The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-04-11
THE RULE OF THE CARPET-BAG-
GER.

and the Lord be praised for his exc
lus. Like blight he settled upon
The States of the South just as they
we're coming out of long and bloody |
war and for twelve years, like q YAM
oire has sucked the life blood of
those States, and has sucked the bar
der and held on the more tenaciously
as one by one his victims have sha-
ken him of. Like the Jackall that
follows the King of the Beasts he fol-
lowed the United States army for the
pickings and leavings, and having
once got foothold he has initiated
the lordly leech in the vigor of his
hold and the gallant rabbit in the
of his cry for protection
while he pulled and tagged at the
exhausted body polite of the South
ern States. The more he got the
more he wanted. Little cared ne
that the food with which he gorged
was the purple life blood of his unre
sisting captive, he revelled in the
thought that the fatter he got, the
poorer became his supporter, and on
the one hand he rejoiced at his in
creasing prosperity and the other
gloried in furnishing the victim for
the few groans and spasmodic kicks
and butts that it gave him in its
fruitless efforts to escape his clut-
ches. Without character or proper
ty to keep him at home, and with no
desire for an honorable reputation to
restrain him abroad, the carpet bag
ger gave full vent to all the cravings
of his ignoble soul, where he had
formed "fresh fields and pastures
new" and having captured the Negro
vote, he rode on it to political power
to satisfy his ambition and used his
power in filling his pocket to satisfy
his longing for wealth. With his
mouth full of lies, his heart full Of
hatred, his hand full Of schemes and
his pocket empty the carpet-baggel
migrated to the Southern States in
1865 and when the States were being
reconstructed in 1868 he had acquir
ed complete possession. They anc
the shrewdest of the negroes, mos
mulattoes, BARRIERS and such like, a
Kelso and Harry Lott, filled the Con
ventions and made the State Consti
buttons, overrun the Legislatures
took possession of all the Offices, lie
We'd taxes that amounted to contis
cation; erected huge monopolies tina
crippled industry; created partlsa
Courts that prostituted the law; IN
der the pretext of guarding, mad
laws that did away with the ballot
box; abolished lines and made Pal
ishes and Districts to perpetual
their power; voted themselves sals
, ries and perquisites that added to tn
) brides they openly accepted mad
them. rich; and in short, turned eve
rything upside down and held a rec
ular saturnalia of crime, robbery an
c knavery. Bills appropriatipg mi
lions of public money were double
and the excess divided among thos
( who voted for them. Under such
shameless rule, labor was disconten
> ed and unruly; agriculture languisl
= ed; commerce ,tood still; the Peep
lost all respect for law, and murdt
and riot ran wild over the country
property lost it's value, business il
profits, and enterprise all reward an
ruin and bankruptcy stare the PEI
. pie in the face. They made hero
J struggles for their freedom and graz
: ually the power behind the carpet-ba
throne, the army, relaxed its hol
and one by one the Southern Stat
have escaped from under carpet-b;
J., rule, and in every instance whe
II they have done SO peace and ord
y reign and happiness and conte
y characterize the people. The last
L the carpet baggers, the triumvirat
were Stearns, Chamberlain and Pac
# ard. Stearns and Chamberlain ha
Il ''gone where the Woodbine tWinetl
n and Packard is alone in his glory.
4 'The Last Rose of Summer Il
,e blooming Alone" and his dreams a
re haunted by that sceptre of withdra
It ing the troops that will herald L
is downfall. The proud distinction
J. his of being the 'last of the carp'
n baggers," and if no mightier pen W
J. undertake the task, it shall be on
S, to write the requiem that will e
G. balm him in the worlds history
l. companion to "Rienzi; The Last
the Tribunes." Like Moses of {