Litchfield enquirer., 1876-12-21
Conflicting Reports.

We give on our outside pages the more important portions of the reports Of the Repabgicmn and Democratic visiting statesmen" who were present at the ses- sSoaa of the Louisiana Returning Board. The difference of opinion is complete: the Repablieans have no misgivings of the fairness of the count, or of the character oE the men who compose the Board. The Dea0czzts quote largely from the report of House Committee of which Mir. Wm. A- wheeEer was member to show that the methods the Board practiced in "A were the same used this year, and that thoss methods were repudiated by the RspabIieMns of the committee as arbitra- " and Illegal
 To the Republican report the most ob- WOES objection is its wonderful trust Tn the Republican politicians of Louisiana,- . elzss of men against whom cases of fEznd, lying, and corruption have been proved over and over again. Messrs. Shexmzn, Garfield and their fellow oozmitteemen have treated the mass oE testimony prepared in the New Orseana Custom House precisely as If 1t were the wen-guarded evidence of r=ponz7ble citizens gwen before North ez cOzrt of justice. Are the witnesses, shs correctness of whose testimony is thus zzzzzed. really reIiables and. even if they are truthful, Is 1t certain their testimony w~s ooxrecfIy taken? The witnesses are for the most part freedmen, selected by CGztom HO1se officials, and who claim to have suffered outrage at the hands of the ssbzH-dOzer" NIT. White, the candid skzE correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune. thr0xs . great deal of light on this testi- uOzy fn letter in Saturdays Tribune, .sSsezlEng,- he says ''is the besetting sin oF tAe colored man. I tank that m many. perhaps majority of eEsez, the conscience of the negro thief does nOt rePrOAch him. I know that tern In jail or in the penitentiary carries with Ik no disgrace" MT. White goes on t8 xMy thas the '.buIl-dOzing business was nsE oE political origin, but designed for the protection of stock and crops from thieves whose depredations could not be ssnppza by usn2I process of such law, or wzzk OE Law. as prevails in Louisiana. He &1yz- '-4ft>r pretty careful examlnation 0E the subject I am fully convinced that uSze Ot she acts of violence which occur rs1 ln the baII-dOEed parishes before the Erzt of Ezzs June were political in their eAzra-sez~ In short buIl-dozing started wIEA tAePzai<hment of thieves. and these tksSves are the chief witnesses of the Re- turing BOard Says Mr. White,
 IwxS often at the Custom house while tAzx testimony was being taken. Wit zussses were alW4ys asked If the man who wEx hanged or shot or whipped was Re- pzbGsc4z, and If he was bull-dozed on &C., cs@zs uf hEs politics, but the inquiries Devex sent fdrther for the purpose of as- e%xS4lEI1g IaSt what the prOvOcation was. Fsg I-<sznce. a man vas taken out and kzzg41 n East Baton Rouge Parish last MAEvA Several witnesses made affidavits z regard to the case. in all of which it wzs zzzexsed that he was a Republican, &s. Se. but nothing was said about the mMza character or reputation. Tn less Ekmm Eve @in9tes' talk with one of the wSEmsmsM, found that the man had been asrussd 0f sseMIing hogs. and. have no &sahE hs wMs guilty
 Wk7e slch is the character of the waEzsEzsA. It must be further remembered tAzE kAe cEcials who have had the work sf rsssrdIzg their testimony are as un- sr<~PzbSzs a lot of scOundrels as ever dis gEzss3 Azsx5can politics One of them s@z<z&~a before the Congressional con- @Esz@e. l&s4 week. that the falsifying of s4s=E1nszy was regular business at the C@zs~@ HORse. An affidavit signed with s mark Is oaly honest testimony when the @zz w&0 takes 1t IS honest, and no one wsss kHs watched their proceedings can hare @zcA confidence in any such testi- D@v e=xzzting from the New Orleans Czzssz House
 WAIsA. therefore. we do not accuse the E@PzhSexn visitors of any cOmplicity wsEA tAs~e dishonest methods, we cannot agree wzsA them in placing confidence in s=ssz@1zx of so doubtful a character.
 Nsr are we.Oa the other hand, altogeth- CT s4ESz4aa with the Democratic report As<s of tt ss a plea to the jurisdiction. f a s&Sz83 be held. indeed, that Con- <zezs cEz10t % behind the doings of the EsE1rzlzg Board, unless they have ex- ssss&n3 tAeSSr st&tzte powers, then the Dem- @r=xEse .zg-@eat Is very powerful one; and If TEs facts are correctly stated, insur- @SEzsMhse- Bat our idea of the duty of Cuagre=< iS nod limited by the Louisiana @~ ~G kes=x@ing Boards. If there was rs&RT s@cA vaoae1ce as justly vitiates the ne@oe<z<Se I@lOEIty Tn the State, its vote szSAs eoe to be gwen to Tilden on mere szeAzssAAlsssk Tn fact xe do not consid- << sAe RzkzrzSng Board or its doings en- Gsa@1 ks mach respect at the hands of Cs@Ezszs- Tae real question is this: can s@s S@as Ds@ocratie majority actually s@z4 m sAe s&4ae be fairly set aside as ob- szS~s2 hy lntE@idAtiOn On this point Azk @ s1ke MT Whites testimony again. @AE @s@A4 A41C O4A4-UO1Cu negro was Dse s1ly sfEzla b steal. but afraid to vote.
 Gzw11 . oo@n1nlty in which RadicaIism s14 sA4<3 are c01zidered by considerable eAzzz as egz@es Of about equal magnitude, wzz& @1@4s uf tAwlezs men riding about EE4e@ ey@c&1ng people for the latter, and E ww&4 @e EzwxStAble that those guilty of sAe f~<@<r ~AoaE be in great apprehen- xam@
 He s@yS also that ia some if not all of sAe Eve PzE1sAes to which public attention ss&zrs~A~a tAere was political bulI-dozing aA=ss s@4 he does not believe free elec- ssSz PssssoAe '-xhere la~s are not respect s1 e< szEarsel and where regulators and vA@eN csm@lttSes undertake the puu- szA@e@& of cxi@e~
 The s2swsr to this sort of reasoning is Os<sS@A Repahlican misgovernment in