, 1876-12-20

parties, but tho people wcfn 40 bitter agaInst
lhc norernment That they wonlf, nyt support
oMtra9ts ~ tho leaders Of tho lsupnbliea party
con.iderc1 tho t1cnth Of tho coiosrtl nInn NJ,
Immense i hcnGiit 70 The porty: Was ut @ arst IN
favor oi The Denoeratie sthto ticket .,Iy oniy M
long wanted IInyes and Wheeler, but wc eo,l-
eluded II Hayos was elected Nichola would ncv-
CT 10 alfowoa to take his scat even II l,e !yas
,ssti ysts a % % ao %sy u yosf osFt e ss Nss tS
Government secure. Was q member OF the
Legislature, aud Allied scvcral minor oftlces Is
Republican.
ANTOINE =. o'LAsgs
{co10redh Of Orltans, cAhVasscd the State for
the Democrats; knew OF no violenoc, but heard
talk OF intimidation OF colored Democrats. A
great many co1orel men voted The Dcn,-
1s19' psrsy atoa sas three s's aoos ts' bo1s o
election :, Everything, was peaceaele and
peace, order, and fairness f, tfs election. Co.
Grsd people told ne IN West Fellsiaa % a9 tas they
tained both white and co1orcd mcmbcrsi that
tho white people would allow no distinction to
be nude In that respect.
osN. T,toMAa e AapsRsoS,
OF tho Returning Bonrl, was before the Com
tn1tteo tonight. Ifo submitted tho following
eallsd ,,; M ter hy The saeprna, but tho Committee
dffae ossT sssSsinE tSst H.. ~ NAV o m n,,sbc min.
undeEe tanding Of tho position takin By myeelf
rs we'll as by tho Other Returning Officers of tho
STATE, I respectfully aek tho Committee to per-
nit inc to illr this written answer to thelr In
On sths 1ith inst, .aops.na duee, tscun, WIS
served on The returning officers OF Louisiana,
1trectinE them to produce before your honorable
Committee all retnr1s Of elections, nil State
place at tho late election for Electors for
President and viec.PrcsIticnt OF tho United
States, together Tith all at1daylts IN your (onr)
possession 9r Under your (ousl oontrn touching
parishes, On the following day formal answer
was made setting forth that tho documents
called for wero part Of tho record OF tic Board
Of Returning oalcors, necessary, for their use
canyasslng and compiling the votes cast at the
election for Stato aud parish o!lcors, held IN
this State on tho Sth OF Noycmser last whiel,
work was not yet completed; that Under
General Assembly. Of tile State upon its as
setnblEng on tho first Monday Of July next n
full apd accurate rcport-ok tlsts canvass md
compilation Of tho votes, with the REASONS for
such were prcdlcatcd, In order to eIlablo tic
General Assembly to count the roto for Coy
crnor a1id ACKNOWLEDGMENT tn accordance
With tho requirements ot Art. % If tho oou-
pose the original neh!rcs Of the returning
officers u election must he preserved, mud could
not be allowed to bn removed from the custody
OF the Board without authority Of tho Legisla-
R'uongst them the fact that the yaluablu
records intrustcl by them to former Congress
sional Committee tiayo nevcr been returned, tue
returning officers 0eellacd to surrender tho
DO no ground sven for suspicion Of 4 lcslro tfor
concealmcnt on their part, either as 70 the
nature Of tho returns Or M to the evidence
upon which they bnse4 their findings, they pre-
ollicial paper III their possession, And delivered
to the Committed as soon ~ possible. Since
that time eight clerks, provided by your Com
mlttcc, mud tho eight clerks OF tho Board Of Re-
in ;t pE:pa:ing tbs IL desired copies. i isve
myself hanIcd to ono Of thy nelnbers Of your
| Committee copies Of all the documents pcr-
tainIng to the election in tho Fourth Congress
not only of tic grouuls upon which tue return.
1ng olftcra acted as a Board, but also Of my In
lyldual memorandum as to my personal action.
understand that a cofnplete transcript OF the
Of S s %c, e IN tnS a co
far advanced towards compilation, and that
nearly one-thirl Of the labor imposel by your
request has already boen accomplished, wv,
Or Hayes Electors received majorityo Of the
votes Gust, Gen. Anderson stated thnt he did
not know tlat; he never added tip the votes Of
the parishes until they were ready for .pE0nul-
NSysr any # ~ Of The Do
tcrtniuel l.c would not examine into sucl mat
ters. All final decisions In contcatcd cases were
made In executive session. Some at'ldayts ac-
sompanyleg a 1etHtns weFn % rsa4; d. Contestants
times called before tho Doasd in
sss'on s. .a IT. t. Ak So .s Gd9r%aon E
tlation. Tho yoto or Grant Parish was thrown
out because there were no legal returns rceoIyetl
trom that parish. I was in favor of counting
tho vote OF Grant Parish, but was ovcrrncd.
Gen. Anderson stnted emptlatically that there
leans; TINT II lilo statement Med by tho Board
viii. the secrctnry Of State Of tlu votes fol
ELECTORS ahowcd that any vote lad been thrown
out, then such statement was not corrcct. Gen,
Anderson repeated this statement I'll regard tc
ever, that il wns possible they lad
received no returns from Que Or two polls In The
lila impression was that tho entire city vote
was cailvassc1.
,[NorE: is claimed by tho Democrats that
thu vote at ihe three polls abovc alluded e
were thrown out. or do not appear on the ccrii
fed copy uf tho clty vote filed with tho sccro-
tary Of State by tho Returning Doard.l
Tho Com,ntttcc at!lournsl Until IL q. m., with
tho understanding that all tho Mcnlbers OF the
Returning Board should DO present ut tint hour
HKpunL1oANs PLEABEp.
The Republican, members OF the House Com.
m!ttco aIe elascd over Thu result Of the cxani
nation pi Gcn. Anderson, OF tho Returning
Doarl, whosa testimony they think .fully
yindleatcs tho action OF tllc board Ii
tho compilation Of the votes Of tho state, ant
also at tho evident opposition oi the ulalorit,
ot tho Co1nlnittco 10 allow bina to rive his roa
sons for declining to furn!sh thu official papur.
ordered by tic Committee. 1t u regarded ~
nisl, tomorrow the original copy OF tho tub,.
lated statements OF tho Doasd ct the votu ~
Presidential Electors, and, should they dtcln'
to 40 20, tle question Of contempt WI como ON. "
will aw.tIt tho action Of the House on thu sub
jcct before taking any steps toward arrestin{
tho uc.abora u the D0lrl for coutrmpt.
FLORIDA.
| Tuk unt1sy CON sttITkE.