The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-05-11
Communicated
COLLECTOR JOHN H. KING.

EJ;tor Den,Ocrdt-My knowledge oil
yonr strong sense Of justice and mag
IIonimity prompts me to address THIS
Communication to your spirited ana
yoluable paper. with which l am In &C
cord in general politics.
The object of the communication Is to
exnress the dissent OF an old ana I'M
VARYING Democrat from the tenor OF your
remarks upon Judge John II. King, the
lately appointed Collector or TINS port.
anneal to you against the preJudg-
merit OF Judge King which you have
reoorded In advance Of any acts Of his
and. as think. in contradiction to the
whole course of his previous life. l
have known Judge King from boyhood,
at least forty years, and have no hest
tation in saving that I have never
known a more high toned gentleman.
Though subjected to the severest cr1tl-
cism and tests OF all public men. have
never heard whisper Of charge
directly or indirectly impugning his
integrity. He is gentleman In every
respect; was born and bred one 2n Inc ne
only sin charged against him ls that ne
has been and Is friend of Thomas U.
Anderson. I am as far as you are from
indorsing or condoning the ofienses OF
Gen. Anderson. But as l understand
the facts he has been q strong personal
friend of Judge King under circum-
stances which would have made 1t base
and highly culpable in the latter to for
get him, or to regard him with other
feelings than those OF esteem and graft
tude. If Mr.. Kings appointment was
effected through the influence OF Gen.
Anderson, and il the appointee is the
all that can be fairly and justly said OF
Mr.. Anderson's connection with 1t is
that he has done one good deed to set off
the great wrongs he has inflicted upon
our State and people.
With no disposition to underrate the
extent and gravity Of Anderson's mis-
deeds. am willing, as a Christian, a
Democrat and a just man, to pass to his
credit any agency he may have had in
effecting the appointment Of SO worthy
q son Of Louisiana as John =. King. To
satisfy you on this score, beg to re-
mind you Of the leading facts In Judge
Of st. Landry, and has lived there to the
age Of fifty-six. He Is the grandson Of
Judge George King, who was the first
parish judge appointed under the Con-
stitution Of 1912, and lived in that
parish and served in that office up to
the day of his death. The uncle of
Judge John E. King was Judge John
II. King, who was appointed to the Su-
preme Bench of Louisiana by that
staunch Democrat, Gov. Isaac Johnson.
Another uncle was our estimable and
venerable fellow citizen, one of the pill
lars OF the Democracy Of this State,
Judge John FL. Overton, q veteran of
the late war and one of the few surviv-
ing soldiers of Jackson's army in his
Florida campaign in 1917.
From this brief sketch you will per-
ceive that few men in Louisiana have a
higher lineage or more unblemished
pedigree than Judge John e. King.
The public and private life of Judge
King has maintained the high repute
and honor of his descent and name.
As member Of our Legislature twenty
five years ago, as Speaker of the
House Of Representatives, as chief Of
one of the two great political par
ties into which our people were
divided, as a Judge Of the District
Court Of st. Landry, as member of
Congress, as a lawyer, regarded as one
Of the ablest in western Louisiana, and
above all in all his social relations, he
has established reputation as an hon
est man, a gentleman, scholar and a
trustworthy public servant, which. I
think, ought to protect him against all
suspicious or prejudgments as to his
fitness and capacity to discharge the
duties Of the collector Of this port in
such q manner as to satisfy the just de-
mands and expectations OF all good and
true Louisianians.
A MARYLANDER.
New ORLEANS, May 9, 1877.