Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-10-16

tion laws of the State, by admitting to vote,
under the pretext of the decision of the
Supreme Court of Ohio, hundreds of wool
ly-headed darkies, black as the ace of
spades, whom no stretching Of the Judicial
conscience, even under the 'higher law
could honestly whitewash into having
Dreponderance of white blood. That decls-
/. ion, originally made under the old Consti-
tutiop. was undoubtedly erroneous, and the
Constitution of 1851. which gave only
twelve votes in favor of Negro Suffrage,
intended to meet the point, by substituting
the. language, "citizens of the Uni1ed
States,'' for the. words ''free Inhabitants
in describing the electors under the new
Constitution. No one at that time mad
ever contended that State could make
anv person a citizen OF the United States,
even by admitting him to vote, and Con-
gress clearly possesses no such power ex-
cent by naturalization laws, which, in
their very nature, can only apply to aliens,
+, aud not to any class born in this country.
Indeed, so universally conceded was this
con struction, that the late President LIN
COLIN. in his famous debate with Senator
DOUGLAS, while complaining of what he
tstvled the extra judicial dictd In the DRIED
G Scorr case upon matters not touching the
question of jurisdiction, the only point he
admitted to be Ieaitimately decided said:
..Judge Douglas has said to You that he
has mot been able to get from me an answer
to- the question whether 1 am in favor OF
negro citizenship. So far as L Know. the
Judge never asked me the question before.
He shall have no occasion to ever ask II
again, for tell him very frankly that am
not i'm favor of negro citizenship"
sI mentioned In certain speech of mine
which has been printed, that tile Supreme
Court had decided that negro could not
possibly be made a citizen" II
the state of Illinois had that power,
should be opposed to the exercise OF tt
Lincoln's rejoinder at Charleston, Illinois. Sep
TENDER Is, 1858, Follett d Foster s debates, p.
156.
The Radical Congress itself. by propos-
Ing the present pending constitutional
: amendment declaring that negroes are
citizens of the United States, also sanctions
this Interpretation, and seeks to make
change by constitutional provision, which
has not yet been ratified. However, the
Radical judges of election all over this
State, wherever partisan ''higher law was
strong enough, Illegally admitted negroes
to vote in sufficient numbers, probably, TO
defeat Judge THURMAN and our State tick7
ct. 1t is the duty of our friends every
where to look up these frauds and report
the result, that the Legislature may take
effective measures to remedy the evil, and
provide against its continuance
Last year from 1000 to 1,500 negro votes
were polled in this Congressional District
to elect Shellabarger. Xenia was the place
where this business was largely carried
on, so as to swell the Radical majority in
Greene county to 2.3O0, while this year it
has fallen off to LOO, as importation OF
Freedmen Bureau mullatoes was more
limited. Many were incredulous that such
an open outrage could be perpetrated by
Judges acting under the sanction CT an
oath. Colonel BABER, for many years
citizen of Xenia, long member of the Re-
publican State Central committee, and the
LINCOLN elector in this district in lS60 de-
termined to satisfy himself by personal OBJ
,scrvation whether these charges were true,
and accordingly stopped at Nenia OH the
day of election before coming to Columbus
to vote on the eleven O'Clock train, after
JldtHiS DcCu .dOoCt6 iiOth 1hO oen&oS W.
five months. The polls at that place were
surrounded with negroes, most OF whom
voted without question, as challenge was
useless, the Judges taking as conclusive the
drilled answer of the negro, that ''his
mother was mullato and his father dark
brown man." against the evidence OF their
own senses, and that of every one else
present, that lie was as black as pitch. In
deed, some of the negroes were conscientious
about swearing through even this farce, and
had to be repeatedly coaxed up to the polls,
after holding back for a time.
Before eight o'clock in the morning at
least two hundred OF this sort of votes had
been polled, while Democrats had to keep
shady about challenging, or run the risk of
being mobbed. Col. B. was quietly OBJ
serving these extraordinary scenes, when
the notorious E. S. NICHOLS, who has no
standing, even with decent men of his own
party, came up and endeavored to excite a
controversy, by abusing Colonel B. as a
JOHNSON man. All discussion with him was
declined, and two of the most respectable
Republicans OF the town. personal friends,
took Colonel B. aside and requested him to
leave the polls or there would be trouble,
which they could not control. just then,
HUGH McQUEsr1oN, the Recorder of the
county, rushed up in threatening manner,
saying: sThe boys demand that you," ad-
dressing the Colonel, "leave on the next
train - to which the reply was made, that
he would go when he got ready as he mnst
rs.,,,i.. Columbus In time to vote. Colonel
3. remained sometime afterwards at the
polls, and then left with some Republi an
friends, who told him that the crowd was
much excited. because they thought he was
Watching their proceedings. A beautiful
free speech heretofore preached by these
Radicals. To sum up. it is probable at least
five hundred negro votes have been
polled illegally at Xenia, seven buudreda at
Cleveland, five hundred at OberliD aud over
one thousand in other parts OF fiie State.
If the Legislature on contest, should throw
out the 'tctoze vote of these precincts, it
W )uld only be following the precedent set
by Congress in the VOORHEES, case. AT all
events, the Radicals must be made to I'M
derstand that this illegal voting of negroes
will no longer be TOLERATED, even if it be
necessary to detail a police force from other
counties to prevent it at such polls as Xena.
Ohio has decided by over $4,000 majority
against negro Suffrage, and the Legislature
must provide that the verdict be practically
effective, otherwise our Congressional Z
aud Presidential elections next year will
be controlled by imported Freedmen's Bu-