Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-12-12
POLITICAL TROUBLES.
LoVrs1ASA,

Il #. .. p
Your attention viii be drawn to the an
settled condition of affairs in some of th,
Southern States. On the l4th Of Septem
Der Last the Governor Of Louisiana called
upon mes as. provided By the eonstitatiol
and laws of the United States, to aid n
suppressing domestic violence in that state
This call was made in view Of proclamS
tiOn issued on that day By D. B. Penn
stating that he was elected Lieutenant
Governor in 1872, and calling upon the
militia of the state to arm, assemble,
and drive from power the nsHrpers,
as he dessgnsted The = ofReers Of the
state government On the nexi
day issued my proclamation, commanded
the insurgents to dispense within Eve day
from the date thereof, and psnbseq equently
learned that on that dag they had taken
forcihie posaession of khe State Honse.
Troops were taken by me to support tbs
existing and recognized state government,
bat before the expiration Of Eve days the
insufrectionary movement was practically
abandoned and the officers Of the state
government, with some minor exceptions,
resumed their powers and duties Consid-
ering that the present state administration
of Louisiana had been the only government
in that state for nearly two yesrs; that il
has been tacit1y acknowledged and aequi-
esced in IS such By Congress, and more
than once expressly recognized By me, !
regarded it a. my cleIr duty, when legally
called upon for that purpose, to prevent
its overthrow by an armed mob, under the
pretense Of fraud and irregularity in the
election of 1872. l have heretofore called
q L. nkk 1e 60
! stating that on account Of the frauds and
forgeries committed at ssida eleetion, and
because it appears that the returns thereof
were never legally canvassed, it was i'm
possible to tell thereby who were chosen;
but from the best sources OF information
at my command l have always believed
the present state officers received major,
ity Of the Legal votes sctually cast at that
eisetion. iIrepeat7what said in my spe-
cial message of February 18th, 1873, that
in the event Of no action by Congress l
must continue to recognize the govern
ment eretofoze recognized by me. 81 y,
Iregret TO say that with preparations
for the late election decided IN locations ap.
peared in some localities in the Southern
States of determination, by violence and
-ihtimidGtion, to. deprig6 cifizens of the
freedom Of the ballot because Of their po.
htical opinions. Bands of men masked
and armed make their appearance.
|. 1A lsau1 WHITE LEAGUES H'
and other societies we're formed; large
quantities Of arms and ammunition were
imported and distributed to these organ
izAtions; military drills With menaelpg
denominations were held, and 9ith Al
these murders enough were committed to
spread terror among those whose pohseai
action vas to be suppressed 4 possible
by these intolerants; and by criminal pro-
csedinos in some places cOlOred kborers
were compelled to vote according to the
wishes OF their employers, under threa0
of discharge if they acted otherwise, and
there are too many instances in which,
when these threats were disregarded, they
were remorselesslY executed by those by
whom made. understand that the IF
seenth amendment to the constitution
was made to prevent this like state OF
thingE, and the act of May 81, 1870, with
amendments, was pasAed TO enforce its