The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-12-07
THE LOUISIANA BOARD.


now a. then. In answer to this charge,
the following extracts from letters
written by Frye and Hoar are pub
lished. Mr.. Hoar says:
1.-The committee were ofopinion that
the Returning Board had no right to
do anything but to canvass and COM
pile the vote, except in cases where
the returns by the local officers were
accompanied by the statement of the
Supervisor or Commissioner. The
board, however, went further andex-
amined cases of alleged violence and
intimidation where there was no cer-
tifioate, and they urged in defense Of
their course, with much plausibility ii
must be confessed, such considerations
as these What shall be done when
the Supervisor or Commissioner is
himself in league with the conspira-
tors to defeat the will Of the people,
and, of course, will make no certificate
whose effect will be to destroy his own
work %"
Shall there be no redress when the
local officer who should certify the fact
Of violence or corruption Is surround
ed by armed men, who declare that
they will murder him II he makes the
certificate? Such things are not i'm
possible in Louisiana. They are not
improbable; they have actually oc-
Cured. There ought to be remedy
for such wrongs; they are precisely
those which the law was designed to
reach. Is there no way Of frustrating
this monstrous iniquity? The COM
mittee were obliged to answer: "In
our opinion the law provides none.'
But it was not easy, even for these
comparatively disinterested persons,
to reach that conclusion. 1t was, in
substance, decision that tho very
magnitude and audacity Of the wrong
destroyed the remedy. 1t was equiva-
lent to an instruction to those who are
disposed to influence elections by
violent or corrupt means: "If you
confine your wrong-doing within GER
tain limits your evil purposes will be
defeated; but exceed those limits, and
though the means of exposure and
correction are ample, you may defy
justice and enjoy all the fruits of your
villainy." This opinion the lawyers
of the committee unanimously agreed
was the only admissible one, but it is
not necessary to pronounce the men,
bers of the Returning Board rascals,
because, adopting as their guide pre-
cedent set by their political opponents,
they gave a wider range to their
authority than the committees con-
struction of the law allowed them.
Mr.. Frye, after citing the doings and
findings of the committee, concludes
rs follows:
"Do not these citations justify my
assertion that we never condemned
this board for any of its findings as to
facts? They made a mistake in their
construction of the law, but to find
them corrupt for this would equally
condemn every judge of every court in
the country.
"Governor Wells, Chairman of the
Board, was born in Louisiana, was an
old Whig-a man of wealth, the owner
of two large plantations, of $50 slaves,
held socially as proud position as
any, opposed secession, was driven
from his home, for year and half
hid in the woods and swamps, was
hunted with bloolhounds, his proper
ty all destroyed, his family scattered.
In 1863 he was elected Lieutenant
Governor Of Louisiana. In 1865 elect
ed Governor by both Republicans and
Democrats. He was witness before
our committee, and boldly said to the
two hundred rebels present: "Iou
called me q jayhawker when was in
the swamps, but had rather be known
forever as q jayhawker than a trait
orr" He is man of undaunted
courage, Of loyalty tried in fire, Of firm
will and determined purpose. I De-
lepc him to be Thoroughly honest
man, and I kno,c he cannot be tempted
BY Democratic promises or driven by
their threats. Thomas c. Anderson is
q Southern man, resident Of IIOuisi-
ana for thirty-five years, a man OF
large wealth before the war, owning a
hundred slaves and several thousands
of acres of land-in politics Wing,
several times member OF the Legisla-
ture, also member of the Constitu-
tional Convention in 1852. During the
rebellion acted with the South-was
an officer under General Taylor, and
was always highly esteemed. The
other two members of the board are
very respectable, intelligent colored
men, both fairly educated, both men
of some property, one Of them owning
quite large amount of real estate.
"There is no ground whatever for the
| wholesale charges of fraud and cor
ruption made against the board. The
only fear I have is, that to escape ere,l
the suspicion Of a seeming partially to
the Republicans, they may lean too
much to the side, not Of mercy, JM o.
murder and outrage, the tvin cham
pions Of Democracy in Louisidna."
l ------>->--
When the President recognized the
Democratic Governor of Arkansas and
| the Democratic Governor of Texas, and
informed the Republican claimants
for those places that they must yield,
we didn't hear single howl about
usurpation. The Democrats com.
mended the President. He hadn't
exceeded his constitutional powers 6
particle. Now listen, will you, wheI
the tables are turned, and hear Demo
cratic tigers roar about "usurpation II
South CarOlinA.u