The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1874-10-08
sboroug Highland County, Ohio, Thursday October 8, 1874

the promise of being elected Q.
Senator if they succeeded) the votin
places in the Republican parishe
were purposely established at place
not easy of access, so that in som
cases voters had to travel 20 miles t.
reach the polls; and that 'in the can
vass of votes which determined tn
McEnery government to be elected
the votes of several of the Republican
parishes were rejected"
/ In closing, the committee say:
"The testimony shows that leading
and sagacious politicians of th'
State, who were acting with War
moth, entertained the opinion befor,
the election that Warmoth's contro
of the election machinery was equiva
lent to twenty thousand votes, anG
we are satisfied by the testimony that
the opinion was well founded. We
believe that had registration beer
accessible to all, and polling places
been properly established, the result
of the election would have been en-
tirely different; aud although we
cannot approve of such canvass as
that made by the Lynch board, who
seemed to have acted on the princi
pie of fighting the devil by fire, and
circumventing fraud by fraud, and
cannot say that Kellogg's govern.
ment was elected, nevertheless, we
believe that Kellogg's government
was defeated and the popular voice
reversed by fraudulent manipula-
ton"
Senator Morton then proceeded to
defend his course as follows:
"Now, one word in regard to my
own action in the Senate When the
majority of the committee brought
in the bill for a new election 1 op-
posed it upon the ground that the
returning board, created to count
and determine who are elected, had
made their decision, and it was not
competent for Congress to go be-
hind it. That board might have de-
cided without the proper vote, or up
on false testimony. They might not
have had the proof, but they made
the finding, and the Supreme Court
decided that the finding was con-
elusive. 1 took the ground in the
Senate, and 1 fatter myself that my
argument was never answered, that
so far as State election was con-
cerned the election Of State officers
must be determined by State tribu-
nails, and when settled by the Su-
preme Court of the State, or by
those tribunals created on purpose
to decide State elections, that was
and the Government of
the United States and Congress could
not 90 behind the decision of these
tribunals and count the votes and
who is elected. The de-
cision of the State tribunals upon
purely State questions arising under
State laws, in which no statute of
the United States and no provision
of the Constitution of the United
States were involved, was final and
In that I was sustained
by majority of the Senate. "
''The ground I took regarded at
the time as impregnable, although
the bill was only defeated two years
ago by small majority, Yet, when
it was brought forward last session,
it was not pressed to a vote, for Sen
ator Carpenter found that it would
not have half ii dozen votes in the
whole body. 1 have no defense to
make for the wrongs committed by
of Louisiana. They
some frauds undoubtedly.
They violated the law in some cases.
They have urged in their justifca-
tion that in their opinion they were
in struggle for life. They
believed that a Democratic State
would be the signal for
murder and slaughter; that. white
would be driven from
he State; that it was struggle for
ife, for home. I have no apology
% make for the Irregularities com
nitted by them.
The above we regard as complete
indication of Gov. Morton, and an
reply to the Gazettes
.idiculous charge that he and the Re-
publican party are responsible for
he deplorable state of affairs, not
,nly in Louisiana but in the whole
South"
In support OF our assertion that
he Louisiana outbreak was only
lew manifestation of the old rebel
pirit, which has been showing itself
n many parts of the South during
he past few months, we wish to give
he testimony of a prominent South
IN man, Hon. Chas. Hays, of Ala
anna, who was a Colonel in the rebel
rmy, and before the war was the
argest STAKEHOLDER in the State. If
7e had room we might fill our paper
With accounts of recent outrages on
he colored and white Republicans of
he South, cleaned from the South
IN papers and from reliable letters
f correspondents of Northern pa
'ers, but it is unnecessary to do so.
The fact is too well established to be
uccessfully denied, even by such an
nscrupulous partisan as the editor
f the Hillsboro Gazette, that a reign
# terror exists among the negroes of
he South, and that there is an Or
,anized and systematic effort on the
,art of the Democrats of that section,
o deprive the negroes of their rights
nd establish what they call a