The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-01-30

! for the purpose Of making such arrests scrv-
| ed, rs the conservatives claimed, to intlmdate,
and sometimes even 10 produce stampede
among the white voters
How differently the two parties look upon
the same fact will appear from the testimony
of Mr., Riddle. lie was United States Com
missioner in The parish of Iberia Shortly
before the election, upon the application Of
cOlorcd persons, he issued u large number OF
warrants He considered it his duty, upon
the arrest of the persons charged, to require
bail from surctes who possessed landed es-
tatcs within the parish, certified to by the As
SCISSOR OF the parish to be of sufficient value
and of which the title was approved by the
Register of Deed. This rule necessarily pro-
duccd delay in procuring bail for the per
sons arrested, and he was waited on in one
case 10y a procession of citizens, who offered
him "A bond signed by every man in the pro
ccsson. This he regarded as in derislon OF
his proceedings and refused to receive the
bond. lie was called AS n witness to prove
the intimidation that existed In that parish
He had himself no knowledge of any act Of
the kind except this procession, which he
thought was calculated to intimidatc the col
ored voters He had no idea that the arrests
made upon his warrants, and the proceedings
under them, had any effect IN interfering with
the conservative voters On the other hand,
the conservatives in that nclghsorhood
thought about this just the reverse. Indeed,
the reports of the military officers in com
mand of the forces of the United States in
the country, though generally indicating II
condition of quiet and order, take sometimes
an entirely different view of the situation.
On the other hand, it was in evidence that
the blacks who sought to act with the con
servative party were, on their part, sometimes
10 ohr ell, int rinr
one coored man was shot for making a con
servative speech, and in New Orleans it APP
peared from the testimony that colored men
who sought to cooperate with the conserva-
tives were subject to so much abuse from the
police, and otherwise, that an association of
lawyers volunteered to protect them, but with
little effect.
GENERAL REVIEW OF STATE AFFAIRS.
The general conditioner affairs in the state
Of Louisiana seems to lie as follows: The
conviction has been general among the whites
since 1872 that the Kellogg government was
an usurpati0n. This corvictioa among them
has been strengthened by the acts of the Kel-
ogg legislature, abolishing existing courts
and judges, and substituting others presided
over by judges appointed by Kellogg, having
extraordinary and exclusive jurisdiction oyer
political Questions by changes in the law
centralzng in the Governor every fora of
political CONTROL including the suspension of
the elections; by continuing the Returning
Board with absolute power over the returns
of elections; by the extraordinary provisions
enacted for the trial of titles and claims to
office, by the conversion of the police force,
maintained at the expense of the city of New
Orleans, into an armed brigade of state mill
tia, subject to the command of the Governor ;
h, tha aractinD in nnppS of
lies in markets, Shaking, water-works and
ferries, cleaning vaults, removing Nth and
doing work as wharfinge by the abolition
Of courts with elective judges, and the sub,
stitution of other courts with judges appoint
ed by Kellogg, in evasion OF the constitution
OF the state; by enactments furnishing Grim.
inally all persons who attempted to fill official
positions unless returned by the Returning
Board; by unlimited appropriations for the
payment OF militia expenses, and tor the pay
ment of legislative warrants, vouchers, and
checks issued during The years 1870 to 1879;
by laws declaring that no person in arrears
for taxes after default published, shall bring
any suit IN any court of the state or bt allow
ed to be witness in his own behalf; meas
ures which, when coupled with the extra0rdi.
nary burdens of taxation, have seemed TO vest,
in the language of Governor Kellogg's coun-
sci, "a degree of power in the Governor of a
state scarcely exercised by any sovereign in
the world With this conviction Is gener-
al want of confidence in the integrity of the
existing state and local officials, want O..
confidence equally in their persons and in
their personnel, which is accompanied by the
paralyzaton Of business and destruction Of
values. The most hopeful witness produced
by the Kellogg party, while he declared that
business was sounder than ever before,
because there was less credit, has since de-
cared that there was no prosperity. The Sc.
curlties have fallen from 70 or 80 to 20; OF
the city of New Orleans, from so or 80 to 30
or 40, while the fall in bank shares, railroad
shares, city and other corporate companies,
have in degree correspondent. Throughout
the rural districts of the state the negroes,
reared in the habits of reliance upon their
masters for support, and in community in
which the members are always ready to dl-
vide the necessities of life with each other,
not regarding such action as very evil, and
having immunity from punishment from the
nature of the local officials, hat come to nlch-
ing and stealing fruit, vegetables and poultry
so generally, as Bishop Wilmer stated with
out contradiction from any source, that the
raising of these articles had TO be entirely
abandoned, to the great distress OF the white
people. While, within the parishes, as well
as in New Orleans, the taxation had been car
ried almost literally to the extent OF coniisca-
ton, in New Orleans the assessors are paid a
commission on the amount appraised, and
houses and stores are to be had there for the
taxes. In Natchitoches parish the taxation
reached about eight per cant assessed value
on property. In many parishes all the white
republicans and all the cthce-holdcrS belong
TO a single family. There are five OF the
Greens in Office IN Lincoln parish, ana there
are seven of the Bouts in office in the parish
of Natchitoches. As the people saw taxation
increase and prosperity diminish as they grew
poor, while the oEcials grew rich, they be-
came naturally sore. mat 'hey lo'eu 'heip
rulers cannot be pretended.
THE WHITE LEAGUE.
In this connection We refer 10 the White
League mentioned in the message OF Tie Presi-
dent In the last campaign in Louisiana the
onnosition was composed of various clements
lomocrats. reformers, dissatisfied !, publ