The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1875-10-09
Drowning men Catch ct Straw5.

wv '''''\ va 'HO ChICN'IOlu ".c
OF the "a October contains Il remark
able correspondence, to say the least
Of It, between Marshal Packard,
Chairman of the Radical State Cen
trail Committee, and 4. II. Leonard,
Esq, of Shreveport. We are struck,
first with the pitiablc condition, to
which Packard and his crew are re-
duccd, to have called forth suc! il
whining appeal from him, so lately
lord OF all he survcyed-the holder
Of Emperor Grants great seal in
LouiSiana-tl,e chief head in viola
lations of constitutional freedom and
obstruction of civil liberty, as well
as all the traditions of the Republic
that he should cry ont like Caesar,
bulfetinc the Tybcr: "IIclp me Cas-
sius or sink" must have been in
duced by some mighty calamity
in the prospective, disturbing the
mind of the head and front of Radical
offending in Louisiana.
The chairman Of the Central Radi-
cal Committee of this State, the
highest authority we can quote, has
admitted the fact, which VIC have
charged upon his party for the past
eight years, of its utter inability to
bring about reform, the moral dcsra-
dation of its leaders and the rotten
ness of the whole structure. How
does this sound in the ears of the
"small fry" press of tho State? We
think they will, with haste, den"uncc
Mr. PackarNs statements as false.
What means this appeal to the
Wing, Conservative and Liberal eic-
mcut of the white vote of Louisiana I?
And who a,e they, and what are they !?
That Mr.. Packard should say such
things Of them as, that they do not
like joining in with the Democratic
party to save the State.-fiom just
such a future as the past ACTS, IN the
open .tuce Of declarations, as Mr.. Pack
ard and his party are responsible for.
Are the Wing, Liberal and C"nser-
vative elements, granting there are
such here for sake Of argument, any
more virtuous, any more intelligent,
than those of New York, Massachu
sets or other Northern States? Not
one whit, and the Northern wing has
gone to the Democratic party, the
only Constitutional party in this
Union, with the hope of saving the
country from the ruin which must
surely follow a continuance in power
of those whom Mr.. Packard repre-
sents. The Liberal element, to whom
this christian Chairman so feelingly
appeals, are in this State what they
are elsewhere outside the Democrat
ic party at this late day, "office-
seekers" who, under the thin guise
Of those men of wisdom that Hamlet
describes, answer queries with "pro-
found nods," arc attempting to make
silence a virtue, that "good may
come of ito them. We pub
licly declare, and that to without
fear of contra6iction--tllat the man
who has no words of denuncia-
ton for the Radicals of the Union
for the carpet bag-scalawag gov
ernments South, and particularly
his own State, Louisiana-is as vile
as the vilest of the radicals, and a
more dangerous man to us, as q peo-
pie, than all the open foes in the
State, from Packard down to the
meanest viper who does his bidding.
They are the wolves in sleeps cloth.
ing-the hired assassins Of radicalism
that stab to the heart their country
men under the sacred name of friend.
ship for their causc-thcy are towards
all, who, as the vultures of the bat
tie field, eat what brave men shay
they hang like the whining begger
upon the outskirts of the armies to
pick up, under the name of Con.
servatism, what spoils may be gained
in the fray. Show us Liberal or a
Conservative, or Wing in Louisiana,
who has no word of condemnation for
Kellogg, Packard, and their past acts
and government, and we will show
you traitor in disguise, a Judas
ready for tho opportunity to sell bis
people for price, else already count
ing bis value obtained, at the sacrifice
Of honor and principle.
Packard shows the weakness of lis