The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1877-07-21
A PLAGRANT MISREPRESENTATION.

I L
A communication as full of venom
as an egg is of meat, appeared in the
first number of the Triune Democrat,
the burden of which is bitter attack
upon the CHIEF, based on the writer's
perversion and misconstruction OF
the following paragraph which was
published in our local columns just
prior to the late term of District
| Court
We hear of a disposition among the
majority of our local attorneys to have trlal
| of all except the most pressing lcly1lI cases
| deferred until next term, by which time
| they entertain hopes of having a Judge upon
the bench more cOngenial to their personal
and political tastes. For a similar reason,
an attempt will probably be made to quash
the jury panel and thus prevent the trial OF
criminal cases as well.
The personal opinions and criticism
of the noneless correspondent are to
us MI r of profound indifference,
and we only refer to his production
editorially because he has sought to
place us in the position of casting
slur upon a class Of gentlemen for
whom we entertain the greatest re-
spect. and whose characters for pro-
fessional uprightness and propriety
the CHEF has never sought to ques-
ton in the most remote degree. The
paragraph quoted above was based
upon common report, which was re-
ferred to by the Vigitant as well as
ourselves, and we do not believe that
it gave offense to any member of the
bar, or that any one of them under
stood the CHIEF to insinuate that
they desired Judge upon the bench
whom they could approach OF control
improperly through his political SYM
pathies. Most men have political as
well as personal tastes, while III many
instances the two are so closely
allied as to be almost inseparable
hence, if it would be Il pleasure to
have social and professional inter
course with one suited to personal
tastes, the pleasure would in most
cases. be naturally enhanced if the
affinity also extended to matters of
political opinion, which are given
such great weight i'll these days of
exciting ana bitter political contests.
And so far as the position of Judge
is concerned, if he be man of honor
and capacity, it can make no mater
ial difference in the administration
of law whether the occupant Of the
bench be Il Democrat or Republican,
native of other ATTITUDES or one to
the manor born.
The CHIEF does not and has not
presumed to decide the merits of the
contest for the District Judgeship,
and declines a controversy with its
anonymous adversary on this point,
preferring to await the decision of
the Supreme Court in a matter in
volving points Of law which we con-
fess our total incapacity to pass upon.
If we have occasionally c0mplimented
the present District Judge, it was
because we thought the encomium
was not unmerited, and we have said
scarcely more in this respect than
members of the district bar
. whose political opinions are not in
harmony with those of the Judge,
and some of whom are among those
,, who question his official title.
We do not think it necessary to
notice seriously the correspondents
; revival of the ancient fiction that
= I" the CHIEF has slandered and Will
fed the white people, This can
never be proved from our record. We
have denounced political assassinS
and bulldozers without stint, and we
have exercised freely the prerogative
accorded to citizens and newspapers
in every part of the country, of criti-
. cising the measures, leaders and ten
denotes of the opposite party but
this criticism, we contend, has al
ways been within proper bounds, and
l. i 4
SANDER or vilifcation, nor approx
: mated the hafshness with which ouI
own party and it's leaders were as
J sailed by the opposition.
e The correspondents closing threat
n which is, constructiyely, threat O
-, assassination-base as it is upor
u false assumptions concerning the
e course of the editor of the @CHIEF
e may or may not be worthy of consid.