The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-12-29
The Louisiana Election.

The Louisiana returning board has
at last closed up its labors-nearly
eight weeks after clection-and figures
out 81 republicans to 81 democrats in
the House. This leaves five parishes
10 be settled hy the returned members.
In making their report they say that
their election was very loosely conduct
ID by the commissioners of elections so
;nuch so that at not one-tcnth of the
polls in the state were the forms reuuir-
ed by law Observed in many cases no
list of voters was kept by the commits
-ioners, or If there was, they were NOT
orwarded TO the returning board. were
not signed or sworn to, "a the law re-
quires, In many eases there was no
statement of the persons voted for and
the number of votes received by them
and forwarded to the returning board,
for the reasons that none were furnish
cd by the commissioners of election 10
the supervisors, and many that were
returned were neither signed not sworn
to, and in many cases there were no
tallysheets forwarded to the returning
board TO enable them to test the accur-
acy of the statement of the votes, and
in some instances only tally sheets
were returned to the returning board,
without list of voters or statement of
the votes and they not signed or sworn
to, as the law requires. This being the
case, it became necessary that the pa
pers received from the polling places
should be carefully examined. There
were over 900 polling places in the
state. and there was large list of cam
didates.
In the progress Of the examination a
large number of polls were objected to,
including some % of the parishes, and
in some of these parishes all of these
polls were objected to. The ground of
objection TO some of the polls were the
failure ola substantial compliance with
the law in conducting the election and
making the returns to the supervisors
missioners had been changed after they
had been made to the supervisors and
to the far greater number, that the vot-
ers had been intimidated so that they
did not register or vote, or were COM
PEELED to vote differently from what
they desired.
The returning board visited the To-
calities took evidence and accepted the
returns in all cases when not manifest
ly fraudulent.
The means taken by the White
league organization TO accomplish their
purposes are shown to have been by
threats and otherwise to intimidate the
colored voters. Their threats were in
many cases carried into effect
There were no returns of the election
from the parish of De Soto by the SUI
pervisors of registration as the law re-
quired. The Terrebonne case was sim
liar. There was no supervisor in the
parish of VIM, the one appointed for
that parish having been expelled from
the parish, and an unauthorized person
assumed to act. Tho board could not
recognize such lawlessness.
Ibis is the result of their investiga.
tions as given 10y the board themselves.
and Gov. kellogg states that the re
turns show three republican and three
democratic members of Congress. The
constitutional amendments are declar.
ed carried by about 10000 majority.
Blenville parish, which gave Grant
and Kellogg GOO votes in 1872, and the
republican candidate no votes, this
year, is not counted, and Grant parish
the scene of the Colfax massacre is also
thrown out, though it gave small re-
publican majority.
There may be another side 10 this
question, but in the light of the facts as
here given, there seems to be reason
enough for pretty thorough recon-
struction in that state. The Democrat
ic voters of Louisiana charge this re-
turning board with unfair dealing and
use some very strong language with re-
gard 10 the whole matter, But 1t would
seem TO be more Incoming for them
to prove their charges 49,. 70 In
u -