The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1876-09-23
THE PLATFORM.

The Democratic Conservative party Of
! the narish Of Natchitochrs, in Convrn.
tion assembled, pronounce the following
to ,u the issues in this campaign. to IT,"
fnlijllmcnt Of which NC pledge our people
| if called tn power.
list. The election to. and qualification
in office, Of capable, competent and hon
est citizens, theron ghly identified with
the material interests Of onr parish.
al. 4 reduction Of the expenses of the
parish to less than NMe-haif of its present
Parish taxes: and to that end We demand
tlc reduction Of fees and salaries Of o.
t;c.rs to the standard uf Il fair rcmuncra-
ton.
3d. A maintenance and fostering Of Il
rigorous PUBLIC SCHOOL system for
the benefit and education Of all he chill
drcn Of the parish. both white and black.
18th. The full recognition Of the rights
of all men, without regard to race. color
or previous condition, before the law.
9Th The enactment and enforcement
of wise cod. Of laws, TO protect all Ia.
boring men in their rights, and ut the
same time to protect and encourage the
capital invested in our parish.
9th. We pledge ourselves that not one
dol ar Of taxes shall br levied to pay
past obligations Of oUr parish, for the
reason that the law requires that prOvia
sion to pay, and appropriation for tx.
pc,ses. shall go hand in hand.
Such cgal ard just claims as are due
by the parish, shall l~ paid from the col.
lection Of taxes that are already levied
in accordance with law, and due Md
collcctibIe.
All monies issuel in excess Of appO
pri:ItiOus, and for fraudulent purposes,
We condemn ~ null and void, aud We
demand Of our elected officials their r.
pu,,iation in toto; aud We further pledge
ourselves, that legal steps shall bc taken
to recover to the parish Treasury all
ilaud,l claims Of whatsoever charac.
ter, which have been paid by Radical or
other officials to any person Or persons
whatsoever.
We arrai:n the Radical Republican
leaders If this parish, and in,lict them
at the bar Of public opinion on tie fol.
lowing counts
LIST. For the election and elevation TO
official position in our parish, in almost
every instance, Of men totally disquali-
tied by reason Of their ignorance, Or
known corruption.
al. We charge them with having dis
gr,cet the bench If our Judicial District.
hy the elevation thereto Of Il man who
was, and is u slH,culatOr in the funds Of
the State and lNsrish-the mover and I'M
stigat"r Of j"blery anl rings, for the
plumber Of the Treasury, anil the impov
erisl,mcNt of the people, ~ witness the
''inap contract;;' the ''bri,lye contract;'
the ''paupcr list ring and the 'inmigra.
ton bureau scheme" -
We charge them with degrading our
parish Judicial bench by foistinx upon
the people Parish Judges ignorant Of
law, devoid Of personal character, vcnal
and corrupt one Of whom public opin-
ion and ~ outraged community forced
from the bench for incompetency. and
his known utilization aud connection
with rings aud jobbcrs, and another
stands inflicted before the Courts by d
competent Grand Jury, for cmbezzle
mnent.
! W. charge them with appointing and
confirming to position, Tax Collector
who, with a venal, incompetent and vii.
lannon's Police Jury. also Of their party,
pluu,lered the people and the Treasury
Of untold acknowledgement hims II
in the settlement Of his accounts-heap
I'd ulOn nv taxation ut the ratio Ut eight
yer cent, and left us debt 10 pay equal
in amount to one-ninth Of the total val
nc Of property in the parish.
We charge them with the pluntlerinl
ut tue School Treasury, through theil
Judge, senator. and Representatives, o.
thousands If dollars. thereby dcprivinq
our children. aud thoss Vt onr cOlor..
fellow citizens ot the benefit III ~daca
ton, a crime that an outraged cOlninuii
ty cannot too severely condemn or pan
ish.
We lenonncc them for having given Il,
Magistrates whose duty it was to pro
. tcct the citizen, suppress crime aud Win
/. dictate the law, hut who have been in
,lictul or conyincse.l for murder, theft, o,
pnrjury.
The Republican party Of the parish o.
Natchi..rhes. composed OF the most *
uoraut. dehascd and corrupt body Of mel
known to our State or the South, have
,y o systematic plnn,lcring rule, reduced
the valuation Of real and personal pro
perty in nine years-four million ali
thirteen Thousand dollars levied ant
collected from a ,~ople impoverished BY
war and overflow, three hundred ant
twenty-three Thousand two hundred ant
uinety.tlrce dollars and six cents, or on,
, thirl Of the entire present valuation o
, property, both real and personal, in taxc
since lSG7-have HI aped upon NJ in tina
d time u debt IF over one hundred thOh
, sand dollars have arrayetl the colOre,
race against the whites-have plunge,
troops into onr midst, arrested and con
{ fines! innocent citizens without warran
\ of law.
We charge the Republican party q
being responsible for all the crime com
mittetl in our parish, hy reason Of tn
insufficiency, incompctcncy anil vena'it..
n ri their officials, and We denounce thei
government Of the parish, and State u
j. cor, upt and infamous, and not deserv
n ing the support and confidence of sin
gle virtuW,s man in our community.
We discountenance oil disturbances q
!, the peace Of the parish, and denounc
J" all instigators thereof.
D We demand, and will enforce Rcgistrs
|. ton, a fair election aud fair connt-an
to that end will hold personally respof
9 siblc to the people Of our parish, tlloA
n who control the election and rcgistr'
ton machinery.
Our object is reform, retrenchmcMt an
. relief; that by honesty and economy, v
, may reduce taxation-and tighten til
!, burlens Of the ptoplc, and to that en-
,. We call upon all patriotic sons Of N Itch
; tocl'cs, without regard to race, color, {
's previous condition, to Join us.