The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1875-11-06
THE CLINTON MATTER.

THE CLINTON MATTER.
An Exhaustive Resume of the
Situation. r..ss
TIE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE RE-
CENT TROUBLES. ...
From the N. o. Pinynnc.]
CLINTON, LA. Oct. 10, 1875.
To tho Editor Of the Picayune:
The people Of New Orleans are nat.
urally startled by whathas been term.
ed the "lawlcssness in East Feliciana,"
and without a proper understanding
Of the whole situation injustice may
be done us by some Of our own most
thoughtful aud judicious friends. The
recent events in our parish are not
the mere uncomfortable and reckless
outbreaks of lawless men with n"tl.-
ing IN the sratif,cntions of t"rbu lent
passions, they are the result Of a
! matured and deliberate policy which
has been forced upon our most con-
servative people by the excuses Of
those who have enjoyed power here.
It is notorious that our people have
been the most conservative and sub
missive to the new order Of things Of
all the people Of the country parishes.
The people here, under the guidance
Of enlightened leaders, have recog-
nized the necessity Of yielding to the
national authority, and Of giving a
| fair trial to tile system Of rec"nstruc-
ton which it had inapgurated. With
out violence or lawlessness, without
interference with the fair expression
of the new sutfiagans at the polls, the
party in power was permitted to &C.
cupy the public administration, and
became thereby responsible tor the
public order, and the security of life
and property; This passive attitude
was maintained until the release of
all restraints upon the vicious aud
depraved, the dissolution of all the
safeguards for the protection of prop.
erty, led to a state Of 'society so un-
bearable, that tire people took energy
from despair, and determined by their
own resolution to save the remnants
oftl,eir property from pillqgc, and
society from dishonOr and dissolution.
AS soon as tho Radical authority
was firmly established in the parish
a band of negro ,roughs, organized
and maintained by pnblic plumber, as
sembled III Clinton, and with appa.
rent impunity-.iRsultet some of our
bestand mast respected citizens, in
some instances threatening their lives
with violence. Gair, Ray, Smith,
Clark and other leaders, formed a
conncii for the regulation Of orr par.
ocllial affairs. Under the shadow Of
their mighty protection neither life
or property was safe in tho parish.
Cattle, hogs and other domestic an
imals were stolen, and the thief had
the collusive aid Of strong and in
tluential partisans to hide the booty
and to shield his guilt. When the
harvest ripenel in the field it was
stolen off by a regular and perfected
system. The convenient deM:fall was
in every neighborhood tempting the
brutal appetites Of the negro laborers
to theft, with mean whisky and tohac-
co. When our people, irritated by
some such outrage, ventured an ex.
preston of anger, the threat Of burn.
ing and of negro mobs furnished the
convenient rcfort. And accordingly
in September, 1874, the chatting an.
tagonisnts If the two classes led to
the assemblage Of a large negro mob
under the leadership Of one Lewis
Jones, a member Of our Police Jury.
This mob was dispersed without a
collision, owing to the signal modera.
ton of our people. ,..1
In all these troubles our conserva.
tive citizens trusted that the courts
would finally afford a remedy. But
at the last term of the District Court,
in Nay, this hope was rudely dispel-
ed. Witha vast majority Of negroes
on the jury list, and with the excln,
sion OF whites in criminal trials of
negroes by the exercise Of the legal
challenges, it became evident that {,
negro. could not be condemned for an
otfcnse against a white man. Gair.
Ray and their crowd hal their seats
in the courtroom, and with the vast
influence theyiexerted on the ignorant
negro, they exertetl on the ignorant
negroes, they dictated verdicts. This
fact was made phin IN several cases
which the public vas considering with
sensitive watchfulness.
2. The case of the State Va. Lewis
Jones for the illegal assembly just re-
ferred to, demonstrated that the Law
afforded no remedy against negro
riots.
2. In the trial Of eight men from,
West Feliciana, arraisnel for the
murder OF young Hale, it was shown
that the life Of q man could not TX
protected by negro juries. na,.o,. ~.
3. IN the case of the State vs.. Rob
ert Ray for stabbing Henry Smith
both colored leaders, attracted mucl
attention. In 4 public brawl on ca1
streets Ray stabbed Smith a, v,ciou'
wound with a penknife-a notoriou
fact known to everybody. On til
trial Smith; with disregard bf trntl
almost, uncomfortable, vi (considerin.
that lie *as the sheriff of the parisl
and that the facts were so we'll known,
swOra that the stabbing was a mer,