The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-01-21

,l-ctIOu a. gigantic fraud, aud there
4Fe 10 rslla"Is returns OF ITS result
Ktl Ogg obtained possession - th= o.
ii5e aud ia my opInIOu iizs 1orz ii gut
L. u than lIis competitor.
On the 2Dln uAy If February, 1873,
! the COmuittee 0u Privileges auu
| Elections, Gf the S=uate, made q re-
! port in ~niOh 'ey say t1ey are 5 stis-
/ dad, toy the testimony, that The ma
nipu alton Of t8eis l-ctiOn nacninery,
/ Oy Marmuth aud others, was tq'-.vt-
lent to 20,OO0 votes, and they add tnaL
70 recognize the McEnery govern
ment would be recognizing a govern
ment based upon fraud in defiance Of
the wishes and Intention OF the State.
Assuming the correctness Of the state
ments in this report, and they seem
to have been generally accepted by
the country, the great crime IN louis
lana, about which so much has b5eD
done and said, is that one is holding
the Office of Governor who was cheat
ed out OF twenty thousand votes,
against another whose title 10 the of
fee is undoubtedly based on fraud and
in defiance of the wishes ana inten-
tiOns of the voters Of the State. Mis-
informed and misiGdging as to the ma
ture and extent of this report, the sup
pOrters Of McEnery proceeded to dis
place by force in some parts OF the
State the appointees of Governor Kel-
lOgg, and on the 18th of April in an eff
fort of that l-issss t-So;aUAy II Oiti-
zens was committed at Colfaz, which
in blood-tbirstiness and barbarity is
hardly surpassed by any acts of saw
age warfare. To put the matter be-
yond controversy, l quote from the
charge Of Judge Woods, of the United
States Circuit Court to the jury, in
the case of the United States VS.. Cruik-
shank and others in New Orleans, in
March, 1874. He said "In the case
on trial there are many facts not in
controversy, and l proceed TO state
some of them in presence and hearing
of counsel on both sides, and II state
as a conceded fact any matter that is
disputed they eau correct me-" After
stating the origin of the difficulty
which grew out of an attempt of the
white persons to drive the parish judge
and sheriff, appointees of Kellogg,
from Office, and their attempted pro-
lection by cOlored persons, which led
to some fighting in which quite
number of negroes were killed, the
judge states that most of those men
who were not killed were taken pTis-
oners. Fifteen or sixteen of the blacks
had lifted the boards and taken refuge
under the floor of the court house.
They were all captured, about thirty
seven men were taken prisoners. The
number is not definitely fixed. They
were kept under guard until dark
when they were led out two by two
and shot. Most of the men were shot
dead. A few were wounded, but not
mcrtally, and by pretending to he
dead were afterwards, during the
night, able to make their escape.
Among them was the Levi Nelson
named ia the Indictment. The dead
bodies of the negroes killed in this at-
fair were left uuburied ill Tuesday,
April 18th, when they were buried by
deputy marshal and an officer of the
militia from New Orleans. These
persons found filty-nine dead bodies.
They showed pistol-shOt wounds. the
great majority in the heart and oftener
er in the back of the head. 10 addi-
tiOn to the dead found, sOmc charred
remains of dead bodies were discover
ed near the court house. Six bodies
found under a warehouse were all
shot in the heart but one or two which
were shot in the breast. The only
white men injured from the beginning
of these troubles to their close were
H4dnot and Harris. The court house
and its contents were entirely con-
sumed. There is no evidence that
any one in the crowd of whites bore
any lawful warrant for the arrest of
any of the blacks. There is no evil
dence that either Nash or CaZobst af-
ter the affair ever demanded the Of
fees for which they had set up claim,
but the register continued to act as
parish judge and Shaw as sheriff.
These are facts in this case, as / un-
tirrotaHd thSza, to be admitted. To
bold the people of Louisiana general
ly responsible for these atrocities would
not be fact, but it is a lamentable fact
that insuperable distractions were
thrown in the way of furnishing these
murderers, and the sO-called COnser-
vatiVe papers of the State not only
justified the massacre, but denounced
as federal tyranny and despOtism the
attempt of the United States officers
to bring them to justice. Fierce de-
nunciations ring through the country
about Office holding and election mat
ters in Louisiana, while every one of the
ColfaX miscreants goes unwhipped OF
justice and no way can be found in
this boasted land of civilization and
christianity to punish the perpetrators
of this bloody and mOnstrous crime.
Not unlike thisH"was the massacre in
August last. Several Northern young
men of enterprise and capital had
started the little and fiourishing town
of Coushatta. Some of them were Re
publicans and Office holders under Kel-
logg. They were, therefore, doomed
to death. Six of them were seized
and carried away from their homes
and murdered in cold blood. No one
has been punished, and the Constr
vative press of the State has de-
nounced all efforts to that end
and boldly justified the crime.
Many murders of q like character
have been committed IN individual
cases which cannot here be detailed.
For example, 7. s, Crafford, judge of
the parish, and the district Attorney
of the Twelfth Judicial District of the
State, on their way to court were shot
from their horses by men in ambush,
On the 8th of October, 1873, and the
wife of the former in O communica-
ton to the Department of Justice,
tells a piteous tale of the prosecutions
of her husband, because he was
Union man, of efforts made to seize
those who had committed a crime
which left two widows and nine or
plants desOlate. To say that the
murder of a negro or a white republic
can is not considered g crime in
Louisiana, would probably be unjust
to great part Of the people, but il is
true that great number of such muir
ders have been committed and 40 one
has been punished therefor, and
manifestly to them the spirit of hat
red and violence is stronger than law.
Representations were made to me
that the presence of troops in Louisi-
ana was unnecessary, and /, relying
on the people, that there was no dam
ger of public disturbance if they were
taken away, consequently early in
last summer the troops were with
drawn from the State with the ex-
eepti0n ofa small garrison at New
Orleans barracks. 1t was STATED that
a comparative state Ofquiet had super
vened, political excitement as to
Louisiana affairs seemed to be dying
out, but the November election was
approaching and it was necessary for
party purposes that the flame should
be relighted. Accordingly on the 18th
of September, ID. Penn, claiming he
was elected Lieutenant Governor, in
1872, issued an infiammatOry pro-
clamatiOn calling upon the militia
of the State to arm, assemble, and 70
drive out the usuFpers, as ne desiglat-
Ell the officers of the State. The
White Leaguers, armed and ready for
the coz hict promptly responded. On
the same day the Governor made
formal requisition upon the President
in pursuance of the act of 1875, and
section four of article four of the Con-
stitution to aid in suppressing domes-
tic violence. On the next day is
sued my proclamation, commanding
the insurgents to disperse within five
days from the date thereof, but be-
fore the proclamation was published
in New Orleans the organized and
armed forces, recognizing usgrping
Governor, had taken forclble possess
ion of the State House and temDOr-
ariiy SubVerted the pOVernnanf