New-York tribune., 1874-03-19
LOUISIANA CALLING FOR RELIER

LOUISIANA CALLING fOh hELIEF.
The letter of Gen. Beauregard to Senator
Gordon of Georgia upon the condition of
affairs in Louisiana. published in Thursdays
TRIBUNE, though it presents no new facts In
the condition of that unhappy State, may
serve as a reminder tO'COngress OF duty 1t
has cruelty neglected. The facts are IN Its
possession, and the argument from them on
both sides has been exhausted. On. the one
side Senator Carpenter has ably and clearly
presented the case in favor of his bill now
pending ordering new election. Ho has sup
ported his position by an array OF
facts and testimony to which no an
swer or denial can be offered. He has
exhibited to the Senate and the country
a political situatiea which at any other time
and under any other administration would de-
mand and receive immediate attention and
some legislative action. The argument Of
Senator Morton in opposition to the bill pro-
yiding for new election, while admitting the
material facts and allegations upon which the
claim for a new election is based, rcotc mainly
upon the assumption that no power resides III
Congress to interfere go behind the false
and fraudulent returns upon which the kel-
logg usurpatiOn rests
with the facts in the history Of the case and
tho line Of argument which has been over ana
over repeated in the long intermittent debate
in which Congress has indulged, while the
State lay PROSTATE under an illegal usurpa-
ton and her taxpayers have been at the
mercy of as bad gang Of highwaymen as
ever bound and gagged victim. A less IN
tolerabe state of things in Kansas twenty
years ago, accompanied by far less pro-
nounced interference by Executive authority
and military force, aroused throughout
the country feeling of intensest lndlg-
nation, and eventually revolutionlzed the
politics of the nation. But Louisiana affairs
are discussed in the Senate with the most de-
liberate calmness and the serenest philosophy;
and while the endless flow of speech goes on,
nothing whatever is done to rescue State
waylaid and overpowered, people oppressed
and plundercd. TO say that such situation
is disgraceful is but a mild half-statement
1t is fragrant outrage upon the people OF the
State and burning shame to the Government
that views it so calmly and discusses IL Win
such leisurey indifference.
1t is no answer to the well-grOunded COM
plants of her people that Louisiana brought
this evil condition upon herself by the crime
of rebellion. Whatever may be the extent and
bitterness of individual animosities, States can
not afford to harbor such resentments or staye
off upon any such miserable pretext the de-
mand for Justice and fair dealing. Nor is 1t
enough to say, as Senator Morton does, that
the people of Louisiana had better "bear the
"ills they have and seek reformation and
"relief under their own laws and tribunals
ethan to invoke the National Government
"tO the assertion of power under which
Estate Governments would exist hereafter
"only by sufferance." There rs no
relief under their own laws and tribunals; for
tho laws are made and the tribunals presided
over by the usurping power from which they
seek relief, and that power holds in its own
hands the facilities for self-perDetuation. Nor
do they fear any new danger or disaster from
the precedent of Federal interference, since
that power has been invoked and that prece-
dent established already, to their cost. They
only ask the National Government to put forth
in their defense what it has already exercised
TO their discontinue and in support of their
OppressOrs.
Gen. Beauregard repeats in his letter to
Senator Gordon what the testimony of the
best citizens of the State has heretofore fully
established, that the usurpation now in force
is not in any proper sense republican form
of government" such as is guaranteed by
the Constitution, and that there Is no real
protection for life and property under it. He
asks that Congress furnish some relief from
"the lawless vampires who are sucking the
every life blood" of the people, and adds
what all who are familiar with the facts know to
be true, that the proposition which has been
made to acquesce in the Kellogg Government
until the Fall elections is merely to perpetuate
the usurpation. Anything short of the re-
moval of Kellogg and his officeholders will
fail to give relief, since those men have con-
troll of the elections, and by the same fraudu-
lent means by which they seized the Govern
ment will be able to retain it. The Senate has
dilly -dallied with this matter long enough.
Why will it not take some decisive action 2
TRYING TO THE NERVES.