The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-01-27

able returns of its result. Kellogg
in my opinion, has more right TO il
than his competitor. On the Goth oi
February. 1878, the committee on
Privilege and Elections of the
Senate made a report in which
they say they were satisfied
by testimony that the manipulation
of the election machinery, by War
mouth and others, was equivalent 10
twenty Thousand votes, and they add
that, TO recognize the McEnerv gov
ernment. would be recognizing gov
ernment based upon fraud,i in defiance
of the wishes aud intention of the
voters of the State. Assuming the
correctness Of the statements in this
report. and they seem to have been
generally accepted by the country,
the great crime in Louisiana about
which so much has been said, is that
one is holding the Office of Gov
ernor who was cheated out Of 20
600 votes, against another whose IL
tie to the Office is undoubtedly based
on fraud and in defiance of the vot-
ers of the State, and, misinformed
and misiudging as to the nature and
extent of this report, the supporters
of McEnery proceeded to displace by
force in some counties of the State
the appointees of Governor Kellogg,
and on the 18th Of April, in an effort
of that kind a butchery Of citizens
was committed at Colfax. which in
blood-thirstiness and barbarity is
hardly surpassed by any act of say
age warfare.
Tc put this matter beyond contro-
versy | quote from the charge of
Judge Woods. of the t. s. Circui:
Court, to the jury in the case of the
United States vs.. Cruikshauk and
Others in New Orleans in March,
1874. He said: in e case there
are many central facts not in contro-
versy. | proceed to state some of
them in presence and hearing Of
counsel on both Sides, and if | state
as a conceded fact any matter that is
disputed, they can correct me-" At
ter stating the origin of the difficulty,
which grew out of an attempt of
white persons to drive the parish
Judge and sheriff, appointees of Kel
logg, from Office, and their attempted
protection by oolored persons. which
led to some fighting, in which quite
number of negroes were killed, the
Judge states that most who were not
killed were taken prisoners. Fifteen
OF sixteen of the blacks had lifted the
boards and taken refuge under the
floor of the court house They were
all captured About thirty-nine men
were taken prisoners, but the num-
Der is not definitely fixed. They
were kept under guard until dark |
They were led out two by two and
shot. Most Of the men were shot to
death few were wounded, not NOR
tally, and by pretending to be dead
were afterwards, during the night,
able to make their escape. Among
them was the Levi Nelson named in
the indictment.
The dead bodies Of the negroes
killed in this affair were left unburied
until Tuesday, April Is, when they
were buried By deputy marshal and
40 officer of militia from New Or
leans. These persons found fifty
Tine dead bodies. They showed pis-
shot wounds, the great majority in
the head. and most Of them in the |
back of ire head.
In addition to the ffty-nine dead |
bodies found, some charred remains |
of dead bodies were discovered near
she Courthouse. Six dead bodies |
were found under a warehouse, all |
shot in the head but one or two, who |
we're shot in the breast The only |
white men injured from the begin
uing of these troubles to their close
we're Hadnot and Harris The Court
house and its contents were entirely |
consumed.
There is no evidence that anv one !
IN the crowd of whites had any war
rant for the arrest of any one of the |
blacks. There is no evidence that
either Nase or Casabat, after the af- |
fair. even demanded their Offices to /
which they had set up claim, but
he Register continued to act as Par |
isb Judge and Shaw as Sheriff |
These are facts in this case, as | un-
lerstand them to be admitted. To
mold the people of Louisiana gener-
lily responsible for these atrocities
would not be Just, but it is lament
,ble tact that insuperable obstruc-
lions were thrown in the way OF
,unishing these murderers, and the !
-o-ealled Conservative papers not on |
" justified the massacre, but de |
lounced as Federal tyranny and des-
potism the attempt of he United /
States officers to bring them to justice
Fierce denunciations ring through
'ut the country about Office holding
and election matters in Louisiana,
While every one of the Colfax mis-
creants goes unwhipped of justice,
and no wav can be found 10 this
boasted land of civization and Chris
tianity to punish the perpetrators of
this bloody and monstrous crime
Not unlike this was the massacre in
August last Several Yopns neh of
capital and enterprise had started the
little and flourishing town of Cous-
hatta. Some of them were RepHbli-
cans and Office holders under Kel-
logg. They were, therefore, doomed
to death. Six of them were seized
and carried away from their homes,
and murdered in cold blood No one
has been punished, and the Conserv-
ative press of the State denounced |
all efforts to that end, and boldly JUS
tilted the crime Many murders of
a like character have been committed
in individual cases which cannot
here be declared-for example: 7.
5. Crawford, Judge, aud E. p Har-
ris, District Attorney of the Twelfth
Judicial District of the State, on
their way TO court, were shot from
their horses by men in ambush, on
the sth of October, 1878, and the
widow Of the former in a communi-
cation to the Department of Justice
tells a piteous tale of the persecu-
tiops OF her husband because be was