The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1878-06-15
NEW ORLEANS, June :, 1873.

NEW ORLEANS, June :, 1873.
EDITOR or EINDlCATOR:
Some people would say that it was a
rather singular coincidence, that at the
very moment when | was closing letter
No. 2, by calling pnblic attention to the
fact that our reform Governor had up t"
that moment been utterly silent in re-
gard to the Louisiana State Lottery, the
enforcement by this monopoly OF the
arbitrary and Unconstitutional lrglSla'
ton in its behalf was rapidly culmlla-
ting in heavy blow at its own cXls-
tencr. So rapid Was the elimination
that found myself in duty bound to
temporarily abandon the regular context
of my letters, and to devote letter No. )
to a chronicle of the great event OF tue
day.
Now, do not regard this event as a
matter Of coincidence At all, but as pure
case Of cause and effect. The Lottery
men are only of the average run OF their
species. They are engaged in an enter
prise that recommends itself to them in
bnt one aspect-the making of money.
and plenty of it. 1t is clear that their
principle of action is-"the end justin es
the means,'-and the means they deter
mined in their calculations to be most
efficient was TO invade successfully tue
prime natural rights of those around
them; and the rest was plain sailing.
To effect this, they laid their tounda-
ton sagacionsly, and all their calcutta
tions were sound, save one, They made
no proper calculation against two char
actrrstics Of man, or they were igno-
rant of them-viz: patriotism and Oh
stinacy--the latter, at the present day
being often called "pnre cnssedness.'
There are very good reasons why they
should not have calculated on encount-
ering the first named trouble. In the
first place, they have clearly shown that
they have none of the characteristic
themselves In the second place, their
perfect control of the existing admins
tration furnished the best reason why
they should doubt the existence OF such
a thing in others.
But it is not 50 easy to account tor their
miscalculatiOn on the second count. There
it no doubt that the State authorities
had mad" the path as smooth as they
could for the Lottery, but they ought to
have known that man is possessed OF at
least as much pride as mule, and that
there are some liberties you cannot with
IMMUNITY take with mule. Any planta-
ton negro will tell you that.
"Pure cnsscdness' on any subject IS to
be expected of man, but it is pre-emi
nently apt to be displayed if you ruth.
lessly invade what he calls his political
rights; and more especially ii you IN
dertake to contiscate his private shot
gun, OR to stick him in the parish prison
because he sells Havana lottery tickets
on commission, in order to feed his tami-
w. And then there is another thing.
If yo., find your next door neighbor Or
.lerring around and utilizing. as against
Yourself, the servants whom you pay to
do your own work, your "pure cussed'
ness" is almost sure to assert itself This
is what Charlie Howard was doing with
our Police, and, notwithstanding, the
Legislature and all the rest of the authorl-
ties sustained him, the people kicked in
the traces. And SO will it be to the end
of the world. Charlie Howard will
learn before he gets through that it is
one thing to run lottery, and another
to run a State.
It was not a mere coincidence then,
that the AgOsti Hdbeas Corpus case Oc.
cured just as I was engaged in crltlcl-
s,nv the course of our administration
towards the lottery. No, the whole
thing occurred under the direct rules of
cause and effect Just as much so as the
occurrences of the fourteenth of Sep
tember. The seed was planted by the
Radicals, the tree has been nnrsed and
cherished Ivy our administration, and
this is the bitter, but legitimate fruit:
But proceed with my analysis OF the
platform on which the State is being
conducted, aud which l have stated in
Letter No. 2, under different heads.
Under head No. s, l charge that the
policy of the administration is the con-
tinued fostering Of monopo)ies.
No man can gainsay the truth Of the
charge. In the case of the Louisiana
State Lottery, the most gigantic and
most dangerous of these monopolies, the
proof is overwhelming. In regard to
any other monopoly, defy any man to
show that the weight Of one Legislative
Or executive finger has been raised
against one of them-and if these great
evils exist, and are SO rcpulsive that the
people considered their representatives
bound to attack them ; and yet they
have not been attacked, but have, to a
greater or less extent, put the powers
that he under imagined obligations to
them; l, therefore argue that they are
fostered by the government, in direct
violation. both Of the will of the people
and of the pledges given by those en-
trusted with State control.
Head No. 6, says the policy of the
powers that he, is "no Radical inroad on
the State Constitution; consequently no
Convention of the people,"
Surely, no man can deny this feature
of the policy of our rulers and it is one
of tho most repulsive of all.
If there be one feature of reformation
above all Others on which this people
had set their hearts, which their judge
ment told them was above all Others
necessary, and which they considered
their chosen rulers solemnly pledged to,
it was the assembling of a Constitutional
Convention for the purpose of estab-
fishing an organic law emanating from
the people. The organic law under
which we have for years been living is
the spawn of military despotism, and
shows is despicable parentage all over
its hideous face. 1t has been loathed
and cursed by every intelligent and
thoroughly patriotic man in the State
ever since its birth, and its utter ami.
hlation has been the nightly dream OF
all who love country for country's sake.
undertake to say, that not one of the
servants of the people now holding Of
fee, from Governor down to Constable,
could have procured nomination if he
had proclaimed himself opposed to thor
ough revision Of the Constitution by the
people in Convention assembled and il
any one of them, in the face Of all we
have suffered at the hands Of despotism
and lawlessness, had dared to suggest
that we were electing legislature that
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