The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-04-04
PRESIDENTS.

The situation in Louisiana to-day
differs in no important particular
from the Baxter Brooks contest in
Arkansas, and the Coke-Davis con-
test in Texas in 1874, and if Mr..
Hayes is looking for presidents to
support Southern policy" he will
End them in the action of President
Grant in those two cases. We ask
now no more than the people Of
those States asked then and had
granted to them-"hands off," IAN
open field and fair fight" 1t will
be remembered that in Arkansas
there was great danger of a real, live
civil war, for Brooks was supported
to some extent, and that Little Rock
was filed with the armed forces of
the rival claimants and that there
was an actual conflict in which men
we're killed Oh both sides, and that
all law and order in the State was at
an end, and chaos reigned supreme
for weeks. During all this time
Brooks, the radical claimant, was
making frantic appeals to President
Grant for aid which was refused.
Just at this time the President had
adopted Southern policy" of his
own, and to his credit be it said, he
mad the manhood to carry out that
or any other policy after he had
adopted it.
About the same time the people of
Texas held an election and elected
Richard Coke, Governor. The de-
feated radical candidate - Davis re-
fused to give up, got together an
armed body of supporters and forti
sed the State House at Austin. The
whole State was in an uproar and a
conflict was imminent. Both sides
were at the same time in armed oc-
cupancy of different portions of the
capital building, the sentinel Of one
side was placed at the top and Of the
other at the bottom of the steps, and
the spiked cannon is now in front OF
the building that was to inaugurate
civil war in Texas. Davis was also
during the whole Of this time impor-
tuning President Grant for troops to
support him and his government.
AS in the Arkansas case they were
refused and both radical State Gov.
ernments went down. AS the result
Of President Grants Southern policy
in those two States, the one is the
most prosperous State in the Union
to day, and the other is second to
none Of the others. Peace and order
are rigidly enforced, the rights Of
all classes are closely guarded, and
happiness and content have taken the
place Of strife and discord. So it
will be seen that the proposed
Southern policy" of Hayes is no
new thing, and that while Grant may
not have obtained a patent for the
invention he is even now entitled to
file his caveat. Grant was man
enough to carry out his policy, and
when after that he had to deal with
the Revolution in Louisiana of the
l4th of September, 1874, he did not
dilly-dally about that, but promptly
put down the McEnery Government
Which had followed the Arkansas
and Texas precedents, whatever may
have been his reasons for his change
ofpolicy.
Now all we ask Of Mr.. Hayes is to
keep of his "boys in blue" and let us
settle our little family difficulty with
the pretender Packard in our own
way. We don't care q fig for the
soldiers in New Orleans, and the two
war ships in the river if he will tell
them to mind their own business and
not interfere in any event. We pro-
pose this compromise to him and his
Commission. Let them say that
they will be umpires, and allow US
three days to settle the dispute. II
at the end of that time twenty. five
men have been killed, and if there is
a vestige of the Packard government
left in the State, the White Leaguers
and Bull-dozers so called will en-
list in the Packard militia, and
pledge their "lives, their fortunes
and their sacred honor" to maintain
his authority against all corners.
The Washington correspondent
of the Baltimore Sun says that ex-
President Grant, in late converse.
ton, remarked that eff he had not
kept troops in South Carolina, Flori.
da and Louisiana the Democrats
would have had no trouble in secur.
FHNt