The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-12-24
"A PHOSPHATE PEOPLE.
ADDRESS OF THE LOUISIANA
COMMITTEE.
A Calm and Lucid Exposure OF the Con-
spiracy to Overthrow the Lawful
State Government.
WASHINGTON, December 23.

SCaleS are QOC uncOnCerueu SPECTATORS Q
events now %transpirlng within her lin lis, an,
Of which It Is probable mo parallel can b
found In the history OF thib or any other coun
try. As these events were entirely brough
about by the agency of officers, civil and mill
tsry, OF the General Government, the citizen
OF Louisiana not doubling that the action o
the Executive, at least In reference to them
was the result OF a Misrepresentation of tn
facts, determined to adopt prompt measure
for the correction of the error.
At a meeting held for that purpose, repre-
septlng, We may safely say, a long %proponder
wealth of the city, a committee OF one hundred
gentlemen was appointed with instructions Il
proceed Immediately to Washington to lay tn,
facts before the several departments Of thu
government, and to solicit their aid In repair
Ing the gross wrongs which had been done, ant
In restoring to the people the right OF self-goV
erDment, which had been wrested from then
by the most patent usurpalion; The under
] signed Sbrm q part of that committee. On on
arrival here, we found 90 much misapprehen
sion existing, ever among those who ar
/ usually well Informed, In regard to origin ant
history OF this disturbance, that We deter
| mined to publish q brief narration OF the facts
| The parties engaged in these proceedings, ART
aware that If the facts we're properly under
| now seek to belittle and conceal the
| question at Issue, and to treat q conspiracy
| TO overthrow the government OF the State az
| a mere struggle for political ascendeucy be-
| tween Governor Warmoth and Mr.. Kellogg,
| They aliege that the former was endeavoring,
| BY some trickery or legerdemsin, to cheat the
latter out of his election, and that The object
| of their proceedings was simply 10 Illustrate
| this attempt. They have eedulously sought ia
| produce the impression upon The public
| mind that this COMMITTEES was composed OIL
mere allies and agents Of Governor Warmoth.
We repel this %insinuation as utterly false and
unwarranted. We are not the representatives
of any personal or party interest whatever.
Governor Warmoth. was not q candidate
Tor any Office whatever at the re-
cent election, nor have we, directly or
Indirectly, any connection or anlIation
with him, go far as his past career is concerned.
There are few, II any, members Of this com.
| mittee who have not been among bis mesG
prominent opponents, while In those measures
Of his administration for which he has been
most loudly denounced he had for his advisors,
associates and coadjutors the very men who
now assail him, including especially Pinch.
back, Antoine, and numerous others, whose
Games figure most conspicuously In these pro-
CGGUluXs, III ICDly " bbO tuOIaunLlOhS
indicated above, we declare that w are no
parties to, and have no knowledge of, any
political trickery intented to aid the true
voice of the people; that We do not believe any
such existed, aud that we would not be here
unless we could proclaim conscienliously our
conviction that the men Who have
been foisted into the offices of the
Slate have been not merely irregularly
and unlawtully installed, but we're not elected
L.,h, oonla ond MANA mt oni oro nor tha
choice of the mass of the voting population OF
Louisiana. We have not asked the govern
ment 10 admit this on our simple assertion.
All we nave aeked is that 1t should make a
candid and impartial Investigation Of the facts.
With this preface We now submit the follow
Ing statement:
First. There was o general election held In
Louisiana on the fUurthtd day Of November
last for the election Of 8 governor, lieutenant
and other State and Federal officers. At this
election Vim. Pitt Kello2g,a member Of the
Senate OF the United States, and @. O. An
tome, q collector of the port of Shreveport,
we're candidates for The offices of governor
and lieutenant governor, and were opposed
BY John McEnry and Davidson B. Penn. The
present Governor Warmo.h was not q candl-
date Tor reelection.
Second. This election w~assconducted with
OuL rlOI,. Ql6LuEUhuCo vi fIOlcuCot huU LILO
number of votes cast was unusually large.
Returns OF the election were made to the
board appointed for the purpose. This board
was composed Of officers Of the law, Of Gov
ern Jr WarmoLh, the lieutenant-gorernor, the
secretary OF. State, and two other persona
named in the law, viz: Jno. Lynch and Thos.
G. Anderson. The office Of secretary Of State
was filed at the time by F. ]. Heron, who
had been appointed by Governor Warmoth to
I'll q vacancy canaed by the removal, several
months before, of George E. Bovee, the legal
ity of which removal and appointment was
then In contest before the State courts. The
board met, and 1t was resolved that Ander-
son and Plncnback were disqualified by
reason of their being Candidates for
office. Warmoth then removed Heron,
whom he had appointed, from the Office OF
Secretary oil Stale, as a defaulter, aud appoint
ed and commissioned Wharton In his etead.
We have no reason 10 believe that the action
OF Governor Warmoth 10 the removal Of Her.
Tor, under the returns there was no necessity
for fraud. It was prompted BY his discovery
of g plot between Heron and Lynch to falslfy
the returns ond defeat the will Of the people.
This is manifest from the facts developed in
evidence before the court, that Heron, an-
ticipaling the thwartlng OF his scheme, had
several days before ordered q duplicate of
the seal of State 10 BE- engraved, by which
means he hoped TO preserve the insignia of
the office Ia the event Of his removal by the
Governor. 0mitting further details, War
molh and Wharton, on the one hand,
assuming to be q majority OF the
board, and In the presence of Lynch,
proceeded to elect Hatch and Duponte 10 Oil
the vacancies caused by the withdrawal OF
Pinchbsck and Anderson, while Lynch and
Heron afterwards assembled, and, under the
same assumption, elected LoDgstreet and
Hawkins. Thus there Jane to be TWO bodies;
each claiming to be the returning board. One
presided over by Governor Warmoth, The
highest executive officer OF the State, and,
under the law, the presiding officer Of the
board, and which had possession of all the
election returns aud everything necessary TO
ascertain the result, while The other consisted
OF Lynch, the removed secretary of State,
Heron and their two appointees. After these
that the removal oil BoVee and the original
appointment Of Heron were illegal, and Bo.
wee was reinstated In his office. Whatever
may be said OF these contrasting, boards It is
clear that the courts of the United States had
no semblance of authority TO decide between
their conflicting claims to Office.
Third. After it bad become probable that
the two candidates, Wm. Pitt Kellogg and @.
O. Autolne had been defeated, and that their
opponents would be declared elected, they re-
spsctlVely filed bills In the Circuit Court oil
the United States for the District of Louisiana
| for Injunction and relief. The governor OIL
| the State, the members Of the c%anvaSsing
board. other citizens of the State connected
| with the PRONUNCIATION of the returns, and Ger
toIn parp,na e1pctp6 mr. claiming FIR