Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1853-12-24
Judge Gavarre's Pamphlet.

| this State-and if it does not arouse them, in
| city, own and country, to an uprising, to the
authority Of the strong arm, in resuscltatlng
the purity of the ballot-box and in'preserving
the integrity Of our institutions, then, indeed,
has the time arrived when republicanism ex-
lists but 10 q name-when boosted Democracy
has descended to the oligarchv of a few, who,
for selfish purposes, distribute their money free
" among the debased Of foreign lands, and
then march them up from poll to poll to de-
post their infamous votes in favor of the De-
mocratjc ticket. viii the people suffer this
Are there not thousands Of noble citizens in
this State, who call themselves Democrats, who
will turn with disgust and horror from so stu
pendous a fraud as this to which we aI'ude:-
The entire country delegation in the Leg!sIa-
ture should, unhesitating'y, i'll the face OF TINS
gigantic vilIainny p~racticed at the polls IN the
city, at once refuse to sit with the New Orleans
delegation till d new election is had. Let some
noble member rise from his seat at the opening
of the next Legislature, and proclaim that for
himself he will rot consent 10 enter upon pub
lie business in conjunction with a delegation
elected through a publicly proclaimed fraud
and we doubt not that many true hearts will
follow such a speaker, hat in hand, out Of the
oaken doors of the State Capitol? Who has
the boldness and the independence to perform
| an act Of such virtue and such patriotism?
The publication which thus exposes this mr.
paralieIed fraud at the polls, as pr~acticed
in the city of New Orleans at the late election,
is not the emanation of a Wing editor, com
planning, as Democratic papers would state, IN
consequence of the defeat Of the party; but
it comes from a distinguished and talented,
member Of the Democratic party, whose lnteg-
rity, moral aud political, has never yet been
questioned. His declarations must have weight
with the people at large. As for our ourself,
we believe that, when such men as Mr.. GAY
ARE step out from the Democratic ranks TO
denounce the high-handed and outrageous acts
of the party. a bright and healthy political re-
form is about to commence.
Last week we gave an extract from the pub
l~ication alluded 10. The following is another,
which we take from the pamphlet before us.
Read it:
Let it be well understood that have not one
word to say about private grievances, and no
personal redress to seek, but as citizen. bound
by hereditary ties 10 the land OF my birth, ]
deem it ny duty to denounce as loudly as ]
can, the most t1agitious, daring and dangerous
outrage that ever was committed against the
peace and dignity Of the State and against the
security of those institutions which are the
palladium Of her prosperity.
1t is fact susceptible Of mathematical de-
monstratioil. as have shown, and OF public
noioriety, as every respectable inhabitant Of
New Orleans viii voueh for, that, out of the
$500 votes polled in the lst ana Sd Munic'pa>
lities, two thousand were spurious, What
occurred in the ID Municipality and in the dis
trict Which was formerly called the city of Lafl-
yette was equally nefarious in all its details and
hell black in its complexion, SO that about 1000
fraudulent votes were manufactured, for the
whole of New Orleans, out of the 1902 re-
ceived; and this result was obtained at the
ballot box, after a dimjnution in our population
of about twenty thousand souls produced bv
death since the last Gubernatorial election, and
of at least ten thousand, caused BY the absence
OF those that had fled from the late epidemic.
and had not vet returned 1902 votes in
November, 1853, when only 1904 could be
found at the Governors election, in December,
1852! II is well known that this result was
come 10, not by producing at the Polls four
thousand men, who could not be thus marshall
ed up. because they did not erist, but by multi
plying FIVE or six hundred stipendiaries, who
were rapidly conveyed from one Poll to ano-
Their, and who voted as often as it was thought
proper by their chiefs. / deem it supereroga.
tory TO relate some of the strange scenes that
were witnessed on that memorable day-the 18th
of November, l853-nor am | willing to ascer-
tain who were the evil doors. There, lies the
corpus delicti-the bodily evidence of murder.
| denounce the crime, the repetition of which it
is the interest of society to prevent, but it would
not suit me to point ont the criminal, ifIknew
him, to the executioner. would leave it to
those who may be clothed with the proper
legal authority, to walk up to the murderer,
and say to him: there as blood on thy face.
But, with the emphasis OF deep sorrow and
with the energy 0 fhonest indignation, I do call
the attention Of the people of the State to the
following facts: incredible as it NAV sound. one
fourth Of the whole vote polled in New Orleans,
at the recent election held on the 18th of No
vember, was VIGOROUSLY spurious! -Four thou.
sand fraudulent uotes can be cast in this city,
This can be done. has been done, and may be
done again at the bidding of a few individuals:
and, as from the ballot box springs the supreme
law Of the land, and its government, IN the
shape of a constitution, and by the process of
never eeasing legislation, as well as by the
election; Of State and Municipal officers, these
few men are not only the supreme masters of
New Orleans, but also Of the State, without
even mourning the dangers which always attend
an open despotism. When and where was any
society or community in a more dangerous
situation! II such a state of decentralization is
not put a stop to, what awful consequences
will it not produce! What do we see already?
Let him who wishes to be informed listen 10