The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-05-18

owA moWucLS. ~ 1A0O PROVIDES liz 5, ar
} 49, that Returns of al elections for mem
bers Of the General Assembly shall be mad
to the Secretary of State" The n
} turns here intended are manifesto
taose by the local election boards
and any attempted diversion of them to tn
hands of other officials without authority, {,
slit them out and send up only such as the,
may see fit, would be in manifest repuenanc,
to this article. We are at q loss to perceiv,
how the apparent conflict of the election Law
with the power of the Legislature to Judge o
the election OF its members, can be reasoned
away or excused. Only two methods Occur
to us. Although the Returning Board are tx
judge of the election Of members, and return
only such as they decide upon, it may be sale
that this leaves the House at liberty after
wards to review their decisions, and to seal
and unseat according to its own Judgment,
But conceding this right. the House that
might do this would be, or might be, not the
House chosen by the people, but the House
composed Of persons certified to BY the Re-
turning Board, who alone under the act would
be permitted to participate in the oryaniza.
| ton, and who, under the present condition
| of things in Louisiana, might reasonably be
relied upon to SO I" fix things" that the real
House would never be permitted to
exercise its constitutional right. The one
hundred and eleven members of whom the
House is composed might, to any extent, at
the option-or, conceding the fairness of the
board-according to the judgment of this
board, be set aside for others who were not
chosen, and not one Of them could particle
pate except at the option of these others.
1t is idle to attempt the defense of an act
which places board with powers so conclu-
sive between the Legislature and its constitu-
tional power and privilege.
But it may be said that the right of the
House is saved and protected by clause in
the election law, that "nothing in this act
shall be construed to conflict with article "a
of the Constitution of this State" This is
contained in the section which gives to the
board its extraordinary powers over the re-
turns Of members If it means that the
statute shall be SO construed as to preserve
the full constitutional privileges of the House,
then it means that the statute shall be so con-
strued as to nullify it. For it is obvious that
this power of the board to judge OF the re-
turns with conclusive effect SO far as the
of the House is concerned. can
not stand with the constitutional power
Of the House to pass judgment for itself. AS |
therefore. the purpose has evidently been |
that the statute should be enforced, it must |
be supposed it was not the intent that the |
Constitution should be. The reasonable con- |
cluslon must be that when it was declared |
hat nothing in the act should be construed to
conflict with the Constitution, the intent was
hat no one should be at liberty to discover in
he Constitution anything in conflict with the
lct, however plain and palpable the conflict
night seem to be to mind at liberty freely
o compare them. In this sense the proviso
perfectly in harmony with the manifest
General purpose OF the election law, and in
his sense has effect been given to it by the
'ersons in power.
We are now in the history of those pro-
ceilings brought to the election of 1874, and
ne action OF the Returning Board under it.
)nly one State officer was to be chosen at
his election, but the whole body of Repre-
entatlves, consisting of one hundred and
leven, were to be elected As has
lready been said, the whole election ma
Machinery was in the hands of the Gov
or. Moreover, Federal supervisors had
cen appointed to watch the proceedings,
nd there was no reason to expect that the y
gmpathies OF these officers would be against !
ae Governors party. The first reports of ,,
,e election would, therefore, naturally favor !
lat party. inasmuch as they would come
ON or be based upon the action of friendly s
fcials. Those reports gave clear majority c
the Conservative or opposition ticket for 8
lie State office, and fixed the majority Of the
onservaflves in the House at twenty-nine, Q
the general accuracy of these reports no Q
'ubt was felt in the country. But this was '
fore the Returning Board had begun its n
ork. b
We have not the space at our command to n
forth in full the proceedings Of this board. l
lffice is to say, that it remained in session L
several weeks busily employed in upset. >
lg the election that had taken place. A part A
the time 1t held open session, and admitted 81
rites interested and their counsel, and fe
TT of the time it held what was called "ex- ri
utlve session." by which was meant only CO
at the doors were closed and public te
servation excluded. Gradually in ..ex- W
ntive session" the Conservative ma to
1ty for the State office, as shown t.
the returns made by the officials n
with this board, was cut down ca
nothing by rejecting whatever was neces- ST
y to that end, and comfortable majority m
lnted up for the opposing candidate At dc
same time the Conservative majority in w
House was intended to be destroyed by ba
. process ffty-three Republicans being by
arned as chosen, and ffty-three Conserva- co
IS, according to the classification of Gov. oE
llogg and five cases we're held too doubt m
for the Board to pass upon, and their ha
es were referred to the House itself for de- pr
on. Perhaps this permission of the Board pl'
the House to pass upon five seats out of me
hundred and eleven, was considered a gu
'hod of saving to the House its constitu- no
lal privilege. bu
or shall we stop to characterize these pro- gu
1ings beyond saying that in most of the the
10 in which the Board assumed to set aside mi
returns and give seats to members not Gee
wn to be choaen, they acted without du
dow of justification. In most of the sea
IS there was no protest from the local ant
ers. and no pretense of unfairness, except the
t the board was able to discover in ssexec tina
e session" The Congressional Commit Pre-
which afterwards investigated, have given Irt
imens one of which we transcribe: SThe to ]
sh of Rapides chose three members to hae
Legislature. The returne elected all three Boz
servatives. When the proofs closed the Civ
paper filed with the board was the afida- bod
Of the United States Superior that the "
ion was in all respects full, fair and free. qui
as not known in the parish that any con- o'cl
existed against those members. Thew CON
their homes and proceeded to New Or aro1
5 to be present at the opening of the uni
stature, no intimation of contesting their by [
!, or objection to their election. having Cle1
given bV their OnDOnapts A. oco ~ vii