Chapter 29 Summary

New Orleans and its leading citizens have publicly promised the citizens of the lower parishes that they will be compensated for their financial loss. Butler will determine how New Orleans meets its moral commitment. In a series of political and legal moves, Butler issues many conciliatory and promising words, but in essence he ensures that the refugees will be swindled. Butler and his appointees charge the refugees for their care, pay out only pennies on the dollar for their losses and push them out of New Orleans as rapidly as possible.

He threatens any attorneys who take up refugees' cases with disbarment, refuses partial payments and disallows ongoing investigations. Refugees who need money are forced to settle quickly and definitively, often before they can return to their land to assess losses.

Butler uses a variety of means to limit payments. For example, when...