Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-01-21
ESTABLISHED 184'
THE .PREsIDENTisPEAKs

| EOl lABLlS ELL lOfOs
THE. .PREsIDENT7ssP ssPEAKs.
| We laid before our readers yesterday
the larger part OF the message of Pres
ident Grant on Louisiana matters.
Our readers have purused 1.-THE bal
ance VIC give to-day. In brief he al
ludcs 10 the terrible sickening char
acter of the atrocities which have been
committed upon unoffsnding people in
Louisiana by the hundreds. It 10 .
fearful story; and yet any man who,
during the rebellion or since, was
South, and 50 became acquainted with
the height and depth Of their supreme.
ly infamous and mercelessly brutal
character a. we'll - their deep seated
treason, will moi, for moment, doubt
the thorough authenticity Of tho hellish
deeds related. s
Notwithstanding all these, and not
withstsnding the clearness with which
it is shown that the reign Of terror is
so complete and is sustained by go
manv Of the people OF Louisiana as to
make it impossible for the State au-
thority to punish the perpetrators or
courts to sit in Judgment upon Offend
ere in safety, We hear no howl from
Democracy North. Oh, mol When
they can NO longer deny with rebuff
ting proofs, they ridicule the stories,
and when this, too, seems too bare.
faced they slink into quiet,-Jut,
when United States officer In obedi-
ence to the call Of . Governor with a
squad Of soldiers without . particle of
blood shed stops bloodshed, insurrect-
ion and revolution and quietly retires
after giving . chance for the forms of
law to be pursued-at once Democrat
10 throats open wide and the roar 10
most furious all along the line from
the gulf to the lakes and from ocean TO
ocean.
The gallant Phil. Sheridan who was
not really In command, the man who
fought for years for his coantry's life,
and did most memorable deeds, though
at the expense Of the will and desire
Of the Democratic party, and at the
expense of the the lives of many of
them-this man is upon the very eve
Of subverting the liberties Of free
people. Tell me not that those Of the
Democratic party who thus act, and
their number is very large, have for
gotten to still have their sympathy
with treason, or those of them who
committed it, their love for the lost
cause. 10 It possible that the Ameri-
can people can come to believe that
there IL danger OF subversion Of their
liberties from the men who fought for
and sustained the old flag, while all is
lovely with those who were, and by
their deeds show they still are, the en-
emies of the country. According to
the Democratic theory the greatest
danger to the liberties of our people 10
to be feared from President Grant,
General Sheridan and tho grand army
OF volunteers constituting the Union
forces in the rebellion. Has the Re-
publican party through any of its con-
stituted authorities or members been
guilty OF murder. riot and revolution (?
Have they ever without cause banded
themselves together in secret orders
and marched men out in squads and
shot them In cold blood? Have they
ever waylayed unsuspecting ana In
nocent citizens and stealthily shot them
to prevent the action Of the courts of
Justice? Have they ever revolutioniz-
ed State government In blood?
As early as 1858 in Kansas Pro-
slavery border rufiians entered upon
the gauge of the pistol and the bowie
knife to carry their points in politics,
which eliminated In rebellion. This
policy has never been abandoned, and
the year 1874 has marked the most mo-
ted exemPlification Of it in the State
of Louisiana. Through all these years
the Democratic party has been and
still is the pillar of ofsuppport which has
been and is the real source and cause
Of oil these troubles. 1t 10 now max
ing another effort to gain power
through these last outrages just - it
has always done before.