The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1875-12-21

al WIN Va Ia Ia Ina
= cxistance OF bad g~overnlp. snecial
necessity that is felt Ihunitv like
class Of q great end intellects
this to join HANDY TO save them
in the peaceful ef61Sg or indeed pro-
, selves from imPels really the nature
gressive' rum Justly engaged in the
: Of man, whllGits Of life, to trust too
honorable Fidelity Of his appointed
m,ich 20 70 ever submit patiently to
ru'ors' Mgs of ~malfeasance in office,
some standing tho burden Is to fall
hoYs shoulders and detract from his
! Xd earnings. Aslongas the burden Is
tIearable no contents himself with
growing and grumbling, and at any
ratio feels a sort or satisfaction In know
ing that tho pilfering fellow i'm Office
was put there by his vote, or mayhap
by his neglect to vote.
In this way it Ia that under the best
ordered government the professional
of1ice-seekcr may safely fatten on the
honest toll Of his theoretical masters
and only be vaguely anathmatized by
the latter once a year when he walks up
to pay his heavy taxes. Like the pecu-
lating butler Of the dining-room and
kitchen, he gradually grows fat and
saucy, and his principal care Is that his
personal dcmcanor be faultless and that
he shall ingratiate himself with him
whom he serves. He is parasitic, with all
the ordinary attributes Of the parasite,
but he is IN intelligent parasite who
must live on without conscience. He
must realize that other generations Of
parasites are "a come and who are to
live upon this same body polite. Ergo,
the body polite must be suffered to sur
vive.
Under such circumstances, we say,
the body polite is patient. 1t scratches
and curses a little, as when we are
bitten by a flea; but the scratching and
cursing is alive drop to sleep, the flea
sucks his skin full Of our blood, and
thus we and our flea jog along together.
II certainly Is not proper government
whore these human tleas are permitted
to exist ut all, but perfection cant be
obtained, and we ~philosopllizo over 1t.
But at long intervals, land let us be
thankful that the intervals are long,
as tho final result OF mans negligence
and shortcomings, there occurs one Of
those wonderful governmental cata-
| clysms wherein virtue is for a time
stricken to the earth, and the legiti-
mate rewards Of honest toll are seized
and devoured by tho vultures and
carrion-crows Of our species, until exist
ence itself becomes a grave question,
and herein is found the soil from which
naturally spring just such organiza-
tons as the Property Holders Union"
It is our government tolerating and
encouraging all the schemes and de-
vices OF plundor which finally arouses
men into Association for defense, and
all such Associations seeking the honest
protection Of property should be ap-
plaudcd and in every way encouraged.
They are not Associations of one good
class against another, but Associations
suggested by the necessity of the case,
intended to fight the battle Of existence
and to extcrminate il possible bad
government.
Men cannot fight such enemies as the
usurpative government of Louisiana
single handed. The government itself
is said to be an association Of the worst
mon under the sun, and the devil
must be fought with fire. Property"
as defind by the title Property Hold
ers' Union" means real estate-lands
md tenemcnts-and all men know that
this sort Of property is peculiarly the
prey of the tax gatherer. There are
men, so-called statesmen, who argue
that this sort Of property should be ex-
clusively taxed. The man whose means
are invested in bonds, notes and mort
cages, etc, can lock them away safely
from the assessor and tax gatherer, but
lands and tenements stand helpless and
exposed, and when bad government
comes their value inevitably sinks.
We not only do not wonder at the ex-
istence Of tho "Union," but it is q mat
ter OF surprise that it has been only so
recently formed. This very fact shows
a spirit Of forbearance which only char
acterizes a class of good men, and we
sympathize with them accordingly.
When we look at the class of property
holders so-called, we behold a class Of
men, as n rule, with families and poor.
Among them are few substantial CAPT
talists. Thousands possess simply the
homes they live in; fifties or hundreds
only possess more than this. And of
those first named thousands, by far the
greater proportion, are productive
working men, whose little houses repre-
sent the indispensable virtues Of econo-
my and thrift. Even neglected govern
ment lives largely off this result of hon.
est toll; bad government blights it, and
even-as we have too often witnessed
since tho war-drives out on the high
way and into pitiless poverty the widow
and the orphan, while some tax sale
carrion crow hops under the long-loved
shelter and spcws at them through the
vineclad window.
Go on, fellow-citizens, in the good
work Of defending yourselves against
threatened ruin. Better late than never.
You are not organized to do any man
wrong, but to demand what is right Of