New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-01-01
ELECTIONS BY RETURNIEG BOARDS.

ELECIIONS By HElUhNIhu DOHhDS'
If Returning Board ia Louisiana may can
vasS the votes for Legislature and State ON
GERS and work their own sweet VIII Win the
returns, throwing out such as they please and
counting such rs suit their purpose, why may
they not do it in other States7 If they may
declare Legislature elected which is not anu
is hardly pretended to be the choice OF the
people, why may they not exercise tho same
power in counting the votes for Prcsldeht'al
Electors, and so elect tho President ana wee
President by Returning Boards instead OF by
the people7 The actOn of the Louisiana Re
turning Board, if sustained by the Admlnlslra-
ton and by Congress, as it now bids far To
be under the rule of the caucus, Will hot Do
simply an outrage upon the people OF that
State, an overthrow in that State merely OF
the republican form of government III must
be held as q precedent. 1t VIII govern inc
conduct of future elections. 1t VIII nave JUST
as much force in a Presidential as III State
election, and even should 1t not Dc Ioho"eu
in other States, there may an emergency ariSo
in which tho Returning Board Of Louisiana
could under this precedent, choose PreSiueh'
of the United States who would not DO the
choice of the people.
The violence done by the proceedings of this
Board to all our notions of popular elections
and the absolute disregard of what we are
apt to consider The sanctity OF the ballot the
very essence of republican institutions, are
hardly appreciated here at the North. For
these mon now hardly make the prctense OF
considering the votes actually cast and counted
os indicating in any way the result. AT OtncE
times and elsewhere there have been com
plaintS-toO often well grOunded-Ot frauds III
elections perpetrated in variety OF ways
and by various cheating methods. But
we have never known a case before where the
returns of whole precincts were deliberately
thrown aside by tho dozen and by the score,
voters disfranchlsed and cheated Of their
rights by the hundred and the thousand,
upon the most frivolous preteSts, for tho OBJ
yious and unmstakable pIrpose of defeating
the expressed will of the voters. In all tho
histOry-bad as it is and as we must confess
1t to be-Of election frauds IN this country.
we have never had anything which in shame
less cffrOnteTy, brazen audacity, and reckless
disregard of even the forms of law and The APP
pearanCe of fairness, can approach the con-
templated outrage upon Louisiana. Under the
rulings of this Board there might rs well have
been no voting done. For no matter how
many votes were cast against the candidates
of the Kellogg Ring, the members of this
Board had only to bring forward some trumped
up affidavit-easily enough obtained from any
of their misunderstanding intimidation or
undue influencing of voters, and the whole of
them were thrown out aud minority candl-
dates declared elected. 1t was not in any
sense, under the rulings of the Board, pOpu-
lar election.
1t seems almost incredible that such villainy
should be allowed to go on to success, and
that the Republican party in Congress should
DO bullied by the Administration and its
leaders into giving countcnance and support
to so plain and SO wicked a cheat. But that
does seem to be the purpose Of the party
managers. What excuse can there be for 1t !
None whatever, except that the Administra-
ton must be sustained. But if this
sort of thing is done in Louisiana
in the interest of the Admlnstra-
ton, why not in other Statesf Why not
especially in the States of the South, where,
upon the pretext of preserving order and sup.
pressing "bleody outrages," the army may be
used to back up the iniquities of dishonest
is very well to say that this is only an
isolated case, or to dismiss it because, as Presi
dent Grant said at Long Branch last Summer,
we "don't want to be bothered with
"it;" but there is moro danger in every
step of this business than in anything
the American People have had to deal with III
the past fifteen years, or perhaps ever before
A party that has become reckless and giddy
with long-continued power is on the brink of
defeat, and it knows it, For no purpose
except to retain its hold. it consents to a
great wrong and outrage, and undertakes to
annul the action of a popular majority. 1t has
the look of desperation. 1t will bear the inter
probation of purpose to perpetuate its power
at any hazard.
Of course there is no danger. There never
u.s. There was none the last time a great
party went out of power No danger Every
body said so. But between 1861 and 1865 the
country learned to its sorrow that though the
individual men who compose great parties. and
the leading statesmen who manage them, are
patriotic and wellmeauing persons who
would not for the world do harm to any
body, yet there is in the cOnglOmerate of
party spirit of desperation, which can work
wondrous havoc when it ia thwarted. The
Democratic party did not go out of power
quietly. It's successor will not go out at all if
it can only fortify itself with presidents, and
have on hand O sufficient number ot Return
ing Boards.