Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-02-05
Louisiana and its Bargains.

Louisiana and its Bargains.
In an article under the above heading,
the New York Times remarks upon the
results of the Cancellation policy in Louis
lana and particularly notices theprosecu-
ton of the Returning Board and alleged
bargains with friends of the admnislra-
ton as follows:
"The offenses imputed to Wells ana
other members oil the board are uiillng
compared with those that are on record
against their political opponents. Repuo-
,ican rascals are plentiful no doubt-ai
at any rate in Louisiana; but the murder
ers. the incendiaries, the torturers, the
beasts that hunted men because OF politics
and nerpetrated crimes too horrible to
be described to prevent Republican sue
csss.-were all Democrats. The murder
of Webber after the "bargains" had been
contaminated, shows that the appetite for
blood is still unsated when an active ke'
publican is to be the victim. How hap
pens it, then, that of the many Democratic
murderers who are known, not one has
been arrested, and that not step has
been taken to discover murderers at pres
ent undetected? How are we to reconcile
this pretense of zeal tor law and Justice
with the fact that Democrats tainted with
the most atrocious crimes walk the streets
of New Orleans unmoles'ed,or are reward
ed with honors and offices in other parts
of the State Wells is fugitive from
his State. which makes his Republcanism
a penitentiary offence. Odgen, the leader
of the White League, and because of his
position cognizant of the atrocities which
that organization perpetrated in the name
of the Democracy, is Attorney General OF
the State and the custodian of It's legal
conscience. To exhibit the contrast is To
furnish the best commentary upon the by
pocrisy as we'll as the treachery which the
Indictment of the Returning Board brings
to light.
There are bargains, it is said, and there
is nothing improbable in the allegation.
The transactions which eliminated in the
abandonment of Packard and the inau-
guraton OF Nichols could scarcely have
been consummated without them. The
fact does not imply corruption or dis
honor on either side, unless the bargain
ings were different in character from any
that has yet been alleged. The real
ground of complaint, as it seems to US, is
that the terms, such as they were. have
not been complied with BY either party.
and that the most important item was
overlooked by the National Administra-
ton. 1t is not easy now to indicate spe
cfic conditions which the President should
have insisted upon before surrehdering
the underground which his party had
won, but the reputation for treachery and
cruelty earned by the Louisiana Democ-
racy should have taught him the necessity
of exacting some guarantee more potent
than any which he and bis friends obtained
Perhaps these proceedings against mem
bers of the board may be taken as proof
that any contract entered into would have
been broken. We shall be better able to |
form judgment on this point when GOV.
Nichols more clearly shows the position |
lie is prepared to assume in regard to the
Wells and Anderson prosecution. On the
other hand, the Administration or the pol |
iticans acting in its behalf, cannot be
credited with any very earnest effort to
sustain II not TO shield Louisiana Republi-
cans, who imperiled their property and
lives In the service of their party. Whether
Mr. Sherman did or did not promise pro-
lection to Weber or Anderson. the Fee
licana Supervisors, we must believe that
somebody assured them, and others like
them, OF the succor which the discharge
of hazardous duty might render neces-
sary. Men would have been fools to risk
everything without some guarantee OF
help. 1t is humiiating to be obliged to
confess that these assurances, whatever
they amount to, have not been carried
out. The Administration is so enamored |
of the policy of Cancellation that it has
had no time for thinking of its victims.
Meanwhile the Democrats of louisiana
have the satisfaction of knowing that they
are playing the game of w. +. Chandler
very nicely, and that the fault will not be
theirs ifthey do not succeed in stirring up
sectional luminosity and strife. They
could not labor more efficiently in that
direction if they tried"