New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-02-11

Court of Louisiana as to which
was the legal returning iboard, and
states the fact that on the - day of Jan
uary last the Supreme Court of the State de
cided on an appeal from the Eighth District
| Court that the board consisting of Messrs.
Lynch, Longstrcet and Hawkins, together
with Governor WarmOth and Mr.. Bovee.
who was the Secretary of State, who had
been suspended by Governor Warmoth
| when he first appointed General Herron
and SO had been restored by the Supreme
Court. constituted the legal returning
board, and that Messrs. DaPonte, Wharton
and Hatch had no authority whatever.
| Mr.. Irumbull also submits an addendum
to the report, in which he says, in sub
stance, that he believes the Wharton board
was the righttuf one, and dls9ents from the
following passage IN the report of the com
mittee:
The evidence submitted to the Lynch
board, and which has been described to the
committee, undoubtedly produced the CON
vIctlon In their minds that the election had
been an organized fIaud.
There Is not much room 20 doubt that
! The Lynch returning board were of the
opinion that upon fair election the Re-
publican party would have carried the
State. and had been cheated and hindered
| i'll every way possible by the power that
| controlled the machinery of the elections"
| Mir. TrGm0uh further says: 1.-The fact
| that the Lynch board undertook TO count
| in the Republican candidates as elected,
| without the semlSance of an official return
| before them, and in some instances upon
| spurious. forged and false afdavits, as tn
| evidence before the committee shows. af-
| fords no evidence to my mind that they
| supposed - fair election had not been
| held"
The Senate Committee on Privileges and
| Elections resumed the Louisiana inVestiga-
tion this afternoon.
S. B. Packard Of New Orleans. sworn and
| eXamned--WaS chairman of the Repub.
lican Executive Committee of Louisiana.
! and had been ever since reconstruction;
should say from 5000 TO 10000 whites in the
| State voted the Republican ticket at the
I last election: don't know any cUiOred
! man who voted the fusion ticket: super.
visors of election, in almost every instance,
were fusionists. So far as he knew, the
! commissioners were fusiOnists, though
| there might have @ n exceptions. The
chief supervisor of the State refused to APP
| point Republicans in New Orleans. Wit
ness and some other members of the com.
mittee drew up form tor atfidaVits, in ac.
cordance with the enforcement act. Had
| 900 printed and circulated. because OBJ
| stacles were thrown in the way of the reg
istration of coiOred voters. There was a
settled conviction among Republicans that
it was generally admitted by fusionists
that they meant TO if necessary: in me-
i0rity OF the parishes the election was fair,
though in some parishes 10 was NOT; in
New Orleans the count vas pretty fair
the registration not altogether: in the
sixth ward I26 voters registered from one
house: it w.ls discovered during the couut
of the votes that K. II. Bepners s. Co. |
were printn. limitations of the RcpUb- |
lican ticket bearing the names of fusion |
candidates. and 10 was understood they
were taken TO the Mechanics Institute. II !
was hi. opinion that they were intended !
for stutfrg boxes; thought that they were |
SO closely watched that they were not used. !
To Mr.. Ray--The parishes in which frauds |
Were reported were Assumption, svOyeles. |
Eas. and West Baton Rouge, Gossief. Cata !
houla. Caddo, De Soto, Grant, Jackson, !
Merehouse. Madison. NstchitOehes. Point !
Coupee. Rapides, st. Bernard, st. !
Mary. st. Tammanr. gaYgipshos, !
TerebOnne and Webster; thinks these pa
ishes were fairly Republican: there wa. no
dispute about parishes that weIe largely !
Democratic, though the fnaj0rities returned |
by the State supervisors were il some in |
stances too large.
Mr. Packard put in evidence The opinion |
of the State Supreme Court IN the ease of !
Morgan vs.. kenuard as covering the gups- !
ton whether there is i lega, government: in !
the State.
To Mr. Logan--Thc Republican maiori- |
ties in the disputed parishes should hav. !
been large, and would have given the 5 ate |
TO the Republicans; two supervisors in |
these parishes were candidates dor the !
Legislature, ana are now in the McEnsFy |
body; thinks the last election not so aairly |
conducted "a that of 1870.
To Mr.. iill-Only three supervisors of |
1870 were appointed in 1872. Ths election
in 1870 was in the main fair, though the |
Republican majority somewhat increased !
by unfair means.
To Mr.. Ray-Ifas compared the returns
by Warm0th's friends from parishes where |
30 fraud is alleged: finds in nearly all large |
Republican gains.
70 Mr.. Trumbull--The parishes in which !
the worst frauds occurred were Rapides.
Natchitoches. Madison. Caddo, B0ssier
East and West Baton Rouge and Assump.
tiOn. There are ten or fifteen others in
which he believed frauds occurred. Has
been acting III Louisiana politics since re.
construction. is United States marshal.
While holding tho Office took an active
part in elections. There is no qucs.
ton that the majority Of the whites
voted in 1870. Don't think the DEM
ocrats pollcd their full vote. but !
it they all voted it would have made little
difference in his estimate of the comparative
party strength; regards all celored voters
registered as Republicans: has no knowl.
edge that parties who traudulently regis.
tered in New Orleans voted: did not think
he stated that tho fusionists generally ad.
mitted that they meant to carry the eleC.
tiOB by fraud, if necessary: produced SAM
pies of three forms of affidavits printed by
his committee; afidavita were usually
distributed to the Republican United States
or Chairmen of the Republican
parish organizations: had about ------ re
turns for the State ticket printed and sent
to the United States supervisors, that they
might while the electoral ticket was
being counted note the State ticket |
the United States supervisors to be
excluded after the national tickets had
been counted and he wanted these officers |
to have some evidence of what the vote
for the State ticket was in case the order
was enforced; don't recolcct any communi.
cation with United States supervisors ap-
pointed as fusi0nists had deputy marshals
at various polls; appointed upward of 600
in New Orleans. He thinks the majority
served only one day; some seventy days:
thinks two were appointed for each ward
sixty days before the election paid them
.or only ten days, which was all
he law allowed; increased the number of
special deputies to have one IN each parish; |
lad as many as three or four in some: gave
10 instructions about election; don't know
f they were about the polls during cleo.
ion; thinks he made requisition upon the
Attorney General previous to election for
1aying deputy marshals and supervisors;
lon't recollect having any communication
With any official IN Washington concerning
he election before it occurred, made requi-
'tion on General Emory for troops to be
stationed in some outside parishes to aid in
he execution of processes which he appre-
lended would be opposed; thinks the ii ST
xna ,hl.n.t 1