Speech #430100972

In his valedictory meessp h iiferrewith cleip morlif eatioa to the scenes of in. tihilation. violeee. aadbloodshed which had marked the late general elections in New OrleansThere were no republicans there then. no carpetbaggers. none of these birds and beasts which the Senator from Georgia talked so spitefully about to the people of SavannahHe said that the repetition of such outrages would tarnish our character and sink us to the level of the anarchileal governments of Spanish Amerira. that before the occurrence of thneo "great public crimes. the hideous deformity of which he could not describe. and which were committed with impUity in midday light. sai iii the presence of hundreds of persons. no one could have admitted oven the posel. bility that a bloodthirsty mob could have contemplated to overawe any portion of the people of this State in the exercise of their most valuable rights. "but that what would then have ben denied even as a possibility is 0ow a historical fact." Gayarrd is talking about matters that occurred in 1856. not about scenes that occurred in 187274but how very close the parallelandi he quotesfrom a governor of the State and an executive message. Governor Wickliffe. succeeding Governor Hebert. after lamenting the mismanagemeut and recklessness of administration. in his message to the Legislature in 1857 he commented on this mob violence. He said: It is well known that at the two last generel elections manv of the streets sad approaces to the polls were compltetly in the hands of orgaiicd ruffianHow much that sounds like "banditti"who colmitted acts of violencoon multitudes of our naturalized fellowcitizenswho dared venture to exercise the right of suffrage. Thus nearly onethird of the registered voters of Now Orleans lave been deterred from exercising their highest and most sacred prerogative. Are we not to be believed when we say that by similar scenes recently occurring onethird of the people of New Orleans and Louisiana are deprived of their rights and twenty thousand men kept away from the polls I The expression of such elections is an open and palpable frad on the people. and I recommend you to adept such measures as shall effectually prevent the true will of the majority from being totally silenced.