New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-02-27
THE STATE HOUSE.

/
| There was considerable unnecessary de-
lay in the business Of the House after it
had been called to order yesterday. and
the roll called, yet there was more accom-
plished than we thought there would be
the way things looked at the commence
ment. The first thing done, after the
adoption of the journal, was to adopt
resolution to the following effect: That
the House proceed to take up the follow
| ing named bills in the order in which they
! here appear: The revenue bill, the election
bill, the printing bill, the Metropolitan
Police bill, the general appropriation
bill, and the bribery bill; that no
other bill should be acted upon until
the above mentioned bills were finally dis
| posed of, and that the daily sessions of
| the House shall hereafter commence at
ten o'clock in the morning and continue
until five in the afternoon. The resolution
| further provides that no member shall be
| allowed to speak longer than five minutes
on one subject If this resolution IS
| strictly adhered to, and members will alb
stain from calling the yeas and nays on
unimportant questions, great deal OF
| legislation may yet be done before the
present session of the Legislature expires.
The chairman of the Committee on
Ways and Means, Mr.. Ong, reported a
| substitute for the printed revenue bill
| The substitute is the revenue law of 1871,
| with the sections named that were amend
| ed. The substitute precluded the neces-
sity of going through the whole bill. The
| sections that were amended were read and
| adopted, and the bill was then adopted as
| a whole declared to be engrossed, went
through it's third reading, was read by its
title and declared finally passed.
The Senate election bill was then taken
| up and ordered to be considered section
| by section. The first section was read
and adop'ed without opposition. The
! second section was then read, when Mr..
Thompson, of St. Tammany, rising to OPP
pose the bill, spoke as follows:
have noticed that the supporters of this
| section in the Senate urged as a reason for
| its adoption, that it was necessary to pre-
| vent violence at the polls, and disclaimed
| any intention of using 1t for partisan pur-
poses. Now, the section as it at present
| stands is undoubtedly at variance with the
| spirit of our constitution. Our constitution
| provides that the candidate who has re-
| ceived the greatest number OF votes shall be
declared duly elected. and yet, under the
| workings of the section which l wish to
| amend, a party who has received a minority
| vote may be declared duly elected, although
| his opponent received not only twice or
| thrice as many votes, but twice or thrice as
| many legal votes.
| For instance, suppose there are hve vot-
| ing places in a parish. A receives an i'm
mense majority in three of the boxes, b
receives a small majority in two, but his
| friends raise a serious difficulty at the
three polls where A is largely in the ma
! iority: the commissioners notify the super
| visor, and he the board of canvassers The
returning board reject the three boxes
| where A is in advance and b is declared
elected. Three-fifths of the legal voters of
the parish are deprived of their ballots,
and through no fault OF theirs whatever.
| Their votes were perfectly legal, they have
committed no crime. and yet through
the trickery and corruption Of their Oppo-
nents they are deprived of their ballots.
Now can the party who had the small ma
iority in two boxes be said to have re-
| ceived the majority of the legal votes cast
at the election! Is not decision in his
favor by the returning board in conflict
with our constitution, which declares that
the party having the majority of all the
legal votes cast shall be entitled to the
| office!
Now. if we can fix upon plan which will
| take away every inducement to wit:
which will prevent lawless men from in
timidatng their opponents or detrauding.
and which at the same time will not con-
1lict either with the letter or spirit of our
| constitution, it is evidently our duty to do
so. Such plan / now offer. Make every
man except the returning officer vote III his
own precinct; then if fraud, intimidation or
| violence is used order a new election in
that precinct Thus all parties, having a
full knowledge that these corrupt and I'M
just practices will not avail them or their
party, will be deprived of any motive for
| rsking a violation of our stringent election
! laws, with the penalties staring them in the
face. and no hope of gain alluring them for
ward. Such law as l propose would do
injury to no individual or party, and would
be protection to all. l can not conceive
low any man, desiring fair election, can
object to provision at once so simple and
SO Just.
The second section was then adopted,
and a motion made to adopt the bill as 3
whole. There was some opposition to this
but the main question was finally ordered
by vote Of forty-three yeas to twenty-one
nays. The motion to adopt the bill as a
whole was then put, and determined by q
vote of fifty yeas to twenty-five nays. The
bill then went through all the forms Of
legislation, and was declared finally passed
AS the House made no changes in this bill
it becomes law when the Governor signs
it.
The House took recess until sever
o'clock in the evening.
The Senate was also to have an evening
session.
In the evening session of the House the
first business after roll-ca1 was the report
of the Committee on Ways and Means il
regard to the city funding bin. There
was majority report and minority Re
port The majority report was signed by
Messrs. Carr, Quinn, Able and Souer, thu
minority report by Ong and Tatman. Thu
minority report favors the adoption of th'
bill drawn up under the direction of thu
Fifty-one Committee, and secures seve1
nor cant11m irtarpSt II, GOLD to fha bol1ar