New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-01-11


true, but happily the undisputed facts are sun
cient, and there is no need to 60 beyond them
to find the end by which the whole tangie uh-
ravels itself. We ask citizens, then' 10 CON
slider first what it is that has aroused tile
INDIGNATION of the people of the whole country.
Ia il that Louisiana has been ruled by cor
rupt ring which has plundered and despoied
her for yearsf Not at oil. That has gone
on go long that tho people had become
Gallons to it, Is it that this ring has
undertaken to perpetuate itself by bare
faced frauds of which hardly any
concealment was attemptedf NOT tha'
either; for the same men did the same thing
IN 1872, and there was no uprising OF tne
country against it. 1t is this simply; that the
President of the United States, IN putting the
army of tho United States at the
dismissal of n State Executive to DO used IN
oioctino sucb members of the Legislature rs
he nleased, established a precedent more dan
cerous 70 republican institutions ard to the
liberties of the people than ever was secession
or rebellion. The latter impelied only the
territorial integrity of the Union, the cohe-
renee of the States. President Grant, by his
uso of the army, puts in peril personal liberty
itself. For if the Legislature Of State, which
by constitutional prerogative is judge
Of the qualifications of its own mem
bers, may be invaded by an Executive
who exercises the functions OF Com
mttee on Contested Elections, and without
waiting for testimony expels members from
their seats and then enforces his decree with
Federal bayonets-why then there's an end
not only of constitutional law, but of every
thing but the caprice of the President in COM
mand. That is the kernel of this whole bus
mess; the precedent it establishes and the
inevitable logic that flows out of it, And 1t
is so serious matter that people who have
calmly listened to the stories of oppression
and robbery and fraud that have come up
from the South for these four or five years
and not been disturbed by them, have been
aroused by this to the pitch of indignant pro-
test.
Does any supporter of the Grant Admins
tralion reply to this that the troops were
there to prevent riot, and that there was
reason to believe there would have been vio-
lence and bloodshed had they not been en-
ployed9 Indeedl Who was there to lnsti-
gate any disturbance at the time of this in
vasion7 Certainly not the Conservatives
Gen. Sheridan's "banditti" for they were III
possession. Who then7 Not the Kellogg
men, of course, for the troops were sent there
to protect them from the "banditti." No,
thcr4's n short answer to that. Whoever says
tho army was used to prevent bloodShci
must be grossly ignorant, first, OF the
fact that the "baniitti,' as Sheridan calls
them, were in peaceable possession OF
the State House when tho army marched III /;
and second, of tho fact that the people whom
Sheridan calls "banditt" had only four
months before shown their loyalty to the
General Government by giving up at the
simple demand of an officer of the army the
municipal government of which they were IN
actual and undisturbed possession. Ii they
know these facts when they say the army
was used to prevent bloodshed. they must
know they speak falsely. The army was used
simply to keep the Kellogg party in power,
and for no other purpose.
And now it is just possible that some sup
porter of the Administration mny go back of
all this, and say: "Wel after all, there Is no
"doubt that the registration Of the State
"showed a clear Republican majority. and
"there must have been thousands of negroes
"intimidated into voting the Democratic
ticket, or kept away from the polls alto
"eether. The Returning Board had declared
"a majority Of Republicans elected, and the
"army was used on the right side, any way"
Well let us overlook the fact that Kellogg
had no business to interfere with the organ
ization of tho Legislature, and that the
soldiers had no business to drive ont seven
,bo
and let us look at this charge Of intimidation
Who makes itf The Kellogg Returning Board
Upon what factsf The Congressional Com
mittee could find not one that warranted it,
Upon what ground, then, is 1t asserted hat
the election was carried by intimidation
Why this: that the registration showed enough
negro votes to give the State to the Republi-
cans. And so here's another wholesome prece-
dent. The negro must vote the Republican
ticket. If, for any reason. he votes the other
way, or not at all. a Republican Returning
Board decides that he has been inundated,
and counts him on that side all tho same
Neat easy, and convenient. Why not
then, Just take census of them, and
add the registration list to the white
Republican vote without the fOrmality Of
YOUNG UneU anu why HoV OAVOuu Suio Iulc
to all the Southern States and lump the vote
With this done-and the logic OF the Kellogg
Returning Board leads Enthusiastically and inev-
itably to tit only needs tho recognition, by
Congress and the people, of Grants right to
use the army as a Committee on Contested
Elections, and we have the whole matter
settled. No more disturbance after that.
Are we quito ready to make such settle
ment. at such price