The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1874-05-13
mo. 40.

under cultivation. It is very clear,
therefore, that wqr and emancipation
combined are not sufficient to &C
count fully for the condition of the
South us revealed to us in the Cen
sus Reports. What, then, are the J,
canses which have aggravated the ef-
fects of internecine strife and. social
and industrial revolution? They are
two: carpet bag misrule and white
ruiianism.
! When the armies of Lee and John
ston surrendered, the government of
the North found itself called upon to
recast society in q conquered land
inhabited by two antagonistic popu-
lations. The larger of these was,
perhaps, the tiercest and the proud
est upon earth. Until then it had
been caste apart, an aristocracy of
wealth, intellect and color, resting
upon and supported by seryile race,
and welding the destinies Of a great
country. The smaller had been the
property Of the superior people, and
was actually without possessions,
without knowledge, and without mo-
rails. 1t had just been freed by in
vading armies from the most terri
bic slavery the world has ever seen,
and it was removed from absolute
savagely by no more than two or
three destents. Nothing, therefore,
could be more evident than that, if
these populations were left to them
selves, the former would speedily re-
enslave the, latter. That, of 1eurse,
was not to be, permitted. AID r. sac
rifcing million Of lives and thou
sand millions of money, in Striking
down system, no people c4ld or
would allow it to be set up again
Under those circumstances the wise
and humane course would have been
to place the South for a generation
under military government. Itwould
have been wise, for it promised bet
ter than any other policy to attain
the object in yiew-the pacifcation
of the country. And it would have
been humane: to the blacks, as it
would have insured them full pro-
lection; to the whites, as it would
have saved them from the last deg
relation of all in their eyes, that Of
being subjected to their own slaves.
But the Federal Constitution prom
ised republican form Of government
to all the States, and the people of
the North shrank from openly and
ayowedly, in the face of all the
world, breaking through the unmis-
taxable letter of the Constitution.
We would not lightly reproach apeo-
lple for not having undisguisedly vio-
lated a fundamental provision oftheir
organic law. However little may be
the value Of mere technical adhe-
renee to legal requirements, it is GER
tain that without respect even for
the technicalities Of law no free and
stable government is possible. AT
J any rate, it does not lie in the mouths
4 Of Englishmen TO reproach others on
account of such conduct. But Wheth-
er praiseworthy or the reverse, the
decision of the people of the North
was to obey the letter of the Consti-
tuition. With that obedience, how
| ever they rested satisfied. Congress,
a mere creature Of the Constitution,
and with no more legal right, there
fore, to interpret it's construction
than was possessed BIZ any Southern
f Legislature, undertookto decide what
satisfied the requirement of a repub-
lican form Of. government. It i'm
posed conditions, egacted guarantees,
f and oyer-rode the popular will. In
short, it disenfraachised the political
people of the South, those who had
! been trained to public life, and had
had experience in the conduct Of af-
j fairs, and enfranchised those who
!, had no mofe conception of political
rights than they had Of the ultimate
e constitution of matter. OF course,
!. these latter could not5carry on agov-
{ ernments therefore, from all parts Of
! the Union there focked to the South
i |pennilfss adventurers, with philan.
9 throHy on their lips and the hope Of
: plumber in their hearts. With the
y ingenuity Of inventing nicknaines
characteristic of Americans, some
% denunciatory southerners stigma
~ Et1 81 2 =
;. ltized these adventures as carpet
'baggers, implying that they carried