The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-03-18
Grsnittg State Saltrual.
MONDAY EVENING, MAR. IS, 1872.
Hon. Jas. ii. Platt, Jr on the Appropriation
Bill

Virginia, moved to amend by striking out
the clause making appropriation for ex-
penses incurred in carrying out the act Of
February %, 1871, commonly known as
the Enforcement Act" and during the
debate Col. Platt spoke as follows:
81 rise to oppose the amendment of The
gentlemen from Virginia Mr.. Dukel. |
listened carefully to the gentleman, but l
failed to discover what his remarks had to
do with the amendment he offered. He
has made it the occasion Of speech upon.
legislation of this Congress, having no con-
nection whatever with the subject now pro-
perly before the committee.
VI cannot permit some of the statements
made by that gentleman to pass unchal-
1enged here. While | fully agree with him
that we have no Ku-lIuX organization in
Virginia, that we never have had, so far as
L know, and that it has never even been
charged that we have had that organization,
| do say that the intimidation of voters in
that State has not been in consequence of
the laws of the Congress of the United
States, passed as necessary acts for the pro-
lection of legal voters. And do say fur
ther, that the party which is represented
on this floor by the gentleman who has Just
spoken, having had the control Of the State
of Virginia, have by their acts in every
possible way, except by an organized Ku-
Klux system, intimidated voters and kept
them from exercising the rights which the
laws of this country declared they should
have.
Mr.. Duke--Will the gentleman allow
me to ask him a question ?
Mr.. Platt-The gentleman will please to
wait until get through. wish to call the
attention of the committee to an act passed
by the Legislature of Virginia only few
weeks ago, and | challenge the history of
this or any other country to produce par
allel to it. In the city of Portsmouth, in.
my district, there is considerable Repub-
lican majority, but by an unholy gerry
manding, the Legislature has thrown all
the Republican majority into one part of
the city, so that the Common Council is
equally divided. We have in the Councils
six Republicans and six Democrats. Of
course, in these circumstances, nothing
could be done. Everything was at dead
lock. There were Republican officers Sc.
lected by the previous Republican Council
and by the people. Well, what did the
Legislature of Virginia do !? They passed
law giving one Of the men in the Council
two votes. so that by one vote he could
produce tie and then give casting and
deciding vote and to-day we have pre-
sented the spectacle of six men with seven
votes-a state of things produced by the
Legislature of Virginia to enable them to
carry out partisan ends and to reject from
office the Republicans elected by the peo-
pie.
Now, let me ask the gentleman to carry
his mind back to the period two years ago,
when, in the city of Richmond, q.
Chahoon was elected mayor. 1t was sup
posed by his party that they were absolute
ly certain of carrying the city but when
the ballots came to be counted on the night
of the election, they found to their aston
ishinent that the Republican party had
carried the city Of Richmond. But what
did they do? The law'of Virginia requires
that after the ballots are counted they shall
be put in box, and that the box shall be
carried by the officers of election and de-
posted with the clerk of the court. The
next morning after the election, while the
officer of election Of one of the wards was
proceeding with the box containing the bal
lots to deposit them with the clerk of the
court, he was attacked In broad daylight III
the streets OF Richmond by men IN disguise,
the box taken and its contents scattered to
the winds.
And although the result of the election
" was on record, signed by every officer of
election, the judges Of election, when they
came to make the count, threw out the
votes Of that ward on the ground that the
law had not been complied with, because
the votes had not been deposited with the
clerk Of the court. And the gentleman's
part to-day, as the fruit of that villainy,
are holding, in defiance of the majority Of
q the voters of Richmond, all the offices Of
that city. They do SO in consequence Of
that violation of law and justice committe
in broad daylight in the city of Richmond,
and for which no living man has ever been
punished in any way or manner.
In the gentleman's own district, too, the
election officers, all Democrats, appointed
by a partisan judiciary, by acts of omission
never punished, have vitiated election after
election by failing to count the ballots oil
open the polls, as the law required them tc
do. Sir, there has not been single prose.
cution or conviction in Virginia against any
one for these open, palpable violations o