The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-02-13
REPEAL THEM ALL,

tmated an intention on the part Of the Dem
ocrats In Congress 10 saddle each one OF the
appropriation bills with q proviso repeating
the Federal election laws and the test oath
for jurors In United States courts. The mo-
ment that this proposition met the ears OF
Edmunds, Garfield and the other Republican
leaders, they began to conspire to defeat IT,
and finally determined upon tho policy
Of delaying the appropriation bills to
the last hour. hoping to drive the
Democrats into some sort OF a compromise
, through fear on their part to incur the
, odium of forcing an extra session. The COM
promise proposed by the Republicans was the
repeal Of the test oath for jurors, leaving the
election laws as they now stand on the statute
books This proposition. we are gratified to
know, was promptly sat down upon by the
Democratic caucus, which declined positively
TO consider It at all. Yet we are told that 1t had
the effect OF dsposing at least one great and
conspicuous leader Of Democratic sentiment
to the adoption OF a conclatory policy. and
that the final determination of the caucus
would not be declared until the end OF the
present week.
Surely this is not question about which
there should be any hesitation or discussion
among Democrats. What odum can attach
TO the forcing Of an extra session Of Congress
that will at all compare with the igpominy OF
permitting these Infamous laws to remain upon
our statute books2 This Is no mere question
Of expediency, that may be temporized with
or made the subject matter OF party
barters and policies. 1t Ii question Of prln-
| ciple, involving the most sacred guarantees
OF the constitution, which It is the solemn and
imperative duty OF the Democratic Congress
| to protect against the ruthless and unscrupu-
lous assaults OF the fraud-begotten Executive.
through the fundamentally of a faclle and
corrupt judiciary. Certainly the Democrat
who asks time TO consider in an emergency
like this cannot be cognizant Of the enormity
Of the crime he has to deal with and forestall
He does not know that hundreds OF our
best and most honored citizens are being
dragged hundreds of miles from their homes
and submitted to all manner of personal in
dlgnities and pecuniary losses, at the behest
Of partisan officials and on periured afIidavits,
procured after the victims have been selected
for slaughter. He does not know that to vote
| the Democratic ticket In Louisiana is consti-
| tuted felony, and that hundreds of our cti-
| zens stand arraigned to-day In the Federal
courts, deprived OF their liberty upon no
other charge. He surely does not know how
these arrests have been procured or the
methods by which 1t Is proposed to secure the
conviction Of the victims of them.
The history OF Grantism, from beginning
to end, affords no parallel for the outrages on
American citizenship and common manhood
that are being perpetrated to-day In this
State, under the forms Of law and with the
| sanction Of the courts. What Grant did he
did boldly, openly, and by the plain, unver-
nished logic OF military force. There was
nothing cowardly, covert and indirect In his
methods, and, for that very reason, there
was nothing In them half 80 dangerous and
vndictive as this judicial persecution
which has been inaugurated by Hayes.
He has read history to poor account who
does not see the subtler cruelty OF this In
quisitorial process. The bloodiest and most
remorseless persecution recorded In the long |
history Of the Anglo-Saxon struggle for hu- |
man liberty was conducted In the courts and |
through the machinery OF judicial procedure |
There is not to-day more infamous name |
In English history than that Of Jeffries, the |
judicial murderer, who bequeathed to DOS
terity the precedent of which the fraudulent |
President is avaiing himself In Louisiana. |
1t Is the same old story. The victims are
first selected and then their arrest Ia pro- |
cured on perjury, suborned by the officials Of
the government. They are presented by
grand jury composed OF the scum OF the |
earth-creatures whose hearts are gall blad- |
ders OF venom and hate, or even worse still |
who are precarious officials on the pay rolls |
OF the partisan Observation-Disclosures whose |
daily bread Is bought by the open and pro- |
fessional prostitution Of their bawdy con- |
sciences. They are then brought before |
judges who are acting under ORDERS who |
have come for no other purposes than to con- |
vict, and who are interpreting party dictum |
and not the laws This Is what is going on In |
Louisiana, under the immediate direction of |
the scarlet bawd at Washington whose place |
was procured by conspiracy, fraud, perjury |
and theft.
We have no appeal to make, but we tell the /
Democratic party with stern and rugged |
candor, that If these iniquities are permitted |
to go on 1t will be held accountable for them.
The country looks to 1t and It's representa-
tives In Congress to put an end, a sudden and |
decisive end, to this cruel persecution of our
people. There Is but one way In which this |
can be done, and that is by repeating both the
election laws and test oath. This must be
DONE even IL the government be threatened
with suspension. and though the treasury of
the United States be drained of its last
farthing. What terrors can the response
bility for an extra session have for men who
are charged with duty SO solemn and mo-
mentous as this with which the Democratic
members of Congress stand confronted? Sub
mission to such paltry threat would be ig-
nominous. In England where one drop of
British blood is held more sacred than the
riches OF the empire, the public man who hest
tated one moment, under such circumstances,
would incur everlasting contumely and dis
grace 1t will do no good to merely repeal
the test OATH Juries can be packed as readily
without it on the statute books as with 1t
there The only remedy lies in the reDeaI Of