Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1872-10-24
GRANTISM IN ARKANSAS.
Radical Registrars at Work Dis
franchising White Citizens.
How Men are Robbed of the Right to
VOte-UpWard of Thirty Thou
sand Whites DISfranchised.
union County (Ark.l Cor New york Tribune.

| down-trodden State, and how every means is
| brought to bear to make the State cast its
vote for Grant and his representative carpet
| baggers at the ensuing election. Registration
| in this county commenced last week, and the
| writer beiog appointed a United States Super
| visor of Election, attended the registration at
| the two voting places in his township was
| appointed to represent the interests of the
| Conservatives, and on the 18th attended the
| registry held at my own place of residence.
| To say that was surprised at what was done
| would express in no respect my feelings.
| had no idea that open fraud would be SO I'M
| blushingly practiced, and that question after
| question, for none of which was there any
! authority of law, would be asked of men who
| would either have to perjure themselves or
| be denied the dearest right of freemen. The
questions, as well as I recollect, were as fol-
| lows:
| 1. Did you ever hold any civil Office before
| the war, such as magistrate, road overseer,
| captain of patrol, DC. !?
2. Did you ever belong to an organization
known as The Knights of the White Came
lia,' or to the " "Ku-Klux Klan ?"
8. Did you vote for or against the ordinance
| of secession?
4. Did you voluntarily furnish supplies,
arms ammunition to the Confederacy?''
5. Did you vote for or against the ratifica-
ton of the Constitution of 1867?
6. Did you, during the Rebellion, belong to
any independent military command?
The answer to all these questions had to be
satisfactory to the registrar or the applicant
was denied registration. In consequence of
the answer made to the first question, many
of our best citizens were not allowed to regis
ter, for every one of us that lived in the State
before the war, and that was of any standing
in society, filled some one of the numerous
Offices mentioned above. Road oveIseer is
particularly grievous, for it was an unthank-
full Office, and which could not be declined
except by the payment of heavy fine. The
answers to the second question disfranchised
even more than those to the first, for IN this
section The Knights of the White CameIia"
had large lodge. What the organization
was, know not, but, judging from the men
that belonged to it-for its existence ceased
several years ago-I do not think that it could
;s have tended, in the language of the regis
trar, &c to the subversion of law and order"
The answers to the remaining questions verc
by no means explicit. Men could not remem-
ber, and, one of them said, 81 have no
memoranda to refresh my memory and can
not swear to the facts" Our people are very
much enraged, yet hey are a law-abiding
people, and will not do anything that may be
construed into violation OF the law of the
land. We suffer enough, day after day, in
seeing the corruption and plundering that is
openly carried on; but when election ap-
proaches, and we see a little carpet-bagger
sent around among us-one that has no in
Uerest in common with the people-and at his
arbitrary will best citizens are refused
registration, the load becomes almost teo
heavy to bear. Two years ago, in the adjoin-
ing coun y, a fellow of the same stamp was
sent around as registrar, and when the law
was about to take hold of him under the pro-
visions of the Enforcement act, he packed his
carpet-sack and left for parts unknown. 1t
looks as if the same game is to be played in
this county, for those appointed first
registrars, having property in the county not
easily convertible into cash. prevailed on G.
G. Woodford, the present registrar, to under
take the duty.
Those whose right to vote, in our opinion,
is undoubted, will vote on affidayits under the
late act of Congress, and we hope by that
means we may be able to change the state of
affairs, and even compel some of the scuun-
drels to answer at the bar of justice for their
1, 4 0t,r- Irlok traf I,Ifa
were denied registration; at the adjoining
precinct, out of 122 whites, 81 were refused.
In conclusion, as representing the people, for
I have been requested to write you, say that
| we look to the sound common sense conserv-
atism of the North for our help. We can do
nothing of ourselves, but accepting the issue
| of the war and the amendments to the Con.
stitution in good faith, we only demand
'equal rights and liberties to all men before
| the law" even if they were SO unfortunate as
| to have formerly been rebels.
THE FRAUDS OF 1S70-THoUsANDs OF NAMES
| SECRETLY STRICKEN FROM THE REGISTRY
| To the Editor of the Tribune:
SIR: Our attention has just been called to
| an article copied from the New York Times,
| in which it is stated that mo man is pre-
| United States on account of having taken
| part in the rebellion" In denying this
statement, the Tribune has not stated the
| case as strongly as the facts warrant. We
1
not informed as they should be (and both the
above statement and its denial would seem to
| indicate this) in regard to this most interest
| ing scrap of American history. Permit the
| undersigned, of all political parties, to call
| your attention to the following facts
| The late census of the United States shows
| that there in Arkansas 102, 600 Ground
| numbers) males over the age of 81 years
| The Secretary of State reports that in regis
| tering these in 1870, 81 900 were excluded
| while only $4,000 were permitted to vote.
| The whole number of disfranchisad was
| therefore, 46, 200, nearly one-half of the vot-
| ing population.
In this county, out of ZOO Ground num-
bers) voters, only 1882 were permitted to
closet stricken off several hundred names
whom they had permitted to register. and
without notice, until election day. These
| " scratched" voters on coming to the polls
to vote, were told, for the first time, that they
were stricken off the list. Thus it was thai
only IL 600 were registered ia the State oui
of 100000, and only $4,000 were permitted tc
vote. No one estimates the number really
disfranchised by the Constitution at more
than IL, 900 most of whom did not apply tc
register-the other 80, 600 were 'scratched,'
or arbitrarily refused, as provided in the law
You Will understand, from the above figures
why it was that the Senate Committee who
investigated the Clayton frauds,'' sat with
| closed doo-s, and have not vet furnished the
public with the testimony taken before them
What have the people of Arkansas to hope
from an Administration which sustains such
an outrage upon the dearest of American
rights.
Very respectfully, ETC.,
M. W. FIsHBACK, JOHN H RoGERs,
NJ. Fl. SANDERS JOHN BEAKEL,
J. H. SPARKS J. BURNETT,
JOHN CARNALL, w. +. BLAKEMoRE,
JOHN +. WHEELER, B. F. RAoKETT,
THoS. MARCUM.
Fort Smith, Ark, Sept. %, 1872.
From the New York World.
WEST VIRGINIA AND ARKANSAS.
In 1868 the+otal vote of West Virginia was
69,397, Grant carrying the State by majority
of S,S3S. In 1870, when the reform move
ment which began in Missouri was sweeping
over the country, West Virginia cast tota
vote of SIS, ,6O7, the opposition to Radicalisn
carrying the State by majority of 2, 1913. Ry
the United States census taken in this latter