New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-01-07

OF age.
In many instances colored men applying
for registration who had just become Of age,
were refused registration without written
certificate that they were twenty-one years
of age from their former masters or mis-
tresses, the word or oath of their parents
not being taken rs sufficient evidence by
the supervisors of registration.
In many parishes ccuntiesl where the
colored voters outDumbered the whites IN
the rates of three to one, distinction, on
account of color, was made by putting the
colored men in line, while the White men
were called I'D TO the cffice from the street
and registered at once; and on the ground
that one white man must register and then
colored man. BY actual observation II
took ten minutes TO register a white man,
and no questions were put TO him, and thirty
minutes to register each colored one.
White men were permitted to enter ny a
private entrance aud register. while crowds
of colored men wero waiting for reSlstra-
ton at the main door.
Again, il has been sworn to ana proved,
in innumerable cases, that where q cOlored
man had given the name of John johnson,
for instance, that advantage was taken OF
his ignorance, and, upon the poll list, the
number of his registration certificate and
his name were entered differently. His
name would be put down as Jack johnson
and his number, ii correctly siNty-seyen,
would be entered on the poll list as l61.
His registration papers failing to correspond
with the poll list his vote was rejected. The
leaving off OF single letter from the name
of "A colored voter was sufficient to deprive
him of his vote. For example, II has name
was John Williams it was written John
William; if Antoine, it was written Tony.
In many of the parishes [countieal where
the white men were all registered and col
ored men presented themselves for regis
tration, the supervisor OF registration ab,
solutely refused to register them, and
closed up his Office and went off, and, con-
trary to law, opened an Office i'll some remote
part of the parish, and when found by search,
would 20 from there TO somewhere else.
United States supervisors had, in some
cases. to ride twenty and twenty-five miles
in single day to find the supervisors OF
registration.
Another means of Gefrauding the oolored
m an of the right 60 vote on election day
was by the supervisors stating, when large
numbers of cOlored men presented them
selves for registration, and no white men
presented themselves at the Same time,
that they were without any blank forms for
registration purposes.
Previous TO the election every induce.
ment was put forward by the Democrats to
procure the votes of the colOTed men, even
to the placing of a colored man on their
ticket, for the purpose OF exhibiting TO the
colOred voter the desire TO give him repre-
sentation, while on the stump the Demo
cratic orators publicly announced that the
placing of cOlored man there was for the
purpose of trying political experiment,
and that they had given him an inslgnlt-
cant office for that purpose. Finding that'
the colOrcd Iuen were determined TO vote the
Grant Republican ticket throughout, they
gave up their schemes, ana proceeded TO
downright fraud.
This scheme was abandoned, and the
campaign conducted to its close by whole
sale denunciation of the ''nigger," and ap-
pealng to the white people TO exert them
selves TO keep the negro out of Office.
In no single il stance, to the knowledge
of this committee, was there single Re-
publican commissioner of election, through
out the entire State, appointed at any poll,
the election being exclusively managed and
controlled by the Democratic party Of the
State, by and with the conniyance of Gov
ernor II. c. WaImoth and his supervisors of
registration.
These were some of the difficulties by
which the coored voter was surrounded in
his attempt to exercise the right Of citizen
ship. Again, in several parishes tcounticsJ
a double set of ballot-boxes were provided
for each election poll, in one of which boxes
persons registered in 1872 were permitted to
while in other boxes were placed the votes
of coIored men who had registered previous
to the year 1872, and which were not
counted nor returned by Warmoth's com
missioners and supervisors of election. BY
this means not less than $4,000 to 10000
colored voters were deprived of their right
OF suffrage.
Again: In the parish [countyl of Madi-
son, where the colored vote is six to one IL
- Z he
were counted and the remainder thrown
into the river or made away with. In the
parish of s.. james, giving a Republican
majority, and which has heretofore given
colOred majority of eighteen hundred, the
returns were suppressed by the Warmoth
returning board. In the parish [countyl of
lberville, giving a Republican majority of
over two thousand, no return of the election
held was made by the Narmoth returning
board. In the parish of st. Martin. giving
a Republican majority of from four TO six
hundred, there was no return made. In
the parish of Iberia, giving q Republican
majority of i've handred, there was no re-
turn made In Caddo. in order TO obtain a
Liberal majority, only six election precincts
were provided for instead of eleven as here
tofore, and two polls, giving & Rcpub.
lcan majority of over eight hun
dred, were not counted, the Liberal
Democratic candidates themselves assist
ing in destroying tho ballot boxes and
suppressing the vote on account OF its
being almost unanimously Republican. In
the parish OF Bossier the frauds were ac-
complished by crowdiDg the oolored men
from the polls by armed bodies of men.
This is the parish [cOunty in which oyer
three hundred colored men were murdered
in 1868. In the parish of East Baton
Rouge, at the election i'll 1870, the Repub-
lican vote was 2lJ9, and the Democratic
vote 95i. In 1872, the Republican vote was
only 1850, while the Democratic vote was
run up TO over 1900. Eleven hundred and
eighty men in this parish were prevented
from registering, through no fault OF their
own. This is one of the parishes in which
the registra ion books were destroyed and
the farce of Il new registration gone through
with.
in the parish of DeSoto, where the Re
pubhcaus have 90 majority, Democratic
supervisors and commissioners eft election
returned a majority for John McEuery of
1906. In Rapidcs parish the Warmoth re-
turning board returned a majority Ofe79l
for McEuery The Republicans carried
this parish at every election b. a majority
OF over 1900. The parish of ST. Mary, with
majority of over ll00 Republicans, was re-
turned rs having given u Democratic ma
jority of $50. From carefully prepared
statement by John +. Leet. compiled from
atiidavits and other Oticial documents on
file in the Office of the clerk OF the United
States Circuit Court, the committee ex-
tracts the following:
\ comparison OF the population OF seven
teen parishes with the return Of the War
moth beard completely eNplodcs, OF itself,
every pretense McEnery can set up TO be-
ing fairly elected. Those seventeen pay
ishes are: Avnyelles. Assumption, East
Baton Rouge. West Baton Ronge. BOssier.
Caddc, DcSoro, lberviile, Madison. Natchi
toches, Plaquemines, Morehouse, PoiRte
Coupee. Rapides, 81. James, St Martin and
-. Mary. From these parishes the War
moth board returned l5,69S votes for Me
Emery and only l45IS for kellncu Ma