St. Landry democrat., 1888-01-28

think, a very mild paragraph that ap
peared in it last week, wherein was sta
ted substantially that the endorsement
of the McEnery administration by the
reform delegates at Baton Rouge was 6
contradiction of their conduct during
the campaign when the people were
convinced that the present administra.
ton should end, and that the st. Ian.
dry delegates were not parties to the
endorsement.
We can see nothing in our little par
agraph to call for the following extrav-
agant language in the States:
But the ferocity Of the spirit of the
the st. Landry Democrat is still I'M
tanned. Like the roaring lion of Josh
Billings famous sermon, "going about
seeking whom it may deyour some
body" our St. Landry friend is still
paving the firm earth and making the
heavens resonant with his fierce roar
| ings.
The States, however, comedies every
point We made favorable to its own
standpoint, but denies that the people
were convinced of the unworthiness of
| the present administration. It says:
The Democrat correctly understands
| the meaning Of the resolution in ques-
ton. 1t fully, unquestionably.a and pur-
posely. repudiates every single charge
| discredltable to Governor McEnery's
administration, trumped up and so
| vigorously and venomously circulated
during the past seven years, and espe-
| cially during the late campaign. 1t de-
clares these charges to be false, each
and every one of them, and in words
endorses the administration as wise,
clean and patriotic, and as having large
~, contributed to the glory and material
advancement of Louisiana.
In regarding the resolution at va
rance with the charges made by the
Reformers against the Governor, the
Democrat is, We repeat, entirely cor
rect. Language could not be palmer,
| or less susceptible of two meanings, But
in other respects our st. Landry friend
is in error. The people were never con-
WINGED of the truth of these charges !;
the people never believed them. They
were the product of a few venomous
newspapers and aspiring politicians,
and they were circulated amongst the
people with an energy, pertinacity and
nervousness that could hardly be sur
passed. But the people never believed
them, and we do not believe they ex-
ercised any considerable influence in
deciding the issue. A few unsophisti-
Gated and hot-headed, but sincere hon
est, individuals and journals, like our
esteemed St. Landry contemporary, no
doubt believed them implicitly and
really thought that the Governor was
veritable Jack Shepherd. But "the
people" did not believe them.
Ii the people had been really con-
convinced OF their truth, certainly near
ly one-half OF the representatives of the
people at the Convention would not
have been sent there in the interest of
the nomination of the man against
whom they were made, and the repre-
sentatiyss of the people would not have
unanimously joined in vote for res
olution declaring them, without ex-
ception, to be false.
We will answer the States, according
to it's own logic: If the people were not
convinced, Why vas it that an over
whelming majority Of ant;-administra-
ton delegates was sent to Baton Rouge,
after contest where the administra-
ton had every artificial advantage?
We do know that the people of this par
ish were convinced, and not by "ven-
omous newspapers and aspiring politi-
clans" either, but by the acts of the ad-
ministratiap jtself. committed in regard
to this parish, These acts were too re-
cent for the delegates from this parish
to have voted wholesale endorsement
of the ADMINISTRATION. We did not
enter into the question as to whether
these delegates were bound by the reso-
luton of endorsement; if they had TAX
en- part in the caucus, they would have
been bound to vote for it, and that
would have put them by seif-conyic-
ton in the category of those whom the
it is alleged, condemns as
having been yenomons slanderers of |
the Administrations,
The States says that it has not heard |
that the endorsement excited the ire or
even the displeasure of Gen. Nocholls."
Maybe>not; but he did not endorse the
present administration, and never will.
Of course, we understand the good
feeling that prevailed on the reform"
side when it had control of the coven-
tion, and its desire for harmony; but
we cannot understand IFS support of a
resolution which condemns the CON
duct by which the victory was won.
Our position in this while we would
support Gov. McEnery for election, if
he had been nominated at Baton Ronge,
is We did four years ago; we were, OPP
posed on both occasions to bis nOmina-
lion for reasons that We haze frequent
Iy given. Moreover, we cannot approve
a general resolution endorsing an ad-
which, in some respects
good, has been guilty of numerous
fright handed excuses and left-hand-
ed deficiencies" especially when the
purport Of the resolution is to tacitly
condemn every man in the Stale who
vas active in breaking down the adj
ninistratian