The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1876-11-24
FIXING THE RESPONSIBILITY.

n Ew ORLEANS, NOV. IL, 1910. |
Gentlense,,..-We are in receipt of your
answer to our letter of the 14th inst, in
which you inform us of your determine
alton not to confer with us for the pur-
pose of exercising such influence as we
may possess in behalf of such Il canvass
of the votes actually cast at the recent
election in Louisiana, las by its fairness
and impartialiy shall command the
acuuieScence and respect OF all parties.
We sincerely regret this failure Of our
attempt to secure the cooperation of
all the citizens from other States in
furtherance of the purpose Which, as
we supposed, had brought them hither
at this juncture. We regret it all the
more because your refusal to confer and
cooperate with us appears to be based
upon serious misrepresentation of the
language no less than the spirit of our !
communication.
1t can hardly have escaped your no.
tice that our statement OF the result to |
be attained by the cooperative action |
which we sought to bring about was |
simple reproduction of the language OF
President Grant Cat whose request, we
understand, you are here) in his recent
order to Gen. Sherman. That language
was deliberately used, no doubt, in
Wow Of the fact about which, as we con-
ceive, there can be no dispute, that the
first and most essential prerequisite to
an honest and just declaration of the re-
suits of the recent election i'll Louisiana
| is Il far aud impartial canvass of the
| votes actually cast. And 1t seems to us
that YOU do the President great injus-
tice in supposing that in speaking Of
| ssvotes actually cast,' he meant to in
clude votes WeguiI.y cast, as you certain
Iy do us injustice by the imputation of
! Il desire to insist upon SO narrow and
vicious an Interpretation. In our judS-
ment, the expression stvotcs actually
cast" ofnccessity designates votes legal
iy cast, and as a consequence os such
! votes only did we desire to secure u
fair and impartial canvass.
| We beg leave to say, therefore, that
you are mistaken in the belief that we
sought unduly to narrow the basis on
| which we invited your co-operatiavo
action. And You are no less in error in
attributing to us Il purpose to interfere
with the legally constituted authorities
of this States i'll the discharge of their
duties--to claim rights and to arrogate
to ourselves powers which we do not
possess. In writing our lctter we were
fully aware that both the organization
and the action, whether judicial or min
isterial, of the Returning Board of
Louisiana. was beyond any authoritiVe
control frOtu without, and that it
would be the height of arrogance and
folly to attempt to alter the laws of {,
State of which we are not citizens, or to
obtrude our Interpretation of these laws
upon those whose duty il is to admin
ister them. But we had supposed,
nevertheless, that there was an intiu-
encc which might be rightfully eXertcd
even by citizens of this Republic who
I L.. tN.,tx IY<N >.,ft
supposed that it was not improper fot
US to remind the authorities of this
State, by our mere presence at least
that there are certain rules of fairness
and Justice which underlie all constitu
tionS and laws, and upon whose obSer
vance must depend the acquiesence o
the people of all parties in the declared
result Of the Louisiana electiOn-rule
such as these, that no one ought to be
a Judge of his own case j; that the decis
ion of any contest ought not to depend
>; upon the mere arbitramcnt of one O
the parties thereto; that before such
decision is made, both parties ought t
9. be fully and fairly heard; that al
questions of law ought to be decided il
III conformity when its established gener,
principles, and all questions of fact upo
evidence duly presented and Weighe
under the rules which are of univers:
recognition in all the States of thi
Union; that the trial of all causes il
= voiving public interests at least ougi
to be public and that all the proceed
ings resortcd to for the purpose of d'
tcrmining the issues in the preser
electoral contest ought, by their man
fest impartially, to disarm the suspi
ion that the forms of law have bee
perverted into instruments for the VII
I iAiipn Of its spirit. In this connection
a we may be permitted TO observe tha
- while undoubtedly, ~ you say, a sed
louS inculcation and cultivation of II
habits of obedience to the fO1'nts of la
is vital to the preservation of Constit
lional liberty, it is no less importa
that a refusal to yield such obcdicn
be uot provoked by using these form
rs means for subvcrting the very en-
for the securing of which they we
designed.
Without Misunderstanding to question Il
sincerity of the belief which you are
. !. pains to express, that you know of
reason to doubt that the Louisiana X
turning Board will make perfect