The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1876-11-23
Dem. nlN-
Vote in 1874.

Onachita 7d6 1914 1,U1l
Total, 43a4 SIS 44l7
At the election in 1874 these parish
es gave a Republican majority for
State Treasurer of 3,S6l. They now
give Democratic majority of 4,4l7,
which exceeds the Democratic vote
that, had the Republican vote been
polled, the Republicans would have
had large majority. Now the con-
troversy stands: On the one hand the
Democrats insist on the vote being
counted in exact accordance with the
number of tickets cast; on the other
hand, there are two propositions l.
That the vote of these parishes be
wholly d1sregarded ana thrown out,
on the grounds of intimidation, by the
Canyasaing Board. 2. That the vote
polled be counted, but that the Cam
yassing Board reckon also as polled
the votes of those absenting Them
selves from tear OF bodily harm. The
average Northern VOter has no prece-
dent for such a condition of things as
this. In the first place, deadly intiml.
dation is not known at the North, and
i'm the next place ii ,ciU be diticalt for
Northern man Of any party tn un-
derstan4 h0tO 1000 Uoters of one party
in a county can be so successfully "it-
timiddted' by loo as to be uaa6le to
approach the polls, Atouyh the latter
,ccTe protected, or supposed tn be. by
khe United States Supervisors. 1T tciH
be difficult 10 persuade the people Of
any Northern county thdt tie miaOri-
ty, numbering 900 coters, could SO in
tiD,itidte the Wn jOyitU IN East Fettct-
ana, numbering l,SOO, that none Of tic
latter dare shoe themselves at The polls.
Nevertheless, it is certain that the ne
groes did not vote for some reason. We
assume that those tchO ditt cote tcerc
leyaL roteys, and kaOtc IT no right rec
ognized Jy any iaac of any State che,'e
Tie Uotes Of teydt UOteis, la,cfulty poll
ell, can be rejected and they diSfran-
chised. We do not betiece, therefore,
that tie moral sense Of Tic Ame,ican
people ,D,U consent to or toleratc that
tie election Of President Of the
United States shall be determined and
decided by thrOtci'tq out the U0tes Of
several thousand If Iegai Uoters, legal
iy POlted in any State of The Union.
We take it. therefore, that tie Uotes
actually polted i's these Hoe "6ulltloz
ere6r parishes Of Louisiana sciU be
countec,no matter schdt may he the re-
salt produced upon the election 6y so
doing. 7iaf -@-r-~eua .=a
If the facts be as stated. and we have
tried TO collate them fairly from the
statements OF both sides, the Rcpubli-
cans of Louisiana and of the country
have to bear the consequences OF the
panic. which seems to have so sticken
the colored voters in these five dis
tricts. We look upon it as a calamity,
because we know of no legal remedy.
There IS no precedent kROaCR to dny
election 01c than are erer heard of
,rhere The rOtes of persons not rOting,
and nOtofe,iRg to UOte, can he counted,
no matter how strong may be the pre-
sumption that if such votes had been
polled they would have changed the
result. In 1874. the Democrats elect
ed at least fifty members to congress
in Republican districts because Repub-
licans stayed away and did not vote.
For the same reason !he Democrats
elected the Governors of severalStatcs,
and a majority of the Legislature in
several States in 1874. No such thing
as of1setting the vote actually polled
by that not polled has ever been rec
ogniZed at any election in any State in
tnlS country. Even III the desperate
conflict in Louisiana four years ago
both parties claimed the election, but
both parties assumed the vote counted
to have been polled.
1t is claimed by the Democrats that
their party will have a majority of the
whole vote of the State, over and
above their vote in these parishes ;but,
while this ought to settle the matter.it
may not do SO, if the counting of the
non- n-polled vote be insisted upon by
the other side. If, however, theDem-
ocrats do not have majority except
by counting the votes in these five
parishes, and the result in the State
depend on their being counted or not
counted, then the issue will be direct
one, and one upon which the country
will promptly reach a Judgment, and
no CanyassiDg Board will dare attempt
TO put the Judgment of the nation at
defiance ; and THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WILL NEVER ENGAGEIN A CIVIL WAR TO
UPHOLD THE COUNTING or VOTES NsvER
CAST OR OFFERED TO BE CAST, OR TO RE
JECT LAWFUL VOTES LEGALLY CAST AND
RECORDED ON THE POLL LISTS.
L. l.; IN, NJ