The New York herald., 1879-01-08
LOUISIANA.

GOVERNOR NICHOLS MEssAGE-rHE POLITICAL
AND RACE OUTBREAK IN TENsAs AND con-
coRpIA-sTATE FINANCES
New ORLEANS, Jan. Z, 1879.
Tho Governor. in his message to the General
Assembly. after reference to the late
epidemic, says 81 have the pleasure Of re-
porting to you that throughout almost the entire
state the laws have been well observed, and that
where violations of the same have taken
place they have been generally punished
l. regret to say. however. that in .
few localities there have occurred during the
past year Of those acts of violence and lawless
ness which in this State, in other sections OF the
country. occasionally happen. and which, while
startling aud distressing tho mass Of the people,
practically beyond the reach Of the constituted
authorities" After dwelling at considerable length
upon the subject Of lawlessness the Governor
ssys:--"A difficulty originating in politics, which
goes to the point of blows or bloodshed. is apt to
be participated in by others from that time
forward not on account of the politics involved in
it. but through sympathy fear. I
found this. in my opinion, formed after .
personal Investigation to have been the csse
in the recent disturbances in the parishes
OF Tensas aud Concordia. The proxiinate cause of
OF men. numbering from twenty to twenty-five,
TO the house of one Fairfax. colored polit-
1c0l leader IN Tensas parish, whlcn act resulted
in the killing of one Peck. who seems to have been
the leader OF the party. and the wonnding by
Peck's companions OF three colored men
whom afterwards died. The visit of these
persons to Fairfax was utterly wrong and. in my
opinion. utterly without justification. and while il ia
attempted to be JUSTIFIED upon the ground that they
went in the interest of peace and to expostulate
against rumored proposed attempt Of certain col
ored people force the quarantine lines at the
of 81. Joseph. am satisfied that such not the
purpose. but that n had a political OBJ
to i' kill or n harm 'n rairfaa. az. RP0'G but s do
believe il wns to influence his course and to affect
Killing S Of 'i%aa ss and the 1t ~ouhsns rsTs Of The The
unexpected. and attended by. results which
none OF the party contenp plated and from which poiit
cal considerations utterly disappeared. Just
these mcn killed and wounded reports of the
same spread with astonishing rapdy through Tcnsas
and Concordia and instantly armed bodies Of colored
men. evidently organized prior thereto, moved from
every direction to the scene OF the occurrence"
Here follows long account of the troubles in those
parishes. in which eleven negroes was killed.
STATE FINANCES.
Under the head OF finances Ave columns
ered devoted TO rcvew Of the funding acts and the
assessment and collection OF taxes. The Governor
Tho collection of revenue from So mills tax not
having been adequate 20 the payment Of the interest
coupons due on the lst Of January, 1879.
depore this result powerless either
to avert or remedy it, The fact that the money
Sc IN as to Pay gsomPy all
upon you tho necessity OF adopting immediate
legislation for equitable distribution OF the
funds now ON hand aud TO accumulate hereafter. and
the occurrence Of deficiency points o. the necessity
and imposes the oblinsen Of taking such steps will
the full and Just enforcement Of the provisions
of the Funding act AMI for providing for tho
payment Of the consolidated debt. have already
stated that. In my opinion. the failure to promptly
pay the interests our consols resulted thi
year from tho epidemic, and in some respects from
the i'll considered provisions of the Funding act
itself believe also that 10 is attributable greatly
to the insufcicncy of the Law regarding the
ment of property aud the collection of taxes.