The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-11-30

| W JIlo AOWOT IlOubo VI Iuo LobiolhVuiVi
ofwhich majority the Conservatives we're
: deprived by the unjust, illegal and arbi-
trary action of the Returning Board"
How the Returning Board Does Its
Work,
Let me recapitulate here some of the
actions of this Returning Board-as set
ont in the first report of that Committee
/ (Rep, 10l), and about which there has
= been no dispute--that you may consider
what chance of fair decision by it now
remains. The law of Louisiana requires
the returns from polls to be delivered to
the Supervisor of the parish County
within twenty.four hours after the Clo-
sing of the polls-that is-by 8 p. No., of
the day following the election. In lber-
ia the messenger who took the returns,
showing a. Conservative majority, to the
, Supervisor, arrived in the morning, and,
not finding him, waited through the day
for him to return and receive them. Af-
ter six o'clock he came and refused then
to receive the returns, because the twen-
ty-four hours were up; and yet the same
Supervisor subsequently received returns
from other polls giving Republican ma
F jorities,, which returns were counted by
the Returning Board, and those showing
Democratic majorities were rejected by
it, thus choosing Republicans the Repre-
sentatives of the parish.
In Rapides parish the returns elected
all three Conservatives to the Legisture
When the proofs closed the only proof
before the Returning Board was the affi-
davit of the United States Supervisor that
the election was in all respects full, fair
and free. 1t was not known in any par
ish that any contest existed against these
members. They left their homes and
proceeded to New Orleans to be present
at the opening of the Legislature, no in
timation of contesting their seats or OBJ
lection to their election having been Civ
en- by their opponents. At one of their
last sessions the Returning Board declar-
ed all the Republican members elected
from that parish. When the papers of
the Returning Board were produced be-
fore your committee, there was found
among them an affidavit by Mr.. Wells,
the President of the Board, declaring
that intimidation had existed at the polls
and the returns should, therefore, be re.
jected' The jurat to this affidavit was
without date, and it turned out that
Wells was not in the parish at all on the
election day,
How Conservative Majorities Are
Whitfield Down.
In the parish of De Soto the returns
showed Conservative elected by over
1000 majority. TheSupervisor of Regis
tration had brought the returns to New
Orleans and had left them with a woman.
The Conservatives took legal proceed
ings to compel their productions, but the
Court held that it had no jurisdiction to
that end They then caused to be pro-
duced before the Board the duplicate of
those returns from the Office of the Sec
retary of State, together with the tally
sheets, poll lists, &C., filed there accord
ing to law. These duplicates correspon-
ded exactly with the alleged result of the
compiled returns which the said woman
had produced, and of these alleged facts
undisputed proof was also submitted to
the Board. Nevertheless the Board re-
fused to count the vote for that parish
So in Winn parish, where 404 Conserva-
tive and l64 Republican votes were cast,
upon verbal protest that the Registrar
of Elections was not properly qualified,
of which the only proof was that he had
failed to forward his oath of Office to the
Secretary of State-although there was
no pretense that the election was not a
fair representation of the will of the
people-the whole vote of the parish was
rejected. So in Terre Bonne parish,
where there was a Conservative major
ity, it was proved that the Commission
ers Of Election, through misapprehension
of duties, enclosed all the returns in the
ballot boxes and deposited them with
the Clerk of the Court, with whom the
law required the boxes to be left. The
Judge of the Court thereupOn issued
mandamus commanding the clerk to take
the returns from the boxes and forward
them to the Secretary of State, which
was done. Nevertheless, the Board re-
jected the returns from these polls, there.
by giving the parish to the Republicans.
These cases were, every one of them,
cases of the rejection of Conservative
votes, by which rejection Republican
members were elected.
Of course men who will thus act will
do anything, and it would therefore make {
no difference whether the Democratic
majority in Louisiana was l0,000or 10000
This Board claims power to consider the
subject of intimidation at any poll, and '
upon proof satisfactory to them, to strike
out the whole vote at that poll. Exper- '
ience has shown that any kind of proof {
will be satisfactory to them; and proof of {
some sort is not difficult in State where
one United States Supervisor admitted to 6
a Congressional Committee that he was s
appointed at the instance of Kellogg, t
that he issued 400 duplicate registration |
papers to negroes who voted on them,
and that after election he forged l,3l4 af- b
idavits purporting 10 come from negroes P
lenied the right 70 vote by the Demo. t
cratic party" On which, among other Fl
evidence the Returning Board a
ound Kellogg elected. &
/ know that it is said that Louisiana t.
,ught to be a Republican State because I
he black population exceeds the white; r
)ut such is not the fact. And here shall |
Iuote from the second report on the
special Committee of the South (Rep. Il
6l): "The census of 1870 shows 81 076 a
whites and S6,913 colored males over 81 tt
ears of age. All the statistics and evil b
ence before US has indicated no change
n this proportion in favor of the colored v
oters. The registration was incorrect a
nd exceeded the true colored vote. 1t
vas wholly in the hands of the Kellogg o.
fficials, with whom Republican com. '
nittee, with Marshal Packard at its head o.
in only three parishes didI et
ven the Republican Supervisors of Reg u
3tration make any complaint of the reg 81
,tration. On the other hand, the Con-
ervatives specified with proof 5000 ca o.
es of conceded false registration in New L
'rleans alone, and these Conservatives re
Tho had been operating in JOINT party
Ommittee to secure fair registration, I'll
ave up the effort in despair" And then gi
1e report, after giving various reasons
'hy the blacks naturally voted the Con- ce
srvative ticket, conclud d: "All exper. H