The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-01-14
The Louisiana Outrage.

The Louisiana returns, as finally re
viscd and promulgated, clect the Re
publican candidate for State Treasurer
10y less than 900 majority. and give the
: l,tpublicaus bare majority i'll the
Legislature. 1T will he remembered that
the Conservative member of the Return
ing Board resigned upon the express
ground that the returns were being
cooked for partisan purposes The Con
scrVatjNe committee, or counsel, had al
ready Withdrawn, angrily protesting
against the consummation of prcmcdi-
tated fraud and outrage which they
found themselves Powcrlcss to prevent.
The Republican" members OF the
Returning Board have addressed the
country III explanation and defense of
their action. They do moi .nretend that
a count of the votes actu IT, ~ iI,a
recent election and Ccrtifi i To them in
more or less regular form by the parish
officials would give the results they have
promulgated. Their claim is that the
Conservatives obtained thcir majority
by intlmidating the colored citizens. If
these intimid atcd citizens had voted it is
the opinion Of the Republican" re-
turner's that the State would have gone
right instead of wrong. They have made
1t 90 right according to their report.
We dare say this charge Of intimida-
tion has more or less foundation in fact.
1t is quite possible that IN some Of the
interior parishes there may have been
actual violence offered or threatened to
the colorel voters. 1t is pretty well un-
derStood by this time chat the rural
Louisiana community woHld not take IA
premium at any worlds fair for its ad-
vanced civilization OF its law abiding
habits. We dare say, too, that in other
instances the negroes Werc deferred from
exercising the supreme night of citizen
ship this year by vivid sccollections of
previous experiences OF by mental un
certainty as to the precise mission of the
White League. There does not seem to
he any doubt that the intimidation which
consists in telling your cmployc that vot-
ing a certain way will cost him his place
was practiced i'll some cases. Unhappily
this peculiar and effective form of in
timidation is not confined to Louisiana,
nor yet to the South.
After all concessions made. however,
the presumption remains heavily against
these Republican, gentlemen, against
the honesty of their ptGposes, against
the truStworthiness of their arithmetic,
against the validity in law or morals of
their conclusions. This presumption
arises partly from the known and proved
rascalitics OF the past, partly from the
known facts of the present. To assume
that every negro in Louisiana who
doesn't vote the Republican" ticket
must have been intimilated by some
body is To assume good deal more than
the facts will warrant IL is well known
that in Louisiana, as in other Southern
States, the negroes vino have acquired
property and have taxes 10 pay are more
and more disposed to sI'.e with the prop
crty-holding interest 1t is also known
that many of the negro politicians in
Louisiana think il has been buZzard for
them and turkey for t. white carpet
ba"gers about long enough, and that This
feeling cropped uul before and during
the recent canvass. There were a good
many CulurCd citizens in Louisiana who
didn't require intimidation to prevent
them voting the Kellogg ticket When
we add that some of the parishes thrown
out by the Board on this prctcXt of III
timidation were actually ovcrrun at the
time by Atty.-Gcn. Williams Dragons,
most people viii agree with us that the
Boards published statement is 10 be re-
ccivcd with Il good deal of reserve.
Not TO put too fine point upon it, the
verdict of the North will be that another
gross and outrageous fraud has been
added To a list that was considerably too
long already. Public sentiment in This
part of the country-we had almost said
Rep"j5tcoH sentiments dead against
these Louisiana Republicans and
will remain So, i'll all probability, to the
end of the chapter. The President, how
ever having put his foot in il, reasons
if we may affirm SO intellectual proCos,
of Gen. GTant-that returning were no
easier Than goin" o'cr," and announces,
with some appearance Of heat, fixed
purpose to see Mr. Kellogg through.
What is a more serious affair, he wants
the Republican majority in Congress to
90 halves in the Interesting experiment,
and Mr.. Morton has apparently taken
the contract for gratifying the Executive
wish. If he succeeds in fulfilling this
contract the complete overthrow of the
Republican party in 1876 viii 80 near to
become Il forcgonc conclusion.
The one hopeful feature of the situa-
tion is the visit of the Congressional
subcommittee to New Orleans. McsSrs
Foster Potter and Phelps are gentlemen
of character, intelligence and patriotism.
We believe that the love of country and
of justice is stronger in all of them than
the love or fear of party. If, by any di,
rect or indirect pressure, ii should be
borne i'll upon them that their main duty
after ascertaining the faCts--is to agree
upon the remedy, to suggest method
by which this chronic Louisiana question
can be finally disposed OF, we have no
doubt their recommendation would be
followed by Congress and ratified by the
ccuntry.-SpriHaieM tHaSs.) EePuJltcaa.