New-York tribune., 1874-10-31

friends are ais. III tho S"amp5' OIotE onco
more reigns in s.. "'e'
In Louisiana the no. influential wbito men
in the country parishes are menaced with
arrest by wholesale for pu. ely constructive
Offenses. What with tho IOos.' ness or the
Enforcement Laws, the recent re.V"ence oi
disturbances in the State, and the existence
of White League whose purposes and AZ. ions
can easily be misrepresented, there is hara.y
decent Democrat in Louisiana, however coiAe
scious of innocent intentions, who does
not live in fear of prosecution. The
most peaceablc of political meetings may
be twisted into Conspiracy to hinder"
somebody in the exercise of the suffrage.
Threats" Intimidation" attempts to moleSt
Federal functiOnares, may be conjurcd up at q
moments notice. Ordinary crimes Of violence
instead of being punished by the proper
authorities are left to the vengeance of tho
marshal and the military, who sweep up in
their drag-net not only the real culprits, but
scores of their poaceable neighbors, suspected
of entertaining political sympathes.' The
Coushatta affair has been held to justify
military arrests by the hundred. Over hun
dred merchants of Shreveport, having fool-
ishly agreed not to employ any man (whi;e
Il
been prosecuted-we suppose under that clause
of the Enforcement Act which makes 1t 4
penal off1nsc to colspire to prevent cOlored
person from voting "by threats of deprylnS
"Of occupation" Prosecution is held IN ter
rorem over every wnite man who shows
himself active in politics. There is little
question that great numbers of voters in
Louisiana and Alabama will be kept from
the polls by an uneasy feeling that they
are at the mercy of INSCRIPTIONS deputy mar
shals. 1t is easy to understand what tremen-
dous influence one of these officials wields
when he can hint to community trembling
lest they have involved themselves in some
constructive violation of an elastic statute.
keep out of politics and will let you alone"
We must remember that for the execution
of this scheme of oppression the actual inter-
ventOn of the Federal courts is not necessary.
Arrest On suspicion depends solely upon the
discretion of an irresponsible deputy, who IS
generally man of mean social position and
questionable character; and arrests are made
quite as dreadful as the sentence of court.
The hardships and disgrace are SO aggravated
that whether the prisoner Is acquitted, or
convicted or released after while without
any trial at all, he is nine times out OF ten
ruined by the proceedings. A clergyman from
Mississippi assured us the other day that he
knew OF numbers of innocent men who had
fled the State on the rumOr that they were TO
be prosecuted under the Enforcement Laws,
because whatever the result of the trial il
would leave them bankrupt. When the al
legged assassins of Billings were arrested, ono
man was taken with them who was not even
Al
whom there was no evidence. They were dis
charged of course on the preliminary examlna-
ton at Mobile, but not until they had been
dragged in handouts two hundred miles from
their homes. All the Alabama prisoners ara
sent to Mobile for examination, nOtwithstand-
ing the presence OF United States COmmis-
siOners at the places of arrest similar prac-
tice prevails in Louisiana, where prisoners ar
rested in Shreveport for Offenses committed
there are sent to be tried in New-Orleans. 1t
is the general rule for the Commissioner aD
the scene of the alleged crime to issue war
rants returnable before another magistrate in
some distant city, SO that poor prisoner, wh0
must bring his witnesses after him at greau
expense, is often practically ruined before ID
has been decided whether there is any ground
for holding him. 1t is no wonder that inno-
cent and guilty alike tremble at the approach
of the deputy marshal. Senator Spencer knew
what he was talking about when he exclaimed.
on hearing of the arrest of the Sheriff's posse
in Sumter County. That gives us the State |"
The forthcoming decision of the Supreme
Court as to the constitutiOnality of certain
portions of the Enforcement Act of 1870 may
put stop to some of the worst outrages by
which the Carpet-bag party is attempting ia
carry the next election; but whatever that
decision may be we are satisfied that great
many changes must be made both in the
manner of executing these protection statutes
and in the statutes themselves. For the first
reform we must await an Executive which
shall take a very different view of its priv
ileges and duties from that which now pre-
walls at Washington. For the second We
trust that the next Congress may be expected
IN prOyide