The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-04-15
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
The Story Of u Carpet Bagger.
John Patt ersop, Senator, so-Called, from
South Carolina.
A Brief Chronicle Of his Theft, Lies, Per-
jury and ,diecy.
A Specimen Carpet-lag Statesman.

WASHINGTON, April Ia, 1877.
After all the woes OF South Carolina, and at the
close Of her long season Of horrors, there was au
element Of the ludicrous Injected into the 6nal
chapter Of her dtlveranee. which cannot be SUI
fered to 20 unremarked without as Burke used
to say, "eepsing some part, Of the gsysty OF
nations" refer TO the antics OF that peculiar
individual,
JOHN PATTERSON,
who, as II the institutions Of ssrpet-bsggefy re-
unired finishing touch Of dsrerute to make 10
the most utterly hateful abortion Of dsformity |
| that ever dragged out miserable existence upon |
the face of The eartb Is known as "senator,'
and credited TO South Carolina
| It IL mol my present purpose 10 speak hsrshly |
OF John. To speak harshly OF him at this time
would be TO waste kicks upon the carcass OF
| dead dog with no other result than TO infect the
surrounding atmosphere with bad odors, which
may be avoided by simply leaving the aforesaid
carcass to dsoompose In peace. The current
suppo sition respecting John is, that he Ia simply
vile In every impulse Of his nature snd simply
vicious in every bre OF his being. But this esti-
mate is one. sided. His character presents some
variety of traits and is therefore not altogether
uninterestlng.
His career to the merely casual observer uns
doubtedly presents the aspect Of low. dull
monot ny OF perfectly level baseness; but the
close observer soon sseertains that this seeming
monotony Of baseness Ia diversified by coca .ional
chasms Of idiooy which, while they may not des-
poll The landscape OF its general hidsousness. at
least relieve its sameness. Thus the goodna-
tured observer of Johns career is kept perpetu-
ally in doubt as TO whether his acts should be
rated crimes and aseribed TO depravity oil soul.
or errors, and charged mp TO feebleness Of mind;
and while there may be no doubt rs to the advisa-
bity Of his Immediate incarceration, there is
most perplexng question as to whether his place
Of confinement ought in justice TO be peniten-
tiary or. In mercy and charity, ali asylum Tor
idiots.
1t should be rems.ked, however, that while
Johns viciousnsss OF soul has been clearly appa-
rent these many years, his feebleness Of mind has
been srikingly developed only OF late. You see,
10 does not require powerful mind for ths ope-
ration Of picking pocket 80 long az the victim
is securely held down by able.boaisd pals Of the
thief. Thus, while Grant, or those who operated
in his name held South Carolina pinned to the
ear h, John was enabled to pick her pockets With
out be.rayng any feebleness OF intellect. " WAS
I an avooa,ion requiring. under the circumstances.
.
I was required, in fact. but mere greed and sim
, pie yscuity OF morals, with both OF which John is
endowed TO The extent Of genius. However, any
!. trained monkey, or, perhaps, an educated hog,
could have performed the operation with the
came success under the same circumstances.
But the general public. looking on from dis
: tanoe, and intent only upon the manipulstioDs Of
the pckpoeket, lost sight Of the military CARROT
tI.l .t..n ,,fNI ttEHn tn t1s
success Of the operation, imagined that John
was doing an artistic job Of light-fngered work.
n and straightway dignified him with the reputa'
9 ton of great, bold and sklful thief.
Il Now the institution OF osrpst-baggery has. in-
3 deed, furnished forth some specimens OF the
genus thief. Running over the list-oo long to
recapituate we discover many names deserv-
ipg OF real eminenoe "a thieves mostly sneak.
thieves IL is true. but still eminent "a to their
h kind But Patterson 10 not one Of tbem. He
!. lack, even that low order Of intellectual develop
8 ment requisite 10 greatness in the science oi
j theft and he could never have obtained the rep
y utation he has but for tho peculiar circumstances
y which have aided him. and which would have ena
bled even an idiot or dumb brute TO steal as much
/ ~ he has, and with little effort Of mind OF
v body. As to tho other phases of Johns reputa-
l. tion-for example.
hts REPUTATION As LIAR,
they rest upon au equally precarious basis. His
lies are, like his larcenier, bunglng and mala
S drot, and usually betray the inunty Of the mind
: that promulgated them much more stiikingly
= than turpitude Of the soul that gave them birth
:, He puts himself paper one day and then CALI
himself liar the next by way of recantation
" with sang troid thai is too amusing TO admit o
s the disgust usual excited by such performances
s' HIS EARLIER EXPLOITS AS FoRGEn AND PEHJuREr
were characterized by the same crudeness. Or
one occasion, in . civil suit where Aleck Mcclure
J. was his attorney, John won the case and got I
., verdict by perjury and the subornation thereof
y y Then when the clerk Of the court WAS making NJ
10 the Judgment John was so elated with the resul
d that he couldn't keep to himself the baseness b.
which Il had been brought about. To his feebl
mind the winning OF that suit by perjury ant
OF subornation Of the same was something TO boas
Of and 80 he boasted Of IL to Mcclure, his attor
ea ea ney The latter heard him through and thel
ID told him he must go to the judge, ask permission
= to waive Judgment and offer to settle or comprc
mise the case without reference to the verdict @
n. the jury.
I'd John demurred to this advice.
It's "Well them" said Mcclure. "you id scoun
Y drel. If you will not do that will go into ope
i'll court as your attorney, waive judsment myself
and state the methods by which you obtained
verdict in your favor; and then, having washe
my hands Of your Gaze, will present sou 10 th
ne Grand Juryi'
rn This threat brought John to his senses and b
r. r. obeyed McCIure's command. Now then, when
be ia further stated that it one Of his own rela
bt tives whom John thus sought to defrs nd throug
al perjury, and the success OF which operation
deemed matter for exultation, sou can forl
some idea of the quaint combination Of Will ain
O In, of a char