The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1875-02-19
THE Mn1TE LEAauER,s STORY.

THE WHITE LEAGUER'S STORY.
It is hoped that the testimony now
being brought before Mr.. Hoar's Com
mittee at New Orleans by the Conserva-
tives will be carefully read and consider
ed by every one in the North who is
to be enlightened about affairs in Loui-
siana. Particularly refreshing and sug-
gestive is the testimony of Mr. r. II.
Mari, counsel for conservatives, and O
prominent leader in the White League
coup detat of September II. Mr.. Mari
first made long statement in which he
gave hattering account of Conserva
tive affairs, exonerated the White Leag
uers from any wrong intent, and just
fed the forcible overthrow of the State
government on the ground that it wa,
an usurpation. The editor and proprie
tor of the Caucasian, published il
Rapides parish, testified that the election
in his district was all conducted very
fairly; that the Conservative ticket re-
ceived large majority of the votes cast
when Mr.. Hoar took the witness il
hand, and the following questions and
answers followed:
Q. / ask you, then, how you account
for tho fact that in this parish, in 1872,
McEnery claimed 1850 votes when the
lregistration showed only 1,011 whites
A. do not attempt to account forit;
Governor Warmoth had way of doing
things which did not suit me.
Q. Do you not believe there was in
Rapides n fraudulent count for McEnery
of at lease 900 votes2
A. 1 would rather you would excuse
me from answering that = ,--.-, - '-
o. also understand that in the par
ish of Natchitoches, in 1872, the colored
registration was l 1915, and the vote for
Kellogg only tifty-fve II that is 80,
would you not infer that either 1850
voters must have refrained from voting,
or that the returns were fraudulently
made.
A. Well, Mr.. Pierson, who was War
mouths supervisors, was on the stand,
and he can tell you how it was done.
Q. Do understand you to say that
the official votes returned or counted for
McEnery in 1872 were to a large ex-
tent fraudulently returned and counted
A. can't say.
Q. Do you believe that the votes re-
turned or counted for McEnery in 1872
were to a large extent fraudulently re-
turned?
A. expect that there was some irreg-
ularity.
Q. Do you think the returns on
either side were sufficiently authentic
to base q resolution uponl
A. The official counts and returns
were not
O. Then if the count on neither side
was to be relied upon how would you
have had President Grant act so as to
get at the result 2
A. 1 don't believe he could have done
so. 1 blame Congress more than the
President.
To Mr.. Wheeler: Q. What could
Congress have done2
A. 1t could have sent down q commit
tee.
Q. Do you suppose it would have
been practicable for q committee OF
Congress to have gone over your State
parish by parish, and settle the fact o.
all the claims of fraud or intimidation
and determine what would have beer
the result of fair and free election, go
ing behind the returns Of both sides2
A. think not.
Q. Then what would you have had
Congress dol
A. Restore the status as it was be
fore Durrell issued his midnight order
and let the people fight it out them.
selves.
We quote thus copiously because il
the above passage we have the whole
White League theory of State govern
ment, an inside view of the system which
the Democrats North and South are In
boring to enforce, Because Presiden
Grant would not sustain the enormous
frauds of the McEneryites in 1872, ant
let the people eight it out among them
selves" he is called "despot, "mili
tary butcher, and every other vile epi
thet that the Southern fre-eaters car
invent. 1t is to be hoped that the Dem
ocratic statesmen and newspapers, a
well as Messrs. Foster and Phelps, vii
} keep a sharp eye on what the Conserva
tive witnesses are testifying. Thus ia
they have seen incomparably the ables
witnesses against the White Leaguerul,
that have appeared before the commit