New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-02-13
Of their'proceedings is technical. The COM

mittee say:
f 1.-THE claw provided that in case of sucl
, violence, intimidation or corruption at OF
! near either poll, either during registration
or ELECTION, as prevented q fair, free
, peaceable, and full vote, the commissioners
Of election, if the occurrence was on cleo
ton day, the supervisors, if on the day OF
registration, should make full, verified
statement of the occurrence, and forward
the same with and annexed to the returns
s'In only few instances were there any
protests accompanying these returns"
That is to say, the revisers OF the doings
of the Returning Board take exception to
the fact that according to their construction
of the law the board departed from its true
letter and exercised functions that were in
no way devolved upon it by the law. Sir,
had that board been held to the true
letter of the law. the whole parish Of Or
leans, with its $4,000 Democratic major
ity, would have been thrown out; and the
Democratic contestants before that board
appealed to it to become court of arbitra-
ton, and, however it may be contrary to
law, certainly the side who have been decid
ed for are estopped from taking exception
to it. l should like the clerk to read what
we're the principles that guided the action
of that board. Had they confined them.
| selves to a strict observance Of the law,
there were only twelve polls in the city Of
| New Orleans, that gave $1,000 Democratic
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. legitimate or not will
not here state-where the law had been
complied with, and the other 106 could
| have been entirely thrown out. l should
| like the clerk to read that.
| The chief clerk read as follows:
when the returning officers entered on
the discharge of their duties they first
took up the parish of Orleans, in which
there were llS polling places. There being
the returns for candidates for q municipal
government, two sheriffs, and a great num-
Der of minor Offices to be canvassed, it was
deemed important that the elected candi-
dates should be indicted into Office as soon
as possible. Immediately on entering into
the canvass Of the votes in the parish of
Orleans it was discovered that the election
had been exceedingly loosely conducted.
In not probably dozen polling places in
the city had all the formalities required by
law been complied with. In but a very
few cases had the list Of voters been kept, |
or, if kept, returned to, the board, and |
many Of those returned had aot been |
signed or sworn to. In many cases the |
statement of votes showing who had been !
voted for was not kept, or, if kept, not re-
turned to the board; and in many cases the |
tally sheets were not kept, and, if kept, not |
returned to the board; and in some cases
nothing but the unsigned and unsworn.to |
tally sheets were all that had been returned
to the board. Under such circumstances,
if the board should decide that compliance
with all the forms of law would
be required to enable them to canvass
and compile the votes, it was evident there
had been no legal election in the parish of
Orleans. The board then decided that if
any of the form alities required by law had
been complied with, even only tally
sheet unsigned or sworn to, was returned to
it by the supervisors of registration, they
would, in the absence of any proof OF fraud,
intimidation or other illegal practice, can
vass and compile the vote of such polling
place: Under this ruling of the board the
canvass and compilation of the vote of che
entire State proceeded. 1t became the duty
of the board to carefully examine the
returns from every polling place in the
State. over $50. THIS was done by the
the board from IL A. NJ. to 4P.
NJ, and from to 10 P. M. of almost every
day for month. During this period much
time was taken up by counsel, who were !
almost every day raising questions and
making motions. 1t is proper here to state
that when the board entered on their labors |
they permitted each Of the political parties |
to be represented by counsel before the I
board. to make any suggestions or motions
they might think proper, aEd this privilege {
vas literally avai.ed Of by counsel.
at was the opinion Of the board that the /
orms OF proceeding in regard to ascertain {
ng whether the election had been affected s
~ any riot, tumult, acts of violence, intim- I
dation. armed disturbance, bribery or cor
'upt Influences pointed out in sections three I
ind twenty-six of the election law, were f
merely directory, and that it was the duty
II the board to inquire into any of those c
lc.s, when brought to their attention by c
my satisfactory evidence; the board was i
n WI nff hni l,r%~- 10 I
precedent set by the acts of the Returning {
5oard in 1870 and 1872 1.-THE act Of 1870 on the b
ub]ect Is the same as the present law, and r
his seems to be the reasonable and proper | h
obstruction of this law; this is part of the n
luty OF the board in their work Of canvass =
ng the vote''
Mr.. West-This inquiry as to tie doings S
f that board. after contending that the a
'oard should be held to strict construc T
ION OF the law, proceeds to say: In only G.
few instances were there any protests t,
aeaning protests according to law-"pre G.
ented." The fact is that there were pro- b
ests before the board from twenty-eight | q
arishes. or one less than one-half of the | T
ntire parishes of the State. Protesting, D.
making sfidavits of riots, intimidation or q
iOlence, is not q healthy business in some | +,
ortions Of Louisiana. An officer of the d.
rmy has been held up to censure because :,
Q, IN his capacity as citizen, ihterposed in
uu uiduo dHVdVliS dSalust 1--WE persons fOr n
violation of section of the civil rights al
i'll; and he states in his official report what
ctuated him to do it. "My name was ap- ol
ended to the affidavit, because any one il
se who signed it would have been killed, ];
nd not to constitute myself prosecutor, is
hich l have not DONE" tr
The United States commissioner resident ar
Shreveport, when urged to a faithful til
scharge of his duty by this military Off re
IT, replied that it would be certain death ar
= anybody to initiate such proceedings: Al
I'D the committee says that reports were y.
arce and could not be had. That is what W,
e committee says, but the board say that off
icy had reports from twenty. eight parishes bl
Notwithstanding. The gravamen of the he
large against this Returning Board is that | To
ey changed a return from twenty.nine ! III
aIority Democratic to a tie, and the prin- | tn
pal efforts to establish that fact are direct an
to the four parishes of Bienvile, Grant. | orr
Q Soto and VIM, and may here, in pass m;
G, comment upon some alleged facts pre- to
nted here by Senator few days ago, raj
10 rrefaced mis- remarks by saying that
did not want to be interrupted and con- ce,
quently corrected. in,
l heard a Senator here offer an admoni- | an
N to his fellows not to take newspaper
ports as a record of what was being done | th.
It to draw picture of society from news re,
per reports; but the same Senator. in WI
der to establish fact before the Senate. lin
ose to ignore official documents living on | me
3 desk and under his eye and RELY upon a bo
wspaper for his facts, and he had to ieo
arch very industriously to find that news the
PEI; because u was only IN one newspaper | thu
at that error was committed. With the | du
lcial report of this committee before ret
H. with the report Of the Conservative
,mbers OF that sO-called Lepislature | +o