The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-01-22
AN EXAMPLE OF RADICAL RULE.

Tn another column OF Uilc
the reader will find q clear and compre-
hepsive statement Of the condition OF
affairs In East Baton Rouge, and the
conditions upon which the people OF that
parish feel justified in guaranteeing a
restoration OF peace and good order
there. Perhaps the citizens OF no other
parish In this wretched State have been
more outraged and plundcred than
those of East Baton Rouge. The foul
mouthed organ Of the Radical party In
this city has devoted its energies to rep
~resenting these people and those OF the
Felicianas as murderers and house
burners. but It has been careful to re-
late none Of the outrages to which they
have been subjected by the party from
whose pestiferous womb It, like some
loathsome reptile, has crept to void Its
venom upon every decent thing, and
trail its slime before the public eye.
We are determined, however, that the
slanderous falsehooods which 1t is the
mission Of that sheet to disseminate In
relation to the people OF Louisiana,
shall not 60 uncontradicted; and that,
unwhipped, 1t shall not crawl and creep,
as heretofore, In our midst, to strike,
with it's malignant fangs, at the good
name of our fellow-citizens.
II there have been acts OF violence
perpetratcd in this State by its citizens,
it Is because they have been ruled by
robbers and denied the protection OF the
law. II there has been discomfort and
bitterness among us, it is because the vir-
tue, intelligence and property Of the
State have been subordinated to its
vicious, ignorant and communistic ele-
ments. and because the interests OF
communities have been misrepresented
in the government by their worst ele-
ments. This is emincntly true OF the
parish to which we devote SO much OF
our space this morning. We have in
another column shown what sort OF a
sheriff, parish Judge and tax collector
East Baton Rouge has. Now let us look
at the men who represent its people in
the Legislature.
The Senator from that district Is a
negro named J. Henri Burch. This in
dividual is not only a State Senator; he
is also treasurer and secretary of the
School Board of the parish, and his adj
ministration of these Offices has not
been more satisfactory to his constitu-
ency than his career as q Senator.
There are very few schools in the par
ish, and yet the school tax, amounting
to several thousand dollars annually,
has been regularly collected, and, the
public interested say, as regularly mis-
applied. Burch lisa carpet-bagger from
the East, we are told, and has no inter
est in East Baton Rouge. He Is vir.
tually q nonresident, and has not
been in the parish for a number
OF months. He has edited a violent
Radical paper in the town Of Baton
Rouge, which i'm 1874 contained an article
indirectly advising the negroes &c
poison the whites. 1t is generally be-
lieved that 1t was that article which
led to the organization Of negroes in
East Feliciana last year to poison oil
the prominent conservatives in the
parish, OF which organization DR.. Sands
was the first victim. So generally is
this opinion entertained that, we have il
from the best authority, Burch would
find 1t extremely unsafe to return to
Baton Rouge. Such is the Senator
representing East Baton Rouge in the
State Senate. The parish has
three representatives: G. w. Lane,
JOS. Z. Wilson and Ed. Trip.
lett. Lane Is a white carpet-bagger who
turned up In Baton Rouge just after the
war. He is q bar-room loafer, and has nc
reputable associates. He was at one
time a United States Commissioner, and
while discharging the functions Of that
office he frequently had parties arrested
and brought before him on fictitious
and frivolous charges for the purpose
Of Matchmaking them; and in this he
did a thriving business. Wilson and
Triplett, the other representatives from
the parish, are ignorant negroes, harm
less in themselves, but liable to be the
dupes Of corrupt men.
Such is the manner in which East
Baton Rouge is represented in the
Legislature. In another column the
character of its parish officials is given,
Is it strange that the people are dissat.
isfied? The condition of the parish is
just what it might be expected to be
under the circumstances. The Court.
house is literally rotting down no i'm.
provements have been made in the pub.
lie buildings. A road and bridge tax is
levied and collected from the tax payers,
and yet the merchants of Baton Rouge
have found it necessary to contribute to
a fund to repair the roads and construct
bridges to enable the country PEG.
pie to reach the town. An i'm.
mense parish debt has been Gre
ated, and yet the public have
nothing to show for it but decayinp
buildings, impossible roads, broken
bridges, and a condition Of anarchy.
These are some of the evils the reign OF
Radicalism has visited upon the people
OF a parish one prosperous, rich and
beautiful. The city OF Baton Rouge has
not escaped the hand Of the spoilers,
but Of that tomorrow.
Tho acconpI;cbad nd;+or opd pro.