The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-10-04

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measures of gigantic robbery. In the
first place, they made for themselves great
salaries, such as the poor Southern
states were unable to pay, and they pre-
tended to start great many internal I'M
provements, and issued bonds in behalf or
in aid of those internal improvements,
and they contrived to steal those bonds,
sell them for the most they could get,
make no improvements, and leave the
| states, war-wasted and desolate before,
| overwhelmed with debt. doubt whether
these debts ever can DO paid, and l am
sure there is little disposition to pay them
| among the people who are the property
owners Of the South. They regard them
as frauds, simple iniquities, imposed upon
them, and the charges unjust burdens they
can't bear. l apprehend IL they were to
sell out all the property in South Carolina
to-day, it would not very much more than
pay those pretended debts which
have been imposed upon her by the
carpet-baggers who rule the negro legisla-
tors, some of them merely simple, some Of
them rogues, and all of them being with
out property were without proper respon-
sibility. Here ID an element of discord
and hatred a general belief on the part
Of the Southern people that we of the
North sent those villains down there to
rob them, and by enfranchising the blacks,
and other methods of reconstruction, we
have delivered these people, bound hand
and foot, into the clutches Of these cor
rupt carpet-baggers, to be robbed at their
mercy.
Now, let us try to give you an illustra =
ton of the way the theory works. Men
say, suppose they do steal what can we do
about it You pretend to be in favor of
local self-government; they have got it,
and these docile self-govering authorities
are the robbers. What are you going to
do about it? 1 will tell you of case.
In the year 1868 the state of Arkansas,
among other states, was reconstructed I'M
der our Republican legislation. They
reconstructed a very large portion of her
people, probably one half Of the white
people being disfran chised, not allowed to
vote. The blacks and those they called
scalawags-that 10 the poor whites whom
they regarded Of no account-voted, while
property-holding whites were disfran-
chised, and allowed no voice in the ad-
ministration of their government. So,
then, Powell Clayton, q Kansas man,
who camo in there as COM
mander of q regiment of our sol.
diers, or else following in their wake,
and one Of their crowd, was elected gov
ernor Of the state. The constitution then
prescribed that all whom congress had dis
franchised should be denied the right to
vote. Well, congress proceeded very
properly, though tardily, to take off this
Acknowledgement, so that ninety-fve or
ninety-nine, certainly ninety-fve, out of
every hundred Of those who had been dis
franchised as rebels were re.enfranchised
by congress. But the darpet- oaggers said
no, congress has nothing to do with it,
Our state constitution which we framed
in 1868 disfranchsed those men whom
congress had then disfranchsed. Now
congress takes off the bond; we do not I;
we are going to keep them tight. They
appoint this Gov. Clayton, he appoints
the board of registration for every county,
and from the decision of the board there
is no appeal and they put in the
registry just whoever they please.
of Arkansas in Louisville two or three
days ago, and they told me that over
twelve thousand of the property-holders
and land-holders Of Arkansas were dis
frsnchised, kept of the register. Not
that the laws require SO many, but where
the laws didn't the registrars did. They
had the power, and they would put on
such rs they chose and no more; and
when they found they were not gong to
get the majority without striking off they
would strike of so as to have the vote
kept right. This Is the government
under which the people to-day are living
there. The landholders ought to be en-
| franchised, but they are DISTINGUISHED by
the carpet-bag government, which means
| to cast the electoral vote of the state
against the people of the state, by keeping
large part Of the people disfranchised ;
and at the late Grant state convention it
was solemnly resolved that none of these
persons disfranchised should be allowed to
vote this fall. After that they would see
about it.
Let me tell you how it operates. In the
year 1870, they had their second state cleo
ton under the state government not for
governor, but for legislature and congress.
Powell Clayton, the governor Of the state,
and controller Of all this election ma
chinery, appointer of registrars all over
the state, was candidate for United States
senator. 1t was a safe thing to bet he
would be elected under that system-first
making all registrars, and then putting on
just as many voters rs they saw fit. Sup.
pose you have title to be on the registry /;
they will not put you on, and you cannot
get on, and there is no remedy for it.
There is another hitch beyond that. Pow
ell Clayton, governor, and his subordn-
ates, are the state board of canvassers,
with absolute power to reject whatever
votes they see fit, and bring out such re-
suit as they choose. 20, then, it appears
that when legislature was chosen it was
largely Republican, yet Mr.. Clayton had
not got control of it enough to elect him
for the senate; he has to throw out
votes as president Of the board of
canvassers. He dscards those votes
, that he pleases, so as to bring in
the candidate he pleases. For instance, in
one county there was an anti-Clayton
ticket he threw the votes out-three
quarters of the Republican vote-he
throws out these and brings in the Dem.
ocratic ticket rather than have the Repub.
lican ticket which was against him. Sc
, he goes through like this, and makes out 9
Clayton majority which elects him to the
senate. But in doing this, you understand
that you cannot reject the votes cast for
one office and admit the votes cast by the
same voters for another Office. This i.
perfectly plain. If you decide this poll i.
not legal poll, you have got to throw i,
out for all purposes. SO Mr.. Gov. Clay
ton throws out the votes of the Republi.
cans there because they We're electing an
anti-Clayton ticket, and thereby defeat: