The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-01-19

/ CuiutEy Nv W drmOLl AID others WAS equiv
alent TO 10000 voters, and they add that to
recognize the McEnery government would
| pe recognizing government based upon
fraud, in defiance to the wishes and inten-
ton Of the voters of the state. Assuming
the correctness of the statements in this re-
port, and they seem to have been generally
accepted by the country, the great crime in
Louisiana, about which so much has been
done and said, is that one is holding the
office of governor who was cheated out
of 10000 against another whose title to the
Office is undoubtedly fraud, and in defiance
OF the wishes and intentions of the state.
Misinformed and misjudging as to the ma
ture and extent Of this report the supporters
of McEnery proceeded - displace by force,
in some parts OF the state the sppointees OF
Gov. Kellogg, and on the 18th of April, in an
effort OF that kind, butchery ofcitizens was
/ committed
AT CoLFAX,
which, in blood thirstiness and barbarity,
was'hardly surpassed by any acts of savage
warfare. To put the matter beyond con-
troversyI quote from the charge of Judge
Woods, of the United States Circuit Court,
TO the jury in the case of the United
States VS.. Cruikshank and others, in
New Orleans in March, 1874. He said: "In
the case on trial there are many facts not in
controversy. / proceeded to state some of
them in the presence and hearing of the
counsel on both sides, and If / state as a
conceded fact any matter that is disputed
they can correct me-" After stating the
origin of the difficulty, which grew out of an
attempt of the white persons to drive the
parish judge and sheriff. appointees of KEEL
logg, from office, and their attempted pro-
! lection by cOIored persons which led to
negroes were killed, the judge states:
Most of those who were killed
were taken prisoners. Fifteen or 10
of the blacks had lifted the boards and taken
Iefnge under the floor of the court house
They were ali captured. About 81 men
were taken prisoners. The number is not
ceinitelv fixed. They were kept under
guard until dark, and then thew were led
out by twos and threes and shot. Most of
the meh were shot to death. A few were
wounded uos mcrtally, and by pretending
td he dead were afterward, during the night,
able to make their escape. Among them
was the Levi Nelson named in the indict-
ment. The dead bodies OF the negroes killed
in this affair we're left unburied till Tuesday,
April 10, when they were buried by deputy
marshal and an officer OF the militia from
New Orleans. These persons found 90
dead bodies. They showed pistol shot
wounds, the great majority In the heart and
most of them in the back of the head. In
addition TO the dead found, some chsrred re-
mains Of dead bodies were discovered near
the court house. Six dead bodies were found
under a warehouse. ALI were shot i'm the
heart but oDeor two, which were shot in
the breast. The only men injured from the
beginning of these troubles TO their close
were HadnOt and Harris. The court house
ana its contents were entirely consumed.
There is no evidence that any one in the
crowd of whites bore any lawful war
rant for the arrest of any of the
blacks. There ia no evidence
hot off Voc - a.,
ever demanded the Office to which they had
set up claim, but the register continued to
act as parish judge" These are the facts in
this case as L understand them to be adj
mittsd. To hold the people of Louisiana
generally responsible for these atrocities
would not be a fact. but it is lsmentable
fact that insufferabls distractions were
thrown in the way of punishing these muir
derers, and the so called conservative papers
of the state not only justified the massacre,
but denounced as federal tyranny and
despo'ism the attempt of the United
States officers to bring the criminals to
Justice. Fierce denunciations ring through
the country about Office holding and election
matters in Louisiana, while every one of the
Colfax miscreants goes unwhipped Of Justice
and no way can be found in this boosted
land of civilization and Christianity TO pun
ish the perpetrators OF this bloody and
monstr0us crime. Not unlike this was the
massacre in August last. Several Northern
young men of capital aud enterprise he'd
started the little and fiourishing town of
Coushatla. Some of them were republicans
ana obiee-holders under Kellogg. They !
were, therefore, doomed TO death. Six of |
them were seized and carried AWAY from
their homes aud murdered i'm cold blood. |
No one has been punished, and the conser-
Vatlve press of the state denounced all efforts |
to that end and boldly justifi ed the crime |
Many murders OF q like character have been |
in
INDIVIDUAL CASES
which can not be here detailed. For ex-
ample, T. s. Crawford, parish judge, and |
the district attorney of the twelfth judicial |
district OF the state, on their way to court
were shot from their horses by men in am
bush on the sth of October, 1873, and the
wife OF the former, in a communication to
this department of justice, tells piteous
tale OF the prosecutions of her husband be-
cause ne was Union man. No efforts were
made TO seize those who had committed
crime which, to use her language, LETT two
widows and nine orphans desolate. To say
That the murder OF a negro or white repub-
lican is not considered a crime in Louis
lana would PROBABLY be unjust to a great
part ofthe people. but it is true that great
number OF such murders have been COM
United, and no one has been punished there
for. Msnitestly the spirit of hatred and VIC
lence is stronger than law. Representations
were made TO me that the presence of troops
IN Louisiana We're unnecessary and annoy
ing to the people, and that there was no dan
ger of public disturbance if they were taken
away. Consequently early in last summer
the troops were withdrawn from the state.
with the exception of q small garrison at
New Orleans barracks. IC was stated that a
comparative state OF quiet had superveDed.
Political excitement as to Louisiana affairs
seemed 10 be dying out. But the November
election was approaching and it was neces-
:ary for party purposes that the flame should
be relighted. Accordingly, on the 14th OF
5eptember ID. b. Penn, claiming that he was
elected lieutenant governor in 1872, issued
IN inflsmmatory proclamation, calling upon