I do not think the Northern men who had come into New Orleans since its surrender, and who now so largely controlled its business, were doing much to promote a healthier tone of public feeling.
Reid critiques the influence of Northern businessmen in post-surrender New Orleans, suggesting they were not fostering positive public sentiment.
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I would rather give up my crop to the negroes than the lives of my wife and children.
Above all, if there is a trace of politics in their work, or of seeking for political effect at home, they will fail, and deserve to fail.
They appeared at times when public men often seemed to be groping in the dark on an unknown road, but it is now evident that the road which has been taken is substantially the road they marked out.
Something, however, must be done to disperse this unwholesome gathering at Newbern, or the tumor, thus neglected, may do serious injury.