150-YEARS-AGO -- CAMPAIGN GETTING ROWDY

[Ed. Note: text from the UT Tyler digital archives]

Campaign editorial cartoon  featuring John Bell, Constitutional Union Party, left, Stephen A. Douglas, regular Democratic party candidate, John C. Breckinridge, Southern Democratic candidate and Abraham Lincoln, Republican party candidate. (Library of Congress)

DAILY GAZETTE & COMET [BATON ROUGE, LA], September 18, 1860, p. 2, c. 1

Ill. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas,
Democratic Party candidate for
president in 1860. (Library of Congress)

Outrageous Conduct.—On Sunday evening last, our city was visited with a most pestilential simoon of drunkness. A company of men paraded the streets under the Democratic doctrine, that "in union there is strength," committing all manner of outrages on persons and property, causing the stores and houses to close, and for a time taking complete possession of the place. It cannot be said the parties are not known—it cannot be said that there is not evidence to convict them, and it the question arises, where are the authorities, who are in the regular pay of the people to do what is clearly their duty, if any duty at all is required of them. This is not the first or second time that such disgraceful scenes have been witnessed in Baton Rouge of late years, and the violators of the law do so with impunity. Shall we admit that the parties, who are charged with the duty of arresting such and calling on others to aid them, when their power fails, are incompetent to the duty? Yes—this is the naked truth. The people are responsible for this condition of things. The evils all come out of that pandoras box, of all evil; the ballot box, which we for one are in favor of abolishing, if it can do nothing better than elevate to place, men, notoriously unfit for place. Where is the Mayor of the city—the Justice left to administer justice—the Marshal of the city and his assistant? We are all interested in these inquiries, and if there are not sober people enough—law abiding citizens, to see these evils corrected, the entire machinery of the city government had better be turned out to grass.

DAILY GAZETTE & COMET [BATON ROUGE, LA], September 18, 1860, p. 3, c. 1

Debaters Attention.—There will be a regular meeting of the Sugar Bowl Debating Society, this evening at 7½ o'clock, at the usual place of meeting.

At the last regular meeting of the society, the following question, "Are the opinions of S. A. Douglas with regard to Territories constitutional," was ably discussed by Messrs. Walters, Stuart, Annie, Muguet, LeBlanc and J. H. Hardon on the affirmative, and by Messrs. Favrot, C. O. & J. H. Hardy, Read, and McGimpsey on the negative. . . .