New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-05-14


in vindication OF President Grant, VITO
is uriustly charged by the to"ricr-jo@TAa.
with being the cause OF al the suffering
in New Orleans, that this suffering was
found to exist i'll this city as far back as
Nav !. 1862. when General Eutler took
torcjble possession and restored il to the
protection of the United States. When
this occurrence took place tie city had
been in possession Of rebel authority but
little over year, and il that short space
of time bad government had brought on
such general and intense suffering among
the white laboring people that the SYM
paties of General Butler were at once en-
listed in their behalf, and from that time
forward until the end Of his administra-
ton in this department he labored assidu-
ously to relieve their wants and improve
their condition. The first thing he dad
was to issue permits to dealers and Others,
which should protect them in bringing IN
provisions from a certain distance beyond
the lines, pied ging himself that the awful
situation of the poor OF the city should
have his immediate and unceasinG atten-
ton. Then he ordered, purely in consid-
Grafton of the poor, that Confederate cur
rency should be allowed to circulate,
as this was all they had in the
shape Of money. But 50 imminent to
many was the danger Of starving in New
Orleans at that time that General Butler
found it necessary to devise means OF
feeding and employing the poor. Il has
been estimated that the city contained a.
that time population OF, perhaps, one
hundred and fifty thousand, for whom
there was in the city about thirty days
supply of provisions, held at prices be-
yond the means Of ali bu. the rich. We
are told by history
A barre. OF -four could not he bought for
$50: the markets were empty, the provision
stores closed. The trade with Mobile,
which had formerly whitened the lakes and
the sound with sails. WAS cut OFF. The
and no steamboats, from the Red river coun-
try were running The lake coasts were
desoiate and half deserted, because the
trade with New Orleans had ceased. and
because The l0cusis OF SeHesS on had deyorred
their substance.
How General Butler labored and used
the power and resources Of the United
States to ameli crate the terrible condition
of the poor in New Orleans at that time,
brought on by the locusts OF secession,
very many of them who are still living
here, remember wildly even to this day.
He not only took steps to have the me-
chanics and workingmen Of our city fur
nished with work, but he also made the
rich men, who had contributed the million
and quarter loan, placed il the hands
Of the committee Of public safety for the
defense OF New Orleans against the United
States, and those cotton brokers who had
published card advising planters not to
send produce to New Orleans, in order to
induce foreign Intervention in behalf CT
he rebellion, contribute largely toward
he support OF the suffering poor. OF
course we refer to these things reluctantly,
because We would have preferred to let
he dead past go; because we desired that
he bloody chasm created by the Southern
Democracy should be closed, and a new
era Of politics entered upon that would
,iye peace to the South by harmonizing
IS interests with other sections Of the
In this general harmony and
good feelings speedy renewal Of prosper
ty could have Been confidently looked for.
would have been restored, and
lnder the magnetic influence OF {. rrater-
nizing people, once more united in holy
desire to maintain national liberty, the
of the South would have soon
been wiped out and forgotten, and New
Orleans freed Of the fatal incubus in
the shape of a rotton, bitter and proscr:p-
tive Democracy-that has so long borne
her down, might cnce more take TIE
proud position of chief city Of the South,
to which nature entities her But the
opposition press DO not seem inclined to
make the result Of the next presidential
election hinge upon new issues They
prefer to dencunce the course OF the Re
publican party and Of Republican admin
istrations Of government, falsely at
tributing sufferipgs and wrongs that clear
" have their origin with those in rebellion
as the results Of policy and course pur-
sued by Republicans invested with at
thority TO govern. Pursuing this very
questionable kind Of politics the Courier
Journal, in speaking Of the attempts now
being made here 20 eutangle labor in
some kind Of political movement,
clearly shows lis political animus
by saying that whatever Of suffer-
ings is here, and It IS disposed to
make it immense, is attributable to the
and it quotes largely from men
in political sympathy with it to prove
that beneath the whitening shadow of its
(the United States) bayonets the pros
perity and freedom of half million peo-
pie have sickened and fallen to the earth,
and its depressing influences have ez-
tended far beyond the limits OF State
and are felt in every limb and artery OF the
republic" This is said in condemnation