Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1876-12-15
Louisiana-Ad dress of the Visiting
Democrats

The address Of Governor Palmer, Judge
Trnmbull, Governor Bigler, George w. Ju-
4 Liam, George p Smith, and p II. Watson,
the Tllden commissioners who attended the
open sessions Of The Kellogg return board in
/ Louisiana, has just appeared II is pam
! phlet OF seventeen pages, and reviews The law
and facts oil the case. It is addressed 10 Hon.
Abram s. Hewitt, al whose request the com
missioners went to Louisiana. 1t opens with
| reference to and extracts from the Republican
reports on lbe Kellogg frauds Of 1872 aud S74,
and preeenis concisely the law relating TO the
board, and disputes its jurisdiction entirely,
on the ground that the act Is unconstitutional
and again because il was illegally constituted
for want Of minority representatives as i'm
peratively required by law.
On The subject Of intimidation, the report
says THE evidence taken on both sides, so
| far as il has been accessible to US, discloscs a
state OF lawlessness IN certain parishes not
/ in the State generally, about the cause Of
which parties are not agteed. The Democrats
attribute it TO the inelliciency and imbeclity
of the State government, which they allege
to be usurpation, resting wholly for sup
| port on the federal army, without the conf
dence or respect Of the people and without
the disposition to prevent or punish crime
! which they can rervert TO political uses.
Such state Of things, as might be expected,
had led to disorder and in rome Instances,
i to the most shocking barbarities. The Re-
! publicans on the other hand, attribute the
| awlessness to the hostility Of the white
against the colored race and as largely due
| to politics. Another assumption
| Of the Republicans is that all the colofed men
| in the State are necessarily Republicans. This
1 IS by no means true. We were visited by
] large number of coored persons from differ
ent parts of the State, including the alleged
| disturbed districts, who made speeches and
took active part in the canvass in favor Of
| the Democratic ticket, and who gave, among
other reasons for so doing, that they had
! heen deceived by Republican officials, who
had proved dishonest and corrupt, and had rob
bed them Of their school money, and bur
dened them with unnecessary taxes, and
that they Gelieved.it for the interest of the
colored race 10 unite their fortunes with the
whites, whose interests, like their own, were
Unidentified with The State
The report closes as follows: Fifteen years
ago, when Fort Sumter was fired upon By
men who sought disruption o. the Union,
million PATRIOTS without regard to party
affiliations, sprang 10 its defence. Will the
same patriotic citizens now sit idly by and
see representative government overthrow
by usurpation and fraud? Shall the will Of
forty millions OF people, constitntiona'ly ex-
pressed be thwarted by the corrupt, arbitrary
and illegal action Of an illegally constituted
returning board in Louisiana, whose wrong
full action heretofore in all respects similar
to lis present action, has been condemned by
all parties II is an admitted fact that Mr.
Tilden received majority Of quarter Of a
million Of the votes at the recent election -
This minority is ready and willing to submit
10 the rule of the minority when consliiu-
tionally entitled to demand such submission
but is it willing that by an arbitrary aud
false declaration of votes in Louisiana
the minority shall usurp the power2
These are dark days for the American peo-
pie, when such questions are forced upon
their consideration. If it were true, as some
insist that neither the white nor the coored
voters have in all instances been afforded an
opportunity 20 give free expression to heir
wishes at the ballot box, shall We by sus
tanning fraudulent and illegal declaration
Of the votes cast, stle the voice Of the mill
lions of voters who have freely expressed
their choice, and thus seek TO correct a grent
wrong by committing another UNNECESSARILY
greater wrong? Can we sanction such action
Of the Louisiana returning board, and there
by form precedent under the authority OF
which party once in power may forever per-
peiuate its rule, and so end constitutional
i liberty? Shall such be the fate of this re-
public at the beginning Of The second century
Of its existence is the momentous question
now presented for The determination Of the
American people.