New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-08-04
A DANGEROUS ADVISER,

The Shreveport Times vindicates an or
ganization to infict upon the negroes
''the fate of all men who attempt to over
throw society, trespass upon the rights
and depredate upon the property of
others.
If it is found necessary ''to interfere
with any class of men in this struggle,
they are most likely to be white men, and
we shall interfere with them, not on ac-
count Of their race, color, ETC., but be-
cause Of their rascalty."
This means, the Times being the judge,
that if any men, white or black, shall so
vote at an election as to defeat the candi-
dates of the White League, they will be
killed or run out of the country. And
thus the Times proposes to "protect all
men in their rights" If there be shorter
definition of mob law and defiance of all
law we should like to see it. Local power
directed by the prejudices of race and
section are to administer the affairs of
the Shreveport community This is very
brave. 1t is highly intelligent. It is
just the talk Of the Spaniard and Of the
Modoc. Triumphant in little local su-
premacy, defiant of distant authority, ag-
gressive, oppressive and intolerant of the
timid, the feeble and the unresisting. Il
this mob murder shall occur, and
If the Federal government again strikes
them down, then let the infamy of the deed
rest upon the shameless despoGism that has
arisen out of the malignancy and hate of
the Northern people, beneath whose with
ering Influence no sentiment of liberty can
survive; under whose policy Of meanness,
cowardice and hate, every community that
does not worship it must be trampled in
the dust, and every civilization that does
not pay tribute to it blasted by it's curse.
1t is heroic and patriotic to slaughter
the weaker in the vicinity of Shreveport,
but if the federal government intervenes
then comes the raving which goes on till
the reader must stop to draw breath to
read the indignant defamation. We
value the peace of the country so highly
as to point out one fallacy of the Times.
In attempting to prove that all this con-
templated violence, injustice and murder
may be committed with impunity, the
Times quotes Justice Bradley's dissenting
opinion to show that any combination
may be formed to prevent people from
voting, and unless it be avowedly based on
purpose to exclude voters for colcr,
the offense does not come within the
scope Of the constitutional amendments
and the laws passed Hereunder. Such
conspiracies are amenable to the laws of
State alone. This is a comfortable doc
trine and calculated to convince those
who have majority of shotguns, with
superior skill and power to use them,
that the federal government may see
this massacre going on and can not, under
the law referred to, interfere to save
life or to guarantee "the citizens of each
State all the privileges and immunities of
citizens in the several States" Now, it
pleases the Times to call those white men
whose votes it does not like, carpet-bag-
gers and scallawags. They have another
name, which will be made known at the
proper time. It is that of citizens of the
United States, and under that designation
their rights viii be protected, or their
wrongs legally redressed by the gov
eminent Of their country. They
may be Of Northern origin. The
Northern people denounced by the