The Opelousas courier., 1891-12-26
Review.

1t is unfortunate that ouf party shOalu
be rent in twain. No Democrat will
deny this. No advocate of white SUI
premaey in Louisiana can hesitate to
confess it. How shall we account for
it? Who is to blame? For months
we have been agitated and some one
has done it. Who vast? Let us pass
in review a cursory history of the facts
which no II of any faction can gam,
say. When the General Assembly OF
Louisiana last met, the Louisiana State
Lottery made a business proposition to
that body, which, through it, was sub
mitted TO the voters of the State for
their acceptance or rejection. There
were members of the assembly who op
posed the submission of it to the people.
They took the position that he offer
was Il bride, and that the people could
not and should not be trusted with the
decision of il at the ballot box. They
spoke of it as one involving the honor
of the State. They seemed to forget
that tie people could decide that cues
ton A. well as the Directing represent
atiycs. All their objections pivoted on
he assertion expressed, o. implied,
that the pcopl, would he hrihed and
therefore could not he trusted. Finding
that Il majority of The representatives.
thought differently, they proposed t"
eliminate the venue proposition from
the campaign, by submitting it t" the
decision Of white primaries
This the friends of the proposition
agreed to. but from some canse, the OPP
pos,rs recrded fromIit. The enabling act
was finally passed, and the proposition
was lpcislatiyely submitted to the vo-
ters No sooner was this done THAI it
was asserted and proclaimed that mem
bers of the Legislature had been bilbed.
The friends of submission, desiring to
leave no room for quibbliug, although
seeing no necessity for 1t MS ii matter
of constitutional requirement, sent me
act to the Governor for his sanction.
He kept it under his wings as long as
he eonId. and at the end OF the eleventh
hour sent it back with his veto, as II he
lad any constitutional authority To
withhold his signature from il bill which
had already been adopted by t"o thitds
Of all tIte members elect To the General
Assembly. The constitutional mode OF
nassing such ii bill, (t being one to
submit TO the sovereign people, tor thelt
adoption or rejection, an amendment
to the coustitutioD) having been conl-
plied with. the Governor had 40 more
veto power over it, than he would have
had over any ordinary act which had
been adopted by a two third vote, oven
and in DESPITE of his veto
The next step taken was To Try To pass
it again by the two thirds majority. In
the meantime, one of the senator's,
Smith FROM Sabine, fingered and died.
The opponents Of the bill readily be-
Gang iubilant, aud did not hesitate to
say it was the hand Ut Divine Progl-
deuc. which had hrcn interposed. The
Statutes were promulgated but this bill
was not. Applications We're made t"
the Secretary of State to have it pro-
mulrated it was refused, A petition
for a writ of maudamus against him was
and filed, and after all the delays which
decency could be- construed to sanction,
an answer was filed loaded to tHt mu2-
zle with everything the ingenuity of
able Counsel could originate. The case
was argued exhaustiyely, after all the
garbage called evidence had been dump
ed in it.
The Supreme Court granted the writ,
aud ordered the Secretary of State to
promnlgate the enabling act No o
er had it been decided than the air was
filled by the opponents with charges of
bribery among the judges of the Su-
preme Court. Even IdWyerS ventured
to iterata and to repeat the vile calum-
ny. They professed to war against the
sinfuIness of charteriug the Lottery,
but never hesitated to lie about better
men than themselves. in the public es-
timatinn. Their journals freely pub
lished lies and calnmnies, conscious
that, even If, it had been deemed ne
cessay TO sue them for the outrages,
they would have melted from practical
responsibility, from any Judgment OBJ
tanned against them like snails with salt
poured upon them.
Their leaders have. never ceased to
Witty those who favor the amendment
and probably will not until the ques-
ton receives its quietus at the ballot
box, if then. From this cursory review,
the correctness of which no cue a de-
Gently deny, may be seer how little re.
gard has been manifested for the in.
alienahle right of free opinion, These
would be law giyers have not only
sIandered good men who are moving
highly respected in the walks Of private
life-tlleir superiors in moral worth in
the General Assembly -and their learn
ed snperiors on the Supreme Court
bench, but, but they have also intima
ted, that, us a last resort they will re.
sort to violence, bloody revolution and
ballot box stnffing. And all these damn
able ruses, they have done, and possibly
may do, while pretending TO be wiser
and better than those they have SANDER
ed and would slay. We advise them to
call i halt, for before they carry out
their programme they will surely meet
foemen worthy Of their steel God
grant them more prudence, fairness and
discretion.
It strikes usforeibly that our City Fa-
theirs should inquire by what authority
d number of coffee and lunch stands are
kept in the courthouse square, where
coffee and cakes aud lunch are sold, free
Of license. We mention this fact for
the reason that we believe that great
injustice ii done to those who have
stands III the Market house and who
pay a license for the privilege, while
certain privileged persons carry on the
same business just outside of the mar
ket house aud do not contribute a cent