Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-24
LOUISIANA AFFAIRS.
Reports of the investigating Conf
mittee Submitted to Congress.
The Infamy of the Kellogg Re
turning Board.
The Entire Committee Agree
that the Conservatives Elec-
ted a Majority to the
House. ........
The Conclusions and ReoOmmen.
datiOns of the Minority and
Majority of the Com
mittee.

Il
datiOns of the Minority and
Majority of the Com
mittee.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.-Mr. G. F
Hoar, chairman Of the special cOmmitte'
on Louisiana affairs, made report to thi
House Of Representatives to-day, clOsin.
with the following resolutions:
Whereas, both branches of the Legisla
ture of Louisiana have requested the seleC
committee Of the House TO investigate tn
circumstances attending the elections an,
returns thereof in that State for the yea
1874; and,
Whereas, said committee has unani
mOusly reported that the Returning Boar
Of that State, in canvassing and eOmpilin.
said returns and the prOrhu,gstiOn Of th'
results, wrongfully applied an erroneous
rule of law, by reason whereof persons wer
awarded in the House Of Representative
seats 10 which they were not entitled, anC
persons entitled to seats were deprived o
them;
Resolved, that it is recommended to ths
House of Representatives Of Louisiana h
take immediate steps to remedy said inius
tice, and place the persons rightfnlly enti
tied in their seats.
Resolved, that VIM. p. Kellogg be recOg
nized as the Governor Of the State Of Lou
isiana until the end Of the term Of Offie.
fixed by the Constitution Of that State.
The Majority Report.
The undersigned, a majority Of the Com
mittee on the State of the South, respect
fully report that they cannot agree TO th'
report made to the committee by Messrs
HOar, Wheeler and Frye. The laws mimi
cal to the cOlOred people Of Louisiana re
ferred to in this report have been repealed
for years, except during the schism Of Gov,
WarmOth in 1872. The Republican party
has long had control Of the machinery o
the State. The State registration shows af
excess of the cOlored over the white voters
giving 80, ,7SI eOlOred to 76, So whites. In thu
absence of any direct evidence that the late
election was not free and fair, the rs
sumption of the minority that enough col
ored voters must, therefore, have been pre-
vented from vO. ing at the late election by
the recollection Of the Colfax aiiC
Coushatta killings, tile causes and circum
stances of which are disputed, and by Othel
riots which occurred years before, to have
changed the result of the election through
out the State, is an assumption so violent
when il is recOllected that both those par
ishes elected a full kellogg ticket by in
creased Republican msiOrities, as not 10 b
received. If any other cause for the vote
of the State can be found, such causes eX
ist and are obvious; among these are
l. The registration was incorrec
aud exceeded the true cOlOred vote. The
registration was wholly in the hands o.
the kellogg officials, with whom a Repub
lican committee, with United States Mar
shal Packard at their head, cO-operated. In
only three parishes did the Republican su-
perviSOrs of registration make any com
plaint of un' air OF insufficient registration
On the other hand, very great complaint
was made by the Conservatives, who speei-
fed with prOOf 8, 200 cases Of conceded false
registration in New Orleans alone, and
those Conservatives who had been co-Ope-
rasiugfn the joint party COMMITTEES TO secure
a fair registration, gave up in despair. The
census Of 1870, the correctness Of which IS
not impeached, showed S7,O7j whites and
S6.913 cOlOred males over p years Of age.
all the statistics and evidence before US in
dicated no change in this proportion in
favor Of the cOlOred voters, yet the regis
tration of cOlored voters exceeded by 1000
the total number of cOlOred adult males
returned by the census, while the registra-
ton of white voters was 10000 less.
-. The whole number Of yO.ers
registered was l6T,604; Of these 146,52O
voted. This is a larger proportion OF
registered voters than usually vote IN any
Of the Northern States. In an agricultu-
raj State, sparsely settled, where long
Journeys had often to be made to reach the
polls, it is unreasonable to suppose that q
greater proportion Of registered blacks
would have voluntarily turned ont TO sUs
tain the government, sunder which the
prosperity of the State and their wages and
the value Of their shares Of production
had steadily declined, than usually vote al
elections North or South.
3. 1874 was a year Of political change, IN
which the vote throughout all States wa;
seriously affected against the Republican
party, a change resOluting largely from the
financial distress Of the people, and which
should therefore naturally have been even
greater in Louisiana than elsewhere.
4. 1t became the interest Of the Con
servatives at the last election not to intimi.
date, but to acquire by every fair means
collred votes. The parties who were al
leged to have threatened the blacks viii
the refusal Of employment were subjected
to prUmBt arrest. 1t was known that pre-
texts would be sought TO deprive the Con-
servatives of the result if they prevailed IN
the election. 1t was therefore their inter
est to avoid giving any such pretext. Ac,
cOrdingly, they determined everywhere t.
cooperate with and conciliate the blacks
They voted down the propositions
or suggestions which were made in
the early part of the campaign
for refusal to employ those cOlOred voters
who would not cooperate with them, and
generally sought by combining with the
colored voters, 10 carry the election. LO-
cal combinations against the kellogg can
didates were made in many parishes by
men of all parties and color. In several
parishes, tickets composed Of cOlOred and
Conservative voters were voted for and
elected. An intelligent cOlOred witness
testified that be desired better government,
and, TO that end, was willing to swallow
the white man, if white men would
swallow the cOlOred. These causes and
feelings naturally united to swell the Con-
servalive vote in such localities, as indica-
ted by the returns.
5. The entire want Of any direct evi-
dence to show any general intimidation OF
cOlored voters. Of course in so large a State,
it would be impossible that there should
be no instances OF refusal to employ or OF
intimidation. Such occur in every State.
But the evidence certainly indicates no
general intimidation Of cOlOTed voters, and
that such intimidation as did exist in the
State, was rather in the interest Of the
Republicans than Of the Con-
servativcs. The United States marshals,
whose chief was the chairman Of the Re
publican State Committee, armed in some
cases with blank warrants Of ar1est, and
aided by Federal troops, made constant ar
rests before the election, but not afterwards.
The oversight Of the election and returns
was in the hands Of Gov. kellOgg's officials.
Their account and returns did show tWen-
ty-nine majority of members Of the lower
house elected by the Conservatives without
any protest whatever, except in three par
ishes, although it was their province ami
duty to protest in any case where
violence and intimidation or fraud
existed. Indeed the direct evidence as to
the election Of 1874, as well as the oircum-
stances, clearly indicate a peaceable and
fair election. In fact, after The visit Of the
first committee, and revisit Of the special
committee, the kellogg party with all their
machinery for collecting evidence, were
unable to prOdure in the entire State more