The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1875-01-02
The People of Louisiana

tOKuOSDu VI OtestOo9 WVNAU SO sOessAAAy
understood. Louisiana, as practically ;
. foreign municipality, under the
guise Of . federal State, is political
anomaly few are prepared to cOmple-
bend. And yet it Is only in such a
light that she can be properly under
stood at all. "A foreign community,
such as predominates in Louisiana,
can, in no sense, save as exercising
the rights Of citizenship, be classed
as American. A foreign, and, to much
extent, sadly degenerate and mon
grel, population can not well make
an over-prosperous State. An element
Of such mixed Latin extraction is, at
best, mercurial, dictat0rial and rev0-
lutionary to the last degree. 1t brooks
little in the way sof. f.control. It is led
by its passions, as by its prejudices.
It is not amenable to the ordinary
dictates of reason. It is int0lerant of
the opinions Of others. 1t has little
respect for government, save as it
represents the strong arm OF power.
It can appreciate none other, save as
converting liberty into license. As
liberty Of old meant " liberty to wal
lop ones own nigger," SO liberty to-
day is liberty to run the ship OF State
to suit themselves. Practically there
is no such thing rs freedom Of opinion.
II one is to judge from Louisiana's
political history, there never has been
since her admissions as q State. In no
other part Of tie federal Union did
party feeling so completely override
s.Dy and all o.her interests as here.
Nowhere else, too, did it constantly
manifest itself in such bitter feuds
anu outbursts Of partisan strife.
As between the Old Line Wings and
the Democrats, it was literally war
to the knife, and the knife to the hilt.
The respective leaders had but to
crack the party whip, and all were
expected to fall into line, ready and
eager for the tray. There was no
such thing rs detection allowed in
the ranks. There was neither in
dependence Ut action nor freedom Of
opinion. All who were not for were
against.
Up to l642 the Wings seem to have
generally maintained = supremacy.
Previous to this time one must have
been y taxpayer, to y certain limited
extent, to be . voter. The Wings,
comprising, - they did, the wealthler
and more respectable classes, had o
consequent majority in the State. A
clause in the constitution Of 1912,
conterling suffrage Oh all citizens, ef-
tected u radical change. Letting in,
as it did, u perfect Lorde OF. the lower
classes of ioreiy extraction - the
can;lille, 50 to speak it turned the
political tide in favor of the Demo-
cracy. ...s...s ..s- :
Tie Wings, though losing control
Of the State, still maintained their
hold in the city. They did 50 by con
trolling, in the main, the French
Creole element. The Wings were
known Us practically the party ot
respectability. The Democrats, ON
the other hand, represented, in their
rank and file, the s. poor white trash =
Of the hills and canaille Of the city.
The leading or representative CreOles,
as of the essence Ut respectability,
affiliated with the Wings. This, car
rying with it the great bulk Of the
French Creoles, divided the foreign
element to all extent that gave the
Wings control Of the city. The lines
as drawn were rs rigid and unyield-
ing as one could well imagine. Party
prejudice. rather than reason, would
seem to have been the leading power
on either side. The masses were
literally whipped into the traces
through positive fear Of q party feel
ing such AS the people Of the NORTH
never even dreamed OF. The leaders
met and discussed the issues with
pistols at ten PAGES, or sabeis ut clos
er quarters. Their respective follow
ers fought it out, as became those Of
the lower orders, in scenes Of riot and
biOedshed such rs converted = cam
paign into veritable PandemOnium
1t was thus q duel Or 3 street fight, q
killing Or murder, according to TIT
station in life.
The killings and the murders thus
incident to an election not unfreq quent
ly formed All aggregate almost beyont
belief. They passed a. tue ordinary
Incidents necessary baptism o
blood, ~ it were, essential to tb'
proper conduct ut y campaign. No
were scenes OF organized violence ant
instructions by any means unknown
in the past. The street barricade
! and batteries OF artillery, as seen il
| the streets Of New Orleans in 1855
| and the terrible riots Of 1866, Tel
quite as bloody aud significant tai,
Ot "a popular uprising Of the people
as the somewhat similar manifesto
ti0n on the fourteenth Of Septembe
last. So, too, in the notorious = Carte
war" an open insurrection OF an arm
ed populace was saved from becom
! ing = bloody revolution only thfoug
the timely intervention OF I dera
bayonets.
The tide of popular prejudice
turned against the Repablieans .
q seemingly natural result Of the wa
has varied in intensity as In appllcs