Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1878-07-20
For the R'rllani Beacon.
Mr.. J. Il. HOl,tead and the Con-
stitutiOnal Convention
Movement.


rirrr does no, rccoil from tie dug Of meet
ing Nj HoIstead, upon the grounds which
he has chosen, without however, accepting
the attitude Of defending a negative POSITION.
The gentleman must see that convention men
occupy 'he affirmative. We assert that there
is actual necessity for a Constitutional Cons
ven'ion, they, on the contrary, deny the
practicabli,y of such a movement. A
logicium Of Mr.. Hol-tead's aLiiry should have
been more careful of perpetuatng his, Others
wise wcll-earned reputation for fair diecGs-
sion and scholarship. The insinuaiions Of
the gentleman, piiloring the writer as an
eeot;-,. yciep,ing him as '>olamon, ''mizpah,'
'a>,ure writer shpr, and sweet
man; and A. &. Coopc-, Of the
"Hermi,age,7 may we'll be al
lowed to PASS as the ruling wi,cisms OF
politician in his swadding bands. Such dis
cussion arrives at no :rne position. 1t may
serve tie purpose where arguments founded
upon facts are not 10 be obtained. 1t may be
tie adTOt anblln9S oil Il molhtr partridge,
leading the unsu,pectihg hoy away from her
young, hence, the writer prefers not 10 indulge
ia any such "cutilo-fsh' manHuveis. Tie
editor Of the Sentinel mentions HAT ''COloue.
Cooper has handled Mr.. Hosleais letter,
published in the Sentinel some time since,
rather rou-hly." Ii Is not my design, nor
ia, it been, to hurt Mr. fioI>leai 5 feelings
personally So tar from thu, that If | have
uniuteuiioualiy done 81, Mr. HOisIead has rIy
dsapprubajOn of all such expressions con-
tanned therein. Truth Is not advanced nor
established by any spch weapons. l even
regret that the spirit at my comment upon
Mr.. Holsteads, Farmer letter, should elicit
from my political friend, the editor at the
Sentinel, tine reflection of rough. l am
compe;led, therefore, not bel n2 d rough, 10
watch my zeal with more care. We can not
now recall anything SAID which entities Mr.
Holsiead TO the affirmation ''Inat Mir. Cooper
assumes that tie advocates OF the convention
hold the negative Of the question: And I'M
I'll Mr.. Hostead points them cut We shall
accuse the effort an adroit attempt 10 shin
positions, so as to use the occasion To censuIe
the convention men as distnrbers oi parry
harmony. As before remarked, without as
Stunning Tie attitude WHICH tilt 5tHiISlidh mas
sought to place the writer in-defeniing
negative. have concluded TO humor the
gentleman, and gre htn arguments which be
will have 70 redd or ruI. Let all eyes be
turned tins way" Ii nay opponen; comes 10
his office early Tomorrow morning, and flnds
the bolt o. his door lock broken, aud upon
entering, sees his iron safe stanGing ayr, his
valuable papers scattered Promiscuous'y over
u t...t Il,
deposited turned bottom upwards, empty,
would the gentleman consider 1t compliment
tary to his claim TO sanity TO be running
around the streets seeking for an expert to
assure HIM that it was a thief who ROBBED
him! Do not the very acts dcnouIce the per-
petra tor as a tibet? Ard further, what good
would be derived from ascer'aining that II
was a rhiei WHO dill iil The valuables are
gone. Would you not rather search for your
casIi2 just so with convention men; they
know that this constitution oi 1858, even VIII!
the proposed amendments ensraitcd into lis
body" is the thief which is robblng Jhefn of
their hard earned money. The convention men
have not sought TO name the act. They took
il for granted IL named ITSELF and their object
has been to save what has been lett by adopt
ing constitution with ample checks and
balances to secure them farther from official
populations, hlgli salaries AMI general
tendency To protlI.aie sqnanderng of the PEG
pies money. But, again, If the opposition
still seek for more evidence, what better
evidence, outside OF the thiay itself, coud be
given than the testimony of the self same
party which framed aud adopted the thing.
Every jn-t and impartial nan Is bound 10 adj
nit the fact, that there is none other. What
\ III
and member OF the convention, say in re-
gard to IL? know Mr.. Holst-ad admits that
the constitution OF ls6S is not what he wants
| will not misreprescnt the gentleman. But
he does say that with the amendments en-
grated into lis body, that we can not make
any better constitution at this time. When
shall have done with these amendments,
trust Mr. Hoisiead will not prize them so
highly. But TO Judge Crawtord's protest.
His reasons given for Tot voting for tins con-
stltuiion were lst. e. In the bill of rights
social equality is attempted TO be enforced,
and the rights of the people to control their
own property is attempted to be taken away
from them" 2nd. a judicial system has
been adopted. which, in my option, is rad
ically detective and will render uncertain
and insecure the rights to property and the
system of public education has !een adopted
which, in my opinion. will force heavy con
tributions from the taxpayers Of the State,
and will entirely prevent any public schools,
etc 4th A system Of prescription is adopted
which deprives many good citizens OF voting"
9Th. "The oath Of office is inconsistent,
disgraceful and ridiculous" 9th. "The direct
tendency Of tire constitu ion as whole is to
easender aud psrPe:uate a sia.e Of STRIFE be-
tween the citizens Of the State 10 such an
extent as will lead to hostile collisions etc
Do the proposed amendments remedy (under
any clause) the complaint urged in 81 aud
9Th reasons? Point them out If so.
Judge Labelling and John l.. Barrett, Of
Union, enter equally serious protests;
which space prevents my copying. They
are, however before the people. | shall
copy the one in reference 10 tire public school
system Incorporated in the constitution, SIM
ply to show the prophetic accuracy of the
gentleman. 4th. because system Of pub
lie education is forced italics mine) upon the
people, whereby the whites, who are 10 sup
port the schools by taxes levied on their prop
er,y, will he pracrcalIy declared of the al.
vantages of tue public schools. Mixed
schools will not elevate the negroes but will
debase Tue whites Another effect Of this