The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-02-01
WATCH THE REGISTRY.

The disgraceful manner in which the radi-
Gals carried Richmond, at the recent conven-
ton election, was matter of notoriety through
out the country On the first day the white
candidates had a majority, but on the second
and third days the radicals succeeded in
electing Hunnicutt and his two negro col
leagues by crowding their followers into the
city from the surrounding country, and stuff
ing the ballot box with fraudulent votes. A
vigorous protest against the arbitrary and lille
gal course of General Schofeld in keeping
the polls open beyond the time fixed in the
election proclamation, was made by a number
of gentlemen, and a returning sense of de-
cency compelled the military authorities to
order an Investigation. The design, on tie
part Of the protestants, was not, of course, to
have the election annulled, for that would
have been useless but to demonstrate the
. infamous and unparalleled frauds to which
the radicals had resorted, in order to
achieve success, and to show the practical
workings of the reconstruction system. They
charged both fraudulent vote and fraudu-
lent registration f; and in order to test the
truth Of the charge, General Schofeld ordered
a census to be taken in Monroe ward, of the
city Of Richmond, of the persons in that
ward entitled to vote under the reconstruc-
ton laws. The result of this military census
shows that six hundred negro names were
fraudulently placed on the registry. Nobody
can be found to answer to these names; and,
nevertheless, these names were voted on at
the election. Negroes were brought in from
the country, to respond to the names on the
registry, and the polls were kept open until
midnight of the third day to give time for the
consummation of the fraud. As there are five
wards in Richmond, it is probable that two
thousand negro names were fraudulently
placed on the registration lists of that city.
1t is quite certain that the same process
was carried on, and even to a greater extent,
in Louisiana. The result of the registry is q
shameless confession of fraud. The negro
population of this State is not more than
three hundred thousand, whilst the white
population is more than four hundred thou
sand Yet the number of registered negroes
is eighty-two thousand, and the number Of
registered whites forty-four thousand That
is to say, one negro in every four is a regis
tered voter, and one white in every ten. In
the most exciting elections that have ever
taken place in this country, the vote has not
exceeded one in FIVE; so that, in all probability,
one-fourth of the registered negro vote, or
about twenty thousand, is fraudulent. THIS
fact should not be overlooked when the lists
are subjected to legal revision. 1t may not
be possible to eliminate all the supposititious
negro voters from the registry; but judicious
and thorough search may accomplish much
The vagrant and mendicant ofice-seekers and
plunderers of Louisiana are quite ready to
follow the example of their radical friends in
if they have the opportunity; but,
if they are closely watched, they will find it
hard to carry out their schemes under the fair
and impartial administration of Gen. Han
cock.