The New York herald., 1874-09-19
Shall There BE New Election In
LOuislanay

the HERALD he offers to resign all claim to the
office to which he believes he was elected
upon the condition that Mr.. Kellogg shall
also resign, with the understanding that new
State government shall be chosen by the peo-
pie. To this spirit of unseltish zeal Tor the
good of Louisiana the highest praise Is due;
but it has characterized the McEnery party
from the first In the recent revolution
there was every temptation for the sue
cesslul leaders to use extreme meas
ures to retain their power. They GER
tainly represented the will of the people.
They claimed to be the duly elected officers
of Louisiana. The public opinion of the
country. and, as in the case of as conspicuous
a partisan as Senator Carpenter, public opn-
ion without distinction of party, believed in
the justice of this claim Even extreme
republicans, of whom General Butler might
be called the representative, could find no.
thing but apologies for the Kellogg govern
ment. As if to emphasize these facts, the be-
havior of the contending parties during
the crisis was such as to destroy
any vestige of respect that may have been felt
for Kellogg, and to increase our sympathy for
Mr.. McEnery and his followers. Kellogg and
his comrades behaved like towards. They did
not strike manly blow for their power At the
first blush of revolution they threw down the
sovereignty of the State and fastened to seek
protection behind the federal bayonets Gen
eral Longstreet seems to have made an effort
to redeem the cause Of Kellogg, but sur
rounded by such men even his conspicuous
and unquestioned bravery was useless
Yet, in the hour of absolute victory the
McEnery government threw down its arms
and its opportunity at tae feet Of the national
government. The simple demand of the
President was enough. His movements of
troops from other States to Louisiana, his
orders for war vessels TO proceed to the
Mississippi, were altogether unnecessary
This terrible array of war against New
Orleans was as superhuous as it would have
been against New York, for no resistance to
the United States authority was contemplated
or made The President might have spared
his threat to shell the city or inundate it by
breaking the levees, for it was not justified by
the temper of the people, and we regret that
it was ever made. We must remember that
we cannot always deal with revolution as
wicked outbreak against authority, or an
act of lawlessness, like the religious riots of
thirty years ago, or the Astor place riot, or
the outbreaks in this city against conscription
in 1864. The difference between these events
and what we have seen in Louisiana is the
difference between isolated and wanton dis
turbance Of the peace and the spontaneous
ruption. Nothing could have been more
brutal, for instance, than the New Orleans riot
Of 1866 The response to that on the part of
the North was instant and decisive. Presi-
dent Johnson's strange sympathy with the
affair was the beginning Of the downfall of his
administration. That riot had every phase of
wicked resistance to law. An armed mob sup
pressed freedom of speech. A convention in
proper deliberation was dissolved by force, it's
leaders murdered, innocent spectators massa-
cred and negroes shot down on the highway
amid general reign oflawlessness and terror.
The recent revolution had none of these pain
ful phases. Authority was assumed by what
pie of Louisiana. There was no revenge, no
recriminaton, none of those scenes Of blood
shed and cruelty which marked the success of
revolutions in France and other countries.
There was nothing in the whole course of the
McEnery revolution, from its inception to its
surrender. to forfeit the respect or the SYM
pathy of the American people for the people
of Louisiana and their leaders.
The answer which Mr. Kellogg will make to
Governor McEnery ought therefore, to be as
patriotic as the offer. The ease with which
the revolution was effected must have con-
vinced the nation that his government has not
the support of the people, and he should profit
by the lesson. He has the power now to
satisfy the wishes of Louisiana and to relieve
the national government from embarrassment.
Let him use it wisely, and not insist upon
compelling the administration to keep him in
the Office which he has not the power to hold
unaided. If he accepts the proposition of
Mr.. McEnery he will make peaceful and
permanent solution Of the difficulty possible,
and prove that he values the welfare of the
State more than the honors and gains of
Office. But if he refuses the entire nation
will be forced to recognize in him an obstacle
to peace, and will justly reason that the man
who breads fair election now has good cause
to doubt the fairness of the election before.
We infer from his telegram to the HERALD
that it is not his intention to resign, and that
he places the responsibility of his removal
upon the Legislature which is to be elected
But, whatever Mr.. Kellogg may choose to
do, the duty of the government is to see that
justice is rendered to the people of Louisiana.
The proof is overwhelming that they repudiate
the Kellogg administration. The appeal
which we print to-day from the President of
the Board of Trade of Baton Rouge, the Presi-