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Franklin Repository: August 15, 1866 Go To Page : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

The New Orleans Massacre
(Column 6)

Summary: An account of the violence in New Orleans that details the involvement of local police officers in the murderous rampage.

Editorial Comment: "In order that our readers may see the very best coloring that can be given on the rebel side to the New Orleans butchery of Union men, we quote the following extract from the correspondence of the New York Times, the organ of President Johnson and the New Orleans murderers. Singularly enough the letter is to correct the "Radical falsehoods" about the riot. The writer was on the spot and witnessed the massacre. He says:"

Full Text of Article:

In order that our readers may see the very best coloring that can be given on the rebel side to the New Orleans butchery of Union men, we quote the following extract from the correspondence of the New York Times, the organ of President Johnson and the New Orleans murderers. Singularly enough the letter is headed with display lines indicating that the letter is to correct the "Radical falsehoods" about the riot. The writer was on the spot and witnessed the massacre. He says:

When the freedmen, members of the Convention, spectators and others, had been driven into the building, the police advanced to the entrance and forced the way upstairs to the door of the Hall of the House of Representatives, where the Convention had been assembled, and into which they and the freedmen had retreated. Several different tales are told as to what followed. Certain it is that one policeman was mortally wounded in the hall, while, as he claims, he was attempting to arrest a member. It is claimed by a member who was wounded by this policeman, that he tried to shoot, but his pistol being knocked up, the ball sped harmlessly into the air, whereupon he seized the weapon by the barrel and struck the member on the temple with the butt end. It is said that all hands in the hall fell on their faces, and after the police had expended their shots got up and drove them out of the room with chairs, &c. After this, R. King Cutler is said to have demanded that every armed man leave the room. Capt. Burke, formerly Union Chief of Police, did so, and received a slight flesh wound in the side while passing out. Another version of this assault is, that the policemen, without demanding the surrender of any one, poked their pistols through the half open door and fired promiscuously at the crowd inside; this, while a white flag was being displayed from a cane stuck up on the speaker's platform. It is certain that so much confusion prevailed inside that each of the stories may have some foundation, for with the hubbub occasioned by the firing and shouting of the one hundred or more men in the hall, no one could see or hear everything or be able to tell exactly what occurred.

The mob and the police filled the sidewalk and the stairway of the building. Shots were fired through the windows from both in and outside, and bricks, paving stones, clubs and other missiles were thrown from both directions. A gentleman named Cox came down stairs and was arrested; but on stating that he was merely a spectator was released, and walked across the street, where he shielded himself on a door-step. From this position he could see inside the building which he had just left, and he states that only one person after him came out without being killed or badly wounded as they came down stairs by the police and the mob of rioters accompanying them. Gov. Hahn, who is lame and walks with a crutch, was met on the stairs as he came down, and escorted out to the curb-stone by two policemen. On reaching the sidewalk he was surrounded by about twenty persons, who beat him on the back of the head with clubs, and he received a severe stab in the back, also a pistol shot from behind. It is probable that this shot was fired by a policeman. On reaching Canal street he was placed in a carriage, and under the charge of the Chief of Police was taken safely to the lock-up. He owes his life to the chief and his squad, as they prevented him from being lynched. Fish, Henderson, Shaw and other members were treated likewise. On reaching the foot of the stairs they were beaten by the police and the mob, and after being rendered insensible were dragged on to jail. An attempt to lynch Fish was made on Canal street, but the police in charge of him prevented it, although they nearly killed him themselves by beating him with the butts of their pistols. But few freedmen were arrested coming out of the building, as they were nearly all shot dead at sight. The Rev. Mr. Horton, a clergyman from New Hampshire, now in charge of a church in this city, officiated as chaplain of the Convention. I heard his prayer at the opening in which he asked fervently that the lives of the members might be spared, and thanked God that peace had been declared in Europe, praying for the same blessing in this country. In a habit peculiarly ministerial, one which distinctly marked him as a clergyman, he came down stairs with a white handkerchief on his cane intending to surrender himself peaceable. He was met, knocked down, trampled upon, kicked and beaten nearly to death, while begging for mercy. The police and the rioting friends were his assailants. Dr. Dostie, intending to surrender himself, also came down. He was shot, stabbed, and treated in the same manner as Horton, although he implored the ruffians to take him prisoner and spare his life. It is probable that both Horton and Dostie will die. These details suffice to show how the arrests were made. R. King Cutler and Judge R. K. Howell escaped without much injury, and chancing to fall into the hands of humane policemen were conveyed to prison almost uninjured.

On Common, Baronne, Dryades, St. Charles, Rampart and Carondolet streets freedmen were murdered by the police and the mob in cold blood. Standing in the door of the telegraph office on Carondolet, I saw about two hundred men chasing one negro along the sidewalk. Six policemen were nearest to him, and in advance of his pursuers. They emptied their revolvers into his back, and finally another one, when he was near enough to his victim to lay his hand on his shoulder, shot him in the head, and he fell dead into the alley. Another freedman trying to escape from the institute was climbing over a fence, when I saw him fall from a policeman's shot. As he struck the ground at least a dozen police and rioters surrounded him and fired their pistols into his head and breast, at the same time pounding him with clubs and canes. The blood flowed from wounds in his scalp, covering his entire face; but they continued their brutal assault until he breathed his last, although he several times raised his feeble and wounded arms to gesticulate for the mercy his tongue could not ask for. I saw a white man draw a stiletto and strike it into the heart of a dying negro on Common street. The blood spurted out in great red jets, staining the murderers clothing, face and hands. He got up and displayed the gory marks as though they were proud emblems of a praiseworthy deed. These and other incidents which I saw, suffice to show you how the freedmen were treated in a majority of cases. It is due to justice, however, to say that some of the policemen treated even the freedmen with moderation, and rescued them from death at the hands of the mob.

LAST MOMENTS OF DR. DOSTIE.

The Picayune of August 1st has the following account of the last moments of Dr. Dostie:

In company with Col. De Witt Clinton, Assistant Adjutant on Gen. Sheridan's staff, Recorder Ahern, and others, we visited the room of Dr. A. P. Dostie, at the Hotel Dieu, yesterday evening, for the purpose of hearing his dying declarations, as the physician in attendance has no hopes of his recovery. From his own declarations, the doctor was easier than he was the day before. He stated that he felt no pain whatever, and said there was a probability of his recovering.

His forehead and arms were badly bruised, apparently from clubs or brickbats or other missiles thrown at him. He has two slight wounds in the neck, evidently inflicted with a penknife; also one in the chest. The most serious wound is that which was inflicted by a ball entering in the small of his back, and which is now lodged in the spine, paralyzing the lower extremities.

He seemed to be very rational, recognized all those who addressed him, and spoke fluently, but still with great evidence of exhaustion.

Judge Hiestand was present, and inscribed what he conceived to be his statement concerning the difficulty at the Institute. Upon its being read to him, the Doctor objected to several parts of the statement. Dr. Dostie not realizing a sense of approaching dissolution, it was deemed unnecessary to take down anything that pretended to be a "dying declaration."

While apparently lying in easy indifference or unconsciousness, we were forcibly impressed by several remarks made by the wounded man. He inquired in regard to John Henderson, Jr., and was told that he was dead. He paused for a moment, and remarked: "Well, it is a strange coincidence. We were born on the same day, and embarked in the same glorious cause. I had reason to be apprehensive--to fear a bloody attack--but not he. Strange!"

A gentleman standing by his bedside asked: "Do you know me doctor?" "Oh yes," was the reply, "let the good work go on, that's all."

The only complaint made by the wounded man was that of suffering severe heat in the breast.

The affair commenced at 12:45, and, lasting three hours, ended at 3:45. It did not end until every negro and white man in the Institute had been either killed or wounded and captured, with the exception of three or four whites. As there were about 100 men of both classes in the building, and about 50 wounded outside, the total casualties will amount to 125, of whom 50 were killed or have since died from their wounds. This estimate is moderate.

The military force was encamped at Camp Jackson, five miles from the scene of the riot, and in the morning were told to be ready for any emergency. They did not arrive until quiet had been restored, and it was only restored when there was nothing left to kill or maim. It is certain that somebody was very derelict in ordering the troops into town. Gen. Sheridan was not in town, and Gen. Baird had command. I understand that one of his staff reported everything quiet when, at the time he was making his report the massacre had begun and progressed for a quarter of an hour. His dereliction should be investigated.

The police impressed the baggage-wagons of an express firm in this city to carry off the dead; one load, consisting of eight or ten bodies, had two living men at the bottom. They were wounded, and perhaps would have died; but they had life enough left in them to struggle for air. An eye-witness, whose name I can furnish, says that a policeman mounted the cart, and shoving his revolver down between the bodies on top, killed the poor fellows, with one shot for each. The fiendish thirst for blood which seemed to possess some of the rioters was too brutal for even the imagination of a savage. Their eyes gleamed with it, and rolled in their sockets; their tongues protruded from their mouths, parched and shriveled almost, and their voices grew husky from demoniac yells. I have no doubt but that some of the policemen and rioting whites were wounded by members of their own party, as some of them seemed possessed with a desire to shoot at human beings regardless of caste, color or sex. No females were hurt, that I know of. Houses were pillaged; but the outrages were mostly confined to the immediate vicinage of the Institute. One man in a livery stable deliberately took up a rifle and killed a negro who ran through the door looking for a place of refuge.

It is impossible to give you any more details than I have without going beyond the limits of my desire to furnish only authorative statements. I saw with my own eyes almost everything that I have described, and have responsible witnesses for all the rest. I have not accepted any rumors; but I was fortunately "on the spot," I am able to give you the facts.
E. P. B.

Mr. Sharpe Nominated
(Column 1)

Summary: The editors congratulate William Sharpe, who was nominated as the Democrats' candidate for Congress in the upcoming election. Sharpe, they remind readers, advocates the Democratic line--that is the immediate and unconditional admission of the former rebel states. Should Sharpe's policy be carried to its logical results, it would "make the war fruitless--its sacrifices vain; its achievements a stain upon the pages of our history."
(Names in announcement: William Sharpe)

Full Text of Article:

Hon. J. M'Dowell Sharpe, of this place, was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Congress in this district, on Thursday last. There were twenty-five fruitless ballots, when the Adams men--instructed to support M'Sherry all the time and not to yield to the claims of any other county--cast their votes for Sharpe and made him the nominee.

We welcome Mr. Sharpe to the field as the fittest representative of his party that could have been presented, and we are gratified, too, that in him the friends of rebel representation and unconditional power have their ablest champion thus presented to the people. Coffroth as a candidate would have been neither the embodiment or standard-bearer of anything but Coffroth, and M'Sherry, while personally blameless and worthy, would have been a silent candidate sweeping just as the current goes.

In Mr. Sharpe, however, the Democracy have chosen their ablest advocate and their truest representative, and we shall have a contest worthy of the vital principles at stake. We say we rejoice that it is so, and our confidence in the triumph of the right is strengthened by the fact that in no previous contest since the war began has there been the same light thrown upon the questions to be decided, that will be shed upon the issues in the contest in this district. Mr. Sharpe, ingenious and plausible as he is, cannot make a speech that will not tell fearfully against his own success. He cannot belie history even if he would. He cannot ignore facts patent as the noonday. He cannot by any measure of sophistry make rebels loyal men, nor can he erase from their skirts the blood they bear of their murdered brethren. He must demand for them seats beside him in our National Congress in case of his election, and there is no refinement of logic, no subtlety of rhetoric, that can make the shadowed homes of our people rejoice at his proposition.

Mr. Sharpe will be heard with the respect his ability merits, and he will be heard by thinking, reasoning men. While political fledglings and clowns are tolerated and sometimes laughed at, Mr. Sharpe will be expected to explain to an intelligent, earnest people the most earnest issues ever presented for their determination, and he cannot defend the policy of his party without making more than ever apparent the fearful perils to the Republic which must be the fruits of his success.

With Mr. Sharpe there is no concealment. His position is free from all doubt on the great questions involved. He is for immediate and unconditional admission to full fellowship and power, of all the rebel States, and instead of making treason infamous, he would recall it to the honors it clouded and the power it wielded, with perfidy and perjury, for the destruction of the government. While he cherishes prejudices against freedmen unworthy of both his head and heart, he nevertheless is the ready champion of rebel representation in Congress being based upon the freedmen who are ostracized, disfranchised and in many instances safe in person and property only under protection of Union bayonets; and there is not, we believe, a principle advocated by the apostate President that he does not cordially sustain. In short: he would make the war fruitless--its sacrifices vain; its achievements a stain upon the pages of our history, and even the honored scars of our heroes would be but marks of shame, if his policy could be carried to its logical results. We do not say that such is Mr. Sharpe's wish, but we do say that the principles on which he is placed by his party, and which we believe he earnestly supports, could lead only to the sad fruition we have portrayed.

Mr. Sharpe has a foeman worthy of his steel in Gen. Koontz, who will be among the people advocating the true policy of a nation redeemed by countless sacrifices. He is able, fearless, energetic and unexceptionable, and will rally the faithful men of the district with a degree of fervor and enthusiasm not usual in our contests. Both men fitly and most ably represent their respective parties, and, with treason almost daily decking itself with fresh garlands of loyal blood, there will be voices, although mute upon the hustings, more eloquent and more potent in struggle than ever the chosen leaders, and they will move the popular heart with the sweep of the tornado against him who assumes to apologize for the traitors still crimsoned with wanton sacrifice, and still unrepentant of the bereavement and desolation they have wrought. The man upon whom this retributive sentiment shall fall, will be ground to powder. Has Mr. Sharpe calculated the issue?

Johnsonism Cropping Out
(Column 2)

Summary: The editors report that politicians in North Carolina have begun to repudiate the compulsory measures that Johnson prescribed for them to re-join the Union. Their action "foreshadows what will be the course of every rebel State as soon as they can act for themselves."

[No Title]
(Column 3)

Summary: The article reports that Gen. Coffroth lost the contest for the Democratic nomination for Congress from the district, even though he had the backing of President Johnson.

[No Title]
(Column 5)

Summary: It is reported that Gen. Kiddo, assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas, has issued an order forbidding the justices of the peace in Houston from adjudicating any cases that involve freedmen.

Harrisburg
(Column 5)

Summary: "Horace" offers a scathing review of the Soldiers' Convention in Philadelphia, which it cast as a "fraud and a libel upon the true soldiers of Pennsylvania." The consequence of the convention, he contends, will be an outpouring of support for Gen. Geary.

Trailer: "Horace"

Louisiana--Address of Governor Wells
(Column 7)

Summary: A transcript of Governor Wells's speech on the "bloody tragedy" that took place in New Orleans on July 30, 1866. In the address, Wells places blame for the outrages squarely on the shoulders of intransigent rebels who refuse to accept the new order.

Full Text of Article:

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 8.

The following address has been issued to the people of Louisiana by Gov. Wells:

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 8.--The bloody tragedy enacted in the City of New Orleans on the 30th day of July, 1866, in which more than three hundred citizens were killed or wounded, has, to the credit of humanity, created a profound sympathy in the breast of every man throughout the length and breadth of the country.

The remote and immediate causes of this outrage demand a thorough investigation and explanation; and, as the Chief Magistrate of the State, I feel a solemn duty resting upon me to give a plain, unvarnished statement of its origin and progress. In doing this it becomes necessary for me to commence in the year 1864, at the reorganization of the civil government in that portion of Louisiana which had been wrested from rebel authority. I regret that I shall in this connection be obliged to speak of myself. It is not to satisfy any feeling of vanity that I do so, for I fully realize that I am but an insignificant atom in the great cause of maintaining and perpetuating the Union of these States.

The political history of the country teaches us that under the policy of the late lamented President, all the loyal citizens of Louisiana; in the parishes then within the Union, were invited and authorized in the proclamation issued by the military commander of this Department, to hold an election on the 22d day of February, 1864, for State officers. The election was held, and I then, being a refugee from my parish in the rebel lines, in consequence of my Union sentiments, was nominated by the Free State party, as it is called, and also by the extreme Radical party, of which J. Durand was the acknowledged leader, as their candidate for the office of Lieut. Governor. The first named ticket, headed by Michael Hahn for Governor, was elected. Gov. Hahn served until the 4th of March, 1865, when, by his resignation, I succeeded to the office of Governor. In the meantime, and by virtue of military authority, an election for delegates to the State Convention to amend and revise the Constitution of 1852, had taken place. The Convention had met, framed a Constitution declaring slavery to be abolished, which Constitution is now the fundamental law of the State. It is now further known that the Convention did adjourn sine die, but subject to the call of the President for any cause. A Legislature had also been elected, and was in session at the time of the assumption by me of the duties of the office of the Governor.

Shortly after the collapse of the so-called Confederate Government took place, and by the surrender of the forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department, the entire territory of the State was restored to the lawful authority of the United States. When this event took place, what was my conduct towards the population of the eighteen parishes reclaimed? Although I had been persecuted and driven away from my home by the rebel authorities, I suppressed all feeling of rancor so natural to the many, and expressed the belief that a majority had been seduced from their allegiance to the old flag by the wiles of artful demagogues who brought on the rebellion.

When the members of the Legislature met in extra session in the month of November, I determined to try the effect of kindness and conciliation in weaning them back to their first love. I addressed them a proclamation, congratulating them on their restoration to the protection of a government of law and order, and assured them that so far as I was concerned, I was willing to forget the past. I begged them to submit cheerfully, and unreservedly to the new order of things and assured them, that although a State Government had been organized, yet I was anxious that a general election for State officers should be held, in which the whole State could participate. I appointed men, recommended, to fill the offices in the several parishes. I signed their applications to the President of the United States for special pardon. I persisted in my course of reconciliation, notwithstanding the warnings and remonstrances of Union men, who believed that my policy would be unavailing in accomplishing the purposes intended, and who predicted that, at the very first election, these men, in every parish where they held power, would proscribe every man from office who had not been in the rebel army, and fought for the rebel cause.

These predictions have been realized to the letter at every subsequent election, with the exception of my own case; and it is well known, for it was publicly avowed, that I was put at the head of their ticket simply because it was thought that I could be useful in securing a representation of this State in Congress. It is well known that the platform reported by the committee, appointed for that purpose, is a reiteration of the doctrines of the right of secession, and it was only through the exertions of a few of the more cautious and politic of the party that this platform was made to assume the form in which it was adopted. At the same convention, a well known citizen, and live democrat, was publicly censured by resolution because, in a speech delivered before that party, he said that secession was worse than a crime--it was a blunder. Notwithstanding my nomination by the Democratic party, another candidate was put in the field in opposition to me, who had officiated as Governor under rebel rule, and who, had been in the country, and signified his assent, I have no doubt would have been overwhelmingly elected.

The Convention of 1865 was convened for the purpose of raising money to restore the broken levees, and to take measures to redeem the credit of the State. I found that they were more intent on calling a Convention to change the Constitution of 1864 than to promote the material interests of the people. Their chief objection to that instrument was the character of the men who framed it, and the abolition thereby of slavery. Having failed at the extra session to pass a bill calling a Convention, the attempt was renewed at the regular session, held in the month of January, and more than half the time of that body was spent in discussing that question. Finally, a committee was sent to Washington to consult the President, and the Legislature only abandoned the measure through his advice. I considered a Convention inexpedient, and for that reason opposed it. I had learned enough of the real sentiments of the people to convince me that if a new Constitution was made it would be less in harmony with the views of the President and Congress than the Constitution of 1864, the result of which would be to lessen the chances for the admission of our Representatives. I urged these views on the members of both Houses of the Legislature, but they had no effect with the majority. I deprecated the city and parish election, for the reason that I feared the result, because of the character of the men that would be elected, because I had seen enough of public sentiment to convince me that more of those who had served in the Confederate army, or who had gone into the Confederate lines, would be elected to office. I foresaw that such a result would justly be regarded by the people of the loyal States as showing a defiant spirit, and as still glorying in a course that had cost them such a fearful loss of life and expenditure of treasure. With numerous and repeated evidences of the continuing of an intolerant and rebellious spirit, and the manifestation of the persecution of all that did not adhere to the fortunes of the Confederacy, to the last, on the part of a large majority of the citizens, and with a press almost unanimously expressing sentiments of the same tenor, it is a matter of surprise that I should pause and commence to reflect on the consequences, both as regards the future security of the Government and the fate of the Union men in the South, if these men, who once attempted to break up the Union, succeeded in grasping the power of the nation again? I had seen, that while professing with their lips renewed allegiance to the flag and obligation to the President for his pacific policy, they were becoming arrogant, intolerant and dictatorial. They were glorying in the apparent schism between the President and Congress in the policy of restoring the State lately in rebellion, and rubbing their hands with delight at the idea of civil war in the loyal States.

In view of all this array of strong, stubborn acts, I frankly own that my views of the conciliatory policy in bringing back to allegiance those who have been engaged in a war to destroy the Union have undergone a change. The intolerant spirit engendered by slavery still exists. The loss of property and the failure of their hopes can never be forgiven, and though I regard them as impotent to renew constituted authority, enforced by the presence of military forces, yet I am convinced that they would renew the rebellion to-morrow, if there were a sure prospect of success. Impressed with the truth of these views, foreseeing the uncertainty for the future security of the Union men in the South, desiring that the amendment to the constitution adopted by Congress and submitted to the States for ratification should prevail, and fully realizing the fact that the amendment would never be ratified by the present Legislature, I own that I was in favor of the reassembling of the Convention of 1864 as the only means of securing the ratification as required, and thereby insure the admission of our representatives in Congress. The legal right of the Convention to continue its functions is a question I suppose properly pertaining to the Courts to decide. Senators and Representatives in Congress of great learning, and men of high legal attainments in New Orleans, have expressed the opinion that under the resolution of adjournment the Convention could lawfully reassemble. A distinguished Democrat Senator in Congress took the same view. For myself, if I had any doubt on this subject, which I have not, I would have deferred to the opinion of abler men. The total number of delegates composing the Convention was one hundred and fifty. The number elected was seventy-three. The quorum was fixed at seventy six, this number being a majority of the whole. There were twenty-seven parishes unrepresented in the Convention, entitled to eleven delegates, and adding thereto ten vacancies to be filled, it would make sixty-one delegates to be elected, besides there were some ten or twelve delegates, who, disapproving the emancipation clause, refused to sign the Constitution, who may be ranked with the extreme conservatives. Counting the sixty-one delegates elected to be of the same class, and the balance of the Convention to be radical, it will be seen that the parties would have been nearly equally divided.

There are disfranchising clauses in the Constitution of 1864. The much abused members of that body had it in their power to have made the Constitution as stringent against those engaged in the rebellion, as Tennessee and Missouri have done. They pursue and opposite course, believing and trusting, as I did, that these men would be actuated by a spirit of tolerance and forbearance, in return for the liberality shown toward them. How the members of that Convention have been treated individually by the very men in whose honor and good faith they have trusted, to say nothing of the scorn and vilification fulminated against them, as a collective body, and the Constitution they made, let the record of the bloody doings at the Mechanics Institute on Monday, the 30th ult., answer. In keeping with their unrelenting policy to maintain the power of the State in their own hands exclusively, they opposed the meeting of the Convention of 1864. They needed no better monitor than their own conscience to tell them that by their conduct they had forfeited all claims to further favors from the original members of that Convention. They resolved that it must be put down, crushed out at all risks. The terrible scenes of the 30th of July, confidently predicted in case the Convention met, were the result. The letters of Mayor Monroe to Gen. Baird, accompanying this communication, furnish proof that it was the determination that if every other measure failed, a resort would be made to force. Everything was arranged on Sunday. Preparatory to that purpose, the police received orders and on Monday morning they were in large numbers at the corner of Canal and Dryade streets, each having one or more revolvers on his person. They were not there, except to commit violence. The speakers at the Friday night meeting counseled nothing more than that the blacks should come aimed to defend the Convention, in case the members were attacked. Admitting that they had assembled for that purpose, what occasion was there for alarm, unless it was meditated to assault the Convention. The inference is irresistible, from that manner of the police alone, that it was designed to break up the Convention by force. For this purpose a beginning was necessary by the arrival of a procession of blacks with music, on their way to the place of the meeting of the Convention, which procession had entered the street through the crowd of policemen and citizens. At the corner of canal street they were met with insult and jeers, which brought on a collision. A shot was fired but ended in nothing serious. The next act of violence was the arrest of a colored man by a policeman in front of the Institute, but for what offense I am unable to say. The crowd of colored persons assembled became excited at these occurrences, the same as a body of white men would do under the same circumstances. Some took the side of the policemen, others the side of the prisoners; brickbats were thrown, and one shot fired, the testimony going to show that it was fired by one of the colored crowd. It was answered immediately by several shots from the crowd of policemen at the corner, and followed up by rapid firing on the crowd of blacks, who returned the fire as fast as they could, but being overpowered and driven from the street, took shelter in the Mechanic's Institute. If the object of the police was simply to preserve the public peace, why did they not, after the men had taken refuge in the Institute, return to their original position, at the corner of the streets, which effectually cut off egress from the front, and, placing a guard to watch the rear of the building, await the arrival of the military, who were known to be on the way. Their only reason for this course is that it did not suit their purpose. They accordingly advanced in front of the building, and besieged it on all sides, and every negro who attempted to escape was murdered.

The crowning climax of these murderous and bloody acts is well known. When the white flag was hung out as a token of surrender, the police arrested the members of the Convention and other white citizens, and brought them into the streets, where the most prominent, for their Union sentiments, were shot, stabbed and beaten in the very custody and presence of the entire police force of the city. Why did not the Mayor, or his Chief, station a guard at the door, and forbid any person from entering, and await the arrival of the military? By this means the last, most deliberate, and most horrible phaze of this bloody tragedy would have been avoided. It is also notorious that the police failed to arrest, or attempt to arrest, even one of the riotous citizens, who, according to their often repeated statements, were continually attacking, wounding and killing persons, who had surrendered and were in custody.

I think that I have fully shown that it was the design of those opposed to the Convention to break it up by force. The inference to be drawn from the letter of the Mayor that such a course was resolved on, and the massing of the police, and their willingness to rush into the fight, I think fully establishes the fact that the causes of this exhibition of violence and mob law must be traced further back. It it the embers of the fires of the rebellious feeling which plunged this country into a desolating war, the flames of which are not yet extinguished in the breast of the former slaveholding aristocracy, who failed in their first effort to destroy the Government. They seek now to regain political power in the same old spirit.

My deliberate conclusion is, that if the military forces be withdrawn, the lives of the Union men, who proved themselves conspicuous in maintaining their allegiance, will not be safe. The security, both of the Government and the Union men of the South, depended, in my opinion, upon the ratification of the constitutional amendment proposed by Congress, and the enfranchisement of the loyal black man, that he may become educated and qualified for that important privilege. If the advocacy of these measures identify me with the Radical party, as it is called, in my opposition to the President, I must accept the situation, besides I cannot change my conviction in respect to the principles and measures I deem necessary to perpetuate the Union.
[Signed.] Madison Wells,
Governor of Louisiana.

Local Items--Union Representation
(Column 1)

Summary: The article provides the breakdown from the 1864 Presidential election; under the system approved by the late Union County Convention, electoral returns will serve as the basis of representation at future conventions.

Full Text of Article:

UNION REPRESENTATION.--The late Union County Convention adopted a resolution relative to representation in future conventions, as follows:

Resolved, That in future each district be represented in the County Convention by three delegates; and for each one hundred voters, and each fractional part of one hundred exceeding fifty, over and above three hundred, one additional delegate be allowed--the last Presidential vote to be the basis.

The following table exhibits the home vote for President in 1864, and the representation it would give each district:

District Lincoln M'Clellan Total Del. Antrim 468 443 911 9 Chamb'g, N. Ward 278 143 421 4 Chamb'g, S. Ward 256 226 482 5 Concord 22 93 115 3 Dry Run 94 98 192 3 Fayetteville 232 190 422 4 Greenvillage 163 109 272 3 Guilford 175 197 372 4 Hamilton 116 142 258 3 Letterkenny 136 227 363 4 Lurgan 83 139 222 3 Loudon 78 92 170 3 Metal 124 83 207 3 Montgomery 214 147 361 4 Orrstown 76 119 195 3 Peters 152 53 205 3 Quincy 181 309 490 5 Southampton 53 71 124 3 Sulphur Spring 23 48 71 3 St. Thomas 138 169 307 3 Washington 312 262 574 6 Warren 50 57 107 3 Welsh Run 92 145 237 3 Total 3516 3562 7078 87

In addition to the above vote, Lincoln received 346 votes in the army from this county, and McClellan received 259, but there is no return of this vote by districts, and we cannot apportion it. It was returned by single votes, company votes, &c., and the return judges never apportioned it to the townships. It would be almost an impossibility to do it now; but as it would not make any material difference in the representation of the districts respectively, we presume the home vote will be accepted until the next Presidential election. It will be seen that the new table varies the representation very little from what it was in the last convention.

Local Items--Good Templars
(Column 2)

Summary: The following men were installed as officers of the Lodges of Good Templars: McMurray Lodge--John M. Gilmore, William S. Roney, Ceddie Jeffries, John A. Seiders, Hattie Flory, D. B. Oaks, George Palmer, William D. Guthrie, Allen C. McGrath, Eliza Barbour, Mary Linn, Philip Reilly, Jasper Cline, and Daniel Jones; St. Thomas Lodge--John W. Coble, John P. Weyant, Amelia Deitrick, Bem K. Hassler, Jennie Fohl, David Parks, Johnathan Coble, and Anna Sixes; Loudon Lodge--Henry McLaughin, Dr. Joseph H. McClintock, Kate Beaver, H. L. Snyder, Harriet McLaughlin, D. Newman, John Jarrett, S. G. Seidel, Agnes Gold, C. McCurdy, Alex McCurdy, Marian Snyder, Mary Besser, C. H. McLaughlin.
(Names in announcement: John M. Gilmore, William S. Roney, Ceddie Jeffries, John A. Seiders, Hattie Flory, D. B. Oaks, George Palmer, William D. Guthrie, Allen C. McGrath, Eliza Barbour, Mary Linn, Philip Reilly, Jasper Cline, Daniel Jones, John W. Coble, John P. Weyant, Amelia Deitrick, Bem K. Hassler, Jennie\ Fohl, David Parks, Johnathan Coble, Anna Sixes, Henry McLaughlin, Dr. Joseph H. McClintock, Kate Beaver, H. L. Snyder, Harriet McLaughlin, D. Newman, John Jarrett, S. G. Seidel, Agnes Gold, C. McCurdy, Alex McCurdy, Marian Snyder, Mary Besser, C. H. McLaughliln)

Local Items--Base Ball
(Column 2)

Summary: In a baseball match played last Saturday, the Liberty defeated the Pioneers, a new club, by a score of 48 to 17.

Local Items--Graeffenburg Springs
(Column 2)

Summary: Announces that Daniel Miller has taken over the Graeffenburg Springs. Miller has refurbished the houses in "complete and excellent style." Benjamin Zook, formerly of Chambersburg, will oversee the operation.

Local Items--The Court
(Column 2)

Summary: The article reports that an unusually large number of petty criminal cases are scheduled to be heard at the August term of the Court, which began Monday. Two prosecutions have already taken place: both were for violations of the license law. The two men charged with the offense, Messrs. Seibert and Robertson, each settled their cases and had their licenses revoked as a consequence of their actions.
(Names in announcement: Robertson, Seibert)

Local Items--Waynesboro Items
(Column 2)

Summary: Sallie T. Brotherton was robbed of all her queensware, pans, and other cooking utensils. Evidently, the thieves broke through the back of the building.

Origin of Article: Waynesboro Record

Local Items--Drowned
(Column 2)

Summary: The son of Nicholas Radle died in a "rain tub with but six inches of water" last Tuesday.

Origin of Article: Mercersburg Journal

Married
(Column 3)

Summary: On August 9th, Jacob Strock and Catharine Dunkinson were married by Rev. J. Dickson.
(Names in announcement: Jacob Strock, Catharine Dunkinson, Rev. J. Dickson)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On August 2nd, Claude Thayer, infant son of William A. and Beckie S. Fuller, died. He was 2 months old.
(Names in announcement: Claude Thayer Fuller, William A. Fuller, Beckie S. Fuller)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On August 8th, Susannah Barr, 80, died in St. Thomas.
(Names in announcement: Thomas Barr)

Died
(Column 3)

Summary: On August 16th, David Dietrick, son of Philip and Leah Carper, died. He was 23 months old.
(Names in announcement: Philip Carper, David Dietrick Carper, Leah Carper)