Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-02-05

VI Jne Senite OOlnfnllCcc OF 1913
upon Louisiana affairs.
In this weeks issue, with an air of
triumph, that it does not care to con.
ceal, it quotes paragraph of the re-
port, which it says, "knocks higher
than kite" our statement of last
week, that neither McEnery or KEEL
logg were legally elected in 1872,
and which it makes use of to prove
that McEnery should have been recog-
nized by the President. AS usual,
the Conservative quotes only SO
much of the report as will serve its
partisan purpose, viz: that portion
of it that condemns, on technical
grounds, the action of the Returning
Board, and declares that but for Du-
rell, McEnery would have been the
de facto Governor of the State. 1t
makes the most of these points, but
fails to tell it's readers that no where
in the report do the committee say
that McEnery was legally elected
One portion of it quoted by our
neighbor is as follows:
"Your committee are led to the conclu-
sion that if the election held in November
1872, be not absolutely cold from frauds
committed therein McEnery and his asso-
ciites ought to be recognized as the legal
government.
Now, the very contingency stated
by the committee was present. The
committee had before it overwhelm-
ing evidence Of fraud and intimida-
ton committed at that election, and
on this point the report says:
"a careful consideration of the testimo-
ny convinces us that had the election of
November last been fairly conducted and
returned, Kellogg and his associates, and
a Legislature composed of the same politi-
cal party, would have been elected The
colored population of that State outnum-
bers the whites, and in the last election
the colored voters We're almost unanimous
in their support of the Republican ticket.
Governor Yarmouth, who was elected by
the Republicans of the State in 1868, had
passed into opposition, and held in his
hands the entire machinery of the election.
He appointed the supervisors of registra-
ton, and they appointed the commission
ers of election. The testimony shows a
systematic purpose on the part of those
conducting the election to throw every pos
sible difficulty in the way of colored vo-
tiers in the matter of registration The
polling places are not fixed by law, and at
the last election they were purposely es-
tablished by those conducting the election
at places not easy of access in those par
ishes which were known to be largely Re-
publican; so that in some instances voters
had to travel over twenty miles to reach
the polls
In the canvass of votes which determined
the McEnery government to be elected,
the votes of several of the Republican
parishes were rejected"
Further, the committee say that
they are satisfied from the testimony
that the manipulation of the election
machinery by Yarmouth, was equal
to 10000 votes; and they add, that to
recognize the McEnery government
''would be recognizing government
based on fraud, and in defiance of
the acishes and intentions Of the cot
ers of the State" Thus it will be
seen that the committee so far from
endorsing McEnery, on the contrary
testified to their conviction that Kel-
logg was the choice of the legal vot-
ers of the State, and only reject
ed his claims on purely technical
grounds.
The extracts above fairly represent
the tone of the Senate report, and
it is only by garbling and detached
sentences that it can be made to favor
the McEncry faction, or even by
implication condemn the President.
The committee is explicit and en-
phatic in the expression of the opin-
ion "that Kellogg was defeated, and
the popular voice reversed by the
fraudulent manipulation Of the cleo
- FNhn Transformations
made the committee its witness, we
submit that it must accept its testi-
mony as true, and if from the report
it can find any comfort for the White
League government, it is welcome to
it. Unable from the returns of the
election to declare for either party,
the Senate committee reported that
there was no government in Louis
lana, and recommended a new cleo
ton. Congress saw fit to ignore this
recommendation, and the response
bility rested upon the President,
which he could not evade, to decide
which he should recognize. We
fully agree with our neighbor that he
could not find better authority on
which to base his action than the
facts developed by the committee.
From those developments he easily
arrived at the conclusion that Kel-
logg had the best show of justice and
endorsement by the people of Louis
lana, and he did not hesitate to act
promptly upon his conviction of right,
as he always does. For this he will
have honor and praise from the peo-
pie, despite the efforts of a partisan
press to blacken his record.
The Democratic Clerk of the Louis
lana Returning Board was arrested
upon charge of bribery, and he con-
fessed that he had agreed five negro