The Meridional. (Abbeville, La.) 1856-1906, 1881-01-08
Injured Innocence.

New Ofledns, Dec. I4iu looo.
To the Publisher Of the Meri'
dional :
In your issue Of Dec: 18th ap.
pears the following editorial par
agrapb
The present Constitution and
Legislature are a curse to the
State, a swindle and a cheat. Ra.
dicalism in its palmiest days Of
thievery and corruption was new.
err SO brazen."
One reading the above would
suppose that The MERIDIoNAL
had abandoned the ime.honored
standard Of Democracy, and had
goGe over tooth and toe-nail" to
the Radical party. 1t is we'll
known that the last Constitution.
al Convention was composed
mainly Of highIy respectable, lead
ing Democrats Of the State-and
also. that such is the composition
Of The present legislature. The
paragraph quoted ~stigmatizes them
as "bunglers and nincompoops'
al d denounces them as more cor.
rnpt and thieyish than the vilest
Radicals who once held sway
over Louisiana. The article is as
unjust az it is untrue, and exhibits
An oninus which in my opinion
betrays its author. =
y 4
Here Mr.. King flies the track
and INDUCES in a TRADE Of Sian
derous abuse agaiDs: an estimable
gentleman (whon he enormously
considers the author of the cdito-
rial and Of all his misfor,unes,)
who has never zvritten, dictated or
instigated a single line IF editorial
matter which has EVER appeared
in the columns Of this paper and
tho he may, upon several occa-
sions, have "he|d his own" with
Mr.. King, he certainly has ne
"cloyen foot" nor past record
which he seeks to conceal
| repeat that the article is a.
unjust az untrue, and in az much
as it contains an implied reflection
upon myself as a delegate to The
late Constitutional Convention.
| claim the right to reply through
the columns Of iHE MERIDIoNAL.
Now to charge as the writer Of
THE MEEIDIoNAL's editorial has
done that the presen, Democratic
Administration of this State is
worse than Radicalism ever was
in i,s palmiest days, is to say tina
He'll is a better and happier place
than Heaven. We all know how
the people Of this State were plum.
derd under Radical rule, and how
the rights Of the citizen were ruth
lessly trampled upon. During
that "blissful' period taxation in
Vermilion Parish at one time ran
up to forty-fonr mills on the dol
lar in one yesr-onr new State
Constitution SO despised by The
MERIDIoNAL's editor has limited
the power of taxation so that both
State and Parish taxes combined
cannot exceed sixteen (l6) mills
on the dollar without tile consent
of a majority Of the voting tax
payers Of the Parish. Our new
Constitution also has placed such
limitation upon the State, Parish
and municipal government, as to
render it 20 longer possible to
enact such legislation as to plunge
the people again into hopeless
deht-as was done under the Con.
stitution of 1868. It has more.
over, greatly reduced the interest
on the State debt, and provides
for a responsible ecoDmical ad
minlstration Of The government.
1t has placed the citizen and tax.
payer beyond the reach Of corrupt.
pIundering legislatures such az we
had "Radicalism ia its painless
days"
| do not contend that the new
Constitution is perfection of lis
kind, but in its important features
it is a vast Improvement over the
old slip-shod Constitution of
1868. While time may detect
unimportant provisions
which may require abrogation or
amendment, the instrument taken
as a whole is one Of tho finest
works Of Constitutional mecban.
ever conceived. In some
respects it is an Improvement over