The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1876-10-04
The Radical Merli.g.

tas' VAS caileu I" ORDER hy V. w. P0r-
ten President. Present, A. B. Le,ise+,
G G. Antoine, Geo. l.. Smith of the.
big guns and John B. Kennel, of the.
pop guns. There was II delay of an
hour in waiting for hat crowd of 1000
to come t" taw, but that crowd never
did come. We are snr- that at no time
was there more than $50 c"l"rcd voters
present at the meeting. There wete
fully as many more in Gown all day
who never went near them. The wait
ing interval was consumed BY short
narangues from the squirt gun brigade,
such as w. S. Kelso, Caesar Morgan
and an told Virginia neguo," a veteran
of Jacks0n's War.
At intervals Vic would clap his
hands and try to get mp cheer, but
the feeble response disgusted him and
he told them he was sorry to see 81,
little enthusiasm. One Of the Incl
dents of the day was the parade of the
Lamou,ie Clnb, which by actual count
was composed of SO h"rsemen, many OF
whom We're mere boys who will not be
voters al the next Presidential election
If this is the best the President of the
Returning Board can do iu hi. "w,
ward, it does not speak we'll for the
prospects of that 500 majority the Ga
zrtte promises from them.
1t may he of Importance to us here
after to remember that Antoine. Levi
see and Smith all bnre testimony tn
the perfect quiet and order that is now
prevailing in this Congressional Dis
trict, AMI the perfect freedom of speech
which had been accorded them wher-
ever they had been. This is testimony
from their own side to contradict the
bloody shirt lies that are heing told in
the Nnrti, of the condition of this and
other Southern States
At last the meeting settled down to
business and Vic. Porter introduced his
"hosnm friend" C. c. Antoine, the ne
gro Lieutenant Governor Ivy grace of
radical rule in Louisiana. Then step.
ped to the front a small black, neatly
dressed negro, seen for the frat time,
probably by lar.e majority of those
present. He was prescribing to make
, u very conservative speech, which
would have done much good to our
side, and been nor very satisfactory to
the bloody shirt-itts when he was dis
"lhed 10y a row ou the platform, rails
ed by II nrgr" radical pnlitiri ~ named
Yonng He was sumarily elected from,
the stand, but for long time kept mp
IL owl that Silenced the Lieut.. Cover
nor, and 81 interrupted the chain of his
thoughts that he soon gave it up. He
told them that Gov. TiIden had been
the Attorney Of the Tammany and
Rail Road Rings aud that he only com
mrnrcd to be IL r.fnrmer when lie Sill "
thai those ,lhgs were to he broken ~,
and that he went with the tide to save
himself. He also told the negroes, and
they cheere.l the assertion, that they
,rally paid all the taxes, rs the plan
ters and mer. lants a,ile,l them TO the
rent and costs vt supplies. He wound
mp 10y hoping that they would get 1900
majority in this parish.
Alter Antoine came Judge A. B. c
LeviSre of Shreveport. HissReerh was
to" long for any extend.ra' report at
our hands. He started ont by trying
to impress the negroes with due
sense OF the responsibilities anh duties
attached t" he right of suffrage hut
he was in too deep water for his hear
ers to follow him. He then brunchetl
out in an attempt to show that As u1
the public debt of Louisiana was Of
democratic origin. He asserted that
the public debt iD 1868 was s II 300, O0G
and that at the Close of Warmnth's ad
minis'raIion it was $25.0O0,OOO, and
that If this the Democratic LrgisIa
lures If 1865 g. ~ had made Sl3. l67,
600 and to prove this latter assertion,
he quoted all the appropriations made
by those Legislatures ard charged then,
with the whole atn"nnt, without audit
ing them with taxes received nr money
paid on those appropriations. He
probably forgot the report of the COM
mi'tee appointed to ascertain the
amount of the public debt, when he as.
serted that it had never been over
$25. QUO 900; far that committee r. port.
ed that it was $42.j0O. 900. He claim
ed great credit for KelI"gg's having re
dured the debt tn $4,000. 900; bu,
probably forgot again to tell his audi.
tors tlat "sraling" as lie called it was
Reputation, aud that reputation is
dishonesty. His claim that the Repub-
llcan party is "a party of reform, was
IA amusing as it was andacions. HI
said that the constitutional amend
ments limiting the debt had been pass.
ed by the Republican party in opposi.
ton to the Democratic party This
was not true in fact for many demo
Gratis voted for the amendments ant
the only opposition to them were that