could inaugurate was in snccessful
operation.
To capture Warmoth's forces-the colored
men who had tasted the sweets of robbery
under the most gifted teacher Of the South
and imbue them with spirit Of econ
Omy, was o task of no ordinary pro-
portions, and one from the accomplishment
OF which one might easily shrink: Never
theless, Kellogg claims to have done just
this thing. He says he has reduced the
floating debt $500. 600, has lowered the rate
Of taxes in New Orleans five mills, and has
set on foot reforms, which, when ratified by
vote OF the people, will fund the $2l ,00O, 900
OF bonded debt in $l5O0O,0OO, and limit it
to that until 1924, will reduce the annual
expenses of New Orleans 81 900, 900, and
will diminish the tax rate in the parishes
q half mills, not to be increased for fifty
years. This is certainly q creditable show
ing.
In the Chicago Inter Ocean we find the
following intelligent editorial remarks upon
the situation, suggested by the address:
The appearance of Governor Kellogg's
'defense" puts an entirely new face upon
the Southern question. Indeed, to call it
"deiense" is misnOmer; it is an arraign-
ment of his enemies; it is an indictment of
the Democratic party Of Louisiana. as guilty
of high crimes and misdemeanOrs. And it
ia inc cumbent upon McEnery and Penn and
Marr and the Democratic White Leaguers
of Louisiana to plead to the Indictment.
Their charges of fraud and corruption,
robbery and plunder. preferred against
Governor Kellogg and the Republican party
of the State are swept away BY the facts
and figures adduced in the address pub
lished to the world yesterday morning. In
his appeal to the President, Penn said:
Hopeless Of all other relief, the people
of this State have taken up arms to main
tain the legal authority Of the persons
elected by them to the government Of the
State, against the usurpers who have heaped
upon them innumerable insults, burdens
and wrongs"
And in his proclamation to the people of
Louisiana he said:
ION the contrary, through the instru-
mentality of partisen judges you are de-
barred from all legal remedy. Day by day
taxation has been increasing, with costs
and penalties amounting to cOnfscauiOn of
your property, your substance squandered,
your credit ruined. resulting in failure and
bankruptcy Of your valued institutions.
The right of suffrage is virtually taken
from you by the enactment of skillfully de-
vised registration and election laws.
To these may be added corrupt and
vicious Legislature, enacting laws in viola
tion OF the constitution, for the purposes of
guarding and perpetuating their usurped
authority"
Increased taxation, confscation of the
property Of the citizen, substance of the
State squandered, the credit OF the people
ruined, the right of suffrage taken away,
a corrupt and vicious Legislature violating
the constitution-these are grave charges
against the Governor of sovereign State
How has Governor Kellogg answered themi
He shows from the records OF the Auditors
office that he has reduced taxation from
twenty-O and One-half to fourteen and
One-balf mills-thirty-t three and One-third
per cent; that he has reduced the State debt
1925 023, notwithstanding he was compelled
to provide for S70l 900 Of debt authorized
by former administrations. He shows that
the registration law under which the ap
preaching election will be held is infinitely
more fair and just than the one it super.
seded; and hence, that in signing it and
permitting it to go into operation, he fol-
lowed the strict line of duty. He shows that
at the outset he voluntarily gave the Dem
oeratlc party representation on every
registration board in the State, and that
ne mas since constituted an advisory board,
equally divided between the contending po-
iitIcai parties. He shows that he recon-
mendea to the Legislature, by the advice
OF committee Of eminent citizens of the
State and OF the Chamber Of Commerce. of
the city of New Orleans, the passage of an
act providing for the funding Of the State
debt at sixty cents on the dollar: that he
recommended the adoption Of a constitu-
tionsl amendment limiting the State debt
<l-.l