New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-05-03

who went to Madison parish - supervisor
| of registration and election, signalized nls
dovotscn to Ills mission BY reporting . rcgiss
| tration of l7l8 white voters in that parish.
| whereas the census of $50 gives only 956
total white population. But his courage
| seems to have failed him, and after taking
| flight to New Orleans, where he secured all
| facilities for making up his returns to order,
| he only returned 1873 Democratic voters
something less than fifty per cent OF ms
| registration, but liberal enough, however.
in Comparison with the census and the
Democratic vote Of 1870, which latter only.
| reached thirty As sample OF how
| these returns were made up by that indi-
| yidual. the Senator from New Jersey yester
| derday had quotations made from that tes-
timony going to show that Justice OF the
| peace went to the room where this man was
making up these returns and swore him to
| them in blank.
| Now let US have q little more summing
up Of the legerdemain-for there is no other
name for it-that was practiced there upon
ballot boxes. In the election OF lo!o tne
| Democrats carried sixteen parishes IN the
State Of Louisiana by an aggregate msl0r1ty
of seventy-three hundred and odd. Ihcse
| same sixteen parishes were reported Dy
the Fusion board as giving an aggregate
| Democratic majority of only 7lOl in 1877.
| Upon their own showing the Democratic
| loss on their own ground was 262 votes IN
| the parishes exclusively Democratic on TINS
| occasion the Democratic vote fell back 262
| votes in majority of 1000. In the remain
| ing thirty-six parishes OF the State, which
were all carried by the Republicans in 1870
| bv majority of 80 GIG, the Fusion board in
| 1872 returned an aggregate majority OF 1910.
| At an election which showed large Re-
publican gains in every other State of the
Union, an astonishing gain OF "a, III in the
| opposite direction is claimed in the exclu-
sively Republican parishes OF Louisiana by
| a board which admitted Republican gain
| in the exclusively Democratic parishes OF
| the State Where they could manipulate
| the election machinery, and wanted to do
| it in Republican localities, they totally re-
| versed the vote, and in their own parishes,
where they did not use it their own vote
! fell off.
Now, sir, with respect to four parishes
| which the Senator from Wisconsin seems 70
| think ought scarcely to have been admitted,
| because the testimony showed that the re-
turns were forged, they only showed two
| hundred and thirty odd majority for Mr..
| Kellogg Let us throw them out and that
only loses Mr.. Kellogg 23O votes! They
| we're forged for the purpose Of depriving
| Mr.. Kellogg Of his legitimate majority In
| those parishes OF nearly 5000 votes, as
shown by the previous elections 1t would,
therefore, suit very we'll to show that they
| were forged, and throw them out because
that takes away so many majority tor MIR.
| Kellogg.
| Doubtless the Senate has long ago wearied
of this story of fraud. 1t il sickening and
disgusting histOry-One which would tain
1 avoid recOunting; but it is necessary to the
| line Of my argument, and after an allusion
to one more glaring instance will pass to
| other points. The report of the State reg
| istrar of voters shows that the vote OF the
| parish of Orleans, by the census, not in
Guiding unnaturalized persons, should be
&c, ABS. The Fusion party registered $3.50
| voters and counted the votes of &c, $50
| whether actually voted or not is another
| question.
Such are only a few instances of the
| frauds shown by the testimony in the re-
port. The whole book is fille1 with them.
They were all perpetrated by and in the
! interest of the Fusion party, for no mem
| bers of the Republican party were allowed
| as officers OF the election. And it is upon
| such returns as were made through these
| instruments Of fraud that the Senator from
Wisconsin asks US to say William p. kel
| logg was not elected Governor Of Louisiana
in 1872.
Let us from the record we have follow
| these returns, and Judge of how much value
they possess as giving an authentic account
OF the votes cast ar the election. They
make their appearance in Governor War
moths testimony, on pages lao, 14l, l42.
The Governor says there that they came
into his possession about the fourteenth of
November; that he laid them before q Ger
tain board; that he took occasion to count
some of them for the purpose of seeing who
were elected presidential electors, and 80
certified himself. He also testities that he
counted them for the purpose OF ascertain
ing who was elected Judge to certain
on,,rt xvbora;p ho uishad a friend Of his tn
be installed; and he goes on to testify that
he kept possession Of those returns until the
fourth Of December; and yet in a subse
part of the testimony he says that these re-
|. turns were out of his hands ON the four
teenth day of November and went int the
hands of a returning board.
By following up Governor WarmOth's
testimony upon page 494, it is evident that
he maintained only nominal custody of
these returns. On page 1879 he says they
were compiled by twenty-five or thirty
clerks. On page 1854 he says that he him
self. unaided by any one, either clerks or
members OF returning board, counted the
whole vote for judges in the parish of
Orleans.
The precise time when these returns,
which are anything else than true returns
of the election in Louisiana, were trans
ferIed from the Wharton board to the De
Ferret board does not appear. and reference
to their having been so transferred is only
necessary to show that they we're manipn-
lated by still other parties before they final
ly found their way into the hands of the
Forman board; from the Governor to one
board-then counted solely by himself
then through the compilation of thirty
clerks to another board, the FOrman board.
The chief of this board testifes, on page
seventy five, that his board was elected on
the eleventh of December by the Senate;
not before noon of that day, it is
presumed; and yet before midnight
of that same date, within twelve
hours of his becoming. member Of the
piled, counted and returned under oath
mass of returns in manuscript that require
sixty pages of this closely printed book to
contain them. How much scrutiny did Mr..
Forman and his associates give or have the
opportunity of giving to these returns! Is
it not evident that the thirty clerks, many
of them the dirty Instruments used behind
the ballot boxes on the day of the election,
had compiled the returns to suit, and the
Forman board, eager to declare their party
successful, compounded with their con-
sciences and made oath to facts of which
they had no knOwledge! Moreover, these
returns profess to be signed by two men,
Senators Todd and Hunsaker and hold
their afidavits that they never did sign
them. Their names are forged.
Some OF the adventures OF these returns
were ludicrous enough. 1t having become
necessary to remove them from the Cover
nor's officers to prevent them from fall.
ing into the hands Of the officers of
the law, trusty henchmen were called
into service and during three nights and
days the authentic ~ returns Of the famous
election in Louisiana were transferred by
them to q place of hiding. In their pockets,
in their pantaloon legs, in their boots, their