The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-07-14

The Nation Betrayed.
In the North american Rspiec for July
Judge Jeremiah s. Black appears as the con
tributor of an article entitled "rhe Eleetora
Conspiracy which is by all odds the mos
complete, eloquent, and scathing exposur,
that has yet been made Of the fraud bylwhicl
Rutherford b. Hayes was ioisted into th,
Presidential chair We regret thatour spac,
will not permit usto reprintitin full, and tina
we must contine ourselves to the most striking
passages
After briefly adverting to the indignation
felt by honest men throughout the country q
the great outrage upon the rights Of the peO
pie, Judge Black proceeds to depict the con
dition of affairs in the State of Louisiana pre-
yious to the Presidential election. First, h'
describes the carpet. t.baggor:
The people would not have been wholly
crushed, either by the soldier or the negro, j
both had not been used to fasten upon then
the domination of another class of person,
whose rule was altogether uncomfortable
These we call carpet baggers, not because the
word is descriptive or euphonious, but be
cause they have no other name whereby they
are known among the children of men. They
were unprincipled adyenturers, who sought
their fortunes in the South by plundering the
disarmed and detenceless peOplei some oI
hem were the dregs OF the Federal army--thC
meanest Of the camp followers; many were
fugit;yes from Northern justice; the best oi
them were those who went down after the
peace, ready for any deed of shame that was
safe aud profitable These, combining with
"A few treacherous "scalawags' and some
leading negroes to serve as decoys for the
rest, and backed by the power of the general
Government, became the strongest body OF
thieves that ever pillaged people. Their
moral grade was far lower, and yet they were
much more powerful, than the robber bands
that infested Germany after the close of the
Thirty Years war. They swarmed over all
the States from the Potomac to the Gulf, and
settled in hordes, not with intent to remain
there, but merely to feed on the substance OF
u PROSTATE and deienceless people. They
took whatever came within their reach, in.
truded themselves into all private corpora
tons, assumed the functions of all offices, in.
Guiding the courts of Justice, and in many
places they even "run the churches - BY
force and fraud they either controlled all
elections or else prevented elections from be.
ing held. They returned sixty Of themselves
To one Congress, aud ten or twelve of the
most ignorant and venal among them were
at the same time thrust into the Senate. This
false representation of people By strangers
aud enemies who had not even bona iide
residence among them was the bitterest of all
mOckeries. There was no show of truth or
honor about it. The pretended representa-.
tive was always ready to vote for any measure
that would oppress and enslave his so-caled
constituents his hostility was unconcealed,
and he lost no opportunity to do them injury.
The agricultural and commercial wealth OF
Louisiana made her strong temptation to the
carpet. .baggers. Those vultures snuffed the
prey from afar; and, as soon as the war was
over, they sw0oped down upon her in hocks
that darkened the air. The State was deliy.
cred into their hands by the military authori.
ties; but the officers imposed some restraints
upon their lawless cupidity. They hailed
with delight the advent of negro suffrage, be.
cause to them it was merely a legalised meth
cd of stuiiing the ballot.boX, and they stuffed
1t. Theneeiorth, and down to a very recent
period, they gorged themselves without let or
hindranCe.
The depredations they committed were
frightful. They appropriated, on one pre-
tence and another, whatever they could lay
their hands on, and then pledged to them.
selves the credit of the State for uncounted
ht lhulC hNNuIlllts
down to half price, and still they put their
fraudulent bonds on the market and sold them
for what they would fetch. The owners of
the best real estate in town or country were
utterly impoverished because the burdens
upon it were heavier than the rents would dis.
charge. During the last ten years the city of
New Orleans paid in the form of direct taxes
more than the estimated value of all the prop.
eriy within her limits, and still has q debt of
equal amount unpaid. 1t is not likely that
other parts Of the State suffered less. The
extent Of their spoliations can hardly be cal.
culated, but the testimony of the carpet bag.
gers themselves against one another, the re
ports Of committees sent by Congress to in.
vestgate the subject, and other information
from sources entirely authentic, make it safe
to say that a general contlagratiOn, sweeping
over all the State from one end to the other,
and destroying every building and every arti.
Gle OF personal property, would have been
visitation OF mercy in comparison to the curse
of such Government
This may seem at first blush like gross ex.
aggeraton, because it is worse than anything
that misrule ever did before. The greediest
of Roman proconsuls left something to the
provinces they wasted; the Norman did not
strip the Saxon quite to the skin; the Puri.
tans under Cromwell did not utterly desolate
Ireland. TheirrApacity was confined TO the
visible things which they could presently han.
die and use. They could not take what did
not exist. But the American Garnet Dagger
has an invention unknown to those old.tash.
ioned robbers, which increases his stealing
power as much as the steam engine adds To
the mechanical force of more natural muscles.
He makes negotiable bonds of the State, signs
and seals them according to the forms of
law" sells them, converts the proceeds to his
own use, and then defes justice ito 90 behind
the returns" BY this device his felonious
fingers are made long enough to reach into
the pockets Of posterity; he lays his lien on
property yet unereated; he anticipates the
labor OF coming ages and appropriates the
fruits Of it in advances he coins the industry
OF future generations into cash, and snatches
the Inheritance from children whose fathers
are unborn. Projecting his cheat forward by
this contrivanee and operating laterally at
the same time, he gathers an amount of plun.
der which no country in the world would have
yielded to the Goth or the Vandal.
Security OF life can never be counted on
where property Is not protected When the
public authorities wink upon theft the people
are driven by stress Of sheer necessity 10 De.
fend themselves the best way they can, and
that defence is apt to be aggressiyely violent.
Justice, iniuriated by popular passion, often
comes to its victims in fearful shape. Dis
orders, therefore, there must have been, and
bloodshed and violence, aud loss of life,
though they are not enumerated or clearly
described in the reports. IL is known that
bands Of regulators traversed many parts
OF the State, and the fact is established that
seven of the storehouses used as places of re.
ceiying stolen goods were burnt TO the ground
in one night. The officers Of the Garnet bag
government cared for none Of these things y
They saw the struggle between larceny and
Lynch law with MS much Indifference as Gallo
looked upon the controversy between the
Jewish synagogue and the Christian church
at Ephesus. This horrible condition OF SO.
ciety was caused solely by the want of an
honest government. .F
But this is not nearly the worst of il, If car
pet.baggers themselves and their special
friends are worthy of any credence al all.
They testify to numerous other murders, wan
ton, unprovoked, and atrocious, committed
with impunity under the very eyes oftheir Gov.
ernment. Gen. Sheridan says he collected n
list Of 1000 assassinations perpetrated within
three years Senator Sherman and his asso.
clates ofthe visiting committee swell this NUN
Der greatly, and add that "half the State was
overrun with Violence No effort was made
tn ranress thaha dtsard,.s -. ....... -. - =