Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-11-15
THE SUSPENSE.

II will Be seen from cur dispatches this
morning that there is but little change IN the
situation in Louisiana. There is no doubt that
Tilden has carried the State, bat it Is easy to
conjecture what viii be the proclaimed result
when the infamous returning board makes its
report, maniI Iulated so as TO suit the exl-
gencies of the occasion. The decision will be
one of solemn and serious import. The mo-
mentous character Of the interests at stake
causes the most cool and judciOus to tremble
with anxiety and apprehension as to the con-
sequences flowing from a decision conceived
in corruption and flaud for the purpose of
perpetuating in-gotten and m;sused power.
The Democrats still calm Florida and South
Carolina, but in all candor 're sa=e compelled
to say that the signs indicate that all three OF
the doub ftIl or contested States will be trans
ferred to the Radicals The party machinery
Of these three States il in the hands OF dis
reputable Republicans. In each of these
States they have that ingenious and convenl-
ent contrivance called returning board.
To this board, whose m smb,rs are appointed
by the governor, it is required that all the
election returns Of the State be transmitted
for scrutiny and verfcat,on. The powers
given TO the board are absolute. 1t can throw
out the votes-should they ever reach it-of
any re,inct or of any parish on any pretext
whatever, or without pretext or reason given,
and the report of a majority Of them is final,
and from it there rs no appeal. The object
of creating these returning boards can only be
Judged from past ex rerience. They have been
tainted with ausI ic' on rom the beginning,
and that suspicion became a certainty as to
Louisiana when, two years ago, the board
defrauded Mr.. M'Enery of his election as gov
ernor, and reported the election of Repubh-
can candidates for the legislature from par
ishes where the return, showed majority for
their Democratic opponents. The same board
Is to canvass the returns from Louisiana now
In South Carolina majority Of the members
of the board are themselves candidates for
State officers, and are Of the rotten rulers of
the past. In Florida th4 same condition OF
things prevailed at the last election. when,
without even opening the returns, the MEM
bers fabricated maiopties which gave Repub-
iicans the State Offices, blt conceded to tie
Democrats majority of members Of the legls-
lature. 1t is a knowledge Of these facts that
leads to the apprehension that con-
spiracy is on FOO IN those States to tamper
with the returns Of the late election through
the instrumentality of the returning boards,
and to declare Mr. Hayes elected in all three
of them. 1t is this apprehension that creates
the painful suspense under which the
public mind is now laboring. The appre-
hension Is widespread and deep-seated.
and President Grant duly recognizes It's ex-
istenee. The same causes that gave MlssiS-
-.stF4t,tAe Democrats by fifty thousand, and
reduced the Republican majority in South
Carolina thirty thousand, ogerated in Loulsl-
ana, and that State has no doubt gwen large
majority for Tilden. So certain are the
northern Democrats CT this fact, that they
have lost sight of Florida and South Carolina
and are watching Louisiana, which they
know from mquestionable and reliable facts
has voted by decisive majority for Tlden.
The evident determination of the Radicals to
reverse this majority and to elect Hayes by
downright, palpable fraud, has greatly n
famed the public mind and kindled an m
tense alarm throughout the Union. Patriotic
men of all sections are discomtenancing any
attempt to frustrate the viii of the people as
EXPRESSED at the ballot-box, by high
fraud. But to preach honor justice and
natriotism TO the degraded negroes of New
Orleans. who hold the decision Of the Presi-
DENTAL election in the hollow of their
polluted hands, Is ike preaching to so
many savages. As We write, our special cor
respondent at Milan, Tennessee, informs US
of the passage of General Phil Sheridan and
staff over the New Orleans, st. Louis and
Chicago railway, en- route to New Orleans to
take command of the army. Sheridan 5 hb-
eral communicativeness to Tom, Dick and
Harry on the train Is base deception. He
knows that he is sent there to see that the
conspirators in Louisiana obey the dictum OF
the conspirators in Washington. Ben But
Ter. az Is indicated in his reply to Grants M
vitation to 60 TO Louisiana, declines, but
makes the suggestion which Grant Is only
waiting for an opportunity to embraee-
10 90 with arms, etc. The south is per
fectly tranquil under this threatened usurpa-
ton, for she has become used to wrong and
outrage The people Of the south see, and
feel. and know that civil liberty, freedom, the