New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-11-27
HOLDING BACK RETURNS.
no FIGURES CHANGED, BUT OPPORTUNITY GIVEN TO
PREPARE MISUNDERSTANDING EVIDENCE OF
INTIMIDATION.


PREPARE rFIDAvITs-sHoCKING EVIDENCE OF
INTIMIDATION.
tBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUSE.l
NEw-ORLFANs Nov. 26.-The failure Of the super
yisors who are all Republicans, 10 forward returns
from several Of the parishes to the Returning Board
is lust cause of complaint BY the laws of Louisiana
the Returning Board s the sole judge of the legality
OF the election at every poll in the State. Commits
sioners who receive votes and supervisors who con-
solidate them have no judicial powers. II is their
duty to report what they find and if they know OF
any reason why any votes should not be counted
they may append statement to the returns. The
law provides:
within 81 after the report Of all returns from the
different polling places consolidate such returns 20 be
certified as correct Ivy clerks OF the District Court
and forward the consolidated returns with the originals
received by him TO the returning officers &c, said count
and such returns to be ncosed in envelopes OF strong
paper or cloth securely sealed and forwarded by mall
This part of the law has not been obeyed IN every
instance. Supervisors, after consolidating the re-
turns and obtaining the certificates of the county
clerks, instead of forwarding the papers to the
board as the law directs have sent or brought them
to New-Orleans, where they have been left open in
some instances for 10 days, while the Republican
Committee were collecting evidence TO inpeach
the vote in certain of the precincts. In many
eases this evidence, sworn to in this city two
weeks after the date of the clerks certificate has
been incosed in the same envelope with the original
returns and sent to the board proving that the re-
turns were open and accessible to the Republicans
in this city during all that time. In one case a
member Of Congress elect brought to this city the
returns from all large part Of his district, but
they were not filed with the Returning Board for
days after his ARRIVAL. On Friday last there were
twelve parishes from which official returns
had not been received, and though aihdavits
were fled with the board that in many III
stances the returns were in this city, tho
board denied that it had power 10 compel their pro-
duction. The returns of Franklin Parish lay IN
the Southern Express Office of this city ten days be-
cause no one was authorized 10 pay the express
charges of 10 cents on them They were obtained
yesterday and placed on the files of the board only
when ex-Gov. Wickife. one Of the Democratic
candidates, furnished the money to pay the charges
There is no evidence that a single figure
of any of the returns has been changed during
the time that they have been illegally with
held from the Returning Board; but the
very fact that they are withheld naturally
causes uneasiness and dissatisfaction. No candidate
in the North would like to have unsealed official re-
turns of an election in which hc was interested
remain in the hands of his opponent accessible to
a committee of the opposite party days or weeks
before they were canyassed; and the suspicion
which the two parties here entertain for each other
is much greater than il is in the North
The Republicans have collected great mass Of
testimony within the past few days showing most
deporable condition OF Affairs in all Of the bull
dozed parishes. That there has been great lawcss-
ness in all these parishes within the past year is no
longer doubted. II has shown itself in many cases
of assassination midnight murder, and other oienses
of less or greater gravity. The only question at
issue is the and object of it. Republicans say
that the object is political; Democrats say that
it was not. In there will be no
| question, as for example, where a man was
shot while carrying ballot-boX to the polling place.
Some affidayits describe murders horrible as any
perpetrated by the Ku-Klux between 1868 and
1871 If they are substantiatcd in all their details,
they will greatly shock the North and destroy the
sympathy which has been very generally felt for
this unfortunate portion of the South. community
that will tolerate such outrages has no right to eX-
pect sympathy. 1t is hoped for the sake of human
ity that the reports referred to will be dsproyed.