The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1876-12-15


&c AND ELOQUENT APPEAL TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
: WAsHTNGToN December 10,-Tho ad-
dress of Governor Palmer Judge Irum-
bull, Governor Bigler, George W. Julian,
4 George b. Smith and +. Ii. Watson, the
! Tilden commissioners who attended the
! open sessions of the kellogg returning
board in Louisiana, has just appeared, and
! | transmit it's main points from an advance
! copy just received. II is Il pamphlet of
/ seventeen pages, and reviews the law and
! facts of the case with singular clearness,
/ and exposes the Illegal and atrocious acts
! of the kellogg board with an unsparlng
! hand. 1t is addressed to Hon. AbIam ;.
! Hewitt, at whose request the commission
/ ers went to Louisiana after the President
/ had selected only republicans to represent
! the administral ion. 1t opens with reference
| to and extracts from the republican, re-
| ports on the Kellogg frauds of 1872 and
/ 1874, and presents concisely the law relat-
! ing to the board, and disputes its juris
( diction entirely, as the act of 1872, under
! which the board is created, omits all refer
/ ence to elections for presidential electors,
while the act of 1870 expressly provides for
computing and certifying such votes by the
| governor, secretary of state, attorney gen
eral and district judge. The jurisdiction
of the board was objected to also, ON the
/ ground shat the act is unconstitutional, aud
| again because it was Illegally constituted
/ for want of n minority representative, as
| imperatively required by the law. a re
1 view of the act creating the board shows
| conclusively that its powers were shame
| lessly abused by the board. 1t is required
! ito canvass an3 compile the statements of
| the commissioners of election" and pro-
| claim the result, unless the commissioners
| of election OF the supervisors imposed addi-
| i Ia.
| fraud accompanying the returns. L: shows
that no outside protest can be entertained,
and the violent and illegal proceedings Of
! the board in receiving complaints about
| parishes which were after thoughts to give
some excuse for rejecting them, are charac-
tiriZed with just severity. The report very
carefully reviews the action of the board la
its shifting positions to escape a just COM
putation of the vote of the state, aud shows
that tie honest returns of the vote of .he
state gave the highest Tilden elector s, 957
majority over the lowest Hayes elector, and
a majority Of 6, 800 for the lowest Tilden
elec,or over the highest Hayes elcctor.
/ This vote was violently changed in secret
session to give the Uayse electors from
1926 to 4,1l2, and how the result was
reached is still withheld from the public.
On the subjects of intimidation, the re-
! "nrt deals frankly with the question. |
, transmit the summing up on that disputed
| issue and The closing appeal Of the commits
s;OncrS to the county.
The evidence taken on both sides, so far
as il has been accessib ble to us, diScOSes a
state of law lessness III certain parishes, not
i'll the state generally, about the Cause of
which parties are not agreed. The denlo-
Gratis attribute it to the inefficiency and inn
becility OF the state government, which they
! allege to be n usurpation, resting wholly
for support on the federal army, without
the confidence or respect OF the people and
without the disposition to prevent or punish
crime which they can pervert to political
uses. Such state Of things, as might be
expected, has led to disorder, and, III some
instances, to the most shocking barbaritCs.
The republicans, on the other hand, at
tribute the lawlcssness to the stility of
the white against the culOrcd race and as
largely due to politics.
The murders and outrages which have
| been brought to our notice are frequently
committed by persons of the same race
upon each other, and in large ma jority of
cases have no political significance.
Many such cases were brought to the
notice of the board by eX parte affidavits,
without regard to the time of their occur
renee aud when they did not have the
| slightest connection with the recent elec-
| ton. Strangely enough ii is assumed by
! the republicans, who have had complete
D y,
that If they could show that iawlessness
/ prevailed III certain localities and crime
went unpunlsh9d, that those facts furnished
n reason why they should be continued in
power, notwithstanding the large majority
of ballots cast against them.
Another assumption Of the republicans
is that all the colored men in the state are
necessarily republicans. This is by no
means true. We were visited by a large
number Df colored persons from different
parts OF the state, including the alleged
disturbed districts, who made speeches
and took an active part in the canvass in
favor of The democratic ticket, and who
gave, among other reasons for So doing
that they had been deceived by republican
officials, who had proved dishonest and
corrupt, had robbed them of their school
| money and DuIdened them with unnccessa-
ry taxes, and that they believed il for the
interest OF the cu!ored race to unite their
ioftaheS with the whites, whose interests
like their own, were identified with the
state.
1t is certain that thousands of colored
persons voluntarily and actively supported
the democratic ticket. The entire vote of
the state at the recent election is about
fifteen thousand greater than ever before
and even Ill the parishes where intimidation
is charged 1t exceeds, IN the aggregate.
any previous vote. The congressional com
mittee which, it is understood, will soon
visit the state armed with authority to send
/ for persons and papers aud inquire into all
the facts connected with the recent cleo
tion and the action of the returning board
will have greater facilities for arri .ng at
the truth than We possess but with the
law and such facts before us as have been
disclosed by the action of the returning
| board we do not hesitate to declare that it's
proceedings as Witnessed by US were partial
and unfair, and that the result it has an
ncunced is arbitrary, illegal and entitled
to no respect whatever.
Fifteen years ago, when Fort Sumter
was fired upon by men who sought a dis
ruption of the Union, "a million patriots,
without regard to party affiliations, sprang
to it's defense. Win the same patriotic
citizens now sit idly 10y and see represen-