Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1873 — Louisiana. [ARTICLE]

Louisiana.

The persistent efforts of the Democratic politicians—or at least the rebellious element of the Democracy— to destroy the prosperity of the Southern States, to drive capital from the country, to check the growth of commerce, force the merchant and the farmer to bankruptcy, depreciate the value of land, and stop the tide of immigration, cannot fail at least to brine upon them the general indignation of the people. Every KuKlux murder, every assault upon the supremacy of the law, every threat of violence and of usurpation, tends to produce infinite loss to the country, and-helps to reduce to poverty and decay a region fitted by .nature to teem with material wealth, and support in affluence an immense population. Lands in various portions of (the Southern States that under a peaceful government would prove more productive than the rich fields of Minnesota,, are left idle and untilled. Farms are sold at prices so low as to seem incredible to Northern cultivators. The mineral resources of the mountain chain's are left untouched. Railroads that would open up wide districts of country to foreign immigration are stopped in their progress because the capitalist is afraid of spoliation and open robbery. The commerce of the Southern cities languishes, while the cities of the great West press on with unprecedented strides. The merchant, the honest laborer, the mechanic, and the investor shrink'from the home of the Kn-Klux, and avoid a region where life and property are threatened by brigands and revolutionists. J- Louisiana has suffered as severely as any of her sister States from the cruel deeds of its rebellious faction. The great majority of its people, no doubt, desire repose: but their Democratic leaders will not fuller them to rest. The recent riots in New Orleans are only the latest of a long series of outrages. The same faction that nas never ceased to threaten and Ml Republican voters and peaceful oolored men has at last covered the streets

of New Orleans with bloodshed. They have been the first to shed the blood of their fellow citizens. They have not only defied tie authority of tlidStWe and National courts, but have endeavored to seize the government by armed violence. The particulars of this contest deserve a general attention. Two governments existed in Louisiana, each claiming to represent the majority of the peoplb. The Warmoth an d’M’finery faction, supported by the rebel leaders, and composed of many men who had served in the rebel armies, assert that at the fall election they had a large majority of the votes. The Kellogg party, embracing all the. Republicans, insist that the majority was on their side. The question as to the validity of their claims was submitted to the Supreme Court of New Orleans, and also to the United States judge, Durell. Both courts debided in favor of Kellogg and his associates. They were declared elected by the highest legal decision. They entered upon their offices, took possession of the public buildings, organized the police, proceeded to discharge their proper duties, and the National Administration, as it was obliged to do, respected the decision of the courts, and acknowledged the State government of the Kellogg party. It could have done nothing else; it was forced to follow the ruling of the courts; and, besides, the Kellogg government was in existence de facto as well as de jure. It was the only .one known to the law. Meantime the -McEnery party also organized a government, assembled a Legislature, and proceeded to perform various acts annoying and obstructive to its opponents. It next, as was most proper, appealed to the President and to Congress. The President had no power to interfere, but Congress, perhaps, might have determined the controversy. ’lt would seem, however, rather a question for the Suprem ; Court; and even Con - jgrees would scarcely,care to reverse the decision of the New Orleans judges. But however this may be, the plain duty of the McEnery party, if they found themselves aggrieved, was to commen' i e such legal proceedings ns might fckpose the errors of their opponents and obtain (urtice for themselves. They should have aw ailed the operation oPThe law. Im" stead of this they armed themselves, prepared a large military force, and made an attack upon their opponents, which end ed in the loss of several lives ard the wounding of fifteen or twenty persons. Their object, it seems, was to seize the court houses and reinstate their own judges; they might thus gain a show of legality on their side, which is now wholly wanting. The rebels fought with courage; but their plans had been revealed to the Kellogg officials, and General Longstreet, by his prudent disposition of the armedpolice, saved the court-houses. General Emory, the United States officer in command, next ordered the rioters to disperse, and, obeying the instructions of President Grant, aided In restoring order in New Orleans. For this the President

has been assailed with extraordinary bitterness by the friends of Warmoth and McEnery, by the opposition press of the North, and the -enemies of the public peace. The people of the whole country, however, will probably approve of his conduct, and show theTebeltious portion of the Southern population that they are resolved to check at once tlierr constant tendency toward bloodshed and crime. The chief sufferers from the violence of Warmoth and McEnery, next to the dead and the wounded, to whose fate they have been accessory, will be the merchants, mechanics and farmers of Louisiana. Business has long been inactive at New Orleans, owing to the fear of riots and the political disturbances. Republicans and the colored citizens are naturally alarmed for their lives when they see their enemies armed parading in the streets, and when they remember the long series of outrages which have been inflicted upon them by a small but desperate faction of the opposition. Louisiana, rich in natural advantages, requires capital to repair its levees, drain its swamps, renew its productiveness, and New Orleans must insure good order among its citizens before it can hope for. the revival of its trade. Let, therefore, the intelligent people of Louisiana of all parties unite to repair the evils that have been inflicted upon them. Let them discourage every attempt to violatdthc law; let them Select for office moderate, honest men, who are willing to do justice to all; let them punish with imprisonment and hard labor the desperate politicians, who are the enemies of industry and progress; and New Orleans will once more assume the appearance of a commercial city. Nor will the whole South ever recover its prosperity until it has pursued a similar course —has proved to the world that the rule of rapine and disorder, which has so long impoverished many of its fairest districts, has passed away forever, and that the life and property of the immigrant, the Republican voter, and the foreign capital-: ist are as safe in North Carolina and Georgia as they are in Minnesota or Nebraska.—Harper's Weekly.