Military tyranny in New Orleans.
Military tyranny in New Orleans is growing more grinding each day. Mr. G. W. Betterton, convicted of an attempt to furnish supplies to the Confederated, has been sentenced to pay a fine of $25,000 and be imprisoned at hard labor in Fort Pickens for one year. We note some more of the prominent arrests we find chronicled in the New Orleans papers:In addition to the schoolmistress who was fined $200 because a few miniature "rebel" flag were found on her premises, a Mrs. Allen was fined $30 for saying the American flag was a dirty rag. Another was under arrest for a similar offence, two others for saying they were good Confederates were fined each $5; still another, a "registered enemy" was sent to jail thirty days for declaring he was going into the Confederacy to kill Yankees.
Mr. Marzeni was charged with preventing children from singing national airs. The evidence showed that the accused, hearing a little girl singing the Star Spangled Banner, told her to stop that nasty Yankee song. He was fined $10.
In the "Home Department" of the New Orleans True Della, of a recent date, we find the following account of the efforts now being made to prevent the school-mistacsses of New Orleans from teaching the young idea how to shoot rebelled. It anything can be more ridiculous and contemptible than the course of the officers of the "best Government in the world" towards female teachers, because some of their pupils draw rebel pictures on their slates and copy-books, we have yet to see it:
The police, it appears, made a descent on and search in several schools for young ladies, and brought quite a number of badly drawn Confederate flag and secession emblems into Court to give evidence of a successful exploit. At the same time the principals of the establishments were arraigned in the provost court, and their cases adjudged. The first party was a Miss Hall, principal of a school on Caronde let street, evidently a respectable spinster, who pointed to British protection, and expressed her indignant surprise at the inquisitive visitation and search from a police officer. She gave it as her opinion that some of her pupils in the lower classes could have, by way of amusement, drawn the political emblems complained of, but called on the police officer to sustain her in the assertion that in the room of the graduates and other high classes of the school, an unsurpassed lady like department had been evident, and that nothing political was found there.
The Judge remarked that the authorities felt it their duty to endeavor that the mind of the rising generation should be trained with proper loyal feeling, and that it was necessary to sustain this object by inflicting a fine of $100 in the present case. A short time after, Mrs. Loquet, principal of a school on Camp street, was arraigned on the same charge, of permitting seditions emblems to be drawn and cherished by the female pupils. The police man stated that the accused had expressed the opinion that the subject was none of her concern, and not for her to interfere about.
Judge Hughes then explained that he felt convinced that in the former case he had been led into an error of judgment, and that severe punishments appear necessary. He adjudged Mrs. Loquet to pay a fine of $250, which sum was, within a few moment, handed over to the receiving clerk by a gentleman, who thereafter led the lady out of the court room.
Miss Picot, said to be the principal of a school for young ladies, on Julia street, was then arraigned, accompanied by her mother. The officer who searched the establishment and found a number of the infantile efforts at flag manufacturing in the books and on the sheets of paper belonging to the pupils, stated that the lady had stated that she had endeavored to enforce the rate that no political demonstrations, obnoxious to the Government, should be indulged in. The lady herself, as well as her mother, expressed regret at the fact that the secret artistic efforts of the pupils should have been offensive to the authorities. The Judge evidently appreciated the plea, but felt it necessary to give proper examples as to the punishment of delinquent ladies who have taken on themselves the duty to teach the young minds how to shoot in the right direction.
