The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-09-22
ght 4ailg Arens,
Louisiana a I'd Cor gress.

The validity Ut the Louisiana elecflJn ~
1872 WAS hr,, tested in Congress al the
counting At the electoral vote tor 'residenl
in February, 1878, when, there oeiu4 t"'
returns, tue yate ii thv state was thf!Mh
out In The .loH,a Dec. 10, los2.i M
| Cox nj we'd d res tlutin calling upon the
President To- state why he had interieled II
the aiiAils Of l. uisiana, ut his uIull q
was negallv,d by 90 against 63 votes ~
the Senate Jan 7, 1878, on motion OF
Senator Morton, the committee on frlVlle-
yes and Elections was directed to report
on the validity of the recent election Tor
electors" and was invested With full pow
ers to make ample enquiry. About the
same time after long debate, the House
appointed another Committee to enquire
| into the election for State officers and
members of the Legislature" While
these Committees were in session mes
sage was sent to Congress by Presi dent
Grant, in which he stated that he had used
the powers granted him by the Enforce
ment act in sustaining the Kellogg govern
meut, but at the same time he obseI Yed
| that recent Investigation into said cleo
| 'tiop had developed so many frauds and
''forgeries as to make it doubtful what can
"didates received n majority of the votes
| actually cast The President then
urged Congress to deal with the matter as
we'll as it could. The majority of the Sen
ate Committee made Feb. POI an elaborate
report understood to have been written
by Senator Carpenter, in which the whole
subject was discussed, and several hun
dred pages of evidence were given. The
i .x,.1,nl tI,,t a.
| frauds on both sides and that new cleo
ton ought to DE held. The report con
tanned this important admission;
Your committee are, therefore, led to the c1nclu-
| sion that. II the election held in November, 1872,
be not absolutely void for frauds committed there.
in, McEnery ana his associates in state offices, ana
the persons certified as members OF the legislature
by the De Ferret Board ought to be recogn zed as
he legal government Of the state Considering all
| the facts established before your commitee there
seems no escape from the alternative that the NC
Emery government must he recognized by congress
| or congress must provide for a reelection.
The bill for carrying out the new cleo
ton recommended by the committee was
discussed (Feb. -. and rejected by vote
of 20 against Is, Senators Conkllng and
| Clayton voting with the majority. a mo-
ton was made March to reconsider
this vote, but it was negatiyed by 20
against % votes. This practically ended
| the Louisiana case in congress. The Dem
ocrats opposed the new election, both for
the reason that it would be an unlawful
interference with the rights of a sovereign
state, and ecause the McEnery govern
ment had been fairly elected. The he
publican senators were satisfied with kel,
logg in power, basking in the favor OF the
Administration. If we are to be sure that
we are right before going ahead, perhaps
those who clamor for force will explain why
the President expressed doubts in his
message of the election which has beer
Kellogg only excuse for remaining, IL
power, and why senate committee and Is
senators, all but one Republican, favored
a new election-N Y Tribune.