The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1874-11-05
President. the troops and gunboats were

President, the troops and gunboats were
still Cntinued in the city, anu aar-
rice i5 ia - rapidly as possible, -ltil
force sufficient to overrun the State was
concentrated AT the capital. Then, with
map Of the State before them, and cam
palgn fully marked out, the cavalry was
put in motion, and, sustained by infan-
try, commenced the grand march for
intimidating the white voters, crushing out
their liberties and turning them over to
Kellogg IN chains. 1t viii be remembered
that soon after the fourteenth of Septem-
Der, Kellogg pretended to agree to COM
promise on the returning board, promising
to place two Conservatives upon it and
two Radicals, with the power of the fourto
select an unobjectionable Republican as
umpire. This was only ruse to gain time
till the bayonets upon which he relied for
support could arrive. Then new demands
were made as conditions precedent, to
which the Conservatives could not agree,
and consequently the compromise was at an
end. But Grants army was at work. The
notorious Major Merrell, who had made him
self so conspicuous in South Carolina as
the plant tool of corrupt government,
went on to Shreveport and soon showed to
the citizens of United States what a con
temptible henchman of oppressie@, he was.
Many of the merchants of tha, 2 eiS, who
had experienced the most damaging
results of Radical rule, determined that
they would not give employment to any
man who in the face of all the
wrongs which they had suffered should
vote the Radical ticket. This was Just the
case for Merrill. He could get no man to
do his dirty work; so he made the affida-
Wits against the merchants in order to have
them arrested. But before he could carry
out his purposes, they became known; some
of his officers left, and the wires flashed
the news to the people of the United States
Indignation was expressed, and the brute
who was so ready to put chains and mana
cles upon the citizens concluded that dis
cretion and moderation were demanded.
tried, and their cases were continued till
after the elections. But the citizens all
over the State are being worried, arrested,
bound and imprisoned, that Kellogg and
his party may again claim the State. Nat
uralized citizens are denied the right to vote
because they are Conservatives, and cor
rupt Attorney General decides against
them. More than one hundred of the
ablest lawyers sustain the authority of the
court that issued the papers; but still Kel-
logg gives orders not to place their ballots
in the same boxes with the others
Can such schemes of villainy be long
sustained in a country claiming to be ''the
home of the free and the land of the brave9"
There must be change. Human nature
can endure many things, and suffer for a
long time, 50 long as the star of hope is oc-
casionally seen, but when the last ray goes
out in darkness, necessity with iron grasp
bids the sufferers arise in their own strength
and hurl their oppressors from power. This
is a right which all men will concede; a
right which makes the tyrant, when sur
rounded with the Establishments of courtly
ease, tremble. Louisiana must be free.
Such is the judgment of the American peo-
pie. Her citizens have long felt the injus-
tice and oppression of despotic power. They
are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness as much as any people in the
land.
We shall be greatly disappointed, if the
North does not thunder forth its condemna-
ton of Grant and his myrmidons on Tues
day next. We cannot do the subject jus
tice. The outrages against liberty are so
enormous, so black, so inexcusable that the
pen fails to paint them in their true colors.