The Portland daily press., 1875-02-24
LOUISIANA,
Reports of the Congressional Com
mittee.
Minority RcD0ri.

unJOrIty tfcpOrt.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 The undersigned a
majority of the Committee ON The state of the
South, respectfully report that they cannot
agree to the report made to the committee by
Messrs Hoar Wheeler and Frye.
The laws inimcal to the coored people of
Louisiana. referred to in their report, have been
repea|ed for years except during the schjsn of
CIV Warmoth in 1872. The Republican party
long had control of the machinery of the state.
The late registration shows an excess of coIored
over white voters, giving 9S 781 colored to TO-
1923 whites. In the absence of any direct evil
depce that the late election was not free and
fair, the assumption of the minority that
enough colored voters must therefore have
been prevented from voting at the late election
by the recollection of the Colfax and Coashatta
killing, the causes and circumstances of which
are disputed, and by other riots which occurred
years before, to have changed the result of the
election throughout the state, is an assumption
so violent when it is fecollected that both those
parishes elected full Kellogg ticket by in
creased Republican majorities, is not to be re-
ceived if any other causes for the vote of the
state can be found. Such causes exist and OBJ
vious among them are:
First, the registration was incorrect, and eX-
ceeded the true cOlored vote.
The registration was wholly in the hands of
kellogg officials with the Republican commit
tee, with U. S. Marshal Packard at their head,
cooperating. In only three parishes did the
Republican supervisors of registration make
any complaint of unfair or insufficient regis
tration. On the other hand, everywhere great
complaint was made by the Conservatives, who
specified with proof 800 cases of concede
false registration sin New Orleans alone, and
those Conservatives who have been CO -operat
ing in joint party committee to secure "a fair
registration gave up the effort in despair. The
census of 1870, the correctness of which is not
impe .ched. shows 81 066 white and 86,913 col
ored males over q years of age All the statis-
tics and evidence before us indicated no change
i1 this proportion in favor of coored voters,
yet the regis ration of colored voters exceeded
by 1000 the total number of colored adult males
returned by the census, while the registration
| of white voters was 0,000 less.
Second, The whole number of voters regis
tered was 167,6Q. OF these, 146 523 voted.
This is a lar.er proportion of registered voters
than usually vote in any northern state. In an
agricultural state, spaIsely settled, where long
journeys had to be made to reach the polls it is
unreasonable to suppose that greater propor-
ton of the registered blacks would have vOlun-
tarily turned out to sustain government un-
der which the prosperity of the state, and the
wages, and the value of their shares of produc-
tion had steadily decliaed, than Usually vote at
| elections, North or South.
Third, 1874 was year of political change, in
which the vote through all the states was Serl-
| ousy affected against the Republican party-a
| change resulting largely from the financial dis
tress OF the people, which should therefore nat
L
| than elsewhere.
| Fourth, 1t became the interests of the Con.
servatives, at least at the last election, not tC
| lntlmidate but to acquire by every fair means
| the colored vote. Parties who were alleged tC
| have threatened the black men, even with re-
fusal of employment, were subject to prompt
| arrest. 1t was known that pretexts would be
sought to deprive the Conservatives OF the le
suit it they prevailed in the election. 1t was
| therefore, their interest to avoid giving any
l Snph Apnordinolu tbav Iat inc
| everywhere to co operate with and conciatt
the blacks. They voted down the propositions
| or suggestions which were made in the earl,
| 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 to carry the election
Local combinations against the Kellogg caudi
dates were made in many parishes by men o
all parties and colOrs. In several parishes
union ticket of colored and Conservative voters
| was voted for and elected An intelligent col
ored witness testified that better government
was needed, and to that end ne was willing t
swallow tha white man if the white men woult
swallow the colored. These causes and feeling
naturally united to swell the Conservative vot'
| in such localities, as showed by the returns.
| Fifth, The entire want OF any direct evidence
to show any general intimidation of the coloret
voters. Of course in so large a State it woult
be impossible that there should be no instance
of intimidation as such occurs in every State
Il DuU the evidence lDulCdIeu no S6ueTdl
| ton of colored voters, and that such intimida
tion as did exist in the State was rather In the
interest of the Republicans than the couserva
tveS The q. S. marshalS whose chief was
chairman of the Republican committee. armed
| in some cases with blank warrants OF arrest
and aided by federal troops, made arrests be
| fore the election, but not after. The oversight
1 of the election and the returns were in the
hands of Keloggk officials Their count ane
return did show % majority of the members O.
tba1 1nx hons afa tod hyf hn On I
| without any protest whatever, except in those
| parishes, although it was their duty to protec
1 in any case where violence and Intimidation OF
l fraud existed. Indeed the direct evidence as tt
the election of 1874 well as the circumstances
clearly show, fair election. In fact after the
| visit of the first Committee and the revisit of g
| Special Com mittee, the Kellogg party with all
the machinery for collecting evidence were un-
| able to produce more than half a dozen people
| to testify to anything against the freedom and
fairness of the late election, who were not Office
| holders or connected With office holders
| Against such facts it seems to us idle to say
that The disturbance so vividly pictured by the
| minority could have kept up things to such 9
| state of feeling of intimidation as would justi
| fly the assumption that but for that feeling the
| state would have gone Republican.
All experience shows that the result OF the
election of 1874 in Louisiana, as returned tc
| the returning board was natural and to be only
accounted for by the reasons we have given
| We hold. therefore, that in November, 1874
the people of the state of Louisiana did fairly
have full and free registration and election il
which clear conservative majority was elected
to the lower house of the Legislature, of which
majority the conservatives were deprived by
the illegal and arbitrary action of the return
ing board. ,~
To the resolution reported to the House from
the committee as to the action of the returning
board we are agreed. We understand the
l committee to be unanimous in finding the fact
that the action of the returning board has de
feated the will OF the people as expressed by
them at the polls the Sd of November, 1874.
The people then elected to the lower house OF
their Legislature, majority of conservative
members. A portion of conservative members
| thus elected were refused their credentials.
This is an act of great iujustic, to the individ'
uals, of the gravest danger to the state and free
| government and ought to be Immediately cor
rected by any power competent to correct it,
l The resolution recommending the recognition
of Gov. Kellogg is based upon generalities and
| not upon evidence. On this point no testimo-
ny was taken either by the Committee or any
part of it. Kellogg may or may not have been
| elected in 1874, but there is no evidence to
show the fact, or if there be it has neither been
| sought nor found by this Committee.
Messrs. Foster and Phelps think that the
popular belief, taking both conservative and
radical circles, inclines ON the whole to justify
Kellogg and Penn claims, aud that as Kellogg