Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-04-05
The Solid 9Th Speaks.

son Journal, caustlc article OF at
tack against the 9Th ward. Our
solidarity is complained of. and we
are twitted with the fact of having
exercised our freeman's privilege
Of choosing Magistrate. The 9Th
ward so far forgot itself as to choose
& Magistrate without consulting the
potentates who run the Madison
Journal. Ye gods, what will that
deluded people do next? Exercise
our prerogative, and vote for any
man whom we may in our sweet
will select; regardless of the Jour-
nal, its henchmen or any other
self-made demagogue.
The editor of the Madison Jour
nal is free, white and over twenty
one, and has a perfect right to ex-
press his individual opinion. But
as the guardian ofpublic rights and
the expresser of public sentiment,
he has, we conceive, grossly over
stepped the duties and rights of the
position, when he undertakes to
dictate to a community who they
shall select for Magistrate. No one
in the parish except the individuals
who signed w. w. Johnson's petit
ton are in any way affected by the
choice, and when a party with
out interest gratuitously pushes
himself into the matter, he at least
shows a want of courtesy. When
ever we take action in any matter
that affects the parish, then and
not till then, has the Journal a
right to .criticisc our actions. In
the same article of the Journal We
are asked ''if we will be solid for
w. w. Johnson for the position of
Representative? That question the
Journal had right to ask, and we
accord the right to an answer.
The solidarity of the 9Th ward
has been upon one matter, that is,
the best interests of Madison par
ish. We worked for, and are 60
ing to vote for, a man who has used
his utmost endeavors to protect
our lands from overflow; to keep
poverty's grim clutch from our
threats, and to inspire the
outside world with the belief
that the citizens of Louisiana are
not a nest of beggars,.. but men who
are willing and trying to help them.
selves. When we cast our votes
for McEnery, we thought ourselves
and still do think, that we were
acting for the general welfare of
the people at large. Besides twas
a pleasure to us to show our appre-
citation and gratitude for the favors
we were receiving Taking this
view of the matter, if we find by
election day that w. w. Johnson
will better guard and assist Madi-
son parish, and support levee
policy, then we will vote for W. W.
Johnson, Republican and negro as
ne is, in preference to any white
man whose platform is anti-levee,
be that white mans record as a
Democrat as long as a church debt.
And now Mr.. Journal allow us
to conclude by imparting a little
piece of information. The 9Th
ward from the most ignorant ne
gro to its most enlightened white
citizen fully comprehends the polit-
ical situation. On the one side
there is a handful of cast-off office
seekers struggling and writhing
under the shame of having been
once so high and now so low. Self
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT being their only
aim, they are willing that Madison
parish should be fish-pond if they
can but wear the purple again. OPP
posed to this mass of vultures stand
the people battling for their all.
Ignorant some are, and little able to
cope with the refined methods of
these unimpeachable Jef1ersonian
Democrats, who vote Is men as a
majority of Madison parish. But
the 9TH ward contains no blind fol-
lowers, each man thinks and acts
for himself, and on election day the
whites and blacks of the 9Th ward
will cast a levee ballot in the hope
that it will serve as an epitaph to
the hopes of those "all wood and a
yard wide" Democrats who voted
against levees. And we prefer w.
l w johnson tn n white mar, xybo h.