The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-01-03

|AY, JANUARY 3, 1e
OUR NEW ORLEANS LETTER.
Some Of tho Events Of l8s4-Mator Burke
and the Exposition-A Benenciaa Organ
ixatlon-Colored Visitors Tho Murphy
Murderers.
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 1. 1885.
EDITOR CHIEF:
| The year 1884 passed out Of existence here
amid drizzling rain and q revival of cool
northerly weather. For New Orleans il
has been full of interesting events. A new
municipal administration, with q wide
awake Mayor at its head, came into power
and has added to public confidence. Juriet
have been reliable in cases of flagrant
crimes, and the law vindicated in the
courts. A general spirit of independence
of political bosses has grown up to ths
point of rebellion against unwise nomina-
tions. New buildings have gone up with
remarkable rapidity, real estate com.
manded good prices in the market. A rea
cause of complaint is the defective legis.
latation of the State relative to the enforced
collection of taxes by which thousands o1
citizens annually avoid their quota in sup.
port Of government, projects of municipal
improvement are held in allegiance and
necessary adjuncts of police and sanitar,
rule are placed beyond the limits of the
municipal treasury.
The Exposition was duly opened Decem-
| Der 16, and in the presence of assembled
thousands, Major e. A. Burke, the inspi-
ring genius of the grandest commercial
enterprise the city ever witnessed, received
the spontaneous applause of the multitude.
Before the opening day there were mut-
terings of a dismal kind from those who
persisted in connecting Mr.. Bur1e's pos
slble political ambitions with the success
OF the Exposition. It is now believed these
mutterings have been largely subdued as
ungenerous and uncalled for. Mr.. Burke's
friends have observed that the constant
labor and anxiety, always inseparable from
gigantic enterprises of the kind, have told
upon him, and brought the evidences of a
premature ageing; but If he succeeds in
bringing his city and State further onward
and upward in the march of improvement
than ever before realized, the honors will
fall to him easily in any direction that
mag seem most fitting, and neither jealousy
nor unpatriotic criticism will be able to
stay them. The weather of the past two
weeks has been unpropitious, and coupled
with an unwise aud laundering car drivers
strike has diminished the number of vis-
itors to the Exposition; but tho daily in
crease Of exhibits and the reduction of
Sunday admission fee to one-half promises
we'll for the future.
New Orleans is fortunate in having q
Trades Assembly, volunteer legislature
composed of all classes and colors of her
workingmen. It requires an intelligent
formulation of grievances, and acts with
authority to control agitations and arbi-
trate with employers. If it were not for
Its existence the recent car drivers strike
might have eliminated in q collision be-
tween strikers and executors of the laws.
The commercial bodies, and President
Newman of the Stock Exchange, acted with
representatives of the Assembly in wisely
counseling and securing fair arbitration,
which ended the strike. There are some
differences still unsettled, but as labor is we'll
organized, the exchanges governed by a
kindly spirit, it it safe to say they will be
adjusted satisfactorily.
Colored people abroad were surprised at
trst to find that no preparation had been
made by the bureau of accommodation to
assign them lodging places. When the sub
1ect was brought to the attention of man
ayers of the colored department steps
we're taken to register suitable places. It
is believed that respectable homes will be
found in sufficient number to accommodate
all colored people who choose to come. But
they must come prepared to pay good
prices.
The indictment Of seven persous for the
murder of A. H. Murphy operated as an
antidote to feverish sentiment which
threatened to culminate in vigilance COM
mittee OF deeds of violence. The better
elements of New Orlssnsare watching the
progress of this trial, snd it would be dan
gerous to the roEdy elements if their hopes
OF the conviction of the miscreants should
be dlspelied. Commerce and public safety
cannot be disunited, and pocket interests,
to say nothing of moral sentiment, will be
a chief element in the suppression of hood
lums and hoodlum rule.
More anon. GENERAL OBSERVER.
No more October States in the Presi-
dental year. Ohio and West Virginia will
hereafter have their +" October" +" election in
November.-Er.
It is also high time Tor Louisiana 10
come to her senses and do away with two
elections in Presidential years. Paying
for this petty dodge of the politicians is
becoming exceedingly distasteful to Lou
isiana voters.-Colar Chronicle.
An exchange speaks of having received
letter OF unsweetened dynamite from a
brother, snappishly ordering his paper
stopped, and all because of one editorial.
From the same town, and by the same
mail, came an order, with the money for
hve new subcribers. And so it is with
every Conscientious journal One man grows