338 



LOUISIANA. 



He was therefore marched to the business center 

 of the town, straightened out, and given 50 lashes 

 with a cowhide whip, in the presence of a large 

 audience of whites and negroes." 



At Allentown, in April, the foreman of a lumber 

 mill was shot and instantly killed by a negro, 

 who then took his own life. Two other negroes 

 were arrested on a charge of having conspired with 

 the murderer to kill the foreman; they were seized 

 by a mob and hanged in the woods. 



A riot arose at Lake Charles in September, in 

 consequence of an assault by a negro on an old 

 lady at Chloe station. A mob attempted to take 

 him from the jail where he was placed after arrest, 

 and in the attempt the jailer was killed by a shot 

 from the mob. Three men were arrested, charged 

 with the murder. The negro was sentenced to 

 twenty years' imprisonment. 



Political. The State election was held April 

 17. It was the first general election held under the 

 new Constitution. The total registration was 

 129,729; of these it is said that about 7,000 were 

 negroes. Not only negroes, but many naturalized 

 foreigners, were disfranchised by the new election 

 provisions requiring educational or property quali- 

 fications. There were three tickets in the field 

 the Democratic, the regular Republican, and the 

 Republican- Fusion. 



The nominations made at the Democratic con- 

 vention, which was held Dec. 20, 1899, were: For 

 Governor, W. W. Heard; Lieutenant Governor, 

 Albert Estopinal; Secretary of State, John T. 

 Michel; Attorney-General, Walter Guion; Super- 

 intendent of Education, Joseph V. Calhoun ; Treas- 

 urer, Ledoux E. Smith ; Auditor, W. S. Frazee. 



The regular Republicans, also called the Wim- 

 berley Republicans from the name of the State 

 member of the National Republican Committee, 

 appointed their convention for Feb. 5, when they 

 met at New Orleans and selected the following 

 candidates: For Governor, Eugene S. Reems; 

 Lieutenant Governor, F. B. Earhart; Treasurer, 

 Benjamin Bloomfield; Auditor, James Forsythe; 

 Attorney-General, Robert P. Hunter; Superintend- 

 ent of Education, D. M. Lines. 



On Feb. 6 a convention was held at Alexandria 

 by a section of Republicans, composed in part of 

 the sugar planters who left the Democratic party 

 at the time the sugar bounty was discontinued. 

 They have been called the " Lily Whites." They 

 were joined by other Republicans not favoring the 

 management of the regular party, and the follow- 

 ing ticket was named: For Governor, C. Taylor 

 Cade; Lieutenant Governor, W. G. Wyly; Treas- 

 urer, T. J. Woodward; Attorney-General, Clay 

 Knobloch ; Secretary of State, W.* J. Behan ; Au- 

 ditor, J. C. Weeks; Superintendent of Education, 

 C. K. Murray. 



The People's party, at Alexandria, Feb. 7, agreed 

 upon the following ticket: For Governor, D. M. 

 Sliolars; Lieutenant Governor, T. J. Woodward; 

 Secretary of State, J. T. Howell; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Taylor Beattie; Auditor, O. H. Deshotels; 

 Treasurer, B. W. Marsden; Superintendent of 

 Education, O. B. Staples. 



( 'oinmittees of the independent Republicans and 

 the Populists held a conference about Feb. 20; 

 llicy were joined by independent Democrats who, 

 under the leadership of Senator CallVry, were op- 

 posed to the administration of Gov. Foster and 

 to the election provisions of the new Constitution. 

 Senator CafFery seems to have been out of favor 

 with liis party on account of liis gold standard 

 principles and his having voted in Congress against 

 some measures deemed of interest to the citizens 

 of the State. The fusion ticket was headed by 

 hi- son. It was: For Governor, Donelson Caffery, 



Jr., independent Democrat; Lieutenant Governor,. 

 I). M. Sholars, Populist-Democrat; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, W. G. Wyly, Republican; Secretary of State,. 

 C. Taylor Cade, Republican; Treasurer, George A. 

 Hassinger, Republican; Auditor, O. H. Deshotels, 

 Populist; Superintendent of Education, O. B. 

 Staples, Populist. Mr. Caffery's letter of accept- 

 ance may be taken as a declaration of the princi- 

 ples of the combined parties. He said in part: 

 " The sole memento of the vanished question of race 

 supremacy is found in Democratic majorities based 

 on negro votes counted but not cast; and having 

 fought and prevailed against an unbearable and now 

 impossible domination, it becomes necessary for our 

 people to resist the domination of overgrown power 

 armed with the weapons intrusted to the officers of 

 State for the defense of our civilization. Under our 

 government of majorities without votes, we have 

 learned that there may be a more odious form 

 of oppression than taxation without representa- 

 tion. The Governor must not be the fountain- 

 head of political authority. The school system 

 must be removed from petty politics. The regis- 

 trars must be elected by the people of the several 

 parishes. The registration must not be a partisan 

 weapon. All candidates must have the right of 

 naming their commissioners of election. The trick 

 laws governing the official ballot and representa- 

 tion at the polls must no longer throttle opposition 

 to the candidates of the party in control, and a;- 

 the whole system of registration and election laws- 

 was designed to prevent the growth and formation 

 of opposing parties and the building up of that, 

 spirit of independence which is the life breath of 

 the republic, a new system must be introduced 

 which will hold out to the people all the oppor- 

 tunities now denied them." 



There was trouble about the official ballot and 

 the election commissioners. Those to which the 

 Republicans were entitled were in most parishes 

 given to the regular Republicans, though in some 

 to the fusionists. In sending in their nomination 

 papers, the fusionists appended the requisite num- 

 ber of signatures, but in parishes where signers 

 afterward withdrew their names by telegraph, the 

 election board was unwilling to allow the names 

 of the candidates to appear on the official ballot. 



The election resulted in victory for the Demo- 

 crats on the State ticket and on nearly every 

 local ticket. The total vote was less than half 

 as large as at the last State election. The vote 

 for Governor was: Heard, Democrat, 60.200: 

 Reems, Republican, 2.449; Caffery, fusion, 14,215. 

 The vote for presidential electors was: Democratic, 

 53,671; Republican, 14,233. 



A proposed amendment to the Constitution was 

 carried, which will enable New Orleans to issue 

 bonds to pay for water, sewerage, and drainage 

 improvements. 



The Legislature elected was wholly Democratic. 



The Democratic convention for choosing delr- 

 gates to the national convention and nominating 

 electors was held June 4, at Baton Rouge. The 

 delegates were instructed for William .1. 1'rva i. 

 The resolutions denounced the imperialist ! poli< y 

 of the administration, condemned the annexation 

 of the Philippines, asked that the government >f 

 Cuba be given into the hands of its citizens, de- 

 nounced trusts, opposed wars of conquest and ac- 

 quisition of colonies and militarism, asked national 

 aid for the levee system and the deepening of the 

 channel of the Southwest Pass at the mouth of 

 the Mississippi, favored the construction of the 

 Nicaragua Canal immediately by the United States 

 alone and the election of Senators by direct vote 

 of the people, and expressed sympathy for tie 

 Boers. 



