The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-05-16
4 yINDICATION OF THE PEOPLE OF
LOUISIANA.
speech Of Hon. J. Floyd King, in the
House of Representatives, April
gath, 1870.


cratic party by blackcning the name
of Louisiana. To effect this, he quoted
In part from tho majority report of the
Teller committee, which he supple
mented with striking pictures of out
rage drawn from his own vivid imagi.
nation.
1t is a common experience that it is
easier to hatch foul brood of falsehOOd
than it Is to destroy it when it has
onco flown from its nest. It is use
less task to attempt to hunt down all
tho winged fictions from fertile brains
of men bent ON deception and strife,
but conceive it to be my duty not to
permit false charges against the State
have tho honor in part to represent 70
90 unrebuked. When a membor at
tempts to pass his spurious small
change as the subsidiary coinage of
politics, 1 must beg leave to enter my
protest. "a,
Sir. I an amazed when I see men,
her Of this House undertaking to base
charges against the citizens of my
State upon tho flimsy testimony taken
by the majority of the Teller commit
tee, especially when it must be withiD
tho knowledge Of the member from
Michigan that forty of the very idcn-
teal gentlemen indicted upon the
charges made before that committee
with alleged crimes against the cleo
ton laws, confronted by tho same wit
nesses, have been recently tried in the
city of New Orleans and acquitted.
Their trial was before n jury to the
members of which the test or iron-clad
oath had been applied, and presided
over by two United States judges. 1
repeat, that they were promptly and
honorably acquitted. Another lot of
over fifty in number, who were in
dicted and tried, failed Ola conviction,
and still another lot of sixty had their
cases continued until next fall upon
the motion of the United States district
attorney, made in open court, where
they were standing ready for trial.
who were these gentlemen SO in
dicted? We're they tho red-handcd
rufiians depicted by tho member from
Michigan answer, No; and it is
scarcely permissible with reference to
the dignity of this House to character
ize these charges as they deserve.
Sir, who are these gentlemen who
have been and arc being thus perse-
cuted2 Lean fairly claim that they
are tho peers of any on this floor.
Many of them are graduates of tho
first universities of Europe, and of col
legcs and schools Of this country, repre-
sentatlves of all the professions, tho
heads and members of some of the
most respectable families of this nation
property owners, they arc tho true
custodians OF tho peace. They have,
so far as tho United States has chosen
to bring them to trial, been adjudgetl
guiltless of crimes by tribunals whose
loyalty and fidelity to tho Republican
party cannot be questioned by gentle
men on tho other side of this chamber,
and they are made to suffer simply
because they are Democrats.
This, we arc told by the member
be trick, rs has boon we'll told by my
colleague, Mr.. Gibson, it is ga trick"
performed by n Federal jury, a Federal
district attorney, and Federal judges,
ali of whom were Republicans. A trick,
sir! Look at it. Torn from loving ones
Mt home, from weeping wives and chill
lren, from sisters and mothers trembling
with grief, these gentlemen were drag
ged hundreds of mics away to Now
Orleans, compelled to pay their own
expenses and the expenses Of their wit
nesses, to leave their business in ruins
and their families in distress. They
were not tried by their peers nor by
juries of the vicinage, rights guaran-
teed by the old common law of Eng
land, but by strangers, by mon whose
political prejudices were liable to bias
their Judgment. Why, sir, it is further
from the scenes of alleged outragcs to
New Orleans than from this city to
New York or Boston. And yet every
one of them was acquitted! But what
redress have they against this partisan
tyranny, these outragcs? None sir, but
the repeal of the Infamous laws i'll the
name of which they were perpetratcd.
United States marshals, within some
instances, tho basest characters in the
State for witnesses, were transported ut
heavy governmental expense to New
Orleans from these distant points to
confront them. 1t is estimated that
these citizens, alt of one political party,
and with but few exceptions, white
men and of high standing, have been
thus caused an outlay of many thousand
OF dollars, and that tens of thousands
have been spent by the Department of
Justice in their prosecution; and the
member from Michigan calls this II
trick. call 1t q crime; u crime against
the civilization of this agc.
With but few exceptions, all who
were indicted under the charges made
ny tho witnesses summoned by the
majority on the Teller committee chose
not to appear before that COMMITTEES
nut before tho Federal courts, there to