The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-16
MR.. LUsHER RISES TO EXPLAIN.

In another column of this mornings DEMO
Graf appears an open letter from the State
Superintendent of Education. We do not al
oil concede that any injustice has been done
Mr.. Lusher, that his position has been mis-,
understood or misrepresented, but we publish
his letter because, in the first place, we be-
lieve he will DO gratliied to see 1t In print,
and because, In the second place, we know
Of no more effective way Of opposing his pre-
tensions. 1t will be seen from Mr.. Lushers
remarks that he abates nothing Of these pre-
tensions. On the contrary, he renews them
In a still more explicit fashion. He is ami
mated to be sure, by an amiable desire to
undo an error on the part Of the convention,
and this point he Celebrates with no little
volume. Mr.. Lusher, however, Is fond OF
hearing himself talk, and the ordinary rules
Of deduction do not apply to him. The real
inspiration Of his remarkable enterprise Is
the solemn conviction that no one save him
self Is competent to fill the place In question,
apd the fascinating and abundant gas with
which the proposition is embroidered Is
merely the result Of natural causes.
Mr.. Lusher Is welcome to hearing In
these columns upon this occasion. II he
thinks that we have dealt unfairly BY him, or
II any Of his friends feel disposed to think so,
let him improve this opportunity for explana-
ton. His own language az We construe 1t,
more than sustains our claim that he has
sought to disparage Mr.. Fay by insisting
that he. Mr. Lusher, Is the only person capa-
BILE Of conducting our educational system,
and, 40 far as concerns this aspect OF the
affair, he furnishes all the testimony we de-
sire. With reference to the facts Of the case,
however, 1t Is worthy Of notice that Mr.
Lusher acknowledges having prepared a
statement of his views, his services and his
qualifications, which, III the form OF clrcu-
lar letter, he addressed personally to all the
delegates. We may assume therefore that
the delegates went to Baton Rouge thorough
~ saturated with this fascinating, not to say
tlord production. Yet 1t appears that with
all the facts before them, the delegates tame
ly permitted the educational institutions OF
Louisiana to be sacrificed and Mr.. Lushers
bulwarks, as 1t were, to be swept away In the
nomination Of Another. 1t Is the most VIC
lent of metaphors to say that Mr.. Fay was
minority candidate or that Mr.. Lusher
had two hundred and forty votes. AS a
matter Of fact Mr.. Lusher was the minority
candidate, and Mr.. Fay's nomination by &C.
clamation expressed the true sense Of the Con-
vention. II majority Of $40 had been op-
posed to this proceeding, why did they not
speak out at the time? The truth Is, that Mr..
Lusher's friends had requested the delegate
who put that gentleman In nomination to
withdraw him, and this would have been done
had not the almost unanimous declaration In
favor Of Mr.. Fay rendered such ceremony
unnecessary. AS far as we could judge there
were about twenty-five negatives to the &C.
clamatory nomination Of Mr.. Fay-just twen-
ty-tive In whose bosoms Mr.. Lusher's circular
romance still found a Judgement Even these
could easily have demanded and obtained a
ballot, but the sentiment OF the Convention
was unmistakable, and they accepted the sit
uattOn.
This matter hardly calls for further discus
sion. We have no doubt that Mr.. Lusher be-
lieves in every proposition he has advanced
in the two hundred and forty delegates who
are burning to nominate him; In his trans.
cendent superiority as an educator: and in
the teetotal ruin Of the free school system as
result Of his retirement to private life. We
are satisfied, we say, that he believes all this
but that only goes to show that he has here
tofore missed his vocation, and that when the
cause Of education loses him, star OF special
magnitude and brilliancy will takeits place In
the armament Of fiction.