, 1876-12-16

President over suggested resort to violence 10
attain tho Office In defiance of tho result pre-.
scribed by tho forms oflaw. Il is too late to
try tho experiment, aud, despite the efforts
of FERNANDO Woop, SAM RANDALL, md other
dc1nagogucs who aro onlenyo1ing 10 eu,broil
the country III civil war, We havo strong
hopes that oven tho Democratic House wilt
como to an honorable md satisfactory nd
jrst1nent of tho whole difficulty before the
ti1no dxel for counting tho votes.
--.----@--@=
MILITARY INTERFERENCE WITH ELEC-
T1oNH.
The Presidents message to tho Senate III
response to the W1rnEns resolution OF In.
quiry will probably satisfy the e1-Confed-
erntes aud Copperheads md tile rost Of
mankind that ho has not forgotten how to
meet and promptly rcputso a b,,shwhacl-
ing attack. The resolution WIS, Of coursc,
prompted by Democratic uudying hostility
to military interference with elections,--the
only interference herewith that Ia tolerated
by tho great Democratic par!y being that Of
the bulldozera. Tho intelligence somehow
penetrated the Democratic understanding
abont tho Senate Chamber that on tho day
Of the Presidential election the armies OF tho
Unitod Statcs-to-wit: one Captain, one
Licutenant, and swenty-four privates-wcre
quartered In or about Petersburg, in tho
sovereign State Of Virginia. That ns We
hnvo NO foreign war on hand at this juno
ture, therefore our troops sre not cent
far away from home; tint as long as they
nre kopt in tic country they must bo
in some State on election day and that
Virginia il still one of the States Of the
Union,-were circumstances which, in the
estimation Of the Democratic understanding
about tho Senate Chamber, did not in the
least modify the awful fact TINT the armies
Of tho United Statos-that is, twenty-six
mon all told-fad, on the day Of tic Prcsi-
dential election, invntled tho sacred soil of
tho sovereign State OF Virginia, instcad of
the soil-equelly sacred, is it not POT 1l1i-
nois, Iowa, or some uther of the Slatca
equally sovereign, bnt which never ruised
such nh nproar about the sacrcdness Of their
soil and their precious sovereignty.
Accordingly in tho resolution tho demand
was tartly ntala upon tho President to know
by what authority the armies Of tho United
States, in tho persons Of tho nforesaid twen-
ty-Hix men, were stationed ut Petersburg, sin
tho State Of Virginia," on election-lay--as
though, for that day only, the army should
have been ordered out to sea, TINT it might
not be stationed In any Of tls Statcs.
The report Of Gen. SHERMAN, with tho &C.
companying document sent tho sonnte with
tho measagc, fully met the inquiry. These
upon sworn testimony set forth tho facts rs
to the intimidation and mob violence and
murder Of colored Republicans at Peters,
burg; also that 1t was believed--to which
belief the facta testified irrcsistibly lcd-tho
like outrages would occur on the day Of tho
Presidential election unless troops were sent
there to preserve the peace. Having CON-
municated these facts,-lhan which thore
could have been none more clearly j,,stifying
such disposition Of this handful of men a.
that they conll be at haud when wanted 10
preserve the peace,-rrosident GRANT pro-
ceeds to sum1narily and finally dispose OF
tho gabb]a about military interference with
elections by this pithy observation
T,c presence Of tweney.four United ssatcs sol.
dlcrs under co'nn.nnd Of Captain aud Lieutenant,
4unrtcErd III The Cns1on- -llnso ut Petersburg yu,
on the 7th Of November, At considerable distance
from my palin5- place. without any interference
Oh their rart whatever. ard without goiug nearer
tho POLLS during the election, n,hy lays secured a
different result from what would have rcu nbiain.
cl II they hud not been there to maintain peace IN
Of riot. Bntif knch Ia the casc 1t lsDly proof
that In this nno Congressional District In Tho State
Of Virginia tho legal md constitutional vuters hnyc
hccM able 10 return a. elected tic candidates pf
their choice.
And that sums up not only tho total result
Of thc military interference with tho election
at Petersburg, but tho total apd sole result
Of all tho ao-called military Interference witt,
elections during tho entire eight yeass Of
GnAaTs Administration. Never layo the
troops bullaozed single voter, Not mn o1-
Confederate Is there iu all tho land who eau
say that as my time since tho removal Of his
disabilities the Federal bayonet over dictated
how ho should vote, obstruc.cd him in his
right To vote Us ho pleased, or intimilated
him to induce him to vote the Republican
ticket. Tho interference Of tue troops with
tho elections has been precisely like tho inter.
ferenco Of tho police with the rights OF
property when they .intorfered with gar
rotcrs, hunko-men, and burglars. The only
and whole result Of the atationing" Of
troops III tho ex-Coufcderato States about
election time has been to exert about the
Hame sort Of Influence upon tho riie-clubs
and bullaozers that a.policen,an ut his elbow
e1orts upon a garrotcr. When tbs troops
have been "statiouod" in proximity to the
polls 10 member OF rifle.cluI, no bulldozer