The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1876-08-23
OF the cour.s has been returned with that

In facts IL the testimony touching
: the suij4cs within the scope of the
' resolution bf the Senate could be re-
: duce,I to sah, as Is receivable under the
5 rules ot evidence, as recognized by
courts Of justice and by this Senate
while slttiig as a court, the testimony
t taken in Mississippi by this committee
f would be confined to a dozen pages
of manuscript. The rest is rumor, hear
say, and opinion. Not only so, but
nearly all the witnesses examined for
what may be termed the prosecution
of the white people OF the State of Mis-
sissippI we've defeated candidates in the
election of1875 or other interested sup
porters or persons who had lost office and
failed Of he appointment Most of the
witnesses, when pinned down by cross
examination to give names of persons
concerned and date, were directly and
fatty con ra licred as to those facts, and
many of tle occurrences either shown to
have been not only untrue, but impossi-
BILE, or else accompanied by facts which
subjected them to a totally different con
struction.
a large body of these witnesses were
negroes af.he most ignorant and uncivil-
lied description, who did not hesitate to
state anything, and whose declarations
were frequently of the widest and most
absurd character Thus at the page
in the deposition of --, DIR. Holland,
of Madison County, is represented as
giving uttgance to profanity in the fol-
lowing style:
Where's by the deposition of Judge
CambeIl, Of the supreme court, page
O. Did you know DR.. Holland, of the
county?
4. | do; he is the man whose name
was connected with that arrest.
@. What manner of man is he?
A A very highly respectable man
one of the most amiable, mild-mannered,
90 d natured men | ever knew.
Q. Wat is his age?
A. Suppose him to be about forty
years ofuge.
@. Do you know whether DR.. Holland
is man who is profane in his speech?
A. He is one of the most pious, deyot-
ed, Christian men | ever knew remarka-
Bile among men in that respect.
@. Would you believe it possible that
Dr.. Holland would interlard his CONVEX
sation with profanity?
A It's utterly inconsistent with his
characte', and l should regard it as i'm
possible unless l could hear it, or it was
attested by witnesses whose veraclty
could no question at all.
And Major Powell, page, and Captain
Key, at page, DR.. Holland is testiti
ed to be gentleman Of singular purity
and pietg, strict and conscientious pro
lessor Of religion, and "piIlar" of the
Baptist church in his community. See
also the case Of, page, in
Aberdeen, in which Mr.. +. 0. Sykes
and his brother, Mr.. L. B. Sykes, the
mayor of Aberdeen, both of them pro-
fessors of religion aud gentlemen of the
most admitted purity of language and
conduct, are described as monsters OF
profanity
The case Of, page, testify
ing of Mr. Preasley, the judge of election
at Calhoun precinct, in Madison County,
rudely taking tickets from colored men
tearing them up and throwing them on
the ground in sight of the witness, is de-
nied=by Judge Cunningham, the republi-
can Judge of election present on the occa-
| sion, by Peasley's own statement and that
of several bystanders. (See page--.)
| Witnesses thus set free to state anything
and everything. malice could suggest,
partisan anImosity encourage. and igno-
] rance assist rendederd ii difficult to con-
flute, by reason of the vagueness and I'M
certainty of their statements. The value
of the testimony of Ann Hodge, cOlored,
can be readily estimated, page 42l:
By Mr.. BAYARD;
q. Did you ever take an oath3
| No sir
@. Do you know the meaning of tax
ing an oath?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know the consequences Of
swearing falsely.
\. No, sir,
In short, the proverbial difficulty of
proving negative was imposed upon the
white people Of Mississippi, who, by the
ruling of the majority, were not suffered
to be present even by their representatives
while the testimony was being taken.
The reconstruction policy Of Congress
had fully and perfectly forced the insti-
tutionS of the State of Mississippi into the
most entire subsection and conformity
with its provisions. What Mississippi
was a. the time of the last election of
Governor Ames in 1873, she was " the
work of reconstruction by Congress.
The will of her people, their tastes, their
VIRTUES, aud their faults, had been melt
ed and run into a mold fashioned by the
will of Congress alone. Ifher Institutions
were defective, if they were not conductive
10 the ends of good government, if they
| were arranged with an unwlse disregard
of the condition and wants of her people,
that people are no more responsible than
the population of France, for they had
no voice. Such as she WAS in 1873 the
Congress of the United State had made
her. The State constitution was nodded
in accordance with the will of Con-
gress. The Legislation under it had been
enacted by men placed in power by the
Federal Government. TAe ruling Prin-
ciple of that Legislation seems to have
beer to lead as much power as posi- lille
directly into the hands of the executive,
in which the reins were placed The
institutions of suffrage was of course the
proposed basis, and to control this the
machinery of elections was placed abso-
lutely in the hands Of the governor, who
"a! the the 1,,. power to appoint those Off
GERS who in their turn bad the power Of
appointment Of the registrars of every
county, who in their turn appointed the
election officers Throughout the State in
their respective counties, and supervised
the elections and returns, thus gathering
the whole cantrol of elections in single
executive hand.
This was the state of things when Gov
} erno- Ames took his seat on the 1st day
! of January, 1874, elected in the month
of November previous. There was not
; an official of the State who was not a
member of the republican party. There
] was not county Gfncial to be appointed
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