The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-10-16
REGISTER

Our country exchanges are oil upbraidng
their people for their hardness and neglect In
registering and thus qualifying themselves
for the exercise Of their citizenship.
It is very uphill work for us, at this late
day and when the fate Of Louisiana is at the
touch, to be urging upon the people the duty
Of merely placing themselves In O condition
to give practical effect to the opinions they
profess and to the maintenance of which they
attach the utmost Importance. Under the
circumstances it appears to US very much
like urging q man to come in out of the rain,
or one who is drowning to catch at plank
thrown to him.
We might as well have o little plain talk
with our country friends. There is no use In
concealment, and g great deal Of harm may
come from it. We shall therefore be perfectly
candid. The vote Of New Orleans has always
constituted an immense proportion Of the
Democratic vote of the State. In every cal
culation Of the result Of an election New Or
leans Is looked to to furnish the Democratic
majority. The State, outside Of the city, has
heretofore been about equally divided, and
from this city has come the solid reliable
vote that determined the result The country
vote fuctuates-that Of New Orleans never
does. This year, however, the conditions are
changed. New Orleans will gives Democratic
majority, but it will not be such one as she
usually gives.
It Is but necessary to suggest the causes of
this abnormal condition Of affairs. This city
has been visited by o terrible calamity. At
| least one element Of its people, the people Of
| means, In fact almost all who were able to get
away-and these are the people upon whom
tho party has always relied-are absent, scat
tered all over the world, from the Paris Ex-
hibition to the lakes Of the far West, and num-
bers Of them afraid to acknowledge their place
Of residence lest they be deprived Of
food and shelter There Is but small hope Of
the return Of the vast majority Of these refu-
gees before the closing Of the registration
offices or In time to vote. Indeed, 1t can be
positively asserted that the number Of these
involuntary exiles who will return In time to
register and vote will be so small as to exer-
else no material influence on the city vote.
The epidemic Is still raging, and it's peculiar
| ity may be cOmprehensively stated by saying
that 1t has overturned and invalidhted
every theory in regard to the yellow fever
that has been based on the experiences of
previous epidemics. Especially has it de-
stroyed the theory Of periodicity which was
accounted law. We are now In the ninety
first day of the epifemic, and our mortuary
list has merely declined upon the second
scale below its highest point. Until two days
ago 1t had ragged to the utmost limit of the
first scale Of decadence. Those Of our people
who are away are not coming back here under
these circumstances. They cannot be ex-
pected to return for month or more yet,
under the most favorable conditions.
This statement Is all that Is necessary to
present to the people of the country parishes
the unusual responsibility that Is placed
upon them. They must REGISTER and VOTE
The State is more than ever before confided
to their keeping. Let them not In any in
stance be discouraged by the local Radical
maiorities. A vote for the State ticket is q
vote, and it should be cast invariably. Our
st. Mary exchange, for example, says there
Is virtually no Democratic canvass In that
parish. This will not do the Democrats Of
that parish are under no less obligation to
vote than those Of New Orleans. They must
turn out and register, and qualify them
selves for the exercise Of the highest function
OF citizenship, and they must exercise this
function. New Orleans will do her duty, but
the country parishes must also do theirs.