The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-03-09
rIIE rIlonLEn ro nE NOIyEp.

4
bear In mind the very simple yet oil I'm.
portant fact that, tho mere change 10
the political complexion OF the admin
igtrations of ruined or declining States
can do little more to rehabilitate theif
fortunes than change In the religions
of their people. The growth, prosperity
and epulenee OF nations depend upon
certain general and fundamental prinei'
plea. and their decay Ii the consequence
of the elimination Of those principles
from their legislation.
Mighty cities have arisen on the most
sterile localities, and rich and powerful
nations, occupying the richest valleys
of the earth, have literally passed away.
| Tho ruins OF Palmyra scattered over
the yellow sands of the Syrian desert.
and the desolate sites Of the great cities
which once occupied tho fertile banks
of the Euphrates. teach the same les
son. The same wise and just principles
of government peopled the valley and
the desert. and reared their marble pal.
aces; and when those principles. by
corruption and protiigaey, were de-
stroyed, the teeming poil Of Mesopo-
ta.nia was as inoapeb BILE OF maintaining
tho glory of Babylon as the arid sands
of Syria we're of perpetuating the
wealth and grandeur of Balbec.
Communities grow and flourish under
wise and liberal constitutions and laws
which protect all men and all classes OF
men alike; which, protecting every man
In his life and property, and In the
wages OF his toll, aecords exclusive
rights and privileges TO no favored sect.
class or ring. When this policy 10 aban-
doned. and capitalists or sharpers buy
up corrupt legislatures to establish mo.
nopolies and give to rings and corpora
tions valuable and exclusive rights,
which are the property OF oil citizens
alike. one OF tho most salutary princi-
pies of government 10 destroyed and the
seeds of commercial and Industrial de-
cay are sown In the body polite.
The wealth aud prosperity OF States
do not decline and perish because the
laws Of political economy upon which
their original power was based either
change or fall In their efficacy; fields
are not abandoned because the seasons
are reversed or because the earth loses It's
fairness; cities and towns do not decline
and rot because the staples OF CON-
merco have persisted. All these oalami-
ties fall upon q people only when the
true principles Of legislation and gov
ernment are supplanted by pernicious
practices which benefit and enrich the
few and tax and impoverish the many.
And when these vicious and ruin
Gus practices, or the vampire-like
institutions they create, are once
fixed In the government OF q State. the
election of mere honest men to the
Legislature will not remedy the evil, or
save the commonwealth. Such insti.
tutions, II permitted to survive the
corruption that created them, feed
upon and devour the substance OF the
people; and the ring men and monopo-
lists continue to grow rich and fat,
while oil the legitimate interests Of the
State continue to perish under the
blood sucking process, whether the
government be controlled by honest or
dishonest men. The evil; the crushing,
all.deyouring evil, Is in the monopolies
which secure exclusive privileges to
favored few. from which property and
industry must suffer. When these evils
are once fixed upon a community, q
Legislature of saints could not legislate,
under the system established. SO as to
relieve the State or save 1t from decay.
The establishment OF evils like these,
and their perpetuation, IL what ruins
and bankrupts communities. Hence,
II the Legislature of this State hopes
to restore the commerce and industry,
the values and the prosperity Radical
ism has destroyed, 1t must strike fear
lessly and vigorously at the root
Of the pernicious institutions and
Radicalism has fixed upon
this people. Mere honesty In legisla-
ton, If that legislation is not
directed to the destruction OF in
situations which are absorbing the sub
stance Of the people, will accomplish
little or nothing. The Legislature was
not elected by the people to legislate
under the system Of things created
by Warmoth and Kellogg, and which
has cost the State untold millions; 1t
was elected to utterly reform that sys-
tenn, to destroy all its monstrosities,
and organize a system under which
honest legislation could be made prac-
teal.
Much time and talk have been wasted
over the reduction Of salaries as mea-
sure Of retrenchment and reform. High
salaries is not the evil that afflicts the
State. There is scarcely, we venture
TO say, an officer or a clerk in the
State government, whose services are