The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1874-10-08
"Tho New Rebellion y
Ia the Old Rebel Spirit ReviE-
ing in the South
Gov. Norton on the Louisiana
Outbreak.

Outbreak
Letter from Hon. Chas. Hays.
Of Alabama, an eX-sscbel Col
OneI and Stakeholder.
The editor of the Hillsboro Ga
zette, in his issue of week before
last, accused us of misrepresenting
the condition of affairs IN the South
for the sake of snakag political cap
ital, and asserted that the recent out
break in Louisiana was not caused
by the hostility of the old rebel ele
ment to the equal political rights of
the colored men, but was simply an
attempt to overthrow an illegal and
oppressive State government. In
support of his position, the editor
published an extract from a letter of
Gen. McMillen, ''now a resident and
large property holder in Louisiana"
but formerly General in the Union
army. Gen. McMillen says:
'It is unreasonable to expect Amer
leans to submit quietly to usurpation
and outrage, such as characterized
the establishment of Kellogg's gov
eminent United States bayonets
are the only power which can support
so great wrong in Louisiana. In
Ohio, under similar provocation, even
these would be powerless. The peo-
pie would rise as one man to wipe
out such mockery upon free gov
ernment. I know many of the men
engaged in the recent movement in
New Orleans. They are gentlemen
of character and lovers OF their
State and country. Their only OBJ
ject was the establishment of the
government of their choice. The
means they adopted may have been
unwise. 1 think them so; but be-
fore condemning them too severely,
think of their provocation; put your
self in their place reverse the re
suits of the war, and think what the
people of Ohio would do under like
circumstances.
The editor of the Gazette further
says:
"We are sorry we have not space
for the whole of this letter, but suffice
it to say, Gen. McMillen shows that
it is not the "ex-rebels," but it is the
Republican party, headed by General
Grant and fugled by Senator Nor
ton, that is responsible for the de
plorable state of affairs, not only in
Louisiana, but in the whole South"
A more monstrous and false asser-
ton was never made, than that the
Republican party and its leaders are
responsible for the deplorable state
of affairs in the South. AS well
might the innocent lamb in the fable
be accused Of causing the wolf to
devour it, because the lamb drank
out of the brook, and thereby pro-
UOked the wolf
The Gazette's allusion to Senator
Morton refers no doubt to his action
as chairman of the Senate Commit
tee on Privileges and Elections, when
the question of the legality OF the
Louisiana election of 1872 was be-
fore that committee at the session of
1923.
Senator Morton, in speech made
at Indianapolis, on the 18th of last
month, gave a full account of that
matter, from which we copy the fol
lowing:
"This matter came before the Sen
ate and was referred to the commit
tee of which I am chairman-the
Committee on Privileges and Elec-
tions. We examined great many
until we had taken vol
Ime of nearly twelve hundred pages
of testimony. The majority of the
committee made report, from which
I dissented AMI made another. They
reported that the whole election was
void for fraud, and that neither
nor Kellogg was elected. I {
know the impression has been made ;
through the country, and was pub
Iished, that the majority of that COM
mittee reported that McEnery, the I
Democratic candidate, was elected !
Not so. They reported just the re- 8
verse-that nobody was elected that
5he election was saturated with fraud
through and through in every parish t
md nearly every precinct. I dis
sented, and took the ground that =
was elected. 1 thought )
;he evidence showed that, notwith-
standing all the fraud, Kellogg had q
majority of 5000 to 1000 of all the ]
7otes put in the box, and if the cleo '
ion had been conducted fairly his
majority would have been not less
;han sixteen thousand. To show
what the report of the majority of I
,he committee was I shall ask some {
,riend who has a good voice to read {
IN extract from the report of the ,
This report of the com !
nittee was made by Senator Carpen-
ier, who introduced bill to set aside s
,he State government and call new l
election in Louisiana, a bill predica
ed on the idea that nobody was
elected and that the election was
1ull."
Here Mr.. Blair read from the re
port of the Committee substantially |
IS follows: That had the election of
1872 been fairly conducted, Gov.
Kellogg and Republican Legisla-
.ure would have been fairly elected
hat the colored population of Louis
ana out-numbered the whites, and {
hat the colored voters almost unan-
mously voted the Republican ticket
that ''the testimony shows system ]
atic purpose on the part of those con-
lrc4i1c, tho eloctiOn to throw every